It was really tough not having my own space this summer, and not having the money to set anything up at my new place... But, I scrounged together some cash and threw some plants in the dirt.
I started with putting down cardboard on the area that I wanted to use for my first few beds, and I held it down with potted plants. After a couple months the grass stopped trying to fight back and the cardboard lay flat on the ground. By then I had a bit of money, and I bought a cedar board that was on sale at Homely Despot, got them to cut it into lengths, and got some cheap corner hardware to put it all together. Then I filled the center with some hay from my dad, a bag of composted manure, and a couple bags of cheap dirt from the grocery store garden center. It didn't quite fill the box, but I mounded it up on one side and used the other side to trench-compost some kitchen veggie scraps.
The community garden plot ended up being more trouble than it was worth, so I let it go in August. It was stinking hot, and driving across two cities... I just couldn't conscience the gas consumption.
Unfortunately, that meant that I left my horehound bush behind, too. I managed to yank up a small portion and planted it in my new garden, but some sort of leaf-rot flew through my garden and took out my rose-scented bergamot, horehound, and even the nettles I was keeping in a pot. The plants are starting to come back, but they're pretty sad-looking.
However, I do have a couple bundles of flax sitting in my basement, waiting to be processed. I had to wrap them up to keep the cat from chewing on the tops where the seed pods are... Cats. Seriously. But at least that part of my community garden experiment worked out well. I also got some onions, chard, spinach, and a couple pea pods out of the deal. The kale got eaten by some little bug until it looked more like lace than leaf.
My dad had kept my everbearing strawberries, saying that he would look after them. In fact, he was pretty adamant about me not taking *any*... But the bed ended up looking more like a hayfield. So, I scrounged four plants and put them in the ground beside my small raised bed, slotting the plants in between cardboard, and covering it all with hay. Straw looks nicer, but I have some serious issues with wheat and gluten, so that's not a good plan. I have to say that I was impressed at how the strawberries kept the grass back. When I dug down through the jungle to find them there was a little clear patch around each plant. I thought that the grass would strangle them. Apparently not. Maybe next year I'll be able to have strawberries again. I should grab some more from my dad's this week.
One mistake I made was not looking up the growing instructions for the angelica and betony that I ordered from Richter's last winter. When it arrived I put them in pots in the sun... and they just never quite thrived. Then I looked it up. Three weeks ago.
They like the shade. They're forest plants.
So, now they're in the shady part of the yard and looking much happier already. This does explain why angelica was swapped out for celery when industrial farming took over. It's pretty hard to shade a whole field. And it's called WOOD betony for a reason...
So. I have some herbs in the ground, both medieval medicinal and culinary, a budget blueberry bush on sale from Homely Despot, and in a couple weeks I'll buy some more cedar, bags of soil and compost, and plant some garlic for next spring. Then I'll know that I'm home and settled.
Home is where the garlic is, apparently.
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