Creating a Garden on my Porch

If you have been keeping up, you probably know that my family and I moved into a real live house last November after 14 years of living in an apartment half the size with a view of a cement wall located on the first floor (which we Americans know is really the second floor) with absolutely no natural light to speak of. We used to call it our little cave, and when we were really down we would say we lived in a wine cellar. There were some good things about it, otherwise we would not have stayed so long. First, it was cheap and we could afford it even when we didn't have much money. As the years went on and we earned more, the expenses magically stayed the same, allowing us to save more money and eventually buy the house we happily reside in today. Let's just say ours has been a slow, upward trajectory with low expectations and modest returns. It's the get-rich-slowly approach that appeals to few but has worked for us. Our daughter misses that apartment because she had access to the (dark) front porch through a door out from her room (there are perks to living in a bedroom that was converted from a kitchen), there were loads of busses near the apartment, so we could come home for lunch and check on the dog (R.I.P. Luna), and we had fantastic neighbors. 

The only thing that place did not have was light. This meant we did not have plants. Well, we did have a couple of flourishing ferns for a while, but then we somehow killed those too. Something about watering them the day of a big freeze or something. Ooops. 

Fast forward, now we have SPACE and LIGHT and SPACE and MORE LIGHT. As you probably know, it is every Triestino's dream to live in a house with a "Toco de giardin". We do not have that. Instead, we have something like a courtyard where we can park two cars, and a porch off of our kitchen upstairs. This is what I intend to convert to my very own Toco de Giardin.

I started with plants my mother-in-law and sister-in-law gave us around easter: Basil, oregano, cilantro (per my request), and mint. I have since added geraniums (un toco de color!) to a flower box that will hang over the railing. 

My newest addition is tomato plants, and, get this: LETTUCE! Dudes, I am growing salad. Apparently it will be ready for eating in one month, then I can replace it with autumn salad (really! Things can actually grow in autumn here?! Hello, we are not in Wisconsin anymore!) and then endives or some other winter greens (a whole new world!). Wooo hooo! 

It's so exciting. I will keep you updated on our progress.

Welcome to your new home, little Buddies!!