What am I growing? Why am I not eating it yet?
Posted on: July 3, 2013
So far I’m LOVING growing my own little urban farm in my yard. Okay, so Old MacDonald doesn’t address his post to my home (yet!) but it’s coming along nicely. I get such a proud momma bear grin when I check on them each day. Now with (at least) another four more weekends of work left to clearing out the yard before we can plant permanent planter boxes around the perimeter, my patio is gradually becoming overrun with pots!
Here’s a quick pic of what we’ve got so far on the corner of the patio. Please ignore the dirt, leaves, weeds, and toppled lattice (which I was using to keep the squirrels out of the herb box a few weeks back). I never claimed that this was an “attractive” set up, now did i? 😀
Normally this time of year I grunt and grump about all of the rain we get in South Florida, but this year it’s fantastic for my plants! They’ve been able to enjoy all this natural rain and grow so quickly.
The habanero, eggplant (tiny sprout), cilantro, thyme, and MASSIVE basil (seriously, check that out!) were all started from organic seeds. It’s so easy to soak and sprout indoors. Transplanting is the tricky part, because the sprout experiences stress, and doing it too early or not in the right conditions (good soil, enough water…etc) can kill them off quickly. HENCE the vacant pot. That’s what happened to my red bell pepper sprouts. I’ve grown them before, so I should have known better. They were transplanted too high, and washed out with the rain, then died off in just two days after transplanting! So sad. They could have been fantastic by now.Â
The pineapple was the top from a fresh pineapple last November, and a gift from a fellow blogger (faithcryan.com @BabyStepsForGrownUps). So excited to enjoy some fruit from them, but they do take quite a while to start to bear fruit. Mmmmmm…. waiting, waiting, waiting…. *drooling* 🙂
The roses were a gift from the Mr. one random day; an “I appreciate my baby momma” gift a few weeks back. They had to transplant quickly because they were overgrown on their pot the day he bought them! So I gave them a new home and they’re very happy now. Just around the root ball I put two (previously frozen) organic banana peels, as they are apparently very good for rose bushes (gotta love Pinterest for the random bits you learn, eh?). Seems to be proving true as the bush doubled in size in a few weeks. No new blossoms since the old ones died off in the original pot. *fingers crossed* Lord, please soon!
It’s a good feeling to start to “live off the land”. Granted, we’re nowhere near that just yet, but starting! As the weeks go on this year we’re going to continue to save my seeds, start herbs and give away as gifts, and continue to work on growing my “kitchen”!
SAVE YOUR SEEDS!
I encourage you to save your organic seeds from your food items and plant the easy ones to start. Tomatos, bell peppers, (any pepper, really), or even buy a packet of organic (non Monsanto, do a quick google search on which are good to support) and start indoors. Remember to give them a safe, warm, moist home in a small container or cup, and give them time!Â
Sometime soon we will want to start on a rain barrel and a compost bin, but only once we find the time. I know once that’s up and running the plants will absolutely love their water and food. And what a way to recycle, right? How many of you have built your own compost bin and rain barrels? Was it difficult to set up with the gutters? Did you encounter much compost “stink”? Lets start a dialogue if we can!
Cheers!
Purely Homegrown 
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