Guardians

My garden will need a bit of protection... from bugs, birds, and possibly bored teenagers or the neighborhood hungry. I'm more paranoid about the latter lately, as someone has begun regularly leaving grocery carts in front of our house, and there's evidence that it's the neighbors living across from our back porch who are having difficulty getting groceries... but I suppose vegetables could have a worse fate than being eaten. Hence, I'm amassing an army of small yet effective back-door bouncers that say "I care about this garden, please don't mess with it."

Rain Gauge Gnome... more like a watering can gauge

* picture to come

Leprechaun Frog: Bringing tackiness to a whole new level!

Wormie: How could you say no to that face?

Garden Gnome (currently unnamed)

The Wine Barrel

There should be a page devoted to the Wine Barrel, which was what began the descent into gardening madness. We picked it up in Napa after a romantic weekend planning wedding things, and it was the first thing we filled and planted. The remains of wine are flaked over the insides of the barrel, and it smells heavenly when freshly wet.

Map:
- Center: Sage (and garden gnome)
- North (Right): Oregano
- East (Bottom, near door): Radishes... to be replaced by Thyme
- South (Left): Cilantro/Coriander
- West (Top, near porch railing): Garlic Chives (and rain gauge gnome)

We used an entire tub of the worm compost, which had been going for about a year and was a rich crumbly black, plus a bunch of unfertilized cheap soil, and a few inches of pebbles at the bottom for optimal drainage.

I'll post photos of the progression here!

April 20, 2009: 1 month old