Out of garden space? Build some!!

My next door neighbor is brilliant! We all know how small my garden space is, but imagine having even less! That's what my backdoor neighbors have to face. It's amazing what they've done though. Around their patio, they've made a small vegetable garden and then at the entrance to their walkway, they've made raised beds from horse water troughs. The most inspiring addition was the built in planter boxes.

Removing a few cottage stones, they were able to create a perfect, sunny void that could be filled in with soil. A front to hold the dirt was constructed and wedged between the cottage stones, and a little protection was placed at the base of the fence behind to make sure the wood didn't rot. Add some soil, some bean trellises and some beans, and you've got yourself a vertical garden.

This amazing and simple construction job was all to inspiring for me... I had to follow their lead and build my own beds. I'll be honest, I got a little out of control. In total, I built up 6 new beds. This displaced a few cottage stones that I now need to find a use for. I'm thinking that I can put them together in my patio area to plant some sort of shady vine or shade flowers. I'll keep you posted!

Here comes that rainy-day feelin' again...

This is killing me. Seattle is just a pit of rain right now. That's wonderful for all of the evergreens and laurels and water gardens, but my newly planted seeds and vegetables are just not happy.

The tomatoes are just kinda sittin' there, waiting for some sun. The pimentos are praying for a warm day to let their little fruits grow and ripen. The curry is wondering if it was planted by mistake. The beans have poked through the soil, but they haven't decided if it's worth their while to set up camp. The butternut squash, it has decided that if the sun shows its face it will get comfortable, and you can see it in the way its leaves are spreading and pointing out their direction. It's the same situation for the zucchinis.

The radishes could care less though. They are growing like they don't know any better. Both types that I planted are flourishing. The English lavender has really taken to the soil too. It perked up right away and its branches have really gotten strong.

The other little bit of farming that I've started is in little pots. I've started, from seeds, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, basil, lavender, flax, sage and catnip. The brocs and sprouts have officially germinated and are doing what they should: growing and making ready to be transplanted. The other seeds are still sleeping, hopefully they will come to life soon.

So, all in all, we need some sun. The poor plants need some encouragement and I don't want to be discouraged in my first agro attempt myself.