Monday 19 August 2013

Our Scraps Garden

We didn't bring any seeds with us, and given that we're in a temporary house, the amount of work it would take to start a proper garden just didn't seem to make sense. I've read a number of wonderful books and articles that are all about growing your own food from scraps, and so does our "garden" grow.

The first scraps were scallions. Scallions are brilliant and super easy to grow, just buy a bunch from your local grocery, cut off the bottoms, stick them in the ground (or pot of soil) in a location with partial to full sun, give them a bit of water and voila, you have onions for life! I planted ours in a pot just outside our porch the day after moving in. We cut off what we need and they grow back very quickly.


With most fresh herbs that I bring home, I just trim back the leaves from the bottom, as leaves in water are poisonous to the plant, cut about half an inch of stem off from the bottom, then put them in a glass of water on our table until they've grown sufficient roots to plant.


The next clipping that I got my hands on was a bit of chocolate mint, a long time favorite of mine. The Island Farm had some when I stopped in one day, and I put some in water, hoping to have it sprout roots. It did! It started off well, in a pot next to the pot of onions, but it just wasn't growing. Of course, it wasn't dying either, but I wanted bounty, not just one pretty little sprig.


I moved it into the ground on the other side of the house, where it was abused by children, land crabs and the occasional cat before finally being mowed down the one time we had our lawn cut since we've been here. Yes, I know that it's been quite awhile, but we just haven't got the equipment to do it ourselves, or the money to spare to have someone do it for us. We've asked around, and people here want $70+ just to mow our lawn! Admittedly, these days we sometimes expect to see a lion stalking us in the waving grass that is slowly threatening to swallow our palm trees. Since our goat ran off the first day we had her, we've decided to get an old fashioned grass whip. A grass whip can not only trim your grass, it improves your golf swing and gives you a good core work out!

Picture belongs to Golf With Me, please click and read their article!


The above, is how much our grass has grown since July. Conversely, below, is how much of a comeback my little chocolate mint has made. Jon came in this morning and pointed out that it's fighting to live. The fact that it's come up in several small places, makes me think that the roots have really worked hard in our red, dense soil.


There's a bit of extra room in with the onions, so I've tried to grow leeks and celery there with no luck in the past. Both times that I've planted the end of some celery, it started growing, got up to about 3 inches, then wilted and died. This week, I've given it another go, adding two types of basil. So far, so good. I also did a few basil sprigs in another pot, shaded beneath a palm and another plant and it was feeling strong this morning, so my fingers are crossed!


In the last picture, on the lower right, you can see the top of a carrot that has started to grow.

All in all, we're happy with our little scrap garden. I keep burying garlic cloves, ends of large onions, seeds from anything and everything in what little bits of shade that we have. If a tomato goes past its eating days, it gets buried along with everything else. Each time, I go for a slightly different location, but usually somewhat sheltered by a tree or bush. I'm curious to see what might start coming up next year, long after we've forgotten about our buried scraps of food treasure.

1 comment:

  1. I have been perusing your blog... Can't wait until you are back in Eleuthera posting more lovely gems like this one. Your little detour will only serve to heighten your senses when you return...

    ReplyDelete