Urban Garden Hoe

Spring Flower Fever!

2011-04-17T10:21:00.002-05:00

We are right around the average last frost date in the Oklahoma City area (you can put your seedlings outside, if you've hardened them off!). This past Thursday was also our fourth wedding anniversary, and Chad knows me so well. Aside from sending beautiful flowers to work, he also gave me a $40 gift certificate to Lowe's intended for flowers around the house and yard.

Normally, I'd be spending it on all things related to vegetable gardening. But this year, vegetables will be limited to a few pots, due to the fact that growing a baby and having a giant belly in late summer kinda takes some fun away from things like bending over to weed, harvest, and prune.

We were drawn to bold colors and selected a pot of red and orange daisies, petunias (a basket of deep purple, two six-packs of red and white striped), multicolored celosia, and a red variety and white variety of some low, small, slightly bushy looking flower whose name can't recall at the moment. I got so excited about this and all of the flower pots we have (between our own and several this house's last occupants left behind), that I've been fishing through our seed stash pulling out all of the flowers and herbs that can be successfully sown outdoors around the last frost date. It also comes to mind that we have a bare spot in our front flower bed... though I'm tempted to grow a few little baby sized heads of lettuce there instead of flowers, until the weather is too hot to easily grow lettuce.

One pot I'm particularly excited about is the one full of striped petunias. I placed them in a circle near the rim of the pot, leaving a bare patch of soil in the middle where I seeded a burgundy okra plant. I don't know how long the petunias will have their pretty blossoms, but if they last a good amount of time the okra will grow up above them and have a pretty little border. (If they don't last very long, I'll just remove them to give the okra a little more room.) It may not have enough room to really thrive and fruit in a pot, but I've been curious to see this burgundy okra plant since I first got the seeds. I'm hoping it'll at least be healthy enough to put forth blooms.

I still really love vegetable gardening, but this is a fun change of pace for me, too.

Snow Day Seedlings!

2011-02-02T12:00:00.001-06:00

Yesterday morning was officially a blizzard here in the Oklahoma City area (and much of the Midwest!). Chad took a lot of pictures, all from the warm safety of the inside of our house... which is much warmer than our last one!

Even our covered, screened in back porch was covered with snow!

That meant that Ali, our indoor princess of a cat, got to walk in snow for the first time ever! She's been pretty excited about it but won't stay out there freezing her paws for too long.

This doesn't keep me from thinking about warmer months. I moved my seedlings away from the cold windowsill and decided to take a quick snap of them to share.

From bottom to top: Yellow Tumbling Tom tomatoes, Red Tumbling Tom tomatoes, globe basil, genovese basil, and Red Robin tomatoes.

Tiny Alpine strawberry seedlings in a Jiffy pot.

All of these varieties are ideal for containers, since that's pretty much all I'm going to do this year. I'll probably also grow one larger determinate tomato plant and maybe some baby-sized lettuce varieties. Simple is my motto this year!

Diabetes Killed My Plants!

2011-01-22T12:40:00.000-06:00

It's been months... last growing season wasn't blogged my me at all. I'm afraid I had a rather large issue that overshadowed everything. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in early May.

No, not type 2. Type 1. (I know at least one of you was like, "She must mean type 2." :p )

Yes, that's the autoimmune variety that used to be called "juvenile diabetes," which is more commonly developed in children, and which requires lifelong insulin therapy. But at the age of 30, I got it. I won't go into detail about that here, but you can check out the blog I've been keeping about it, Type 1 at 30, if you're curious. The earliest post gives the story of my diagnosis.

I suppose the one other thing I'll say about that for now, because it's actually gardening related:

Diabetes killed my plants!!!

OK, really, it made me so preoccupied and focused that every last seedling I'd started died from neglect. I had no garden, no potted plants, nothing. Sometimes, your energy just has to be focused on other things... like learning how to survive without a properly functioning pancreas.

Oh, priorities!

But this year, I'm starting again... on a small scale because, again, I have something else demanding my energy: a baby due in August!

Oh, and we also moved to a new home, and I got a new job. Can we possibly pack any more life changing events into these two years?

There's no way I'm going to be bending over to pull weeds as a great big pregnant lady, so I'm keeping it simple with potted plants and early-fruiting varieties. Honestly, this is back to my favorite kind of gardening: small scale, simple, creative, container gardening. *love*

Year-old Onions

2010-04-24T18:50:00.005-05:00

So I had some green onions that I never used last year, and I just left them in the garden to do their thing. They came back after winter, but I was too skeptical to try eating them... But scapes are another story!

A scape is what happens when an onion (or garlic!) "goes to seed." These huge ones you see in these photos probably aren't tender enough to eat, so I'll leave them and experiment with collecting their seeds.

There were several smaller scapes that seemed nice and tender, and a few more that should be perfect in a couple days.

You could cut them up for a stir-fry. I'll probably cut them into very small pieces and saute them to add to a rice dish.

It just goes to show that, in the right climate, nature keeps doing her thing. Volunteer tomatoes appear, plants survive harsh conditions, and a neglected onion offers forth new bounty past its prime.

Hardening Off

2010-04-18T13:31:00.003-05:00

Oklahoma City's last-frost date has passed! You can put most of your plants into the garden now, if they've been hardened off. If they've not been hardened off, and you're not sure how, here's my usual process:

Day 1: Put plants outside, in the shade and away from the wind, for about an hour.
Day 2: As above, for a couple hours... and letting them get a few minutes of sun before bringing them in.
Day 3: Put the plants in partial shade for a couple hours, in an area where the wind won't hit them full-blast. (Be careful of that Oklahoma wind!)
Day 4: Similar to day 3, but for about half the day.
Day 5: Similar to day 4, but for about the length of a work-day.
Day 6: Similar to day 5, but with more exposure to to sun and wind.
Day 7: If the plants are doing well, give them full-sun most of the day... but check on them periodically.
Day 8: If all is well, transplant them.

Pay attention to your plants during this process. If they start looking wilty when you put them in the sun, then back off a bit and take smaller steps! And check the forecast before you put them in the ground. Freezes can happen after the last-frost date.

Seedy Saturday and Baby Chives

2010-02-09T22:16:00.005-06:00

This past Saturday, some friends and I got together for a seed exchange. We each brought whatever extra seeds we had, which amounted to a lot since we are all just backyard gardeners. Each person put their seed packets in a bowl and I set out coin envelopes to serve as our new seed packets (along with pencils for labeling). We then passed around the bowls and took samples of the seeds that interested us. Everyone seemed to feel like they came out a winner. We could all have variety in our gardens without going broke!

Give it a try. It's a great way to expand your garden and try new varieties on a budget. Throw in a veggie tray and some tea, and you'll have a pleasant afternoon of seeds and conversation!

I've started a few seeds lately. It may seem a bit early to traditional gardeners in this area, but that's one advantage of being a container gardener! You can put your plants outside on nice, sunny days (not that we have any just yet!) and bring them inside whenever they need protection from the cold.

I'm particularly tickled by my pretty chives pushing their way out of their soil.

I also have tomato, strawberry, parsley, and basil seedlings that I'll share pictures of when they get a little larger.

Alpine Strawberries from Seed (Kit)

2010-01-30T13:37:00.010-06:00

Speaking of cute kits, Target has these adorable little strawberry growing kits (as well as flower kits) in their dollar section for Valentine's Day. I've picked these up a couple years in a row, and they're pretty cool... but they're also an example of how a kit could result in frustration for a first-time gardener.

First of all, keep in mind that growing strawberries from seed isn't the easiest task for a beginning gardener. The seeds are minuscule, the seedlings dry out so easily, and they're delicate. It can be done, but you have to check on them daily and handle them carefully. Second, the kit suggests that 10 seedlings would flourish in virtually no space at all! It comes with a teeny tiny pot, a small packet of about 20 Alpine Strawberry seeds, and a pellet of growing medium. But trust me, you don't want to put 10 seeds in that teeny pot! It's not nearly enough room.

Instead:

Use something like peat pods (or my budget version: toilet paper roll pods) or seedling cells with seed-starter mix.
Put only one or two strawberry seeds in each pod/cell.
Water from the BOTTOM by pouring water in the seedlings' tray, because those tiny seeds could wash right away if you water from the top.
Keep everything consistently moist! These plants are so tiny that they dry out FAST when mere seedlings.
Later, you can harden them off and put the plants in hanging baskets or a strawberry planter... or maybe along the edges of your flower bed, as they are quite lovely little plants.

But let's not waste that gowing medium pellet and teeny pot. If you want, you can use them as directed but sow only one or two seeds in the little pot. Just don't over-water, because the pot has no drainage hole. You can also use the pot as a cute container to give away one of the seedlings when they're almost grown. I did this as a gift to a gardening friend of mine, a couple years ago. (In this case, you can hydrate the growing medium pellet and mix it into the rest of your seed-starting mix for another seedling project.)

Alpine strawberries are a small, everbearing variety. That means that, instead of one large harvest at once, it'll give you several small harvests. It's one of the easier varieties to grow from seed, and it's less likely to take over your garden if you put them in the ground. They're about as close to a "wild strawberry" as you'll get in a domesticated plant. They're fairly similar to Alexandria strawberries.

Cute Kits

2010-01-25T19:56:00.006-06:00

I'm such a sucker for cute kits and convenience. If I were planning an in-ground garden this year, I totally would have snatched up one of these baskets at Lowe's the other day:
I mean, how perfect would this be for a small in-ground garden? And it comes in an adorable basket that's perfect for small harvests!

Could you get all of the contents cheaper? Yes, probably. Especially if you make a deal with other backyard gardeners and split that bundle of onions or bag of seed potatoes. But for the convenience, $10 isn't so bad. In fact, I think this could be the way to go if you're a new gardener or are growing these plants for the first time.

A Portable Garden

2010-01-16T15:50:00.005-06:00

Because we might be buying a new house in the next few months (yikes!), this year's gardening plans focus on the portable. Everything I'm choosing must either be able to survive in a pot (like not-too-big determinate tomato plants), or it must be something that could be harvested early (like lettuce).

It feels good to simplify. This is why I love container gardening in the first place! There are ants all over the basket of strawberries? Well, brush them off and move the strawberries to the front porch! There's an unexpected spring freeze on its way? Just move everything inside to the utilities room! We're moving? No big deal! Put those pots of Red Robin Tomatoes in the back of the car and let's go!

With this in mind, I just ordered most of my (very few) "new" seeds for this season:

Tumbling Tom Tomatoes (one packet of red and one packet of yellow)
Fabulous Hybrid Tomato
Little Gem Lettuce

The Tumbling Toms are perfect for hanging baskets, and I have a pot large enough for a determinate like the Fabulous Hybrid. Lettuce is no problem at all, as it can be harvested and enjoyed even when it's still very small.

I will still most likely buy some parsley seeds, and maybe spinach. Everything else will come from my existing stash or from seed-swaps.

I feel good about this upcoming season, and I'm so happy next month is February! We'll soon be starting winter vegetables!!!

2009-12-24T10:31:00.002-06:00

Listening to the sleet and ice at the windows, my thoughts are already turning to Spring.

Last gardening season was a dud... and it was mostly my fault. My garden tends to reflect what's going on in my life, and things weren't so great emotionally. When I start neglecting myself because of depression or stress, I also start neglecting my plants.

Life is better now, partly because I realized I couldn't pull myself out of depression alone, and partly because I'm taking initiative to change the parts of my life that make me unhappy. As I brim with anticipation there, I find myself brimming with anticipation over next year's garden.

I will keep things simple this year. Last year's plans were complex and varied, which I believe overwhelmed me, so I will stick to the reliable basics this year. I'll allow myself a small section of the garden for experimental plants, but I will do my best to direct most of my emotional investment elsewhere.

I also think I'll invest in a little extra lighting for my seedlings. Tomatoes do just fine if they're a bit leggy, but broccoli, not so much. I'm fortunate enough to have a sunny southern room, so I think a couple lamps rigged up with grow bulbs will be sufficient.

I'll also make my life easier by setting up the drip irrigation system we purchased last year. How silly is it to let something like that got to waste?!

I'll also invest in some of those watering bulbs for when we take weekend trips. The garden itself does OK if it misses a watering, but the container plants are another story.

Time to sort through my existing seeds and do a couple germination tests.

Throw Your Voice tomorrow!

2009-10-02T08:33:00.002-05:00

I know I've been on hiatus this season, but I wanted to let my fellow Oklahoma bloggers know about Throw Your Voice TOMORROW, October 3rd. It's a blogging and podcasting conference in Oklahoma City. Check it out!

Gardening with Children; a Guest Post

2009-06-16T21:51:00.010-05:00

This is a special post for Urban Garden Hoe: a guest post on gardening with children from a good friend of mine, Sara. Sara is fairly new to gardening and had a fair number of questions this Spring, but she has really taken to square foot gardening... and she does it with far more style than I!

It’s never too early to learn to garden. And lucky for me, it’s never too late, either.

Because I’m a creative person who has a short attention span and doesn’t always fully research things before jumping in, my previous attempts at vegetable gardening were massive failures. For example, throwing broccoli seeds into red dirt in June in full sun was not the best plan, even though the seed packet recommended full sun. Oh, and I kind of forgot to water them.

Then there was the time I tried to accidentally poison myself, thinking I was eating little black tomatoes which were really something like nightshade berries. I could have sworn I had planted some cherry tomatoes in that spot!

After those embarrassments, I swore off gardening and admitted defeat. My other interests would keep me plenty busy, not to mention raising a toddler and keeping him entertained.

But this DIY craze runs deep and wide, and growing your own is worth reconsidering.

This year’s garden was a spur-of-the-moment decision, inspired by a simple Tweet from Elizabeth: something along the lines of “getting ready to plant another Square Foot Garden.” I was intrigued – it sounded simple yet fun.

A quick perusal of http://www.squarefootgardening.com/ had me thinking in grids and making lists of vegetables we love. I bought the book at Full Circle (our local bookstore) and built my own garden box with lumber and a drill, which made me feel empowered and self-sufficient. I also built a small 2’x2’ for my son, who was very interested in digging, as a way to keep him out of trouble and to share the excitement.

We started seeds indoors, and every morning he’d wake up and want to look at the baby plants. He began to understand they were delicate and growing, and learned to be careful when touching them.

Little did I know how educational this project would prove. My son has started learning about broad concepts such as patience, sustainability and farming while trying new things and spending time in the backyard.

He’s getting dirty and watching bugs crawl and working up the courage to hold worms in his hand. He’s learning about compost, about being gentle to plants and waiting for produce to ripen. He’s learning to snack on sugar snap peas and beet greens right there in the garden. This experience is one we can share and enjoy, and we are rewarded for the work we do.

Fun plants to grow with kids:

Sugar snap peas – sweet and ready to eat
Mint – great for putting in ice water
Onions - the tops are irresistible to my young farmer straight out of the garden
Beets - even if you don’t like them, they make great natural food coloring, and the greens cook up just like spinach.
Cherry tomatoes - fast-growing, snackable and yummy

Gazette

2009-05-20T12:15:00.002-05:00

Check out this small article about my garden and blog in the (Oklahoma City) Gazette!

This means I need to start updating more frequently again. :) I'll sit down and do a full post tonight!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

2009-05-05T12:26:00.004-05:00

It has been insanely rainy for the past week or so, totally preventing me from being able to harden off my last remaining seedlings. I will have to take pictures of some of my plants when it calms down, however, because some of them are just HUGE!!!!

I do have something pretty exciting coming up this weekend, though: A SEED EXCHANGE AT the Deluxe Indie Craft Bazaar!

Free Admission
May 9, 2009 12-6

in Oklahoma City

at the State Fairgrounds Centennial Building

We'll be exchanging seeds and seedlings at 4pm (envelopes and envelope supplies will be provided), and I'll probably talk about gardening and try to answer people's questions. So bring your extra seeds and seedlings and join us!

New Tomato Plants

2009-04-11T13:51:00.002-05:00

It's a beautiful day for gardening! Cool air, warm sun, mild wind... So unlike the gusts and gales that swept fire across Oklahoma and Texas a couple days ago. How horrible that was!

I actually came home to my seedlings strewn across the backyard, despite the shelter the back corner should have provided them. The damage wasn't too horrible though, and I'm certainly bearing in mind that a few lost seedlings is nothing compared to the homes people lost that night.

But today is another matter, for us at least. We took a trip to the farmer's market to replace the stunted Pink Brandywine seedlings. I picked up a traditional Brandywine and a Cherokee Purple. I'm especially excited about the Cherokee Purple since it's my first time trying it at all.

So I put those and most of my other seedlings on the back steps to harden off then went about seeding and watering the garden. I have to take and post pictures soon, as the garlic plants are huge and the spinach is starting to look like spinach (cool!).

For now though, I'm going to enjoy my iced green tea then start cleaning up the house. Goodness, it's a mess...

Gardening on a Budget: Containers

2009-04-07T16:03:00.006-05:00

This topic could turn into a huge post, but I'll try and keep it simple. The most basic commandment of container gardening on a budget is: Try and view everything you come across as a potential container.

Everything.

I've seen old boots, blue jeans, and broken down cars turned into containers. Practically anything could work if you get creative enough!

Funkiness aside, there are some pretty good standbys that thrifty container gardeners fall back on often...

Food grade buckets. Sometimes you can get these for free from food establishments, and they're a good size for plants that need a little more room to spread their roots.
Big plastic tubs. Again, these can come in good sizes for plants that need legroom. Some people have also converted them into DIY Earthboxes.
Trashcans as huge planters. Some of the larger tomato plants could even flourish in a big enough trashcan.
Two-liter bottles. Check out this older post wherein I illustrate how to turn one into a pot with drainage.
Plastic butter/spreadable cheese/yogurt containers, for smaller plants. Reserve the lids to use as water trays, but be sure to water slowly to avoid overflow.
Soda bottle, upside-down, as a DIY Topsy Turvy. Is there nothing these plastic beauties can't do?!
Really ugly pots that you already have or find free/cheap.... just turn them upside down and spray paint the pots to spiff them up. (Avoid getting paint inside the pots.)

There are so many other options, but these tend to be fairly accessible and easy. Just remember to avoid anything that held chemicals, clean everything out before planting, and drill holes in the bottoms for drainage when necessary.

If you want to find "real" pots at good prices, there are usually plenty of cheap options at discount stores like Big Lots and Wal-Mart. The dollar tree often has really cute little pots, but they usually need to have drainage holes drilled in them. End-of-season sales are a great way to find deals at local businesses, which we should all support whenever we can.

Plastic is usually the cheapeast option... But if you'd like to avoid plastic, terra cotta is probably the cheapest way to go.

And take care of your pots so you don't have to spend money replacing them. Put them away when not in use (especially over winter) and treat even the plastic ones as breakable.

I know there are a million and one other tips out there, so please share yours!

2009-03-29T13:06:00.002-05:00

Today is a beautiful spring day despite yesterday's cold and snow.

I finally seeded some carrots and will continue to seed a bit more for the next three weekends. I seeded them all at once last year and had one giant harvest that I didn't use up. It's a lesson I learned for this year, as I seed my lettuce, chard, spinach, and carrots a little at a time.

It's so exciting to see seedlings coming up in the garden. I'm most excited about the sugar snap peas, and I need to fix the trellis before they're tall enough to start climbing. I'm also thrilled to see the spinach doing well, as last year's fall spinach crop was foiled by the burglar breaking the window right above their pots. Even after picking them over, I just wasn't confident there were no tiny shards of glass on/in the seedlings.

I definitely need to take photos to post.

Repotting Seedlings: Reader Question

2009-03-16T20:29:00.007-05:00

A reader, and good friend, emailed me to ask about steps to take with her seedlings. Here are her questions:

I've started most of my herbs (basil, thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary) and a few flowering plants (dianthus and forget-me-nots) indoors. My seeds are all sprouting and doing well. So, I'm thinking now what? How long can they survive in those tiny little seed-starting pods? Do I transplant them into a larger container before hardening them and putting them in the ground or is that an extra step that'll stress them out? What should I be looking for to know when they're ready to go into the ground?

Since this is my first time doing anything from seed, I feel like I need some guidance with knowing when and how to take the next step and would greatly appreciate you sharing any of your wisdom on the subject! :)

Liz

First of all, all plants are different and any special directions on seed packets should be followed. However, there are general guidelines that I've found work most of the time.

Repotting Seedlings

When: If you start your seeds in something very small, like a peat pod or those small cell packs, you'll usually need to repot the seedlings before they go in the ground. I try to do so when the seedlings have a couple true leaves (the second set of leaves, not the first set that emerge from the soil). Until then, the plant doesn't really need the nutrition of potting soil because the first set of leaves are actually a food source for the seedling. Another sign to watch for is roots growing out of the pod/container. Repot as soon as you start seeing roots. Waiting too long can result in a root-bound plant or roots that have gotten tangled in the netting of your peat pod.

How: Be gentle with your seedlings as you repot and you should be able to avoid stressing them out too much.

For peat pods, gently tear or cut away the netting that surrounds the peat. If the roots have gotten tangled in the netting, cut away as much netting as you can without damaging the roots. You don't want the netting to restrict new root growth, but it's perfectly fine to leave a little if it's tangled in roots.

For seedlings in plastic containers, very gently massage the plastic in order to loosen the seedling from its little home. Then, place your hand over the soil and grasp the very base of the seedling, turn the whole container upside down, and let gravity help you as you gently gently gently pull the seedling out of the plastic.

If you've used something biodegradable, like a toilet paper tube, small newspaper pot, or small Jiffy Pot (though, Jiffy Pots are usually big enough to last a while), then this is going to be easy-peasy. These can just be gently placed right into the next container. Unless you can tell it's already breaking apart, it can also help to "open" the old biodegradable container first so your plant's roots can spread more easily. With the toilet paper tubes, I usually pull back the bottom folds so that it's open. With Jiffy pots, gently cut or tear away the bottom. Newspaper is probably less of an issue, unless you've made a very thick paper pot. Note that if you know a plant you're growing doesn't handle transplants very well (like cucumbers or peppers), it'll probably be easiest to opt for one of these biodegradable options for the least amount of stress.

Exceptions: Sometimes I'll keep small plants in their toilet paper tube or peat pods until transplant, usually if they're small plants in the first place. Strawberries from seed, for example, tend to stay small until they're outside in the sun. I just watch the roots to make sure they aren't outgrowing their homes. However, I also add some extra nutrition by occasionally spritzing them with liquid Terracycle.

Also, if you're determined to jumpstart a plant that is so sensitive to transplanting that they're supposed to be direct seeded into the garden, you should at least start them in a sizable biodegradable container so there's only one simple transplantation to be done.

Deciding When to Put Them in the Ground

This has more to do with temperature and seasons than anything else, so read your seed packets. They will usually say something along the lines of, "Transplant outside after the last frost date" or "Transplant after danger of frost has passed." In Oklahoma City, that's April 15th... but you still need to check the weather forecast and use common sense, because the "last frost date" is an estimate. Learn more about that date here.

Aside from that, I don't like to transplant seedlings until they have at least 3 or 4 true leaves (or are strong looking, if true leaves aren't a consideration such as with green onions). And you should never transplant without hardening off first. You can google for detailed instructions on hardening off, but the basic idea is to expose your plants to an outdoor environment little by little. I start with an hour, then a couple hours the next day, then a few hours, then all morning or afternoon, then all day a couple times in a row. Just make sure you pick mild days and keep them out of the wind until they're strong.

Gardening on a Budget: Soil

2009-03-15T12:11:00.003-05:00

Especially if you're a container gardener who wants to grow organically, the cost of soil can start looking pretty high. So let's look at a few ways to cut back on that cost.

Screw the fancy "organic" soil that companies like Miracle Grow sell, because it's way expensive (and not all that great, in my experience). Instead, pick up those 40 pound bags of cheap soil with "compost" in the ingredients rather than "fertilizer." They're sometimes cheaper than that small bag of "organic" soil, and I've had great luck with them.
If you're growing in-ground or in a raised bed, you don't need to add new soil every year. Compost is usually all you need to add.
If you're a container gardener, you can often reuse your potting soil. The most important rule is to never reuse soil from diseased plants -- that stuff needs to be thrown into the deepest darkest corner of land where you won't grow anything you care about. If, however, your plants were healthy and strong, you can take out the old plant, mix in some compost, and reuse. Some people feel it's necessary to bake the soil (yeah, as in baking it in an oven), but I've never bothered. When I'm not 100% confident about reusing a pot of soil (often because a cat used it as a litter box!), I'll use it for non-edible plants just to be safe... or I'll use it to fill in holes in the backyard.
Don't use containers any bigger than your plant will actually need.
Use companion planting in you container garden. For example, why put basil plants into their own little pots if you're also growing potted tomatoes? Basil and tomatoes love each other, so go ahead and tuck that basil plant into the corner of the tomato's pot.

As a side-note, I don't recommend just sticking yard dirt into a container, especially if you plan on bringing it inside. Part of the benefits of container gardening is reduced pests and weeds, and yard dirt is full of them.

Beautiful Day

2009-03-14T13:53:00.003-05:00

It's a beautiful day after all of the wintery mess we had this week. I spent a couple hours working on the garden and seedlings. I seeded radishes, spinach, and lettuce directly into the garden and I have most of the seedlings on the back steps for sun and hardening. It's a perfect, mild day for it.

It's also time to put broccoli and lettuce plants directly into the ground, but I just don't think mine are ready yet. None of them have anymore than one true leaf, so I'm just going to get them good and hardened off until they have a couple more.

If you're in Oklahoma City, get out there and enjoy today!

Seedlings and Strawberries!

2009-03-07T14:06:00.013-06:00

I just had to share pictures of my seedlings and new strawberry plants....

This is my primary vegetable seedling setup. It's an overcast day, but these guys normally get a pretty good amount of sun in the south-facing windows of the laundry room.

I also have a shelf in the laundry room where I usually put my seeds when I first start them, until they actually emerge.

Some of the more interesting seedlings I've been watching daily are...

The Alpine Strawberries, which are still teeny tiny:

The Burgundy okra, which has huge baby leaves and a touch of burgundy color on the stem:

The first of the Rainbow Swiss Chard, which I was surprised to discover is immediately colorful:

I also picked up two mature Junebearing strawberry plants at the Farmer's Market today. As much as I enjoy growing everbearing plants from seed, it's just nice to have a couple Junebearers for a little instant gratification. I went ahead and put them in a hanging basket that I can bring inside at night and on colder days:

On a sidenote, our kitties reap the benefits of my gardening hobby as well. I often grow cat grass to keep indoors for them. Our indoor-outdoor cat named Oz doesn't care much about it, but our indoor cat named Ali loves it. Though, she was clearly more interested in what my jeans smelled like this afternoon:

Seed Swapping

2009-03-01T12:31:00.003-06:00

Related to the recent post on acquiring seeds on a budget, a friend (Sara, who happens to be a co-director of the extremely hip Oklahoma City craft bazaar, DeluxeOK) and I got together yesterday to talk about her new garden and swap seeds. We were both impressed by how perfect seed swapping is for backyard gardening. We both had way too many seeds for what we actually wanted to grow, and trading those excess seeds allowed us both to plan for a wider variety of plants. I'm most excited about the soybeans I got from her stash!!! (And, amusingly enough, I was able to use up my snail-mail envelopes, which I never ever use anymore, as seed packets.)

Seriously, get together with some gardening friends and swap seeds!

Gardening on a Budget: Seed Starting

2009-01-31T17:25:00.019-06:00

There are hundreds of fun and fabulous seed starting products out there, but you don't have to spend all that money. If you can at least invest in a bag of Seed Starting Medium or very lightweight potting soil, that alone will get you off to a great start.

Cheaper Than Peat Pellets/Pods:
Those seed starting pods or pellets, the kind that come looking like little disks then expand in water to look like a huge brown marshmallow, are admittedly handy. However, you can imitate these will little effort and money:

1. Save the tubes from inside your toilet paper rolls.
2. Cut a tube in half, resulting in two shorter tubes. (Note that this is optional. You could use the entire tube if you feel like the plants you're growing need more room for their roots to stretch out before they are transplanted or moved to a larger container.)

3. Take one of those half-tubes and decide which end will be the "bottom" of your peat pod. Make a few cuts in the bottom of the tube so that you will be able to fold it in on itself.

3. Fold in the bottom of the half-tube, making sure the bottom of it is mostly closed. Repeat until you have as many folded half-tubes as needed.

4. Place these tubes in a water-proof tray of some sort.

5. Fill each with seed starting medium or a lightweight potting soil.

6. Plant seeds as directed.
7. Water these by pouring water into the tray, not by pouring it directly onto the soil.
8. My general rule of thumb is to transplant these, tube and all, into a newspaper/Jiffy pot with potting soil soon after they develop their first set of "true leaves."

Cheaper Than Those Biodegradable Jiffy Pots: Jiffy pots are also very convenient, but there's a nearly free alternative to these as well. You'll need to make sure you have a tray or tub with sides as high as the pots will be tall, but you can make newspaper pots, the creation of which I illustrated last year.

Cheaper Than Fancy Trays: You can use damn near anything as a water-proof tray to hold your seedlings. I love using plastic food containers that used to hold things like bakery cookies. Plastic dish tubs from the dollar store are useful, especially when seedlings have been moved to larger newspaper or Jiffy pots. On the smaller scale, butter tubs (or a spreadable cheese tub, like I used in the pictures above) do well. Amazingly, Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich containers fit the toilet paper tube "pods" (and actual peat pods) perfectly, and they also fit right onto our windowsills. Just make sure that anything you use that once contained food has been cleaned out properly.

Cheaper than Grow Lights: Grow lights can help prevent leggy seedlings, but they're also pretty expensive. A cheaper option would be to hang an inexpensive shop light over your seedlings instead. Or, like me, you can simply grow your seedlings on south-facing windowsills and deal with the fact that they'll be a tad bit leggy. (Sunlight is FREE!)

Cheaper than Buying Plastic Seedling Cells: Some people buy the little six-pack plastic cells when, just last year, they might have purchased flowers from the garden center in a nearly identical six-pack. Whenever I buy flowers (or other plants) in cells or small pots sturdy enough to still be in one piece after removal of the flowers, I rinse that sucker out and stash it away in my garage to use for flowers from seed the next year. (They also work for most veggies from seed, unless they have delicate roots.)

Cheaper than Any of That Other Stuff: This won't work with some seeds (read your packets!), but sometimes you can wait until the appropriate time to direct-seed them into the garden. My favorite thing about this method, to be honest, has little to do with money... it's the fact that there's no hardening off to be done at all. How convenient.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. Please post and share your ideas!

Budget Gardening: Seeds

2009-01-26T12:43:00.006-06:00

I have to confess that I occasionally let myself spend a little more on gardening than I need to, but that doesn't change the fact that gardening can be a wonderful way to save money on food. There are so many aspects to this that I'm going to tackle them one at a time. First up, seeds.

Seeds save you money in the first place, because they cost so much less than buying seedlings from the garden center. On top of that, there are so many ways to cut corners on seeds. Let's start by considering two general schools of thought on how you can save money, then we'll get to some specific tips.

The first school of thought is pretty short-term: buy cheap seeds. You don't have to spend a fortune on heirloom varieties from organic companies to have a nice garden. Just the other day, I saw a small rack of 20 cent packets of seeds for veggies and herbs at Wal-Mart. It was a small selection, but one could have certainly designed a decent vegetable garden from that rack alone... and probably for no more than a couple dollars. I have also seen similar deals at The Dollar Tree and am sure they will have them again this year. It's really nice when you can support small businesses with good philosophies, but sometimes nothing beats a huge discount chain when you're honestly not even sure you'll be able to pay the electricity bill.

The second school of thought is more long-term: invest in quality heirloom varieties and save seed from your plants every year. Unlike many of the cheap seeds, the seeds you save from an heirloom variety will usually grow true to type the next year. (Edit: As a commenter pointed out, some of those dirt-cheap seeds will grow true to type when you save seed because most hybrids are in the middle price range rather than the lowest. I recommend you do your research on Dave's Garden before you save seed, to make sure.) They cost more up front (anywhere from $2 to $5 a packet) but, in theory, you won't ever have to buy seeds for the same vegetable again.

A lot of gardeners will tell you that the second school of thought is the right school of thought, but I'm here to tell you to do what works best for you. Expensive heirloom or cheap hybrid, it's going to feel wonderful to harvest those veggies no matter what. And even the most "boring" hybrid variety is going to taste 10 times better than the trucked-in vegetables from the grocery store. I think everyone should try heirloom varieties at some point, but if it's not in your budget this year, then it's simply not in your budget.

Here are some other important tips on saving with seeds:

No matter what kind of seed you purchase, don't throw out your extras. Almost every seed is viable for more than one season, and some are viable for many, many seasons to come. Tape up the packets, put them all into one ziplock bag/tupperware/mason jar, throw in a handful of uncooked rice to absorb moisture, and store them in the back of your refrigerator until the next gardening season.
Share seeds or seedlings with other gardeners, for free! The cheapest way to do this is to go as local as possible. For example, a friend who lives a couple blocks from me recently started a Facebook Group for Oklahoma City gardeners. Many of us have already offered up extra seeds and seedlings. (We also plan on exchanging excess produce. There's a lot of potential with something like this!) If you can't find local friends or a similar local group/community for free, then check out non-local options like Dave's Garden.
Don't over-seed. For seeds that are normally sowed directly into the ground, many gardeners pour out the whole packet down a row then thin them out as they grow. How wasteful! Instead, figure out what the spacing should ultimately be and plant two or three seeds where the plants will need to be. For example, if you're planting a row of carrots and they are supposed to be 3 inches apart when mature, then plant two or three carrot seeds each in tiny holes every three inches. Now you waste far fewer seeds because you only need to thin out one or two per hole. (Share or store what you saved!)
Shop around. I prefer heirlooms, but they're normally more expensive than I prefer. After doing a little research, I decided that Victory Heirloom Seeds was the best priced company that matched my needs.
Pay attention to shipping prices! Ordering seeds, as apposed to going directly to the store, is a great way to find interesting varieties at reasonable prices... but sometimes there's a huge Shipping and Handling fee attached to those otherwise reasonable prices. (Again, I feel that Victory Heirloom Seeds has fair S&H fees.)
Save seeds from the garden vegetables people give you, or experiment with the seeds saved from organic produce at your local health food store.
If you can't buy all heirloom seeds but want to experiment with saving seeds, then either choose one vegetable (tomatoes are easy!) to buy as an heirloom for seed saving or do some research to see if any of your cheap varieties grow true to seed. (Dave's Garden is a good source for this.)

That's all that comes to mind at the moment. Eveyone feel free to comment with your own ideas!

Next budget topic, seed starting.

2009-01-10T17:39:00.005-06:00

All seeds are either acquired or ordered. Current plans for 2009 include:

Pink Brandywine tomatoes
Azoychka (yellow!) tomatoes
Super Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes
Red Robin tomatoes (in hanging baskets)
Ground Cherries
Sugar snap peas
Red onions (possibly from seed, if I can get that to work!)
Green onions
Cosmic Purple carrots
Burgundy okra
Lemon Apple cucumbers
Black Seeded Simpson lettuce
Little Gem Romaine (if the seeds are still viable)
Spinach
Rainbow Swiss chard
Leeks
Red radishes
Broccoli
Chesnok Red garlic (currently in the ground, to be dug up in spring)
Bantum corn (one of the three sisters)
Calypso beans (one of the three sisters)
Cinderella pumpkins (one of the three sisters)
Sugar Baby watermelons (in a watermelon patch!)

I am so excited!

A friend of mine also started a little Facebook group for our local gardening buddies and I'm giving away some of last year's seeds on there. I hope other friends get active in it, because I'd love to have a little group for seed and plant exchange.

The Bare Beginnings

2009-01-03T16:11:00.004-06:00

Long time, no post!

I've just had too many other things going on in my life, like starting a new job, Christmas, etc. Things are mostly going pretty well in life.

As for my winter gardening activities, they wound up being reduced to growing garlic to be dug up in the Spring.

But the arrival of a seed catalog two or three weeks ago has gotten me thinking about my garden again. In fact, I started my first seeds today! 2 Red Robin tomato plants, which stay small enough to keep inside until after the last frost, and 8 Pink Brandy Wine tomato plants, which I was determined to start extra early this year because last year's P.B.W.s didn't produce until the Fall. They may be leggy by the time I put them in the ground, but I'm willing to dig deep if it'll earn us earlier slicing tomatoes.

I've started planning the dates to start other seeds and have decided on asking Chad to build me at least one more Square Foot Garden. I look forward to getting m y hands in the dirt again!

Setbacks in other aspects of life...

2008-10-02T14:42:00.004-05:00

I wish I could post some pictures of my extremely huge green Pink Branywine tomatoes but alas, we were recently burglarized. The thief managed to snag quite a bit of our electronics, and it happened to include my laptop (which had a card reader in it), my husband's external card reader, and the camera's USB cord... though not the camera.

As I know some will wonder, we are OK but it happened in the dark of early morning while we were asleep in our beds. We slept through moist of it (amazing & sickening to think of it...) until the guy started trying to unplug things in the office. Chad chased him out at that point. We lost a lot of stuff, including both laptops and both ipods, but nothing important that can't be replaced relatively soon. Once my cards have been replaced and Chad has a new cell phone, the rest are mostly just toys. We're far more concerned about the invasion of our home than the items stolen, so we're mainly focusing on making things more secure... We're just thankful the criminal apparently wasn't violent.

Anyway, there will be pictures once we have a USB cord or a card reader again. The huge Brandywine plant is producing massive tomatoes and the more wimpy Brandwine plants have begun to produce a couple, too. I think we'll get a decent number of ripe ones before the first freeze, but I suspect we will find ourselves with a huge supply of green tomatoes to fry in the end!

The fall plantings are going strong and the other tomato plants continue to produce decently enough. I think, however, that I may need to start over entirely on a couple of the potted plants that were below the window the theif cracked. Tiny bits of glass got into them, and I'm not entirely confident that they wouldn't end up in the spinach and lettuce. *sigh*

Fall Gardening Update

2008-09-20T19:53:00.001-05:00

The garden already has lettuce, radish, and sugar snap pea seedlings (plus the transplanted broccoli seedlings from indoors). Tiny things, but they're there!

The yellow pansies we added to the front porch are a welcome splash of color, and the mild weather is allowing our fuchsia plant to make a comeback with lovely, delicate new growth.

On Monday, I will plant two pots of lettuce and two pots of spinach on the front porch. The Monday after that, I'll plant one or two of each in hanging pots that we can easily keep indoors in the winter (and I guess we'll just keep snipping them until they quit). I'm getting better about doing successive plantings. I used to get so excited that I'd just seed everything in one day.

My account was charged for my garlic yesterday, so I'm hoping that means it has shipped. I will most certainly share photos!

Fall Gardening. Long Time, No Post!

2008-09-15T16:16:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I updated, because I've been preoccupied with other aspects of my life and thinking less about gardening. But today has been quite a gardening day for me.

You see, I'm far overdue for fall gardening. The only thing I really did on time was start broccoli seedlings indoors. But finally spotting tomatoes on one of my brandywine plants yesterday told me I needed to get busy for fall while I still can!

First, I attempted to get the overgrown brandywine on the side of the house to stand up. Very little success, here. I got a few tomato-bearing vines off the ground before the sun started beating down on me and will try to get a few more tomorrow morning. I also trimmed it up a bit, cutting back vines with no fruit or flowers. I probably should have done away with more, but I can't stand to sacrifice any flowers... though I did accidentally break off a vine with two green tomatoes. One is big enough for frying, so that's what I'll do tonight.

Next, I tackled the Square Foot Garden. First order of things was basic clean-up. I pulled weeds, the dead cucumber plants, and the radishes that were there for the sole purpose of fending off cucumber bugs. Then I started hacking away dead tomato limbs and shortening any too-long vines without green tomatoes or promising looking flowers. Both the cherry tomato plant and Genovese are still doing well, but neither brandywine in the garden has produced a single tomato. I am very disappointed. If I don't see any soon, I'll cut them out to let a little more light shine down onto the fall vegetables.

Then I transplanted my broccoli seedlings and covered them with soda pop cloches, and I put in the radish, sugar snap, Swiss chard, and lettuce seeds. I'll do a bit more once shade falls on the garden again, and finish in the morning.

I know I'm rather behind on a couple plants. Mainly, I should have seeded my carrots well before now. I might decide to replace those with something a little faster-growing.

Here is my current fall garden plan:

I have big plans for my pots, as well. I'll have two hanging Red Robins (one is already almost ready to start making tomatoes & the other has been seeded), both of which can be placed in a sunny window once the weather is too cold. There are also several pots, hanging and sitting, in which I'm going to seed lettuce and spinach. They'll be brought inside for a post-freeze harvest.

My garlic bulbs should arrive in the next couple of weeks. Again, a bit behind-schedule... but this is because the grower had a cool growing season rather than because I'm behind... for a change.

Tomato Update

2008-07-31T14:26:00.001-05:00

The incredibly hot and mostly dry weather has not been kind to the plants. In fact, missing one watering killed off two pots of strawberry plants, a few very young basils, and a particularly beautiful lavender. I'm going to be better about keeping my potted plants moist.

I spent a good half hour pulling dry leaves off the tomato plants today and the job still isn't entirely done. They're still going strong, though. My one complaint is that the not one of the three Brandywine plants have produced so much as a single tomato. I'd heard that they're not a prolific variety, but sheesh! I shake the cages every time I'm out there to try and help them along, even though the Oklahoma wind should be enough, and still nothing. I'll keep taking care of them, though. They mature later than most varieties, so maybe it was already too hot for them to do well by the time they matured fully. Maybe they'll give me a nice late crop if I keep them healthy.

Meanwhile, in addition to the occasional cucumber, I'm bringing in a tomato harvest like this every couple of days:

And there are always a few over-ripe cherry tomatoes that I throw along the fence-line in hopes of volunteer plants. I left quite a few on the vine that I felt could stand just one more day of ripening, since I enjoy serving up a bowl of fresh-picked cherry tomatoes at our D&D session each Friday night.

I look forward to having an additional raised bed next year. I didn't plan for a varied mid-summer harvest this year, but I'd like to have one next year. Meanwhile, I'm about to start some more seedlings for the fall. Little broccoli are going strong!

A Trip to the Farmer's Market

2008-07-26T11:39:00.002-05:00

I went to the farmer's market around 10 this morning and was amazed to see such a crowded parking lot as I pulled in! I'm normally a little later than 10, so I had no idea how many people could pack in there at one time.

As I walked up to the building, there was a loooooong line of people, all with bags of okra in hand, waiting to check out. I'm not a big enough fan of an okra fan to wait in line for it, but I definitely want to grow it next year.

Inside the building I encountered more lines, which was slightly annoying to me but wonderful for the farmers. I found one table without a line that had two things I wanted: green tomatoes and pumpkin blossoms. I don't feel like we have enough of a tomato supply yet to start picking them green, but Chad has never had a fried green tomato in his life and I want to introduce him to it. The pumpkin blossoms, which I plan to fry at the same time, are a new venture for both of us. Exciting!

Since the eggs are all gone by the time I normally get to the market this time of year, I was thrilled to see a line at my usual supplier's table. I got right in line and waited patiently behind a man returning three egg cartons (I love that the farmer reuses them). When he finally reached the table, he put down the empty cartons and said:

Customer: I only need one dozen this week.

Seller: But you always order two.

Customer: Well, we're just not eating enough eggs to get two dozen anymore.

Seller: OK... but I had two dozen reserved for you.

Customer: Oh... OK. If that's a problem, I guess I'll go ahead and buy the two. But put me down for one next week.

This was when I realized that I'd waited in line this whole time and it turns out that the seller is taking and filling orders, not selling first-come-first-serve like she does in the winter! So I quickly piped in:

Me: Hey, wait, *I* will buy the other dozen!!! I'll take it!

Customer: Oh! Awesome, thank you!

Me: No problem! Thank you!!!

So I bought his second dozen (extra jumbo!) eggs. What a stroke of luck for both he and I, huh? I love when stuff like that happens.

I hadn't had breakfast yet and was too hungry to stand around in anymore lines, but I walked the circle of the market one more time to look at all of the amazing produce. I almost decided to spend the time to get some sweet corn, and I sort of wish I had now, but we're currently short on cash and I decided I would make meal plans for next weekend that include corn on the cob and come back for a big bag. Yum.

So now I'm thinking about frying up the tomatoes and blossoms tomorrow and I'm in a great mood. Even if I'm late, I really need to make myself go to the farmer's market every weekend.

Cucumber Salad, Eating In-Season

2008-07-24T17:58:00.001-05:00

In the middle of the hot Oklahoma summer, garden salads can be scarce. It's just too hot to grow decent lettuce and my salad mesclun mix was too popular with the bugs to keep going. But one cool summer vegetable I do have a steady supply of is cucumber.

I have always loved cucumber tomato salads, but I started searching for a simple cucumber salad today and turned up this wonderful dish on Recipezaar. Somewhere between salad and slaw, it was a hit at dinner. Below is the recipe (with a couple notes on my variation).

Cucumber Salad

2 cucumbers, very thinly sliced (I scooped out the seeds first.)
1 red onion, very thinly sliced (I used scallions.)
2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice (Apple vinegar was great!)
2 tablespoons sour cream
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar (I opted for granular Splenda.)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill (I had dried dill and used 1/2 tsp.)

Mix cucumbers and onions together.
Mix rest of ingredients together in a closed bowl and give a shake.
Add to cucumbers, chill till very cold & serve.

(I just threw all of the ingredients in with the cucumbers and onions and mixed it well, instead of shaking before mixing.)

See? Eating in season is all about a little creativity.

Overgrown Plants!

2008-07-06T07:45:00.002-05:00

We purchased one single Hardy Hibiscus from the farmer's market last year. It was beautiful with its massive, satellite dish flowers. The seller told us to cut it back in the winter and it would likely come back in the spring.

Boy, did it ever!

It went from one plant with two or three stems last year to who knows how many plants with how many stems this year! We love it! It's like a giant, tropical bush!

Speaking of overgrown plants, I can hardly believe that this brandywine tomato plant I just kind of stuck on the side of the house was a stunted seedling.

I should have pruned it down to just one or two major vines and staked it. As it is, I've been doing everything I can to keep the whole thing somewhat contained to the space that the too-small tomato cage indicates is its "home."

It's Been a While!

2008-07-05T20:21:00.001-05:00

It's been a little while since I updated, but here I am now!

We've gotten two big cucumbers out of the garden lately, plus lots of cherry tomatoes! In fact, I served a bowl of cherry tomatoes as a snack when we had friends over the other night.

Most exciting is our first full-sized red tomato of the season! A Genovese, to be specific:We'll most likely pick and eat it tomorrow.

No more carrots in the garden until it's time to seed for the fall. A few of the onion tops turned yellow, so those got pulled: They'll probably be drying outside for about another day, then I'll bring them inside for use/storage. Most of the others will be picked quite soon as well.

It's also time to start thinking about fall crops, around the Oklahoma City area. Broccoli should be started inside ASAP, if you haven't done it already. Here's my broccoli seedling set up on the kitchen window sill: It's actually a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich container!!! This, if nothing else, is a perfect excuse to eat ice cream! Not only does it sit perfectly on our windowsill, but our repurposed toilet roll seedling pots fit into each sandwich slot perfectly: These little pots are extremely easy to make. Cut the rolls in half first if putting them in a short container like this, but otherwise follow these instructions over at You Grow Girl. Just be careful not to over-water, because I find that these are more likely to grow mold than peat pellets. But once the seedlings need more soil, you can transplant it, roll and all, into its next home. It's totally biodegradable.

Anyone else prepping for fall gardening out there?! Here's a fabulous fall gardening document for fellow Oklahomans, thanks to OSU.

Showing off the Upcoming Harvest!

2008-06-18T19:09:00.001-05:00

Something munched some of our baby cucumbers recently, but there were a few survivors. One of them is growing so fast! It's going to be ready to pick in no time!

The largest Genovese tomato is about the size of a small tangerine.

I've also been eyeing the onions. Since the Oklahoma wind blew over all the stalks (which normally fall over when it's time to harvest), I'm just going to have to make an educated guess as to when to pull them out of the ground.

The Super Sweet 100 tomatoes are still green, but we've had a steady supply of cherry tomatoes for our salads via the Red Robin plants.

I love the idea that people walk by our house and see hanging baskets of tomatoes on the front porch. I think they're as pretty as flowers, and soooo tempting. No one has yet to steal any that I know of, though.

I've also been harvesting carrots as needed, but they're still pretty small. I suspect the nitrogen content of the soil was a little high for them, so I won't add any compost to those squares when I do the fall planting.

Moroccan Coleslaw

2008-06-16T13:49:00.004-05:00

I've had two requests for the Moroccan Coleslaw recipe I mentioned recently, so here it is! I wish I could claim it as entirely my own, but I modified it from a South Beach recipe. It doesn't have as much tang as traditional slaw and it's not as thickly coated in dressing, so we really enjoyed it like a salad.

Moroccan Coleslaw

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tb fresh lemon juice
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tsp sugar (or granular Splenda)
1 tsp ground cumin
4 cups shredded green cabbage
4 medium carrots, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the mayo, lemon juice, scallions, sugar, and cumin in a very large bowl. Add carrots, cabbage, salt, and pepper. Toss until evenly coated. Serve or refrigerate immediately.

Resource for Oklahoma Gardeners

2008-06-16T13:17:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to share a wonderful resource for Oklahoma gardeners. OSU publishes some wonderful online PDFs on gardening/farming. I've been eyeing the Fall Gardening PDF in particular lately and will be starting some broccoli seeds indoors before long.

A few garden updates:

My Sugar Snap Peas stopped producing and started looking a little dried up, so I've taken them out and plan to grow more in the fall. The Genovese Tomato plant should get a little more sun as a result.
I'll be harvesting the last of the lettuce this week. I planted some greens so we might be able to keep the salad coming for a while, I but suspect it'll get so hot I'll have to pick them young. I let one Little Gem Romaine bolt and think we should be seeing a blossom soon. I'll have to do some research to see if there are any special methods to save the seed.
The tomatoes are going strong! Tons of cherry tomatoes, at least two green Genovese Tomatoes, and flowers on the brandywines! I am so excited!!!
We have wee baby cucumbers, one of which is longer than my thumb. Their vines are growing like mad, and it's been a little bit of a challenge to train them to the trellis.

I hope everyone's June is productive!

Seed Sales!

2008-06-12T15:31:00.001-05:00

Apparently, it's about time for seeds to go on sale around Oklahoma City! Lowe's had theirs for 10 cents a packet yesterday, and Chad and I must have picked up about $30 worth for less than $2. He picked out flower seeds, including three or four varieties of sunflowers, and I mainly picked out vegetables. Almost all of it is for next year, but we picked up a few things that should work well in the fall, too.

So, keep your eye out for sales right now. When it comes to vegetables, pretty much everything with which I am familiar will store well for at least one extra year, except onions.

Carrot Harvest

2008-06-10T18:29:00.002-05:00

Today was my first sizable carrot harvest!

Red Cored Chantenay Carrots

They're fat, stubby little things right now! And tasty. I shredded them for a Moroccan coleslaw recipe that was The Awesome paired with turkey meat loaf.

Yum!

I know these guys aren't quite full sized yet, but they've still made me decide I definitely want to grow a long variety along side them next year. And some of them will definitely be purple!

Thinking of Fall...

2008-06-09T14:28:00.001-05:00

Especially if you're going to order any fancy garlic, it's a good idea to start thinking about your fall gardening now.

Today, I'm ordering two cloves of Chesnok Red Garlic and DeCicco Broccoli. The garlic, which I'm going to pair with a generic supermarket (softneck) variety as an experiment, won't be harvested until Spring. But the broccoli will be a part of our fall harvest.... And maybe the winter, if we're lucky. I've never grown broccoli, but I chose Decicco because it's supposed to have a good number of off-shoot broccolis after the large head is harvested.

I was also extremely tempted by German Extra Hardy Garlic, Russian Giant Garlic, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Dragon Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, and leeks... But I have to keep in mind that I have a limited amount of space and plenty of other stuff I already plan on growing.

Meanwhile, today is a nice, mild, overcast day. It rained all morning, so the kitty and I slept in quite nicely. And I'm developing clever ideas about creating my own bagged and frozen convenience stir fry for nights when I don't feel like doing much cooking, so I think it's time to make a trip to the store and browse the produce section for good, freezable veggies.

Updates From the Impatient Gardener

2008-06-02T20:22:00.001-05:00

I needed a scallion for yesterday's dinner, so I went out to the garden to pick one fresh. And, holy moly, I got a surprize!

Apparently, I'm just a really impatient gardener! I originally purchased the set under the impression that they were a white onion that would bulb, but then they didn't bulb at all and I decided they'd been mislabeled and started using them as green onions (very tasty green onions!). But now, over half of them are visibly bulbing!

And while we're on the topic of what's going on underground, it looks like some of the carrots are ready to pull!

Above ground, I was ecstatic to discover tiny buds on the brandywine tomato plants!!! These are the tomatoes I'm really excited about. Woohoo!!!

The youngest Red Robin is blooming nicely, which is a pleasant sight just outside out back door.

This is also one of the more charming sights you'll see on our back steps. Poor little Ali isn't allowed outside, but at least she has a good view when we're tending to the container plants!

Tomatoes and Tough Love

2008-05-29T19:19:00.001-05:00

We're finally seeing the fruits of our labor! Literally!

Our first Genovese tomato:

The fist tomato on the in-garden Super Sweet 100 plant:

The first four tomatoes on the potted Super Sweet 100 plant:

In the meantime, we've been plucking the occasional red tomatoes from the hanging Red Robin plants:

And the much younger Red Robin plant is starting to flower:

I'm amazed at the luck we've been having with the Red Robins and will probably grow them every single year.

Meanwhile, one of the Alexandria strawberry plants has created a flower! It's too early to let a brand new everbearing variety set fruit, though. I pinched the flower off in the spirit of tough love. I was tempted to leave it, but we'll have more strawberries next summer as a result:

Storms and Children

2008-05-27T11:59:00.001-05:00

Well, it would seem that the storm did some harvesting for me last night. I can't say I'm surprised. I was up with the storm, watching anxiously as even my sheltered potted plants danced the wind.

Only the lettuces suffered, really, so we'll be having salad tonight. Everything else fared amazingly well.

Our nephews visited for dinner and board games yesterday, so they got to see actual plants in our garden and were pretty impressed by how big everything was. We took a bowl out with us and let them pick sugar snap peas to snack on and a couple green onions to take home to their grandmother, but they forgot them on the table... and apparently didn't care when they realized it. Too bad, really. So we ate their sugar snap peas.

15 Minutes of Fame

2008-05-21T11:16:00.001-05:00

Warhol was right, we all get our fifteen minutes of fame.

And now, here's mine! I'm mentioned, quoted, and pictured in an urban gardening article in the latest Oklahoma Gazette!

Hmmm, I need to get a copy ASAP so I can see the cover better, because I think that may even be my Red Robin tomato plant pictured on the front! (Update on that, no, I don't think it's my Red Robin.) They're free all over the OKC metro, so pick one up and check it out! If you're not local, you can still see the article on their site.

So what if they got my last name a little wrong in the print version? My garden and I are still famous! Woohoo!

Peas & a Shameless Plug

2008-05-20T23:28:00.003-05:00

The sugar snap peas are already getting big enough to pick! We had a few with dinner tonight.

They don't really get quite as big as the sugar snap peas from the store, but oh, are they wonderful right out of the garden!

I've gotten a bit more into crafting again, so I've started an etsy store to see if I can get any of it to sell. Since much of it will be nature themed jewelry and maybe (eventually!) some gardening accessories, I thought it would be appropriate to mention here. So if you'd like to take a look, you can see the bare beginnings of my etsy shop here.

"Days to Harvest"

2008-05-19T11:45:00.009-05:00

You know how the backs of seed packets often list "days to harvest?" Yeah, take those with a grain of salt. What I suspect they really mean is, "Days to harvest in precisely what we consider average conditions, even if there's no possible way you can reproduce our 'average' where you live."

I usually mark the projected "harvest day" on my calendar for non-fruiting items (carrots, lettuce, etc.) so I can check on them, but they're never accurate. Much of my lettuce could be harvested well before their date (but I let them keep growing!) and my carrots are nowhere big enough to harvest even though yesterday was the projected date. A million things effect the real harvest date. Weather, nitrogen levels, amount of sun, etc.

And for the record, many of the seed companies state that the days to harvest on the packets usually mean the number of days from the day you actually put the seeds or transplants out it in the garden. (See, isn't that silly? Of course a transplant will be ready to harvest sooner than a seed started on the exact same day!) This was one point of confusion for me when I started trying to read seed packets.

So, don't fret when a harvest date comes around and your carrots are still pencil thin (like mine!). Just use the "days to harvest" as a general indicator as to how fast-growing a particular variety is, or when it's almost time to start poking around the soil to see how big your root vegetables are.

Peas & Progress

2008-05-17T07:13:00.001-05:00

Just as I whined about having nothing but radishes out of our garden so far, some sugar snap peas grew while I had my back turned!!!

Of course, I shouldn't have been whining anyway. I think we'll be harvesting a head of romaine every night this week. These Little Gems are the perfect size to make salad for two.

I went ahead and pulled all of the ugly greens from the mesclun mix that have been eaten up by bugs and did some reseeding with Black Seeded Simpson (since the first batch is growing so quickly) and the one variety (a lettuce) in the mesclun mix that seems to be both fast growing and not quite as tasty to insects.

I need to take photos of them, or wrangle Chad into taking good photos of them, but all of the tomato plants are doing fabulously:

The old Red Robins in the hanging planters have tons of green tomatoes. Really. Chad counted like 25 on one of them! I gave two younger plants to a friend who recently moved to a new house and hasn't been able to garden yet and I have two young ones that I hope to bring inside and keep going for winter tomatoes.

The potted Supersweet 100 is getting huge and super healthy looking! I really need to post a photo of him... The one in the garden looks pretty good, as well.

The Genovese is the biggest tomato plant in the garden and it has flowers!!! I am so excited!!! I have to admit I was a little bit skeptical when it was recommended to me at the farmer's market as an earlier producing variety (I asked someone if they had a full-sized tomato that would tide me over until my brandywines produce!), but now it looks like they'll beat everything but the much older Red Robins.

The brandywines are all looking pretty good. The one that had no set-backs is almost climbing up into his tomato cage and the one that broke twice is finally trying to catch up to his brother.

I'm fascinated by how totally different all of the tomato plant varieties look. Brandywines have those wide, stately potato leaves. The Red Robins are curly and kind of ugly... in an endearing sort of way. The Supersweets are positively overwhelming with their complicated, veiny leaves. And the Genovese has a refined, lacy appearance.

I swear, I am completely in love with tomato plants.

Daydreams of 2009

2008-05-15T12:05:00.003-05:00

While waiting for my garden to start producing more than radishes to eat, I'm already daydreaming about what to plant next year. Especially since we plan to have one more 4x4 square foot garden. Exciting things on my very tentative list for 2009:

Pink Brandywine tomatoes, from the seeds of this year's plants.
Cherokee Purple tomatoes, because I've wanted to grow dark, mottled looking tomatoes for a long time.
Azoychka tomatoes, both yellow (yay for interesting tomatoes!) and an early producer.
The same Super Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes, for which I am saving seeds from the original package. They're not heirloom, but it's hard to beat their early, high production.
Oxheart carrots, if I run out of seeds for the Red Cored Chantenay I currently have, because I'm curious about these stocky looking roots.
Purple Haze carrots, because how fun is a purple carrot?!
Pineapple flavored Ground Cherries.
Three varieties of lettuce including Little Gem Romaine (because we're having so much success with it so far!), Black Seeded Simpson (because it's doing well and I'm hoping the extra seeds we have will still be good next year), and some sort of "heading" lettuce that I've not picked out yet. I don't think I'll plant the meclun green mix again, even though I still have tons of seeds, because they are the one thing in the garden that keeps getting eaten by bugs.
Both red and white onions of some sort, so I can make a beautiful onion braid to last us all winter!
Pumpkins and zucchini, if we make it through the rest of this year without seeing another squash bug. *shiver*

Lots more, but that's what I've been daydreaming of. I'll probably also experiment with potatoes and some sort of beans, and I do plan to do garlic over the winter.

Gosh, I've probably already over-filled the two garden beds with my imagination!

Mystery Solved & Photos

2008-05-14T11:35:00.001-05:00

An update on yesterday's onion mystery: they are indeed scallions, not bulbing onions. I'm slightly annoyed at the mislabeling, but I'm not too horribly let down since I enjoy green onions more than yellow. I was just so looking forward to making our own onion braid....

So I think I'll cheer myself up with a few beautiful pictures Chad recently took.

(A pink strawberry blossom.)

(Water drops on lettuce leaves. Some of the earliest lettuce we planted are pretty much ready for harvest, now!)

(The sugar snap peas getting a good hold on the trellis. These are also blooming!)

Friendly Crawlies & Onion Mysteries

2008-05-13T18:27:00.001-05:00

My my, it's been a little while since my last post! I must watch that.

I made an exciting discovery in the garden a little while back. I was completely horrified by these creepy crawlies that I'd never seen before:

I mean, really, how creepy looking is that thing??? I killed 3 or 4 before I thought, hmmmm, let's go google the description and find out what the heck these things are. It took forever, but I finally found out that they're ladybug nymphs! That's right, these ugly little suckers are baby ladybugs, which are excellent pest control for which many organic gardeners pay good money! So I called a truce, and I have been quite happy to share my patch of earth with these ugly little beasties. I've even seen a few full grown lady bugs around, so my garden is getting a little additional pest control until these babies turn into speckled aphid munching machines!

See? Not all creepy crawlies are bad.

The onions, in the meantime, keep me guessing. I've never grown onions before at all and I chose what I thought was supposed to be a globing onion (I got the set from the farmer's market and they're called "candy"), but they looked more like scallions when I purchased them and I'm not seeing globes when I push back the soil. I don't know. I do suspect the kids planted them too deep, so maybe the globes are way down there. I think I'll just dig one up tomorrow and see if there's a globe at all. I'll be a little let down if it turns out that they were merely mislabeled scallions, but I must admit that the tops do look particularly green and tasty!

First Strawberry

2008-05-02T10:42:00.001-05:00

We sampled the first of our strawberries the other day, and it tasted like absolute perfection.

I am convinced that there are few culinary pleasures as amazing as a organically grown strawberry so freshly picked that it still tastes of sunshine.

Organic is Easy

2008-04-30T03:02:00.003-05:00

Pssst. I have a secret.... Organic gardening is easy!

No, seriously! Especially for urban gardeners, with our smaller gardens to care for, going organic is pretty simple.

I believe the key is to relax and start with the basics. I mean, you're not a farmer, you're not required to comply with certification standards, and you don't have to become a specialist. Just start with the simple conviction that you will grow the most nutritious foods possible without using chemicals. This means swearing off:

Miracle Grow and other chemical fertilizers
Roundup and other weed killers
chemical insecticides

Replace them with:

compost
mulch and a little weed pulling
a spray bottle of soapy, garlicy water

Those three changes are probably the most essential steps in going organic, and I think the rest can be learned as you go. There's far too much to learn it all in one sitting, one season, or even one lifetime! Yes, you'll run across pests that are tougher than diluted dish soap, but you don't want to spray one of the harsher mixes until you really need to anyway (because they can kill off the beneficial bugs, too). And of course "100% organic" produce is grown from certified organic seed, but you're not a farmer at risk of losing your certification because you purchased some of your seeds from Home Depot.

It's also important to appreciate quality more than quantity. Your heirloom tomato plants might not start producing fruit the size of footballs the second you put them into the ground like some hybrids, but they will have exceptional nutrition and phenomenal flavor if you keep to organic growing methods.

Finally, be forgiving of yourself. If you lose a plant to an infestation of bugs, know that this happens to all gardeners, organic or not. Do some googling to learn how to prevent them next year and chalk it up to experience. Gardening leans heavily toward trial and error, after all, no matter how many books you've read.

Pictures from Yesterday

2008-04-27T07:53:00.005-05:00

I'm up early after an evening of cheap Pinot Noir. That always happens when I have a few too many glasses, but the nice thing about this morning's restlessness is that it was accompanied merely by a craving for Diet Dr. Pepper instead of by a headache.

So here I am with my giant cup of soda, thinking about what a nice day yesterday was. Chad captured much of it in pictures.

A few strawberries in the June-bearing basket are turning red, and this one looks soooo tempting.

I was enamored by our Red Lady Fern, which was nothing but a pot of curly little twigs when we first purchased her.

Chad started taking a closer look at some of the plants in the veggie garden, including the Little Gem Romain:

And the ruffly basil that lives between the Supersweet 100 and Genovese tomatoes:

As I tended the garden, I found that both the basil seeds and some type of grass or weed has sprouted around the tomatoes. I weeded the grass and put cardboard down on the areas where it was trying to grow and will look into buying some straw on the way out to my parents' house in the country later today. Straw makes a nice mulch for vegetable gardens..

Chad worked on part of one of the side flower beds, putting in our creeping phlox. It's a grassy, weedy bed that's had no preparation, but we couldn't really put weed block around a creeping plant we want to creep. So he brilliantly cut cardboard to fit the space, leaving holes for the still small phlox plants, which should kill off much of the weeds before it biodegrades and lets the phlox do it's thing. With some of my super cheap potting soil thrown on top, it's already looking a little prettier.

We then took a walk to the wine store and looked at all of the plants our neighbors have been putting in. These pink flowered bushes were one of my favorites just based on their solid color, and I simply must hunt some down once I learn what they're called:

Can anyone tell me what they are? Perhaps I can catch the owners outside sometime and ask them.

I'm also in love with this funky little tree, manipulated bonsai style:

I'm guessing it's related to a weeping cedar? Whatever it is, we saw a couple on our walk and I'm terribly fascinated.

Well, today should be lovely as well. Nice and cool, in the 60s. We're going to try and make it out to the arts festival for a bit, but I want to visit my parents and take them their tomato and strawberry plants. I'm really eager to see how the flower bed we planted out there is doing!

Storms & Picture Updates

2008-04-24T14:20:00.007-05:00

It stormed last evening, here in Oklahoma City, and it apparently took a toll on my lettuce.

One Little Gem Romaine was somehow totally separated from his roots (I checked under everything for cutworms just in case, but no sign) and two (on the upper right) are looking a little beat down. I guess I'll have to give them some shelter whenever the rain comes in from now on.

The onions have been growing like crazy, and they're sort of all over the place after last night's rain.

I walk out there and see those three squares and am just so impressed. I'm definitely going to need to pull a few young onions as "pearls" to even out the harvest a bit.

Our monstrously huge radish plants are overshadowing the still small cucumbers! We've harvested most of the really big ones around the left cucumber, but the right one is still hidden away. I'll clear the worst offending radish for tonight's salad and that should do it. The cucumbers should easily rise above the new crop of radishes I've been planting as we harvest.

All of the young tomato plants look fine.

Even the brandywine that I thought I'd lose is perking up and getting green again. I'm keeping the extra seedlings on hand in case he takes another turn for the worse, but I think he's almost out of the woods. If he keeps improving, then I'll just leave him alone and let him do his best.

And, just for good measure, here's the potted Sweet 100 looking pretty great. I love looking at healthy plants like this and knowing I raised it from one teeny tiny little seed.

2008-04-23T19:45:00.004-05:00

So I'm a day late on the "Earth Day" post, but then again, every single day should be Earth Day. That said...

I want to comment, first, on what a wonderfully green thing vegetable gardening is. After you've picked up or ordered your seeds and compost, your vegetables' carbon footprint is nearly complete. It's far more fuel efficient to transport seeds and a bag of compost than months worth of veggies that are shipped from out of town, if not out of country. Try to purchase as much of the rest of your food locally grown/raised (from your farmer's market or food coop) as possible and the earth will love you, indeed! If we all did this, both we and our the local farmers would breath a little easier.

I'd also like to say that I've never understood people who disbelieve our effect on climate change. Not because I think "they're wrong and we're right," but because there are so many ways we effect our environment other than climate change. All that gasoline burning results in unhealthy smog, chemicals disposed of improperly end up in drinking water, junk takes up space in land fills that must be topped off, plastic ends up in the oceans where sea animals choke on it, and on and on and on.

Whatever side of the climate change debate you're on and no matter who is "right," there's no escaping your responsibility to this planet and future generations.

Today's gardening activities:

2008-04-20T23:21:00.003-05:00

~Watered and weeded (three mushrooms) the garden and other plants.
~Went to Target for Dr. Pepper but left with basil seeds instead.
~Went to Lowe's with Chad and purchased one bag of cheap potting soil, one bag of seed starting medium (the last one!), two bags of eucalyptus mulch, a tray of creeping phlox, and an amazingly beautiful fuchsia.
~Potted the last of the two Red Robin tomato plants I'm giving to my parents.
~Planted basil seeds in a cute little tin container for the window sill and mixed herbs in another.
~Put basil seeds with all of the potted tomatoes I'm going to give away and between the two brandywine plants in the garden.
~Admired Chad's work as he weeded, put down weed guard in, mulched, and finished planting the side flower bed.

We're not sure where we'll end up putting the phlox now, but it was meant for one of the side flower beds in the back. The fuchsia will most likely live in the biggest ceramic pot on our front porch.

The brandywine whose stem broke twice before being transplanted isn't looking so hot. I have a slightly younger brandywine seedling to replace it if necessary, but I'm actually really annoyed that it picked the day before the garden's photo shoot to wimp out on me.... Uh huh, that's right, a photo shoot. I'm not giving too much away yet, but my garden and I may soon taste a small amount of local fame! So, I need to get to bed! I want to sweep the porch and spruce things up a bit in the morning.

Good night, everyone!

First Radish Harvest

2008-04-19T10:14:00.002-05:00

Yes indeed folks, we have our first mature radishes!

They're the White Icicle variety. And, uh, yeah, that's my round face and bad hair day in the background.

I immediately seeded the spots left empty by this harvest, but the first batch of radishes I planted will probably be the last nice big fat ones I see until summer is over. The one caution with radishes, which are so easy to grow, is that you don't want to leave them in the ground too long in the hot months of summer or their flavor changes and they can get spongy. Pay attention to the "days to harvest" on the seed packet and pick them as soon as they're a usable size at all when it's hot. You can start letting them grow big again in the fall.

Meanwhile, we were surprised to see one of these vibrant orange Dahlias rebloom in a deep, deep red:

Nature always has something up her sleeve.

Strawberry Pot Watering System from Soda Bottles!

2008-04-17T16:53:00.004-05:00

I absolutely hate my strawberry pot. It's difficult to plant and the water tends to just pour right out the side holes before reaching the lower soil. Lovely.

But seeing as I was up to my eyeballs in Alexandrias and Chad was so tickled by the idea of strawberries in a strawberry pot, I decided to give it a go again this year... with one adjustment.

You see, the lower plants never get any water if the water just pours out the sides. This seemed like something I could actually fix. A little googling revealed that some other gardeners drill holes in a length of PVC pipe, stick it in the pot, pour soil around it, and plant the strawberries. Very clever, verrry clever indeed...

But the only PVC pipe I had was too skinny and so ancient I was afraid it would leach scary chemicals into the soil and I really didn't want to go buy a new one and deal with drilling. So I decided to do one of my favorite things ever: reuse trash!

So, here's how to make a watering system for your strawberry plant....

1. Dig small coke bottles out of the recycling bin. How many you need depends on how tall your strawberry pot is. (Mine comes up to my knees and I used three bottles.) Rinse them, remove their labels, and cut off the bottoms. Be sure to keep one of the caps.

2. Now, you need to stick the bottles inside of each other, in a sort of daisy-chain way, to create a pipe effect. Tape them all together, sealing the seams well, with packaging tape. Please note that none of the "inside" bottles should have caps on!

3. Next step is to melt or drill holes in the bottles. With thin plastic like this, I'd vote for melting. Make sure you do this in a ventilated area. The basic steps are:

a. light a candle

b. hold a nail in the flame with a pair of pliers, not your bare hand

c. once hot, make holes by poking the nail into the plastic

You'll need to reheat the nail every now and then, but it makes for pretty quick work. (For illustrations on how to do this, see how I melted holes in the plastic caps for these recycled pots.)

4. Once you have a few holes in each of the bottles, put the cap on the one exposed bottle top and see how the system fits into the pot. As long as it's tall enough to come above the soil line, you're good! Trim the top bottle if it sticks way above the pot's lip.

5. Once ready to go, hold the bottle in place and dump in enough soil around it to reach the first set of holes. It should stand fairly sturdy as you now continue to plant each of your strawberry plants. (Note that you may want to stuff a cloth in the top while you pour in the soil, to avoid getting soil in the watering system.

My end result:

It works well, but I do wish now that I'd trimmed down the top bottle just for appearances. But all of the plants that looked healthy going into the pot look healthy after a couple weeks of living there. I'm pretty pleased with how evenly this seems so moisten the soil, and I think the plants are pretty happy about it too. The only drawback I can really think of is that all plastic (even PVC!!!) starts leaching chemicals as it ages. I'd probably replace the tower of bottles every year, which shouldn't be too tough once the pot is filled with roots.

Ripe Cherry Tomatoes!

2008-04-16T11:50:00.003-05:00

Behold! My first ripe tomatoes of 2008!

They're on one of my Red Robin plants, which are tiny enough to keep in hanging planters.

The other doesn't have any fruit at all yet, but it is finally covered in tiny little flowers!

Seriously, these plants are amazing. They aren't the prettiest tomato plant I've ever seen, with their curly leaves and tendency to slump right over, but they're producing blossoms and fruit despite getting no direct sun at all. They spent the winter months getting a little through a south window and have been hanging in total shade on my north-facing porch ever since. Pretty impressive, huh?

Oh, I also found two adorable small-leaved basils to pair with them in their pots. They're bushy, so they probably won't get too horribly ugly and leggy being in the shade. I <3 these little basils!

Last Frost (I Hope!) and Tomato Planting

2008-04-14T13:51:00.002-05:00

Oklahoma City's average "last frost" is listed somewhere between early and middle April (depending on what source you're using), and last night was just about at 32. We brought in many of the plants and covered the rest, including the garden.

Everything made it through the night without a problem. I'm not even totally sure it got to freezing at any point.

But the really wonderful thing is that I'm pretty sure that's the last night we have to worry about freezing temperatures at all. Before I'd even finished my coffee this morning, I was out in the garden planting the tomatoes! The results:

They look so tiny now that they're up to their necks in garden soil! It was sad to see them go from looking like impressive tomato plants to itty bitty seedlings again, but I'll appreciate myself for that later in the season though, when they're growing strong because of their deep, fabulous root systems. I'm really going to have to work at containing them in their cages, but at least the cages seem quite sturdy once all four have been tied together.

So, what tomato plants wound up in the garden?

Two Pink Brandywines:

One Supersweet 100:

One Genovese:

The Genovese is a new plant I purchased for 75 cents at the farmer's market this Saturday. The third Brandywine I was going to put in the garden is still clearly stunted from lack of water when it was a tiny seedling, so it's not likely to ever produce much. I'm keeping it in a small pot for a little while just incase anything happens to the other Brandywines, but he's pretty much out of the running now.

I also planted the other Supersweet 100 in one of my largest pots, added a purple basil (I always try to pair a basil with my tomato plants!), and set it just outside the back steps:

He looks positively dwarfed next to that full-grown basil! But it's all for the sake of a good root system, and soon he'll be the one doing the towering.

As for the hanging Red Robin tomato plants, one of them has two reddening tomatoes! I'll surely take photos and gloat as soon as they're ready to pick.

Mysterious Pictures...

2008-04-12T22:26:00.003-05:00

These pictures mysteriously manifested on my camera the other day.... the same day the camera mysteriously moved to Chad's office, oddly enough!

That's the nice thing about having a husband with a much better "eye" than I have: all the lovely pictures.

(Little Gem Romaine)

(Radishes)

(Radish Leaf)

(A crack in our back driveway, with a view of the ivy beneath our laundry room.)

(Flowers in the front bed.)

(The flower pot I brought home from my parents' house.)

(Trellis.)

He's also extremely practical to keep around. He constructed the raised bed box, rigged up a little "fence" out of window screens to keep the stray cats from doing their business in the garden, and built the trellis:

So, yeah. He's a keeper.

June-Bearing Strawberries

2008-04-11T12:10:00.002-05:00

Strawberry update!!!

I have a basket of June-bearers just outside my back door that is just a pleasure to watch. First of all, the older of the two plants in that basket is already growing strawberries!

The plant on the other side of the basket has been in it's sunny little home for only a day. You see, I'd decided I had more than enough strawberry plants with all those Alexandrias... but I'm still so drawn to them! So I stopped by the garden center at ~~hell~~ Wal-Mart while running an errand there yesterday and looked at all of their lovely strawberry plants. Some had berries already, but looked like they were in terrible shape. (Actually, just about everything was in bad shape there. I don't know if it was because they weren't sheltered in the recent storm or because it was Wal-Mart.) But next to those were beautiful, broad-leafed strawberry plants boasting a claim to pink blossoms, and all I could think about was how lovely that would look paired with the white-blossoming plant above.

I touched and sniffed and looked for interesting leaves. Then I picked up one plant and it seemed to tug right back, unwilling to leave its brothers and sisters. A little gentle investigation revealed that it had set out two runners into the separate pots of two other plants, so this was in fact three strawberry plants in one. At 88 cents a pot, how in the world could I pass up an experiment like this? I snatched it right up.

Once home, I snipped off the larger of the baby strawberry plants and put it in a pot. It already had a good start on its roots, you see, so it was time to take that work load off of the mother plant. The other one only had a few roots though, so I rigged up the set up you see below:

Basically, I potted the mother plant in her forever-home then dug a shallow indentation next to her so that I could pot the baby separately without cutting the runner it was attached to. I'll give it a few days to establish itself, then I'll "cut the cord" for the mother's sake.

That's the thing about runners. You end up with more plants, but the process takes a lot of energy from the mother plant. You have to cut the runners off if you want berries from the mother. If you don't want to sacrifice berry production in order to gain baby strawberry plants, then you want to cut the runners at first sight.

That said, you can also use this method to increase next year's berry yield significantly if you're in a warm environment or can otherwise over-winter the plants. Pinch off any blossoms as they appear, let those runners take root and grow a bit before cutting the cord, and then you'll have tons of plants for next year.

As for me, I'll stick with these two runners and snip anymore that show up. I really only got the June-bearers for instant gratification. Next year, I should be up to me ears in berries from the ever-bearers!

Flower Beds

2008-04-06T20:42:00.006-05:00

Gosh, what a wonderful day! I visited my parents, as I do on most Sundays, and it just so happened that my mother was making quite a project of the flower beds today. I drove into the driveway and saw two huge trays of flowers. One of Mexican heather, the other of vibrant orange dahlietta. It wasn't long before Mom and I were planting them between the rose bushes in the otherwise empty front flower bed, and then a large group of us (Mom, Dad, Grandpa, and Betty [grandpa's girlfriend], and I) tackled the bed in the back yard.

We learned someone else's lesson while prepping the back flower bed. If you're going to put down tons of river rock in your "flower bed" so you don't have to deal with planting anything, you really should put down landscaping fabric first if you ever want to grow anything there again.... or if you care at all about others who may wish to grow something there. It all just sinks into the ground. We raked out huge piles of rocks before we decided to just level it out, add topsoil, and just deal with what was left. After much debate as to how to best arrange the bed, we had all of the plants laid out. Mom and I armed ourselves with spades and small pots of compost and started digging holes. It was hell digging through that rocky soil! There's no way we could have gotten them all out by raking, so we were glad we'd decided to just deal with it spot by spot. We made sure every flower had some loose soil around it with minimal rock and a scoop of compost, and this is how we slowly populated the bed.

Mom kept thanking me, but I was absolutely loving it. Even digging through rocks wasn't so horrible once we saw the results. She then had me pot a small fern and two remaining dahliettas that she intended to put on the front porch, but she ended up sending it (along with one spare dahlietta) home with me as a thank-you. I felt a little bad, because I know she loves ferns, but she insisted and I have to admit that I really thought it was a lovely combination.

I arrived home to discover that Chad had erected the trellis for the garden (YAY!) and planted some bushy little perennials in the narrow bed on the west side of the house. I presented him with the spare dahlietta and he decided that he would also plant it, with some purple flowers we have, in that bed as well. He's doing such a great job with the beds! I'm going to take a ton of pictures when they really start taking off.

Next week, I'll take two Red Robin tomato plants and two strawberry plants to my parent's house. They didn't do a vegetable garden this year since they just moved to that house, and I know it'll cheer them up to have some cherry tomatoes and strawberries on the patio.

I also happened to snag all of the nursery pots... They were a pretty bright green and incredibly sturdy for "disposables," so I'm going to use them next year for my seedlings. No more ugly, flimsy pots!

Prehistoric Monsters Squash Bugs

2008-04-04T01:42:00.002-05:00

I confess.... I'm a little scared of squash bugs.

*shudder*

These ugly dudes totally destroyed my zucchini plant in 2005, positively laughing at my spray bottle of soapy water the whole time. I hated them. Hated them. And back then, I didn't even know what they were.

Now I know that they're one of the toughest garden pests to kill, even if you stoop to nasty chemicals. The answer is prevention and determination.

As one of the top rules of pest control is to never plant a crop you had trouble with in the same place the following year or two (the creepy crawlies could be hibernating!), I went the extreme route and swore off all cucurbits in 2006. In 2007, I ventured a cucumber plant on my front porch instead of out back. Now, I have two healthy looking cucumber seedlings in the garden out back. Cucumbers aren't the squash bug's #1 snack option, but I still view this as a bit of a test. Can I hold them off??? If so, I'll consider zucchini and pumpkins again next year.

And fortunately, many of the measures to be taken against squash bugs are also to be taken against cucumber beetles. My plan of action:

Protect them while they're young. I currently have soda pop cloches over the seedlings, and I'll see if I might be able to cover them with a hanging plastic sheet once the trellis is in.
Surround the cucumbers with plants the bugs dislike. There are already radishes sharing the same square feet as the cucumbers, and I'll grow a pot of marigolds or two to put just outside their section of the garden.
Be obsessive. Especially while they're young, I'll check under their leaves every day for anything that looks like a bug or an egg. Catch the scout and you may prevent the rest of the invasion.
Trap crop. If I do end up with the dreaded bugs, then I'll buy a squash plant and put it nearby. With any luck, those suckers will move on to what they view as greener pastures and I can hand pick (with gloves!) what's left.... and then they'll all go bye-bye into the trash bin.

Ugh! Really, they look like little prehistoric monsters! *shudder*

Garden Plan

2008-04-02T13:26:00.004-05:00

I thought it might be fun to share the layout plans for my Square Foot Garden. Everything you see below is already in the garden (most of them as tiny plants, a few still as seeds), except for the tomato plants. Those are, however, sitting out on the garden since they're pretty successfully hardened off. I only bring them in for bad weather and very cold nights, now.

Note that North is to the left side of the picture. This means that most of the sun will be coming from the right side. There will be a trellis on the east (top) side.

If you consider subsequent plantings, you can see that this mere 4x4 garden can produce a lot.

The only thing I'm skeptical about is keeping the tomatoes under control. I'm using 5 foot tall cages that I'll tie together for a little extra support (the cages will be really crammed together in the first place) and I'm going to have to train them to stay in the cages as best as I can. We plan on having another box next year, so I'll probably put them along the outside like I have the peas and cucumbers. This way, they can grow outward all they want. Alternatively, I might do a long, narrow SFG box just for the tomatoes.

In addition to the above garden layout, I'm also growing baskets and pots full of strawberries and already have two full-grown Red Robin Tomato plants hanging on the front porch. I will also most likely grow the spare cherry tomato seedling I have in a large pot on the front porch. These babies are Super Sweet 100s, so I'm really hoping to be overwhelmed by bowls a bowls of cherry tomatoes! Especially since Brandywines take a while to fruit and aren't known for being especially prolific.

Storms, Pictures, and Various Seedling Updates

2008-03-31T04:58:00.008-05:00

I've been up since the tornado sirens tonight, but nothing more than rain and lightening actually came close to our neighborhood. The entire time the sirens were going, though, all I could think about was the fact that I had opted to leave all of the seedlings outside for the night! Nooooo!!!

But no tornadoes for us, thank goodness. I think I may have heard some hail though, so I hope nothing got hurt.

In any case, I recently took pictures of some of the young garden plants, which are coming along rather nicely.

Onions:

The onions really are looking nice. It's so tempting to pull back the dirt and look for bulbs!

Little Gem Romaine lettuce:

They're all growing sets of true leaves, so it shouldn't be long before we actually have tiny little bunches of lettuce.

White Icicle Radish:

Most of them have true leaves now, and a couple of them are just huge! These were a very last-second addition to the garden, and I'm so pleased I decided to try them.

Sugar Snap Pea:

All four of the sugar snap peas are getting big and beautiful like this fellow. Look at the little tendrils seeking support! It's definitely time to put in the trellis... this week.

Cucumber plants are finally peeking over the soil, but don't look like much so far. I had to thin the carrots like mad, but they aren't very interesting looking plants yet. I'll post photos as soon as they're a little more visible.

Strawberries!

I've potted a few strawberries. A basket with two June-bearing varieties, a basket of Alexandrias, a basket of Alpines, and one single Alexandria sitting on the bottom back step (to see if the stray cats will leave strawberries alone before I risk them in large numbers). Most of them look wimpy so far, but the ones that have been in their pots for a while are getting stronger.

Emergency Tomato Transplants

I had a tomato transplanting emergency the other day. The seedlings were outside for hardening off (which is complete!) and the Oklahoma wind decided to pick up like mad once I was inside. It managed to crack one of the delicate brandywine seedlings right at the base. It was time to put them in more soil anyway, so I hurriedly repotted them all up to their necks and the cracked seedling is still looking healthy. Seriously, I would have stomped childishly if I'd lost it. I feel like I didn't start enough of the brandywines, and one already looks less healthy than the others.

Just about two more weeks until it's time to put them in the ground!

Flowers

As I've commented before, I'm more into edible gardening than flower gardening or landscaping. However, Chad and I have made quite a team on the porch and in the flower bed. He's put something like 20 purple annuals in the flower bed so it'll look nice and full while the perennials establish themselves, and I've started seeds in several pots on the porch. There are cheapie square planters on each step up to the porch with tiny Petite Marigold seedlings, and we got a little experimental by planting the marigolds in a ring around alyssum in two squat barrel-style planters on either side of the porch. Tiny seedlings in these, too. We'll take photos once they're more visible. I'm honestly not the biggest fan of Marigolds, but it's difficult to pass up 10 cent seed packets and they do make decent mosquito deterrents.

What I'd like to do next year, however, is to grow only edible flowers in pots, and maybe even a few in or around the vegetable garden. Decoration is nice, but I much prefer plants with more of a purpose.

Tips on Preserving Seeds

2008-03-26T10:19:00.004-05:00

Well, the thing about container and small-scale gardening is the shear number of seeds. If I get a packet of 1000 lettuce seeds and have room for only, say 20 heads of lettuce at a time, chances are that I'm not going to use use up all the seeds. So I save the leftovers for the next year, because I know that most varieties of seeds will last for at least two years (sometimes even 4 or 5) if properly stored.

Nope, you don't have to buy all new seeds every year!

But not all seeds will last two years (onion seeds aren't as likely to make it), and you also have to make sure you store them correctly. I personally put all of my seed packets in a large zip-lock baggie, throw in small handful of uncooked rice to absorb moisture, and put it in the refrigerator. Some people even opt for the freezer, while others simply put them up in a cool, dark cabinet. Whatever you decide on, the essential ingredients here are dark, dry, and cool.

The seeds that apparently didn't survive for me were the Tom Thumb Lettuce seeds. Nothing showing up in the garden and my attempts at sprouting them on damp paper (which also serves as a germination rate test of sorts) have done nothing. Desperate for the adorable little compact heads of lettuce, I may attempt to sow the entire packet of remaining seeds, but I believe I'll be relying on the Little Gem Romain (also purchased last year, but doing great!) and the mystery tube of mesclun mix a friend gave me.

But in general, I say you should always save extra seeds. You can always test germination rates (hmmm, I should do a post on how to test it!) when in doubt, so the worst that can happen is that you might end up buying again after all.

A Simple Gift

2008-03-22T21:58:00.004-05:00

Plants make great gifts. I'm taking this little strawberry plant to a birthday party tonight. It's one of the dozens I've grown from seed and I just spruced up an old pot with a scrap ribbon. Plant tags make a nice touch, and they don't have to be anything fancy, though crafty touches are much more impressive. In this case, I just printed it, cut it, and taped it to a craft stick. Voila! An inexpensive gift almost anyone can appreciate.

My, I'm Fried....

2008-03-22T20:25:00.003-05:00

I am just pooped.

Today, Chad and I went to two greenhouses in search of plants for the front flower bed. That bed is primarily Chad's project, so I followed and assisted as he picked out $70 worth of beautiful perennials. They look a bit dwarfed now that we've put them in the bed, but they're going to be amazing once they fill out. There's still space to put in annuals for this year, which we'll do since it takes plants a little time to really establish themselves and start to flourish in that clay-heavy soil. But if all of the plants we put in today last until next year, we should end up with a full bed.

Chad's soaking in the tub and I've just finished potting a strawberry plant as a gift to be given at a birthday party tonight. I must confess that I am terrible at gift follow through.... I still have gifts half-made on my sewing machine from Christmas. However, I happen to know that this friend has gotten very into veggie gardening this year. I found the most attractive Alexandria Strawberry plant in the seedling tray and potted it in a wee terracotta pot (big enough to hold about a cup full of soil) and tied a pretty burgundy ribbon around it. Wallah! A perfect gift for any gardener.

Ya Gotta Have Faith, Faith, Faith!

2008-03-21T13:18:00.005-05:00

There are two carrot seedlings in the garden!

I guess it's just the way things are for me this season. The second I give up on seeds and start over, that's when the first set of seeds will prove me wrong!

I don't think I'm gonna complain.

The First Day of Spring!

2008-03-20T12:15:00.004-05:00

It's a beautiful Spring Equinox! The light has finally returned and we will slowly see longer and longer days.

And early next month, it'll actually be time to start moving the indoor seedlings to the garden. *hop*hop*

You know, I used to be a Winter kinda girl... but gardening has changed me. I'm a Spring girl all the way, now!

Underachievers and Overachievers

2008-03-19T18:08:00.003-05:00

I am skeptical about the Tom Thumb Lettuce and the Carrots, as I've seen no signs of life from them so far. It may be time to soak the seeds until they have to sprout. Yes.... I think this is the new plan. I have so many seeds that I think it's well worth the try, even if it turns out I'm being paranoid.

Everything else is going as well as I could possibly hope for! I currently have something like two dozen strawberry seedlings getting their first taste of direct sunlight out on the front porch. Wheeee!

Seedling Pictures

2008-03-15T22:07:00.003-05:00

Radish Seedlings

Lovely!

Radish Seedling

I planted the radishes mainly to deter cucumber bugs, but now I'm just pleased at how beautiful the seedlings are!

Little Gem Lettuce

Chris apparently dropped a TON of lettuce seeds into each hole. :) No problem. I'll give them another day or two to see if there's a particularly strong looking individual and snip out the rest of them.

Sugar Snap Pea

Onion in a Soda Pop Cloche

Not a seedling, but I love this one that Chad took!

Seedlings, Seedlings!!!

2008-03-14T15:32:00.003-05:00

Oh me of little faith, the garden has seedlings today!!! Several radishes, a lettuce, and maybe a carrot. One of the sugar snap peas seems to be on it's way, as well!

Oh well, no problem. I had more seeds than I'd ever use before they went bad (and still do!). I still think some of the original seeds are too deep, so those squares will benefit from my shallow reseeding.

Chad has the camera at work, so I'm going to bug him to take photos when he gets home. He has a much better eye for photography than I do, anyway.

Follow Your Instincts

2008-03-13T13:34:00.003-05:00

Concerned about the single sugar snap pea starting to root and utter lack of seedlings, I decided to reseed the garden this afternoon.

Maybe the soil I like to use is a too heavy or something, but I've just always had better luck with putting seeds either right on the surface with a little soil sprinkled over them or poking a hole, dropping one in, and leaving that hole open. I think I may start following my instincts the first time around rather than following the depth instructions on the seed packets.

I've removed most of the two-liters from the onions so they're easier to water evenly, but they are at the ready for cold nights.

Repotting and Seedling Cleanup

2008-03-11T11:21:00.004-05:00

Phwew, yesterday was productive!

Re-potted Red Robin Tomato plants into hanging cone planters.
Watered and checked on garden. Onions are doing fabulously, but I see no growth from seeds yet.
Put baby tomato plants into some soil in a four-cell tray, as their little roots were starting to poke out of the peat pods.
Started "cat grass" in a left over plastic tray for the kitties.
Threw out dead seedlings (used their soil for re-potting!) & consolidated the living onto one large tray.

I realize now that the RR tomato plants are going to be a bitch to harden off, as they are extremely heavy in their hanging cones. I can handle it, but I'll be leaving them outside overnight the very second I think I can get away with it! I actually think Wednesday evening is supposed to stay as warm as the 50s, so that may be their first night out.

I think I have a plan for growing container tomatoes in the future. Once they're ready for a full-sized pot, I'm going to plant them deeply and with a few inches left at the top of the pot. This way, I can fill in more soil once they're larger and leggy. I think this'll work nicely.

Looking Forward to a Gardening Day

2008-03-09T21:56:00.004-05:00

I'm sooooo excited about tomorrow's gardening plans! Both of the Red Robin Tomato plants are super leggy, so I'm going to re-pot them into two lovely cone-shaped hanging baskets. We're due for a week of pleasant weather, so the porch will be their daytime home now. One has several green tomatoes, so I'll have to be extra careful with it.... but I really do think the transplant is necessary.

It's also time to start hardening off the wee baby tomato plants, so they'll be transported in and out for a while as well. It's nearly time to give them a little more soil, but it'll be a while before I'm confident about putting them in the garden itself.

Meanwhile, I have ungodly numbers of strawberry seedlings. The store-bought ones didn't fair so well, but the ones I grew from seed are fabulous little pretties. I need to see if I can hunt down some small, inexpensive pots so I can give a few of them away to friends once they're strong enough. I suppose it actually won't be long until it's time to harden these off, as well. They're just so lacy and delicate right now, I can hardly stand the idea of removing them from the environment that has them thriving so.

I need to remove the screens from the garden and see if any seedlings have started, as well. Once they're too tall to avoid getting crushed by the screen, I'm going to have to devise new ways to keep it from becoming the neighborhood litter box!

Creating Old Traditions for the Young

2008-03-09T20:26:00.009-05:00

Last weekend was such a heart-warming weekend, I don't know why I didn't post about it right away. We had Chad's nephews (9 and 11 years old) from Saturday morning through Sunday evening. As usual, we tried to make their time with us thoughtful, productive, and fun in ways that most kids don't get to have fun these days.

We picked them up late Saturday morning. We first visited their great grandmother at her house and then took them to see their grandmother in the hospital. Chad asked them questions and got them thinking about the body and the immune system.

Our next stop was the farmer's market. We absolutely love the farmer's market and had been wanting to share it with the boys for quite some time. We handed them canvas bags and and walked them around to our favorite tables. We bought some organic eggs and the seller showed them pictures of the mobile hen house while we talked about how her chickens, unlike most, get to walk around and scratch in the dirt like nature intended.

Our next purchase was a fresh honey comb. Chad asked the boys if they'd ever tried one before, to which they replied, "We've had Honeycomb Cereal!"

"Uh, no," Chad said. "It's absolutely nothing like the cereal."

The seller shook his head in pain and said, "That's just how kids are taught to think these days!" We told him that's why we'd brought them to the market and he smiled and said, "Good! They're young enough that you can still fix them!"

Then we made a b-line for the Christian Cheese table. They sampled several varieties before settling on Cowboy Cheddar and Basil and Sundried Tomato Cheddar.

Then I spotted shelves of small organic vegetable plants and remembered the sorry state of my onions. We gave the boys two dollars and asked them to buy me the best looking bunch of onion starters. They picked out a fine green pot full of them and the grower told them about his farm and nice dog who never bites before we were on our way home to drop off our findings.

We then met up with our friend David and his 8 year old daughter at the ~~Omniplex~~ Science Museum of Oklahoma for the controversial human body exhibit. The kids were very mature about it and it was all very fascinating. Overall, we were very happy to have made it. The rest of the evening involved a little omniplex exploration, dinner, and then board games.

Sunday morning, I dragged into the kitchen and it wasn't long before the boys were in there helping me make a breakfast of buttermilk pancakes, vegetarian sausage, and scrambled organic eggs (the ones they'd picked out at the market!). Not long after, we all put on long sleeves and got our hands dirty in the Square Foot Garden!

Here you get to see my completely constructed garden.

The grid is just a sort of twine, but it served our spacing purposes. You can see in the photo that I'm separating the onions and showing the boys how to plant one.

Once they got the idea, my job was merely to separate the onion roots, hand them the best looking ones, and guide them a bit in their placement.

Here we are learning about the grids that are meant to serve as a guide for plant placement.

The four of us then split up into pairs and planted almost all of the garden's seeds. I suspect there may have been a little much enthusiasm for poking holes deep into the soil though, so I may need to do a little reseeding if some of them don't grow. But over all, they did an excellent job!

We knew, however, that a chilly storm was on its way that night. Our final project was to dig through recycling for plastic bottles (which I'd been hording for this purpose) to cut and place over the onions.

Once we put screen over the seeded portions of the garden to deter cats from using it as a litter box, we felt everything was sufficiently protected and went inside to wash up, play games, and eat organic mac and cheese until it was time for them to go home.

I think they enjoyed getting dirty and starting things from seed. I'm going to send them photos as the plants grow and they'll help out in the garden whenever they're over here.

It's a wonderful thing, to share something like this with children. I remember gardening with my parents when I was very small, how the rows of corn towered over me and the little carrot tops tempted me.

I plan on raising my own children with their hands in the dirt.

Seedling Updates

2008-02-05T21:33:00.000-06:00

STRAWBERRIES

Most of the store-bought strawberry plants are doing nicely, though a couple are dying off. I suppose that's to be expected when separating 16 plants from one big clump of dry roots.

The home-grown-from-seed strawberries are still teeny tiny but looking healthy! Even a couple of the Alpine Strawberry Seeds are beginning to peek out from their peat pod. *insert girly squeal here* I think I transplanted them too early last year, so I'm going to let them grow and grow in their little green house peat pod chamber until they're just too big to leave in there.

LETTUCE

The four Tom Thumbs seem to be near the end of their baby leaf stage, but the Little Gems haven't even so much as poked a green finger above the surface. I put in a few more seeds today, but I suppose we may be seeing only one variety of lettuce in this season's garden. If that's the case, I'm glad it's the Tom Thumbs.

ONIONS

Some of the red onions are looking OK, some aren't. I started a few more seeds today. If these don't work out, I may stick with green onions (not yet started). I hope I get at least a few reds, though!

TOMATOES

They're beautiful little babies! I should see some true leaves any day now.

The full grown Red Robin Tomato plants are about to start blooming. I should probably transplant them into their deeper pots before that happens... They need a couple more inches of soil than I can add to their current pots.

CUCUMBERS

One is showing his face, just barely, but that's it. I want two cucumber plants, so I'll try a couple more seeds if neither of the other two show up by the weekend. I'm afraid I didn't baby these with peat or starting medium. I just put my regular old potting soil into a used 4 cell pack and added seeds. I'm a terrible cucumber mommy.

EVERYTHING ELSE

The radishes, carrots, green onions, and sugar snap peas will be sown right in the garden. If we get some good weather, I'm betting we'll place it, fill it, and sow some of it this weekend! :D

Soda Bottle Pots

2008-01-30T14:55:00.001-06:00

Time to raid the recycling bin!

This is a little trick I use when I don't have enough pots for relatively small plants. The single serving soda bottles are perfect for seedlings and the two-liters are great for something a little more substantial. Since my husband has a Diet Dr. Pepper addiction, I have a nearly endless supply of the two-liters....

Get a hold of your bottle, remove the label, and rinse it out. Now that it's clean, the first major step is to slice the bottle roughly in half. It'll take you a couple tries before you know just how deep you want each "half" to be. I usually cut mine just a bit below the half-way mark (as shown below), making the top part (which will hold the soil) as deep as possible. As long as the top half sits will in the bottom half, just go with whatever variation suits your purposes.

The most attractive way to cut the bottle in half is to pick your spot, turn it on it's side, and saw through it carefully. You'll need either a fine-toothed saw or a very large kitchen knife you don't care too much about. Another option, though a less attractive one, is to hack at the bottle with kitchen shears. That's what I did this time around, since these pots are temporary anyway. To get it started, you may need to pinch part of the bottle and snip it, then unpinch it and start cutting your way around.

Now you should have the makings of a soda bottle pot before you! If the top inverts into the bottom as you like, let's start thinking about drainage. Leaving the cap on won't allow any drainage at all, but taking it off will mean all of your soil washing into the bottom. The solution is to put some holes in the cap. If you have a drill handy, use that. If you don't, then here's what I do when I don't feel like digging out the drill for small jobs. Take a nail and hold the end of it in a flame with a pair of pliers for about 15 or 20 seconds. The blue part of the flame is the hottest, so aim for that.

Now, still using the pliers, quickly but carefully press the tip of the hot nail through the cap as shown below. If your nail is hot enough, it should melt right through with just a little pressure. Three holes should do it, but you'll need to reheat the nail between each hole. Please make sure you're in a well ventilated area so you're not breathing chemicals from the melting plastic.

Put that cap back on the bottle, invert the top into the bottom, fill with soil, and plant! This one is pretty ugly. It was a rush job, just to get the baby strawberry plant into some soil. You can cut it much more nicely and even decorate it if the pot will be used long-term.

When you're done with the pot, please don't forget to recycle it!!!

In Over My Head with the Strawberries?

2008-01-29T23:16:00.000-06:00

Terribly excited about my ~~six~~ eight teensy little Alexandria strawberry seedlings, I got to thinking about how nice it would be to also have a couple June-bearing strawberry plants. They're more likely to be plentiful the first season, after all. I also wanted to make the one dollar investment of buying a packet of radish seeds (white icicles!) to help protect our cucumbers from evil, evil cucumber bugs. So, off to Home Depot I went.

And I came back home with sixteen baby strawberry plants!

OK, in my defense, it's terribly difficult to buy strawberry starter plants in smaller than 10-packs. And, damn it, their fuzzy little leaves were peaking out of the top of their box, what could I do, I ask you??? Leave them there? No! I had to give those babies a good home!

So now I have a cut-away cardboard box containing a motley collection of small "recycled" pots with tiny strawberry plants in the backroom.

11 of them will go into the strawberry pot once we rig up a "deep watering" system, because water poured into the top of my strawberry pot loves to just gush right out of the side holes.
2 of them are already snug in their pot, hanging in front of a window.
2 of them will probably be repotted into pretty pots for the front porch.
1 might end up in the sunny corner of our front flower bed.

The best part about this, honestly, is that I won't be completely broken hearted if the strawberries-from-seed don't produce (or even survive!). But what I want is pots overflowing with strawberries all around our house! Strawberries, strawberries, strawberries!

It's become an obsession....

Babies!!!!!!

2008-01-29T11:09:00.000-06:00

There are six, count them, six baby strawberry plants on my windowsill! They are weeeeee leetle things with nothing but their two little baby leaves so far, but they are definitely seedlings! And they've only been in peat for about two and a half days!

I must not get my hopes up.... I must not get my hopes up....

I swear, I feel like I have as much emotionally riding on these little strawberry plants as I do on my upcoming job interview.

Keep your fingers crossed for me! One set for the strawberries, the other for my Thursday job interview!

Think Outside the Box

2008-01-28T18:36:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite feelings is keeping something out of the landfill. It's for this reason that our recycling bin is at the curb every week but one of our trash bins only once every two weeks, that there are toilet paper rolls cut in half in my gardening supplies, and that my latest favorite recipe makes use of stale tortilla chips.

It is also for this reason that I had boxes and bags marked "thrift store" in the back room, and why I was pulling out our old wedding favors (from almost a year ago) and adding them to the collection.

In went the unopened silk petals, in went the tin rings, in went the....

Say, these little silver bells are perfect to scare produce-pecking birds away! They're shiny, light enough to move in the Oklahoma wind, and they're sturdy enough to use over and over!

Not to mention, they're adorable and will make a pleasant little tinkling sound in the breeze. Bonus!

Better Than Disney Land!

2008-01-27T17:27:00.000-06:00

As it was a lovely afternoon, off to Lowe's we went!

Acquired:
~Cheap wood to build the frame of our little square foot garden.
~Electrical conduit piping to serve as the outer frame of our trellis.
~A windowsill peat pellet tray for strawberry seedlings. (I just couldn't resist its compact convenience! I'll reuse it until its only possible purpose is to take up room in the recycling bin.)
~6 foot tall bamboo sticks to help support the brandywine tomato plants.

My current plan for the tomato supports is to use both my short wire tomato cages and to create a sort of bamboo tripod around it to accommodate the extra height and weight. Chad has serious doubts about the strength of the relatively thin bamboo, but I think it'll work OK if we keep the plants down to just two or three major central vines.

If this weather keeps up, I may start digging into the garden this week.

Seedlings, seedlings, seedlings!

2008-01-27T17:18:00.000-06:00

About a third of the sprouted onion seeds are peeking out of the newspaper pots, the Tom Thumb lettuce has begun to poke out of their peat pellets (but not the Red Gem lettuce, so far), the Alexandria strawberries sprouted beautifully in their damp take-out box and have been moved to peat pellets (I've also put several Alpine Strawberry seeds on pellets), and I'm still waiting anxiously to see the first tomato seedling.

I've decided I'm a fan of sprouting seeds before putting them in any kind of soil. You have to watch cautiously for signs of that annoying fuzzy white mold, though.

Onion Sprouts and Newspaper Pots

2008-01-22T20:44:00.001-06:00

A few days ago, I decided to start some onion seeds....

I sprouted them in this plastic take-out tray. I cut a piece of paper bag to fit the bottom, sprayed it until it soaked up the water, and sprinkled onion seeds in. Once the top is snapped shut, it stays nice and moist. I kept them near a sunny window to stay warm. And tonight, they were ready to go.

A close-up:

Time to put them into some soil! It's far too cold out even for cool-weather crops, though. Newspaper pots to the rescue! After a little trial and error, here's how I made them....

You'll need black and white newspaper, a soda can, a tray or small tub, a spray bottle, and potting soil.

Cut or tear black and white newspaper into single pages and then into into quarters.

Take one of those quarters and make any adjustments to size that would be appropriate for your purposes. I folded one edge over, as shown below, to make them shorter and more uniform.

Now, wrap the paper around a soda can, letting a couple inches extend beyond the top of the can. It should overlap itself. Notice that I have put my fold on the bottom, which lets the ragged end extend beyond the can.

Now we're going to form the bottom of the pot. At the overlap, fold the paper over the top of the can.

Fold it a second time, leaving just a point of paper.

Fold that final point down. Voila! You've just formed a biodegradable seedling pot!

But it's not going to stay together all by itself. I found that it helped to spritz the folds of the pot bottom as well as the edge of the overlap.

Place them all in the tray or tub. They should be somewhat snug, so that they will help each other hold their forms, but not crushed together. Voila!!! Your very own biodegradable seedling pots for FREE!

They held their forms quite nicely once they were all nested and filled with soil. Here I am making indentations for my onion seeds.

I put in the 16 healthiest looking sprouted seeds, covered them, gently misted the soil with the spray bottle until it looked nicely moist on top, then poured water into the tub itself to allow the pots to soak it up. I'll primarily water them by misting heavily, since I didn't set up the tub to allow the pots to drain. (You could do so by putting a layer of rocks beneath them.)

I put plastic wrap over it to hold in the moisture and keep out the cats, and I'll make room for it in the sunny laundry room tomorrow.

Once ready to plant, I can just plop the pots in the ground and the paper will biodegrade and become part of the soil. If you make these, keep in mind that they aren't as sturdy and peat pots. You may want to double the thickness if you're concerned about them falling apart when you lift them out, but I plan on lifting them out with a kitchen spatula while holding them with my other hand. Once plopped in the ground, I want them to fall apart as quickly as possible.

One other note: I'd avoid color newspaper. I've read in more than one source that you shouldn't compost newspaper with colored ink if the compost is going into a vegetable garden, so I'd venture to guess that you should keep those colored inks out of your garden entirely.

Early Garden Prep and Wee Little Plants

2008-01-15T15:40:00.001-06:00

I decided it would be easier to dig up the future garden if we first kill off the grass where it's going to go. So I measured and cut two cardboard boxes to fit the 4x4 area.

We have yet to chop up and haul out the fallen limbs from the last ice storm, so I had to have Chad come out and help me move this one out of the way.

Now we have some room! I laid out the cardboard, remeasured, and weighted it down with ceramic pots. The advantage of using the cardboard instead of landscaping fabric (which we do have) is that it's totally biodegradable. Provided there are a few rains or snows between now and then, we should be able to just start digging through and around the cardboard, turning it under the soil. No pins to pull up and no waste fabric to throw in the land fill!

And as it's such a nice day, I also decided to bring my Red Robin tomato plants out for some light sun. It's their first trip outside though, so I had to make sure to give them some partial shade and will return them to their window after about an hour. One of these little guys will become a porch plant and the other will be placed in the garden, so it's good for them to harden off a little before we have to go through the entire process after the last frost.

They may not look it, but these two plants are almost at full height. I staked them on twigs (from the fallen limbs) today, and that's probably all they'll ever need. I accidentally broke off a little branch from this plant in the process, which made me feel absolutely terrible for the poor wee thing!

I started these little guys way-back-when. It's my hope that they'll provide us with some early cherry tomatoes to tide us over until the garden starts producing.

The Most Expensive "Inexpensive" Garden Ever

2008-01-14T21:24:00.000-06:00

I went on a planning trip to Low's today. I coveted the seed starting supplies, but resolved to use up the peat pellets I have left then to fill sliced paper towel rolls and newspaper pots with good potting soil.

I love, love, love the cute little peat pots, but it's so silly to pay money for new supplies while throwing perfectly usable materials in the trash and recycling bin.

I then took a trip to the greenhouse area to write down prices for the soil ingredients. I did find vermiculite before employees shooed me out so they could start stocking the greenhouse, and I was amazed to find that it was cheaper than the perlite! I snagged one bag and brought it home where my husband did some math in his head, a talent I lack. The vermiculite alone would cost over $30 for one 4x4 Square Foot Garden.

Oh my stars!

At best, I think it would end up costing something like $50 to fill the box with Mel's Mix. Peat moss is fairly cheap when you buy a huge hunk of it and compost isn't too bad, but the vermiculite or perlite is just killer! But the pre-mixed soil I normally buy is already peat moss, mushroom compost, and perlite, so our plans are now to use that and supplement it with a little vermiculite and another variety of compost. I also suspect we don't have to use as much soil since we're digging down before building up.

Sorry Mel, but I just can't justify coughing up $50 for your fancy mix when I can come up with a similar soil for more like to $15 and less labor. Maybe some day, when I'm a rich writer (haha!) instead of an unemployed educator, I'll give it a try and see if it's really all that much better.

2008-01-13T16:26:00.000-06:00

Maybe I lost (actually, quit) my job, but I've gained time to plan my garden!

My husband and are modifying the Square Foot Gardening method. The two major differences will be that we will dig into the soil beneath the ground, because plants might as well be able to spread their roots if they are fortunate enough to be in the ground instead of a container, and we will most likely use perlite instead of the far more expensive vermiculite when mixing the soil. After all, who knows when I'll find another decent paying job?

Square Foot Gardening (SFG) seems ideal for suburban gardeners and urban gardeners fortunate enough to have a small patch of land. When I made a plan for my little garden (I'll only be doing one 4x4 box), I was really pretty impressed at how many plants I should be able to squeeze in there! A smaller version of "the box" could be put to use on patios and porches, as well. Hell, simply using his spacing method for regular pots on your porch makes sense.

Current plans for spring and summer crops: Cucumbers, three varieties of tomatoes, sugar snap peas, two varieties of lettuce, carrots, red onions, and green onions. There's currently one square foot that hasn't been planned at all, so I may think of something else or simply fill it with more lettuce.

Fall crops will surely involve more lettuce and carrots, but I also want to give garlic a try.

In the porch department, I'm very determined to grow some Alexandra strawberries. I will use every seed I have left to increase my odds!

Recommitment & Winter Tomatoes

2007-12-03T11:46:00.000-06:00

I started on this blog and let it fall to the side. But my journal-style blog has also fallen to the side, partly because I'm not comfortable with online "journaling" anymore. But I love blogging, so I think I'm going to start putting some energy into this one.

I'll begin by commenting on my indoor winter tomatoes. None of my cherry tomato cuttings survived, but I have two young Red Robin tomato plants (from seed) just flourishing in my laundry room! I think the secret was the bottle cloches I used. They clearly hold in more moisture (great for those of us who forget to water!) and provide a little extra protection against the cold rolling off the window panes. If nothing else, the cloches certainly kept the plants safe from my devious little kitty!

One has outgrown the two-litter cloche though, so we will soon see how it fairs without extra shelter.

Depression Affects Plants Too!

2007-08-09T21:55:00.000-05:00

You know that silly commercial about depression? "Where does depression hurt? Everywhere. Who does depression hurt? Everyone." Yeah, well, the latter includes plants, too.

I know things are weighing on me when the garden starts to look a bit droopy.... I even lost a wee baby cucumber to the great I-don't-wanna-have-to-do-anything-when-I-get-home-from-work drought of 2007.

Seeing my friend's mint plant looking sadder than a weeping willow, however, got me off the couch. I might be a bum at home after working extended hours, but I am not a bad plantsitter, damn it!

The Anticipation....

2007-07-30T20:43:00.000-05:00

Oh, the anticipation of garden produce!

A cluster of cherry tomatoes are turning red, and our salad bowls are calling out for them! The yellow pear tomatoes tease me with their increasingly plump bottoms, but there's nary a blotch of yellow just yet. Two tomatoes have finally begun to grow on the better bush. Not much bigger than cherry tomatoes at this point, but their unusually wide middles and slight pumpkin shape hint at their fat destiny. I only wish that plant were doing as well as the others. I want baskets full of love-apples! I want to have some to eat like fruit, some to slice up for salads and sandwiches, some to pluck green and fry....

The cucumbers are more of a mystery. Four growing, one of which is about 4 inches long. I had to do research on the variety because it struck me that I had no clue when to pick them. Are they small pickling cucumbers? Obscenely huge slicing cucumbers? As it turns out, they are fairly standard and grow to about 8 inches.

It's just so hard to tell with things like cucumbers. Tomatoes are loud, garish, and proud. Their bold color tells you exactly when they are ready to be picked. Cucumbers, on the other hand, are shy and introverted. They extend no invitations from behind their broad, parasol-like foliage, no clear indication of how much larger it might grow. The gardener must play the guessing game.... Do I pick now and beat furry little poachers to prize, or will another day or two of patience win me the reward of another couple of inches?

If only cucumbers were as straight forward and open as tomatoes. But then, they wouldn't be cucumbers anymore.... No. I'd miss their quiet mystery and charm.

Winter Plans in July

2007-07-05T23:42:00.001-05:00

Though it's time to focus on tending our summer vegetables, it's also time to think about fall and winter. You don't need a greenhouse for this, as long as you have a sunny room.

My own plans include two varieties of baby lettuce, a very small tomato plant (and probably a cutting from one of my current tomato plants), and Alexandria strawberry plants. We won't actually get to eat the strawberries over winter, but we'll have nice strong plants by next season. My hope is that this ever-bearing plant will start developing fruit early in the spring.

I went ahead and put the tomato and strawberry seeds in peat pellets I had lying around from two or three years ago. Probably not an organic option considering several internet sources refer to an added "minor fertilizer charge," but I think using them up instead of buying seed starter mix and trays is worth dealing with this "mild charge."

And tomorrow, I plant lettuce seeds! Squeeeee!

These will all be houseplants. Even the lettuce, which is going in plastic dish tubs (with holes drilled in the bottom) from the Dollar Tree. I'll probably leave them out in the sun until the nights start turning cold, but then they'll live in our south-facing laundry room.

Sowing the Seed

2007-07-05T10:25:00.000-05:00

Hello, world! I'm your ever so dedicated urban garden hoe, Elizabeth. Welcome to my brand new gardening blog!

Who am I? Oh, such a deep question! We'll just dip our toes in the pool for now. I'm 27 years old and newly married. I live in Oklahoma City where I work in academia all week and play geeky games with my friends all weekend.... when I'm not cooing over my container garden. I'm over-educated, over-liberated, over-stressed, and slightly over-fed.

What sort of gardening do I do? Though I do have a decent amount of yard and a flower bed, containers are far more convenient for me at the moment. My primary interest is edibles. I have a vegetable garden on the patio and scattered pots of herbs in the house. I still enjoy flowers and such, but you'll run across less of that on this blog.

Why create a blog about urban gardening? Aside from the fact that I'm looking for people who won't get sick of hearing me obsess about my cherry tomatoes, urban gardening is a growing trend that I want to support! Taking even just a few minutes to tend your plants each day can provide a little relief from the stress of our latte-grande-fueled lives. It's also a way to bring us out of the pesticide-infested produce section of the local Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. Take that $5 you were going to spend on a few bland chemically grown tomatoes and buy a container, seed packet, and bag of potting soil. Dedicate a little time to it and wallah! You'll be fully stocked with the best tomatoes you've ever eaten! Forget the 100 Mile Diet, we're reaping the benefits of the 100 foot diet! I want this blog to be a meeting place for fellow urban gardeners and inspiration for the curious, because this is a lifestyle more than worth sharing.