Tag Archive for 'apartment gardening'

The Little Herb That Could

Published by Annika Barranti on September 2, 2008 in In the Garden. 1 Comment

My garden was dead. Neglect and a hot August shriveled the leaves and I wasn’t sure I could save anything. We’d gone on an eight-day vacation and left our plants to fend for themselves. The jalapenos had stopped flowering already, and I was resigned to the idea that the tomatoes would probably die.

But when we got back I watered everything anyway. And while the peppers really were done, and the herbs that were in a shallow container are beyond resucitation, my tomatoes are giving it one last gasp and my sage is looking better than it did before we left.

Any late-summer miracles in your garden?

Adventures in Container Gardening: Quick Update

Published by Annika Barranti on June 17, 2008 in In the Garden. 3 Comments

I am still without my camera cord, but I did finally manage to upload some pictures from last week of my lovely little garden.

Remember the jalapeno flower? This is what it looked like last week:

It is easily two inches long now (it was about half an inch at the time of the photo). Further updates to come soon–there is another pepper now!

I replaced the two sage plants that didn’t survive my toddler with parsley and thyme. (All I need is rosemary and I have a Simon & Garfunkle song growing on my porch!)

What’s growing in your garden this year?

Adventures in Container Gardening: First Tomato!

Published by Annika Barranti on June 5, 2008 in In the Garden. 3 Comments

Isn’t it beautiful? It’s about the size of my fingertip right now.

Adventures in Container Gardening (Part 1)

Published by Annika Barranti on June 4, 2008 in In the Garden. 3 Comments

I live in a small apartment on the third (and top) floor. We have a rooftop patio with a lovely view of our neighbors’ rooftop patios and, in the distance, the Griffith Park Observatory. On a clear day, we can see the Hollywood sign…if we stand on our tippy-toes. It’s a wonderful porch, and nearly every evening finds us cooking supper on the grill and eating at our rickety table. Most recently, it’s also my garden.

April 21st
My little garden’s humble beginnings, April 21, 2008

When we first moved in we had a glass table top but no table. (How does that happen?) We looked around and bought a half-barrel for $19.99 at Home Depot. It made a good table. Eventually the glass broke, and we discussed various possible futures for the barrel. None of them seemed quite right until this spring, when I was bitten by the tomato bug. My friend Mike’s blog was my downfall, and one Sunday at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market I found myself heading straight to the plant guy.

I bought a Roma, three sage plants, and three jalapeños. Now, I know that once sage starts growing you really only need one plant, and I think the same is true of peppers, but I am cursed with black thumbs. I have killed everything I’ve ever tried to grow in this apartment, and I was nervous. We went to the garden center at a local hardware store (Anawalt) and bought soil, and I set about planting my garden. The jalapeños went into a long planter I picked up somewhere-or-other, and everything else went into the half-barrel. Incidentally, I noticed when I was shopping around for the planter that no one sells real half-barrels anymore; everyone has plastic imitations instead, and often for more than I paid for the real thing!

jalapeno flowers
A blossoming Jalapeño, June 3, 2008

It’s been nearly two months and though two of the sage plants have died, everything else is thriving! (And the dead plants are most likely the result of being uprooted by my toddler, not of anything I did wrong.) I will keep you posted as my garden grows, and welcome any tips you may have.