On Holiday in May — Back in June!

Simplify Your Stuff: Choose the Classics

In Mark Bittman’s cookbook How to Cook Everything, he says the best way to stir fry is to use a flat-bottomed cast iron skillet. “Though woks are marketed as the ideal pans for stir-frying, this is only the case if you have a special stove-top burner for accommodating a wok, which almost no one does.”

When I read that, I remembered how I gave away my wok months earlier. It had never worked well on my electric stove, because it could never get hot enough, and I knew to me it wasn’t worth the disproportional amount of space it took up in my small kitchen. The next time we had stir-fry (made in the skillet) the results were so superior I had no regrets.

When I was growing up my family had a dustbuster. There was something so satisfying about sucking up spilled cereal and watching it disappear into the canister. We also had a broom and dustpan, but those weren’t nearly so exciting. We gradually used the dustbuster less and less, because the battery wasn’t strong enough and it couldn’t hold a charge.

In college I had a sleek toaster, the pop-up kind for toasting bread slices, and then one day it occurred to me that I hadn’t used it in years because I also had a toaster oven that was so much more versatile.

I remembered an electric can opener that would have never worked in a power outage. It was mounted in a prominent place under the cabinets, when a lowly handheld can opener would have stayed in the drawer.

Or how about the paper towel holder? I used to think that was essential in a kitchen. Now we just use a rag to wipe up spills and a dish towel to dry our hands.

Do you ever wonder how we accumulate so much stuff? Or maybe some of it is given to us?

There is always a new and improved version of something. There is always an upgrade, and it’s supposed to make our lives better and easier, or so we’re told. Now when I’m presented with something new, I’ve started to ask, “What problem will this solve for me, and is it really that much of a problem?”

As my life becomes full with more responsibilities, I cope by having fewer things to keep up with.

I want more of my things to resemble a cast iron skillet, modest and hardworking. Fewer gadgets. I’m learning to choose the classics.

Dressing Up Your Small Garden with Container Plants

Throughout the day in our home we listen to work crews, builders, sirens, engines, airplanes, cars honking, and leaf blowers. The wind blows hard enough to throw our door wide open and remind us that our apartment is high up in our building. At least the view through the glass door is always peaceful.

Plants are important to make your apartment feel like home.

What should you consider when choosing plants for your container garden?

Privacy

The mandevilla (pictured above) is one of our favorite climbing vines, and it’s nicer to look at than my neighbor’s satellite dish.

Fragrance & Beauty

I always grow mint for how it smells when I crumple it in my fingers, and the jasmine flowers (pictured here) are making me wish this blog could be a scratch ‘n sniff.

I love blooms, and who can resist the green of bright new leaves?

Many plants need at least partial sun to produce flowers, but they can still grow even if the conditions are less than ideal. Even our camellia could push out a few blossoms under the shaded cover of our last apartment.

Food

Everyone should grow some food in containers at least once, if only to understand just how much time, water, and care growing food takes.

We harvested golden peppers and cherry tomatoes last year and baked them on our pizzas. There were only a few, but they were special. We thought about how many plants and efforts would be required to produce a bigger harvest.

It was like Barbara Kingsolver said in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,“Labors like this help a person appreciate why good food costs what it does. It ought to cost more.”

Herbs are a sure, easy thing. Italian parsley is one I reach for often, and the basil made enough pesto to last all winter.

In the comments Monday about designing a container garden, reader Mab mentioned how she grows lettuce in a hanging basket.

Although it’s still on my list of things to try, I think it would be neat to grow mushrooms.

Learning

As much as I would like to give advice like, “Got shade? Try ferns, begonias, hosta, and bleeding hearts…” it depends on where you live and where your plants go. You’ll always have new ones to try and some old favorites.

There is a lot to learn about gardening, but it starts with putting a seed or a small plant in a pot with some dirt, and then water it and give it some light. Everything else you learn by experimenting with your particular location and the plants you like the best.

Containers give you a greater chance to experiment. You don’t have to plant a whole row of something, you can plant just one and see if you like it. I wouldn’t be able to grow an orange tree where I live, but since it’s in a big pot I can bring it inside and keep it next to my bathtub over the winter.

Find out what zone you live in so you’re not working against nature.

Check your plants often for pests, especially the ones you might not recognize. Container gardens are often sheltered, and pests can thrive on plants that are not washed off regularly from rain.

Almost any plant can live in a container, as long as the container is big enough.

And if your plants always die after two months, try annuals. They’re supposed to die when the season is over, so they’re just right for people whose gardening interest wanes over the summer. They might even convince you to give gardening another try.

How to Design Your Small Container Garden

Maybe you live in an apartment or condo like I do, and your gardening space is slim. My balcony is a little bit bigger than a twin-size bed.

Anyone can place a couple of pots next to the door, but if you want to grow a lot of plants in a small space, you need a strategy and a plan.

Even in my small space, I’ve been able to successfully grow citrus trees, flowers, shrubs, herbs, vegetables, and vines. It just takes planning and special arranging to make it all fit together, much like packing everything in the trunk of your car for a road trip, or making everything fit inside your closet.

Designing Your Garden Arrangement

This is how I’ve layered the plants on my balcony garden to take advantage of the sun, with shade plants nestled behind the bigger plants, and flower boxes hanging from the railing.

Even though we do have a lot of plants, we still want room so we can sit and spend time out there, and do fun things like city camping.

Helpful Stuff to Have

1. Pots that are bigger than you think you need. At the store they look huge, but when you get them home they’re just right. Anything can be a pot, as long as it has a drainage hole in the bottom. Don’t wind up with a lot of small pots; it’s a pain to water them frequently enough to keep them from drying out. You can combine a couple of small plants in one big pot.

2. Potting soil. Do not go and dig up some dirt from the ground by your apartment building. It won’t work. Potting soil is designed for drainage. You can also add some compost from the bin.

3. I don’t own any gardening tools. Since I mainly use potting soil, I just use a spoon for digging. One time I borrowed some clippers.

4. Watering cans. You can reuse juice or milk jugs.

5. Trellis or pole. You want to maximize the vertical space. Since we couldn’t drill hooks into the exterior wall, we positioned a tall garden pole on each side of the balcony to support a hanging basket. We attached it to the railing using stainless steel hose clamps, as pictured.

6. Hanging baskets. Suspend them from hooks or you can hang flower boxes over the railing.

7. Twine. Top-heavy plants can easily be knocked over by the wind, so we have our biggest plants tied securely to the balcony railing. Twine can be used to support vegetables and train climbing vines (grocery twist ties are good for that too).

Challenges of a Container Garden

* Water. If you don’t have access to a hose, you’ll be carrying all the water in jugs yourself, and you’ll probably be doing it every day during the summer.

* Pests. Weeds aren’t much of a problem, but you do need to be on the lookout for pests, so you can stop them before they become a problem.

* Choosing plants. It’s hard to go to the garden store and limit yourself when all of the plants and flowers are blooming and gorgeous. We’ll talk about choosing plants for your container garden next time.