Attempting urban agriculture

So many people in the Rainier Valley have incredible gardens: flowers, vegetables, Japanese, zen, you name it. I have a rather small garden in comparison to so many of my neighbors, but I attempt to do a lot with it.

I am currently making a solid effort at some fruit, veggies and herbs of my own. I have planted three different types of strawberries. I've got Rainier, Mt. Hood and Northwestern Native varieties. As of today, the Mt. Hood and Rainiers are doing amazingly. They've taken root and are spreading across the rocks. There are some blossoms on about half of them, and you know what that means? There will be berries! I'm still waiting to see what becomes of the Northwesterns; they were a tough transplant.

I've always wanted to have a kitchen garden. With a small yard and minimal garden space, one has to be creative when you want to do a lot. I happen to be blessed with a balcony that has a wide ledge. It's just perfect for some planter boxes. To make the boxes pretty from the street, I've planted some nice, low maintenance primroses, but between them, I'm growing some useful herbs from seed. The chives are fun to watch grow. As they continue to get taller, they still have the husk of their original seeds on their tips. It's like they're wearing little top hats. The basil and oregano aren't have as cute, but just as prolific; the basil, more so.

My final agro attempt as of late is my feisty peas. That's right, they're called feisty peas. I've planted them around an odd little pyramidal bamboo structure. It's pretty intense when you see how tangled their little graspy arms are. My hope is that they'll continue to grow up the tower and be both visually stimulating as well as well as a tasty contribution to this summer's meals.

I'll keep you posted as they all progress.