Calling all gardeners-Container vegetable Garden Advice welcome
Moms View Message Board: Arts, Crafts, Gardening and Ideas: Calling all gardeners-Container vegetable Garden Advice welcome
The organic soil, pulverized lime, melon, eggplant, squash and green bean seeds have been purchased as well as the tomato, broccili, strawberry and herb seedling plants - even a small tomato cage - I guess I'm committed. My little guy wants to try watermelons and pumpkins. I also would like to try the upside down planter. Someone I know did cherry and beefsteak tomatoes in one and cukes and peppers in the other.
Containers on our deck which get a lot of sun is my first choice. I can also bring them in quickly if the weather gets frosty again (always a possibility where I live). An actual raised bed on the ground with a fence is possible but we get everything from, deer, rabbits and ground hogs to foxes and even seagulls. Someone suggested soap bars on sticks as a deterrent for the deer,
If you did containers what did you feed your plants. How deep were your pots? What else helped????? If you did a raised bed what did you do to prepare the soil and keep the critters away?
I don't think I can be of much help with this one. I so don't have a green thumb. I do the easiest thing, which are cress seeds indoors. We top our egg salad sandwiches with them.
This year, I want to try a tomato plant. I actually got a free one at an Earth Day festival which just happened to be at the theater where we took the boys to see Ferdinand the Bull.
But I digress. We have a fairly large pot for the tomato which I will be transferring soon, I use soil that has moisture control (retains moisture so plants don't dry out), thumbs up on the cage, and just be prepared for worms on your tomatoes. At the nursery, they just said to pick the worms off. The worms look like a thick caterpillar. The only thing that I could think of that would look similar is a tobacco horn worm (I worked on them in a lab).
My mom did a lot of gardening and she would just follow the directions on the seed packet. I don't think she ever fed them anything, but then she didn't do a container garden. Maybe someone at the garden center could help you figure out what to feed them?
Let us know how things turn out!
Thanks for the worm heads-up and the other ideas. I saw an organic insecticide (now there's a misnomer) - maybe I'll invest. When you grow your watercress indoors, do you use a grow light?
Nope, no grow light. I just set them on the counter somewhere, wherever we have space. The cress seeds are actually already sprouting and we just set them out on Sunday night. I think they are also known as alfalfa sprouts.
I had fun one year growing tomatos in a large 5 gallon bucket. I grew the little grape tomatos and ate them. It was so much fun. I felt like turning my apartment into a farm that year.
We did tomatos outside too. We got a few before the squirrels and birds got them.
Did you use any insecticide/pesticide? I would love to do this organically but I'm pretty inexperienced in the chemical vs. natural insect warfare area.
Well I have my first baby tomato - now what?
No insecticide! I know the guy who cuts the lawn insists on putting stuff on our lawn but I would go near the stuff!
Congratulations! So much fun!
We have some bamboo that I love. You put it in water and just change the water every two weeks.
The perfect plant. No dirt spilling and grows quick. I think it is very pretty too in a plain way. You can cut it and make more bamboo sticks too.
Feonad,
I love the way bamboo grows. I did kill one once because we went away and I forgot to put it in a larger water container. I also used to do it with philodendren and ivy in my office - just water and food no soil. They loved the flourescent office light.
I think I've already killed the marjoram herb plant. Not enough water in direct sun but everything else has survived - so far.
Enchens,
Sprouts - its been years since I did sprouts. I used to do mung beans. Are the alfalfa as easy as the mung beans. I eat a lot of salads and a lot of stir fry vegetables so sprouts in all forms are great.
Yes, the sprouts are very easy to grow and they grow quite fast. Only, don't use a sponge to put the seeds on. Use cotton balls. I had to toss the sprouts the other day because I noticed they were getting moldy. I guess with the sponge, things were staying too wet.
The last time we grew them, I remember they did well with the cotton balls. Also, they were a little bit peppery. Gave the sandwiches just a slight kick. Yummy.
Will you try to grow some?
Congratulations on the tomato!
I think I might try the sprouts. At least you can eat them.
Maybe organic cotton balls?
I ordered a automatic sprouter and some food grade hydrogen peroxide.
Can't wait to start growing my sprouts.
Hopefully I can keep up with the automatic sprouter requirements. I will report back if I have any sucess with it.
What's an automatic sprouter? What is the hydrogen peroxide supposed to do? I'm nervous. Am I doing something wrong?
I haven't redone the sprouts yet. The boys have shown no interest yet. I might try them next week when they are not so busy.
Hi,
You guys are my veggie heroes, but high tech sprouts may be beyond me. However my little veggie seedlings are helpless in the face of wildlife that love them. Any suggestions of low tech solutions, things to plant with them to keep away creatures of all kinds and varieties. Open to suggestions -very open minded. Just want to reduce all pests to keep my little veggies from being eaten.
Veggie Challenged in the North Country,
Linda
What kind of critters are eating your veggies?
Deer? Rabbits? Squirrels?
Yes, Yes - no squirrels(we're in a field near a lake without nearby trees). Also fox, moles and other little burrowers, racoon. Someone suggested marigolds will help so I am going to plant those on the perimeter - other suggestions welcome.
I tried the automatic sprouter. You change the water once a day. It is a automatic contraption that automatically waters the sprouts from above.
You put the water in the barrel and it pumps the water over the sprouts.
You have to change the water once a day.
It isn't too big. It is about 15 inches round. You can put two crops going at once if you want on top of each other. I put it on my microwave in the kitchen by the sink.
I think you can skip a day at the end of the cycle if you want if you use the food grade hydrogen peroxide, but you don't need it.
I am hoping to add more nutrition in my diet with these fresh raw sprouts.
The machine made the sprouts - start to sprout in 12 hours.
You don't need to soak the sprouts.
I am not sure how to get the hulls off.
There is also alittle cup I got that is a automatic sprouter too. It was 12 buck at amazon but I haven't tested it yet. That one you rince once a day. It looks like a quart and it has a basket with holes in it. You rinse once a day and kept them it the quart in the basket with the holes with a lid with holes on it.
That one you rinse once a day too. I haven't tried that one either. It is good for storing the sprouts too in the refrigerator.
I didn't think I would rinse three times a day so I got the automatic sprouter so I wouldn't get mold.
How do you get the hulls off.
I really don't know what I am doing. My son wants to use the machine to sprout his seeds. Got to watch him.
http://www.amazon.com/CREATIVE-BATH-PRODUCTS-FL2000-Automatic/dp/B001DZAAJM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1242901528&sr=8-1
There is the sprouter if anyone want to look at.
This is the low price one. I have to finish test this one. You only rinse once a day. You have to soak the seeds first. This looks like you can make alot of sprouts too. 1 quart!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EJ11X2/ref=ox_ya_oh_product
There you go. In the low priced one you shake it good while you are rinsing it to loosen the hulls.
Only gelatinous seeds like chia and cress and very tiny seeds like teff require a different sprouting method. That is for the low priced sprouter.
I think John put some plastic covering on it. Didn't help though. They still ate all the tomatos.
John says put a fence around it. Chicken wire.
I saw something cute. Alittle herb garden in one planter. I don't have the energy to do it though. Plus I don't think I will use the herbs.
http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/microgreens.html#anchor.desc.microgreens
look growing microgreens without soil!
http://www.freshlifesprouter.com/news.asp?ID=45
Looks like you can do micro greens too in the sprouter.... I have to research that.
I wonder if I can grow like lettuce or something it it. That is what I was thinking when they said micro greens.....
http://www.amazon.com/Thompson-Morgan-Microgreens-Growing-Seeds/dp/B001PNLT06/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1242907747&sr=8-2
This looks like fun but I don't have the room for it.
micro green growing kit for indoors.
Home depot has the chicken wire I think.
http://simplegreenliving.com/gardening/beyond-sprouting-an-illustrated-guide-to-micro-greens-salad/
growing micro greens
http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/greens.html
more about growing greens without soil.
I just ate some of the sprouts from the electric sprouter.
They were 2.5 days old and still sprouting.
They are delicious. Very nutty and fresh.
I took some out and rinsed them well and ate them.
I took some out of the sprouter machine and didn't rinse them and just popped them in my mouth. Those tasted like they needed rinsing.
Thanks Enchens! So much fun. Didn't think I would like the sprout taste as much as I did!
So my accuppunturist said he used the aero garden for herbs, but he said the taste wasn't great because there is no soil.
I am going to go look at them now.
Feona,
I love the idea of the microgreens garden and the aero garden. Can't believe this sprout machine magic you've discovered.
If I succeed this summer I may try hydroponic gardening this fall, winter, spring - maybe even a sprout machine. I love the idea of a perpetual indoor vegetable garden while it freezes outside.
In the meantime my vegetable garden is now involving neighbors, church friends etc. What fun!!! People are actually contributing their special plants to my garden. Did I mention I've moved out of containers and have a plot 8x8 - above ground. I have a lot to do before i'm fully planted but I'm on my way. Reminds me of community gardening in NYC and Boston, which I used to LOVE!!!!!
Meanwhile I hope I actually produce veggies here in my version of God's country. I have this fear that I'm the only one whose plants won't produce. Who knew - garden jitters.
Some of this has to do with the weather - In 3 days we have gone from below freezing to 92 today as I was picking up the kids. We've also had bright sunshine, gale force winds and rain. Plants must be confused.
I think you need the chicken wire. How do people keep the animals and birds from eatting the food?
Good Luck!
You are so right!!!!!
Love what I'm learning about natural ways to get rid of everything from rabbits and moles to aphids, slugs and worms that eat cauliflower and broccilli.
The best suggestion for the mammals was from a local elderly woman who has been feeding her family for decades off her garden. She goes to the dollar store buys a bunch of black pepper and sprinkles it on her garden (refreshes after every rain storm). She says it keeps away all furry creatures from rabbits to fox. They just don't like the pepper. A community garden in Rhode Island does the same thing with a spray of hot pepper, garlic and bar soap.
We got deer netting and are reinforcing the bottom 4 feet with chicken wire to assist the black pepper. The slugs drink beer. The others we're still working on.
I need to get a stock of lady bugs. They evidently help with the bug issue.
Forgot to mention that someone I know actually plants the marigolds that i was putting on the perimeter with the tomatoes. Says really helps with the tomato bugs so mine are going in between the tomato plants.
We bought the lady bugs one year for fun. You have to put them out at night I think else they fly off or the birds eat them right away because the bugs are refrigeratored.
The pepper from the dollar store sounds like the best deal!
I think John put them out alittle early in the day when we did it.
The lady bugs we had I think did fly off.
Thanks,
I'll have to check into the time of release.
I've graduated from container gardening!!!! I actually have over 100 plants in the ground.....
I'm going to have to replant but i have loved these sites on gardening by the square foot and charts for how much to grow of each thing for a family of four.
This is such a great community builder even in a rural area. I've traded plants and been given gifts of herbs, vegetables, strawberries -its been fun. Also everyone has something to teach me.
This week I learned how to take leaves off of tomatoes so they grow more and how to keep root crops in the ground and harvest them throughout the winter - AWESOME. Can't wait to pull a fresh beet or carrot out of the ground mid winter.
Are people still sprouting sprouts? Also anyone no how to keep soil cool for broccilli etc.?
Not over here. My boys haven't shown a secondary interest yet. I'm hoping they do. I could really go for an egg salad sandwich with our homegrown sprouts! lol
I have CHERRY TOMATOES - so do the birds, but I had enough to bring in a salad for a family church dinner as my first dish from my garden. I actually have had some strawberries and quite a number of baby peppers and other kinds of tomatoes. Thanks everyone - can use more suggestions on midseason crop maintenance. We seem to have eternal rain which can cause blight and there are those birds - we're like the JFK flock landing field for all the bird species traveling to Canada.
To shoo away the birds from our fruit trees, I remember my mom used to randomly hang tin plates from some of the branches. The tin plates were the ones we would get from the individual frozen pot pies or from store bought pies. (We went through a phase. lol)
I had trouble with squirrels taking our loquats. Picked them early so that we could have some for ourselves. Of course the squirrels inside the house (aka boys) didn't even leave me a taste. LoL
Right. I remember we did hot peppers very well in Brooklyn. I guess the birds don't like hot peppers. (they were little and I froze them for chili.)
We did the strawberries. The birds and the squirrels really liked those. There is some trick to strawberries... Something to make them come back for 5 years....
Feonad,
Thats great feedback.
Hot pepper is recommended as an organic deterrent for gardens. Also a neighbor just offered me strawberry runners from his sweetest strawberries this spring to plant now for next year - so if you can remember the strawberry thing?????
Enchens the man down the road just hung up his frozen entree tin plates - thanks for helping me understand why - recycling at its best.
Been feeding the birds the best seed I can find to distract them - seems to help.
Gardening up north,
Linda
Well its Fall! It was April when took my first steps to make my gardening vision a reality. First year of gardening adventure in the North Country almost over. I learned so much and it was a lot of work! You guys made great suggestions and I used just about all of them. Despite rain and no sun, we did get lots of tomatoes, a few cukes, green peppers, many different herbs, zucchinis and some wax green beans.
Anyone else do a vegetable garden this summer? How did it go?
Nope, no vegetable garden. I don't have space for it. That's something I'm not used to! I'm from a small town where agriculture is abundant. Now I live in a city, a small one but it's still a city. I'll have to figure out a way to do a container garden.
It's so awesome that you were able to get quite a bit of foods! Will you be gardening next year?
I think I will, but I'd like to start a lot earlier. I'd also use mostly containers and large green house grown seedlings. You have a lot more control over the results in the containers. Even things like zucchini, green peppers, green beans thrived in containers on my deck. Up here a lot of people just hang buckets with tomatoes and get bumper crops. If you can, give it a try for it next year. I got such a kick out of having fresh herbs etc, I'm trying to figure out how to grow things in the dead of winter.
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