Spring Has Sprung

Sometime last winter I began planning my spring garden. But not just a garden, a potager. For those of you not familiar with this somewhat obscure French term, a potager (pronounced pot-ah-jay) is a kitchen garden. Oh, but not just a kitchen garden. A potager combines vegetables, herbs, flowers and design into a harmonious, beautiful and useful landscape.

Here was the original plan (try not to laugh until you get to the end...) I was going to cut out a 18-by-10 foot section of our back lawn to "start small". I spent hours online researching purveyors of topsoil, cursing the whole time that I actually had to buy Dirt. Dirt cheap it's not. Especially when you add delivery fees.

I bought a selection of vegetable, herb and flower seeds. The whole time restraining my self not to order an "unreasonable" amount. I then researched Martha Stewart and the Farmer's Almanac to determine when and where to best sow my seeds. I built a calendar and everything.

All was going according to plan until it came time to actually start some seeds. Being cheap, and not wanting to spend an "unreasonable" amount of money on my potager experiment, I had the great idea to start my seeds in egg cartons. I planted onions, leek, chives and delphiniums in neat little egg carton rows. It was a horrible idea. Oh sure, the seeds sprouted. Then it came time to prepare the house for my son's first birthday party. I put the seeds on the back patio for the day...And completely forgot about them. Also, egg cartons are really shoddy pots. Next year I will spring for a bunch of 49-cent terra cotta pots. Hindsight = 20/20.

Next I was supposed to sow tomatoes, eggplant and basil. That never happened. I never even found eggplant seeds anywhere. My tomato and basil seeds are still in the garage.

Next I was supposed to Direct Sow my peas and sweet peas and buy a trellis. Never happened. Noticing a trend?

I've since scaled back my potager dreams. I'm now thinking "start smaller." Maybe some potted vegetables and a nice herb garden? Then I can gradually build year-after-year. I will track my progress here and soon will post some "Before" pictures. My goal is to have my potager up and running in three years. Wish me luck!