Gardening on a Whim

One of my always-on-the-back-burner project ideas that never really comes to pass is to grow a proper garden. I have dreams of fresh eggplant, fresh tomatoes, and fresh herbs all waiting to be picked, right in my front yard. I guess that in my dream of the idyllic garden, I can waltz through my patch of home-grown vegetables, fruits, and herbs, clipping at will, and eating fresher-than-thou produce all summer long.

Thanks, Wikimedia Commons user Srl!

Obviously, some education is in order.

For starters, I have no yard to speak of (well, I do, but I also have a landlord), so it'll have to be container gardening, probably indoors, although I could potentially co-opt the landing just outside my window, which is really the landing for the third-floor neighbors' stairs. Placement will definitely be an issue. Two points for an indoor garden, though: I have very large, south-facing windows, so sun will not be terribly difficult to come by, and two: I live in hardiness zone 6-ish, so plantng indoors will alleviate some of the "oh god, when's the last frost??" stress.

Secondly, I have never grown a garden. I have had some success with herbs - that is, last year I grew far too many basil plants, a lonely oregano plant, and I have never once gotten a rosemary plant past its third week. My basil made it through the winter indoors (hallelujah!), but I let it flower (bad!) in order to start over this year  (yay!). I would post pictures of the plants I have, but I'm far too lazy to get out of bed. I used Urban Garden Solutions' garden planner-majiggy to pick some plants I think I'd be happy to see in September/October: 

From the top left, in rows: basil, tomatoes, eggplant, flower x (type to be determined), lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, flower y, oregano, edamame, spinach, flower z. 

Obviously I can't go dig up the front lawn and put plants there in that configuration, but I'm planning on buying 12 approximately-1-sq-ft pots and arranging them on the porch (landlord permitting), on the neighbors' landing (neighbors permitting) or inside (boyfriend permitting). I'm also planning on doing plenty of research, because I've grown exactly two of these plants before. My first call will be to my lovely and knowledgeable grandma, green thumb extraordinaire, who has been gardening probably twice as long as I've been alive. 


I complained last night that it took me hours to make eggplant parmesan and roasted asparagus. Now here I am planning dinner for September. Bring it on, garden!