Urban Farmer

I want to grow vegetables out on my deck. It's pretty large, and has room for lots of containers of plants. I found some large cedar patio planters that are really beautiful, but also very expensive, so I was looking for alternatives. My mom suggested Gardener's Supply, and they have some plastic planters that are less expensive.

I would like to grow herbs, salad greens, carrots, peas, and tomatoes, but I probably have to dial it back because that would require a lot of containers (and soil) that I'd have to buy. On the other hand, I could grow herbs in smaller pots, plus a variety of containers would be more visually interesting. I definitely want one tub of wildflowers because that would be cheerful, and found a variety intended for containers. I would like a half-barrel to plant some things in, but I bet that would be expensive.

I bought a couple of (used) books on vegetable container gardening, and they should be on their way. It's not too early to be thinking about this because Spring will come, however dubious it seems right now. And I want to grow most of the plants from seed, except that I should have started tomatoes indoors already if I wanted to grow them from seed, so I'll have to buy young plants. Do you know if I bought seeds right now and had them sent to me, would bad weather in transit ruin the seeds? Some people must be buying them already because some varieties are sold out.

Hmm, I'm interested in gardening and making candles. That's so...organic of me -;)

I have been feeling a lot better with a lot more energy. However, it's hard to tell whether the light box is working for me or not because the sun finally came out the last couple of days. This weekend will be a better test because it's going to be overcast all weekend. They predicted freezing rain today, although it hasn't started yet, turning to snow later on. Tomorrow, they're predicting 4 to 8 inches of snow, so I'm prepared to stay indoors all weekend if I have to stay in. I'm secretly hoping that we'll get a lot of snow tomorrow so the College will be shut down on Monday. Clearly I'm getting spoiled -;)

Added: Oh, I'd like to grow strawberries too, although it's tough to grow enough strawberries to be really worthwhile. This planter would be good for herbs and strawberries.

Starting Seeds Indoors

The web sites that I've been perusing almost have me convinced that I should start seeds indoors. I found a grow light that doesn't cost an arm and a leg at Home Depot (although none of them are cheap), and Lowe's has some cheap metal shelves on which I could hang the light. And I could use it to grow marijuana after I've planted the vegetable seedlings outside. Yes, that's a joke. I could use it to grow herbs year-round.

Adrienne, you're supposed to be doing homework. H-O-M-E-W-O-R-K. Not shopping for grow lights.

No snow yet. Weather.com says there's freezing rain "nearby," but I haven't seen it yet.

Zzzzz

The light box must be adapting my circadian rhythm (it should) because now I'm tired at 9 or 10 PM--very early for me. I think that I'm going to eat something, do kitty maintenance, pet Harlee, and go to sleep. My sheets and towels are in the washer, but I can get other ones from the linen closet.

I don't think that I've mentioned that I've been using the Pomodoro Technique at work to keep my concentration going. The idea is that you work intensely for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. After you do four cycles of this, you can take a 15-30 minute break. It's weird, but it works. Somehow I can bargain with myself that if I know that I'm going to have a break later, I can concentrate now. I haven't been using it at home though. Tomorrow is going to be Pomodoro Sunday to get things done.

And, by the way, here comes the snow....