Last summer, David and I planted our first garden at our (then) new home. We were clueless as to what might grow in our shady front area (raised bed) and mostly hopeful for the sunny back area. In April, we decided it was time to plant. We made a trip to get soil, fertilizer, plants, and seeds.
In the front, we dug out the existing plants and weeds from the raised bed, added some soil and fertilizer, and added some seeds. We sowed pole beans, spinach, and green onions. We successfully grew a few pole bean plants in the front. I think there was the possibility of one onion, but nothing ever came of it. I never saw the spinach.
We also purchased a fence box for the back into which we planted basil, jalapeno and Hungarian peppers, and cilantro. We put our tiny little tomato plant (Early Girl) that we had purchased in a huge pot in the back, too. The cilantro took over our fence box and we ended up ripping it out. We replaced it with green onions. The basil died under some late spring rain, but surprisingly regenerated and did quite well through August and September. The two pepper plants did great in the fence box, but they took up a lot of space. And, eventually we got three onions. The tomato plant did quite well in the pot. It kept bending under the weight of the tomatoes, so we had to tie it up frequently. Now I see the value in those cage things.
Although the harvest was small (maybe 3 or 4 meals for the two of us), it was delicious!
This year, after taking some advice from David’s mom (who has the greenest thumb I’ve ever known!), we’ve sown pole beans (again), carrots, radish, dill, and (re-trying) spinach in the front. Apparently, all should do well in the shady area, and she said the key is to start with sowing the seeds in dry soil.
In the back, we’re trying a different variety of tomato plant (Grape) and we’ve planted two of them. Since last year, I have learned that basil can be planted next to the tomato plant and it should do quite well (I am going to test this). We have also sown green onions and spinach in the fence box. The weather has been quite rainy, so I have been waiting to get the basil and more pepper plants.
I’d like to try some fruit, but it may be kinda late in the season to plant now. I think I’ll try getting a raspberry bush planted with the hope of getting berries next year. Why raspberries? David’s mom informs me that the raspberry bush is like a weed and needs very little maintenance. Sounds perfect for the urban gardener!
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