I've mentioned a few times that, while green is my favourite colour, it doesn't apply to my thumbs.
Well, it seems it is time to rethink that....
Leroy and I decided we'd plant a little vegie/herb garden. It's his job to water it every day. (Read, my job to remind him!)
We have a few half wine barrels on the back patio ~ our back yard is very small, so container gardening is the way to go for us. That pic above was taken only a couple of weeks before this next pic ~ and you can see how much the herbs are thriving!
Amazing what happens when you water them.... it's a revelation to me!
We're growing "golf ball carrot", tomato, a few varieties of lettuce, Continental parsley, basil, and one more thing I'll share with you at the end of this post. It's a really cute story :)
See that pot above? I thought it was full and thriving one week ago, but in that short time, it has grown so much!
We've had a few dinners already with home grown organic salad. It's a wonderful feeling being able to grow something you can actually eat, and that you know is really organic. (I'll share with you our unique and sure-fire bug/pest control solution in a sec....)
But first, some seeds that had apparently expired 7 years ago, which we didn't expect to grow, sprouted..... and are growing every single day! They're Bells of Ireland (green flowers, of course!).... hopefully ours will get to that long tall beautiful stage, without me killing them first...
In our little gardening frenzy, I re-potted a cactus and wanted to show you a few interesting containers you can grow things in. It's fun to think outside the square!
Firstly, I came across this imported cherry tomato can at an international deli.... I didn't buy it for the tomatoes. I bought it for the fabulous can, and the graphics on it! Sad, huh? Incidentally, the cherry tomatoes were really great in my pasta sauce.
I just punched a few holes in the base for drainage, added some rocks and left the cactus in its little plastic pot. Placed it inside the can, and covered the top with more rocks. Sweet!
A container-in-waiting ~ now that I'm confident enough to plant things that might actually grow, I'm going to plant something edible in this too. I love oil cans! The graphics on the Spanish and Italian large olive oil cans are always fabulous. Why throw it out?!
My dad cut the top of the can off, then I used pliers to fold that sharp edge down onto itself. A few nailed drainage holes, and this will be ready for potting mix, and probably some cherry tomatoes.
I had this old rickety wicker chair under the house, that I was going to clear out in a moment of sadness/madness. But I figured, if I'm prepared to just get rid of it, why not just put it in the garden, and not worry about it getting more ruined?! So it is now the home of some orchids that my Ernie can no longer do his business on~!
The little urn was just a reproduction one that I very roughly spray painted. It has become more cracked and weathered naturally... I love it! It houses some succulent cuttings that I haven't managed to murder yet!
This sweet little guy belonged to my grandmother ~ who was born with green thumbs, so it's no surprise that things grow out of this!
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So, wanna hear our fool-proof, no-spraying solution to keep the bugs and pests away?
Leroy came up with this all by himself. When I got upset that a caterpillar had started eating one of the basil leaves, and I said that I might have to give in, and spray them, his whole face lit up, literally.
"MUM! I've got a GREAT idea!!!
"Why don't I make some MONSTERS for the garden to scare the caterpillars away?!!!"
So we found some flat rocks, got the permanent markers out, and Leroy made some three-eyed angry faces, some jagged-toothed ones, and finally, this one below.... which has a caterpillar in its mouth, blood dripping, just to really show those caterpillars what can happen when those monsters get hold of them!
Talk about adorable!!!
OH, and the other thing that grows in the wine barrel?
"MUM! I forgot to water the garlic bread shoots today!"
Reminds me of that line in Wall-E where they say they'll grow "Pizza Plants"!
Who would have known, that a simple few pots full of herbs and vegies, could give us those two precious memories?!
Until next time,
Natasha xo
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