Monday, January 22, 2007

More planning

Well, dh and i had a small discussion about the vegetable garden. Ok, it became more of a fight, and rather an unpleasant one at that. He seems not to understand why i (1) want to plan it now and (2) don't think i can just do everything. Let's not go there.

"Why do you have to start seeds anyway?" he says "it is just a mess and takes up space. Why can't you just buy some plants and put them in, they don't have to be heirlooms and all that you know, and A can take care of it if you are too busy"

Heh, where do i start with that??? I had to leave the room in sheer disgust.

Men.

It occurs to me, though, that if i *do* grow just a few tomato plants, i will then have a supply of vine-ripened, bug-ridden, half-rotten tomatoes available to throw at my husband if necessary. Hmmm......

Monday, January 15, 2007

seeds


Ordinarily, it being january i would be spending hours perusing seed catalogs trying to decide which tomato seeds to buy this year. But so far so good on the pregnancy front, and we are expecting two babies in June. So i don't foresee doing a vegetable garden this year, unless for some odd reason my husband agrees to take it over.

So, my garden plan is the following: In March, or as early as humanly possible, the boy and i will throw a very very thick layer of mulch all over everything -- flower beds and vegetable garden alike. Thus hoping against hope to keep down the weeds. Then, in early May, we will plant a geometric, victorian carpet planting of annuals in the veggie garden, and simply ignore it for the rest of the summer. I promised C some strawberry plants, so i *may* plant those in the center.

But now, actually thinking about paying for the number of annual plants necessary to make such a planting is rather daunting, even if you can get 3 flats for $21 around here. I didn't actually compute it but i am thinking like 20 flats might be required? Not, ahem, cost effective. Especially with the upcoming big event (knock on wood). And all that mulch is going to cost me a bundle already, but i can't do anything about that, because if i don't mulch i might as well just forget the garden entirely.

So i will have to start the flower seeds....and that is what this blog will be about this year, an annual flower garden, planted in garish Victorian carpet planting 'spendor'. Did i mention i hate Victorian carpet plantings? But i honestly can't think of what else to do with that space, except let it run to weeds. So i am open for suggestions... I will not change the title of this blog, hoping for a nice vegetable garden in the summer of 2008.

Undoubtedly there will be volunteers from all the tomatoes that rotted last year, so...perhaps my carpet planting will have tomatoes growing through it. That should be....interesting...uh, we'll call it 'eccentric'.