Brown thumb turns Green

This year when planning my gardening repertoire, I decided that I would create a front lawn veggie garden. My thinking: lots of sunshine would definitely yield to a successful crop. Last year, I tried to plant a series of veggies and herbs (tomato, pumpkin, raspberry, onions, garlic, mint, celery) in the backyard but with two tall and leafy trees casting shade and shadows over our yard, nothing came to fruition, except 3 little raspberries and some mint.

This is what our backyard garden looked like in May 2009:


This is our back yard garden now in June 2010:

See how dark and shady the backyard is...
it's great for keeping the house cool in the summer though.

There are still some veggies in the backyard. I thought I'd give the tomato idea another run and planted three of them, directly under a sunny spot where tree branches had been trimmed back. There are also two pepper plants in a pot, a hot one and a mild one. They too, are strategically placed under a sunny spot. There are also garlic shoots, raspberry plants, spring onions, mint (which is resilient and grows like weeds) and more basil in planters, as I love the stuff and plan to make basil ice cream one day!

Planting a front lawn veggie garden did come with resistance. My husband was against the idea as he didn't want our house to look like a Greek - Italian immigrants front lawn with sticks supporting tall tomato plants and a smorgasborg of miscellaneous, unruly crops. He likes order, symmetry, neatness, and colour. So I struck a deal with him. I suggested an herb garden. He agreed and so I (we) set off deciding what to plant in the front lawn.

This is what our front lawn looked like before:

This is sand by the way, which is under everybody's lawn.

We removed the sand and mixed some of it with nutrient rich compost soil.

And this is what our herb garden looks like now:

Big rock in lower corner is covering the city water main valve.

Some of the plants in my herb garden include: basil, purple basil, dill, rosemary, thyme, oregano, lavender, sage and cilantro.


I've already dipped into my basil, rosemary and oregano yesterday to add to my pizza toppings. The cilantro is taking a bit longer as it was planted from seed. The other herbs were planted from plants that were already grown.

There is no doubt in my mind that this herb garden will be a success unless "Orange" the neighbourhood tom cat pees on it, or if neighbours run off with my herbs. The intense sunlight of about 6 to 8 hours worth is perfect for herbs on the front lawn. Notice in one of the photos that the grass is brown? That's because the intense sunlight fries the grass, which generally requires watering everyday. Such a waste of water for something as completely useless as lawn grass.

Ultimately, my husband has huge dreams of tearing out all the discoloured lawn grass and turning our front lawn into a urban oasis - haha - but maybe that's just wishful thinking...only time will tell.

Expectatations

Hello?

Is anyone out there?

Anybody?

It's me...Bijoux.

Remember me?

Did you miss me? I missed you.

I know I've been gone for a while.

I have been really busy...working...two jobs.

I recently quit one of them. Now I have one part-time job which I love!

I also had a cold this past week. I tried all kinds of remedies (Cold FX, Vitamin C, Zinc, garlic pills) to keep the cold away but it just reared it's ugly head as soon as I thought I was in the clear.
I'm much better now and I have also rested a lot.

Let's see...what else have I been up to?

I started digging in my backyard garden a few days ago to try and get it ready for some plants. I want to plant some vegetables and also a raspberry bush. I'm not a natural gardener so it should be exciting to see what becomes of the seeds and seedlings I plant.


I'm getting rid of the grass in the front lawn because I dislike grassy lawns. I just don't think they serve a purpose so I will be replacing the grass with rocks, wood chips and some black-eyed Susan's, wild flowers and other perennials. Rock gardens rock!

Painting the kitchen is next on the agenda. I will be priming it this week. The previous owners used oil paint so I need to prime the walls first before I apply the latex green colour I've chosen. I haven't painted anything in over 5 years so it should be interesting to see the results.

I also picked up some great leather boots on sale - a cropped version of the boots in the photo. They have a leather sole and a tiny little rhinestone strategically placed under the sole...such attention to detail and made in Brazil by an Italian shoe company, Corso Como.

I also picked up a few items from Etsy recently like this great print from an Etsy seller called "Black-eyed Suzie." Isn't is pretty? I love Gothic artwork.


About two months ago, in the bleakness on winter and also from Etsy, I bought this hat, which I love! The colour, the style, the fit...it's all good! And just the other day I bought this t-shirt and this wrap skirt, in preparation for the warmer weather.

Oh, and I picked up a great, (inexpensive due to haggling) Schwinn exercise bike from CraigsList which I have been using to try get back into some sort of an exercise regime.

Well, that's my update. I'm looking forward to catching up with you all.

I will try to post on here more often but as the weather is getting warmer outside and we are expecting it to reach 22 degrees Celsius by this Friday, I am compelled to spend more time outdoors. But I will update you all on the kitchen painting results and the garden landscaping projects as they unfold.