The only instant gratification in gardening is washing your hands when you’re done for the day.  Bringing a plant home and finding a nice spot for it warms your sense of place.  Keeping that plant alive until you can eat part of it makes you feel accomplished.  Your friends complementing how great your place looks and how delicious the dinner you seasoned with your herbs – that gratifies.

I live in Washington, DC, with my husband, daughter and two cats.  We rent a two-bedroom apartment with a shared backyard where I garden.  I garden mostly in pots but am breaking fresh ground in 2012.  Garden with me.

Something brought you here – you followed link posted by a friend, you searched “given basil plant as gift dying,” you’re wondering how to dry herbs, you’re looking for ideas on sprucing up your little back yard in the city, you want DIY instructions for starting seeds without buying those plastic seed starter things – I hope you find what you’re looking for here.

Everyone can grow something, whether you start small or go big.

The Soil Toil is not a master gardener’s site.  What it is:

- How-Tos

- Gardening projects

- Failed projects

- Found projects

- A chance to gawk at my toils and others I find

- Enjoying and preserving things grown at home or nearby

Soil Toil side projects, additional short posts, found articles and extra photos are on tumblr, twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

Leave comments, ask questions and share what you enjoy on The Soil Toil.

Thanks,

Martha

Driving Hot Wheels on benches saved the day