It’s March 1st in southern California, which means it’s spring, whether mother nature agrees or not! The sun is out, it’s a la niña year so there’s very little water, but doggonit I’m gonna try to plant these strawberries as if my life depends on it. I’m manifesting spring.
For starters, I’m going to make space for a new vegetable arch I’m building so that I can plant some climbing veggies. It’s a huge arch (12’ x7’ x 7’), grabbed it from Amazon for $90. I’m adding some green 16 gauge mesh wire frame over it (48 in x 50’; 2 x 3 in grid) to support the plants. I can only hope that the wire will be enough to support summer squash and zucchini (and, for the fall, eventually pumpkins). So we’ll see.
For the first two planter boxes right up front, I’m hoping to plant:
| Box 1 * Cucumbers (Japanese, climbing variety) * Peas (sugar snap?) * Nasturtium | Box 2 * Pole beans * Summer squash * Zucchini * Zinnias |
| Box 3 * Tomatoes * Basil * Oregano * Peppers * Marigold | Box 4 (most likely over-packed…) * Strawberries * Spinach * Carrots * Onions * Garlic * Lettuce |
I eventually want to grow loofah, especially to use for soaps and dish scrubbers. They could make great resale value by making soaps and attaching them to the bottom for farmer’s markets.
I am also super jazzed about growing melons like cantaloupe and honeydew and watermelons on an arched trellis in April, and hopefully some pumpkins in March. I need more room!
I already have spinach, cabbage, purple cauliflower, celery, and some other plants thriving in the planter boxes I have now. I need to transplant these to a back wall, no planter box needed. I’ll just have to amend the soil with more planting soil and some fertilizer.
Maybe I can grow loofah on the back fence as well, see how that works. We are also interested in raspberry and blueberry bushes back there. I wanted to add a butterfly bush to attract pollinators.
The back wall currently has:
- Red raspberry
- Purple raspberries (I thought these were blackberries when I bought them 🤦). Might move somewhere else and plant blackberries or blueberries here instead
- Baby blue CA Lilac
- Yellow Gold Forsythia
- Burgundy red bougainvillea
I’m also interested in planting butterfly bushes And milkweed to attract pollinators, cape plumbago (or freeway bushes, as my friend calls them), and purple woolly thyme as groundcover.
We have so many ideas, but so little money! I’m hoping spring will rejuvenate the garden, bringing rain and livening up the place. Our ideas and dreams are up there with the stars, and making them a reality takes so much patience and money. It’s good practice though- we all grow at our own pace, don’t we?
I’ll keep you updated on garden planting as the season changes! I’m excited to see the transformation, no matter what happens. Because even if it flops, we’ll still have learned.
Until next time!
