In which I’m already planning next year’s tomatoes!

While there is a back yard on the west side of the house so enormous it could support an absolutely giant garden, there’s also a huge shade tree back there, and tall fences, so I’m not really sure about sunlight.

Plus, to put a garden in the back, I’d have to do a lot of work, from rock picking to soil improvement to renting a tiller, and to be honest I just don’t have that level of interest when all I want are a few tomatoes and some fresh herbs.

There are already raised beds out front, plenty big enough to grow food in, so that’s what I’m going to do! They’re on the east side, but I think they’ll get plenty of sun, at least in the morning, even with the big tree in the front yard.

Right now, the raised beds are in shadow, but it’s late October. I think in the summer they’d be getting some sunlight this time of day, even if indirect, through the tree.

So I’ve been reading up on container gardening. Apparently I want to compost and mulch the beds about this time of year, so the soil can improve over the winter. Hopefully next weekend I can run to Ace or Home Depot and grab a few bags of each. Might also stab the dirt some to loosen and aerate it.

I’d like to find some sort of shrubby tomato breeds, maybe something called cherry cascade, and maybe one each of Better Boy and roma, too. Also edible flowers like nasturtiums and violas, some lettuces that can be harvested leaf by leaf, like endive, maybe a pole bean plant, and then fill it out with herbs: parsley and mint for tabbouli, cilantro for Mexican and Indian dishes, and basil and oregano for Italian. Perhaps some lemon verbena or thyme, too.

Just enough to be fun and interesting without becoming a misery to maintain. If it gets enough light!

zone: 7a