Urban Garden: Making the most out of the city.

Compromise, Compromise and Compromise some more! 

While I always have been a city child I can't say that I don't miss the lush green areas the country side has to offer. I would love to have one of those dream garden, where you and your kids can just spend hours picking dinners, I would love to see tomato plants or green bean plants towering over the kids...but as the years went by I have leaned to make the most out of my patio.

I think what I first struggled with was the selection...I finally accepted that while my patio is the size of a living room..it is still just a patio so no I cannot grown 7 different tomato plants, cucumbers, squashes , green beans and still have room to relax.

The second game changing realization was this: yes San Diego has a very " Mild" tropical climate that seems ideal to grow just about anything but this is only partially true.

We cannot forget the fact that California is mostly desert and we need to conserve water as much as possible. If you combine the need for water conservation with the fact that most patios are cemented areas  and that cement radiates more heat you realize that growing in buckets becomes a bit more problematic. 

The third big " compromise" that helped me through this Urban Gardening journey was finding the right balance between  functional/edible and ornamental. Let's be honest you still want a pretty patio, I enjoy sipping my green tea with a view and I am not a Jungle kinda gal...so I scaled back on my garden size and leaned to group different plants both according to their needs and of course some sort of organic look that seemed to fit the overall feel of the house. 

The final tip which actually came from my husband, is flexibility.

In the past i would just decide where I wanted to place certain plants and just got very stuck on these ideas and ended up watching plants get sunburnt, or growing very slowly because they were not getting enough sunlight...

while the look of a patio or garden is certainly important well you can't have a garden with dead plants, and in a way this is where a patio has its advantages..everything is movable. As the summer progresses and the heat increases keep an eye on your plants and move them accordingly, also rotate them in their planter so they grown full and lush... and why not have fun and enjoy your ever transforming garden. 

The selections in my patio: 

- Tomato Plants: This is where I made the most compromises. Growing tomatoes in 10 gallon buckets is absolutely doable however, tomatoes need quite a bit of water in full sun . Keeping that in mind i tried to pick varieties that would yield the most fruit. In past years I try to grow all Heirloom tomatoes and while they tasted amazing I was pretty disappointed in the amount of labor that went into the few bowls of  tomatoes I harvested...

I of course kept using just Organic tomato plants but I chose smaller varieties, cluster tomatoes, ram tomatoes and cherry tomato....I do still miss the Black Krin Heirloom though ( My favorite) but I think it might be more suitable for large planters or for the ground. . . I am not sure I have fully abandoned the idea of growing it again this year though. 

- Herbs: When it came to choosing a career I struggled quite a bit between deciding to become a chef or a floral designer...and obviously I chose the ladder but I still love spending hours in my kitchen, it is my way to relax and tune out the world. Knowing this it should be no surprise that I gave up o a few more veggies to have a large selection of herbs. I se a ton of fresh herbs both for cooking or for cocktails...and quite honestly an organic herb plant is the same price as those little herb pouches you buy at the grocery store that never seem to last nor get fully used. 

This is my selection so far and I have a few more that need to be added:

- 2 Organic Sweet Genova Basil ( Hello Pesto, Hello Caprese salad! Feel Free to imagine my Italian Accent here ) 

- 1 Organic Spearmint 

-1 Organic Peppermint

- 1 Organic Flat Leaf Parsley ( Amazing on potato salads) 

- 1 Organic Sage ( Great on meats , potatoes and of course great as a smudge stick in case you need to get rid of some bad mojo ) 

-1 Organic Rosemary. 

-1 Organic Catnip....Great for my 17 year old kitty 

Still Coming: Greek Oregano, Thyme and lemon Balm.....

- Hot Peppers: 

- 1 Organic JalaFuego : Hotter version of a  Jalopeno

- 1 Organic Serranos : Serranos are a medium heat pepper, and the plant yields a lot of peppers. They are my pepper of choice for Salsa Frescas such as Pico De Gallo. it is also great for Pepper Jelly which makes an amazing sandwich condiment. 

I am currently contemplating adding a red pepper both foe looks and just to add an extra variety in the kitchen, I am leaning toward cayenne or a Chile De Arbol which is smokier in flavor and can be dried. ....I will keep you posted.  

-Berries : 

- 2 Organic Strawberries . I  planted these in the far right corner in a large ceramic planter.... so far so good but it is my first try at this hopefully the ids will be able to pick some strawberries for fun ...I don't have high expectations for them yet but I am keeping my fingers crossed. 

I have a little space left in my Edible section and I am debating....Right now I am thinking some kind of green bean or a wax bean, I think It would look nice and add a little bit off height to the patio and I can have it trellis behind my tomato plants to maintain enough open space at the center of the patio for house summer fun. .. however I started my garden really late because I am remodeling the condo so I am not sure if I missed my chance of this. 

I allocated the left front corner of the patio for my ornamental plants.

I didn't have as much of a selection to chose from. By now space is limited and not many plants strive in the heath and full sun without consuming a ton of water.  I love succulents and cacti so I knew I wanted a lot of those but I also wanted to add something that could brow fuller and add color to the patio. 

I had tow more of those large ceramic pots I used for the strawberries, I used one for a dish garden of assorted Coleus.  I could fit threw different plants in there with enough room for them to grow nice and lush. I chose a lime green one, a burgundy with lime green edges and a hot pink/lime bicolor coleus. These plants are very hardy and do well in containers not to mention they do great in cut flower arrangements and come in a stunning array of colors.

I raised the other planter behind this one on a cast iron plant stand and let my husband create a cacti garden. I have to say I thought all the cacti would strive in the full sun but a couple are getting sunburnt so we are keeping a close eye on them...we might need to replace these with a couple of hardier varieties. 

I wanted to add another plant which both looked nice planted on the patio and could work well in cut flower arrangements, so I planted a scented geranium. I use a ton of them in my floral designs and I love the freshness of their scent and hummingbirds love their blooms. 

On the Right side of my patio, on the side of my Gardening Table ( this was a recycled Bakery Table from Whole Foods la Jolla.....) I have my pallet bin succulent garden. I am very attached to this because about half  of the succulents planted here were rescued from the shop and the other half i personally propagated from leaves thus elevating my Black Thumb to a Gray Thumb :D ...

I will keep you posted on the progress of the plants listed  and on any further progress, I have one corner left I still need to work on....and honestly we'll see what plants survive and what will need replacing....