Gotta Have Veggies Before You Can Have Cookies. . .

And do I have a fabulous cookie recipe for you:-)  But, ahem, not today.  Tomorrow.  Today I want to show you my vegetable garden.   And before you think I have a garden just like everyone else, I don't.  In fact, it's not in the ground, it's not a raised bed, and it's not even one of those funny topsy-turvy tomato hangy things.

My garden is on my back patio; in whiskey barrel halves.

No risk of tearing out more grass than planned. . . or entertaining thoughts of making the plot just a little bigger for just one more plant.  I have exactly seven planters. . . and there's minimal weeding, virtually no bending over, and watering and harvest is painless.  And I do believe the patio is a happier place with all those 'working' greens:-)

Three of my barrels hold my kitchen herbs.  I've had two for quite a few years, but this year I decided to dedicate one planter to just peppermints (the 's' is there on purpose).

I've got lime-mint, chocolate-mint, and orange-mint.  Delicious in mojitos and fruit salads and just as a breath freshener if you pluck a leaf as you pass by. . .

The other two barrels are on each side of my back porch steps.

One holds parsley, chives, and cilantro (corriander as it seeds out later in the summer).  The parsely and chives held over the winter well, but I had to replace the cilantro.

The other planter claims dill (tiny little lad that it is. . . a hold over from last year - it'll explode as the temperatures warm up), purple basil, a light-variegated basil, and oregano in the front.

Then there's the experimental barrel with lettuce (planted late. . . we'll see what happens) and brussels sprouts. 

Not only have I never grown lettuce in a container, I've never grown brussels sprouts at all.  But it was too intriguing to pass up. . . and I knew my lettuce barrel would have room for one experimental plant.  So far so good.

And peppers. . . that one was a hard one.  Hubster wanted 'these' varieties, but I was set on 'these' varieties.  A compromise was met and we'll be harvesting:  garden salsa, cajun belle (which is classified as a sweet pepper, anxious to find out), cherry bomb (sounds hot, doesn't it?), four traditional jalepenos, and one jalepeno gigante.

If the plants look close, you're right.  They are.  BUT - as long as there is space for them to reach out they'll grow wonderfully.  I've been known to take a six pack of pepper or tomato plants and pack them all into one 'hill.'  It works wonderfully for a compact garden if you don't mind a dense growth of branches laden with fruit.

And what kind of garden would it be without tomatoes?  I focus primarily on 'out-of-hand' sized ones.   So I've got sunsugar cherry, honeybunch grape, terenzo cherry, and megabite (bigger than a 'cherry' tomato, but smaller than a standard slicing variety).

And then there's the strawberries.

What?  You can't see them?  Well. . . yeah.  They're not planted.  I decided *after* I planted everything else that I wanted strawberries in that planter.  Then Hubster and I discussed setting a special pyramid style planter in the barrel, and then. . . well. . . I'm ready to just plant strawberries!  Besides, it's always a good day at Arnold's Greenhouse - just look at all the veggies and herbs that have already made their home in my garden.  Let's go get some strawberries!

The hardest part to container gardening?  Is waiting for harvest!!  But at least there'll be cookies to get you through. . .

Have a Veggie-filled kind of day ~

Robin Z