After wanting to for months, I planted a small container garden on our balcony. Honestly what caused me to take the plunge was an end cap at Target with organic potting soil and recyclable pots. The pots are made out of rice pods discarded after harvesting, and after using them or in the event they break, you can literally just bury them in the ground and they will decompose into the dirt. That's what the label says at least. We saw them earlier in the week, and I wanted to buy them right then and there. Jonathan suggested I make it a Saturday project, so I did a small amount of reading, convinced him it would not be a waste of money, and we headed back out this morning.
So we got a cherry tomato plant:
Note the bamboo skewer and twist tie preventing the plant from drooping over. Yes, years of reading Martha Stewart Living finally paid off.
We also got a jalapeno pepper plant:
You may be able to see two baby jalapenos already growing.The small pots contain italian parsley, cilantro, and sweet basil. Considering that with almost every trip to the grocery store we purchase all of these ingredients (except the basil...way to expensive), I think we should get some use out of these plants. The purpose was partly just to do it. I dream of having a vegetable garden when we get a house one day, and this might help prepare me for that. We also hope it may save some money in the long run. Roma tomatoes were a dollar each at Schnuck's the other day. One dollar for a tomato!! The total cost of the set up was about $45: $25 for pots and soil at Target, $14 for the plants at a local nursery, $3.50 for gravel at Home Depot. We tried to get the gravel at the nursery and save a trip, but they only had 50 lb bags. Once we got to Home Depot and realized they also only had 50 lb bags, it was too far to drive back to the nursery. Does anyone need 48 lbs of gravel?
Hopefully in the next few months I will be able to update the blog with pictures of real tomatoes and jalapenos. I can't wait to make some yummy pico : )
3 comments:
So I had no idea you had a blog...until you commented about it on my blog...So now, I will be able to keep up with you! Every year I want to get a tomato plant, and every year I don't, and I still don't have one yet, so we'll see if I get one. I don't even eat them, I just want to get them for my boys. Glad to see you on here!
OK, I'm obtuse - I had no idea you were blogging (really, I need to start clicking on people's names... hello...). Tomatoes totally intimidate me - I've never had any success. You'll have to keep us posted on the progress. Having fresh herbs is sooooo nice.
By the way, have you read "Animal Vegetable Miracle"? It's pretty good - way too much for me to bite off at once, but it was definitely an eye-opener and gave me some good ideas to start with.
Post a Comment