My resolution garden
One of my new year's resolutions was to turn an overgrown flowerbed into a vegetable garden, so this past weekend I tore everything out (as best as I could, there is still a stump I couldn't get rid of) and planted some seeds and seedlings. Here are my before and after shots:
The garden had an old catoneaster bush, and some lemon mint and garlic chives that I replanted along the edge (since both act as pest repellents). The far right-hand side was completely overgrown, and had been for years, since the rock wall had completely disappeared, and I had to dig it out from under the soil, and then rebuild it.
I think the former owners were also dumping their potted annuals in here, as there was a lot of potting mix, and some crysantemums who had rooted themselves, but which I pulled out anyway.
Part of my motivation came from buying my very cool Toronto Gardening Journal, which had a lot of helpful information, and dates when certain things should be done for our Zone 6 conditions. The journal also has plan pages, so I could design my garden plans while it was still too cold to get the garden established:
So, I've planted heirloom varieties of the following: Mammoth Sugar Snap Peas; Baking Pumpkins; Roma Tomatoes, Jaunes Flamees Tomatoes; mixed bush beans; lettuce and mesclun mix. I also planted some scarlet runners. I did buy some english lavender and lettuce (green leaf, red leaf, salad mix) that were already sprouted, since I was going a bit nuts waiting to see something grow. Next year, I'm going to get as many sprouts going early as I can, unless the direct cultivation of the seeds turns out to work just fine. So far, I've fertilized with an organic mix called Carbonitite that I got from Urban Harvest, and organic worm castings. This is my first veggie garden, so I really do not know what the soil is like, and what supplements it needs, but I'm looking at this as a learning year. I'm a little concerned about what sort of damage the wildlife around our place will do (squirrels, rabbits and raccoons) but as yet, I haven't taken any steps to protect the garden. I might as well put a Salad Bar sign up!
Comments
Good luck with the green thumb, Muggs. Our family has had a pretty good track record at growing and maintaining things. I've never grown veggies, but have had great success with other plants and shrubs.
Watch out GinBaby, you may get some competition in Ontario!
Very impressive! It looks like you get good sun on that side of your house. I have a similar spot where I wanted to do some planting, but it's all shade.
Ya, the sun exposure was key to choosing this location for the garden. I just wish I could see it from the kitchen window, since it gives my a surprising amount of satisfaction to look at it. Just not enough to go put my shoes on and walk around the back of the garage.....