A little off topic

It's only ordinary gardening, but I just can't help but get geeked out by the first tomato of the year!

If I was a little braver ...

I would mulch my landlord's garden when I am babysitting it. Other people's soil can be so sad!

Seedlings

With all the hot weather we've been having, I've begun to despair that I'll never do any kind of gardening outside of my own little plot. After all, I'm spending enough time just collecting and distributing graywater for my home plants, let alone irrigating in secret.

But now I'm back to my illicit pursuits.

It all started in May, when I found two adorable baby elms growing on the sidewalk of a house in Ladd's Addition. The house was between owners, and enough dirt had built up along the risers of the steps in the sidewalk for the plants to take root. I knew their days were numbered, so I tugged them out and stuffed them in a plastic bag.

We had rescued a few baby maples in spring (most of whom perished during our vacation), and a holly, a spruce and a cherry. John has high hopes of turning these specimens into bonsais. But after rescuing the elm trees, we realized that with a little patience and a little cleverness, we could be starting the trees we'll need when we finally get our place. Why spend $40 on an English Walnut when you have a perfectly good one sprouting up under the azalea? Thanks, squirrels!

I went on a walk tonight and realized that if I had a trowel (because, trust me, I was trying to dig with my hands, but without great success), I could have brought home an Asian pear, an Italian prune and a plum tree. That's not counting the endless crop of walnuts (black and English), maples and cherries.

So my big goal now is to rescue unloved, unwanted seedlings that are just going to get mowed or weeded, and find them new homes. It's going to be fun!

Almost an amateur now

Just a quick update: due to vacations and colds, I haven't made a lot of progress in the gardening department. The trip was murder on my plants--powder mildew and thrips galore. But I refuse to let my spirits drop. After all, you're not even an amateur gardener until you've killed more than a hundred plants!

Wasted space everywhere

The kid and I scoped out the planter box by the bar and it is in a state of replanting. That's good news, I'm sure, but now we must turn further afield for our first expedition.

Fortunately, today we took a long bus trip. It was easy to see lots of great potential planting spaces now that I am looking for them. I think I saw a great place on our side of the river. It would be easily accessible for folks crossing the bridge--and there are a lot of needy folks who live and walk around that bridge. I'm pretty excited.

Suddenly, I can't believe I don't own a trowel or shovel.

My first project!

We've been thinking about "adopting" the empty planter by the bar up the street for a while, but since I just finished Food Not Lawns, by Heather Flores, my garrrdening urges are at full throttle. I'm going to start light: easy stuff, like sunflowers and maybe some pumpkins. The planting starts this evening or Saturday morning, depending on activity around the site!