Wednesday, April 29, 2015

My Own Postage Stamp Garden

I decided to take the things that I learned from The Postage Stamp Vegetable Garden and begin my own postage stamp garden. (Click here to read my review of this fascinating book.)

I don’t have the space for a 5 x 5 garden or even a 4 x 4 garden, but I applied the principles to my south-facing flowerbed. Also, I didn’t make a raised bed. Hopefully, in the autumn my husband and I can do that. But we just didn’t have time this year. Our youngest son is having a cardio-thoracic reconstruction in early May, and it was all we could do just to prepare the flowerbeds for planting and get the seedlings in place.

My space measures 2.5’ x 44’. (It seems like a huge space. But since much of it is unusable because it abuts the side of the house of driveway, it’s still a small space.) In this space, my husband and I planted:

12 white corn plants
6 jalapenos (Yes, I realize how many peppers that will give me. My guys live on peppers.)
1 habanero (Scoville rating: 250,000)
1 ghost pepper (Scoville rating: 1,001, 304. Matthew is giddy about this.)
4 red bell peppers
4 yellow bell peppers
4 beefsteak tomatoes
1 purple cherry tomato
2 cucumbers
Mint (Properly contained in a fabric-lined pot, set into the ground)
Chocolate mint (Same as above)
Chives
Sage
Oregano
Thyme
Tarragon
Basil
Strawberries (I originally had six plants. Now I have more than I can count.)


Here are some photos of the beds. I'll post more later in the summer as the plants mature.

Most of what you see here are the strawberries and herbs
I've been growing for several years. 

Some of the pepper plants are behind me.
Corn plants are beyond that.

 Habanero (foreground) and ghost pepper.
Black tubing is drip irrigation.

N.B. My blogging, which has gotten sporadic, will probably be even more sporadic over the summer since my son's surgery has a 12 week recovery. 

4 comments:

  1. It always looks so lovely, but not if I try. I have a black thumb for anything except orchids. (And even those all died at the end of last year - albeit through no fault of my own.)

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  2. Ahh, I wish I had a green thumb! And a garden to develop it with! Hope you grow lots and lots of wonderful things <3

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  3. Such a lovely idea! I could probably attempt this with window boxes...if I wasn't such a black thumb. I love looking at others' vegetable gardens!

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