Next I went to the parking garage and picked up a lovely Scion from City Car Share and began the adventure. I picked up Maria, then Colleen, and we drove across Bernal Heights to Flowercraft, a nursery/garden store on Bayshore Boulevard (see link in links section). I had been to Flowercraft twice already (see previous blog entries), but today was my first time spending money there....though fortunately (or unfortunately) I think I spent enough today to make up for my other visits.
Colleen and Maria were a big help at the garden store, and I was glad to have friends there to help me out. We started by perusing the selection of vegetables ready to transplant - I looked into several options, and in the end, chose the following:
Early Girl Tomato - 1 plant
Cherry Tomato - 1 plant
Sweet Italian Pepper - 1 plant
Epazote - 1 plant
Oregano - 1 cluster
Lettuce mix - 6 pack
Red Russian kale - 6 pack
Marigolds - 6 pack
I didn't know what epazote was until today (although Colleen claims that I did know), but it's a Mexican herb that apparently helps with digestion and adds a nice flavor to foods like black beans. We shall see I guess. I mainly bought marigolds for decoration sake, since I don't think there will be too many bugs on my roof (it's too windy). This was a good idea, cause it's nice to have a bit of color in the garden already.
After choosing vegetables, we went inside and bought two biodegradable planting pots - they are pretty large, and I got them for the tomatoes. They were only 5 dollars each, a pretty good deal considering the size of the pot. As Colleen pointed out, they look pretty cool too - nicer than a normal ceramic or plastic pot.
The next task was to speak to someone at Flowercraft to get some advice on soil and fertilizer. We located one of the head staff members at Flowercraft and told her about my roof project - she seemed to really like the dresser drawer idea for planting vegetables, and was excited to help us out. She suggested that I buy planting mix (soil) and add a product called "Soil Booster" to add nutrients. I can't remember all of the things that are in "Soil Booster" but I think it includes some less-than-appetizing things like blood and chicken shit (her words, not mine). She said to use about 1 part of this with every 5 parts of the regular soil. She also suggested buying some bark mulch to put at the bottom and tops of my beds - this will help keep in moisture. This is going to be pretty important for my garden, since it may not rain at my house until November, and the roof is very exposed to sunlight.
Before leaving, I also bought a small shovel and a watering can, which I continue to call a watering barrel because it's hard for me to remember the word "can". This has already caused some confusion when I was on the phone with my Dad and when I was trying to describe it to Maria and Colleen earlier today.
Eventually I paid and we loaded everything into the Scion, which happily was parked right outside the gate. Before going home, we stopped by Avedano's butcher shop in Bernal Heights, where I bought some Italian sausages for grilling, some pork butt for tomorrow's dinner, and some carnitas tacos (Sunday is special taco day). I know this blog is supposed to be only about my garden, but since this happened on a garden-related outing, I thought it was important to mention. After Avedano's, it was time to head home and start planting!
Maria checking out the herbs and vegetables.
Our wagon.
View of Flowercraft (I don't know the person in the picture)
Colleen in the car with the garden supplies!
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