May!
Gayla has been kind enough to let me in on the plant journal action, thanks!
So, to update, I went with some friends down to the VanDusen plant sale last weekend. Meet my new little friends, and some old ones!
A new strawberry plant
has moved in with the peas that survived the winter…
look, a new little pea!
A lot of the YGG forums crowd has been raving about chocolate mint, and I actually found some at the sale.
Got some other new herbs too…
dill,
and parsley
moved in with the chives, which are happily budding away…
And finally, I got some nasturtiums, which are not only gorgeous and colourful when they bloom, but tasty in salads!
The nasturtium moved in with the lavender, which is growing like crazy!
And don’t forget about Figgy! Figgy’s starting to bud, and gearing up for another summer, and another attempt to actually make some figs!
Well, that’s the garden report for now. I just rented a garden plot at the community gardens last week, so I’ll make sure to document that once I get it started.
Happy start of the gardening season!
midge.
May 8th, 2005 at 4:01 am
hey midge, are you following a theory of companion planting or just putting the plants where they fit best?
May 8th, 2005 at 2:29 pm
Hi Quant,
Well, for the patio plants, all of my planter boxes had plants that survived from last year in them, so the arrangement was pretty much based on where the plants would fit and trying to guess which will need more space.
But once I get into my garden plot, I will probably use a little bit of intercropping. For instance, there is a lot of slug-life down there, so depending on how it looks once I really get in there, I might put some marigolds in to distract them! I’m no pro at intercropping, but moreso have familiarized myself with a few bits and pieces to fend off pests that are bad out here.
(Exciting–you’re my first post!)
Do you have much experience with ‘companion planting’?
midge.
May 9th, 2005 at 2:20 am
hey midge - i don’t have that much experience with companion planting apart from experiments rather like what you’ve done. plant ‘em where they’ll fit and then see what happens. i planted some lettuce in pots with peas this year and some separately to see what would happen. i had success last year planting basil and tomatoes together, so i’ll probably do it again this year.
good tip about the marigolds!
:)
May 9th, 2005 at 12:44 pm
My Husband grows all our veggies, but I grow all the Herbs and flowers. How big is your plot
and what plants do tend to grow more of?
I tend to grow more Rosemary and Basil.
I have five different types of the Basil.
May 9th, 2005 at 1:48 pm
Quant– just be prepare to have some UGLY marigolds if the slugs are bad–they chew the heck out of them!
Kathleen– I don’t know what happened, but there were 4 copies of your post, so I deleted all but one, just FYI.
My plot is 2.5×10m, and on a slope, so I am hoping to get some levels built up with raised beds. I really just grow whatever I feel like that year, though in my plot, I will likely grow only vegetables. I like having the herbs on the balcony so they are easily accessed for cooking.
As far as which veggies I will grow, I will almost always have the standards–tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, beans, peas, some kind of squash, strawberries. I will usually put lettuce and spinach in planter boxes on the deck so I don’t have to deal with the slugs on them.
And each year, I’ll usually pick some more challenging things to try out, like some peppers, melons, artichokes, whatever I see at the gardening store that looks interesting really!