a new home, a new garden

We're getting our garden going here at the new house in Clayton.  Our new landlord isn't as forgiving as the last so we're not digging up any grass to put in a garden here.  That means containers only for now.

Limited space means no one gets their own room.  Corn gets snap peas for a roommate.  Tomatoes going in with cucs, peppers with peas, carrots, and onions are next.  I ordered tomatoes and peppers from burpees so they're just sitting with place holders for now.  Cantaloupe doesn't play we'll with others so he's got his own bucket.  Cabbage lives with Swiss chard and green beans; summer squash with nasturtium.  Broccoli is still looking for a home.  The lettuce and spinach I just mixed all together.  

The round barrel holds the leftover bulbs from our wedding favors.  Not sure how they'll do not being planted in the fall but they had sprouts so I'm hopeful.

As always gardening is a big experiment. I'm looking forward to what this new location has to offer!

encouraging new neighbors

My man just made a beautiful cedar bat house for me.  Love him.  Now hopefully a bat colony will move in and keep the garden pests (and mosquitos) at bay!

lots of catching up to do!

It seems like I only just finished planting this year but somehow more than 3 months have actually gone by since I've made a real update.  It's a good thing that we don't actually need to feed our family from this garden because I have a long way to go before we'll be able to rely on consistent results.  Each planting is a new experiment and hopefully each one is a little better than the last.

This poor zucchini is on it's last leg.  Despite my breaking down and using Sevin to try to battle the squash bugs and vine borers, they're back!  I treated the soil with dust and I dusted the plant several times to no avail.

The difference this year is I actually managed to harvest a few zucchinis this year before my poor buddy succumbed to the onslaught.

As you can see, I spent hours hand-picking bugs and viciously squashing them in an attempt to save this year's harvest.  The squash bugs lay their eggs on the undersides of the leaves.  I found that a good piece of duct tape was a great tool to get the eggs off the leaves.

I am kicking myself that I forgot to plant the nasturtium and dill in the containers with the squash this year!  At this point I'm thinking it takes all efforts to win this battle!

BTW... these pics were from 15-July-2012.

early harvest

Here are some of the fruits of our hard work. These are actually some old pics from early June. The lettuce did really well and we couldn't begin to keep up with harvesting it.

Two things occur to me: 1 - we didn't need that many lettuce plants, 2 - what is the point of lettuce when the toppings (peppers, cucs, etc.) are still seedlings?

I am happy to say that pests were not an issue with the lettuce. At least it is one crop I don't have to worry about!

my poor neglected garden

What a sad sight for mid summer... Time for some overdue TLC!

pretty patio (my sister is a genius?)

peek-a-boo ;)

So far, I have killed every beautiful plant that has ever lived on my deck save one: the hibiscus.  The good news is that now I have a beautifully sunny deck that I hope will be a cozy home for a few beautiful things.

Yesterday I brought home a lovely red carnation with visions of fresh cut flower bouquets straight from the patio.  Knowing that keeping these little darlings well watered is my biggest challenge with a potted plant outside in the North Carolina heat, I had to make this a self-watering container.

I was racking my brain to come up with a small container or bucket to use as a reservoir to make the same setup I have in my veggie buckets.  I couldn't come up with anything on hand when my sis had the brainstorm of the season: Pina Coladas!

if you like pina coladas...

So here's the setup... I drilled a ton of holes throughout the plastic container and buried it in the middle of the planter with the neck sticking out as a watering spout.  I planted the flowers all around the bottle and filled it up.  I expect the spout to be fully camouflaged as the plant fills in.  The first time I filled the container, it mostly spilled right out but I'm hoping it will be a better reservoir over time as the soil fills in the empty spaces, etc.

Here's to keeping the carnations well watered!

a labor of love

Last year's container garden experiment yielded lots of data on what I can do better.  I think "limited success" would be too generous a description of the results.  This year, I have a few changes in mind.

The first experiment is structural.  One of my major problems seemed to be the weight of the soil on the flimsy plastic dividers.  My first idea (really Matthew's) was to add rocks in the bottom to help hold up the platform.  But, I was worried about not taking away too much room for water in the reservoir.  While we were at Lowe's scoping out river rocks, my eyes landed on the perfect solution... lava rocks! 

hot lava!

Well, I hope it's the perfect solution anyway.  I don't think it was as much of an issue in the two-bin setup I have with the potato buckets but I'm trying it anyway.  Maybe it will actually help keep the potatoes from getting soggy this year. 

The other change this year is taking my time.  Last year, I didn't give the silicone enough time to dry before filling the buckets.  I ran out of time to prep a good potting mix anyway so the two buckets I worked on today will have some time to cure before going under the weight of soil. 

Last year I dumped all of the potting mix into a big pile to save for spring.  I'll add fresh organic potting soil, compost, and peat/perlite/vermiculite as needed.  I haven't decided exactly what to put in the containers yet (other than the potaoes). 

The round whisky barrels are going to need a little more TLC.  One of the plastic platforms cracked over the winter so it needs replacing.  I drilled the drainage holes after assembly so I need to check the placement and fix any problems there.  I don't know if the lava rocks alone will add enough structure so I may end up with another reinforcement method once I start putting them together.  We'll see.  In any case, I doubt I'll make much progress on those before we leave for Alabama next week, so they may be destined for hot weather or fall crops anyway.

ready for taters :)