I have become obsessed with my plants! What started off as a small project to grow a few veggies has now turned into a full blown urban farming obsession. A few raised beds with a sparse amount of veggies have now become way more than that.
I have a friend that works at a nursery and he has been dropping off unwanted freebies at my doorstep. Apparently nurseries have to get rid of what they don't sell. Usually it gets donated to the local community gardens. Nice. But they seem to have too much and he's been bringing a lot of plants. Luckily I can call friends and I give away what I can't use. It's so nice that every plant gets a home. It would be such a bummer if these plants had to be thrown out. I can't stand to waste things, especially that. So thanks to him I now have way more variety than I had planned on planting. Whew! Good thing he doesn't bring these everyday.
So back to the plethora of plants! I have added a few things since I started, and my beds have morphed. What I had planned as four beds with perfectly spaced plants are now slowly becoming crowded. I have added 2 Spaghetti Squash, 1 Eggplant, 1 each of Pepperoncini, New Mexico, Italian Roasting, and Italian Long chili pepper, 1 Pole Bean, Yellow and White sweet onions, 4 strawberry, 5 corn, 1 Asparagus and 1 Celebrity tomato plant. That's over 20 more plants than I had planned! But to be honest, I think I'm hooked. I see the allure of being outside in the sun and it's so therapeutic. Not to mention that every few days I go out there to see what is starting to bloom. How exciting!!
The hard part is going to be the preserving. I plan to do some canning. Preserving is the best way of not letting all those wonderful veggies go to waste. I'm already buying the jars so I'm ready when the plants are. There are so many things you can do, pickling, salsas, chutneys, compotes, jams, jellies...tons of possibilities. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Here are some pics of the progress and blooms that have popped up.
BED #1
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BED #2
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BED #3
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BED #4
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