Anticipating Spring

"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl.  And the anticipation nurtures our dream."-   Barbara Winkler

There is a reason I don't have outside animals.  I hate going out in the extreme cold and heat that we have here in Oklahoma.  Perhaps I will change my mind (I do that a lot) sometime in the future, however; today I will be staying indoors and planning my Spring planting.  If I don't have to look at the snow outside, I can pretend it's not there.  Just for today in my world, it is already Spring.

First, I will decide what veggies we like best and plan my garden around these.  Also, it is necessary for me to keep in mind that I do not have the usual tools that country folk have (tractor, plow, a strong back).  This eliminates a lot of gardening options but opens the door for others.  I can do a vertical garden and container garden or veggies in old plastic bottles. I really like this idea because it involves reusing materials that junk up the planet ( and go easy on my bad back). Here is a quick summary:

(1) Plastic bottle with stop on top and perforated bottom (drainage); (2) Stop taken off and conical part of the bottle cut away; small slit cut in the cone; (3) Cone pushed to the bottom in the bottle; (4) Bottle filled with potting soil mixed with the water absorbing soil conditioner TerraCottem, well compacted up to 5 cm from the bottle top; (5) Seed(s) or seedling(s) in the soaked potting soil.

Prepared bottle : Through the cone, air is penetrating in the potting soil via the hole in the bottom of the bottle; it enables also the evacuation of an excess of water (drainage).

Bottles of different dimensions with vegetables.

And then there is the vertical garden:

"Confounded by vegetable digging cats and toiling in the vegetable patch, Instructables member pippa5 came up with this cool DIY vertical garden  solution.  In case you don't recognize it, she used an old closet shoe organizer.  Meant to keep your shoes off the floor and save you some space, this new use saves some space by getting your veggies or herbs off the ground."

There are several interesting ideas at this website 4 Amazing Vertical Garden Designs. 

This is one of my favorites and entirely doable for me. It is from one of my favorite websites with a link on this page (Vegetable Gardening On-Line).

There are so many choices that I never knew existed.  I just needed to think outside the box (or the type of garden my Dad grew).  There is the chain link fence I can use to grow climbing vegetables, the old bathtub camouflaged in the weeds, my front porch not to mention utilizing the green house frame.   

I can't wait to get started!  Through the sweat and tears I will be able to grow my own (not in the same context as the 1970's mind you).  Ain't this fun?

Simple Living doesn't mean living without working it just means living more productively.  Now that I have a plan for the garden, tomorrow I will choose our veggies and Herbs to plant.  Have a great day and hope to see you again soon.