Photo: Our indoor propagation system for basil, tomatoes and (hopefully) flowers.
So, despite my earlier blog and childlike delving into all that was Organic Gardening, I am finding that gardening, organic or otherwise, at high altitude isn't all that it was supposedly cracked up to be.
The sustainable, green-oriented community, and the local County offices, have politely informed me that (1) I would need a soil test done, (2) that costs upwards of $50, (3) to tell me the soil can't really support anything, but the local lumber store could recommend compost/ manure/ fertilizer and (4) nothing grows here but flowers. Plus, the growing season is about, 8 weeks long - max. One of my neighbors said she spent months tending to a tomato plant to have one grow and the rest freeze in an early-August temperature drop. Well, let me save time and effort and switch my ideas now.
Thus, the garden plan is now shifting from a grow-your-own, teach-the-baby-where-food-comes-from, to a patch of hardy nasturtiums. Instead, I will have a small container garden on our sunny, warm deck, so that I can bring in the tender tomato plants at night if necessary. Containers? Courtesy of our local grocery store's flower department. They gave us some leftover rose buckets gratis. And lovely A drilled some holes for drainage.
For more inspiration, and a reality check on planning and planting a veggie garden, read Petit Elefant's post here or Jason's Guide to Indoor Gardening of Tomatoes here. In the meantime, enjoy my sprouting seedlings courtesy of our egg carton. The sunflower is sprouting, alongside some peas. The lid shows what I planted where.
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