The Five Dollar Garden

Long Overdue Uptdate

2019-12-30T13:04:00.003-05:00

So, that $5 garden from 2012?

It definitely succeeded, but I ran out of time to update the blog. I will post pictures later, but wanted to jump on now, years later to explain why I stopped writing. Simplest reason: I got pregnant, with twins, and the pregnancy went south about 20 weeks in. . .which was in the summer of 2012.

In the early fall, I was diagnosed with IC, and put on bed rest in the hopes the pregnancy would last until viability. The worry and fear knocked EVERYthing out of my brain. My garden flourished, and the plants over grew. Fortunately, we lived in a neighborhood without fences, and the neighbors harvested a bunch of the plants so they didn't go to waste.

By some miracle, I made it to 22 weeks, and got admitted to the hospital. At 24 weeks, my beautiful twins were born. . .and spent the next 4 months in the NICU, which meant (again) not a single part of my brain was available to think about gardens or blogging or anything except being beside them as often as possible. The twins survived SO many impossible things, and they continued to grow and thrive in the NICU because of the amazing care they were getting. I felt fortunate beyond belief, but I wasn't thinking about the garden.

Our financial situation went from tight to dire. I skipped 2 months of mortgage because it was either go visit my babies or pay the mortgage (we had good insurance but the transportation costs were the equivalent of a full month's mortgage).

I took a work at home position that made good money by the hour, but it took me hours (plural) to do a single hour of work and I didn't have child care, so that was awful. I started blogging for a great parenting blog.

Unsurprisingly, I fell into ppd, which went untreated because (again) the focus of every part of my being was these babies, and no one else was paying attention to my well-being enough to notice it. I was doing my best to hang on, to love on these twins, and to make it to their endless doctor/specialist appointments.

A full year went by and the garden just didn't happen in 2013.

In January of 2014, I started thinking of the garden again. We were moving to a new duty station in the fall, but I missed the way gardening made me feel accomplished and grounded (hah! pun!). I knew that I was accomplishing a lot raising my babies, but often it didn't FEEL like a lot. It felt exhausting, and frustrating, and I was always worried. All. The. Time. Plus there was that undiagnosed PPD thing.

I started a garden again, this time with the extra seeds a neighbor happened to offer up on the neighborhood page -- she had planted what she wanted and was getting rid of the rest. So, I planted them in the small garden plot and tended them.

The twins were crawling, and absolutely LOVED squishing and throwing cherry tomatoes. The loved the mud of watering the garden and messing around in it and I loved having them in there with me -- getting dirty and loving it. I loved being outdoors. I loved when the first plants came. The garden didn't do as well because of my helpers, but oh my lord did I love having those helpers beside me.

In late August, we'd harvested the early plants. I pulled the remaining plants out of the garden, and seeded it with grass.

We moved to a new duty station in the PNW that fall (2014), and that military housing did not have spaces to grow things. So I failed at container gardening, but learned some valuable lessons about the lovely long growing season here and the less than lovely lack of sun in the winter. Our financial situation was a little better -- I had a part time job stocking shelves at the NEX in the evenings (which was SO much fun though it didn't pay well).

The twins got stronger and healthier, and doctor's appointments went from 6+ per week, to specialists every 6 months and OT/PT/Speech weekly. I went in for a check up and was brutally honest about how I was feeling, and got a dx for ppd and anxiety, and began a course of therapy, which was an immense help.

And then we moved to a house with a yard and amazing landlords in spring 2015, and I started a garden with clearance rack plants and items from freecycle. That summer, it was clear -- the twins were healthy enough that I could work a regular day job. For me that always meant teaching, and in this state getting a teaching certificate isn't so impossible.

I started teaching in 2016. . .and have been there since. I love love love it. I continued to garden, but spent more like $50 on the garden that year. Since then, we have moved again but this time the house is MY house, and MY yard, and I can gradually transform it into something wonderful.

And that's where we are now, and that's what happened to my garden.

Invasion from Within: The Squash Borers Attack "Alien" style

2012-07-22T11:21:00.001-04:00

My exploding foamy squash vine

Squash Borers. I hate them. I've only just met them, and I already hate them.

Yesterday, I went to weed around the squash and saw that the vines near the soil looked like something out of a science fiction movie. The insides had turned into foam and burst from the confines of the vine walls. It was creepy, and I wondered what bacteria could do that. They were beautiful, and everything was growing well one day, and the next, it was like they'd dissolved into creepy foam.

I googled "squash vine foam" and discovered pictures that looked exactly like my squash: I had vine borers. According to the University of Minnesota's extension website page on Managing Vine Borers in Home Gardens, all of this destruction was caused by the nasty larvae of a kind of a funky looking clearwing moth. I knew nothing about this thing, so all the information below is from them. You should check out their full article for a more detailed explanation, and read more for my short one.

ABOUT VINE BORERS (the little basta'ds)

The moth, which looks like an orangeish red wasp and flies during the day (seriously) is 1/2 inch long and dotted with black. They come out of the ground in June/early July and fly around looking for their favorite plants (pumpkin, winter and summer squashes) and lay one tiny (1/25") flat brown egg at the base your vines. The eggs hatch into a whitish 1" long larvae--I'd have found you one, but I was too angry yesterday to be all calm and scientificy about it.

The nasty beasties then burrow into your fine and eat it from the inside, turning the vine into a straw basically, and secreting the nasty foam explosion--which is called "frass," by the way. I have to admit that I had to pause at the coolness of the word and learning something new even in the midst of the dawning realization that these little dudes were pulling an Alien chest burst in slo-mo on my plants.

In the process of gnawing their way through your hard growing plants, they cut of the water supply to your plant, wilting the leaves. After about a month to a month and a half, you know, enough time to completely destroy your crop, they leave the dying plant and dig into the ground about an inch or so and hang out until the following summer, when they emerge in their orangy wasp-looking glory and destroy your next crop.

ONCE THEY'VE ATTACKED

wilting leaf from a week ago

A week or so ago, I noticed the squash and pumpkins had a few leaves that were yellowing and wilting. I assumed not enough water for such explosive growth, and watered them. The problem didn't seem to spread, but the leaves didn't get better, so I didn't worry. Hindsight being what it is, I should've worried since wilting leaves is one of the first signs of vine borers.

I looked everywhere to figure out what to do, and it turns out there isn't much once the larvae is in there gnawing. You can try to remove the larvae from your vine, by using a knife to carefully slice up the vine starting from the explody-foamy part (or the hole if it hasn't exploded yet). Eventually, you'll find the larvae, and you can remove it and kill it with the already handy knife. If the damage isn't too bad, your plant might survive.

However, several of the little buggers can attack a single plant, so if you find one, you may not have stopped the problem. You'll need to keep looking carefully at the vine to find others. Once you're satisfied you've killed them, bury the vine in the soil (easiest just to lay it down on existing soil and mound up soil around it) and perhaps it will grow roots. But, every website I went to said this was highly unlikely to help. Think zero to 1% success rate, and then even if it's early on. BUT, if you love your plant, or have a short growing season, you may as well give it a try.

my squash in the trash can

My mom (a great gardener) had a much more drastic solution. "rip them up, and throw them away" she said calmly when I called her.
"No!" I protested. "I worked hard on these."
"Give me a break," she replied nonplussed. "They're squash, it's harder to PREVENT them from growing. You've got to rip them up or you'll lose all your vines.

I grumbled at my mom's practicality, but the University backed her completely, saying "Promptly pull and destroy any plants killed by squash vine borers," and I had to admit that exploded vines were a probable sign of imminent plant death (much like the exploding chests of any minor character in an Alien movie) no matter how pretty the pumpkin on the end of it was.

So, I pulled up the darn vines and threw the bastards away. It was not a happy moment, and my garden looked naked where the lush vines once were. I was tempted to try the 1% success solution with my pumpkin by cutting off the vine well above where the squash borer was and mounding it, but I just can't see a rootless vine producing enough nutrients to nurture a fledgling pumpkin.

So, what now? Well, the University extension calmly points out that Vine Borers only appear once a year, so if you plant a late crop after the larvae have emerged and died, you can avoid them altogether. I looked despairingly at my now nearly naked garden corner, and thought about their exact words "A second planting of summer squash made in early July will mature after adult borers have finished laying eggs." I'm sure I have some seeds somewhere, and if not, I'm sure I can get them. It can't hurt, and it's not like they're going to rise up and attack again.

PREVENTION

It turns out prevention really is the only effective way to deal with these things. Here are more recommendations from the awesome people at University of Minnesota. Again, their page has detailed explanations for each of these, so I'm putting a link to it after each paragraph where they give more detail.

Plant Right

The moths don't like all vine crops. They aren't fans of butternut squash or cucumbers, and they actively dislike melons. So, if you plant those and your neighbor plants pumpkins, then the moths will fly over there to lay eggs.

Monitor

Starting in late June, pay extra close attention to the base of your squash vines. The moths are distinctive--I did mention they were ORANGE and looked like wasps, right?--it turns out they also buzz loudly. So be on the lookout for the suckers flying around in your garden.
Lay out yellow traps for the little suckers. They're attracted to yellow, so if you take a yellow bowl or bucket (check out the Dollar Store) filled with water, they'll fly in and drown. They recommend checking traps at least once a day, and I recommend stirring the water a bit so they don't also become mosquito breeding grounds. If you see even a single moth in your traps, you need to go on to the next step (personally, I'm all for just doing the next step anyway, but then I may be biased right now).
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1209.html

Block 'em

Place floating row covers over the rows of squash starting either when you see the first one in your trap or in late June and leave them on in for 2 weeks. You'll want to anchor the row covers so that they can't get underneath. The only problem with this is that bees won't be able to pollinate your flowers, so it only works if you hand pollinate or if your plants are already pollinated or if you're cool with them not pollinating for a while.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1209.html

Kill 'em
Yep, you can totally use insecticides on these suckers. Basically, you'll spray or dust the base of the stem either when you see the first beastie in your trap or when the vines start taking over in earnest (you know, late June/early July). Then keep it up every week to 10 days until the end of July to nail any of the larvae that managed to survive the first dusting or two.
The UofM website has specific names of good insecticides to use, and of course keep in mind your gardening style and whether or not children or animals will be in contact with the squash when deciding on insecticides.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1209.html

AND NOW WE PLAY THE WAITING GAME

So that's it. My garden is nekkid. The triumphal spread of squash has halted, and I'm ransacking the neighborhood looking for squash seeds to plant for fall. I'm tempted to go drag my beautiful pumpkin out of the trash and try getting roots to grow, but at the same time, I know it's just lengthening the already traumatic good bye process.

On the plus side, now I can grow the pumpkin on the trellis from the start. I think I'm grasping at straws here, but still. . .there's that.

Growing Pumpkins Up

2012-07-19T16:03:00.000-04:00

The pumpkin is engaged in a hostile takeover of the garden. . .and the yard. Having crowded out the peppers, it's now marching across the lawn toward the road and the neighbor's hedge.

This is a problem because we live in rental military housing, and our lawn isn't technically "ours." There are no fences between the houses, and every space except for our porches is communal. That's part of why I made a raised bed--the defined edges to the garden ensured that the neighborhood kids that run around don't also run OVER the garden.

The property management company brings in landscapers twice a month who ride around the neighborhood on stand up mowers and mow the lawns. I tuck the squash and pumpkin vines into the garden's borders on those days to ensure the tendrils don't get chopped off, but it's truly only a matter of time. So, I've started looking for space saving solutions.

I can either expand the garden out or up. Since I already have a set of trellises, building up seems easier. Plus, my neighbors next door like to play catch in the back space, and I don't want to infringe on it more than I already have.
So, I found some websites that show squash on trellises and in slings. This thread at square foot gardening has some nice images, and in this case a picture truly explains it best: http://squarefoot.creatingforum.com/t6866-squash-and-the-trellisreally.

It seems doable, even though my pumpkins may end up being a bit too big. Last night I did a huge closet triage--and I have a ton of old t-shirts to use for slings. T-shirt fabric is perfect for this purpose. It has a slight stretch but not too much of one, and it's strong enough to handle the weight of the melons. More than that, it fits within my budget.

So, tonight and tomorrow, I'm going to set up a second trellis and loop the squash around it. I should've started before the pumpkin appeared, but I didn't. . .so now I have to get a second set of hands to help hold the squash when I thread the vine through the trellis.

Cooking our First Summer Squash

2012-07-17T16:19:00.000-04:00

The squash is growing! We have our first actual summer squash, and it's ready to pick. It's that glorious bright yellow and just the right size for us to eat.

I was excitedly showing it off to my husband, and he asked skeptically "so. . .you like squash?"

"Oh no," I replied, "I was kind of hoping you did. It's from those shared seeds. . .they were free, so I grew squash."

There was a long pause, and then from beside me I heard a quiet "um, no. Never been a fan. I don't suppose you know how to cook it."

In that moment, I realized that one of the biggest producers in my garden was a crop I'd never liked and didn't know how to cook. My mom suggested a cool recipe, which I'll try with the next squash--goodness knows I'll have plenty of practice because there are plenty of baby squash out there growing. If that's a success, I'll post it in a blog entry later because I don't have the ingredients for it today.

In the meantime, thank goodness for google recipe search. If you haven't used it, you should give it a try. You can access it at the google recipe search landing page here: http://www.google.com/landing/recipes/, or you can just type your ingredient into the google search bar, then choose "recipe" from the left column of search options (see image at left).

It's great because you can choose your ingredients by putting them the in the search bar or by checking "yes" or "no" from the suggested ingredients on the left (see image at right). It's not perfect, I'd like to see a longer list of suggest ingredients, but it's great because it searches several recipe blogs and sites at once. Using the suggested ingredients list meant I was able to select only things I had on hand in the house. And the recipe search found a few choices that work with what I have.

The recipe I went with was at epicurious, and it's called "Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte with Parmesean." It looks delicious, and (equally importantly) includes a simple list of ingredients I have here at home: potatoes, squash, onions, flour, herbs/spices. You can find it here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Herbed-Summer-Squash-and-Potato-Torte-with-Parmesan-105167.

Protect Plants from Cold Without Trashing the Yard

2012-05-08T13:36:00.003-04:00

So, you planted too early? Now it's time to think about serious protection for plants. Unfortunately, plant covers cost money and are typically kind of ugly. Home made solutions make the garden look like a tornado's just strewn the contents of your laundry room or recycling bin across the garden. And, in my case, when that garden is also the "decorative" front lawn in military housing, it is cause for annoyed neighbors and violation warnings. Fortunately, there are ways to protect delicate plants from the cold without looking like you're also running the worlds trashiest yard sale.

There are tons of products you can buy to protect young vegetables from the frost if you plant too early. Some of them include the Wall O' Water, and the Season Starter which look like someone stuck a bunch of those popsicle tubes into a cilendar and filled them with water. The water forms a thick buffer between the plant and the cold night air. You can buy plant covers, which are basically glorified sheets or tarps that you put over your plants. The problem with them is that when the fabric touches the plants and there's frost, it will still damage the plant where it touches it. Pop up cold frames and clear plastic cold frames have the advantage of a plant cover without the danger of the plant touching the material and causing frost to touch it. None of these fit within my $5 budget.

Then there are homemade solutions, but many just aren't options because we'd get tossed out on our ears so fast the moment we put sheets over plants in the "decorative" yard, put upside down buckets in front of the house, or milk jugs on plants. Some even suggest putting water filled containers next to plants. All of these would be considered littering, and just won't work for our neighborhood. So I kept looking online and found out more.

There are Different Types of Cold Damage
According to the University of Georgia, there are three types of cold damage: Burn, desiccation, and frost cracks. Each looks different, occurs in different conditions and had different results on plants.

Burn: plants get mushy and turn brown or black like they've been burned. Big plants may get sunken areas, but my plants are small, so they just would look nasty. Fortunately, none of my plants have that effect. It's caused by very cold temperatures. This can happen overnight and get worse every time the plant's exposed to the cold temp.
Desiccation: Plants dry up at the edges as if you haven't watered them in a while. To understand why, you have to channel your inner elementary school science teacher: cold doesn't hold moisture like warm does. It's caused by winter winds, which dehydrate plants over time as the dry air blows across them. It's a slow process that starts with wilting, and continues over several nights until the plants are dried up. So you can more easily bring plants back from the brink.
Frost Cracks: Woody plants get cracks when it's freezing at night and warm in the day. The cells right under the bark freeze at night, and burst when they thaw too quickly the next day, so the wood splits. What's weird about this is that it takes frequent cold nights/warm days for this to happen, and you don't see the cracks until summer sometimes. This also is not my current problem.

So, I have the second type. What to do now? Well. . .

Protect plants from the wind with pretty stuff. This would be a great time to strategically move decorative stones or, heaven forbid, garden trolls to temporary positions next to (almost on top of) your tender vegetables to block the wind. Alternatively, I can replant some of these to less exposed spots.
Protect plant stems from wind with mulch. I don't have a ton of mulch, but mounding it around the plants will protect the base of the stems and roots from the cold.
Water plants. I read a lot about this, but nothing explained why watering helped so much. But, each every page suggested ensuring plants were well watered.
Create a cloak of still air with an upside-down jar. For some reason, plastic looks trashy, but mason jars look rustic and country-pretty. I have no idea why. But, the goal of covering plants with milk jugs or buckets is to create a cloak of still air around them. This same effect can be achieved with small plants using an overturned mason jar--or empty salsa or pasta sauce jar in a pinch. The key is that the object not touch the plant. Since the overturned jar only goes on in the afternoon/night (put it on in the afternoon, keep it on all night, remove in the morning as temperatures rise), it only has to withstand afternoon/night scrutiny. So, I'm considering putting a cloth bow or painting a stripe on mine to make it more decorative and give it a shot.
Upside Down Pots to create that same "dead air" space. This operates on the same theory as the upside-down jar but benefits from the fact that I have empty pots at hand. My theory is that people are used to seeing pots in gardens, right? So a few upside down ones shouldn't seem trashy.
Warm the Soil With Black Cover. This idea came from something I read on Rutger's "If Plants Could Talk" website. They suggest black rubber mulch to absorb the daytime heat and warm the soil. I don't want to buy mulch, but I think the concept would work almost as well with any black colored material. So, I was thinking of cutting circles from black rubber If I have it, garden fabric (which I have somewhere), or other black/dark material. Then cutting a hole in the center and a slit down the side like a Christmas tree skirt. I will slip this onto and around the plant's base and it would lay flat to the ground. Most people won't even notice it when they walk by, but it should help warm the soil.

I'm starting this today, and will post tutorials as I upload the pictures. Hopefully it will work!

I Planted too Early. . .Now to Protect Plants from the Cold

2012-05-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

I grew up gardening in Michigan, where spring weather changes constantly. The saying in Michigan, as it is in many states, is that if you don't like the weather you should just wait five minutes. In the depths of a hard Michigan winter, that saying sounds like a cruel joke as weeks go by without sunlight during short days and cold temps. But, in spring, it rings true again, and the temperatures fluctuate wildly--rising into the seventies one day, and bumping up only slightly into the forties the next. Night temperatures meander around like drunkards, floating around the upper 40's one night and in the low 20's another.

So, I was used to treating the first week of nights above freezing as a tease, and waiting patiently until the end of May to plant tender vegetables outdoors. But then I moved to paradise--where the daytime temperatures were consistently 72-88 degrees, and night temperatures were 65-75 degrees. I gardened there for years before moving to the south where the last freeze date was in early spring and temperatures at night were consistent.

In Connecticut, it's not like that. Temperatures jump all over the place. But, I forgot. I waited until the end of April, and couldn't wait anymore. On May 7, I planted the tender vegetables and herbs outside thinking I'd past the frost date, and I was right. . .but not right enough. Even though the temperatures didn't drop to freezing or below, the fell into the 40's and upper 30's. And the next morning, the smaller plants looked wilted and weak. I've moved most of them inside, but there are some I planted outside in the ground, and now I'm faced with figuring out how to protect the outside plants at night in a way that doesn't make our front yard look like a trash heap.

So, I did some research on ways to protect plants and the different types of freezing/effects. I'll post a how to about it later. But, it was definitely interesting.

4 Tips For Getting Plant Bargains at the Store

2012-04-21T13:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we searched for decorative plants for my brother's yard. His back yard is full sun, and his front yard is mostly shady, and he plans to live in his house for quite a while. As usual, I had my eye out for a bargain, which made me think more about ways to get plants for cheap at stores. It's amazing what deals you can get on plants that need a little TLC.

1. Look for out of the way sales racks. Often big box stores have sale priced plants in multiple locations. In the main garden area, you will often see sales tags on various plants. These are good discounts if they're on plants you love. Slightly off to the side, usually inside the outdoor fenced area, you will find older plants or plants that are dying all lumped together on a single rack for steep discounts. The rack is out of the way, so the store doesn't have to deal with shelf space, and they're willing to sell the plants for almost nothing rather than take a total loss. These are worth browsing because many plants that can't survive in the pot will do fine in the ground with some care and attention. Whether these racks exist is entirely at the whim of the garden shop manager, so if you don't see them at one store, check out another branch in the same chain.
Finally, sometimes the nurseries that supply the plants will set up short term discount racks far to the side of the garden area. An example is the $1.00 rack in the picture at right, which I spotted at a Home Depot in Missouri in late April. The nursery had moved $7-$10 spring blooming plants to this rack far from the main garden area in the hope of selling as many of them as possible before she brought in the next shipment of plants. She was putting up stickers on Friday, by Saturday, most of the plants were sold, and by Monday they'd been replaced by new $10 ones.

2. Perennials past their bloom are often the best deal. Often big box stores place their perennials at a steep discount in the weeks after they finish blooming. The flowers are no longer in bloom so they don't catch customers' eyes and take up shelf space. However, there's nothing wrong with the plants, and they make healthy additions to any garden. Some plants will not bloom again until next year, however planting them now will give them time to get established in your garden and grow strong roots. Others may still have the potential to bloom again. Simply deadhead them, by gently popping off the dead flowers, and they may regrow blooms this season. Whether they bloom or not, by next spring, you will have the same plants as your neighbors for 20% to 10% of the full price.

My $1.50 "annual" a year later

3. Learn about plants and your growing zone. Last summer, I was looking through the sales rack at a Lowe's and saw a beautiful wandering jew in a large pot for $1.50. A garden center employee was marking prices and explained that they mark down annuals at the end of the season, and that these plants were considered annuals in the northeast because they can't survive the cold winter. To my eye, it was a perennial houseplant, so I brought it indoors for the winter, and the wandering jew thrived, nearly doubling in size. A little plant knowledge saved me quite a bit of cash

4. Stop by the plant section frequently. Whenever you go to a store that sells plants, swing by the garden center and browse the sales racks. Because plants bloom and die quickly, they go on sale quickly and are discarded quickly, so sales plants have rapid turnover and the best way to find a deep discount is to stumble on it. This also gives you the opportunity to chat with the garden center staff. Over time, you'll get to know the staff and see who knows their stuff about plants. You may be surprised how many stores sell plants now besides nurseries, by the way: hardware stores, big box stores, grocery stores, even the occasional card or drug store. You may also be surprised how many seemingly high priced nurseries have great sales. If you're at the store anyway, wander over to the plant section, say "hello," and peek at the clearance plants.

Replanted Basil Update

2012-04-13T10:07:00.002-04:00

In February, I immersed 2 woody stems from a dying basil plant in water in the hopes that they would grow roots. One of the stems has not grown roots yet, but has produced new leaves.

The second stem has grown larger leaves, and several roots that are 3-5 inches long. The plastic container I used, which formerly held gummy candy, proved perfect for this task. It was clear and let sunlight in, kept the stems a uniform temperature, and had a lid that was easy to cut to place the stems in.

To harvest the woody plant stem, I lifted the lid from the container, cut a slice out of the lid from the edge and gently pulled the stem sideways to the edge of the lind and free of the plastic. I had to be careful not to harm it on the way or destroy the lid since it needed to stay intact to allow the second stem to grow roots.

While the lid was off, I dumped out the water, gently wiped the layer of material that had collected on the rootless stem off, and added fresh water. The rootless stem is sitting in the windowsill now, and will hopefully grow roots.

I planted the stem that had grown roots in a milk jug by laying down a layer of garden soil, setting the basil inside it so the roots wouldn't get damaged, and gently pouring more soil over the roots.

The end result is a basil plant identical to the old and dying one from which I harvested these stems. The new plant should produce the same great flavor and scent and cost nothing.

We Have Birds!

2012-04-10T08:17:00.000-04:00

Spring break just ended here in the Northeast, three days ago, I was working in the living room and noticed three small girls outside the corner window.

They seemed determined to bend the tall bush/small tree in half until it broke, so I wandered outside, and asked what they were up to. "We think there's a bird's nest in here! A bird keeps flying out, and we've been watching it."

The tree is basically a tall bush with three trunks, all of which are covered in flat needles from just above ground level to the top. I pulled down one of the trunks from the top and bent it down, revealing a beautiful little nest about 6 feet up.

The girls and I made a deal, that they would only check it once a day, and I would take pictures and leave them for them to see so we didn't scare the birds away. I held the branch aside, and the girls took turns holding each other up so that they could see the 5 little blue eggs inside. They were excited, but worried that the mother bird wouldn't return.

Yesterday, I took my camera outside, set the delay, and raised it up above my head to take the picture above. Imagine my surprise when I looked at the screen and saw a cute little baby bird begging for food. The girls were delighted to see the baby, and I almost expected them to run to the next and half destroy it to it. But, they impressed me immeasurably. They stuck to their one-peek-a-day rule, and just looked at it once.

In the meantime, I'm not sure what kind of bird they are, because the mother flies far away whenever I try to take a picture of her, but soon I'll be able to get one and find out. In the meantime, we have three bird feeders, which I keep full. One is a finch feeder, one is a suet block in the front yard, and the third is my favorite, a small platform feeder in a small tree that looks like a manger. I hope to keep them around and happy.

33 cent tomato seedlings

2012-04-06T10:31:00.000-04:00

I was at the store today, and wandered into the garen section to window shop and get ideas. I've found that there are almost always free or inexpensive ways to duplicate some of the cool ideas I find there. Far in the back of the outdoor plants were small pots of tomato seedlings. The pots were originally $2.50, but had been marked down to just under a dollar.

Imagining my frozen tomatoes from a couple weeks ago, I found myself leafing through the pots. Near the back there was a single small pot with three seedlings growing in it. I looked carefully at the pot for tell tale signs of problems: rootbound, plants too close together. It looked good, so I gently plied the plants and dirt out of the pot and gently looked it over. The plants weren't rootbound, and digging a little into the dirt easily separated the plants. I carefully tucked it all back in the pot and prepared to spend my next dollar on the garden.

I purchased the pot for $1.01, and brought it home, gently teased apart the roots and plants, and now I have three independent seedlings resting quietly in their own pots that cost only 33.66 cents each. It's more expensive than the original tomato seeds were, since they were free. But, it's much less expensive than I would have spent before.

Each plant costs three times less than it would if I'd bought it on sale at $1 per pot, and seven times less than if I'd paid $2.50 per pot. In about two weeks the plants will be the large size, which I could have purchased for $3.50 each, or ten times more.

There is little more delicious than a fresh-picked tomato, so I'm excited to have plants again. I'm treating them gently as they nestle into their new soil and their roots recover from my unentangling.

April Fool's Day

2012-04-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

"Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you." - Langston Hughes

It's April Fool's Day! And in the spirit of the Prairie Home Companion annual Jokes show, here are some of my favorite gardening jokes form around the web. Sources are below the jokes list.

One Liners

If I could only grow green stuff in my garden like I can in my refrigerator (from David Hobson's Garden Humor)
Why do potatoes make good detectives? Because they keep their eyes peeled. (from David Hobson's Garden Humor)
What do you get if you cross a four-leaf clover with poison ivy? A rash of good luck. (from David Hobson's Garden Humor)
What do you call it when worms take over the world? Global Worming. (from David Hobson's Garden Humor)
Why do melons have fancy weddings? Because they cantaloupe. (from David Hobson's Garden Humor)
What kind of flowers do you give to King Tut? Chrysanthemummies. (from Karen and Mike Garofalo's Green Way Blog)
"Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer is perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible (from Karen and Mike Garofalo's Green Way Blog)exception of a moose singing "Embraceable You" in spats." - Woody Allen (from Karen and Mike Garofalo's Green Way Blog)
A magical tractor was driving down the road and it turned into a field. (from Karen and Mike Garofalo's Green Way Blog)
What is small, red and whispers? A hoarse radish. (from Karen and Mike Garofalo's Green Way Blog)

Long Jokes
Two friars are having trouble paying off the belfry, so they open a florist shop. Everyone wants to buy flowers from the men of God so business is quickly booming. The florist across town sees a huge drop in sales and asks the two friars to close their shop, but they refuse.
A month later the florist begs the friars to close because he’s having trouble feeding his family. Again, they refuse, so the florist hires Hugh McTaggert. Hugh is the roughest, toughest thug in town and is hired to “persuade” the friars to close. Hugh asks the friars to close their florist shop. When they refuse, he threatens to beat the crap out of them and wreck their shop every day they remain open, so they close.
This proves once again that Hugh and only Hugh can prevent florist friars. ~ Paul (from David Hobson's Garden Humor)

Once there was a beautiful woman who loved to work in her vegetable garden, but no matter what she did, she couldn't get her tomatoes to ripen. Admiring her neighbor's garden, which had beautiful, bright-red tomatoes, she went one day and inquired of him his secret.
"It's really quite simple," the old man explained. "Twice each day, in the morning and in the evening, I expose myself in front of the tomatoes and they turn red with embarrassment."
Desperate for the perfect garden, she tried his advice and proceeded to expose herself to her plants, twice daily.
Two weeks passed and her neighbor stopped by to check her progress. "So," he asked. "Any luck with the tomatoes?"
"No," she replied excitedly. "But you should see the size of my cucumbers!" (from David Hobson's Garden Humor)

The real meaning of plant catalog terminology:
"A favorite of birds" means to avoid planting near cars, sidewalks, or clotheslines.
"Grows more beautiful each year" means "Looks like roadkill for the foreseeable future."
"Zone 5 with protection" is a variation on the phrase "Russian roulette."
"May require support" means your daughter's engineering degree will finally pay off.
"Moisture-loving" plants are ideal for landscaping all your bogs and swamps.
"Carefree" refers more to the plant's attitude than to your workload.
"Vigorous" is code for "has a Napoleonic compulsion to take over the world."
"Grandma's Favorite" -- until she discovered free-flowering, disease-resistant hybrids. (from Karen and Mike Garofalo's Green Way Blog)

A lawyer and two friends, a Rabbi and a Hindu holy man, had car trouble in the countryside and asked to spend the night with a farmer. The farmer said "There might be a problem; you see, I only have room for two to sleep, so one of you must sleep in the barn."
"No problem," said the Rabbi, "My people wandered in the desert for forty years, I am humble enough to sleep in the barn for an evening." With that he departed to the barn and the others bedded down for the night. Moments later a knock was heard at the door; the farmer opened the door, there stood the Rabbi from the barn.
"What's wrong?" asked the farmer. He replied, "I am grateful to you, but I can't sleep in the barn. There is a pig in the barn and my faith believes that is an unclean animal."
His Hindu friend agrees to swap places with him. But a few minutes late the same scene reoccurs. There is a knock on the door,
"What's wrong, now?" the farmer asks. The Hindu holy man replies, "I too am grateful for you helping us out but there is a cow in the barn and in my country cows are considered sacred. I can't sleep on holy ground!"
Well, that leaves only the lawyer to make the change. He grumbled and complained, but went out to the barn.
Moments later there was another knock on the farmer's door. Frustrated and tired, the farmer opens the door, and there stood the pig and the cow. (from the Maggies Garden Forum)

Looking Online for Free Stuff

2012-03-12T05:46:00.000-04:00

I started searching for soil today, and began online. I found a few resources I expected, and a few surprises. All in all, though the pickings were slim. I hope that the few feelers I put out prove fruitful because otherwise, I'm going to have to go low-tech on this one.

(see specifics after the jump)

Craigslist (www.craigslist.org)
The first place I looked was Craigslist, where I found an owner of a pony stable who offered free manure for anyone willing to come and get it. They left a phone number in their ad, so I took that down and will call them at a more appropriate time of day. Basically, trolling craigslist consists of first going to my local craigslist, then scrolling to the "free" section of the "for sale" column. Not content with just checking there, I also went to the "farm & garden" section and looked for horse stables offering space. I e-mailed these posters and asked if they would be willing to part with some of their manure. Hopefully a few will respond, but I figure it can't hurt.

Freecycle (www.freecycle.org)
Next, I wandered over to freecycle. It's a network of people who offer things to share for free, where you can post a WANTED ad or an OFFER ad. It's fairly restricted and they discourage want ads until you've posted offers, but I joined last year and posted an offer of teaching supplies so I should be ok. Freecycle requires a membership, and the individual communities are only as friendly as their moderators. Ours is less welcoming than others I've joined, but it's not terrible. I posted a wanted ad for soil or manure, and it's waiting confirmation by the moderator. We'll see if it bears fruit.

State Dept of Environmental Protection (http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?A=2718&Q=325352)
My state requires cities to recycle leaves, and many cities allow residents to take small amounts of the compost created by recycling. Unfortunately, tracking down the municipal composting companies is difficult. I suspect this is because their first priority is getting the leaves composted, their second is using it, and customer/citizen services is a distant third. However, I eventually found a list of all of the city composting plants in Connecticut at http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?A=2718&Q=325374. So, I'll give them a call and perhaps get some compost for free.

So far that's it. I wish there were more.

Heading to Virginia

2012-03-07T21:04:00.000-05:00

Today I transplanted the tiny seedlings to prepare for the trip south. Using clean cans, plastic bottles, and modified plastic milk gallon jugs, I've given each plant a new place to live for the drive. All of them fit in a bin, which will go in my back seat for the 9 hour drive.

I'm excited to help set up my friend's garden, both because I love her and her daughter, and because it's a way to say "thank you" for all that they've done for me by letting me stay there when I have to be in Virginia to work.

Protect Plants with a Living Screen.

2012-03-04T05:33:00.000-05:00

protective screen and growing space
for spring and summer plants

As cool spring weather moves to hot summers, some plants thrive while others wilt. To get the most out of the overlap between the cool and warm weather, plant sun and heat loving summer plants in a way that they protect cool spring plants from the sun. This will extend the growing season for the cool weather plants a bit, and ensure that you get a few more harvests out of them.

There are several hardy vining flowers and vegetables that thrive in hot days with full sun, growing quickly and producing well, while the spring plants suffer and wilt. However, careful planting can make use of the quick growing nature of summer plants by planting carefully to extend the life of spring plants while giving room to the hot weather loving plants.

Planting vining summer plants at the front of a row in front of a fence and training them to grow at an angle over the cooler temperature loving plants will provide dappled shade that can help give the vines the sun they need and protect the vegetables that grew so nicely when temperatures were cooler.

To do this, map your garden out before you plant it, and ensure that you leave about 6"-12" at the front of the bed furthest from the fence or back of your garden (see diagram on right). Plant your spring vegetables as you normally would and start your summer vegetable seeds indoors.

As the spring season moves into summer and temperatures rise, you will need to shade your cool weather vegetables. Run garden twine strings approximately 4" to 6" apart from the base of the bed to the top of the fence. If you don't have a fence, you can run the strings to a tall stake in the back of the garden. This works best if you're using raised beds or square foot gardening because you can simply attach the strings to the wooden bed border with a staple gun or nail. The strings should be no more than 6" apart and need to be taut. They will support your summer plants.

Next, plant seedlings for summer vine vegetables or flowers in the front of the bed where you've left space for them. As the seedlings grow, train them to wind around the strings as needed, but they should seek out the strings on their own. Generally speaking, your biggest problem will be creating an even screen that allows sun through without allowing the plants below to get too hot.

The result is a beautiful green screen that protects your cool weather vegetables and extends their producing season by a few weeks. It will not protect them indefinitely, and some plants may wither anyway. Others may survive the summer and begin producing nicely in the fall--it depends on the plant. But, even if this only extends the season a little, it's more than you would have otherwise, and the summer plants enjoy the extended growing area.

My Garden Update

2012-02-28T19:18:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited. Much of my seeds are growing even though they're doing so in secondhand potting soil. There are surprises on the sad side (the sweet peppers apparently hate me and the sun and refuse to climb up out of their dirt bed), but for the most part it's going well.

The garlic is huge, and has gorgeous long roots. I'm going to start hardening it off tomorrow. The green onions continue to grow in their cup of water, which I appreciate, although part of me wonders if they'll eventually need nutrients that good soil provides.

The celery has popped up through the layer of dirt I'd sprinkled over the bits I'd planted, and looks a little like lettuce, while the onion continues to merrily grow downward in its temporary pot.

As for the seeds, the peas are a lovely 8-10 inches tall, and are going to need stakes soon. Unfortunately, I have NO idea what I'm going to find for free to stake them with, unless I raid the neighborhood wood of kindling. The tomatoes and hot peppers are about 2 inches tall and unfurling leaves.

Then, there are the sunflowers I started in water from some bird seed that I had from last year. While in the water, they grew sprouts, and I planted the largest among them in some toilet paper tubes. They haven't shown any signs of life yet, but it's only been a few days.

The pineapple is about the same, as are the house plants. The volunteer morning glory is growing like the weed it is.

I'm pretty happy with this, but I need to start hardening them off because I'm going to Virginia at the end of next week to work (yay!), couch surf (which sucks), and help my friend put in a real garden (her first) using some of these plants. I need them to be able to handle those cold nights because they won't get to stay in her house the way they stay in mine because there are no sunny windows.

The rest of the plants will lounge about here under the ministrations of my non-gardening (but very kind) husband, who promises to water them as long as I provide a schedule. I'd like to have the garlic in the ground by then to cut down on what he needs to water. Also, while down there, I hope to take advantage of the warm days and easy access to gardeners I know to get some other plants started for myself (for free).

Preparing for the trip South

2012-02-28T12:03:00.000-05:00

Early next week, I'm driving back to Virginia to substitute in my old job for three weeks. I earn about 40% of my old salary, and the trip south costs about $250, cutting into that amount even more. However, I have yet to find work here and it's nice to work at something I'm good at, and I love seeing my old friends, including a close friend and her 16 month old daughter who is kind enough to let me stay with them.

When I was there the last time, I was talking about starting my seeds for the shorter New England spring and summer. She observed that she'd like to have a garden for she and her daughter, but hadn't had one before. I offered to set her garden up for her--with the trade off being that I would keep half of the plants. This is one of the most capable people I know, who's generous beyond normal, so it's nice to be able to help her do something like this.

She also has a nice sized side yard and a landlord who won't mind a garden going in. This means that I have a chance to grow a garden in some space, a luxury I haven't had since 2003. I started tomatoes, sweet peppers, broccoli and sugar snap peas for her in late January, and am taking them down with me to start in her garden.

There are several challenges. First, there is nowhere inside that gets a full day of sun, so I'll have to put the plants outside during the day, then bring them in at night to harden them off. Second, I'm not sure anyone in the house is comfortable with the plants coming in at night. Third, I need to do this inexpensively as possible. The plants are still very young, so they're fragile. Finally, I may have to take my vegetables down with me because I don't want to ask my husband to water them since he doesn't like gardening (and the attendent dirt/insects).

However, there are several advantages too. I have friends with tools, she's nice and willing to let me make things. I have time after work while it's still daylight to put the garden in. Finally, it's been unseasonably warm there, so it will take less time to harden off the plants.

Paper Roll Plant Pots

2012-02-21T05:30:00.000-05:00

Old toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls make great plant pots for starting seeds. They're biodegradable and a perfect size for starting seeds in: small, but deep enough for seeds to put down solid root structures.

When the time comes to plant the seeds, you can simply remove the non-biodegradable material and plant the entire pot in your garden.

Making plant starters out of recycled materials is easy. Simply hang on to toilet paper and paper towel rolls as you get done using them. Then, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Cut the paper towel rolls down to about the same length as the toilet paper rolls.

Step 2: Cut 4 slits running half the length of the roll sections, and fold them inward. Use duct tape or rubberbands to secure the flaps in place to create soil pots.

Step 3: Pack your new soil pots with potting soil or whatever you're using to grow the plants. Plant the seeds normally, and use a marker to write the name of the plant on the side of the pot.

Step 4: Place the pots in tray or recycled container to allow water to safely seep through when you water the seeds. Mushroom containers from the deli, lunchmeat containers, or other recyclable plastic deli containers will do well for this purpose.

Step 5: When the plants are ready to transplant into the garden, simply remove the rubberbands or duct tape and set the entire pot in the ground.

Grow a Grocery Store Red Onion

2012-02-20T05:30:00.000-05:00

Today, I found a red onion I bought weeks as part of a bag of several onions that was cheaper than buying a few in bulk. I've allowed this onion to languish unused and it has been busily growing shoots, making it perfect for planting.

To grow an onion, it's important to know that they're biannual. In the first year the bulb grows into a plant that produces seeds. In the second year, the seeds grow into delicious onion bulb.

People who plant onion bulbs expecting to dig up new onions at the end of one season will pull up a rotten looking mess of plant matter. The growing onion plant feeds on the bulb from the inside out.

The onions we get in the grocery store are the product of year 2, but planting them starts the cycle over again. So, don't worry if people have said that you can't plant onions because they rot. They don't and you can.

Here's how:

Step 1: Let your onion from the grocery store sit in a dark cupboard for of a couple of weeks until it starts producing little stringy roots or green shoots out the top. You can do this purposely or accidentally, like I did.

Step 2: Plant the onion so that the bulb is covered by soil, but still near the surface. Water lightly and infrequently. Onions like full sun, cool temps and good drainage. A 3-season porch that doesn't freeze or garage window are great, but if you just want to tuck it in a window that's fine too.

Step 3: Grow the onion in a sunny area for the remainder of the season and watch as the tops continue to grow. The greens are yummy, but if you cut them all, you won't get seeds, and growing regular green onions is so easy it's not worth it to sacrifice your big onion plant.

Step 4: In a few months, seedpods will appear at the top of the stalks and will soon grow so heavy that the green shoots will fall over. When they do, cut the seedpods off, and dry them either by setting them out on a dry warm shelf or just tossing them in a paper bag.

Step 5: Open the pods and take out the seeds. Plant them in the early spring (right around last frost) about an inch deep and a foot apart or in their own pots. In late summer or early fall (depending on how late you planted them), the green stalks will start to bend down--that's your cue to gently dig up and enjoy your fresh onions.

Garden Update 2/19

2012-02-19T15:29:00.000-05:00

So, my garden has started with mixed success. So far, the results are as follows:

Edible Plants

Celery--too soon to tell.
Garlic--growing like weeds in every pot they're in. In another week, I'm moving them outside. I have a perfect spot for them near the hedge by the front porch.
Green Onions--growing so fast I can almost see them
Hot Peppers--These are about 3 inches tall, still spindly, but doing well.
Sugar Snap Peas--Growing well in the potting soil. They're a few inches tall, unfurling leaves and thickening.
Sunflowers--These haven't appeared yet, but they're only a few days old, so I'm hopeful.
Sweet Peppers & Tomatoes--Nothing. I'm a bit worried about these guys. They're not appearing in any of the pots I've put them in, even though it's a variety of different soils, some of which other plants are growing well in.

Decorative Plants

Avocado--The two avocado pits don't seem very interested in growing, as they sit in water. It's only been a week, though so I'm hopeful that they'll still make it
Christmas Cactus--This one is done flowering for the year, and I'm watering it only occasionally. It's healthy, but not growing at a rapid rate. I'm considering taking a couple of cuttings.
Hens & Chicks--To be honest, it's just 1 plant, but it's doing well. I need to give it it's own cramped pot though.
Pineapple--This is a keiki from another plant, not from a pineapple top. It's alive, but not growing particularly quickly. I just repotted it, so I'm hopeful I see some growth soon. I count this one as a decorative plant because its parent plant never produced a pineapple, just a little plant.
Plumeria--I've started watering the plumeria pots to wake them up from winter. The tips are going green. Since they live in the house until summer, I like to start their wake up early to get plenty of fragrant flowers in summer and fall.
Random houseplants--these include the following. A succulent that will not die--I love it, but it seems to thrive on neglect. A leafy/grassy house plant I got at Lowe's end of season for a dollar last year and brought back to life. It needs a new pot, and I suspect it's become rootbound in its old one. Then there are two leafy other houseplants that haven't quite thrived but haven't quite died since their "rescue" for a dollar from Lowes. They need deeper pots, but I need more soil before I can transplant them.
Wandering Jew--This is our remaining cat's favorite toy. It's growing quickly and rapidly becoming an Audrey II like plant. As it grows, it's allowed a few leaves to dry and fall off. The cat scoops them up and plays with them for hours. In the interest of not having this one take over the entire house, I'm definitely going to take some cuttings from it.

Surprises:

Morning Glory--in an effort to prove my belief that morning glories are pretty weeds, a morning glory volunteer has sprouted in my celery pot. I'm nurturing it because I'm not going to turn down a free plant and because I want morning glories to make my pea vines more "decorative" when I let them grow on the trellis I have planned. I suspect this volunteer is what comes from reusing old soil.

Vegetable Oil Bottle Greenhouse

2012-02-18T05:30:00.002-05:00

I love mini greenhouses because they make life as a gardener so much easier. The plants germinate and grow much faster and I have to worry about remembering to water them much less often. However, greenhouses are expensive, and well out of my $5 budget. So, I've turned to our recycle bin more and more often for free materials to start the seeds off well.

A vegetable oil bottle, in this case Crisco, is perfectly shaped to be a greenhouse because the bottom 2/3 of the bottle is a uniform and wide shape, while the top 1/3 comes in at the neck and then expands again. Here's how I made mine.

You'll need something to cut with (scissors, a box cutter, a knife if you're careful), a vegetable oil bottle, and some dish soap. If you never quite got the hang of cutting neatly in kindergarten (as I did not), then a sharpie will come in handy. Of course, you'll also need dirt and seeds.

Step 1: Wash the bottle with dish detergent. The grease fighting power they advertise is great for getting the remaining oil out of there. THe easiest way to do this is to simply put a few drops of dish soap in the bottle, add water until it's about 1/3 to 1/2 full, put the lid back on and shake it. Then rinse.

Step 2: cut the bottle about 2/3 of the way up just before it starts to curve inward. Now you have two pieces, a long bottom section that is uniformly wide with equally spaced ridges, and a shorter top piece that comes in at the neck and has the lid. attached at the top.

Step 3: Cut about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch of the bottom of the top piece so that the circumference of it is slightly smaller than that of the bottom piece. The key here is "slightly." Notice how in the image to the right, the cutting line is drawn right where the neck begins to curve inward. This is where you want to cut so that the top will fit snugly onto the bottom.

Step 4: Put small stone, eggshells (or whatever else you want to use to keep the bottom from getting waterlogged) in the bottom of the bottle. Add soil until the bottom part is about 2/3 full.

Step 5: Plant your seeds, then place the top section back on the bottle. Push the top down so that it "clicks" into the first or second ridge of the bottom (see picture to the left of the connection between the top and bottom). You'll be able to raise the top up a click as your plant grows.

Step 6: Put the plant in a sunny window, and water very rarely through the hole where you once poured out the oil. You will almost never have to water this for two reasons. First, it's basically a closed system, and the water evaporates only to fall back on the soil and your plant. Second, because the plant can only survive for about a month on the carbon dioxide that's trapped in the bottle.

Step 7: The seed should germinate and grow within one to two weeks. Once it has grown a few inches, unscrew the lid from the bottle so that the plant can get the carbon dioxide it needs to continue to grow. Wait until the soil is dry to water, and keep an eye the soil near the roots to ensure that it doesn't become water logged. Once the plant has outgrown its bottle, transplant it and reuse the bottle to start other seeds or take off the top half to turn the greenhouse into a pot.

Repurpose Cans as Planters

2012-02-17T05:30:00.000-05:00

I was washing out cans to put into recycling, when I had an epiphany: cans are cool looking, sturdy, and waterproof. They would make great pots. However, there are some clear hurdles: they provide no drainage, and it's unlikely my neighbors will think they're as cool looking as I do. We live in a neighborhood of wonderful people who sadly don't subscribe to my "make it don't buy it" ethic.

I'm a pro at tackling one problem at a time, so I decided to ignore the appearance issue until I have time to make them pretty, and get right down to the challenge of making them work as pots.

Unfortunately, poking holes in the bottom (my usual solution for drainage) wasn't an option because of rule #6: do not inconvenience or annoy non-gardeners in the house. My husband puts up with a lot, but he's not the DIY type, and soup cans bleeding dirty water would not make him a happy camper. So, self-contained had to be the way to go.

Fortunately, I found a solution in the cans themselves: the lids. bent appropriately, they made nifty little air pockets at the bottoms of the cans to allow water to drain. They would still need less watering than their more drain friendly peers, but they'd do nicely. Now I just need to spend some time deciding how to make them look pretty to everyone else and stay within my $5 budget.

Here's how I did it:

Step 1: Eat the contents of the cans and wash them. Don't lose the lids!

Step 2: Peel off the labels, and soak or use Goo-Gone to remove any remaining residue.

Step 3: Fold the lids as shown. Basically, the goal is to make a tent-like shape.

Step 4: Drop the lids into the bottom of the cans to create an air pocket (that will quickly become a water pocket when you water your plants the first time.

Step 5: Fill with dirt and plant whatever you want to plant according to directions. Enjoy as your plants grow and take root.

Repurpose Plastic Containers into Plant Starting Pots

2012-02-15T05:30:00.000-05:00

Gardening cheaply has me seeing my ziploc, tupperware, and gladware in a new light. Everything looks like it would make a great planter now. My current favorite is ziploc's larger containers, which we inherited with leftovers from thanksgiving last fall.

Preparing plasticware with a lid is the easiest since most nestles into the lid. Here's how I did it.

Step 1: Turn the plasticware over so the bottom is upright and use a sharp tool (an awl, scissors, a box cutter, a knife, whatever you have handy) to cut several holes or a few slits in the bottom. These holes will serve as drainage, so cut with care: too many/too large and the water will flood out, too few/too thin and the soil will become waterlogged.

The image on the right is an example of a slit and hole cut with the box cutters. You need only one of these in a small container (sandwich sized), and two or three in a larger one (think lasagna sized).

Step 2: flip the container over and set it on top of its lid. The bottom should nestle comfortably in the lid. Fill the container with soil.

Step 3: Secure the lid to the container. In this case, I've used duct tape. It's an inelegant solution, but since I'm only using to start the plants, it does not need to be attractive. Plus, it shows how universal duct tape is as a solution.

Step 4: Add soil and seeds to plant. Put your new pot in a sunny window and wait for the seeds to germinate.

I like the larger containers because they simulate the seed starters you can buy at the store and the garden environment.

Grow Celery from the Kitchen

2012-02-14T05:30:00.000-05:00

Celery mid-planting, before being covered

I just found out that I can grow celery from the bits I don't use. I'm excited to try it because it's a new addition to the super cheap garden. Here's how I did it. I'll report back as the spring continues to see how the celery is doing and if it grows.

Celery loves poorly drained soil, so it's a great plant to put in that part of your garden where the drainage just isn't good enough for most vegetables. If you have to container garden celery, then it's content in containers that don't offer the drainage most plants need.

Celery is fine with dappled shade, but it will need at least 4-6 hours of sun, so don't hide it away in the shade completely. It loves cool temperatures, so if you live in the hot south (zones 8-11), you may not want to plant this outside.

Step 1: cut the bottoms off the celery. Eat the rest. Come on, it's delicious--especially in a soup or with some peanut butter.

Step 2: Put soil in a container, preferably one with a bit of room above the soil level and around it. dig depressions in the soil about 2 inches deep.

Step 3: Plant the celery bottoms in your soil. Tamp the soil gently around the celery bottoms. Then, add soil to cover the celery stalks so that they're covered with about an inch of soil (pictures of this later). Then water them.

Step 4: Take care of your celery as it grows. If you live in any zone up to 7 (that's most of the U.S.), then you can move them outside after the last frost. If you're in a warmer zone, you may want to keep these guys as indoor plants.

Step 5: Harvest when the stalks look ready to eat by cutting them off. Don't yank up the plant because it will continue to grow and you can keep harvesting until the first frost.

Starting $1 sweet peas

2012-02-11T21:34:00.000-05:00

So, I spent 98 cents today, and now I'm down to $4.02 of my original $5. I bought a seed packet of sugar snap peas because I love them and haven't found another way to get them. I sowed them today for 8 plants in the hopes that some germinate. The seedlings should emerge anytime from 2/18 to 2/21, and They should start producing for harvest by the end of April.

Unfortunately, it will be pretty cold here this spring so they'll do quite a bit of growing indoors and won't go outside until they've gotten fairly big. I have to figure out how to get them in pots without killing them, which is what usually happens when I container garden. I'll need to be able to bring them in at night until the last frost. I held back a few so that I could sow them in the late spring (May) directly in the ground and start a second batch to hopefully lengthen their life.

Starting the Barter Seeds

2012-02-10T21:29:00.000-05:00

Today, I started the seeds I'm growing as part of bartering for my friend. She wanted plants for her garden but has a black thumb, so she bought the seed packets and I'm growing them to seedlings in exchange for half of the plants.

Today, I started the following plants for her:

California wonder sweet peppers
Waltham 29 Broccoli
Variety pack of heirloom tomatoes.

I chose the heirlooms because then if I like a specific plant, I can save the seeds for next year. These plant packets would have cost $4 if I had bought them, but because I didn't, they're basically free.

I started them in a starter soil kit that I got for almost nothing last year at the end of the season, so it falls under my "use what you have" rule. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough seed spots in the starter, so I can't plant them all yet.

I'll go see my friend in mid March for St. Patricks day, at which point, they should be seedlings. I'm worried though that they won't be big enough to survive without a lot of care. Fortunately, she lives in the south, so the harvest dates below will be fine for her first harvest. I'll start up a second batch of seedlings later for my plants and for her second season.

Broccoli: seedlings emerge in 10-21 days, harvest in 74 days
Peppers: Seedlings emerge in 10-21 days, harvest in 74 days
Tomatoes: seedlings emerge in 7-10 days, harvest in 72 days

That will be:

Broccoli and pepper seedlings emerge from 2/21 to 3/3
Broccoli and pepper harvest on about 4/25
Tomato seedlings emerge from 2/18- 2/21
Tomato harvest on about 4/23