Rain, Rain, Go Away

Yes I will be begging for it soon but it has been raining almost nonstop since last Wed evening. It is playing havoc with my sinuses and I haven't accomplished much. Rain or not, I need to set out another round of onion sets and get the potatoes planted over the next few days.

Last week I finished getting the transplants out. In this picture you can see where I used milk and water jugs to plant Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli plants. I also put some of them in the white hanging basket planters seen in the upper left hand corner and in 2 liter soda bottles (seen in the second photo).

My first long planter of onion sets is mixed in because my companion planting guide says for the cabbage family - celery repels cabbage worms, onion family deters maggots; rosemary, sage, and thyme repel insects. I am not planting celery but I may add some sage and thyme plants in between them. The book says enemies are beans (pole), strawberries and tomatoes.

In between the clay pots you can almost see the green pouch with the lettuce plants. I am not sure I like the pouches for the lettuce and spinach but I am thinking I can hang them on the back of the poles so they only get the afternoon sun when it gets hot. This should keep them from bolting too soon and might keep them going until fall.

As of Wed evening I was able to get the 4th row set in and all work has stopped since then. Too much rain and I have been too sick but I am going to tackle it again over the next few days. The purple tubs on the right are for the potatoes. I will put about 4 inches of soil in the bottom, lay the potato sets on top of the dirt and cover them with a little straw. I want to keep adding straw as they grow so I can harvest small potatoes all summer since I don't intend to store any of them. The companion planting guide suggests beans so I may set the tubs in my bean teepees. It also suggests corn but corn is also good for pumpkins but potatoes are bad for pumpkins. I am only putting out a small amount of corn - just something for grilling - and a few pumpkins so I may put them together.

You may also notice that I put a lot more distance between the 2nd and 4th rows. I have a lot of 3 foot planters that will go sideways and need more room. Right now nothing is where it is going to stay. The blueberries and figs will go on the deck, some of the cabbage and broccoli may go near the deck to get less sun and to make room for more of the sun lovers.

Happy Gardening
Linda B:)