The Observation Deck

It was nice to come home from vacation and read your article on your office garden while coming home to our new thriving garden in the strip by the driveway! Our yard is so small but we had a strip by the driveway that we turned into a vegetable and herb garden and were shocked to come home to enormous zuccini and cucumbers, along with abundant lavender, basil, tomatoes, green beans, etc. in a strip of the yard we never used!

The best part is our six year old daughter and five year old son picking the vegetables and begging to make family salads every night! It is the little things like this that make cooking a bit more enjoyable. Thank you for the timely article!

Justine

Thanks for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed the article. I'm certainly enjoying the garden, looking forward to my own fresh corn! Your post makes the point......an unused strip of land transformed into a productive piece of real estate. Multiply your little garden by a few thousand households. WOW. Food for thought

If you haven't tried cooking with the lavender (many grow it for sachets and such) it can add a wonderful depth to sauces and is particularly good with pork and chicken. Go easy...it can be pretty powerful, especially fresh.

Jeff

All of a sudden I'm thinkin' I'm a rabbit---- and I got two REAL good places to go for dinner

Stan

Always looking for a free meal......

Jeff

Stan I will make you zuccini bread with my next batch!

Jeff,
I was wondering what else to do with that Lavender! I never thought of thatI I am going to try to take a class next week at Goddess Blessed on making a lavender wreath and lavender cookies but I never thought of using it in chicken!
I think it would be great for you to write an article on different uses for fresh herbs! I loved the basil in my pasta salad and made my first pesto but would love more ideas for that and other herbs!

Jeff-

How much corn did you plant? I read somewhere that there was a minimum amount that you needed to properly pollinate it, but as I look at our budding crop, I'm thinking about growing popcorn (next year).

I might have a perfect spot for it.

Having been a follower of the Square Foot Gardener, I know there's a lot of space, even in our tiny little yard.

The recomendation is a minimum of four rows. I put in six 18 foot rows. We shall see....but at this point, I think it's looking promising.

Jeff

I read the four row recommendation as well, but I never knew how big a "row" is or how many plants it should contain.

I enjoyed checking on our crops tonight and eating some cherry tomatoes. Funny thing, they tasted just like I remember tomatoes tasting and they had a great "mouth feel"!

I hope you'll be sharing some ideas about preserving our harvests for the winter.

I hope you'll be sharing some ideas about preserving our harvests for the winter.

Working on that in conjunction with LEAF, even as we post....

Jeff