The flowers, herbs, and vegetables are taking over the patio

The back patio which faces west is filled with herbs, vegetables and flowers. Cutting of parsley has begun and it has such a great flavor freshly cut from the patio. Cooking with fresh herbs add a certain glamour to any meal.




Other herbs we are growing are dill, sage, basil, oregano, parsley and cilantro. The smells of herbs will overpower the patio soon as well as the smell of vegetables and flowers. It will be a scent of mixed spring and summer.






Favorite flowers are geraniums, pansys and sweet peas. The geraniums are easy to grow and will blossom all season long. Sweet pea vines grow up the side of the patio and the pansys will drape over the hanging baskets.















The tomatoes leaves already are giving off a strong tomato scent that can not be mistaken. The taste of fresh salsa and vine rippened tomatoes make me hungry.


Vegetables include peppers, cucumbers and squash. The cucumbers and squash will soon be taking over the patio with vines spreading. The vines of the cucumbers and squash will grow up over the patio.





Growing fruit in containers is possible as well. Grapes and blueberrys grow well in containers providing some fun picking.


It has been a wet spring with lots of rain as well as some great sun. The plants love fresh rain and with the sun soon to be seen daily the plants are sure to grow at a great rate.

Living in southern Montana, the growing season is very short. Still in June the nights can get chilly, down to 34 degrees with snow still on the mountain tops.

Container gardening is perfect for this type of short growing season. The dirt warms up quickly in containers. Growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs is healthy as well as money caving and just fun. Hoping to taste tomatoes in 30 days. Keep you up to date.

The Sweet Peas are up and growing

The sweet peas are about 5" high and are growing like weeds.

I had the move the sweet peas to the top of our growing shelves as the cats like to hit the peas as they are so flexible.

Maybe I planted them too early. Can it be?

It is April 7th and I would like to set them outside the first of May. It snowed 5" yesterday, interesting the same height as my sweet peas. I do hope this is not a regular occurance with snow and sweet peas keeping up.

I am going to put up a vine on both sides of our patio for shade as well as privacy. I can hardly wait to set out some plants.

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The sweet peas, lettuce, and onions will be first as they like the chilly weather. I will need to still have some covering for them as our last frost usually comes over Memorial Day. Last year we had snow and frost up until June 16th. Oh please not again, mother nature!

On we go with the planting adventures of being a gardener, in containers, with a small area.

Watch for more updates to come.

Transplanting the Tomatoes

Well the tomatoes have been growing into nice seedlings for about 4 weeks and today I am transplanting into larger containers. These may or may not be their final container. I put 3 seedlings of tomatoes into each container. Grow little tomatoes, grow!!!! When transplanting tomatoes they can be put into the ground up to the first leave, burying most of the stem of the plant. The corner of my living room keeps filling up with plants.

Today I planted sweet peas in containers as well. I am going to try and grow them, vine them up the side of our deck. I can hardly wait for the smell of sweeet peas. I am so excited to see what happens with the vining. I have never done this before. I am planning that it will be beautiful, smell wonderful and allow for more privacy on our deck in our condo.

Cucumbers were planted today as well. Upside down containers for these guys this year with cucumbers vining down to the deck floor. This is new as well. My husband bought me a tomatoe upside down growing container and I thought I would try a vine plant instead of tomatoes.

So here is to some new ideas. Spring is for newness and creativity. Excited to let it grow this year and see what happens.

What new ideas do you have for the season? Do share!!!!

Just Beginning to Grow

Oh it is so exciting to watch the seeds begin to sprout. So we have tomatoes, lettuce, chives, chard, spinach, green onions, zucchini, cucumbers and leeks. The tomatoes are about 2" tall planted in an apple container from Costco. I can hardly wait forthe smell of tomatoes. The lettuce is beginning to look like lettuce. The lettuce and chard is grown in lettuce containers from the super market. Milk containers house the rest of the seeds. We water once a day due the little amount of soil in the containers as well as turning daily as the plants curve towards the sun. With snow still on the ground, the sun shining and another 6 weeks of possible snow it is wonderful to see life in our home.

Living in southern Montana means sun, snow and rain all in the same day. June 1st the plants will go out on the deck and front entry area. We grow an entire garden with about 60 sq ft of space. Hanging, climbing and crawling makes it all possible. Yea spring is on the way. Our first snow came Halloween of this year and some of the snow has been on the ground since November. Winters can get long, however, skiing keeps us enjoying the winters in southern Montana. As well as vegetables we will start flowers also. We grow sunflowers and sweet peas on the deck and entry area. The smell of sweet peas and the taste of tomatoes will be wonderful. For more ideas on container gardening, please contact Pamela Bussi at southpamela@gmail.com and/or (406) 570-6642.

HOW TO CAPTURE SEEDS FOR FREE!!!

I noticed that the sunflowers and white daisies are about out of blooms, yea for me. Get my scissors and away I go.

Cut off the flower after it has bloomed, it is full of seeds, dry the seeds and you are ready for next years crop.

What smells in the fridge? Did that tomato go bad in the fridge? Yea for me!

Take the seeds out, spread them on some wax paper or tin foil, let them dry and next years tomato seeds are here.

Same can be true for melons, squash, peppers, eggplants, zucchini, cucumber, beans, peas, corn, anything with a seed in it.

I like to separate my seeds in plastic bags, when dry. I label them tall flowers, small flowers, and then vegetables in individual bags.

Have fun with dying flowers and spoiled vegetables and fruits.

For more information about health, growing your own vegetables, staying healthy and more issues of life and health, check out-www.pamelabussi.com

CONTAINER GARDENING

Ah, got the coffee in one hand and the computer in the other. Sitting on the deck around 11 am. In no hurry today.

Another beautiful day in southern Montana. Sun is bright and not a breeze inthe sky. Sound of tractors working in the background.

The cows are at peace, grazing and resting. Tummys are full.

Tomatoes are green and coming to life. Red should be showing

up soon. Nothing like a tomato straight from the vine. Juicy
and runs down your chin. Can hardly wait.

The creek is slowing down with a beautiful trickle sound. There was a beaver the other day.
The birds and ducks are playing in the water. I can't hear the splashing as they tip their wings in the water and jump on a small pad of grass in the creek.

The mountains look spectacular. No snow on them yet. The nights are getting chilly and the days are warm.

Living in a condo allows for little maintanence and more time for enjoying life.

Gardening in containers is easy and beautiful.

So grab your coffee and let's go out to the deck.

Lots of pansies, geraniums and small plants for the pots. Fill your container full and let the colors run over the edge of the containers.

On the computer now with that coffe before it gets cold. See you later.
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Well the first blog on container gardening.

Yea, it August, the days are long and warm and the nights are cool. The weather is gorgeous. Living in a condo with no garden spot could be challenging, except that our deck is our garden. Our deck looks out over the Spanish Peak Mountain Range, a creek running, a small farm with sheep and cattle line the condo property. Ducks, beaver and herins play in the pasture. Hanging planters are beautiful, we chose to do geraniums, they bloom continually through the summer and need very little care.