WELCOME

After living 5 years in an apartment that didn't even have a balcony, I was desperate for some outdoor space when I moved into my condo in August 2013. I longed to step outside in the evening to cut herbs for dinner. I wanted to grow lettuce for salads to take for lunch. I dreamed of using fresh mint for mojitos when friends came over for drinks - so once Spring 2014 rolled around I planned, planted, watered and waited, and soon enough I was growing my very own food just outside my door.

Clockwise from top: mascotte green beans, sweet pickle peppers, cherry tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers.
Center: Cucamelons

I was able to grow lettuce, cucamelons, bush beans, cherry tomatoes, swiss chard, basil, juliet tomatoes, dill, oregano, mint, stevia, jalapeno peppers, and sweet pickle peppers on my little balcony! I was delighted, but I quickly realized that my plants weren't getting enough sunlight to really produce as much food as I wanted them to, and that I knew they were able to. The lettuce and herbs were great, but the cucamelons, tomatoes, and peppers really needed several more hours of sunlight than they were able to get on my mostly shady balcony. I tried my best to move their pots around as the sunlight shifted throughout the morning, but by 11:30AM the sun had already moved to the other side of the building and my poor plants wouldn't see direct sunlight again until the next day.

I needed more sun. I needed more space. I needed a garden plot! I wanted 2015 to be better.

So yesterday morning I got up at 6:00AM, determined to register for a plot at the Kilborn Allotment Gardens. There are many community gardens in Ottawa, but none are that close to my home, and all of them have wait lists a mile long. The Kilborn Allotment Gardens (I'll call it the KAG for short) are run by the City of Ottawa and is only a 15 minute bike ride away. Members are able to return to their plots each year if they choose to, but there are usually a handful of plots that are offered up on a first-come-first-served basis for anyone new who wants to sign up in the spring. And these plots are BIG - we're talking 20' x 50' - so obviously they are in high demand! I had heard that only 12 plots were available in 2014, so I knew I had to get there early.

I ended up getting to the sign up location around 6:40AM and there was already a bunch of people there ahead of me. Sign up wasn't even supposed to start for another two and a half hours!!! I was number 10 in line. Lucky for me, there were 14 or 15 plots available this year, and because early birds get the worms, this early bird got a garden plot!

I can't wait for the snow to finish melting now so I can get in there and start the best. garden. ever.
I will be using this blog to keep track of the garden progress, to note my successes and failures (hopefully more of the former), and to share my experience with anyone that wants to hear about this crazy attempt of mine to manage a 1000 square foot garden plot!