The Fresh Spice Rack

I opted to have a spice rack for lack of space. The rack has oregano, lemon verbena, thyme, Lemon balm, sage, 3 mint varieties, onion and garlic chives, rosemary. I have coriander, rosemary, Lemon Grass and a little ginger on the ground though:) 

Well the Nasturtium on the bottom shelf isn't a spice but it is edible as well hence good for garnishing....mmhh the grape vine above the rack can provide fruit which you can eat or use to make wine....lets call this section, my edible garden:)  ‪#‎smallspacegarden ‪#‎smallspacegardens‪#‎gardeningideas ‪#‎Ediblegarden ‪#‎Herbalgarden

Out of the mouth of babes

It was lovely hearing our 14 month old say 'flower,' with a baby accent of course:) You can hear him run in the background of the video shouting 'flower!' He especially notices the blooms and can't resist the temptation of plucking them. I hope he will grow up to appreciate their value...for now some blooms have still survived his tiny adventurous hands.

I found a lovely set of gardening toys for him. He is fully equipped with toddler gardening tools; a rake, shovel, a bucket & a watering can:) only that his watering can is a mug size so he tries to drink the water instead of pouring on the flowers. Pictures of his gardening toys below

Our Son's garden tool toys make a pretty decor

Making Use of Small Spaces

We had a small extension at the front of the house that for sometime was not utilized. We put a couple of 'garden' chairs and table and suddenly realized the beauty we had been missing! I can't wait for the Red Barberton Daisy, White bearded Iris,Yellow Gazania, Pink Rain Lily and the Ground Orchid to bloom at the entrance of the porch. See some pictures of the porch below.

White bearded Iris,Yellow Gazania, Pink Rain Lily, the Ground Orchid and golden pothos trailing the porch

Try wall garden if space is limited

The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look to doing something better than they have ever done before - Vita Sackville-West. I think this enterprising streak is what drives a gardener with no garden to do wall gardening.

Try wall gardening if space is limited was the title of an article that ran in the Uganda Daily Monitor's Homes and Properties magazine on the 6th of November 2013 about my wall garden. Below are some of my wall garden pictures......

Yellow Portulaca Oleracea

Hybrid Verbenas

6 Practical ways to save the pennies with your garden

There is nothing as refreshing as getting fresh vegetables, herbs and fruits from ones own garden albeit small. I have planted some vegetables, herbs and fruits that have proved handy over time. I have also found out that I could propagate some of these, particularly the Sukuma wiki (Collard greens) and the dhania (coriander/cilantro) without having to buy seeds or seedlings every so often. From my garden I have discovered some tips that have saved me some pennies, like buying young plants at a bargain and using an old bathtub as planter:)

Strawberry in a window box, spinach,  flowering cilantro/coriander, Lemon grass with worm wood in a window box above it and a young grape vine

  

A Rainbow Themed Garden

I have a small space for gardening but my passion for gardening is big. I therefore resorted to container gardening and maximizing the little garden space I had. I have a random collection in some parts of my compound and a rainbow coloured theme on the other.

From the small space, I tried the rainbow theme. See below. 

My rainbow themed garden

I constructed a flower bed alongside the perimeter wall and tried the same theme. Below are the flowers I used for the rainbow theme inside the compound:

The White Bearded Iris

My white bearded Iris finally bloomed after almost 2 years of waiting! Well, as the wise said, Who has learned to garden who did not at the same time learn to be patient?

White Bearded Iris

A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.Gertrude Jekyll .

I feel I resonate with Gertrude so well because I have learnt a lot from my garden. This blog is meant to share experiences from my two worlds - Accounting and gardening.

Welcome aboard!