Saturday, April 11, 2009

New Tomato Plants

It's a beautiful day for gardening! Cool air, warm sun, mild wind... So unlike the gusts and gales that swept fire across Oklahoma and Texas a couple days ago. How horrible that was!

I actually came home to my seedlings strewn across the backyard, despite the shelter the back corner should have provided them. The damage wasn't too horrible though, and I'm certainly bearing in mind that a few lost seedlings is nothing compared to the homes people lost that night.

But today is another matter, for us at least. We took a trip to the farmer's market to replace the stunted Pink Brandywine seedlings. I picked up a traditional Brandywine and a Cherokee Purple. I'm especially excited about the Cherokee Purple since it's my first time trying it at all.

So I put those and most of my other seedlings on the back steps to harden off then went about seeding and watering the garden. I have to take and post pictures soon, as the garlic plants are huge and the spinach is starting to look like spinach (cool!).

For now though, I'm going to enjoy my iced green tea then start cleaning up the house. Goodness, it's a mess...

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Gardening on a Budget: Containers

This topic could turn into a huge post, but I'll try and keep it simple. The most basic commandment of container gardening on a budget is: Try and view everything you come across as a potential container.

Everything.

I've seen old boots, blue jeans, and broken down cars turned into containers. Practically anything could work if you get creative enough!

Funkiness aside, there are some pretty good standbys that thrifty container gardeners fall back on often...

  • Food grade buckets. Sometimes you can get these for free from food establishments, and they're a good size for plants that need a little more room to spread their roots.
  • Big plastic tubs. Again, these can come in good sizes for plants that need legroom. Some people have also converted them into DIY Earthboxes.
  • Trashcans as huge planters. Some of the larger tomato plants could even flourish in a big enough trashcan.
  • Two-liter bottles. Check out this older post wherein I illustrate how to turn one into a pot with drainage.
  • Plastic butter/spreadable cheese/yogurt containers, for smaller plants. Reserve the lids to use as water trays, but be sure to water slowly to avoid overflow.
  • Soda bottle, upside-down, as a DIY Topsy Turvy. Is there nothing these plastic beauties can't do?!
  • Really ugly pots that you already have or find free/cheap.... just turn them upside down and spray paint the pots to spiff them up. (Avoid getting paint inside the pots.)
There are so many other options, but these tend to be fairly accessible and easy. Just remember to avoid anything that held chemicals, clean everything out before planting, and drill holes in the bottoms for drainage when necessary.

If you want to find "real" pots at good prices, there are usually plenty of cheap options at discount stores like Big Lots and Wal-Mart. The dollar tree often has really cute little pots, but they usually need to have drainage holes drilled in them. End-of-season sales are a great way to find deals at local businesses, which we should all support whenever we can.

Plastic is usually the cheapeast option... But if you'd like to avoid plastic, terra cotta is probably the cheapest way to go.

And take care of your pots so you don't have to spend money replacing them. Put them away when not in use (especially over winter) and treat even the plastic ones as breakable.

I know there are a million and one other tips out there, so please share yours!