Friday, March 4, 2011

Garden Ramblings

I went to Atwoods today and they have individual potted strawberry plants with lots of flowers on them for $.99 each!  I've been debating on how to plant my strawberries after hearing from a friend long ago that snakes liked to live in their plants.  How do you guys keep your plants?  I thought about getting one of those 'strawberry pots' with the holes in the side, but can't rationalize spending $25 each for such a little container, and then I looked at the hanging strawberry baskets, but kept reading that the bottom plants die out from lack of water while the top ones thrive.  I'm half inclined to go all hillbilly and plant them in our old gutters and fasten the gutters up on our chain link fence.  Bad idea?

After Atwoods, I went to Tractor Supply and found GOLDEN RASPBERRIES!  I LOVE these, so excited!  I forgot to mention in my last gardening role call that I have 2 red raspberry plants, 2 thornless blackberries, and 2 different seedless grape varieties to plant as well.

I've been plugging along on my Mini-Farming book.  I'm a little intimidated by the science of good soil, but I'm hoping it's less complex than it seems once you get into it.  It's like reading the trouble shooting section of a manual before you have any problems with it.  Also, trying to decide if I should try composting at home, or just buying compost.  It takes so long to develop and takes up precious yard space, and buying compost is SO CHEAP.  Thoughts?

Also, I've been looking for Etsy people who have things I want to trade with and just found one :)  She makes homemade jams and marmalades and lives in Tulsa.  So we're going to start bartering delicious things like meyer lemon vanilla bean marmalade or blood orange fennel marmalade for coffee.  Yay!  Plus, I make it to Tulsa once a month or so, so I can just meet up with her and we can both save on shipping :)

4 comments:

Pearl Berries said...

I can trade you something for coffee, too. Um, hugs? Witty banter? I have 2 rats that will need a home in a few weeks! Heck, I'd even pay for the shipping of the coffee!

In other news, go hillbilly and reduce/reuse/recycle those old gutters! A little Rustoleum and they could be quite pretty!

kathy said...

Right now I want the results of a garden, but the effort to get there seems overwhelming!

Wendy said...

Hey hey I looked at Lowe's...but the wrong store, I guess. Stinks that mine doesn't have the deal.
(and YAY- I can comment now. Had trouble before...)

Wendy said...

Also- more thoughts-
compost is easy to make, but does take a long time and also attracts rodents and other animals. Just something to think about. I throw my compost material over the fence in a pile, and Fred turns it occasionally and shovels it back over when it's ready.

Bartering on etsy is a great idea!! Why didn't I think of that?