Starting a spring garden
Mornin’ earthly gardeners! I thought I’d share a photo of my little Mexican lime tree with you. A friend says it’s the same as the “key lime.” Last year it bloomed off and on all spring and summer, and actually made a handful of fruit. What fun! It sits on a semi-shaded porch, and was doing great until we got a lot of ice last winter. I thought it was dead, but it’s not–it’s coming back! I’m always amazed at the rejuvenation power of plants.
It’s been raining profusely here off and on for the past week or so, and the garden is waterlogged. I’m really anxious to get these seedlings out of the office and into the ground. They aren’t quite ready, but I figure IF the sun comes out, they’ll catch up eventually. That’s the hope, anyway.
I hope some of you others are closer to spring. I haven’t heard the weather reports from other parts of the country in a few days, but I expect some of you are still chillin’. Now is the time to pore over those garden seed catalogs (if you still do the paper thang) or sit and browse through all the online garden seed suppliers.
If you haven’t started seedlings yet, there’s still time. My new idea is to set out a few at a time, spaced a few days apart. I don’t really have room for all these seedlings, so some will have to go into containers. Speaking of containers, the tomatoes in the EarthBox are doing fabulously, as are the two remaining tomato plants out in the raised beds.
Next week, I’ll talk about using raised beds in your garden, and tell you how you can build an easy, fast, almost instant garden anywhere! Really! So until then, do a Google for “small raised bed gardens” and get some ideas. And have a good weekend…
Until then, dig it!
bobbi c.
Copyright ©2007 Bobbi A. Chukran. All rights to photos and text reserved.
raised bed gardening, rain, tomatoes, small space gardens, easy gardens
March 30th, 2007 at 10:43 am
I had a lime tree last year and some neighborhood cats knocked it off my porch and killed it. (I didn’t realize it was gone for a couple of days! Ack! I tried to save it, but it was too late.) Thanks for reminding me of how cool they are!
March 31st, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Hi Ivy,
Those darned cats! Actually, I thought my lime tree was dead, too. It sat looking really dead for months, but I just left it in the pot on the porch. I finally cut back the limbs, and now green sprouts are shooting up from the roots. It’s possible that your plant was still alive, unless the roots fried in the sun…
bobbi c.
April 1st, 2007 at 7:19 am
What a beautiful, resourceful site Bobbi. I’ll be back often!
April 2nd, 2007 at 8:58 am
Ooh - this is my first visit to your blog and I love it! Someday, I want to have a big garden. Right now, I just grow some things in pots on our tiny patio. Oh, and I have ONE clover sprout in a tiny pot on my desk at work.
I hope you get some sun soon!