Welcome to My Garden

Planting Season 2010

If you stumbled upon this blog, I'd like to welcome you to my new adventure. I've lived in the Midwest my entire life. One would think that growing a garden shouldn't be too difficult here--it is the bread basket of the world, right?--but, it's tougher than it looks.

My apartment is in the middle of Sioux Falls, SD. While the city does offer residents several different community gardens around town to test their green thumbs, sadly, there is only a finite number of plots available. I missed out this year, but I'm not giving up my plans to garden just yet.

Urban Gardening

I am going to try growing my goods on my balcony. Compared to other apartment complexes in the area, the balcony on this one is quite nice. It has quite a bit of room, a roof, and slats in the front covering, so plenty of sun will shine in during the afternoon/evenings.

I'm not doing this completely alone. My sweet wonderful man friend bought me a book with tips on how to do it and what kind of containers to use called Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces. The author, Gayla Trail, seems to know what she's talking about, and some of her ideas are so wild there's no way they couldn't work. I guess the coming months will be a good test.

Getting Started

Tonight I started my seeds indoors. This tray is full of different types of peppers. There's so many different types, and I have yet to find one that isn't fun to snack on (unless it's a habanero, or something like that). It seems my bell peppers may have been started too late, but we shall see.

I'm a little concerned that I'm too eager for this. Nothing is supposed to go outside until after the danger of frost is gone. April has just begun, and who knows how this spring will actually go here in SD.

I'm also growing herbs. So far, just two pots of dill and one of cilantro. There are plans to add chives, parsley, and basil to the mix, too. Keep checking in--hopefully I have pictures of sprouts to add soon!