Just curious what things others here may be planting. Might get some interesting ideas!
For me, it's a combination of flowers and food things in a container garden. (I didnt get to make the raised bed this year and am still job hunting so not time to buy the last of the stuff for it).
The food things are easy seed lettuces and a few tomatoes, some squash (yellow) and Bok Choy (from seed, should be a fun little trial). 2 bell pepper plants and 2 cucumber plants later (have to get them still). Thai basil, sage, to match the rosemary bush that didnt die in winter.
Wild flower mix along the fence, mixed with climbing morning glory.
I plan to cultivate some more tomatoes and cucumbers this year. Last year's Burpee's Early Pick Hybrid VF were really good. The Burpee's Palace King Hybrids were good too, but not what I expected. They were a pale green and grew thick, not thin. They were tasty, though. Maybe Burpee placed the wrong seeds in my pack. I'll plant more herbs this year, too. Fresh basil and oregano for tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes.
I kept an eye on the tomato and cucumber transplants for a few weeks until it was warm enough outdoors to plant them.
There is planting soil from last year. I might just add some more Plant Tone organic fertilizer to it this year.
I will plant 2 or three of the tomatoes and cucumbers. Last year, one of the cucumber plants died quickly. It's good to have a few extra.
I will avoid using thin bamboo sticks. Too weak, especially when plants get drenched with rain. Thick plastic poles will do.
I've been composting for a few months now. The soil should have adequate nutrients in it by spring.
I'm in the Mojave Desert now, so I haven't raised a garden in years. Extended days of 110F + makes it difficult.
I like the concept of the "hanging tomato plants". Instead of buying the infomercial kit, I plan to try the idea with a 3 - 5 gallon bucket. I can hang one or two around the patio.
I have a pack of Bush Bean seeds I plan to put in a container on the patio.
I just planted a new bouganvillea in a pot on patio..never have had one before. Recently harvested my first large batch of basil to make some pesto .. yum! We live in a condo, so can't have a garden or plant in yard. Fortunately, there are two patios, with room for pots. Got a little lemon tree that is just now finished blooming and getting tiny lemons. A work buddy recently sent home a bag of lemons, dropped from the tree in his yard. Made a gallon of lemonade concentrate! Nothing better. The lawn people bring us their extra avocados which fell from a very large tree. More eating than planting going on here :o)
During the oil embargo, late '70s, my employer used a large plot of empty ground to turn into employee gardens. They installed sprinklers, fence, shed, plotted three sizes of gardens. Built shed and bought several tillers. Employees signed up for garden plots and volunteered to open/close each day. Great fun, good eats, saved money.
A few flowers out front, considering a couple of hanging arrangements this year, veggies in a bed out back. Thinking about a seperate bed for some strawberries, too....
Already planted a 12 foot mounted row of strawberries. Preparing the soil, but there could be another frost yet (down to 33 degrees tonight). Will be planting potatoes, tomatoes, bush beans, zuchinni, various peppers, cucumbers, coleus, wandering Jew, and some annual flowers.
Ah! Container gardening! There's much you can do with that. Things you may not have thought about.
Oren, you may want to note some of this too as in your area (Mojave desert) there isnt much else you really can do.
One of the easiest is seed lettuce. No need to get seedlings as these sprout really easy. There are several types so try a few. Those longish plastic containers with drain holes (Oren, plug them in your area) that are from 6-8 inches deep and about as wide, varies from 3-6ft long, work just perfect. You can get fancy wood ones but be careful the wood isnt PT (IE: you want food grade woods and if unsure just go plastic). I never buy lettuce from April to late October. I'll crop several batches a year in containers instead for 99cents a seed packet. I keep 2 containers for lettuce and rotate the seeding time so when one is ready to bolt and be replanted, the other is perfect for eating.
Like green onions? Next time you get a bunch from the store, plant the bulb part leaving about 2-3 inches of the green tops. They will recrop in about
4 weeks. With minimal care, they will come up for several years too. Chives work the same. I have a green onion and chive plot still growing from 9 years ago that survived the renters.
Tomatoes like containers too, be sure to get a cage (re-usable year after year). You'll need to use a little tomato fertilizer in a container, especially if you just reuse the same soil like I do.
Rosemary, I found is very very easy. In fact, I have a bush that survived the winter here.
I found that the bell pepper plant wanted to give me bell peppers still in October. Just one plant, so this year i think I put in more but that one was almost enough for all our needs.
Chile peppers, if into that, are very easy as well in containers.
The main trick to container gardening (having lived 21 years in apartments with no other options) is to water well in the morning then again at evening. I also line the bottoms with old blue jeans or towels so the dirt doesnt leach out on my patio. It also helps with water retention.
Hehehe added bits of reply to you in Normin's message. Yes, we get seriously HOT here too, though seldom 110F. I had to deal with that in Sasebo though. The weather station is across a mountain ridge from the base side where I was and 10-15 degrees cooler in summer so a look up wont show the temps.
I was at sea so often, most out door container plants died due to not getting watered twice a day.
That will work! I've seen home plans for them too. There's another way to do if it looks don't bother you too much. It involves aquarium tubing and a few plastic milk jugs (well rinsed). I did that once. Used a spare aquarium 'airation stone' at the tip of the tubes then put the jugs up a bit high with the hose leading out at the bottom (duct taped I think) and it made for a slow drip. Probably many other ways to do it too.
For your bucket, you want the plants to grow down right? You'll need something to seal around where the plant comes out which I assume will be a hole in the bottom of the bucket? I think old leftover nylon stockings with runs in them might be just the ticket there. If you dont have a wife with such, I bet you have some friends who do! Just ask'em to save the next few sets.
Oh that would be neat! I dont have so much area here, just a normal city lot with a house on it. I'm over run by tomatoes if all 6 plants crop well for our home use. Last year i froze them after washing which worked nicely. Had a few frozen ones whenever I needed them all winter long. (the skins come right off on defrosting and the texture is like a stewed tomato which worked well for my cooking needs).
We had a wonderful nursery near us until the condo boom hit our area - land too valuable to decline sale offers :o( They had seminars and cooking (yum) demonstrations often. Got an idea from them for herb garden: three terra cotta bowls (not saucers), small, med., large. Put an upsidedown saucer in the bottom of the large bowl, put the medium bowl on that, another saucer, then the small bowl. Fill each with soil. They hold quite a bit - chives, parsley, rosemary, etc. Don't retain much water, but we have lots :o)
Something I read years ago, in a limited space - was to stack a few old car tires on top of each other. Fill them with dirt and then plant the potato eyes in the soil. As you harvest the spuds you can remove one tire at a time. I never tried this, but it makes sense to me.
My last favorite tomato garden, allowed me to give fruit away to several neighbors.
I put several 2x4x12 and sunk them in the ground by using post hole diggers. The 2x4 was about ten feet above ground and supported all the weight. The plants were estimated 14 feet at the droopy end to root.
1 lb. each for one variety, Cherries were as big as a Silver Dollars
I thought I'd add some more here since the plans shifted just a little bit. First off, got a good job (yayyy!). I did some research since an earlier thread on building a long container where I want it (almost flush to the house, 6 inches away) and decided that is not such a good idea. It would have been heavy enough, it may have caused damage or sunk down too much to be stable. Also, we ran into code issues and would need to footer the house out under it or rip it out before selling.
So, plan 2. Don's going to use the PT wood to build me a long 1ft or so tall 'table' which we will put the legs of, on cinderblock just set on the grass. This will support several terra cotta looking plastic deep containers (almost tree sized) filled with potting soil to create a 'raised garden' of about 2ft wide, and 36FT long, in 8ft sections. We have most of the soil already and I think we have enough wood.
Planted now in containers (not raised, just set on a low riser like the other will be but a mere 4 inches high) is a started garden. 9 tomato plants, 9 green bell peppers, 2 strawberries (relocated the catnip to a hanging basket), 1 container with butter lettuce, and one with a solitary cucumber seedling. An empty one ready for carrots (deep, about 2 ft) and a plan to get 3 more 'deep' ones for later on the riser, with radishes and more summer squash.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.