Working in the Soil Purifies the Soul

   
     I love gardening and container gardening is really a great way to go.  It has changed the way I garden and my love for gardening.  From tall boxes to the drawers from a kitchen remodel,  I love putting things in containers to create my garden.  It's a lot of fun and container gardening cuts down on weed pulling.  These tall containers offer shade and water for the containers on the bottom.  When I water the top it flows down to the bottom containers.  It is a great way to garden.

         I put containers all over.  It makes it fun and exciting.  I even put buckets in the ground with holes drilled in the bottom.  The one in the picture is empty now, but soon it will be filled with tall sunflowers.  The one in the middle is a box I found at Baker's Nursery in Phoenix.  It was cheaper than  building myself, and it should last for a few seasons.

     These are my tomato plants in a raised bed.  I also mixed in peppers and squash.  When we cut down trees I use the chunks of wood for places to sit in my garden.  These are heirloom tomatoes.  I love them and if one falls down it reseeds and next season I get tomato plants coming up.  Keep in mind some plants do better planted next to each other than others.

     I have found that a gardens beauty is in the eyes of the gardener.  I love my garden, to me it is a work of art.  I have my way of gardening that is not like most peoples.  I tend to not have any order or direction in my garden.  It drives some people crazy, but I have found that gardening is each persons expression of themselves.  There really are not a lot of rules, only a love of gardening and a joy for working in the soil.  For me gardening is my escape from the cares of the world and I find joy in just putting things in the garden and letting them grow.

      This is one of my favorite areas in my garden.  I love to sit here and read and enjoy the morning.  Mornings in Arizona are the best.  Even in the summer it is amazing early.  It gets so hot here and in the  morning it seems greener and cooler.  I had an old wheel barrel that no longer worked so I filled it with soil and planted nasturtiums,  I love nasturtiums,  they reseed well and are totally edible.  The flowers are peppery and sweet.  The leaves can be used in salads.  Behind the nasturtiums are grape vines and banana trees.

     This is ugly, I know, but it won't be for long.  This was an old bathtub that weighs hundreds of pounds.  I could not throw it away when we did a remodel.  So I placed it in the yard.  Yes there is a mirror behind it.  This is the start of my "Fairy" garden for my grandchildren.   The mirror attracts fairies, they are really vain so I am told.  It will be wonderful when it is done.  I will post pictures as it comes along.

    More container gardens filled with tomatoes and cucumbers.  This year is the first year my potato plants have grown so much.   This year when I planted them I placed fertilizer in the bottom of the whole before I planted them.  It was a special one for tomatoes.   It seems to have worked.  Already I have eaten more tomatoes than the past few years.

 
     I covered my garden last year and it seems to have made a huge difference.  Arizona sun gets so strong and container plants suffer in the heat.  The cover works really well,  it protects them from the hot afternoon sun.

     Gardening is a work in progress.   It takes years and years of constant fun and tending.  Working in the soil really does purify the soul.  It makes me happy and the harvest blesses the lives of many.  From the herbs to the fruits and vegetables it is wonderful way to share and make friends.  Gardening can be as simple as a couple of pots on the back porch or containers in the backyard.  Whatever the case maybe or wherever you are in life, take time to do a little soul purifying.   Chef Brad~America's Grain Guy