All my life, I have been fascinated with gardens. Back when I was a kid (when dinosaurs still roamed the earth), there was this segment on Sesame Street with a song about gardening. And it showed a family all going into the garden to plant and work. I still remember the words to the song and everything: "Come into the garden, it's the early month of May. Come into the garden. If you come, you'll want to stay. Keep the bunnies from the lettuce, keep the crows from the corn. You've got to work hard when you work on a farm..." Anyway, I just loved the idea of growing things. I also got it into my head that the only time to successfully plant anything was in May, but that's another story. I had several failed attempts at gardening over the years. I just didn't know anything about how it's done. I thought you just put seeds in the ground, watered them, and maybe pulled a few weeds. I still don't know much more than that, to tell you the truth.
But this year, I have big plans! I have a yard of my own, and while it's not very big, I know it's big enough to grow at least a few things. We have a lot of old plants to remove first, and a fence to build. So, even though it's not like I'm ready to put seeds in the ground, I'm starting to formulate my plans.
First order of business (aside from cleaning the yard and building cute raised beds) is to get an idea of what I'd like to grow. I have a number of different vegetables I'd like to grow, like carrots, spinach, asparagus, cucumbers, tomatoes, maybe celery - though obviously they're not all in season at the same time. And I don't even know if they all will grow in SoCal or not! Since I'm entirely new to gardening, I'm going to try out the square foot method:
Square foot gardening has been recommended as a good way for beginning gardeners to figure out how things work. I don't know if that's true. But I'm going to give it a try!
In addition to vegetables, I really want to grow some of my own herbs.
I already have a lovely rosemary bush in the back yard, and I love going out and clipping fresh rosemary to use in my cooking. I made this goat cheese and rosemary omelet for breakfast one day. Seriously - SO good, I almost wanted to cry. In addition to the rosemary, I'd really like to have some basil, dill, cilantro, and parsley. I'd be okay if I just grew some basil my first year. Loves me some basil. I also love how there are strawberry plants used as a border in that herb garden photo. I wouldn't mind having some berries, myself.
The garden isn't going to all be about food, though. I also really want to have some flowers. I love the idea of having a vase on my table with fresh flowers from the garden. My mom's next door neighbor has sweet peas growing along the fence line, and several times she bought over big bouquets of them for us (since they had to be cut regularly in order to keep growing). They smelled lovely and were so pretty. I want a piece of that action. I also love the look of having flowers in containers.
I have this really clear memory of driving downtown to a meeting one time, and we passed this house that was kind of run down and shabby looking. But all around the front door were these different kinds of pots overflowing with brightly colored flowers. It was so pretty, I wished I could have had a picture of it. I love the idea of having a bunch of bright flowers outside my door like that. So, add flowers to the list of my "green ambitions."
The challenge now? To learn how to make it happen, and then to find the time to make it happen. Neither one will be very quick and easy, but ultimately rewarding if it pans out. I have a friends who are gardeners who can give me tips, and there are community classes as well. Stay tuned for my progress!
But this year, I have big plans! I have a yard of my own, and while it's not very big, I know it's big enough to grow at least a few things. We have a lot of old plants to remove first, and a fence to build. So, even though it's not like I'm ready to put seeds in the ground, I'm starting to formulate my plans.
First order of business (aside from cleaning the yard and building cute raised beds) is to get an idea of what I'd like to grow. I have a number of different vegetables I'd like to grow, like carrots, spinach, asparagus, cucumbers, tomatoes, maybe celery - though obviously they're not all in season at the same time. And I don't even know if they all will grow in SoCal or not! Since I'm entirely new to gardening, I'm going to try out the square foot method:
Square foot gardening has been recommended as a good way for beginning gardeners to figure out how things work. I don't know if that's true. But I'm going to give it a try!In addition to vegetables, I really want to grow some of my own herbs.
I already have a lovely rosemary bush in the back yard, and I love going out and clipping fresh rosemary to use in my cooking. I made this goat cheese and rosemary omelet for breakfast one day. Seriously - SO good, I almost wanted to cry. In addition to the rosemary, I'd really like to have some basil, dill, cilantro, and parsley. I'd be okay if I just grew some basil my first year. Loves me some basil. I also love how there are strawberry plants used as a border in that herb garden photo. I wouldn't mind having some berries, myself.The garden isn't going to all be about food, though. I also really want to have some flowers. I love the idea of having a vase on my table with fresh flowers from the garden. My mom's next door neighbor has sweet peas growing along the fence line, and several times she bought over big bouquets of them for us (since they had to be cut regularly in order to keep growing). They smelled lovely and were so pretty. I want a piece of that action. I also love the look of having flowers in containers.
I have this really clear memory of driving downtown to a meeting one time, and we passed this house that was kind of run down and shabby looking. But all around the front door were these different kinds of pots overflowing with brightly colored flowers. It was so pretty, I wished I could have had a picture of it. I love the idea of having a bunch of bright flowers outside my door like that. So, add flowers to the list of my "green ambitions."The challenge now? To learn how to make it happen, and then to find the time to make it happen. Neither one will be very quick and easy, but ultimately rewarding if it pans out. I have a friends who are gardeners who can give me tips, and there are community classes as well. Stay tuned for my progress!
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