Shhhh, don't tell anyone I'm a pot gardener

My husband, who works for the Georgia Department of corrections prefers me to say "Container Gardener", but my mom, my grandmother and my nanny told me there were flower "pots" so I'm a "pot" gardener. I get a few strange looks when I say this, but I always say "why be normal".

I can't plant a garden in my yard for a couple a reasons.  First of all, I love my trees too much and have LOTS of them.  My home has shade until about 11 a.m. and then starts getting shade on the other side at about 2 p.m.  Keeps the A/C from having to work too hard to keep me cool, so I'm not cutting down my shade trees.  And secondly, it is not uncommon for me to get home and have several deer grazing around in my yard.  And while I don't mind if they eat the grass, I'm not growing vegetables for the deer.

I generally start my plants from seed.  My husband bought me a "pink" dogwood tree, well it has white blooms so when buying plants I think you might not know just what you are getting, so I buy seeds and plant them myself and have a better idea of what I am growing.

I also collect rain water from my roof for watering.  It's quite easy to put a barrel at the end of a gutter or under the drip if you don't have a gutter.  And I don't have to pay for watering my plants.  Even a small rain will produce a large amount of water if you are catching it under a gutter. I also in years with little rain put a small pail to catch water as I shower. 

I also limit the amount of garbage I send to the landfill with a compost area in my yard.  Coffee grounds, egg shells, all peelings from veggies and fruits, grass clippings and soil from house plants that I have somehow killed all go in the pile and then I turn it ever so often and it makes great soil for using in future years of gardening.  Over the years I have also used it to fill in some minor holes here and there from the original land clearing where old tree roots decaying have made little dips in the grass.  The compost soil is great for filling in those spots to help grass spread. So far this year we've just put the weed and feed and now we have to go fill in with the seeds and compost.

I expanded my little pot garden to my office this year too.  I have planted lettuce and a variety of herbs already and plan to add tomatoes and cucumbers to the mix as well. It's gonna to be just awesome when I go out on the porch and make myself a totally fresh salad for lunch.  In a conversation with a friend today I talked about the fact that I do eat my veggies, but not enough fruit.  I think I'm going to add a fig tree and maybe a couple of peach trees to my yard this year too.  Now I hope it rains soon so I can get a break from watering and I need the pollen to be washed away too.

So I'm saving money on my vegetables, saving time, because I just have to step out my door to pick them, saving the planet by composting.  I can litterally have a entire season of peppers for the same amount of money to buy one red bell pepper at the super market.  I also grow cucumbers and squash, but they aren't photo ready just yet.   I am looking forward to my fist tomatoe sandwich of the season.  Nothing better than a fresh sliced tomato on soft white break with a good slathering of miracle whip.  Right now I can't even taste or smell, but it has made my mouth water to just think about it.

So save yourself a little time and money and with with not xmuch effort you can easily become a pot gardener too.  For the best place in Milledgeville to get your start check out T-Bones nursery.  They are located on Meriweather just off 441 and have 5 acres of wonderful plants. You'll want to check out their website to make sure they are open before you head over and you'll want to take your truck.