I walked out to my car this morning to run a quick errand and a sudden realization hit me out of nowhere.
It's February.
Ok, don't make fun. It's been a rough couple of weeks for me and I can't be expected to keep up with everything. Yes, I've written "2" on all kinds of forms schedules and I have 4 calendars. But not a single one of those calendars include "Trim rose bushes and prep flower beds." It shouldn't be a surprise that it took me this long to remember.
So now I have a real confession to make. I'm a little nervous about going outside and started my plant prep today. Gardening costs money, which I don't have much of put aside right now. I should have planned better, but as I just pointed out, I had no idea it was February already!
If I'm ever going to seriously overspend on anything, it's probably going to be groceries and gardening. All Fall I'd been contemplating combining the two and planting a small herb and vegetable bed this year. I have a space in the back yard, it just needs some cleaning out and some cultivating. I found a nifty website with some good ideas about theme planting in containers, such as planting a salsa garden pot.
In addition to edibles, I covered up my front yard flower bed several months ago in an attempt to kill off everything in it so I can replant in twice-blooming azaleas. I've been wanting these for a couple of years. I'd had a variety of bulbs and annuals in there since I moved in about 5 years ago, but to be honest, in the past few years I haven't found the time to properly care for them. For the last two years I haven't even planted the annuals, just let the bulbs take over. Most of the bulbs I acquired from Mom and Grandma's yards. Grandma has beautiful iris, daffodils and daylillies carpeting her flower beds.
Last year I intentionally neglected my beds because we were almost done paying off the last of the general debt and I wouldn't even spend money on a new water hose. This year we're in a similar boat, just months away from paying off the house. I know how big my plant beds are, and how much fertilizer, soil, and mulch cost. I know how many plants it takes to fill up the looooong front bed. I know how many empty pots I have. I know how expensive azalea plants can be. I know I've never been successful growing plants from seeds. I have $25 budgeted each week to spend on anything I want, but a large percentage of that goes to... well, extra snacks, hot chocolate, and such. And $25 wouldn't buy enough plants to fill up the front bed anyway.
Now the dilemma. What should I prioritize with the money I do have for gardening? Less prep, more plants, or vice versa? I can probably get some herb plants from mom, she has an awesome herb garden, and I wouldn't need a lot of vegetable plants (Greg doesn't eat many so I'm planting for one!) so maybe I should concentrate on doing the back bed right and put off the azaleas another season. Except I've already abused the bulbs so they will not be participating this year, leaving the front bed pretty much empty. On the other hand, will I actually use the vegetables I grow, since I know Greg won't eat them? If I'm not going to use them, I might as well just focus on the front bed for now.
One year I will have a budget category just for gardening. I'll do it right, full prep, quality planting, everything perfect. It won't be this year. It may not be next year. But it'll happen. These are the things we're working towards; saving the money to do the things we want without having to worry quite so much about the cost. In the meantime, perhaps I need to just trim the roses and give growing plants from seeds another try.
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8 comments:
If that's where you find joy, then it will be worth spending money on. Don't feel guilty if you can't afford to do all that you want to, just do what you can and enjoy it.
My vote would be punt for the vegetable garden until after the mortgage is paid off. And spend what you do have set aside on the azalea or whatever you decide on the front beds.
My reasoning is I personally haven't had luck on my veggies. Each year I get a little bit better at it...but although I've produced tomatoes, green beans and herbs...none have been good enough to actually consume.
And I don't think you'd actually "save" any money from it vs. what you would have gotten the same stuff at the store. For now.
Save the veggie gardening for when you can put more money to it...
Punt it for now... you're too close to your mortgage goal...
(supermom is never without opinion) =)
Oh, and this comes from a person that already has a variety of veggie seeds awaiting planting KNOWING they aren't going to produce....
I agree with Supermom. Take what money you have and put it into the non-veggie gardening. And, hey, you might not be able to buy all of the azaleas you want, but you could get a few. Maybe between that and divinding the bulbs, you can fill more space than you think.
Here's another idea. In the past, I've interplanted some of my sunny perennial beds with a veggie or two. (I found that cucumbers, in particular, grow with almost no care. Tomatoes are harder, because they need alot of water.) So if you have a hole or two, plug it with a squash or cucumber or herb (basil performs as an annual down here, or you could plant rosemary, which will end up being a small evergreen shrub) or the like, and bide your time on the rest of the veggies until next season.
OR do the above, and then as veggie season approaches/continues, plant a few succession crops as time and money permits.
There are lots of options here!
I've actually had a lot of success growing veggies in the past. Growing up my parents and grandparents all had full on 1+ acre gardens that I hated working in, but then in college Jen and I grew tomatoes and bell peppers (chocolate bell peppers!) on our patio, and when we moved to Clinton we started growing okra as well. We had many good years of okra until recently, when we just didn't have the time. Yum. Okra. Now I want okra.
My only concern with planting a few azaleas this year is that if I fill in with more next year, will they look funny or grow at different heights? I'd have to mix colors because I know I'd never get a good match a year later. But I could plant some this year and fill in white ones next year. In the meantime I'd probably want to fill in with pots and planters since azaleas prefer a much higher alkaline soil than a lot of other plants (except maybe tomatoes, but I don't think I want to grow those in my front bed!). Mom's already got some herbs thinned out and potted to give away, which she said I could have when I talked to her last night. Guess I need to pull out some of my reference books and see what my options are.
The other problem is that the front bed is about 4-5 times bigger than the back bed, which means 4-5 times more soil, fertilizer, and mulch!
And by more alkaline I mean more acidic. I need to go take my meds before I start this project!
Grow veggies. They'll keep you healthy until you pay off the house, and you'll have the energy to plant the non-veggies you want!
This from the man who just suggested I add peanut butter on a Hershey's bar to my diet? Ha!
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