45 Salads/Thinning Lettuce in a Container

My Buttercrunch lettuce was getting crowded so I thinned it to about 5 inches apart like the seed packet suggested.

Unfortunately, this didn't leave me very much lettuce.  I could only fit eight little seedlings in my container.  I hated to harvest the little ones this early so I looked around my yard for some space.  And there was room right by the front steps.  Lots of room - enough for 37 seedlings!  This means that we will soon be eating 45 salads.

Creatures of the Night

If you have a problem with an unidentified insect eating your vegetable plants, it may be a good idea to do a little investigation.  Every morning, upon examining my garden, I noticed large holes in the leaves of my Japanese eggplant and my basil.  So, I took a flashlight and went out there after dark to find the mysterious predator.  As you can see, these earwigs were not too hard to find and didn't seem concerned that their midnight meal was being watched under a spotlight.  They just calmly kept munching on the tasty eggplant leaves, making large holes, and destroying the plant.  Now, multiple sources have told me that earwigs do not eat green plants.  Hmmm... I think they're wrong.

Origami Peas

When the pea seeds sprouted and came up through the dirt, they emerged with their leaves perfectly folded.  As they started to grow, they opened up into intricately designed origami patterns.  It's not a Japanese crane, but maybe a peacock?

The carrots have finally come up also.  They are very fine, but if you look closely you'll see them.  These seedlings took much longer than the others that I planted.

580 Pounds of Rocks

We've been working on a garden project over the last few days.  The front bed needed some attention. 

As you can see there were plenty of weeds.  We found out that our infestation is a bad one called horsetail.  It has long underground roots and pulling it out just encourages it to grow bigger, stronger, and more aggressive... or so I've read on the internet.

But, we pulled it out anyway.

Then we put some rocks along the edge of the bed to prevent all our topsoil from washing away.  Here's the Before and After.  Now we just need some flowers.  I'm going for a cottage look eventually.  We have another problem with a half-dead Rose of Sharon tree, and some half-dead spirea shrubs.  

Wild Turkeys on the Lawn

I was sitting out on the deck this evening with my computer, looking up vegetable gardening tips, when I glanced up for a second and saw this...a wild mother turkey with two little turkey babies.  In my backyard!  Yes, we do have a few trees in the yard, and there is an empty lot nearby that is very natural, but wow!  Apparently, wild turkey in Michigan have been increasing in number over the years after a successful reintroduction program.  They had disappeared from the state due to over-hunting and habitat loss in the early 1900s.  Now they are showing up more often in backyards and suburban areas.  They also have exceptional hearing and eyesight, and can run 15-18 mph, and fly up to 55 mph!  However, when they saw me they just started walking a tiny bit faster toward the empty lot.  I hope to see them again soon!

Support for a Container Garden - Cages and Teepees

I am using a few different supports for my containers.  The first one is called the Ultomato tomato support and I am using it for three of my tomatoes - Brandywine, Sungold, and Husky Cherry Red.  The stakes are 5 ft tall and have adjustable side clips.  Once placed in the pot they offer about 4 ft of growing space.  

The second support is a teepee made of five 6 ft stakes.  I planted the peas in this pot and they should have almost 5 ft of climbing room.  

The third support is a regular tomato cage.  It is a heavy duty 54 inch cage, but I trimmed the legs down in order to make it fit into the pot.  I am using these cages for my patio and better bush tomatoes, both eggplants, and my yellow bell pepper.  

And the last support is a decorative metal spiral support for the cucumber.  It is 41 inches tall.

I used the largest tomato cages that I could find for my pots because they are made of thicker wire and seem much more sturdy.  But they were also much too tall for a container, so I cut the ends with a bolt cutter.  The bottom ring is now resting on the soil which also adds stability.  Now I'm ready for those tomatoes to really grow!  High winds and thunderstorms should not be a problem!  (If you do this, be careful with the bolt cutter because the metal pieces really fly off once they are cut -  I just closed my eyes and turned my head out of the way.  Some people may not agree, but I've noticed that the elements of excitement, danger and high adventure are definitely present in gardening!)

To make the teepee for my peas I fastened the stakes together at the top with a black zip-tie.

Here you can see most of the containers, and how it all looks together.

Seedling Update

Lettuce!

Radish!

Pot Toes

Pot toes are these small plastic pieces that can be placed under containers.  They protect your deck (or any surface) from water damage that can occur.  In the past at the end of the season, I've found multiple dark brown rings staining the deck from my containers, so I decided to try these little gadgets this year.  Another function they have, which is very important, is to help the pots drain excess water out the bottom holes.  I don't want any root rot this summer!  I also like how they are pretty unobtrusive and don't interfere with my design.

Marigold "Special Forces"

An operation to deter the movement of aphids and other insect pests into my backyard territory began with the planting of French marigolds.  These strong smelling flowers are supposed to prevent pests from attacking tomatoes, eggplant, and other crops.  Although it is difficult to find really accurate information as to whether this is truly beneficial, marigolds have been used as companion plants to vegetables throughout history.  The stronger smelling varieties are said to work the best, and it seems that they should be planted quite liberally throughout the garden.  I decided to add a few to my pots in the hopes that I won't get aphids.  Plus, they look so cheerful and cute mixed in with my vegetables!  I planted Safari Yellow and Safari Mix which are varieties of French Dwarf Marigolds.  They are also on the short side (8-10" tall) which will work better in a container.

Can't Resist Buying Lettuce

There are so many varieties to choose from...

I found a good selection of lettuce here:

And there was more lettuce here:

Soon we will see lettuce here!

Garden Log #1

Before planting any vegetables I recorded the amount of sun on my deck over the course of one day.  I watched the sun from 9:00 am - 6:00 pm and made a picture each hour of the location of direct sun, part sun, and shade.  Then I added up the hours of direct sun.  The numbers below list the hours of direct sun for the corresponding location on the deck.

Here is a record of everything I planted:

1. Sungold tomato
2. Brandywine tomato
3. Better Bush tomato
4. Patio tomato
5. Husky Cherry Red tomato
6. Dusky eggplant
7. Japanese Long eggplant
8. Boston Pickling cucumber
9. Yellow Bell sweet pepper
10. Cayenne hot pepper
11. Chili Red hot pepper
12. Little Gem lettuce (Seeds)
13. Buttercrunch lettuce (Seeds)
14. Black Seeded Simpson lettuce (Seeds)
15. Silvia lettuce (Seeds)
16. Mesclun Mix lettuce (Seeds)
17. Baby's Leaf Hyprid spinach (Seeds)
18. Short 'n Sweet carrot (Seeds)
19. Burpee's A#1 Hybrid carrot (Seeds)
20. Petite 'n Sweet carrot (Seeds)
21. Rudolf radish (Seeds)
22. Pink Beauty radish (Seeds)
23. Dark Seeded Early Perfection peas (Seeds)
24. Everbearing strawberry
25. Sweet Basil (6 plants)
26. Greek Basil
27. Basil Siam Queen
28. Kentucky Colonel Spearmint
29. Parsley
30. Apple Mint
31. Nasturtium - Tip Top Mix
32. Lemon Thyme
33. Chives
34. Oregano
35. Rosemary

I measured the amount of potting mix that would fit into each container.  My container types and sizes are as follows:

• One 24 gallon fiberglass container (24" diameter x 22 " tall)
  
• Six 13 gallon fiberglass containers (20" diameter x 17" tall)
  
• Three 8 gallon wood containers (19" diameter x 12.5" tall)
  
• Five 7 gallon terra cotta containers (17.5" diameter x 14" tall)
  
• Three 5 gallon plastic windowbox containers (8" deep  x 35" long  x 7" tall)
  
• One 4 gallon terra cotta container (15" diameter x 12" tall)
  
• One 4 gallon terra cotta strawberry pot (9.5" diameter x 16" tall)
  
• One 2 gallon ceramic container (11.5" diameter x 13.5" tall)

Here is what I planted in each container:

• 24 gallon - peas
  
• 13 gallon - sungold tomato, brandywine tomato, husky cherry red tomato, cucumber, carrots, radish
  
• 8 gallon - sweet basil (6 plants), chili red pepper, herb assortment (rosemary, thyme, siam queen basil, oregano, nasurtium, chives)
• 7 gallon - dusky eggplant, Japanese long eggplant, cayenne pepper, yellow bell pepper, better bush tomato
• 5 gallon - all the lettuce varieties
• 4 gallon - patio tomato
• 2 gallon - mint and parsley

In each pot I used Miracle-Gro Potting Mix which contains the following ingredients:

• Forest products compost
• Canadian sphagnum peat moss
• Perlite
• Wetting Agent
• Slow release fertilizer (Nitrogen .21%, Phosphate .07 %, Potash .14%)

Planting Dates:

• June 6, 2009 - mesclun, spinach (seeds); patio tomato, better bush tomato, brandywine tomato, cayenne pepper, chili red pepper
  
• June 14, 2009 - strawberry
  
• June 15, 2009 -  herbs, yellow bell pepper, dusky eggplant, cucumber, husky cherry red tomato
  
• June 16, 2009 - peas, carrots, radish, all lettuce except mesclun (all seeds); sungold tomato, Japanese eggplant 

Plant Location (Hours of Direct Sun):

• 7 hours - sungold tomato, brandywine tomato, husky cherry tomato, better bush tomato, cayenne pepper, Japanese eggplant, basil, herbs, strawberry
  
• 6.5 hours - cucumber, yellow bell pepper
• 6 hours - patio tomato, peas, parsley, mint
  
• 5.5 hours - chili red pepper
• 5 hours - dusky eggplant, carrots, silvia lettuce, black seeded simpson lettuce
  
• 4 hours - radish
  
• 3.5 hours - buttercrunch lettuce
• 3 hours - little gem lettuce

Gardening in our Nation's Capitol

I came upon an interesting method of gardening last month on a trip to Washington D.C.  Take a look:

Here we are outside the Smithsonian Castle where the gardeners are at work on a sunny spring morning.

Apparently those purple flowers just aren't right for the site.

And those tulips should go too.

The end result: is it better?  Well, the soil looks very fertile and of excellent quality.  But, I really liked those cute purple flowers - they were in full bloom and looked rather perfect.  I wasn't the only tourist watching and wondering about our nation's gardening methods.  Would you do this in your garden?

I never found out what they eventually planted here since my plane was leaving...

Drowning Herbs

My parsley pot is very unhappy after the huge downpour today.  We have a flood warning in effect.  Maybe tomorrow it will bounce back and be its old sprightly self.  There's a mint plant in the pot too.

Tasty Snack

Somebody enjoyed a big eggplant leaf salad last night.  I'm suspecting the earwigs that I've seen scurrying around.  

Clipping Basil and a Country Greenhouse

Today it was already time to clip the tops off the basil and oregano so they don't go to seed.  The taste of the basil leaves will be compromised once the flowers emerge, so I need to stay on top of this.
Then I needed a couple more things and I ended up here - quite by surprise.  I was also driving on a lot of gravel roads.  I'm getting in touch with my inner farmer, I think.  I even listened to one country song on the radio.

Well, Gramma didn't have what I was looking for in her greenhouse so I moved on.  I eventually found it - more sweet basil and a sungold cherry tomato.  Not to mention the Japanese eggplant.  It was a good day.

Is the Garden in Yet?

Almost.  The vegetables that I had from the garden center are all planted.  Tomorrow I'll put in the seeds.  Then I'm sure I'll need to take another trip to the garden center - there may be room to squeeze in one more cherry tomato plant.  And maybe an eggplant?  The time consuming part of a container garden seems to be the transporting of the potting mix.  It's quite heavy to bring from the car, around the house, and up the stairs to the deck.  Then the soil has to be scooped into the pots until the bag is light enough to pour.  I may have to think of a different plan next year to save my back. 
Here's the lineup of pots.  Tomorrow I'll give all the details about what is actually planted.

Here are the herbs, the strawberries that you already saw, and in the background will be the English peas climbing up the teepee.  There's a chili pepper there too.


Spring container vegetable gardening has its challenges - time to relax!  

One Strawberry Pot, two tiny strawberries

I planted Everbearing Strawberry plants into this 4 gallon strawberry pot in the hopes of having a few berries on my cereal each morning.  This strawberry plant is a perennial that is supposed to produce all summer.  Strawberry pots are designed to be planted mostly at the top.   Then the plant's runners travel down to the openings in the pot, where they form a new plant that sprouts out the side.  Conveniently, the berries hang right out there just waiting to be picked.  I decided to help the pot out a little, since I'm getting a late start this spring.  I bought three 4-packs from the garden center and put some of the plants in the upper holes, and 4 little plants in the very top.  I'll let the bottom holes fill in by themselves.  Maybe these plants will last the winter and next year I'll have early spring strawberries.

First Salad?

Mesclun Gourmet Greens Mix planted in half of a large pot with a  tomato plant on 6/6/09.  The seed packet says 7-10 days to germination and mine came up in 3 days.

Baby's Leaf Hybrid Spinach planted in the other half of the tomato pot on the same date.  It says 7-14 days for seedlings and mine came up in 6.

I planted these seeds at dusk on a very chilly evening after returning from the store.  The seed packet is promising me 30 days to harvest for the spinach and 40 days for the lettuce, so each day counts!  I'll be planting more lettuce soon - probably at certain intervals over the summer to guarantee fresh, green, delicious salads all season.