KWW: Container Gardening

Welcome back to another awesome week of Kitchen Witchin. This week I'm discussing my container garden and my plans for the little plot of land in front of my condo.

For years I have had small plots of land, or even beds of flowers and herbs on my parents land; each year in the fall I would look through the Johnny's Selected Seeds catalogue looking for the seeds that I wasn't able to save from plants, and choosing what I would plant the next year.   This fall I wasn't able to plan and order ahead of time, and I haven't even started my seedlings yet (blaspheme I know).  This year, I'm using my book The Complete Book of Herbs by Lesley Bremness (which I have had for over seven years and have used it religiously) and I'm going to make the Witch's Garden that she talks about in the book. She lists several different kinds of themed gardens that you can have, even one for astrological signs, this year I'm using her inspiration plus the herbs I'm good at growing as well as those I know I can't wildcraft.

She lists a few that are called the nine Anglo Saxon sacred herbs, which include:
chamomile, chervil, crab apple, fennel. mugwort, nettle, plantain, sainfoin, watercress, which were believed to repel evil attacks.  Angelica was considered a sovereign remedy against enchantments and potions. We all know clovers, dill, garlic, houseleek were also planted in Anglo Saxon garden.

For your astrological sign (I'm a cusp baby Scorpio/Sagittarius) so I have these plants as my best plants to have in a garden: basil, tarragon, wormwood, feverfew,mallow, sage, houseleek.  I have planted feverfew before but never really used it, so I'm not planting that again, wormwood is a sister plant to mugwort and I can wildcraft that from a safe location so I won't be planting that wither. I have no use for mallow, sainfoin, watercress, or crab apple.   So here's my list of plants that I'm going to do this season:

• rosemary from my plant last year
• mint (several including: peppermint & spearmint)
• sage
• escallions (or as some know it "spring onion")
• thyme from a cutting in my mother's garden
• Jamaican scotch bonnet pepper *from seeds of last years plants*
• tarragon
• basil 
• lemon verbena
• chamomile
• chives
• bay
• house-leek * I'm actually taking several from my mother she has containers upon containers of these so she won't miss a few. lol
• right now I have some garlic which has sprouted as well as some potatoes which I'm going to plant as well.

For my window boxes, because I have five windows that I can place little gardens in I'm going to plant:

• variety of lettuces,
• beans
• roses (from cuttings from my mother's garden).
• ivy *which I'm also getting from my mother's garden*
• aloe vera * because every Caribbean home must have at least one plant*
• marigold

Luckily for me my town gives out containers for composting, as this is called the Emerald City, they take being green very seriously. I will going to get one, then of course using it. I'm also getting some worms and a worm bin for the non compostable items. 

I'm a member of Arbor Day Foundation and they send ten trees each year, this year I will put those into pots around my new home, as my parents no longer have any more room to plant them. I saw my maple tree recently which we planted about four years ago it has gotten way bigger; it's awesome to see all the plants coming back into bloom and the different trees that are awakening. 

That's my plan for my garden, I will share on Wednesday's the progress, successes and failures of my plants, as well as recipes, tips and tricks I have learnt from my mother.

Won't you share with me your comments, your own stories of success or failures, tip to tricks to avoid such failures as well??? What are you planting this year??