Le Potager

Remember the original plan for my potager?

Well, I had to revamp it a bit. It now looks like this:

The garden planner on the Better Homes and Gardens website wasn't working today, but I found another one that I like a LOT better. For starters, it shows the grid for scale very clearly, and you can also pick what distance to set the lines. Mine is set at one foot. Also, it has vegetables! Not everyone who plans a garden is growing flowers, BHG! There are also more plant shapes from which to choose and you get the option of changing the colors on them.

The first reason my plan changed was because I realized that the space I had allotted in my raised bed for tomatoes was terribly insufficient. I went ahead and planted spinach and arugula in those spaces instead. Also, I realized that I left HUGE plots in my original plan for the parsley and cilantro. Okay, so the original plan didn't even have cilantro even though I use it way more than parsley in my cooking.

I also found that there were more pieces of flagstone stashed behind the AC unit than I originally thought. As I was laying them in place in the FINALLY tilled bed, I realized I had a lot more space in there than I thought. For instance, I planned for the sunflowers to take up about two feet in my original drawing. Um, after I planted them I realized they were merely eight inches from the wall. Whoops! Also, I ended up with five rows EACH of parsley and cilantro, as well as five rows of basil there in the middle. That will give us plenty to use and freeze. I even added a little space to plant seeds for marigolds, as I read they help to keep insects at bay. We'll see!

The biggest space is reserved for tomatoes. Right now it's sort of a pit in the ground because I need to get some compost for it. Rosemary and basil may do well in this desert soil, but I doubt tomatoes will! I have sixteen of each type of seedling. Some aren't looking too good right now, and I'll probably lose a couple in the next week and a half before I can transplant them. If I have extras that I can't fit in the ground I'll just have to buy big pots for them!

The tomatoes are the only thing that I didn't put in the ground today. I need to get one more rosemary plant since one died before I had a chance to plant it. Those are the big plants behind the rows of basil. With the flagstone pieces arranged just so, I should be able to reach everything in there easily when it starts growing. I even got a few decorative things to put in there to make sure my plants are happy. :)

I'm so glad to almost have this done! I just need some compost, some mulch, and some things to grow now! Yay!