my first entry....

After a solid night at the park enjoying the first proper evening of summer what better way to close the day than with my first entry on the famed garden blog..............

My first attempt with the dreaded tomato plant began weeks ago but our bleak climate prevented any noticeable growth and she had to be sheltered from the elements by the insulating concrete walls of my condo. Only time, the long days of summer & bi-weekly doses of fertilizer can influence her fate from here on in.

I enjoy a good cooking session as much as the next person so i added rosemary to the patio with future dreams of basil, chives, oregano and any other manageable herbs out there that i can make use of in the kitchen.

The last couple pictures represent species from my "Green Collection" (GC). No, it has nothing to do with environmental responsibility but more to due with my belief that plants which only produce various shades of green require less maintenance. Included in the GC is the classic monkey plant and a propagated English ivy that one summer dropped roots in a jump pot.

Herb Garden

The herb garden largely survived the winter and was in need of some major pruning. The rosemary had grown to over 3ft tall and the sage and oregano were running wild.  After some quick cleanup and the addition of some "shitty" Basil here is what it looked like a little over a week ago.

(center) Shitty Basil at her best

This patch has started to overgrow again and is encroaching on the Basil thus turning it to shit.  The herb garden has also seen the addition of any Cilantro we find popping up around the garden and some Dill that I planted as seed.  Not pictured are the Chives which are hiding behind Sage.

But not all is lost for the Basil.  I split a basil starter in half and planted it in 2 pots knowing full well how finicky they can be. With much care I am finally at the point where I can start using the leaves without decimating the plant.

Basil!

So that's the herb garden.  Lots more to cover when I get some decent pictures.  The rogue lettuce has returned like a weed this year...

Horbz' First Garden Entry

Well, here's my first post. Garden was built about 3 weeks ago. Spent about an hour removing the grass, turning the original soil and adding about the same amount of compost dirt to fill it out and give the soil some nice nutrients.

Currently 11 plants not from seed and the Ultra Sweet Tomatoes are already showing life, as well as some of the peppers.

Italian Roaster Peppers & Ultra Sweet Tomatoes

Hot Banana Peppers & "The Good" Basil

Spearmint & Bonnie Grape Tomatoes

Red Start Peppers & "Shitty" Basil

Rosemary & Red Long Cayenne Peppers

Fanfare Cucumbers

Day 1, The garden is ripe with love.

Not all of these plants have been started by seed. The little tiny plants i like to call perrywinkles. These Gardens are in little nooks around my yard among the boats, cars and general disrepair of my yard.

Boat Box. Squash, zuccini and beans

This is my halve. Spinich, tomato, sweet peas, lettuce, rocket,  and mystery plant.

SUPERSONIC!!! How could i not buy this troublesome tomato!

This is my roomates part. I think he bought them that size

The smelly box

Left over from last year. I think a beet

Arugula -1 week: we have something

After a week of generous sun and rain, all three of our planters are showing signs of life.

We celebrated the new arrivals by dumping hot water on them. At this point it would be a stretch to say the sprouts look like arugula. They kind of look more like clover. Maybe we're growing weeds. All three planters have them, but so far the Legumes has the lead. No sign of basil yet.

Watering the precious arugula.

We also have some ready-grown basil and other herbs which didn't start as seeds and which we will surely kill.

Quest for arugula

While living in Australia Alexandra and I enjoyed arugula (which the Aussies call "rocket" for some goddamn reason) on an almost daily basis. Back in Canada the peppery leaf was harder to come by, so we decided to grow our own. Calgary's climate is famous for wild variation, and it is not uncommon to get snow in the middle of June, making it about the worst place to garden. But arugula, according to Australian food author Stephen Downes "runs rampant, self sowing everywhere". A hardy plant to pit against a cruel Calgary summer. To begin we painstakingly crafted three elegant planters. So skilled was our handiwork that only the most clever observer would deduce these masterful creations started life as old drawers. Alexandra labelled the planters in each of Canada's official languages: English, French and Swedish. We filled them with compost earth harvested from my parent's composter, and combined this with some top soil before planting the arugula seeds as well as some basil.