Tiny Garden Project 2018
Welcome to Tiny Garden Project 2018! This is my first update of the 4th year of making my tiny herb and green garden. I am so excited to document it every step of the way! You can have a look at my first three year experience here.
It is trial and error every year and I am by no means a professional gardener. I mostly use my intuition and knowledge that I’ve obtained from my mom, grandmother and the internet. In fact, professionals probably would think something along the lines of wtf is she even doing? It’s perfectly fine with me.
I’m not doing this also because it is something trendy or in style. Go green! Go Natural and clean food! It is nothing new for me. I’ve done this since childhood when helping my family. I enjoy the whole process and love watching plants thrive. It is almost meditative for me. Fresh, all natural, green goodies to eat are lovely addition though.
Everything starts with the soil. After autumn rain and winter snow it is all pressed down and barely breathing so it is important to dig it all up, make it all friable, clean from rocks and roots of weeds before planting anything. Plants love friable soil as it allows their root system to develop better and helps with the drainage as well. It is a little bit heavier lifting since the soil is still all damp and clumped up, but hey nothing my muscles can't handle.
These green buddies showed up not long after the snow melted. I’ve been grabbing bunch after running to snack on and adding them to my meals for extra boost of vitamins. Nom, nom! ^^
Winters are quite cold here. Even though I covered my lavender plants to protect them somewhat from cold, I was still worried about their survival. It appears they get greener and stronger by day despite some completely dry branches. Through these years I’ve struggled with growing lavender. First year I had one lavender plant that was killed by local cats. Second year my plant died before I got to planting it. Last year I planted six, tiny lavender plants. I really hope to see some flowers this year.
I planted ten strawberry plants last year as well. I cut off the old, dry leaves and fluffed up the soil around them. Few days later brand new leaves are showing up. Magic!
So much more coming soon.
Song of the day: The Doors - Riders On The Storm
This is cool. Nothing like working with the hands dirty to keep the mind centered. My old man gardens a lot. He used to drag I and my siblings along. We hated it.
Now that he is older now, he uses it to keep his mind and hands busy.
He has pumpkin, yams, plantain, pineapples, cocoyams as well as a orange and mango tree. He is a regular farmer.
All this he planted around the house. He also has flowers around the house too.
Once he appears with his shears, we disappear. Lol
I envy people who work with their hands but I am too damned lazy. Lol
I did not exactly love it always either. I learned to love it. As a kid of course it was way more fun to run and play around, but then my mom said something. Whining about how difficult the job is, isn't going to help it. It stuck with me and became my truth. So I just did the job without the dislike and grew to love it in process :)
This looks wonderful! Growing greens has always been a part of my family as well but my mother is the real gardener. I have the space for the first time to grow some plants, so last month my flatmate and I bought some planter boxes and seeds and some greens. I have beautiful mint, basil and coriander shoots that are growing well and the greens make for great salads.
I've never grown lavender but I hope you see flowers too!! Keep us posted.
Thank you so much @manouche! That sounds lovely! My mint is actually now beginning to sprout as it gets warmer and warmer by day. I was waiting for that explosion of green everywhere. It is happening. I did not get to go outside much today due to heavy rain, but I was stunned to look through window and see everything turning green, grass and trees. By end of week everything will be fully awake. I have a feeling, hehe.
Oh I definitely will :) Fingers crossed for lavender.
wow, i'm jealous of you for having a green thumb
Ah, my grandmother was the one with the true green thumb. I still manage to kill plant or too sometimes. Hehe :)
Looking good. I definitely want some strawberries soon
Thanks. Me too. :) Should have a lot more than the last year too. So just wait for some delicious strawberry photos coming later. Haha!
Beautiful images enchanted with this beautiful work.
Thank you @yosicrespo! This is pure joy for me. ^^
I'm very happy, and it really is an excellent job. I love strawberries are one of my favorites. I invite you to go through my blog. Greetings and always supporting you.
Thank you for your cuddles kitten. I really need some today :)
Gardening is awesome, you just racked up some virtually worthless overkillcoin respect units! :)
Aww! Well they are not so worthless. Thank you! :) It is indeed awesome and I am so grateful for opportunity to be able to do this and share with humans and other animals around the globe ^^
Looking good! I love gardening now that I have the space to do so. There is nothing like eating a salad that you grew and harvested yourself! Ive got to get the herb game going though, I dont have many.
Hell yeah, I'd like some fresh onions :D
Before they lose their sharpness... mmm delicious
Oh my you've made me so jealous! .. Can't remember if I've already mentioned it but I love gardening so much... I discovered so by accident, on my grandfather's plot next to a river in South Africa.
I had strawberries too! But my favourite thing was herbs. Sage, Thyme, Basil, Dill, Oreganum, etc, all interspersed with Wild Garlic to keep the bugs away. My pride and joy was my Comfrey Root.
There really is nothing like the feeling of working with the earth and getting muddy from yet to foot. My favourite moments in the whole process were opening up my compost bin to find beautifully rich compost ready for use after waiting months, and also, the petrichor just as the rain starts. We had such wonderful thunderstorms! .. Oh, and picking the first strawberry! =D
Anyway, I'm city-bound for now so sadly can't enjoy any of these things right now. Thank you for the glimpse into your world though - it's almost as good. Looking forward to seeing you document your progress.