Urban Gardening (Sounds Way More Sophisticated Than Reality)

Something something complete. Yes, after finishing potting the window boxes on our balcony, my first though was a Family Guy, Star Wars reference. This is a sure sign a more significant portion of my brain has been corrupted by the company I've been keeping for the past 13+ years than I am generally willing to admit. Looking at you DH.

Since we moved in we've been wanting to turn the balcony into outdoor living space with plants. Having a tiny patch of access to the outdoors was an imperative for us when we moved and while it may be small, we'll be damned if we won't use every inch of it.

The World Market pillows make the herbs happy.

So this past weekend we discovered Gingko Gardens on the Hill (which is awesome) and stocked up on the hardware, plants and soil we would need to have a microscopic size "garden". It had never occurred to me to use different soil for the herbs/veggies that we eat vs. the flowers that we grow. But, the friendly gardener pointed out that if we use Miracle Grow soil to plant our herbs we'd be ingesting fertilizer through the plants. So of course I bought fancy organic soil-- because I am a total yuppie that can be convinced of just about anything I have little knowledge of will kill me or damage the environment-- and also regular MG soil for the petunias.

Of course, now I have enough soil in my garage to plant at least two other balcony gardens, so give a shout if you need some local dirt.

Squint and you can see the petunias.

Now basking in the gentle rain of this week (a sure sign mother nature agrees with our planting efforts) are:

-Herb box of cilantro, rosemary, thyme, basil and mint

-Box of mesclun lettuce (bought on total impulse, not sure why I need to grow my own)

-Two boxes of lantana, petunias and sweet potato vine (which are way over planted and will likely need to be broken into a third at some point)

-One potted hosta

 Not quite the Marigold Festival Gardens of yore, but here's hoping we can keep it alive and at least enjoy a few appetizers and drinks from our labors. So stop by and enjoy the flowers and a drink while lounging on an IKEA bench or vintage chair we've jigsawed into our little outdoor space.