Friday 15 July 2011

Summer Loving....

Had me a bla-ast... Summer loving, happened so fa-ast... No, I'm not actually talking about Danny Zuko or Sandra Dee... Although I could...


So it's summertime, and I know we all do keep busy. But the Mediterranean Diet is all about giving your food a little extra love and attention. This doesn't mean necessarily spending a huge amount of time on it, but just putting in a tiny bit more thought. And summer is the perfect time to do this, what with so many fruits and vegetables being in season.

This year, I've put together the most basic of gardens. I do not have a huge yard, I actually live in a ground-level condo. But these days, there are so many ways you can get this growing around you, just about anyone can find room to do this, and with minimal effort. I figure, hey, it's pretty much the least I could do while still doing something! Setting this whole thing up took me maybe 2 hours with shopping included, and then every day I spend less than 5 minutes tending to my plants. If you don't have 3 minutes a day, maybe you need to re-evaluate what you've got going on there... Just kidding... but not really.

So I've got two main things going on. This first one has been useful since about a week into planting. I bought three different herbs, and planted them together in one of those balcony rail boxes. I've got Basil, Chives and German Thyme, which from what I can now tell is basically Oregano. Nothing outrageous here, I figure if it's going to be worth growing, it's got to be stuff I'll use on a regular basis. And what a difference it makes. It's great to go out and just snip of a few branches of the fresh stuff to add to salads, tomato sauces, whatever!!!


My second project is three planters, each with a different tomato plant inside. So far, it's a waiting game, but a promising one. I've got beefsteak, an orange cherry tomato, and these super sweet 100s that by far are growing the most.



Whaddaya think of my nifty pink gift-rapping ribbon. Pretty swell, huh? This one has way more tomatoes on it so far than the other plants.




There's just something so peaceful about those few minutes I spend outside each day tending to these plants. Ah, nature..... the Earth's answer to daily stress...


A few key points about these plants
  • I water them every day.
  • I periodically cut off the ends of the branches with only leaves so they don't suck up all of the water.
  • My step-mom helped me out by drilling some holes into the bottom of these buckets. Apparently I didn't understand how these particular pots were meant to be drained... Oh well.



That's all for today, thanks for stopping by!
Kim a.k.a Mrs. Greenthumbs




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