3/30/08

The Gardening Itch


Last night, I was reading Stephanie's post about her mini greenhouses. Ironically, I was thinking about doing the same thing with some 2-liter bottles I have. Our last frost is later than theirs, though, so I haven't been quite as ambitious in my planning.

We also don't have a garden. Yet. :o)

Mike's parents have a large garden and three families (ours, theirs and Mike's sister's) share in the harvesting, preserving and eating process. It is a lot of work, but with everyone's help, it isn't so bad. Growing up, we always had a garden. I remember canning at home with Mom and canning with Aunts and Grandmas as well. It is only natural that I should want my own garden.

I would also LOVE to have some fruit trees. Apples for pies and apple sauce, cherries for baking, peaches for canning and baking. Can't tell I love to bake can you? Okay, maybe I'd just like a big ol' orchard. :o)

I have no idea where I would put a garden or what I would put in it exactly, but the longing is there for sure. I guess what I'd like at the moment is to start small with a couple of tomato plants, maybe some onions, green beans, green peppers and carrots. I think it would help to have these things handy and it would leave more in Mike's parent's garden for canning and freezing. I can always expand on a small plot as the kids grow.

Boosting my gardening itch is the economy. Prices have gone up so much at the grocery stores due to the gas prices (don't even get me started on the blood-thirsty oil companies) and they will only continue to rise. The boys are also getting older (read "eating more and more each day and will soon be teenagers that will eat even more") and I need to add that into the equation.

I was nagging talking to Mike about these very things and he agreed. I'm still working on warming him up to the whole garden thing (they can be a lot of work), but his parent's were ordering a new cherry tree and the bug must have bitten him. We spent at least an hour looking at the different types of trees at one site.

I'm going to call them before we put in our order and make sure I have the right types in mind. I know we want a Montmorency Cherry tree. Mike's parents had one of these before. They ordered a smaller dwarf North Star this time since it's just the two of them now and they don't need a large tree. We also want a Granny Smith Tree (those are our favorite!) and maybe a sweet apple, too. We will need a Red or Yellow Delicious tree nearby to pollinate the Granny Smith tree, but Mike's parents have both of those. I just need to make sure that they live close enough for the pollination to work.

I'm so excited!!!

4 comments:

Stephanie Appleton said...

at least a small garden you can cut down on the work and mulch like crazy! Containers might do the trick too for most of what you are thinking of if you just want enough for eating.

Kokopelli said...

I can't tell you how much I admire people who can grow things well. My "ex" was wonderful at it like you and Stephanie.

Tim Appleton (Applehead) said...

the bigger the garden, the less yard to mow. but then Mike wouldn't like that idea either!

Kokopelli said...

This Mike loves that idea of less grass to mow, Tim. Seems to me if something grows there, it belongs there.