The Nursery

I am blessed to have a full native nursery at my finger tips. Stone is in business with the The Plantsmen Nursery. The Plantsmen restores and installs native landscapes and Stone implements the hardscape design and stone art into the project. Today we went to pick up some plants we are donating for our local soup kitchen’s community garden plot and I picked up a few dozen plants for us.

We live about eight blocks from downtown in a small house with no yard. There is one tiny strip of South facing sun along the house where I want to plant fruit trees and keep them pruned to fit the space. We’ve decided that the best use for our tiny, shaded back plot is for a simple bike and tool shed. All of our seasonal produce comes from our local CSA share that will start in June and our farmers’ market which is already in full swing.

So what’s a crunchy mama to do without a space to garden? Containers and flower boxes of course! We have a few plastic flower boxes that were here when we bought the house that will do for now, but we don’t have enough. I found a source of reclaimed wood and plan on building the rest of the boxes and drill them under every window. We also have a wrought iron porch on the second floor where we can hang boxes off the sides and keep a few containers happy and loved.

I picked up some basic kitchen herbs: rosemary, thyme, basil, and sage and I picked out various varieties of lettuce that will be perfect for my shady porch. I grabbed two cucumbers; a picking variety and a slicing variety that I am going to plant in containers and let them grow up the iron pillars on the entry way of the house. I also grabbed a few varieties of cherry tomatoes, some kale, a hot pepper plant and some flowers for charm. I tried to keep it simple and think about ways to enhance our home environment and provide growing experience for the boys. I know container gardening can be tricky because you have to keep up with the watering, but since I’m home with the boys most of the day I think we will have fun taking care of our plants. What I need to do asap is get a rain barrel for our gutters so we can water our plants with gray water.

Part of me yearns for a bigger garden and to grow more of our own food first hand, but I know it’s coming and really I’m thankful for our present situation and how we are provided for so abundantly. Here are some pictures of our day at the nursery.