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| the fairy house |
Springtime has arrived here in Rhode Island...at last! I recently looked back through my yearly agenda and saw that in early March I had notated that it was time to start my early seedings. I also had cutouts from several magazines, including Better Homes and Gardens and Martha Stewart which illustrated how to set up a small garden in your yard. They were modestly sized which appealed to me and they were full of the type of Veg I prefer such as lettuces of various type, herbs and sprouts. I love a leafy and unusual bowl of greens. Anyway, being that we had snow in mid-March, the seedlings waited until it was a regular 45 degree temp before I began them at all which was after April 1st. This happens every year because I really have no indoor space for them. when will I learn that I can just buy the 6inch plants at the Ann & Hope outlet or even Walmart!
Well this year we had some special seeds flown in from Puerto Rico along with soil and fertilizer. So we started a nice set of seedlings which include:
3 types of Sunflowers
Small Watermelon
Tomato
Purple Broccoli
Carrots
Spinach
Basil
Cilantro
Sweet Peas
alas...no lettuce, but I will get some! Our Annuals have begun to sprung up virtually overnight. It seems that way anyhow, but as we all know, long before we saw it it was happening...just below the surface, new life was budding. I love that about life. My lilacs have started to bud and so has a beautiful pink Hydrangea that I purchased only 3 years ago. She is massive now. Where she is planted is much to sunny for her but still she prospers. David thinks I don't know that he sneaks my plants a special Fish-based fertilizer. Shhhh...don't tell him, but I know it. Anyway, soon the yard will have that wonderful feeling and it will last until around October. I am glad though that we can add some food items to the list of things we can grow.
I planned out several spots for the garden but it is challenging. we have very little space. I was determined to not let our organic gardening needs take a back seat for another year and so I went around my property doing as Michelle Obama suggests and finding anything that could be used as a planter. NO EXCUSES this year for not doing it. In the past it has always been that we lacked the extra cash to invest in a garden or the baby was too small and took up my time or our jobs kept us from doing it. This year I have even more distractions than ever. we have a busy daycare of active kids all vying for the bit of sunny yard we have to work with. My mix-matched pots and planters may at first appear to be unsightly, but as the good weather persists, the wonderful things that sprout forth should take everyone's mind off that! I look very much forward to creating a garden that can be maintained year-round and will get to that point one day.
I read in a Martha Stewart "Living" magazine a few years ago about how to create a year-round "salad greens" garden. It was fascinating. She insisted that if properly created, this garden could sustain year-round growth even in a New England winter. It was a lot of work though. I wondered if I could really see myself hiking out to my yard in snow boots to cut the lettuce! But in the Spring, Summer and Fall there is no excuse for not giving it a try. So here we are getting down into it! The space in the photo above is about a 9ft by 4ft area and we are using pots because our soil is not prepared. It would be more costly to put it in that way and so we are going to give it a go with the pots! I am hoping that the sunflowers will be easier to maintain than I expect. If they are I have a special event in October that calls for Sunflowers in the decorating.
I keep having to shoo little poeple out of the "garden" pen because they don't understand what it will be used for. Hopefully they will be excited to see tomatos, spinach, carrots and flowers grow! On the opposite yard near the grill and driveway we discovered a small bush of raspberries had sprung up unexpectedly last summer. I think I might get my thickest gardening gloves out and finally clear that old planter and put in some blueberry and strawberry shrubs as well. In the summer, the kids and I love to go to The Warwick Blueberry Farm on Warwick Neck Avenue to pick our own. They are inexpensive, fresh, organically produced, local fruit! We just love introducing new friends to the place.
well, thank you for reading...and may all your organic gardens bloom!
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