How Our Garden Grows

Well, after a trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens this weekend, black-berry picking up the road with Chris and Sarah, and a few visitors harvesting herbs and veggies from our garden I am inspired to write about our little garden and the fun we have with it!

Every year we've lived here, I have lessened the grass area and increased the garden. The first few years it was only flowers...mostly from my mom's garden in SC. Here are my thoughts on flowers:
1. I only buy perennials (annuals are such a waste of money unless they reseed themselves). Plus it's fun to watch the plants come up each year without me replanting...like Christmas in the spring!
2. I plant without a plan. Well, I kinda have a plan but sometimes I have so many free plants from my mom, or salvias are on major clearance at Lowes and I just have to dig where I can find room. Brian attempted to get me to be symmetrical on the side of the house. It worked for a while...until I planted some Vinca and Jerusalem Artichokes...and they kinda took over. He eventually learned to appreciate the craziness of the garden. I do like my mom taught me: pull the weeds and have enough flowers so that if you accidentally pull one or two it's not the end of the world. Throw seeds wherever and transplant if you want something different. It's like rearranging furniture...but more fun.
3. I haven't really mastered pots. They seem to be high-maintenance...with all the watering they require. Plus, they keep the plants from "having babies" and popping up in unexpected places.

I also have a vegetable garden. Now, this has been a learning process since my mom has never really tried to grow edibles. Many people ask about my technique here, so for all you inquiring minds here's what I do.
"Lasagna Gardening": much to Brian's disappointment, this has nothing to do with actual lasagna. It's actually a layering technique that minimizes tilling (praise God!) and makes rich soil. Basically on top of grass I lay thick layers of wet newspaper or cardboard. You are supposed to layer compost, peat moss, mulch, etc on top creating your "lasagna", but I go with more of a "casserole" since I pay little attention to what layer goes next. Last Fall, I had a pile of compost, roots, and all my dead veggies piled on my plot about as tall as me. By spring it had decomposed to a perfect soil about 6 inches high. Sarah helped me smooth it out; we made a few trenches, and dropped the seeds in! No raised beds. No buying special dirt.
Watering: yeah, I just don't. Well, ok, very rarely, like if we are going out of town and it hasn't rained in a while. If I keep grass clippings around the tomatoes, they are fine. I collect the drips from my A/C which amounts to about a watering can or two a day and use that sometimes for the plants that look particularly sad that day (usually the zucchini or blueberries). Also, I only water when the sun is not hitting the plant. This keeps it from burning the leaves...also saves water.
Pesticides/Fertilizer: Again, I am amazed at the prices people pay for dirt (as in "topsoil" or "potting soil"...it's dirt, people) or fertilizer (usually it's cow poop or compost). So, yeah, I don't do that...my composting does the trick (and literally this is a pile where we throw our veggie scraps, dead weeds, egg shells, tea bags and coffee). I grow my veggies organic. This means I companion plant...like planting flowers that repel bugs for certain plants. I also make an organic stinky pesticide out of jalepenos, onions, and garlic. Basically it makes the plants taste bad to bugs and they leave it alone. Now, some bugs are just persistent...like squash borers. I mean, they will get your squash unless you sit out there and squirt them with crazy chemicals...and really I don't want to eat squash after that! So, we harvest what we can before they get to them.
Herbs: Oregano, mint, thyme, lavender, and dill all are amidst my flowers and veggies. They repel lots of bugs and look pretty. Plus it's fun to just head outside for a few snips of some fresh herbs while I'm cooking. My friend Aileen says it's like going to grandma's house since I always offer our guests clippings for their cooking at home!

I have no pictures now, but I invite you to come see our little garden for yourself. I'll probably send you home with some fresh herbs and veggies...and maybe a plant or two!