Apr 11, 2010
Sunshine
This weekend has been the first weekend of the year with some real sunshine. It’s amazing how much happier everyone seems when they get out and about in the sunshine and fresh air.
Since the demise of my container vegetable garden last year (three weeks of snow killed most of what I planted, and my planting things too close together didn’t help them achieve hardy growth) I’ve been impatient for the spring.
So far my garden consists of:
- 1 mint plant (survived the entire winter in my conservatory, and has been replanted outside)
- 1 parsley plant
- 1 rosemary plant (replaced a slug-destroyed basil plant)
- 1 coriander plant (cilantro, for anyone across the pond)
- 3 seedling pots of thyme (seeds donated via my local council)
- 1 strawberry plant
- and some pansies
I have dreams of a thriving food garden built along permaculture principles. However, like Chris at Tiny Simplicity suggests, it’s better to start small.
I felt a bit strange planting pansies – I like everything I own to be functional as well as pretty! But they were extremely beautiful, and I’ve always loved pansies.
Since planting, however, I’ve discovered they make a medicinal tea that can be used to help allieve allergies – which probably goes to show that everything is useful in some way!
I’m liking what you’re doing here–connecting the dots between micro-movements. And I agree, many blogs on this kind of thing are a bit reductionist.
Anyway, good luck with the gardening stuff. If you leave them outside, mint plant will die back in the winter & regenerate in the spring. And they spread like crazy, so be careful where you put them.
Hope you get more than 2 or 3 strawberries. I have never had any real success with them.
Thanks for the advice
My mint is in a biggish pot by itself, as I heard it spreads fast. Not sure how well the strawberries will pan out, I picked them on a whim, and didn’t really read up on how easy they are to grow here. This is really my first attempt at anything beyond a windowsill herb, so I know I have a lot of trial and error ahead of me… but that’s part of the fun 
Hey Suzie,
We are looking to buy 2 or 3 acres to build on and create a sustainable garden, so I’d love for you to write more about permaculture! I have also recently got into hydroponics and now have some great lettuce growing. Are you into hydroponics and if so do you have any hydroponic posts planned? I would also be very interested.
That’s great to hear you are planning to get 3-4 acres! At the moment I have a very small garden, with no soil (rented) so I keep things slow and only grow things in containers – no hydroponics yet! But next year we are planning to move to a house with about 3/4 acre, which will definitely make a big difference – I’m really looking forward to it!
However, I absolutely love the idea of a hydroponic window farm – like these ones: http://our.windowfarms.org/
That may be my next project!