Happy hanging garden

Happy almost 4th of July! It’s been busy in Des Moines lately – I’m learning that summers here are hoppin’! So far this summer has made me really pleased with my decision to live downtown. There are tons of fun things to do here, often literally right out my front door! (More about that tomorrow.)

The weather here has been beautiful as well. I wrote about my hanging garden a few weeks ago. It’s very pleased with itself. I’d highly recommend the hanging baskets I’m using (found at Home Depot) to any of you out there who don’t have a traditional place to plant a garden. These are strapped on the exterior of a fire escape. I’ve already been enjoying peas and beans from mine, and I have some baby tomatoes and bell peppers that will soon be working their way onto my plate as well. Yum!

Garden time!

Today I added to my little “garden” at the studio. Because I live in a largish apartment complex I can’t have a backyard garden. Hence the taking over of the studio railings. I’ve been looking all over for planters that can hang off round railings – most are designed for window ledges or rectangular deck railings. Today I found this set at Home Depot. They come with self-locking metal strips that you can bend around a railing of any shape (and almost any size… I had about 10″ extra on each of the attachment points). They are called “Fiskars hanging garden system,” and they were $19.98 per set of three baskets. I hung the baskets side by side so as to not block the sun, but they also interlock, so you have the option of hanging them vertically too.
I think they’re great. I’ve been sketching out contraptions to solve this very problem, and this design is head and shoulders above anything I’ve been dreaming up!
Here are some pics. I planted green beans, sweet peas, tomatoes (thanks for the plants, Nancy!), bell peppers, and cayenne peppers in these new planters. I had already planted strawberries and Brussels sprouts in my Topsy-turvy strawberry planter. The BS (ha!) are doing much better than the strawberries.

Studio garden

Brussels sprouts are taking over the strawberry planter

My one and only ripe strawberry so far!