Working With the Green

The hills are green, and the grassy turf is sprinkled with color from the spring wildflowers decorating the fields. The flowers have come in early this year, many in February because the lack of rain and the warmer weather have tricked them into thinking it's well into Spring. I see splashes of orange from California poppies and purple blushes in the fields from some tiny flower I don't have the name of every morning and evening as I drive to and from work. I feel like a flower myself, ready to pop out of my winter shell and bask in the sunshine and the spring breezes.

Even so, I never feel like it's truly Spring until I can get my garden going. The last couple of years, I've missed out on this because there wasn't enough time and space to really branch out (pardon the pun). This year, I have the opportunity to literally get my hands dirty and get a modest garden up and running. Poor Scooter has had to listen to me prattle on about vegetables and roses and bulb plants and bird feeders and outdoor furniture since Fall. Come hell or high water, I was going to have a garden this year. I am an unstoppable force that really needs my green. I'm almost embarrassed to say that a recent trip to OSH nearly had me spending on gardening stuff what other women spend on shoes. But in the end I had to be sensible; we're not able to do as much as we did three years ago. Part of it is because the backyard of our current place is cemented over, so everything has to be in pots or planter boxes (but I'll take what I can get). Part of it is because while I do have more time, life is still busy and I don't want to take on more than I can handle. And part of it is because the area is in a drought and it doesn't make any kind of sense to have a large garden that needs a lot of water. But all those garden goodies were very hard to resist.

So, we're starting small: some strawberries, some tomatoes, basil (other herbs to come), and one zucchini. The tomatoes and zucchini don't need tons of water (and actually zucchini--we found out--is susceptible to fungus if over-watered). The strawberries and basil are my two concessions that will probably need water every other day or every day, depending on how hot it gets. I also chose some flowering plants that don't seem to need a lot of water (every 2-3 days until established, then less after that). The few pictures below show our progress at the end of day 1.

We planted sequoia strawberries, the variety that Scooter likes.

A basil plant for pasta and to eat with tomato--an Italian must!

Scooter found this container at a swap meet. It's a perfect match for the red tomato.

The herb bed is ready and waiting. I just have to buy the herbs.

The zucchini bed before we lined and filled it. Scooter also added support on the sides to make sure it lasts the whole season.

Some of the pretty flowers we got to adorn the garden and not need tons of water.

We added another wine barrel with two tomatoes on day 2 (thank you K and Z for the donation of wine barrels!). We also added protection in the form of chicken wire for the strawberries and the zucchini; with cats in the area, the dirt would of course seem like a convenient litter box and I don't need that kind of surprise when I'm digging around. I hope to add thyme, oregano, and sage to the herb bed by May (there's a rosemary hedge out front, so we're good there); now that I'm cooking more again, I need my Italian herbs! And I have plans for adding bird feeders--high out of the reach of cats--and comfortable chairs to enjoy my new green space. Spring is just too much fun!