Radish harvest
The rain and unseasonably cool weather made it difficult to muster much enthusiasm for gardening, but all thoughts of giving up left with my first veggie harvest! Right now I have more radishes than I know what to do with and if the carpet of seedlings are any indication, I’ll have more dill and basil than I can hope to use. The courtyard garden isn’t all good news, though. It looks like the rain has beaten my spinach into the ground. Ah well.
Confession time – I bought herbs. I swore I had a budget this year and I would raise everything from seed. So much for that! I also lost all eco-cred by running to Home Depot for more plastic pots. What’s the point of going organic if I have to buy plastic pots to do it? I struggle with my eco-ism. Still, I couldn’t resist buying night-blooming jasmine and variegated basil. Who could?
My container garden includes tomato plants, herbs and flowers.
Got my back porch composting tumbler today and spent a good part of the afternoon putting it together. As soon as I assembled it, I cleaned out my refrigerator and gathered all the garden waste I could lay my hands on. I can’t believe how excited I was to start making dirt. 
BTW, dirt will take 6-8 weeks to happen. That’s about half the time it took to get the composter in the first place.
Dirt! I can’t wait.
Now it grows vertical! I bought this planter yesterday at Home Depot because I thought it would give my flat array of pots some much needed dimension. Plus it was cool. I managed to get the whole thing put together before I realized that it’s meant to be anchored in the ground. In a moment of desperate genius, I used some spare seed pots as a stand in. It’s in a sheltered spot so that should work. *fingers crossed*
I’m also trying my hand at growing patio tomatoes and herbs. Sprinkled in amidst the pretty, pretty petunias are basil seeds, lemon balm, and oregano. Again, fingers crossed that they come up and thrive.
I’m still on the look-out for a good composting system that will work on a condo-scale, be compliant with Chicago city ordnances, and won’t make my neighbors hate me. If you have great ideas or experience about what’s worked for you, please share.
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