A High Anxiety Experience, Planting In A Multi-Hole Pot

I bought a multi-hole planter some time ago and tried to plant strawberries in them- that didn't go to well, actually, it didn't go at all if you know what I mean.  So just recently I decided instead to plant herbage with a few small low-growing flowers here and there in the multi-hole planter, and although it looks great now I have to say it really wasn't the easiest to planter to deal with.

When I had decided to plant strawberries in them the first time I filled the planter with soil but found that the soil kept falling out of the holes as it kept mounding the higher I filled the planter.  When I was finally able to semi-compact the soil in the holes to keep them from falling out I planted seeds in each hole and around the top (none of them actually sprouted though).  The second obstacle at this point was watering, whenever I watered the soil again kept falling here and there.

After the unsuccessful planting of strawberry seeds in the multi-hole planter I decided to buy pre-grown oregano, lavender and small low-growing flowers to plant in it.  And while the beauty of this method is that you don't have to wait for your herbage and flowers to grow it was still a bit difficult to plant.  This time around I decided to fill the planter with soil as needed, meaning I filled it upto the bottom hole stuck the flowers in through the holes, filled the planter with soil to the next hole above and planted my oregano, then filled it again with more soil to the top of the planter to plant the lavender at top.  While this method of planting in the multi-hole planter was the simplest it was not without obstacles.  The oregano was quite hard to fit into the  hole and at some point even believed I was killing the plant while trying to plant it- I could say that perhaps the root and soil of the oregano were just too large for the hole (in which case I just didn't think things through when purchasing the plants for the multi-hole planter) however I found it equally difficult planting even the small low-growing flowers (I don't know what it's name is) with smaller root systems.  With the smaller flowers  I found there was no easy way of holding the flowers in place while mounding dirt in and around the roots inside the planter and so I eventually succumbed to holding the flowers in the planter by their beautiful little petals and stems which made me highly anxious as I did not want to ruin the look of the plant.  There is one positive aspect of planting in the multi-hole planter with pre-grown plants however, when watering you do not face the same difficulty of falling dirt since the planted pre-grown plants have a root system that blocks the hole preventing loose-dirt fall-out.  

The planter is beautiful once done and adds a bit of charm to the garden with the different levels in height, but if this is what you're looking to add to your garden  I suggest planting in individual planters all set on bricks at different levels or perhaps even setting individual planters on your patio steps to create depth and hi-low levels- equally beautiful and much simpler to do.

Lettuce Growing up

Oh my, how my mixed baby lettuce have come a long way.  I remember when they were barely there...

Beautiful Tomato True Leaves

I love watching the true leaves of a tomato grow (hear me talk like a pro- pshaw!  Just for your info this is only the second time I've grown tomatos) but the true leaves are indeed beautiful.  So far they've been the prettiest true leaves I've seen growing from a vegetable plant that sprouts such average looking seed leaves.  The seed leaves are the two elongated leaves while the true leaves almost look like oak leaves.

Product Review: Grow Great Grub, Organic Food from Small Spaces by Gayla Trail

When I first began to grow vegetables and fruits in my little one-bedroom apartment a couple years ago (yes, the time when all but one survived) I picked up a book by Gayla Trail, Grow Great Grub, Organic Food from Small Spaces.  The book concentrates on growing, as the sub-title suggests, in small spaces (which is exactly what I had at the time, a very small space).  But even now, recently moved into a bigger space with an actual yard to grow in, I find myself continually turning to this book for advice, tips and general knowledge.  The book has tons of general knowledge of many different kinds of plants, fruits, vegetables and herbs.  How much to water this or that, what kind of soil and how much sun or shade this or that prefers, all information that a first-time grower would have.  The book is an easy read and pretty straight forward, the only complaint I would have if I had to pick one is that there is too much general knowledge.  If you read the book straight through in a couple of days you can bet you'll only retain about half the information, I find it more helpful as a look-up guide when I need it.

First time grower?  Definitely get this book, it's a great introduction to gardening and if you're not too gung-ho about the gardening thing and just want to give it a try reading this book will definitely make you want to grow something, anything!

Check out the book, Grow Great Grub @ Amazon

Hello Little Purple Tomato Seedling!

The first seedling of a purple tomato plant that I planted a week ago!  This will be my second time ever to grow tomatoes, I enjoyed it very much the first time, especially since it was the only plant out of 11 that survived, even so I'm not counting on it being easy- growing and keeping plants alive has never really been my forte, but of course I still do love it and am try try trying my best to learn from my mistakes.

Aint she a beauty with her dark red stem and ultra green seed leaves?!

DIY: Potatoes In A Bottomless Planter Box

A week ago I dug a trench in part of the yard to plant potatoes in, it was literally a trench which consisted of a bottom with sides that sloped upwards toward mounds of dirt.  I made holes for my already sprouting potatoes that I had kept for a little too long in the kitchen, watered them in and covered them up with soil.  As I watered them through the week I came upon the annoying situation of the mounds of dirt slowly crumbling into the potato trench.  So when the next weekend rolled by I went immediately to crazy work mode and built a bottomless box to: 1. Keeping the unecessary dirt out, 2. Create an easier time for me to hill whence the time came, and 3. Keeping the yard looking nice and organized.

Let me get back to "hilling" just incase you have no idea what that means.  Hilling is basically mounding dirt around the growing stem of the potato plant.  Pictured below (where the little orange arrows are) you can see the stem and leaves of the potato plant pushing out the through the soil, once the potato plant reaches about 8-12 inches you simply mound dirt to cover 2/3 of the stem, you keep repeating this process until the potato flowers appears at which point you know the potatoes are almost ready to be pulled out, but not quite, because you have to wait for the leaves and flower to whither and turn yellow before you do so.  The whole idea is (well it's not really an idea since it really does occur) is that hilling creates more space for more potatoes to appear, the covered portion of the stem in the process of hilling allows more potatoes to form on the stem covered by the dirt.  "Hilling" is also called "challenging".

So in an effort to make it easier for the hilling process and because of the annoying excess mounds of dirt crumbling into my potato space I gathered 5 pieces of wood and a few nails to build a box to enclose the potato trench in.  I was pretty pleased with myself once the work was done :)  You can make it easier on yourself and simple grab two long boards for the long side and 2 short boards for the short sides and nail them to create a box frame that has neither top or bottom, in my case however I hadn't two long boards, just 5 medium length boards and so went on to make a long rectangular frame that way; by nailing to medium boards at the ends to creat one long board (doing the same for the other long side), then cutting in half the remaining medium board to create two shorter boards for the short sides, I then nailed it into a box frame.  It did turn out mighty fine if I do say so myself.

Read the following post on Getting The Most Out Of Your Potatoes By Challenging

Today's Lesson: Annuals, Biennials, Perennials & Self-Seeding Annuals

When I first stepped into my yard with plans for an organice vegetable and fruit garden I immediately began to pay close attention to the existing plants.  The mint in the front yard spreads like weed as it gradually begins to take the whole side of one yard.  Black currants keep popping up everywhere, even in cracks which is really quite annoying especially since I'm no fan of the berry.  The lemon tree never really seems to be without lemons (that's odd :/).  And what happened to that little spot of cilantro?  It just vanished without a trace.  Yes, I paid very close attention to the yard, I was beginning to get to know my existing friends only to find out that they were all a lot more complicated than anticipated.  So what's with it anyway?  Some stay, some go, some... you can't even get rid of.

A little bit of book-worming and typing questions into the handy dandy computer which of course has all the answers I was able to find out a few very important and interesting information on classifying plants: annuals, self-seeding annual, biennials and perennials; classifying plants by their longevity or their not-so-long lifecycles.  

Annuals 

(Annus: "year" = one year)

"Never make it past a year, and some even die before the end of one season" -Easy Growing by Gayla Trail

An annual normally germinates, flowers and dies in a year or season.  A single seed-to-seed cycle for a plant classified as an annual can occur in as little as month to several months depending on the plant species.  Summer annuals germinate, flower, produce seed, and die during the warmer months of the year.  While winter annuals germinate in autumn or winter, living through the winter and then blooming in winter or spring.

Examples of annuals:  corn, wheat, rice, lettuce, peas, watermelon, beans, zinnia, marigold, basil, bush beans, dill, cilantro, sunflower, potatoes, radishes

Self-Seeding annuals 

"Go kaput when their jig is up, but come back and start all over again the spring via the seeds they drop into the soil."  -Easy Growing by Gayla Trail

The self-seeding annual is exactly what it sounds like, an annual (which has a lifecycle of one year) that can self-seed.  This means that during the flowering stage of the annual the plant will be able to drop seeds and if successful grow new seedlings the following season.  And while you can say that this is very much like being a perennial in that the self-seeding annual will always be in the garden due to the self-seeding characteristic, it isn't quite so.  The difference between the perennial and self-seeding annual would be that the perennial never dies, instead goes dormant only to come back from the same root-stock the following season.  While the self-seeding annual dies and a new seedling must again germinate and grow from seed, forming new roots and all.

Examples of self-seeding annuals:  dill, cilantro, sunflower bush beans, black currant

Biennials 

(Bienni: "two" = every two years)

"Plants survive from the same root for two years tops, making lots of leaves in year one, followed by flowers and seeds in the second year."  -Easy Growing by Gayla Trail

As you can probably already tell where this is going a biennial is a plant that takes two years to complete its lifecycle.  The first year is marked by the plant growing leaves, stems and roots when the cooler months fall upon the plant the plant enters a period of dormancy.  Then in the following spring or summer the stems of the biennial plant grow and flower, producing fruit and seeds then eventually dying.  And while it normally takes a biennial two years to complete its lifecycle it can vary may complete it in a far short time (within a few months) if grown under extreme climates; common in vegetables or flowers exposed to cold conditions.

Examples of biennials:  onion, parsley, carrot, caraway

Perennials 

(Per: "through" + Annus: "year" = through the year)

"Flower and set seed yearly, yet they spring forth and prosper from the same root almost indefinitely...  More expensive in stores but are worth it for their longevity."  -Easy Growing by Gayla Trail

A perennial (my favorite) is a plant that lives for two years or more (how low maintenance of them, wouldn't you agree?).  Perennials grow and bloom over the warmer months (spring and summer) then die back during the cooler months (autumn and winter).  These plants then return on their own during warmer month (normally during spring) from their root-stock, this is in addition to seeding themselves, which means you'll have new seedlings popping up if the plant was successful.

Because the perennials live through the year the plant itself can be quite old, as a result the perennial often has deep, extensive root systems which can be beneficial in many ways.  A deeper root system not only means the plant will be more hardy as it will have longer root systems to look for nutrients water deeper into the soil but the long root system also prevents soil erosion and is able to capture dissolved nitrogen before it can contaminate  ground surface water.

Examples of perennials:  shrubs, trees, orchids, grass, lavender, rosemary, garlic, mint, bay, oregano, marjoram, thyme, strawberries, blueberries