Giving Container Gardening Another Go
April 30th, 2010 by Mollie
My first post back since my baby was born!
We gave container gardening a real shot last year. We didn’t have much money so we scrounged up what pots we had collected over the years, bought seeds, started the seeds indoors with one of those special lamps, transplanted them and well….as you can guess from most of my “first tries” into new endeavors, it did not go so well. Sometimes (most of the time) my determination and desire does not listen to my knowledge or those brave souls who try to talk some sense into me.
We had a little patio that got about 2 hours of sun in the peak of summer. Do I need to say more? The lettuce did well but, everything else gave out. I had heard so much about the greatness of homegrown tomatoes that, in a last desperate attempt to “have a garden”, I put my tomatoes, which resided in my FAVORITE pot, on the South side of our building so it would get plenty of sun and flourish. And it did! Until someone stole my cherry tomato plant and my FAVORITE pot (oh, I really did love that pot). I was angry and left a note letting the Cherry-Tomato-Plant-And-FAVORITE-Pot Thief know exactly how I felt and asked them to please return it. Who steals something like that? It was never returned, but I did get a nice note on my note from someone else saying that it was sad and that justice should be served. Maybe they were making fun of me, but I really do think they were being supportive.
We have just recently moved to a new apartment in the same building, but guess what? It has a wall of South facing windows! So, I am going to give container gardening another try. I have all my pots, like little duckies, lined up along the window. Kendall is making us a window box for our little patio. I called the Seattle Tilth Garden Hotline and got a lot of questions answered by the amazing, knowledgeable, super encouraging, and sweet Amy.
To help me along in our journey Amy recommended Seattle Tilth‘s The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide (which I already have!) and Sunset Western Garden Book which was the first book she used when she was getting started (her grandmother’s addition, I just love hearing those sorts of things!) and a genuine, “give me/us a call back anytime to ask questions or just let us know how it is going”.? There is also the Sunset Western Garden Book of Edibles: The Complete A-Z Guide to Growing Your Own Vegetables, Herbs, and Fruits.
So, hears to another go and a hearty bounty from my container garden!