Mission Accomplished: Window Boxes & Compost Bins!

It poured rain this past weekend (and man, did we ever need it.) but that didn’t stop me from getting some work done, thanks to the large awning over our back porch.

I’ve never planted a window box OR made a compost bin before.  It was great fun, and I’m pretty pleased with the results.

I went to the Chelsea Garden Center West in Red Hook and from their selection I chose purple Heliotrope for the center, lime-green Sweet Potato Ivy on either side, and bright pink “Million Bells” for the ends.  Hopefully they will last me another 4 weeks or so before I have to replace them with kale or something else that can handle the colder temperatures when they come!

I think they’ve done a lot to spruce up the front of the house, and I’ve already had some complements from a neighbor.  It’s nice having color from inside and outside the house.

Here’s a very unexciting photo of the front windows before we moved in:

and here it is now, cleaned up and with flowers! (I took these with my phone – probably not the best quality, but we’re still unpacking and haven’t found the camera yet!)

Close up of a window box:

Too bad about the bars on the window, but they’re a nice feature to have on ground floor apartments – and they’ll keep anyone from stealing my flowers or boxes, which has been known to happen – ha.

My compost bin in the making:

I made two – this one was with 1/2″ hardware cloth and the other is with 2″ x 3″ mesh galvanized “garden wire.”  Both have been completed and one is currently containing a yard full of partially decomposed leaves that had been there who knows how long before we moved in.  Perfect!  I’ll take them.

I’m glad I went with this wire-bin for compost…we are still playing around with where in the yard to keep these bins, so if we change our minds they will be easy to move.  Right now I’ve got them along the side of the house, which I think is the best plan – close to the back porch for dumping kitchen scraps, and enough room on that patch of ground for two bins so that we can add leaves as needed.

Wish I could get my hands on some untreated sawdust!  I did recently get FREE MULCH from Greenwood Cemetery – all you have to do is show up with a shovel and a bag (or five, as we did!) and go to town.  It’s available year-round…just to to the main entrance on 25th St. & 5th Ave. and ask the security guards where to go.

So a little progress was made…hopefully more this coming weekend – including picking figs.  We have 4 fig trees in the yard and they are literally dropping.  SO delicious!

Hello world!

They arrived in yesterday’s mail, new and bright and, well, very RED.  My new garden clogs are the realization of a dream – truly.  Last month my husband and I moved into an apartment with <gasp> a backyard…which is somewhat of a rarity here in Brooklyn.  Suddenly worlds of previously unknown opportunities are possible…backyard BBQs, sitting on a back porch during a rainstorm – and – GARDENING.

I grew up with a vegetable garden and spent a few years over college reading lots of gardening books and dabbling in growing various herbs and veggies.  Never before, however, have I tried my hand at perennials…never before have I stayed in one place long enough to try!  Now, at long last, here is my chance. Herbs and vegetables are still on the list, but oh, how my little heart sings at the thought of possibly having peonies, irises, lavender, hydrangeas, poppies, and who knows what else?

I can’t wait to learn, to experiment, to create, to play – and to work!  I’ve been eager for a long time now to get my hands back in the dirt.

This is a period of learning for me – what can I grow?  What kind of soil do we have here?  How much sun do certain areas get throughout the day and when?  What can I put in yet this year for next year?

So much to consider, and so much is new to me…including having a blog! I’m hoping to share, garner, and exchange inspiration here – not just limited to gardening, but I have a feeling it will be taking up a lot of my spare time and daydreams for a while…