Saturday, March 14, 2009

urban gardening part I - succulents

a gift from joen


a gift from mary anne and an orphan succulent



Wikipedia tells us:
Succulent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants...Succulent plants store water...The storage of water often gives succulent plants a more swollen or fleshy appearance than other plants, also known as
succulence
.



We are slowly but surely making our transition back to urban life and as the sun begins to shine again and the spring season comes our way, we are finding that some changes require more effort than others. One such change is transitioning from living with a large outdoor space to our apartment with zero outdoor space, not even a fire escape. We were spoiled with our giant backyard and patio in Point Reyes. We aren't greedy people, not at all, we don't need all of that yard space here in the city, but a tiny little corner...just a little ledge where we could arrange some soil and sprout something green would be nice. For now, this is not an option, we are committed to making our current living situation work. We were determined to find a solution for making our outdoor space transition run a bit more smoothly, one that would make us happy. We didn't give up, we kept thinking.

Envisioning a garden in our bay window required a complete shift in mindset. It's not really outdoor, but the windows are large and they do let a lot of light into the space. I've read about the viability of gardening in city dwellings on small patios and on roof decks, but in a window...hmmm...would it be possible?

So I decided to start with some hardy and friendly looking succulents. While in Point Reyes, we grew our fair share of fruit, vegetables, and a few native wildflowers and such, but we've never owned a succulent. I perused a few books at the library for advice and checked one out to take home with me and help me get started. It's been about a month, and the succulents have been very well behaved and look beautiful. Recently I added a cutting from Mary Anne's succulent area at the Fort Mason Community Garden and just this week I added a cutting from Joen's gorgeous selection of succulents happily soaking up the sun on her back porch (gifts pictured above). The new cuttings seem to be adapting well.

Today we purchased 5 pots of herbs from a very nice gentleman at the farmers market. More on the herbs soon...stay tuned.


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