This was a really interesting year for our garden. We started spending lots of time away from the house (in our RV at the Hickory Hills Campground) and then we closed on the sale of our house at the end of July, so we were not able to experience a full year of gardening. After we accepted the offer on our house (mid May) I stopped making new plans for our garden and just hoped that I would be able to pull the last of what I had already planted before we moved out completely in July. We also tried our hand at some container gardening in large barrels at the RV park. I kept a pretty good garden journal this year- below is a brief excerpt of the last few months. For a glimpse at the seeds that we started, check out this post, this post and this post. Oh, and this one too!
March 21st, 2009
Big day! We scored a couple of free half barrels from my work, which means we will be able to try out some container plantings at the house. I added two cubic feet of organic garden soil to the garden and we bought a couple more bags today at Lowes. (I also bought some spinach seeds and LOTS of organic potting soil for those barrels.) Tomorrow we will fill the barrels and hopefully grow- 3 barrels of yukon gold potatoes, 1 barrel of sweet potatoes, 1 barrel of strawberries (transplanted from garden) and 1 barrel of sweet peas (yum!).
Waiting to be filled.
Don't forget to drill some drainage holes in your barrels before filling them with soil.
March 22nd, 2009
After filling the wine barrels, Bryan helped me dig up the mess of strawberry plants and transfer them into one of the barrels. I have had this particular “plant” for about eight years and it still bears some fruit each year. Baby radishes are sprouting today!
March 23rd, 2009
Started a “seed” sweet potato today. Going to try to grow some slips in water like we did when we were in school. I got a Jewell organic potato from Bloomingfoods. I also put my seed potatoes in the window with our seedlings. They need at least a week or two in the sun to sprout. I bought 3 yukon gold and 2 red ones from Bloomingfoods. They were conventional (same as last year). Next year I hope to order some from an organic catalog with my sister in law, Kay.
Yukon golds starting to sprout.
Also bought some shelling peas today from Menards (Burpee Dark Seeded Early Perfection Peas). I read about a variety of shelling peas that worked great in a container because they did not need to be trellised, but could not find them today.
This first spinach tasted so good!
April 26th, 2009
First Harvest!! 7 radishes and a cup of spinach. Hooray!
May 2nd, 2009 (notes taken while waiting for customers at our garage sale)
We transplanted some peppers and broccoli from the indoor seedlings on April 16th. Some of the broccoli looks like it is going to make it, but only one pepper plant. I think that they were all a little too small when we put them out, but we had to as we were having an open house on that same weekend. Forgot to write that I planted the potatoes in early April. We are trying to hold off on the red potatoes and some of the yukons because we are going to be moving to the RV park and would like to try and plant them in barrels at the park. So I have cut and dried them and have planted them very shallow and loose in two pots in the garage. Sweet potatoes just got a slip or two on them about a week ago. I swear I bought an organic potato, but maybe it was treated to retard sprouting. Next year we need to buy from a catalog.
May 10th, 2009
The lettuce has been coming up nicely. The Salad Bowl variety I have just been picking leaf by leaf. The Buttercrunch, I picked leaves today, but I think that I can also wait for loosely compacted heads and pick those. Updates:
- Strawberry plant is doing well. Small offshoot is going with us to the RV park.
- Original potato plant-2 plants, look good about 4 inches high.
- Container peas are up and starting to wind around the trellis.
- Thinned some of the carrots today. Sweat Treat seems to grow the fastest.
- Spinach is about done. Need to plant more next year.
- First batch of radishes=yum. Second coming soon.
- 2-3 broccoli plants (from seed) might make it.
- 1-2 pepper plants (from seed) might make it.
- I bought 3 pepper plants for $1.50 each (organic) from the Farmers Market yesterday from Harvest Moon Organics. They will go with us to the RV park.
Peppers, yukons and sweet potatoes.
May 13th, 2009
Planted rest of potatoes at the RV park and the sweet peppers.
May 31st, 2009
We missed the last of the spinach while we where in California (May 15-22). And one last round of radishes were picked when we got home. They were a bit old, too big and had a woody/corky taste.
Both lettuces varieties are doing great! We have been eating a lot and today we filled three big ziploc gallon bags and took them to Sunday breakfast to give away. The lettuce is great, washing and spinning it is a PAIN. But worth it. Bryan saw a special about prewashed/bagged salad greens. They are washed in a chlorine solution and bagged with gas to stay fresh. Yum. Note for next year: we planted the second row too close The leaves of the lettuce shade and cover the seedlings of the younger lettuce. Updates:
- Spinach- gone to flower, needs to be pulled.
- Radishes- done by May 20th.
- Carrots-looking good (should be ready mid June).
- Broccoli-one plant is surviving!
- Peppers- my seedlings seem to have almost disappeared. Too early! The three pepper plants are doing well at the RV park.
- Sweet Peas- look wonderful and are started to swirl their way up the makeshift trellis. Should be ready in late June. Should have started them a bit earlier.
- Potatoes at home- they are reaching for the sun! The new shade structure that Bryan and Chris built last summer has officially shaded out most of our garden and porch. (Good thing we are moving.)
- Potatoes at RV- We planted them all in the rain before we left for California. Might have gotten a little moldy. Not sure if they are going to make it.
- Strawberries-Look pretty, a few flowers, but not enough sun.
October 2009 Update
We had a crummy potato crop. A couple of pounds at home before we moved out in July. They never made it at the RV. The carrot crop was AMAZING. Lettuce and spinach were super easy. Broccoli and peppers start from small plants, not seedlings. We had some tiny sweet potatoes, next year they need more time and probably a real garden, not a barrel.
Not bad for a year of transition!