A Garden in Podunk aka the Redneck Garden

The gardening bug has hit me full force, and for the last almost month, I have been on Pinterest and a number of gardening sites plotting my garden.  STOP right now if you think this post will be insightful in any way!  In fact, if I were the betting sort, I would wager that 50% of my plants will be dead in less than a month, that I will be lucky to pick one tomato grown by me, and that the farmers' market will be my primary source of fresh vegetables once again this year!

The two younger daughters and I went to Lowes to shop for plants yesterday.  If I am telling the entire truth here, they only reluctantly agreed to come with me because I promised (and kept it) that we would go across the street to PetSmart after Lowes to look at a dog to adopt. 

I brought home a blueberry bush, 6 strawberry plants and 10 strawberry roots, one rosemary, one cilantro, one basil and three tomato plants.  I also purchased "gardening" soil, vermiculite and 4 5-gallon buckets.  We did not bring home a dog... that saga will continue.

The fun began this morning... after watering each plant, I began the transplant.   From this site, which I found via Pinterest, I built a tower herb garden.  I used 6 diet Pepsi two liter bottles, duct tape (doesn't every project from Podunk need duct tape) and an exact-o knife. 

I'm a little concerned about it tipping over with the wind here, but so far so good. 

I am also wondering if the rosemary will get enough water.  I've poured quite a bit in the top, and so far nothing has made it to the overflow at the bottom. 

My second completed project was to plant the strawberries in a Topy Turvy strawberry planter I bought last year on clearance for $1.00.  I figured it was worth $1.00 to try it.  If it works, I can make some more.

I ended up not having enough plants, because reading how many it would hold BEFORE going to Lowes yesterday would have resembled planning, and we simply can not have that!  Daughter #3 thought I was putting too many plants in it anyway. 

The blueberry plant got planted in a large pot I have so it can be a container garden blueberry.  If I were to plant it somewhere "permanent" I am sure the deer here would eat it before I get the chance to kill it.  This one's all mine!  I didn't take any pictures...it just looks like a stick at the moment.  If I get leaves, I will take a picture, if it doesn't I will return it to Lowes for a refund!

The tomatoes will have to wait until tomorrow.  I ran out of soil (more lack of planning).  They are going in the 5 gallon buckets, in a system called global buckets, I found here.  Two teenage boys came up with this, so maybe, just maybe, I can get at least one tomato before I kill the plants.  I am also going to try a pepper plant this way.  Lowes did not have any pepper plants yet (lucky peppers). 

I will, of course, be bringing these plants into the sun room every night, until the nights are warm enough, but like I said, I have the gardening bug!