Friday, July 9, 2010

Cultivating a Green Thumb

I am not very good with plants. I'm amazed by my friends and family members who have the knowledge and finesse to grow things, whether inside or out. In my new neighborhood in Washington, DC, many many neighbors have beautiful, luscious gardens, and so since I moved here last month I've wanted to help our tiny sad garden become beautiful again. So, since today is my last day of unemployment, and since the heatwave has broken somewhat, I decided to try and make something happen!

Here is what our garden looked like before I started:


It was intimidating. Jungly, thorny, dry, rocky. I wasn't sure if I would be able to make anything out of it. But thanks to the internet and my mom and dear friend Kate, I gained a tiny bit of knowledge and felt confident in pruning the rose bushes, pulling up all the weeds, adding some healthy soil, and planting some new plants. So, I went to the hardware store and got started.


The guy who checked me out at the hardware store LOVED the fact that I was buying manure. He could not say do-do enough times. Anyway.

So I came home and pruned, dug, airated, mixed, watered, and planted. Et voila! The garden looks like a place where life can happen! I also said a little prayer for the plants to not die. Not sure if it will help, but with my reputation for killing plants, I figured it was worth a shot.

Here is my after shot:



Basil:


Mint:


And a peony!


I feel like this was a success, and my first step towards becoming a competent gardener. It was sweaty and dirty and exhausting, but I'm pretty excited to watch my garden grow.

5 comments:

Kate said...

Hooray!!! I love your little garden. You'll be enjoying pesto and mint tea and beautiful peonies before you know it. Just don't forget to water!

Matt said...

yayyy! Make sure you either cut off the basil stem when you want basil, or if you'd rather just take leaves, don't take them from a top so they'll still grow up and up!

Also, with that fence right there, you should grow tomatoes!

Ernest Backus said...

go Mir!!!!!

Ryan said...

Mozel tov Miranda! When we visit we'll have to make something with basil!

Unknown said...

It is pretty funny to pay for cow shit, if you think about it...that's a sure sign you are an official urbanite;)