Getting the platforms set up

Well, the curse continues. I spent Tues gathering all my pots, trying to get as much mud and ants out as possible and had them ready to wash and clean. I finished one pot and the well quit again so I am without water again.

I did manage to get several bags of dirt moved over to the garden area. I was discouraged to see they were already getting overrun by ants. I sprinkled some Ortho Ant & Spider flakes and sprayed some Ortho Lawn & Garden Pest spray. I had really intended to try to stay organic but physical problems are slowing me down. I have to completely give up the garden last year so this year I am going to accept it as whatever I have to do to get it done. This area has for acres and acres been nothing but cattle land so it is teaming with ticks, ants, and every other kind of crawling critter.

I was also able to haul 6 concrete blocks over to set up and place boards across them. These are for placing the pots that are growing the vegetables so I can sit down and manage the garden. I will try to get some pics soon so you can see the layout. With my physical problems I cannot get down to ground level and must sit a great deal of the time. This is why I do the container gardening so I can do plenty and be able to take care of it all. I was hoping to get two or three sets done but my arms and legs gave out on me.

I was able to get several more pots ready for lettuce and carrots. We were expecting very heavy rain Tues night and today so I haven't seeded them yet. The seeds are so tiny they could have washed out. I will get to them tomorrow.

Oh and I finally got my Mother's Day gift of petunias potted.

Onions in Containers

My back is still giving me a fit but I was able to get some more weedeating done Thurs and finally got a few pots planted this evening.

For my onions I use rectangle planters. They are 4 inches by 36 inches by about 8 inches deep. I put the Texas Sweet onion plants in a container filled about 4 inches deep and 25 yellow onion bulbs in about 6 inches of dirt. The bulbs and sets were placed on a close grid of 3 then 2 across the width of the planter. The tinier ones went in the 2 spots and the larger in the 3 grid. I keep all of it around an inch apart. Around the bulbs I sprinkled a few odd Short n Sweet carrot seeds.

I don't fill the containers too deep because the onions only need a couple of inches to grow. Most of the Texas Sweet will be pulled when they are about one to two inches diameter and added to salads. Over half of the yellow onions will be grown to about 2-3 inch diameter for cooking. The remainder will be allowed to grow as large as possible by winter.

The reason for the shallow dirt, when winter arrives I will pile tons of mulch on top of and around the planters and still be able to pull onions on through out the winter months.

I did one more rectangle planter today. I planted Parris Island Cos lettuce and Black Seed Simpson lettuce in rows about 3 inches apart. In between I added some Nanteses and Short n Sweet carrots. I usually put lettuce in flats about 3 inches deep but this one was 8 inches deep because it was more for the Nanteses carrots which grow about 6" long. I will be seeding at least 4 or more containers of lettuce because I eat a lot of salads from my garden.

Tomorrow I hope to get the cherry tomatoes transferred into bigger starter pots. They are very spindly but I am surprised I got anything since the seeds are so old.

Progress is Slow

Sorry, I haven't gotten anything done in the past week. I hurt my back weedeating last Tuesday then had to teach school the rest of the week. Monday was my court hearing and I stopped by on the way home and picked up 6 bags of potting soil and 2 bags of manure. I was going to snag some more of the ten cent morning glory seeds but four giant displays of seeds were already gone!!!! There were just two small displays left and they were almost empty. People must be really serious about putting in gardens this year.



I hurt my back again Monday unloading all that soil and manure plus I stopped by my friends' house and they brought my glider and chair over. I have been dragging it around the yard trying to find the perfect place to set up the "oasis" but I am still undecided. The glider hasn't been used for anything but collecting trash behind the barn for the past 3 years so it is rusted and will need a good sanding and coat of paint but I will wait until later in summer to tackle that.



I may have to spend one more day in bed but am hoping to get started with the planting tomorrow.

Gardening My Style

This is going to be a place to refer friends to tell them about my gardening. I discovered Dick Raymond's wide row gardening in the 70's. In the 80's I discovered Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot gardening. In the late 90's I moved into a campground with a small 6x16 cement patio. I mixed the ideas from Raymond and Bartholomew's ideas with some container gardening tips I picked up from a British book. Since then I have experimented with a ton of variations and lots of friends ask for more ideas each year. I grow cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries in hanging baskets and lots of potting flats for shallow growers.

I was going to put my onions, carrots and some lettuce out today but I was sore from all the weedeating yesterday and then the rain came in so I happily dove in the bed. As soon as I drifted off the phone started with friends, people trying to sell me stuff and a call for me to work tomorrow. So I am off to grab a shower and will try again Friday:)