Lettuce & my garden

[bbrandonsmom]

I picked my first bowl of lettuce today! I had thrown together some Mustard Lettuce, some Spinach, Spring mix and one other kind of lettuce in a windowsill box to see if it would grow, and what caterpillars would attack it. Some black caterpillar attacked one type (not sure which one) and left the others. Aphids also attacked the same type.
But it all grew pretty well. I'm happy to have my own fresh lettuce for a salad for lunch. The window is shaded most of the day, which I think helped with the heat here, so I'm going to plant on the shady side of the house and see how that goes, though will label each lettuce, so I know which one the caterpillars like :)
It was too hot already for Broccoli. My Thyme, Sage and Chocolate Mint are doing wonderful. Tomatoes are doing so/so. Peas were doing great, but now it got hot very quickly, so I think I might lose them, unless I can rig up some type of shade for them. Pole beans are doing well so far.
I had planned to container garden, but didn't. I'm determined to garden in our soil.

[deesalie]

There's nothing more rewarding than being able to eat a meal directly from your own garden. I find the story of the Findhorn Garden in Scotland particularly inspirational when soil quality is not ideal. They built an amazing garden from sand and gravel. http://www.recreatingeden.com/index.php?pid=8&season=04&episode=53

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

I have a friend who lived in Findhorn for some years. All the principles they follow are exactly what any decent organic gardener follows. Look at Matanuska valley in Alaska. That was sand and stones. Caveat - glacial sand and stones, and when you add organic compost to it, you get monstrous cabbages, beets etc. Look up and research Matanuska valley.

My friend only stayed at findhorn a few years. It frustrated him too much. The last straw for him was one day when the mower, which had been broken for a few weeks, was brought out and put in the middle of a circle of people who had to sit there holding hands until it fixed itself. He couldn't take it any more, went and got his tools, took it apart, fixed it, (much to the disapproval of the community) and left the next day.

You can believe in devas if you want. No harm in it. I'm absolutely positive that plants "know" more than we think they do.

But the reality is that good gardening requires hard work.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Your tomatoes won't like it, if you keep the soil too wet. But for tomatoes, there are three things they really love. Sun, sun and more sun. So long as their roots are damp. I mulch my tomatoes with barley straw.

[bbrandonsmom]

Well, the tomatoes are doing great so far. I'm even getting some strawberries here and there, even though it's not the season for them. It got way to hot for my peas. I did the best I could keeping them cool and set up a shade for them, but I guess they aren't liking the 85+ weather. We've some bush beans and sugar snap peas and still some lettuce growing. Now that I know the veggies will grow on the side of the house we are going to plant more next fall.
MT-I really like using the grass as mulch. It keeps the ground damp and cooler than the regular mulch we have around the plants. I've learned my lesson, and next year when I thatch the front yard, will keep as much as I can if I have some place to put it.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Well, the tomatoes are doing great so far. I'm even getting some strawberries here and there, even though it's not the season for them. It got way to hot for my peas. I did the best I could keeping them cool and set up a shade for them, but I guess they aren't liking the 85+ weather. We've some bush beans and sugar snap peas and still some lettuce growing. Now that I know the veggies will grow on the side of the house we are going to plant more next fall.
MT-I really like using the grass as mulch. It keeps the ground damp and cooler than the regular mulch we have around the plants. I've learned my lesson, and next year when I thatch the front yard, will keep as much as I can if I have some place to put it.


THATCH the front garden??? conjures up major mind pictures.

Mulching is a huge thing, and making your own compost should be your next aim. keep all bones, dry them, and find a way to pound them to dust. become an avid collector of winter leaves, wood fire remains (untreated) - chook poo (without antibiotics) in fact anything of use in the compost. Soil with compost holds water for so much longer.

Doesn't matter where you are, even if you are renting - this should be possible. Where there's a will there's a way.

and try peas in the winter, and see how it goes.

[MinorityView]

Fun to hear other people's gardening adventures.

I'm doing a container garden. I live in a trailer park (very nice one), but our side yards are narrow. On one side there are two big shade trees, my clothes line and my shed. It would be hard to find a good spot for a garden. On the other side...it floods if we get a heavy rain. Only good for semi-aquatic plants. But my porches get a reasonable amount of sun, so I decided to try containers.

So far it is going great. I've got lettuce, kale, chard, cherry tomatoes, peppers and broccoli, all purchased as small plants; sugar snap peas, radishes, various greens started from seed; and parsley, marjoram, rosemary, sage and two kinds of basil, purchased in little pots. I transplanted some Egyptian multiplier onions from last year's garden (out in a field nearby), and some chives from one of my ornamental beds into containers. The rest of the chives and some oregano are planted near some rocks at the front of the side yard that floods. That section is usually okay.

I'm already eating the lettuce, the little greens, the thinned radishes and the parsley. The herbs are big enough to start harvesting already.

The biggest hassle with the container gardening was mixing up my own soil mix from a recipe I found in a book. First I had to put together a wheelbarrow, which I bought very cheap because it came unassembled. If I ever need to put together a wheelbarrow again, I'll be able to do it a lot faster...

Then I mixed bought compost, peat moss, lime and vermiculite, plus some organic fertilizers in the wheelbarrow, added water, checked the pH, transferred it into containers...whew!

Got a compost bin yesterday and finished putting it together today. It is already half full: leaves I stacked up last fall, along with green weeds I've been pulling from the flower beds.

I'm actually enjoying this. Always thought I didn't like gardening and that I was bad at it. Live and learn.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

A time for everything, huh MV?

[MinorityView]

I guess so.

My mother was a very good and enthusiastic gardener, so when I lived with her I used to let her do it and just help out occasionally with weeding or harvesting.

When I lived in Missouri I had a big garden and a greenhouse and actually produced quite a lot of food, but it was just something I had to do, not something I was enthusiastic about.

But now I'm actually having some fun.

The Egyptian Multiplier Onions were given to me by a friend who gardens on a commercial scale. I planted them in two places and they multiplied. I gave generous amounts to four different people and I still had enough left to plant some in a pot. We'll see how they do on the porch.

They are sort of giant green onions. They never develop bulbs on the bottom.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

How do they multiply if they don't bulb at the bottom?

[MinorityView]

Beats me! I planted a few and this year when they came up again there were many more.

Luckily someone knows!


The potato or multiplier onion, and the Egyptian onion are grown from vegetative parts rather than seed. In the case of the multiplier or potato onion (Allium cepa var. solanium), the underground portion is a compound bulb formed from the segregation of a large mother bulb. Each bulb in the compound bulb produces 6 to 12 plants. Their principal use is the production of early green bunching onions.
The Egyptian onion (Allium cepa var. viviparum) produces clusters of small bulbs called bulbils at the top of the seed stalk in late summer. The bulbils are used to produce very early green onions. Both multiplier and Egyptian onions are planted in the fall, overwintered with some mulch protection, and brought into production in the early spring. Due to this method of culture, the onions are referred to as "winter onions".

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1616.html

[RandomName]

hmm....that makes me wonder, can you use potato onions like regular onions then? I'm growing some for the first time this year, and had assumed that's what they were for. If they're only suited for using like green onions that would be a major disappointment!

[MinorityView]

I don't really know about potato onions. I've got the Egyptian ones. They are green onions only, although the bottoms get quite thick and they have a strong flavor, so in a pinch you could substitute the bottoms for regular onions.

[MinorityView]

My peas are grabbing on to the sticks and the tomato cage I put over them. Ditto the cucumbers. And the tomatoes have some little blossoms developing. I am so excited. Plus I'm going to harvest some kale tonight. My kale is so nice and clean and has no bug holes in it. I've never seen kale like that in the store. I guess the bugs haven't figured out where my kale is...