Thursday, June 30, 2011

Creative vegetable gardening

We Portlanders love our veggie gardens and we’re up for growing our veggies pretty much wherever, style be damned! So it is with great appreciation of their going a bit above and beyond that I share with you these vegetable gardens with a little style. First up is the veggie plot of a neighbor of mine. The curling wood planting bed has been around for awhile, but this year he’s stepped it up a couple of notches with metal, bamboo and jute accents. Unfortunately some of the panache has been lost in photography…it is much better in person. Since he intends to build up the jute framework as the veggies grow it will only get better with time. This urban garden also has room for raspberries… Blueberries… And lots of tomatoes. Next up is a planter I spied in the Kennedy Community Garden. It’s not a stock tank but rather two sections of galvanized material (the surrounds used for egress window wells) bolted together. This has a couple of benefits over a true stock tank, for one it’s easier to get in your car. And secondly since the bottom is open to the soil beneath drainage is improved. Next up this small garden is actually in the parking lot of Old Portland Hardware and Architectural Supply on Division Street. They’ve used old metal light fixtures and laundry tubs for planting. And added lots of colorful accents! I’m not sure what the material is that makes up this composting container but it beats the usual solid black plastic in the looks department. While I wouldn’t be too terribly thrilled if my neighbors decided to put an old tub in the front yard and grow veggies in it, here in the parking lot of architectural salvage store, it seems right at home. Speaking of home I should share a couple of photos of my veggie garden, although it isn’t going to win any awards for creativity… This year I’ve narrowed it down to tomatoes (7 of them, I just couldn’t decide which ones so I bought them all), peppers, basil, ginger mint and cardoons (which I doubt we’ll actually eat but I like the way they look). This area gets so sunny and hot that they are all very happy.

The fact that I’m growing ginger mint again this year is a bit of an accident, I thought I pulled it all out of this container last fall when I ripped out the tomato plants. I guess not since it’s happily back! Oh well, good to have on hand for cocktail emergencies. This Manitoba tomato is a new variety for me, it is supposed to require only a short growing season for the fruit to ripen, so after last year’s tomato disappointments I thought this one would be a good one to include. Its leaves don’t look much like tomato leaves though... I also snuck in a soggy Aloe polyphylla that I rescued from the 50% off table at a local nursery. It's drying out in the sun, I think it will make it but I did have to pull off a bunch of mushy leaves and get the roots out of the waterlogged soil. Hopefully it will live on to someday do it’s cool leaf spiraling thing! So…what’s growing in YOUR veggie garden, and are you being creative?

11 comments:

  1. The veggies are R's domain. He's very creative, but uses it up on making paintings and furniture. When it comes to veg, it's the eating part that interests him. Oh, if only we had unlimited time: those creative gardens would be so nice to live with and harvest from.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like the first one and also yours-so neat and matches your new paint job. I did have my veggie garden all planned for the new house. However pumpkins, passionfruit and tomatoes seeded themselves in various spots (from compost) and those grew and are bearing better than plants in the veggie bed so that's where they are staying.

    ReplyDelete
  3. No creativity at all. Just lots and lots of tomatoes.

    Yours looks so neat and tidy!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was this close to bringing home those exact metal light fixtures for planting. Must go back! I envy your neighbor's gigantic veg garden. Just a few pots here. The new house color looks wonderful with everything.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love Mr. Bamboo's garden, please send us updates as it grows. Ginger mint sounds intriguing. What kinds of cocktails do you make with it?

    My veg garden somehow got all these flowers in it. How did that happen? Sugar peas or sweet peas? It had to be both.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ricki, yes I understand...the fresh ripe tomatoes and tasty basil, that's why I do it!

    Nicole, nature knows best right?

    Hoover, as in you are already eating them? Jealous. I've got blooms but that's just about it.

    Denise, I am loving the color...and wondering why exactly we put it off for so long. I never would have looked at those light fixtures and thought "plant them" I guess I lack the re-purpose gene?

    Zuc Mama, I will definitely take pics as things grow. I've only used ginger mint in Mojito's thus far...but I think this is the summer of experimenting! I think I should have more flowers near the veggies...maybe next year.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The hardware and architectural place looks wonderful. I'd love to go there someday. I love the basement window galvanized raised bed thingie. Your veggie garden is neat as a pin. Your tomatoes look so healthy. Mine are in galvanized tubs against a south-facing wall and putting on lots of flowers but no ripe fruit yet. Fun post, Loree.

    ReplyDelete
  8. You make even veggie gardening look good. All I have are potted herbs and two old toy containers of the kids for pitiful looking onions. :(

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cool stuff! Those bamboo/stone/rope constructions are groovy.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow your neighbour's bamboo structure is cool. Thanks for sharing, love the post! Wish I had neighbours who vegetable gardened at all let alone come up with stuff like that!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Holy cow, I love that window wells idea! I need to show this to my neighbors...I think it'd be right up their alley!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Comment moderation is on (because you know: spam), I will approve and post your comment as soon as possible!