My nursery obsession - and getting started on your garden.

Most of my friends are of the age that when you say nursery they think change tables and nappy holders and giraffe growth charts.  Me on the other hand - I think gardening!  I don't seem to be able to drive past a nursery without stopping and buying another punnet of seedlings, or a fruit tree, or a half price pot, or all of the above.  So this post is really for people like I was a year ago - very new to gardening, and maybe you don't know where to start.

My usual go to nursery is Flower Power.  This is not sponsored, (although I'd be very open to some sort of barter arrangement - I promise to post my purchases if I get some freebies!) but it is the most convenient place to my inner city suburb where I can still buy plenty of reasonably priced potting mix, and seedlings galore.  And even though it's a chain store I still think of it as being better than going to your generic Coles or Woolworths owned hardware caverns.

Boot full of loot for my #gardening today #goingtoneedabiggeryard pic.twitter.com/qaWcOVDolI

— Crooked Cottage (@crookedcottage1) May 22, 2015

For herbs I think it is worthwhile going to your local fruit shop.  Sounds unusual, but mine certainly has herbs such as basil, coriander, mint and many others in pots rather than your usual bunches - you might as well pick up a plant, use what you need for dinner and then plant the rest.  Sometimes florists have things like this for sale too, or maybe that just depends on your local shops - but probably worth having a look.

Then I have the local organic farmers markets.  I can't go every week or I really would have too many plants to even fit in my yard.  Our local markets (at Orange Grove Public School) have fruit trees, seedlings and plenty of potted colour, all at very reasonable prices.  You can read about some of my adventures with seedlings from Orange Grove here.

So turns out I could carry a tree after all #gardening #tree Kaffir lime means we can use the leaves already! pic.twitter.com/UIHlotQtFh

— Crooked Cottage (@crookedcottage1) June 13, 2015

Spent up at Orange Grove Markets today- all for $27- dill, coriander, rocket, celery, kale, mizuna, chive, + flowers! pic.twitter.com/5Gb289or5p

— Crooked Cottage (@crookedcottage1) February 28, 2015

And then there are the online nurseries.  I purchased a landscaping bulk buy of bulbs in March (the results of those will be posted at a future date - but it's looking pretty good so far.  Mind you, with 400 bulbs - yes, I have one of the smallest gardens you will ever see and I bought 400 bulbs - so I had to give a lot away to my dad).

I haven't even tried any seed swaps yet, but I've been seeing them the more I read of other people's blogs, and they certainly seem a great idea.  Not sure what my coriander and basil seeds (the only things I have managed to be able to save yet) would really be worth, but maybe I could swap hundreds of them for something more exotic....  I saw some information about the Seed Freedom Food Festival when it was posted in the Garden Share Collective group on Facebook and although I won't be in Adelaide it does look like a great event.

So I don't suppose it really matters where you get your seeds from, but get out and get planting!