Earthly Garden

The Plant: What’s the proper plant for a container garden? Fortunately, anything goes. Trees, shrubs, flowers, vegetables, herbs, vines-just about anything can grow well in a proper container. Some plants do best in full, hot sun. Others thrive in the shade. Be sure to pick plants to match where you want to place your containers and to group similar plants together. Sun or shade? You have got to know this before you do any plant selecting. Also consider a plant’s rate of growth: Try to avoid mixing slow-growing and aggressive plants. When choosing plants for your container, be creative. Consider a bamboo plant or Japanese maple for the patio (but, be ready to bring it indoors come winter). For color through the seasons, pair early season plants with those that thrive into the summer and fall. With vegetables, for instance, plant lettuce or spinach around the outside of the pot and a tomato plant or green beans on a trellis or tripod in the middle. For flowers, combine early bloomers with late bloomers.

The Pot: If you plan to keep you containers out over the winter, choose your containers wisely. Glazed pottery and concrete are popular choices. Those made of resign plastic and wood are also good options; check for labeling that says its frost-proof. For portability, look for containers on wheels or small, decorative potholders on wheels. More important than the materials, however, is the size. If the pot’s too small, it stresses the pant and there isn’t enough room for the roots. Always go larger than you are thinking. Additionally, drainage holes in the bottom of your containers are imperative. Drainage holes are the secret in all successful planters… There should be drainage holes drilled in the bottom of each container. This allows airflow and drainage for the roots. If the container does not have holes drilled in the bottom, it is wise to plant the plant inside a plastic pot and drop the plastic container inside the ‘attractive’ container.

The Soil: When it comes to soil, the old saying that you get what you pay for is very true, especially with containers. All potting soil is not the same. If you pay $2 for a bag, don’t expect the plants to be responsive. Pay $7 or $8 a bag, and the plants will perform 100 percent better. The best potting soil should be bark-or peat-based and combined with worm castings, mycorrhizae fungi and beneficial soil microbes, at the very least. Additionally, potting soil is designed to help retain water and should not be combined with clay ground soil. When combined, the soil will not drain well, causing plants to rot very quickly. (BHG 08)

Good morning!

Yesterday I talked about container gardening and how many different things can be used as containers. Today let’s talk about caring for container gardens. The first thing to remember is that plants in containers dry out much faster than those in the ground, so they need to be watered more often. Choosing plastic rather than clay pots will help, but you’ll still need to water frequently-maybe even as much as once a day! When you do water, be sure to do so early in the day so that the leaves will have a chance to dry completely. When foliage is allowed to sit wet alll night it encourages fungal diseases such as powdery mildew. If your pots have saucers attached, make sure to detach them after watering or rainy weather so that the pot will drain correctly. A side affect from all this watering is that your plants will need to be fertilized regularly as well.(Frequent watering washes nutrients from the soil rather quickly). Choose a good liquid fertilizer(powders and sticks don’t feed evenly or completely), and follow the directions.

Make sure the containers you choose will be large enough for a fully grown plant. This is especially important when growing veggies in containers. Rootbound plants produce smaller and lesser fruit. If you’re growing cukes,tomatoes,or beans, you’ll want to make sure you plants are staked securely to keep them upright and protect the veggies as they grow. If you have problems with insects, use an insecticidal soap such as Safers or make your own by adding a teaspoon each of dishwashing soap and cooking oil to a spray bottle of lukewarm water. Shake well and spray. If you decide to buy a commercial one, read the lables VERY VERY carefully and AVOID any insecticide with the word “Systemic” on it. If you use a systemic on your veggies, you will literally make them poisonous-they work by being taken up into the plant itself. That way, any bug that tries to suck juices from it will die. The same thing will happen if you, your pets, or the local wildlife eat anything from the plant!

Container gardening is easy and fun, and it allows even city dwellers to take part in the joys of growing things!

Gardening Pic of the Day:

container gardening,caring for vegetables in containers, tomatoes,cucumbers,beans,gardening,insecticidal soap

container gardening, caring for vegetables in containers, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, gardening, insecticidal soap

Good Morning!
Even if you live in the city, you can grow vegetables! Veggies will grow anywhere provided they have lots of sun, and many do just fine in containers, including tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce. Suitable containers can be found at the garden center or home improvement stores of course, but there are other places to find great planters as well. Try a bakery, deli, or grocery store-most will be happy to give away their empty 5 gallon food pails. Another great idea is to simply plant them right into a bag of potting soil or in a large plastic trash bag. The only things you need to keep in mind when chosing a container is drainage and size. Without good drainage your plants wil die from root rot.
Tommorrow, more about growing vegetables in containers!

Gardening Pic of the Day:

container gardening, vegetables,vegetable gardening, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce

container gardening, vegetables, vegetable gardening, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce

Good Morning!

I bet a lot of you are like me-a person with a passion for gardening who lives in the concrete jungle known as the city. Well, don’t despair! Even apartment dwellers can take part in the joys of gardening. It doesn’t take much space-all you need is a balcony or a sunny window. These days, the selection of plants suitable for containers and small spaces keeps growing. You can grow houseplants, flowers, herbs, and yes even vegetables! Is that balcony or windowsill just not enough? Want more? Get involved with your local community garden! There are thousands throughout the country, and they provide not only your very own garden plot, but a chance to meet and make friends with other urban gardeners and even the opportunity to give back to your community. Many community gardens donate a portion of their crops to local food pantries and soup kitchens. So don’t let living in the city discourage you from enjoying your green thumb!

Have any questions about gardening? Send them to me at susan.macneil@451press.net and I’ll answer them in a future post!

Gardening Pic of the Day:

gardening, urban gardening, city gardeners,community gardens,apartment gardens

gardening, urban gardening, city gardeners, community gardens, apartment gardens

Good Morning!
I ran across a really interesting article in Scientific American about Urban Gardening. It seems that in Singapore, where the majority of the population live in government built high rises, “apartment gardens” are all the rage. Since owning a house is not something that is an option for most people there, apartment gardens are their way of having a little slice of paradise. Apartment gardens have become so popular and have so many benefits that the government has begun encouraging them! You can read more about Singapore’s apartment gardens here.

Gardening Pic of the Day:

gardening, gardens, apartment gardens, singapore

gardening, gardens, apartment gardens, singapore

Mornin’ earthly gardeners,

Saturday was cold and windy, so I had a chance to poke around online. I found this nice introductory video about planting in containers. They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, right? Well, I say a video’s worth a million words!

Here’s the direct link to the video. CLICK HERE. It’s short and loads fast and has links to several other related videos.

I like planting in containers because I can be creative with my garden. You don’t have to use the same ol’ same ol’ terra cotta pots. Here’s an old iron cauldron that we bought from a roadside junk dealer. I’ve planted catnip, elephant’s ears and a variety of small bulbs in it. It sits right by the front porch and is green year round!

I’m feeling a trip to the garden center coming on. How about you?

dig it!

bobbi c.
Copyright ©2007 bobbi a. chukran.

planting in containers, container gardening, garden video, how to plant in containers video

Mornin’ earthly gardeners! I thought I’d share a photo of my little Mexican lime tree with you. A friend says it’s the same as the “key lime.” Last year it bloomed off and on all spring and summer, and actually made a handful of fruit. What fun! It sits on a semi-shaded porch, and was doing great until we got a lot of ice last winter. I thought it was dead, but it’s not–it’s coming back! I’m always amazed at the rejuvenation power of plants.

It’s been raining profusely here off and on for the past week or so, and the garden is waterlogged. I’m really anxious to get these seedlings out of the office and into the ground. They aren’t quite ready, but I figure IF the sun comes out, they’ll catch up eventually. That’s the hope, anyway.

I hope some of you others are closer to spring. I haven’t heard the weather reports from other parts of the country in a few days, but I expect some of you are still chillin’. Now is the time to pore over those garden seed catalogs (if you still do the paper thang) or sit and browse through all the online garden seed suppliers.

If you haven’t started seedlings yet, there’s still time. My new idea is to set out a few at a time, spaced a few days apart. I don’t really have room for all these seedlings, so some will have to go into containers. Speaking of containers, the tomatoes in the EarthBox are doing fabulously, as are the two remaining tomato plants out in the raised beds.

Next week, I’ll talk about using raised beds in your garden, and tell you how you can build an easy, fast, almost instant garden anywhere! Really! So until then, do a Google for “small raised bed gardens” and get some ideas. And have a good weekend…

Until then, dig it!

bobbi c.
Copyright ©2007 Bobbi A. Chukran. All rights to photos and text reserved.

raised bed gardening, rain, tomatoes, small space gardens, easy gardens

Mornin’ gardeners!

I mentioned a while back that I had bought an EarthBox for my birthday. I finally got around to setting it up last weekend, and so far, I’m very happy with it. The EarthBox is an ingenious system that’s sort of a hybrid hydroponic/soil-based system, that allows you to grow flowers, herbs or vegetables anywhere. These are especially good for folks who don’t have a real garden….people who grow things on balconies, patios, decks, places where the soil is bad or non-existent, etc. It’s basically a large, self-watering container garden.

I got the terra cotta colored one (it also comes in dark green), and it fits in well with the other clay pots and objects in my garden. The idea behind the EarthBox is that you fill the bottom with water, insert a screen thing, then fill the rest with any potting soil. I used two bags of organic potting soil I found at the local garden center. You add a line of organic fertilizer (provided with the box) along the top of the box, put on a plastic “mulch” over the top, then cut holes in that and plant. The plastic fits over the top snugly like a shower cap, with elastic around the edges. The fertilizer will last all season; you don’t have to add more until after the harvest.

After a while, you do have to add water (through a convenient pipe that sticks out the top) but there’s an overflow hole so you never over-water. That’s always a problem with tomatoes. We had a hard, driving rainstorm, and the whole thing, including plastic mulch top, is still intact. I have mine sitting out in the front garden by the porch. It has casters on the bottom so you can roll it around easily. I wish I could put it up on the wooden porch, but that area just doesn’t get enough sun.

The two plants I put in the EarthBox last weekend already look better than the two I planted out into the garden several weeks ago.

It’s raining now, but eventually I’ll get some photos and include them here. I love experimenting with new garden “systems” and am curious to see how this works for us. The EarthBox website has more information, and a great forum there for folks who use these in all sorts of situations.

The only thing I didn’t like about the EarthBox was the fact that I had to stick my hands through the holes in the plastic mulch to plant the tomatoes. I would much rather plant, then add the mulch over the top, but I see why that wouldn’t work so well unless you were very careful. Also, I used large plants….using smaller seedlings is recommended, and would be much easier to deal with, too.

Some online users have expressed dismay at the customer service when ordering directly from the company. I bought my box at a local garden center, so that wasn’t a problem for me. I would suggest calling or e-mailing the company to make sure the boxes are in stock before ordering.

There are lots of links online to alternatives to the EarthBox. Just do a search for “self-watering containers” and you should find plenty of information and ideas.

dig it!

bobbi c.
Copyright©2007 Bobbi A. Chukran. All rights reserved.

EarthBox, self-watering container, gardening in containers, hydroponic system, container gardening

Yesterday, Stephanie asked me if I had any suggestions for growing veggies in pots. As a matter of fact, I just got a new packet of lettuce seeds that are great for growing in pots and small containers. Specifically, the seeds are for Garden Babies Butterhead Container Lettuce, and are available from Renee’s Garden seeds. The Baby Butterhead lettuces are a new variety, originally developed for the Japanese luxury salad market, where flavor and quality are very important.
Here’s a specific link to more info. about the lettuce.

I potted up some seed into small peat pots, and they sprouted within a week. Once they get larger, I’ll put them outside in a semi-shady spot in a small pot. They don’t get huge, and supposedly are bolt resistant, which means they can take a little heat, unlike a lot of other lettuces.

Other than these specific lettuces, there are lots of veggies you can grow in containers. Cherry tomatoes, bush beans, bush cucumbers, miniature eggplants, etc. Most large seed catalogs have a section specifically for the smaller plants. Just remember, if they’re in pots, they’ll dry out faster. You might want to put one pot inside another, that will help with the watering because the inner pot won’t get so hot. Water them daily, keep an eye on them for insects, feed them with a good organic fertilizer such as liquid seaweed (my fav) or fish emulsion, and harvest when the veggies are young and small.

Enjoy, and dig it!

bobbi c.
All text and images here (other than photos provided by others) is Copyright ©2005-2007 by Bobbi A. Chukran. All rights reserved.

growing vegetables in pots, cherry tomatoes, Renee’s Garden, vegetable and flower seeds, liquid seaweed organic fertilizer, fish emulsion

I stooped over one of my raised garden beds on Saturday morning and planted at least 70 very teeny little scallion onion babies. I haven’t planted onions in years, because, as we all know, they are so cheap in the stores. But when we started buying organic onions, the price went up. Well worth the extra cost, I thought, especially given the problems that some restaurants have had lately with scallions.

I had already planted a bunch of onion bulbs in a pot inside, and in a larger tub outside, but wanted some of the long thin onions to use on salads, stir frys, etc.

After planting the first 25 or so, I got the hang of it, and started using my finger to poke just the right sized hole in the soil. I would poke, put the onion in, pinch the soil around the neck of the onion, poke, put in, pinch, etc. It became a meditative Zen thing, and while doing that I managed to turn off the Critic for a while, and actually got a few ideas for short stories, maybe even a short play. Amazing how that works–the garden has always been a source of inspiration for me in so many ways.

Onions are simple, take care of themselves, and can be harvested in a short period of time. You can find scallion starts in garden centers, hardware stores, some grocery stores and even at Wal-mart in their garden section.

It’s much warmer here the last few days, spring can’t be far behind!

dig it!

bobbi c.

scallions, raised bed gardening, onions

Mornin’ all!

I picked up the current issue of Mother Earth News magazine the other day, and this particular issue is chock full of great articles. It includes a great article about how to grow tomatoes all year long, how to grow cherries and asparagus, and an especially important feature on “Real Food…Why Growing Your Own is Best.” Pick it up on the newstand, check it out in a library, or subscribe. I find it a valuable resource for organic gardening and general DIY projects.

Thanks to Susan from my Writing the West writing group for her tip about using a heat mat. She says that she uses one in CO when starting tomato and basil seedlings, and that the extra heat underneath the plants makes for a stronger root system. Thanks, Susan, I’m going to add a heat mat to my “things I have to have” list!

Speaking of things I have to have, I finally bought an Earthbox this weekend. I’m looking forward to using it and testing it here in my garden. An Earthbox is a container gardening system, self-watering and highly efficient.

Dig it!

bobbi c.

Mother Earth News, garden magazine, Writing the West, Earthbox, container gardening, self-watering plant container