A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

My Little Kitchen Garden

This is the ajuga that I am writing about. Doesn't it look pretty and innocent? I would like to keep some of it, but this plant is going to know who the boss is before the end of the week.
I have a tiny "kitchen garden" of sorts on the side of the house. I started it last year...filling in with herbs and planting my cherry tomatoes in a big pot with leaf lettuce around it. The trellis with clematis is on the right and the little garden slopes down the west side of the house. There were flowers there and I have moved many of them. Right now I have iris, lilies, some susans and ajuga. I took the ajuga from the edge of the woods and transplanted it to border this little garden. A neighbor stopped by while I was transplanting, and she told me that maybe I should think it over. She had ajuga all over her yard at one time. I didn't want to spend any more money on plants that year...and this was free and would fill in all the spots. Fill in the spots indeed...It has done it's job well...too well. I can literally lift a mat of ajuga off the ground and remove it...only to have it replace itself before the season ends. So, this week, I am going to really thin it out and keep at it this year. I want to clean up this garden and make herbs the focal point. There is no reason why herbs and flowers and vegetables can't coexist in this garden. The shapes and textures and foliage colors of herbs will blend in with these flowers. First I will tackle the ajuga then sit back and see where I can tuck in some more herbs. The big pot is still there and I am going to plant a cherry tomato in it. Maybe I will plant one in the ground and do a comparison...to see which grows best for me. This is a narrow space in my yard. It is an asset for a kitchen garden as I will be able to reach plants without walking in the garden. It has good drainage and just enough sun to grow these plants. The soil has been amended and it's ready for me to do my work. I brought out the lawn ornaments last week and since Audra and Bryce live next door (on the west side) I decided to make it a place for the neighborhood kids to see. My little garden gnome will sit there along with the bunny statues. Joe made little wooden birds on spikes and I painted them red, yellow and blue..they are stuck in the ground next to the trellis. My old gardening shoes are along the house..planted with hens and chicks. A couple of chairs are behind the trellis and we can take them out to sit on, when they come to visit. All in all...it is going to be "kid friendly." I want to encourage the neighbor kids to come visit. They love to help me and they are so "close to the ground" they are really a big help sometimes. They only stay for a short time and then on to their friends houses. I love to have them visit.
Balisha

7 comments:

Barbee' said...

I think your season is ahead of mine. The ajuga here is not blooming, yet.

Anonymous said...

Hi Balisha, What a great idea. I bet all the kids love you and love helping out with your gardening. They will probably have to come by and check on it regularly! Have a good week.

Lona said...

It is not funny when a plant starts taking over. Some ground cover like Ajuga are very aggressive. That's what Crown Vetch did to me. I wanted it to cover the bank on the back of the garage but I did not want it to take over everything else. Now I am pulling it up every year.I just have to learn that when it says it is a ground cover then it is going to take over. I also cringe when people tell my they have creeping Myrtle or Vinca. Ugh!
Have a wonderful day.

Balisha said...

Mine isn't blooming yet either, but it's there..waiting to be attacked.The little kids come running, when they see Joe and I outside. Like I said, they don't stay long enought to be in the way.

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

my goodness, the ajuga sure did take over. I had some wild strawberry plants take over one of my gardens, and like you are going to do, I showed them who is boss of my garden.

Noelle Johnson said...

I hope you can keep ahead of the Ajuga, it is beautiful. I would love to see a picture of your little painted birds. My husband also loves to create things out of wood...I may need to ask him to make something for my garden :-)

BlondeMomBlog (Jamie) said...

Balisha I love the idea of the "kid friendly" neighborhood garden. My girls pulled weeds for me this weekend and my oldest picked up sticks. They love to help in the yard. Now if I only had my mom's amazing green thumb... ;)

p.s. I love ajuga! But it's very swift and stubborn.