sacha chua living an awesome life

Here’s how we’re thinking of using the raised beds we built. I might interplant some radishes between the tomatoes and strawberries, too.

• Peas: The edamame I grew in a pot could really use more space. We’ll plant sugar snap peas and edamame after we put in some support.
• Tomatoes: Cherry or grape tomatoes, which we’ll trim more aggressively this time instead of letting them take over the yard ;)
• Strawberries: Mmm! I’ve left the strawberries out – I hope they’ll survive winter. They’re supposed to be perennial in this zone. Maybe I should move some indoors for safekeeping…
• Bush beans: Quick and productive. The only thing is that when we planted them last year, they matured just when it was too hot to think about steaming things. ;)
• Carrots: We had mixed results with our purple carrots. They were cute, but small and often nibbled on by other insects/animals.
• Beets: Haven’t tried growing these yet, but if they’re sweet, I’m all for them.
• Lettuce: We’ll give these another try, although I think the squirrels will enjoy them before we do. I want to grow lettuce because buying lettuce usually means wasting a fair bit. Maybe we’ll build a hoop system for our raised bed… If so, I’ll swap this with the parsley from the other box, and plant lettuce in the smaller box.
• Rosemary: Ahh, potato rosemary bread. And pasta. And roasts. Mmm mmm mmm.
• Thyme: For pasta. The creeping thyme I’ve put down in the border might do, if it survives the winter. I wonder if I can grow it in our mulched pathways…
• Oregano: Surprisingly strong and peppery when it’s fresh. Also for pasta. If the oregano plant in the back survives the winter, I may repurpose this space.
• Chives: We tried growing this in a container and it didn’t take, so we’ll try it for real.
• Basil: Mmmmm. Pesto. Yum yum yum. And lots of pasta, too.
• Bok choi: A lady down the street grows lots of bok choi in her front yard. We keep being tempted to pinch some. ;)
• Cilantro: This goes to seed so quickly, but it’s good to have on hand for stirfries.
• Garlic: W-’s parents grow their own garlic, so we’re going to try it too.
• Parsley: Prolific and good for making things look extra-special. I’ll grow a mix of flat-leaf and curled parsley this time. Also, we use it by the handfuls in mussels marinara, and it’s a decent way of bulking up pesto.

There’s also a small section which is not in a raised bed. I’ll probably use that to grow more basil, and I hope the lavender I’ve left out there will come back next year.

No more zucchini. Not only did we not get any un-nibbled zucchini off it, but the plants took over the side of the garden. <laugh> Also no more of those gimmicky hanging planters for strawberries. No more sage unless I trim it mercilessly – we don’t cook sausages nearly enough, and the plant propagates by itself.

Definitely more rosemary and more basil. Good ROI for our kitchen.

I’ll also grow catnip and peppermint in pots, as those are invasive. And if our chili pepper plant will survive the cats’ nibbling (even with the peppers on it!), maybe we’ll plant some more peppers too.

Getting the hang of it, I think!

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