Anyway, I wanted to give a progress report of the garden - so here's a few pictures...
Photo below - the corn is way ahead of everyone else's in the community, and I really like growing it in these homemade swc's....
Photo below - tomatoes are doing well too, although i've had to pull about three plants and replace them with ones that were more healthy. That's just the thing - there are gonna be a few failures, so backup plants are a real lifesaver.
Photo below - the squash are getting bigger by the day, and extras have been culled since this picture was taken...The upside-down tomato cages have been put into place also...
Photo below - heavy applications of nitrogen are being administered to the onions every couple of days in hopes that nice bulbs will form before they go to seed, and for the record - i'm using an organic fertilizer that has only nitrogen in it..
In other news, since the daughter and her boyfriend were coming up for a visit, I decided to make them a swp from 4 cat litter buckets put together. They had inquired about growing some tomatoes at their home in Birmingham, but really didn't have the ideal spot for doing so...With a 2 gallon water reservoir and around 6 gallons of soil to grow in, the Cherokee Purple tomato plant given to them should do very well. Here's a photo of it....
The handles were also affixed so that the handle on top lifts the bottom bucket when picked up by it. Just one of my little improvements made to the design recently....You know how I like to tinker with things...
Take care, and happy gardening
EG
13 comments:
I wish I could pick some of them too :D I can always grow extra tomatoes, not that I have any now. Mine are yet to germinate.
It looks like everything is growing well. I hope to grow corn for the first time in a while this year. It takes up so much space compared to a lot of things.
Everything looks great! I had a massacre this weekend. There were family and friends over, and children - lots of children. Well, unfortunately ... the children got to my garden. They cut everything off at the stems OR they ripped/stepped all over whatever was not cut down. I cried - after everyone left. THREE months of hard work - down the tubes. So, I begin the process again.
And am reminded ... I do not want children anytime soon. Haha!
All your planting look wonderful, if I didnt realize how much work was involved I'd be more jealous :o) I'm ashamed to show my little scrawny seedlings :o(
EG, I noticed that in last year's post your corn containers had lids with the corn growing through holes. This year you have no lids. Just wondering about the thought process going on there.
Also, tried to find some mention of your 2010 corn harvest but search turned up only early season posts.
http://www.media-organic.com/garden-week-in-review-3
Ah, your garden looks so good. My tomatoes are not liking the hardening off process at all. I hope I salvage as many of them as possible. Next year I will definitely start many and pick the best like you.
Funny thing you mentioned a new SWC design. My brother and I were talking about your designs on Easter. Apparently a buddy of his made one out of two 5 gallon buckets but built a frame inside the reservior to hold the top bucket high enough to create a sizable reservior. A PVC pipe with holes driled in it is the wicking chamber. Apparently his property backs up to a vacant car lot and he has 50 of these growing produce on the concrete. He can move them if the owner ever complains.
Chandramouli_S - yours will be grown plants before ya know it...
Daphne - that's why I like growing corn in swc's - it keeps it very compact.
Kelsea - what a bummer...i'd probably cry too - right after I whipped me some kids...
Gingerbreadshouse7 - aw, you should grow in some swc's...it makes gardening more enjoyable.
mediaOrganic - the main reason i've used plastic mulch in the past is to keep torrential downpours from over-taking my moisture control in the swc's. But the drainage has been greatly enhanced with this year's soil mixture, and i'm not concerned about it this time...
Last year's corn harvest was in spurts - 2 or 3 here, etc., etc....
Sinfonian - thanks, man. I've made one with a pvc pipe as a wicking basket before, and it did really well...
I'd keep an eye on the squash. They may take over the house when no one's looking. The corn in a swc sounds like a great idea. I've never made room in the beds and usually buy corn at a roadside stand, but like some of the older varieties they don't sell.
Well, when life gives you lemons ... buy some hard liquor and hope the pain goes away. Or something like that. I kid, I kid.
I did take the opportunity, though brought on my unfortunate circumstances, to "rework" things a bit. Planted Peaches n Cream corn instead of what was existing, bought a few different varieties of cherry tomatoes (only had one kind prior), and opted to test the waters with Sweet Baby melons.
My final thoughts on the night ... spank your children, if only to save gardens across the world.
I've never seen anybody grow corn in a container before.
Your corn plants are so tall! Squash plants look great too!
gardenvariety-hoosier - Thanks, the squash even had blooms on them this morning...
kelsea - you'll love the peaches and cream corn, it's the best in my opinion. Oh yes...I personally feel that children these days have a spanking deficiency...lol.
The japanese redneck - oh, it grows very good in swc's....
RandomGardener - thanks!
Things are really underway down south. Looks great!
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