Easy Container Gardening: How to not kill your plants

You have everything you need to get your easy-container-garden setup, now the pressure is on! Don't kill your plants!

On no, Aphids!

Here are the basics:

Watering:

• You may want to purchase a watering can as this is the easiest option for watering.
• You will need to water about twice per week.
• You can put a tray under your pot as long as you do not allow water to sit in the pot. Unless you are going to be gone for a few days and it will be hot.
• Every few days, stick your finger into the dirt as far down as it will go. If it's dry, you need to water.

Lettuce:

• Try to harvest your lettuce frequently, even if you aren't going to eat it. Since you are growing leaf lettuce you can pick leaves from the outside in. 
• See this post on lettuce for more info

Herbs:

• Try to not let your herbs develop flowers. You can simply pluck them off as you see them grow.
• Snip or pinch off any leaves that are pale or brown.
• Never harvest more than half of the plant.

Bugs:

• If you are keeping your container indoors, your plants will be more susceptible to insects. You can deter them by keeping your container near a fan or an open window. Bugs don't like wind. 
• You can also try and insecticidal soap. See this post for my recommendations.

Fertilizer:

• If you purchased a high quality soil and mulch, you should not need to fertilize for a very long time. 
• If you aren't sure about the quality of your soil, purchase some 5-5-5 fertilizer for "side dressing". Follow the directions on the back. 

Ok that's it! If you ever have questions, or aren't sure why your plants are dying send me an email 

Whew, 5 posts in a row this week! Happy Labor Day Weekend!

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Easy Container Gardening: Combining Herbs and Vegetables

Herbs are the easiest thing you can grow. And combining them with other vegetables in your pot, will not only look beautiful, they will repel pests!

Image from friendsfoodreview.com

Since this is easy container gardening, I'm sticking with the easiest.

In addition, it's late in the season, so you can start the items I suggest below, but I wouldn't venture out of what's listed. This is fall/winter gardening, people.

Your options (listed from easiest and least time consuming, to most difficult and time consuming)

Vegetables:
Arugula
Collards
Lettuce- (leaf lettuce is the easiest)
Spinach
Peas- (these need a good amount of sun however)

Herbs:
Rosemary
Parsley
Thyme
Sage
Oregano
Mint (grow this in its own container, or it will take over)
Tarragon
Dill
Basil
Cilantro

Combos:
Most any of the above can be put together in your pot except the mint. Pick your favorite herbs and plant about four in one pot.

(picture from mindbodysmile.com)

Go ahead and plant your new balcony garden! Make sure to add lots of water after planting. If you chose cilantro, be very gentle with the roots.

Tomorrow's post will be tips on how to not kill your new plants.

: )

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Easy Container Gardening: Buying Soil and Starts

Continuing on with my easy container gardening week! You have picked out your containers and found a suitable location for them. Next, it's time to go to the store to buy soil and your herb and vegetable starts.

Soil:

• Container gardening requires slightly different soil than your raised beds. In order for your plants to receive enough oxygen, you need to purchase a lighter soil. Purchase organic potting soil. My favorite is:

• Purchase a small bag of organic mulch. Mulch is important for maintaining soil temperature, conserving moisture, and keeping pests away. You will be adding about one inch of mulch around the base of your plant. This really does make a difference, so don't skip this step!

Love this stuff!

Buying Starts (don't start from seed at this point)

• Pick the healthiest looking starts (duh).You can buy duds, and you most likely will blame yourself for killing the plant when really it was not your fault!

• Look for dark green leaves.
• Short and stout is a sign of a healthy plant.

• Do not buy starts that have flowers or buds!  Starts should be too young to have buds or flowers, and are most likely stressed if they are already blooming. 
• Feel the plants leaves and pick the ones that feel a bit weathered. Especially with basil, if leaves feel like tissue paper, it probably isn't hardened off, and will most likely not do well. 

Now we have the basics down, tomorrow we are on to the fun stuff. I'll be discussing different varieties of herbs and vegetables that you can grow together!

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Easy Container Gardening

Prior to living in my current home, I spent many years in an apartment, in homes with no space for a garden, or just being too busy to maintain a garden.


I wish someone had told me how easy it is to have a few simple pots that I could keep on a balcony and pay little attention to. 

For those of you that have an interest in starting a small garden, this is your week. I'll be posting everyday this week about the basic steps to start a balcony garden. 


Your friends will be impressed when they come over for a dinner party and you zip out to pick some fresh lettuce, or maybe you whip up some cocktails with fresh herbs!

Here is this weeks schedule:
Monday: Picking a location for your "garden" and what to look for in the containers that you use. 
Tuesday: Tomato Tuesday.
Wednesday: Buying the right kind of dirt and starts. 
Thursday: Herb and vegetable combos. 
Friday: Caring for your new garden.


Determining a Location:

• You are going to be growing things that don't require too much sun, but try to place your pots so they are facing south or west.
• Choose a place that is sheltered from the wind. This can be tricky if you are in an apartment. You might think about placing a wind barrier. A small amount of wind is good, as it will help keep bugs off your plants. 
• Think about where the water will go when you water your plants. Maybe you will need to purchase a water tray for under the pot. (don't let your pots sit in the water though!)

Containers and Pots: 

• You can be creative here! Just make sure to not use any wood that has been treated with stain or other chemicals. Not only is it unhealthy for you, but your plants won't grow well. Look around your home, you may be surprised at the containers you already have! (5 gallon bucket, old garbage can, wood crates?)
• Make sure there are good drainage holes in the bottom of your container. You may consider adding more holes as this is very important to the success of you garden!

• Prop up the pots on something so that water can easily escape through your drainage holes.

• You may have heard that adding gravel or other materials to the bottom of a pot increases drainage. It actually makes it worse. Sorry, I don't know why though! I had read a study that it does not work, and tried it myself and my plant did not do well.

Tomato Tuesday tomorrow! I have some rambling reds to show you....

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Growing Basil

Where to Plant:

• In your garden: basil is a companion plant to tomatoes. Supposedly, it will make your tomatoes sweeter. I have never noticed a difference, but why not plant them next to each other! It makes it easier for harvesting come caprese salad time!
• Plant in containers that have good drainage and are at least 8 inches deep.
• Basil requires at least 6 hours of full sun per day. 

Growing Tips:

• Do not over fertilize basil as this will cause it to lose its flavor.
• Wait until temperatures are above 50 degrees F at night to plant outside, uncovered.
• Watering: Some say you should let the soil dry out in between watering and some say basil needs consistent moisture. I usually keep my basil consistently moist and it works out fine for me!

How and When to Harvest:

• In the first few months, once the plant is over 6 inches tall, find the bottom two leaves and cut the stem right above the two leaves (see image below). This will make the plant more stocky and it will produce more leaves. 
• Remove any blossoms that appear by pinching them off. 
• Prune your basil plant every two to three weeks throughout the summer. 

 Leggy basil I grew from seed, time for a trim!

Here's a picture a week later, you can see the new leaves coming in from where I cut. 

Bugs/disease:
Watch out for aphids, slugs, mealy bugs, and spit bugs! Basil is prone to root rot as well (where the roots stay too wet and begin to rot). This is why I imagine people let their basil dry out in between watering. If you have good drainage, it shouldn't be a problem. If you aren't sure, try adding some perlite to your soil.


Common types of basil:

Thai Basil: has more of a licorice flavor.

Purple Basil-tastes like regular basil, primarily used for its color. Try placing a few leaves into a bottle of vinegar!

Citrus basil-will obviously have more of a citrus taste:

Sweet basil-the most commonly used basil:

Did you know that you can cut a stem off of your basil and grow another plant from it? Place the stem in water until roots appear, then transplant to a container!

I harvested a bunch of basil and *tried* to make different sorbets (using agave syrup instead of sugar)! Tomorrow I will post about the different flavors I made and how I did it!

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Let Us Eat Lettuce

 There really is nothing better than making a salad with greens from your garden. It's amazing how much tastier fresh lettuce is compared to store bought.

Lettuce is one of the easiest things to grow and if you are beginner gardener, I highly reccomend it. Here are few things every gardener should know about lettuce:

Planting:

• Lettuce is a hardy plant that can withstand cooler temperatures. 
• Plant in early spring and you can continue planting new seeds every three weeks until temperatures are above 75 degrees. 
• At this point in the game, it would be best to buy starts. Look for varieties that are heat tolerant.
• There are two types of lettuce, head lettuce (iceberg or bibb-on the left) or leaf (romaine or loose leaf- on the right) 

Gowing:

• Lettuce is 95% water, so make sure to provide your lettuce with plenty of water!
• Use a mulch around the base of the plant. This will help keep the soil cool and moist. 
• Keep an eye out for aphids and slugs! Blasting off aphids with a hose followed by spraying on a  oil/soap mixture (1 part vegetable oil/2 parts water/2 parts dish soap). As for slugs....good luck. 
• Lettuce prefers temperatures ranging from 45-75 degrees F
• Lettuce requires 5 (or more) hours of sun per day. 

Harvesting:

• You can wait until your lettuce is full grown and harvest the entire head. Using a knife, cut the entire head of lettuce about 1 inch from the soil line (off with their head!). The lettuce will typically grow back if you harvest this way!
• You can simply pluck off the outer leaves of the head as well. This will encourage more leaves to grow. This method works best with leaf lettuce. 
• If the weather gets above 75 degrees or you don't harvest your lettuce it will "bolt". This means a flower and stalk will shoot up. Once this has happened your lettuce will lose its flavor and become bitter. 

Easiest varieties to grow:

• Leaf lettuce is the easiest to grow, Romaine is able to handle temperature fluctuations the best. 

Where to grow

• You can grow lettuce anywhere. I prefer containers!
• Any container should be approximately 10 inches deep. Lettuce has shallow roots, but they spread out. 

Now watch out for slugs!

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Mint Ice cubes

What is mint good for besides making mojitos?

I mean really.

In true Desperate Gardener fashion, I am sharing a recipe that is not really a recipe. 

Mint ice cubes!

The weather in Seattle is looking wonderful and instead of Mojitos, I'm going to try iced tea with mint ice cubes. These would be great for entertaining, don't you think? 

Pick some fresh mint:

Make sure to always grow mint in containers as it will run rampant on your garden/yard/block/city! 

Fill your ice cube tray half way with water and place in the freezer:

Once frozen, add mint leaves, and cold water to fill the tray. Then back in the freezer!

mmm.

Who am I kidding?

 I'm going to go make a mojito...with mint ice cubes of course!

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Growing Radishes

Let's talk radishes. 

Why grow them?

• They are a cool weather veggie that can be planted BEFORE your last frost date.
• When temperatures haven't warmed up, radishes will keep you motivated because:
• They germinate and grow quickly!

How to grow radishes:

• Sow them directly into your garden. There is no point in buying starts as they grow quickly. Only 30 days until they will be ready for harvest! 
• Once they have sprouted, thin them out so they are about 2-3 inches apart. 
• Try planting a few new seeds every week so you don't end up with all your radishes ready for harvest at once.
• Keep them moist to avoid losing that "radish crunch".

What about insects?

• I'm afraid that worms do love radishes. 
• You may find holes in your radish leaves, or in the actual radish. A few holes in the leaves isn't a problem, holes in your radish is.
• To prevent this you can try covering your radishes with a "floating row cover". This will also keep your radishes from over-heating. You can find a floating row cover at most garden stores (click the image to view more info. You could also try using cheesecloth. 

• Other tips: when planting the seeds use epsom salt, wood ash, or coffee grounds, and place in the row next to the seeds. 

Tips on growing radishes:

• They have shallow roots,  so that you can grow them in containers.
• They do not like temperatures above 75 degrees. If you're a lucky duck soaking up 75 degree weather, you should grow your radishes in a location that receives a "cooler" sun (morning or partial sun). 
• You can harvest radishes whenever they look ready. The longer you leave them in the soil the more spicy (but spongy) they will become.
• If your radish "bolts" or shoots up a long stem with a flower, you've lost her. This most likely happened because the weather was too warm or you did not provide enough water. 

What got me on a radish kick? Check out this post from SeattleSeedling.com about a homemade butter she made to have on her just-picked radishes:

Check out her blog to find out how to do it:

http://seattleseedling.com/2011/05/butter-doesnt-count/

Yum!

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The Rhubarb Twist

I spent last weekend visiting with my 86-year-old Grandma and learned some new things about her:

• She has an iPad and is a pro at using it. She is googling things, checking the weather, and of course reading my blog.
• She has a Facebook account.
• She makes a mean rhubarb pie:

While visiting, I followed my Grandma out to the garden where she showed me the "Rhubarb Twist". (I hope you are picturing my Grandma and I dancing in the garden, it's similar to the tomato shuffle.)

When harvesting rhubarb, you want to sharply twist off the stalk to avoid pulling on the roots. You can cut them off but you have to be very careful not to damage any other parts of the plant. Doing the twist is much more fun.

Some things to know about Rhubarb:

• Rhubarb is a cool weather plant, perfect for the Pacific Northwest!
• Don't try to grow them from seed unless you are a pro-gardener. It is much easier to buy starts.
• Rhubarb gets quite large, allow approximately 3 feet of room around your start for it to grow.
• You can grow rhubarb in a container. It may take a little longer to achieve your first harvest, but it works! 
• Make sure there is adequate drainage for your rhubarb.
• Do not harvest the first year you plant it. You want to give the plant time to establish itself. 
• Once your plant is established, you can start harvesting in early spring and continue harvest for several months. After the weather warms up, your rhubarb will lose its flavor. 
• Once the stalk is 10 inch long, you can harvest. Also it does not necessarily need to be red!
• Do not harvest more than half of the plants stalks.
• Don't eat the leaves. They are poisonous!
• A rhubarb plant can last for 10 years! It is perennial and will come back year after year 

And last but not least,  rhubarb pie is to die for:

Sorry, she didn't share her secret recipe. 

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Tomato Tuesday: Hanging Baskets

To be honest, these Tomato Tuesdays are a little depressing. It still hasn't warmed up past 50 degrees at night and so instead of doing the "tomato shuffle", I've opted to keep my tomatoes indoors in a sunny window. 

hmpf.

(In case you are wondering, the tomato shuffle involves moving your tomatoes outside, in the sun, out of the sun, and then indoors....repeat)

On with today's post....you can grow tomatoes in hanging baskets/containers!

(image from myhanginbasket.com)

Here is how to do it:

• Don't skimp on the container size. If you want a healthy plant, give it room to grow. 
• Make sure to have plenty of drainage holes, as tomatoes like a consistent water flow, not too wet, not too dry.
• Place your container in a sunny spot, out of the wind. 
• Containers can dry out quickly, so make sure to water frequently (on hot summer days you might have to water twice a day). Don't worry I have a tip for this that I will share at a later time.
• Only one plant per container.
• Look for tomato varieties that are called "tumbler" or "tumbling". Cherry tomatoes will also work!
• The best containers to use are the ones that are lined with sphagnum moss as the container will hold water more efficiently. 

(image from ngb.org)

I'm going to be growing "Rambling Red Stripe" tomatoes in a hanging basket this year. I had to order the seeds, but have heard these are great tomatoes for hanging baskets!

(image from ngb.org)

Tomato hanging baskets are great for those in apartments or with small gardening space!

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