Desperately seeking vegetables (and sunshine)

My yard is so inhospitable to edible plants that for many years I've attempted growing them in containers on my deck, where I get, at most, four hours of sun by the middle of the summer.

This isn't optimum. Some years I've harvested maybe four cucumbers or zucchinis and then my plants have wilted away. And it's still no guarantee that the plants won't be eaten or dug up. Many is the time that I've looked out my window to find a squirrel digging through my containers. I even had a buck walk up the steps of my deck a couple of years ago and take out everything in my salad and herb containers in the 30 seconds it took me to run outside and shoo him away (not before he stood looking at me for a few moments).

And yet I can't help myself. I start going to garden centers every spring and I buy plants and seeds, imagining all the wonderful plants I can grow. It's an addiction, but not really a bad one.

I have a green thumb--really I do! I've just never had the sunny (and deer-free) yard to prove it!

This is probably my last year of attempting a deck garden.  I realize now how hard it is on the deck  have potted plants that are watered and peeing on it daily. Next year, I'm only going to plant things in my yard that the deer have (so far) shown no interest in: chives, green onions, basil, thyme, parsley, (and well-chosen flowers and other decorative plants). Fortunately, these are the plants I often use in my cooking and they are among the most expensive to buy in the grocery store.

So this is my farewell vegetable deck garden. Here's to a future of not having to get out and water potted plants every day!

February Blooms... and persistent color

The snowdrops began to peek out from the ground the first week of the month. Their blooms still persist. They have always cheered me on gloomy winter days, but this year an additional delight is that they are popping up in unexpected places, where the yard was re-dug last summer (and no one thought to plant them there).

The new lenten rose plants, put in the ground in mid-November, have already begun to bloom. Last year's plant did well in cold weather also, but it looked lonesome and it's blooms were a pale yellow. This year, I added new colors.

The crocus began to appear last week. Not all of them have bloomed yet—and some, in other parts of the yard, are still just green shoots at this point. 

But there is other, persistent color. The Nandina bush's leaves and berries have provided small dabs of red in a corner of the yard.

 And rock cress and sedums have provided color on the deck.