Gardening

Online Article – GARDEN ENVY GOES GREEN

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Garden Envy goes GREEN: How I went from no garden to mini-garden easily! ( Part II of Color Me Green)

May 2012 Written for TriangleMommies Blog Copyright ARLADEAN ARNSON

To recap, if you have been reading the TM Blog, I wrote recently that I was suffering from a bout of Garden Envy. My friends were so lucky with their little nurslings-watching them grow-that I soon wanted a garden too. Well, this is the rest of the story.
My Garden Envy is slowing slipping away. I now have plants and dirt and watering schedules to help me recover! Of course, it cost me about $50 at the home improvement store. (Yes, I probably could have saved money by shopping around and piecing things together myself.) But, with the experience of those burly men (and women?) in the gardening section, I found the expertise that would seed my enthusiasm for my project.
My son had brought home the first plant from his science class. It is a kidney bean plant. So, going with the flow, I bought a large long rectangular plastic pot that would hold three plants with room to grow. With help from the burly man mentioned above, I picked a green pepper plant and then a citronella (for getting rid of pesky insects) to fill out the pot.
Still being in the throws of a Green Envy outbreak, I bought a plant just for myself. It is an almost two-foot-tall tomato plant in its own pot. I had to stake it when I got home, but it is a beauty! And, consequentially, I started to dream of fresh salads.
The back porch did not work out as planned. It ended up being to shady. I moved the two large pots to a small sunny nook in front of my front porch yet behind a small “butterfly bush”. Here they should get all the sun they need!
I water them in the morning and check to see if they need water again in the evening. It is easy to remember because the plants are on the same schedule as my walks with my dog.
I currently have two, maybe three, green tomatoes. There is one very tiny bean pod growing. Alas, there are no signs of green peppers.
My Garden Envy infliction has subsided thanks to my small (two pot) container garden; however, I AM feeling a bit anxious watching and waiting for those plants to grow. Perhaps I should go shopping at a farmer’s market soon so I can get my “fix”. Oh well, I guess one can’t be completely cured of an ailment of the Horticultural variety too easily!

Online Article – COLOR ME GREEN

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Color me green  (Part I of II) April/May 2012 Written for TriangleMommies Blog Copyright ARLADEAN ARNSON

Like the characters Kermit the Frog and Yoda of Star Wars, it really isn’t easy being green. In fact, around this time every year the green-eyed monster within has reared her (unfortunately) ugly head and signals the beginning of the growing season. Yes, I must admit that I have Garden Envy.

And, this year, the force is quite strong. Due to the mild winter we have had here in North Carolina, everything started blooming early and with gusto. (I’d hate to even think about the amount of bugs that will be showing up soon. But, that is another blog article.)

I had been used to having my own home-grown vegetables at my finger-tips, but those days are gone. I have moved from a house with a yard to a duplex with, well, a back porch. Gone are the days of green vines spreading out in all directions! Those corn stalks; they would reach to the sky!

I have friends that have been tending their seedlings this spring and I just look on with awe. In fact, I have one friend whose husband has taken a five by five foot area in their rented house’s back yard and built a two tiered vegetable growing plat. The top is for the herbs. They sit right at arm’s length. The lower (outer) plat is for the veggies.  He has sectioned the area off into squares with twine and each set of squares has its own function. These squares are for the tomatoes and these other ones are for the radishes. Amazing.

So, I am suffering with Garden Envy. And, most doctors won’t write a prescription for it.  However, it seems, I might have found a cure! I won’t know if my cure works until the trials, which start t this weekend, end and the data gathered and published. But, if I plant my own little mini-garden on my back porch, I might just shake this GE affliction!

I will be sure to publish my findings here at Triangle Mommies, so if ever you catch this malady in the future, you know what to do, or what not to do.

Until then, keep your chin up and watch out for bees!

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