So about a month and a half ago I decided I wanted to start a garden. My mom has a garden so I was already pretty familiar with how to get started. First I decided what I wanted to grow and where I would grow it, this was my first dilemma. I live on the top floor in a duplex apartment with limited space for a garden. Since I only rent here I didn't know if I could use the backyard, which is also used for parking sometimes, for my plants so I decided to do a container garden on my "porch". I put that in quotations because I'm not sure if it can truly be called a porch, it's just a staircase with an extended top step...if that makes sense. But anyway, once I had an idea for how this could work I went out and got my supplies!
I started with snap pea and carrot seeds and potting soil from dollar tree. I also got a few planters from there, I like to be as thrifty as possible when starting new projects =). Next I went to Home Depot, who had their herb, fruit and veggie plants on sale 5 for $10, so I picked up 2 strawberry plants, 2 pepper plants (sweet red and orange) and a cilantro plant as well as some plant food and gloves just because I wanted to feel official (and not mess up my nails lol). For my other planters, I used two milks jugs, the bottom half of a 2 L soda bottle and my mom, who generously donated 5 garlic plants to my garden, supplied the last planter.
So far things had been going smoothly until this past weekend. I was in Atlanta and my poor plants all but died in the Savannah sun! My once almost too bountiful cilantro plant was knocked over and sizzled to a crisp against the metal staircase =(, the pepper plants' leaves were horribly wilted and one strawberry plant gave up on life. Thankfully all was not lost because I've nursed them all, save the cilantro, back to health since and my garlic and snap peas didn't suffer much. There are no before pictures but this is what I'm working with now.
This is my red sweet pepper plant that has two peppers coming in and I'm sooooo excited! I buy TONS of peppers, almost every week, which is why I wanted to grow my own, I know I'll save money because they are not cheap!
Here's my orange bell pepper plant, which only has one fruit but I'm hopeful for more, it was wilted so bad that the top half of it had to be cut so I'll be watching it carefully.
My garlic has been prospering since I brought them home from my mom's. Also if you look closely you can see how pitiful my cilantro looks now, it's the between the garlic and strawberry plants.The strawberry plants have produced maybe 3 or 4 fruit but the were all pretty tiny, like no bigger than the top half of my thumb, so I'm thinking of planting them in something with a little more room soon.
And last are my snap peas which have been sprouting up like crazy but no fruit yet. I'm not sure what their flowers, if they have any, look like but so far it's been all green. I've read they get up to 6 ft so I may have get bigger sticks soon to keep them upright.
And a group picture plus my "porch" =)
**from top left, clockwise: snap peas, starwberries, cilantro (in recovery), garlic, (newly planted) flowers, red pepper, orange pepper**
So that's what I have so far, I'm happy to see my plants recovering and bearing fruit! When my cilantro bounces back, I'll be sure to do an update post. But I just wanted to show you that growing a garden doesn't have to be hard and you don't need a lot of space (or money) to get started! Plus it's fun! It teaches me paitience and persistence, which I definitely need in my life. I'm no expert so I'm always open for suggestions/comments or questions. Hopefully I inspire someone to try their hand at growing something. ✌️
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