This year, for the front yard, all I did was move some pots around, and plant some tomato plants that had outgrown their seedling pots. What’s in the ground is pretty much the result of what I’ve done years before. I amended and took care of the soil, so the arugula grows like crazy. Which means I got to keep cutting it back and giving it away. Lucky me I have a few neighbors who love the peppery lettuce. I can take it in small doses and really wish something that I liked a bit better would grow as quickly and easily instead. I’ve probably gotten a dozen bags of arugula.
I’ve gotten a few tomatoes this month. The evil squirrels so far haven’t feigned any interest in my tomatoes. Not like last year when it was a battle between me and them. There are still a few more months to go though.
Because I had some work done on my front walkway, I moved my productive lavender plant, which is now a dying lavender plant. I would pick the flowers when they were just about ready, dry them in the window sill and store them for future use. I collected enough to throw a few tablespoons here and there into some dishes. I hope the plant comes back as I am really enjoying lavender-vanilla ice cream.
Mint is still going strong. It is a perennial so I don’t have to fuss with it, as is the sage and the thyme. Some of the Swiss Chard from last year didn’t seem to bolt like the rest of the chard and are happily crowding out the arugula.
Pondering asking to do some gardening in someone else’s yard I realize how lazy I can be now, because of hard work I put into my yard, back when I had the energy. Untended yards have hard, clayish soil. It takes a while and a fair investment in compost, dirt, mulch and serious weed pulling to get it so that arugula comes back without much help, or thought.
The backyard, since it is all container gardening does require some effort on my part. This year I tried my hand at potatoes and ate my reward. Three small fingerling-ish potatoes. This after digging my naked arm into a pot and embedding dirt deep into my nails. They were tasty. However there were too few of them. I would have turned the whole pot over looking for them but, I had some bean plants on top and didn’t want to lose them.