apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Re-potted a columbine and some flower box flowers which I forgot the name of.

Gathered a mix of seeds together for a guerrilla gardening attack on some vacant patches in the sidewalk intended for trees someday. I just have to turn the soil a little bit and don't have a tool yet.

planted my very first vegetable garden in my new community garden plot: radish & carrot seeds, bush beans, rainbow mix peppers, bush cucumbers, black beauty zucchini, zinnias, sungold & brandywine tomatoes, purple basil, chives, greek basil, and flat-leaf parsley. so excited about it, will post pics to flickr soon.

what can i plant after the radishes are done??

I planted various native plants in my tiny front yard. Much better than the silly little patch of grass that was there before.

Although I live in a house, I like container gardening for the convenience and control. I am positively phobic about bugs and have bad knees, which takes the fun out of planting a regular garden.

I have a good sized deck and have it lined with plant pots. It is pretty and keeps my dachshund from making bad decisions about leaping off the deck if he sees a squirrel. All of them are now filled with impatiens - four flats worth.

My container herb garden is planted with thyme, rosemary, dill, oregano, and chives. I planted romaine lettuce, which also grows nicely in a container.

Now, it feels like spring!

Here's a question for all the urban gardners out there:
I know how to get my soil tested to find out if there are enough nutrients and its Ph level, but how do I find out if it is safe for planting things I'm going to eat?

My house has been a block away from a bus garage, and previously a streetcar garage, for about 100 years. I'm afraid that our soil is so contaiminated we can't eat anything out of it. Thoughts?

Yesterday I put the hibiscuses (with lobelia at the edges) in the big pots on the front porch. Then I planted ten pots of varying sizes with a mixture of flowering plants for the back deck. Then I transplanted the rosemary and mint into pots. Now I am heading outside to get the tomatoes and peppers into the ground. The basil is already coming up in the pot from last year; it reseeds itself. The sage, oregano, thyme and chives have weathered the winter in the herb garden and are already being used!

I'm starting a raised-bed and container garden this year. Previously, while still in an apartment, I had a small balcony container garden with herbs and greens.

This weekend was kind of rainy for outdoor gardening, but we purchased a self-pollinating dwarf peach tree that will live in a container on the patio. I mulched the paths around my raised beds to prevent weeds. We also researched apple trees to find an appropriate pollinator for our new Honeycrisp tree (planted last week.) Anyone know anything about Macoun apples?

We also picked up two blackberry bushes, which will get in the ground today. I've got tomato seedlings indoors that are almost ready to go in the raised beds, and am planting beans, greens, radishes, carrots, onions, and herbs today.

This weekend I planted a cherry tomato, two thyme plants, three basil and one chive. I can't wait to eat them! Yum!

Hmm... this weekend brought:

-Mowing the lawn (old fashioned manual push mower- no emissions yay!)
-Weeding, more weeding, and attempts to manage the bind-weed infestation
-Preparing the rear flower bed to become a natives bed
-Soil delivery for new raised beds
-Turning the compost
-Continued to harden off the seedlings

I'm sure I'm forgetting things we did...

@Kassie
Why not container garden or use raised beds? That way you'd be growing in added soil, not your native soil? You might also want to send off a sample of your soil to have it tested and find out how good/bad it may be?

i started some seeds a few weeks ago and they've been doing good. container variety golden cherry tomatoes, eightball and one ball zucchini/yellow squash, and mohawk container red peppers. one of the zucchinis got transferred to a larger self watering pot. a pepper will get the same treatment after he grows a bit more, and the rest are all going in the very large self watering container i ordered from "a garden patch", should be here soon. Then i just have to build a shelf on the deck railing so they can get up high enough for maximum sunlight since i face east gotta get as much as they can.

I have been doing containers, but I'm ready to expand. I have this great tiny yard just crying out for squash and herbs.

Moved the aloe from the window box to a large pot. Moved the basil and cilantro into small herb pots. Filled windowboxes with orange asiatic lilies and lemon zest petunias.

Kassie - if you are at all worried about your soil I would definitely not recommend squash. They pull any contaminants in your soil directly into them where they will be consumed. They basically act like a liver and clean out your soil. (So you could plant them, but you wouldn't want to eat them.) Hope that helps.

Kassie,
Raised beds are pretty easy and you can make them as large (or small) as you like. You can purchase lumber or scavenge for scraps at construction sites, or even use shipping pallets. Then fill with your soil mix and plant. For most plants, 6" of soil is all they'll need. Check out squarefootgardening.com for lots of details on raised bed gardening.

Sadly, I fall into the "live in a tiny apartment with no backyard" category. I do have a few pots of herbs, but unlike this guy (whom we featured on The Jew & The Carrot), I have no lawn to rip up!

http://jcarrot.org/rip-up-your-lawn-one-man-says-yes-i-can/

I think next weekend we're going to start planning our garden. We've got our first big plot of land and between my boyfriend and I and two of our friends, we are all inexperienced gardeners! It's going to be a challenge, but since the local greenhouses opened last week, we should be able to find some great local help and advice.

Putzed in the garden this weekend - set up teepees for the pole beans and did some light weeding and mulching everywhere else. I think I've done most all of the planting I can do with my ripped-up-lawn space, so now it's time to wait!

Planted some aloe vera, lavender and two tomato plants.

I purchased beet carrots,pak choy seed and some tomato, bell pepper and cucumber seedlings this week and will be planting Wednesday and Thrusday. On Friday 5/23/08 we have a public holiday called (Labour Day)and the government of our country has encouraged us to plant what we eat on that day. We are all going to be planting fruit trees and vegetables.