As much as I would like to explore each nook and cranny of
the Mid-Atlantic region during my every waking moment, there are times that I
need to remain home and get things done. I miss the adventures when I don't wander but the silver lining of staying close to
home is that I get to work on some of my other hobbies.
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| Tomatoes grown indoors after frost |
In addition to hiking, camping, and sight-seeing, I dream of
living a sustainable and small lifestyle somewhere off-grid. Currently, that dream feels as though it
will always remain a distant and hazy vision. A fantasy. Then when I spend time “gardening”, it
suddenly feels as though my dream of taking the middleman out of feeding myself
is closer to being true than I had thought.
For the past two weekends, I have spent a bit of time preparing
my balcony for this season’s vegetable garden. I moved here in the heat of the summer last year but even so, I
started a balcony vegetable garden almost immediately.
Cold weather came quickly and I moved my tomatoes indoors.
Luckily, I had great success with the inexpensive kitchen garden lighting I
chose.
I am so excited that another growing season has arrived and
I am working hard to make more space for vegetables by going vertical.
If you are interested in gardening (either in the yard or in
containers) I strongly recommend that you search out our gardening experts on
Squidoo. I am only listing four links to Squidoo gardening experts here. However, there are many, many more garden
gurus in our writing community.
- AnnaMKB has excellent tips about balcony gardening.
- JaguarJulie is the backyard garden contributor.
- A list of 5 gardening lenses of various Squidoo contributors
- A fantastic garden planter idea from angelatvs
I hope you enjoyed my brief break from wandering across the mid-Atlantic. I would love to hear from you, how does your
garden grow?
Image Credit: Images are mine ©Dawn Rae – All Rights
Reserved (Click on photo for larger view)
I have always loved gardening, actually just about any type of gardening. When I garden it is oft like traveling back into my past. I have so many wonderful memories associated with gardening. When I was a little girl, many of my family members were farmers and they all maintained a vegetable garden close to the home. I spent so many hours picking, and then preparing, vegetables from my grandmothers, great-grandmothers, great aunt & uncles gardens. All of those precious people tend their gardens in heaven now, but they live on here on earth in my heart, especially when I am in my garden.
ReplyDeleteJust the thought of gardening warms my soul. Given that there is new snow on the mountain this morning, and that I got blasted with sleet yesterday while out in the backyard (for the 3rd time this week), it seems my gardening dreams are still a few weeks away. Decided to spend my photography earnings this weekend on greenhouse materials. That brings me ever closer to achieving the same dreams you have mentioned. I look forward to watching your garden grow through your postings and updates.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a big garden but I do have three tomatoe plants on my side yard. My back is completely shaded with big trees so there I only grow shade flowers and the birds, squirrels and rabbits enjoy nibbling on what I plant :) Thanks for introducing us to some great lenses.
ReplyDeleteOh, those fresh from the garden vegetables! There is just no taste comparison. I do hope you get your dream someday. We would all like to live that path as some point. So many great pages to checkout and get more ideas for my own deck garden this year.
ReplyDeleteI think showing us how you are gardening in the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA is a grand idea! Good luck with the vertical garden. That Weekend Gardener on Squidoo has awesome ideas! I like that she's in my state of Florida, too, so I can get some good tips from her, although she is a bit more ambitious than I am!
ReplyDeleteOOPs! I meant to say Backyard Gardener! Although, I think Squidoo has a weekend garden Contributor too?
DeleteI agree, there is no substitute for garden fresh vegetables! Tending to a garden is a very fulfilling feeling -- most everyone I know enjoys it so much! My brother-in-law has a HUGE garden that we all raid for items we don't have in our own. Then, we also have a few canning days after harvests so we can enjoy the bounty all year long. Glad you get to rest and recoup from your travels with gardening!
ReplyDelete