The Container Garden Experiment

Week 1

Week 2

Sweet Peas

Petunias

First tomatoes

     I absolutely love to be outside working with flowers and gardening.  Once upon a time I kept a small garden and my Grandmother's house.  I grew cucumbers, beans, strawberries, pumpkins, and tomatoes.  Then Sage arrived grad school happened, and gas prices..well you know about those.  I was just lucky to make it through the day, never mind drive 20 min to garden.  Last year I did attempt to grow some beans and salad greens with no success.  The salad greens germinated then died, my green beans grew to about 6 inches then were eaten by something.  Total fail.  So this year I wanted to try again.  This time I reflected on what may have gone wrong last year.  Maybe the  plants didn't get enough sun in the back?  So this year I planted them in the front.  I have less room, but my garden is very small so it has worked.  Then I thought maybe my plants didn't get enough food?  This year I made sure to feed them when I planted them.  Were they neglected?  I didn't realize container gardens had  different needs than a conventional garden, so I make sure to look at them and care for them twice a day.  I also decided this year to choose disease resistant varieties.  The main goal of my garden this year is to grow something other than flowers, so if I am able to get a few veggies I will be delighted.  I will leave the heirlooms to people who have more luck.
     I have had a few problems in the past few weeks.  The number one issue....RAIN.  We had 5 days of rain and clouds and my plants didn't appreciate it.  They started to get very soggy.  I eventaully pulled them under the roof overhang to try to keep some of the rain away. I think in the future I will place some gravel in the bottom of the containers to allow for more drainage.  My tomatoes looked like they were getting early blight.  I am not sure if this was the case, but I decided to be proactive and carefully removed the lower foliage and any area that looked affected.  It seems to be working and my plants are looking better.  Last but not least I think my cucumbers are in major trouble.  I didn't grow these from seed and I think they brought something with them.  I'm not sure what it is yet, but I can see it growing on the soil around them.  I may just have to remove them if they don't improve :(
     I did plant some veggies in my mother's small garden at her house because a girl always needs a Plan B.  I planted two varieties of bush beans.  They are doing great and have germinated and are starting to grow.  I have also  planted cucumbers at their house.  These are just starting to  pop up out of the soil.
    I will try to post pictures of the garden weekly so everyone can see how it is growing and changing.  If you have any tips about growing veggies in containers let me know.