And then there were 2! See Phase 1 here.
The second planter was a much larger task than I was expecting it to be. Not the actual installation or planting, but the getting of the planter box. The original was from Home Depot and less than 2 weeks later not only did they have no more of the same kind, they had never heard of that brand! Commence frustration. Do we go for a mis-matching planter of the same size? I begrudgingly bought the other planter, but attempted to hunt down the right one (I spent more time calling area Home Depots than I'd care to admit to). Luckily an e-mail direct to the manufacturer of our preferred planter was fruitful and I was able to order one direct from them for the same price. Yay! I was also assured that next year when we intend to add 1 or 2 more planters they will still be available through direct order if we can't find them at Home Depot again. Double Yay!
Planter 1 is now the home of 2 thriving cucumber plants, a struggling green bean, 3 strawberry plants, one mystery plant from my sister, 2 cauliflower, cilantro, oregano, dill, sage, rosemary, and basil.
Planter 2 is a little zestier, housing 2 habanero peppers, 6 cherry bomb hot peppers, 2 red bell peppers, 1 yellow bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper and 4 cauliflower. One of these things is not like the other. I insisted on buying the cauliflower, whereas the rest are of Hubby's choosing- could you tell?
In other exciting garden news (what, you don't find garden news exciting?!) our brandy dandy new composter is on the truck for delivery as we speak. The counter-top bin is still en route.
If you couldn't guess- this whole gardening thing is new to us. Its uncharted territory and we're doing a lot of experimenting this year. By next year, we'll be experts! more or less...