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Gardening for Geeks?
selan asks: "Spring has sprung, and this year I've decided to try gardening for the first time! I'm starting with a small container garden on my balcony and am planting oregano and parsley. I was wondering if any Slashdot readers enjoy this low-tech hobby and have any advice to share with a newbie."
Herbs... some are like us Geeks, some like normals. Don't try to mix shade/partial light plants with full sun plants. You will find one or the other suffering. Keep partial shade plants in a seperate container, I have found that morning sun works for most food herbs, while flowers tend toward noon day sun best. Depends on each plant.
If you are growing temperate climate plants (thyme, oregano, etc) then watch the nightime temperature, they don't take well to cold nights (not even in Florida.)
If you have children over 5, plant mint, they can chew 1/2 leaf for a good fresh flavour and to help prevent tooth decay. (Be very careful about what you put on those plants!)
Avoid harsh chemicals and pest sprays. If it says non toxic, it can still make the plants taste like manure. Growing for food, organic takes more work but is well worth it. I love being able to grab a fresh bay leaf for soup right from the plant.
And always, always rinse under cool water before using.
I could go on all day, but that's a start for ya... yes, I do enjoy this archaic sport. Watching mints grow!
You can have it fast, accurate, or pretty. Pick any 2.
Look into Companion Planting. In a nutshell, a companion plant is something you grown alongside your food plant to keep the bugs away. Some companions repel bugs altogether, some work to draw all the bugs to themselves and thus away from your herbs/veggies.
:-). Dump some water on every couple of days, partial-to-full sun, and you'll have happy flowers.
... a hernia makes everything taste like ass.
My fave is the Marigold. Its a pretty flower, easy to grow in a small pot, and fairly hard to kill (that's important for me
Also check out Container Gardening for many many more links on growing things on patios, small spaces, in containers, etc.
And finally, a safety tip. If you go for anything larger, like say a couple of tomato plants in one of those big terracotta pots, PLEASE get one of the wheeled bases for it. A 3' tall pot full of plants and wet soil is a biatch to move. I don't care how sweet the tomatoes are
In other words, they're actually features.
Zed's dead baby. Zed's dead.