Gardening

At this time of year, while living in our sticks and bricks house, I would get the urge to garden. Not having much of a green thumb or knowing what grew in Texas, I would do some research, go to the nearest nursery, buy about $100 worth of whatever looked nice even if not on my research list, plant it where I thought the sun was right for that plant, and wait to see if it survived. Very scientific! So when spring starting blooming this year, my inner gardener woke to find us in South and North Carolina where peonies grow by the side of the road, farmer’s markets are a daily occurrence, and the color green is seen in every shade.

Living in a RV has many benefits and teaches you to be creative. While we don’t have a yard to tend (which makes Barry very happy), we do have state and national parks within minutes of our front door. There, we can enjoy nature in all her seasons and shades. Plus, we often get to park in a beautiful RV park where we have amazing views out our window. All that is very nice, but my urge to dig in the dirt was not satisfied. Our site usually includes an area with a picnic table and space where we set up our chairs to create an outside living room. We take advantage of this whenever possible, but something was missing.

My annual purchases always included herbs including basil, which often grew to incredible heights, and a few other herbs which usually did okay before they burnt in the heat of August. I hate the waste of money and plastic when I have to buy herbs at the grocery store, so it only made sense to buy some herbs for our mobile planter. Of course, once at the nursery, I couldn’t stop and bought some “color” to brighten up our “patio.”

Then we went to what is probably the largest farmer’s market I have ever visited in Asheville, NC. The Western NC Farmers’ Market is made up of 5 sheds with more than 190 farmers. The day we visited, they were having a spring herb sale so two sheds were filled with herbs, vegetable plants, and other products related to herbs. I attended a class on growing plants in pots and learned the secrets of filling the pot with a thriller (something that grows tall and is the center), filler (as it sounds) and spiller (those that spill over). Armed with this information and enthusiasm for growing more herbs, I followed form and threw out the rules to just bought what I liked!

Now I had the plants. I had a couple of hanging baskets that could hang from our shepherd’s hook, but realized I bought more than I have room for – as usual. At the market, a vendor was selling a cool little clip that attaches pots to fences and other fixtures. So my creative and smart husband decided to build a mobile garden for me.

Then, I decided that it could use some livening up and got creative myself.

Of course, living in a RV, you also have to make sure it is all mobile and able to travel. When in transit, the planters are placed in an area between our bed and the wall. We put down the nonslip pad we use for our rug and pen the larger planters in with our ottomans. The mini fence is easily folded up with the pots going inside the kitchen sink with some padding to keep them safe from each other and from slipping.

So, now I have some herbs to use in cooking, some color to brighten our space, and a homey feel to our outdoor living area. I will let you know how my garden grows.