After Bootsy died, I needed something to do – a project.

I’d bought these Fintorp buckets from Ikea back in November, which tells you how long I’ve been sitting on this. They’re intended to be cutlery caddies, but I thought they’d make nice containers for an indoor herb garden.

So, we went to Plant World, my go-to place for edible food as of this year, and I selected some plants. In December, as you can imagine, their selection isn’t as extensive as it would normally be, but I think I made out ok.

On the top row we have mojito mint and peppermint. I’ve never made mojitos, only enjoyed those made by others, but now that I have the appropriate mint, I imagine I’ll soon be looking for recipes.

The middle row is parsley, rosemary and thyme. Sage wouldn’t fit, and, realistically, I don’t use it often enough that it would make sense to grow it, even if it would complete the set outlined in Scarborough Fair.

The bottom row is basil. I’d run out of the home made pesto I’d been enjoying all September and October, and I want to grow these bad boys large enough that I can make more. I am a pesto fiend.

While my garden outside may be dead, and the cat I’ve had since my Grandmother died, who lived with me in my first, second and third apartments, who was with me when we bought our current house, who’s lived with me longer than my husband, is now gone, at least now there’s something new growing in this dead season. And I think it looks cute. The bat makes it work.

Garden, May 2012

This weekend I added a few more plants to the garden. The lower left hand corner is zucchini, and in the lower right corner is a strawberry plant.

I’ve started watering the garden in the mornings, as I often don’t get home until after 11 pm, and that seems a bit late to stumble around in the dark with a watering can. I don’t know what the rules are for those, but most of the plants seem to be ok with it it so far.

The nasturtiums look a bit sad, and so does the dill. They were sort of “found” plants that were left behind, unwatered for a few days. It could be that, or it could be something else. I’m not sure what’s up with them. One of my parsley plants looks a little funky too.

Containers & Bench, May 2012

Perhaps the most dramatic addition to the back yard came in the form of this lovely garden bench, small table, and group of containers. Since we moved the barbeque, this corner of the backyard remained unused and kind of pointless. With the addition of a few plants and a place to read (Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto), the space has really brightened up.

I’ve been looking around quite a bit for a blueberry bush, and my husband spoke of giant garden centre he drove by on his way to work called Plant World. Holy crap. They had at least half a dozen kinds, and just about every other conceivable plant. Did you know that there are over a dozen different kinds of raspberry bush? I didn’t. I have no idea what mine are.

Goth Salad, May 2012

I bought a toro blueberry bush (billed as good for cooking or canning), Canadian rhubarb, more strawberries and a proper strawberry container), and what I’m calling goth salad.

This was sold as a salad mix, but I couldn’t find a tag with a break down of what’s actually in it. I bought it because most of the leaves are a dark colour, and I really like the idea of eating a bowl of dark, melancholy leaves at midnight in a cemetery.

I still have room for a few more herbs. Oregano’s on my list, as I keep forgetting to pick it up. We’ll see what else I can find.

Garden, May 2012

Gardening two days in a row! This may be a new record.

My boss generously gave me two tomato plant. I planted them in front of the pickling cucumbers on the left side.

I added some dark opal basil (there’s an awesome looking recipe in Grow Great Grub that I want to try), two parsley plants, dill, wild columbine, munstead lavender, and four nasturtiums (one climbing, three dwarf).

It’s starting to look good. Continue reading »