Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Tomato Row

The peas are really getting going now. It sure took a while for the seeds to germinate. Hope it's not getting too hot for them. If I keep some laundry drying out on the line, it could help to shade them a bit.

Lettuce from legging seedlings! They look fine and we've been eating them on sandwiches and burgers. Tonight we'll have a salad of mixed greens and maybe a few shavings of radish if we're lucky. With the hot weather this week, maybe I should throw a salad party before these decide to bolt (which I now know means: "go to seed").

What a shocker yesterday! Could this be a TOMATO BLOSSOM??!! Look for that little yellow spot.


Last weekend, we had some family visit and they helped me to fill my Lowe's 5-gallon buckets with potting soil. Now all the tomatoes are lining the south wall of the house, getting plenty of sun. The house walls should keep them warmer at night too. Husband drilled holes in the bottom of the buckets and lined them with landscape fabric. Then I dumped some rocks in the bottom for better drainage before we put the soil in. I tried to bury the plants with at least 1/3 of their height in the soil.
OK, so tomatoes in 5-gallon paint buckets doesn't really go with the idea of cottage gardening in any sense, but it's a cheap solution. I got them for $2.97 a bucket. The soil near the house is awful so I'd rather them be in store-bought soil anyway.
After the whole radish problem, I'm thinking container gardening with potting soil sounds great. In fact, I think I might just go try to grow some radishes in a pot. Any ideas on how to get rid of the little white wormy thing in my garden soil that was eating into them?
Other big news: We have two blueberry bushes! We sacrificed an old rhododendron for space.
I've put out some cosmos seeds and already see some popping up. They sound like a great flower. Tolerate poor soil and drought conditions! Once they grow I'll post a picture. They get pretty tall so they should help fill in some gaps in late summer and fall.
Things to do:
1. Pot the five miniature sweet red pepper plants and put outside.
2. Plant the basil in with the tomatoes.
3. Plant the alpine strawberry seedlings in the trough outside.
4. Pull out the dried up forget-me-nots and seed with asters and sunflowers.



1 comment:

  1. Kim, I like that you can innovate to best suit your purpose. As you can see from my garden, different plants end up where they fit. I think my peas have protected the young peppers from cold and wind, and now the peas can be taken out (since they are pretty much done) to allow the full sun on the peppers. Well, time to go water. I almost forgot. Happy gardening. Dad

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