Switched at Potagar

I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon tilling, filling, and planting. 

My boyfriends dad helped be wheel the wheelbarrow around the other side of the house so that we didn't have to carry each of the four bags of soil individually through the house. His idea and a good one. Really good one! 

Once the soil was placed I started tilling the soil with a shovel. It made me really tired and got me way to close to the bugs. So I went looking for a hoe. Found one! That made it do much easier and made it possible for me to till the soil much better. 

Once that was handled I started out with planting the tomatoes. I miscalculated what space I needed. Since the tomatoes were our best crop I made sure to get all of those in before anything else. 

Then I worked on the cucumbers and strawberries. I had planned on using the recycled bed for the strawberries and planted 4 Ozark Beauties before I realized that I would either need to cover the soil with landscaping cloth so that the berries don't touch the soil and rot when they come in or plant them somewhere else. I stopped my planting right there because I wanted to come up with a solid plan. 

(R) Sungold Cherry Tomato. (L) Burpless cucumber plants and trellises to grow up. 

(Front Row from L to R) Bradley Tomato, French Radishes, Romaine Lettuce. (Mid L) Eversweet Strawberries. (Mid R) Lemon Boy. (Back L) Beefstake Tomato. (Back R) Lemon Boy. 

Container cucumber of the Burpless variety with trellis. 

Ozark Beauties in side garden. See how all the starter berries are touching the soil? That will rot them, 100%. 

Lettuce Plant!

I got up and waited to see if the overcast day would turn into a nice one so that I could pull my seedlings out into the sun. They haven't seen the sun in 3 damn days. (Does anyone know that reference?) Around noon, I went to the sunroom opened the door and it was warm! 

I started pulling the plants out then decided to fill the deep mid-box and the far upper left corner box with what soil we did have. I didn't think the runoff would be so bad but soil and compost are two very different things. I could barely fill those 2 boxes with the 3 very large bags of soil I bought but I accomplished it with some leftover organic soil and veteran compost. 

Then I did the most exciting thing; I planted the radish seeds, I'd soaked, and the lettuce seedlings! They are both cool weather plants so I trusted that considering the weather I'd be okay. After planting I needed to water. Well it turns out the shower cap on the hose was broken. I didn't know this until after it soaked me. I quickly ran I turn off the hose and remove the cap. I had to bend the hose to get past the seedlings (unplanted sunbathing lot) without drowning them, then let it loose and watered. I decided because it was only noon and pretty warm that the seedlings would need a little drink. I sprayed the cardboard pots. That should do the trick since they haven't gotten sun in awhile. 

Finally, I raked up some leaves and ran inside a pure wet mess. 

Before planting.

Planted. The square behind the lettuce plants has the radish seeds tucked away asleep but hopefully waking under the soil. 

Freezing Cold

So much for...

I don't know that I think global warming just makes the earth warmer I think it could just cause drastic changes but that's not really what this entry is about. It's about the fact that I woke up freezing my tush off, when I went to sleep burning it of because it was so warm. 

The weather has been absolutely nuts. It was freezing, rainy, and windy today. I did get one moment outside to check on things, make sure that the freeze wasn't killing everything but I didn't get to do anything else because the weather was not conducive to gardening. While I was out there I noticed that all of my plants must really love the heat because the last few days of boiling weather has caused almost everything to grow like crazy, almost overnight. One of the crooknecks ha an open bloom on it. It's absolutely beautiful. I'll post a pic tomorrow. The cantaloupe has started growing up the trellis which means in height it's grown at least 3 inches  and its grown a whole new stem and leaf set. Amazing. The carrots have gotten taller in the last 3 days then they have in the last 3 weeks and carrots are a "cool/warm" crop. It's amazing to see what soil temperature really does to plants. How much it causes them to grow when it warmer and stunts them when it's cooler. 

I'll most likely be able to get out and garden tomorrow so I'll take a video or a lot of pictures for a visual update. 

The flower that blossomed over the last 2 days. 

Wawa-melon: Second Shift

Shift Work...

Because I wrote my entry so early today it didn't include all of my gardening, so I decided to write a second entry. I haven't been able to do much work outside because of the crazy weather but I was able to sneak in some gardening in two shifts today. For the last few days the rain will pour down for 15 minutes then the sun will come out for an hour. I took advantage for the hours of sun we got before the 7pm downpour that's last until this point, 12am. I'll be picking up where I left off in my last entry.

Amending...

I amended the beds during the second break in the rain. I filled the wheelbarrow with compost and added perlite, just like before then created hills for the 7 square foot plots assigned to the sweet potatoes. I had to scoop the compost mix into the bed, rather than pouring, because it happened to be the one bed with completed fencing. It probably ended up helping me out because pouring would have been a mess and could have crushed the tomato-berry plant taking up the rest of the bed. It's interesting that the smallest fruit, tomatoes, take up the most space. The tomato-berry plant needs a 4x4 space compared to the 2x2 space the Parks Whopper and Atkinson needs. Once I completed the hills I grabbed the recycling bin and added the rest of the compost mix from the wheelbarrow into it. It really looked like I'd have enough to fill the bin but it didn't even fill a fourth of it. I went back for a second filling and Perlite addition. Instead of topping off the recycling bin I went straight to Patch because I didn't want to fill the barrow a third time to amend my plots. I had to scoop into the four plots allotted for sweet potatoes in my bed because it wouldn't have worked any other way. I added a scoop to each square foot then mixed it into the existing soil and scooped another 3-4 inches of compost mix on top. Smart Gardener recommended that I amend the top 8 inches of soil with compost so I mixed one large scoop at least four inches deep then added another 3-4 on top. I think this will give my sweet potatoes a great start. Once I'd added the extra few inches of compost to the plots the twine dividers were covered so I pulled them up and pushed the sticks holding them down just about an inch or two so that they would show but not look out of place compared to the other dividers. When that was done I smoothed everything out and cleaned up all the stray compost I'd spilled. I was careful not to make too much of a mess so clean-up was quick. Since I was already clean I decided to get rid of all the weeds I'd pulled and left collecting insects about a week ago. I wasn't able to get rid of them early because of the weather but I've wanted to so I gathered my pile and tossed it. When I cleared everything I noticed that the spot on the path that housed the weeds was covered in worms and potato bugs or rolly-pollies. The worms instantly started inching their way to the nearest soil and the "rollies" began to scurry. I quickly ran to grab anything to smash the RP's with, I found an old tree stake and started to smash away. I think I got most of them and it was kind of fun. I'm starting to think that RP's are much more dangerous and reproduction-happy than I originally thought. They are everywhere, everywhere. 

Georgia...

I finished smashing grabbed my wheelbarrow with some remaining compost and my shovel and headed back to the Georgia Jet bed. I wheeled the barrow past the gate into the drive way then went inside to grab my trowel, planting gloves, and the slips. I poured the excess water out of the Slip cup and headed back out to plant those babies. We ordered 12 plants but only had enough room for 7 in that bed, and I'm using my home grown slips in the 4 plots in Patch, so I rifled through the lot to find the best looking ones. I set them aside and started marking off 12 inches for each plot. Once I'd done that I planted them as high on the compost hill a I could and as centered as possible. I watered them very lightly because I knew the rain was coming and time was running out on my second shift. 

Seven Georgia Jet slips planted on hills. They look bad but the pamphlet said they would and that they'd survive & thrive.

Wawa-melons...

With the remaining compost mix I topped off the recycling bin and decided between peanut plants and watermelon plants. Since peanuts are a root legume I went with the watermelons. I used the 2 plants, planted from seeds on April 3, that were together in 1 newspaper pot because the recycling bin could only hold two, max. I noticed that a mushroom was growing in the pot. So I pulled it out, took the newspaper off (didn't have too), and planted them in the center. I can't wait for them to produce fruit. I love tiny things and seeing the first mini watermelons will be a thrill for me, haha. I finished planting and getting everything I needed inside right in time for the rain. 

Mushroom in my watermelon seedling pot. 

Two watermelon seedlings planted, May 11, 2013.

Pods Pop

Seedling Germinate...

I started the day climbing the stairs with my greenhouse to the backyard. As I headed outside I heard a bang bang bang and shake shake shake. I headed upstairs to the front door from the sun room, slowly. I thought it's either the cops or a burglar but I was set on burglar because the door was being shaken not just banged on. So I crept slowly to the door and and peeked out to see Mike's mom trying to get in... at that point it registered that I wasn't in danger and quickly opened the door to a beautiful day, it was about 61 degrees and sunny. 

After letting Mikes mom in I headed down to the sun room to place my greenhouse in the backyard sun and water them if needed. They were all just the tiniest bit bigger then the night before except for 1. That one doesn't seem like it's going to make it although I still have some hopes for it because as my mom pointed out when she joined me in the backyard for a look-see, "it has a little bit of green there you see?" There is a little green leaf, asleep, in the middle of the inactive crown. Like I said before my mom, still on her break, joined me in the backyard to help me finish watering the strawberries before our walk on the C&O Canal trail starting in Bluemont Park. 

Bluemont Park...

When we arrived at the park it was sunny and beautiful again. We were worried that it might be too chilly for a walk because the backyard had become windy and clouded right before we left. We hopped out of the car quickly and grabbed the plastic bag I'd brought to collect creek rocks in and started our walk. As we walked I told my mom all about continuous lettuce growing and how I'd recently decided to add lettuce to my garden plans. She mentioned that her father had a green thumb like nobody she'd ever known since. He grew lemons, maraNon, guava, mango, cilantro, spinach, papaya, and started the  it all from scratch. I then told her about Plot Against Hunger the charity that provides vegetables and fruits from local and home gardens to the needy children in the area. I mentioned that I had recently volunteered to help with the vegetable garden at the Central Library and anywhere else in the Arlington area. I'd learned some about PAH last year when I first discovered my love for food gardening and the Central Library food gardens. I've planned to donate my extra's from Patch to them but I wanted to do more for them and myself. My garden is small and I won't get to try half of the things I'd like. This way I can garden more and help the children. Amazing! 

As we walked along the trail and creek we collected little rocks shaped slightly like strawberries. I'd read that if you paint rocks to look like strawberries and put them by your plants in the garden the birds will believe them to be strawberries and when the real things grow the birds will believe them to be rocks and leave them alone. We were lucky because the second we decided to turn around it started getting clouded, windy, and looked like rain. Our walk back was quick, cold, and unpleasant. 

Testing...

We hopped in the car and drove back to my home so that I could put my greenhouse back inside. I didn't want the rain and wind to damage my plants. I ran up the drive and into the backyard and put the GH inside. On my way back out I checked my testers. I wasn't expecting anything. I was actually starting to think I had a black thumb for seeds but as it turned out the radish seeds had just sprouted and so had a few of the test spinach seeds. It was pretty amazing to see that they had germinated. I was so excited to find out I didn't have a black thumb I think I sort of uprooted the small babies. It doesn't matter in the scheme of things because I wouldn't have been able to transplant the germination testers but I would have liked to have the self control to allow them to get a bit bigger. Either way it was great to see... my tests, my strawberries, and my faerie garden were growing. YES, my faerie garden! 

Faerie/Container Garden...

The point of the faerie garden was to find out whether or not seeds/seedlings were as sensitive as all of the blogs, books, pins, and website articles made them out to be. It turns out that they aren't as far as germination goes. The Faerie garden has succeeded so far. The spinach seeds I planted have begun to germinate. Yes, it took them the full 14 days but it was worth it to find out that plants have a little wiggle room for mishap. Now, as far as my container goes that's a bit of a weird story. I thought that it wasn't working out so after lunch with my mom (I went back out with her after putting the GH inside) I came back home and started to dig into the container to replant. As I dug in slowly I started to see little white roots. The seeds I'd planted 13 days prior to today had germinated they just hadn't shown signs of germination. What I suspected was in fact true but not in the way I'd suspected, if that makes sense. I thought that the reason my spinach had not grown was that I'd topped them with too much soil and firmed it too firmly. That was the case but what I thought was that if I'd done that that the seeds wouldn't grow at all. That wasn't the case I think they just needed more then the full 14 days to appear because the soil was thick and firm. I don't know that to be a fact they could have died trying to come up, never making it to the surface, and not getting enough light but now I'll never know because I'm sure my digging killed them. Mind you I planted about 33 seeds, just so that I had better chances at getting 3 to germinate, and only dug up 3. After seeing that the 3 had shown some growth I left the container alone except for scraping off about a half inch of the topsoil. I still won't ever know if the seeds died because they were planted wrong, I dug into them, or they just were going to die. I should have been more patient but now I'll replant in another container and see what happens with the current one. As far as I see it 3 successes out of 4 is pretty good for a beginner. 

Drinking Glass Slips

Starting Slip...

As I mentioned in my last blog entry I learned how to start sweet potato seedlings or slips using an old S-Pot. All of the articles I read and video's I watched said to put the mature potato into a glass container. So, I started there by looking for glass containers I already owned to use. I came up empty on mason jars. The one I did have was closed so tightly even after about 30 minutes of trying I couldn't seem to get it to loosen up a bit. That was out. I then Googled "do sweet potato slips have to grow in glass." The results all came up with use either a glass or clear plastic container that will allow you to submerge one-half of the potato. The only glass I had were drinking glasses and the only plastic containers I had were opaque or didn't have the depth. So I went with the drinking glasses. I didn't want to because I thought YUCK! at first but then realized that was stupid. Everything can be washed in the dishwasher. Once I made sure the glasses were nice and clean I grabbed a bottle of Deer Park, tooth picks for support, and filled the glasses half way each. 

I didn't want to use tap water because of all the pollutants people talk about. I wanted my slips to be as organic as possible. I didn't use distilled water (most pure) because all of the good components, like minerals, are boiled out. I wanted all of the good stuff and none of the bad. So Deer Park it was, although, I do read things that say bottled waters are no better than tap but choose not to believe it. After each glass was filled I submerged each potato in its glass about half way. Making sure to hold each firmly so they wouldn't plunge in any deeper than the half way mark. Once I removed them from the water the skin that had been submerged was darker. It was easier for me to insert the toothpicks on the line between dark and light skin. Once the toothpicks were in I set them in there glasses and placed them on a table by the window. 

The next morning I went to check on them and the glasses were bit on the chilly side and remembered that the potatoes should be left in a warm place. The weather does not permit that naturally at the moment so I grabbed a space heater from the basement and set it on Low next to the glassed. I plan on getting one of those CFL bulbs tomorrow but for today the heater was fine. I may end up using both to try to speed up the process but I'll need to read a little further into it. When I'm out getting the CFL bulb I'll also head over to Goodwill and by some glassware to put the two dirt S-Pots in. Goodwill always has a ton of clear glassware for $0.50 to $1.00 per item. Cheap and convenient. 

Total Cost for Slips*:  

CFL Bulb: ~$4.00

2 Glass Containters: ~$1.50

Total Retail Cost:

Slips: $4.00/plant X 4 plants= $16.00

Slips Grown @ Retail*: $4.00/plant X 25= $100.00 

* If they grow I'll get about 25 slips or more out of 4 potatoes.

I only need for so I'd never spend $100.00 but you can see how much is saved by trying to grow everything yourself. It's really amazing. I just wish that I had planned to grow things from seeds/scraps from the beginning then I would have had more time to try and fail and try again. Next year, I'll know!

Soil Slips...

I started the soil slips today. I found a clear plastic tub and added about an inch of soil. The soil was already moist because I took it from the outside bed that happened to be covered in snow from last night. Great timing, right? 

I heated the soil up a bit by holding the container in front of a heating lamp and then added the sweet potatoes. I cut one potato in half and added the two halves orange flesh down. I did this because in a few of the articles it said to cut them. That was part of what had confused me in the beginning. Then I added the last sprouted potato to the dirt whole and placed the container in front of a low set heating lamp. Since its been snowing the house isn't very warm, especially not the sun room which happens to be the only place that I can keep my potatoes. So, the heating lamp is going to be necessary for a few days until it starts to warm up and the sun decides to show his face in VA again. 

The spinach happens to be sitting there too. I didn't think it was getting enough warmth from the sun. So I brought it in for the day to get a little artificial warmth. I won't leave it there as long as the S.P's because it doesn't need it but I did want to bring it in out of the snow... its been 7 days and I don't see any signs of germination. Hopefully this will help and not hurt. 

Building Completed

I spent the afternoon in the rain finishing the building and filling portion of my garden. It was wet and cold but I was determined. I started by adding the cinder blocks in place of the bricks on the right & back wall. Then because the garden is on a narrow-ish flat that leads to a hill I started sledge hammering stakes into the concrete block holes. One for every block. That didn't go smoothly at all. I slammed my middle finger with the sledge hammer and slid down the hill in what were now soaked and slick garden boots. After hammering 2 stakes in I decided to try a medal rod on the 3rd. That was quick and easy but wasn't going to hold. So, I went looking for something more & found some black plastic fencing (the type you click together) in the shed and put that up for looks and blockage.

The snaps broke as I was trying to hook them together and a piece of the fencing lanced me in the face. I was fine but immediately decided they looked just as good without being snapped together. I hammered the pieces in and moved on to adding the rest of the soil to my raised bed.

I was under the impression that I would have an overload of soil. As I dumped bags 1, 2, & 3 into the bed I realized that the soil I'd bought wasn't going to be enough. I then had a DUH! Moment. The backside was sloping because of the hill and in turn deeper. The only plant I plan on growing that needs any real depth is the sweet potato. So I made a quick decision that I wasn't going to buy another 6 bags @ $3.33/bag. I was going to move the back row up so that it was flatter and the bed would be smaller. That bummed me out because instead of having 9 sq. feet in my square foot garden now I'd only have six. It was worth it though because I wasn't wasting an enormous amount of soil on filling in a hill and I had 1 full bag left over with the same depth all the way around. Moving the blocks meant scooping all of the soil from the back to the front of the bed and removing the stakes I had just busted my fingers to get in... It was disappointing to say the least but overall a much better way of going about my raised bed. The fear of the back wall toppling down the hill was gone and my bed would be completed, today (although my original intention was to get my container of spinach planted which I didn't).

Finally, I mulched the right side of the bed, repositioned the black plastic fencing further in, and placed my shepherd hook a few inches off to the right. Patch Market is ready for the plants!

I grabbed the tools that did not fare well outdoors, took my muddy boots off and washed up. My hair was dripping my nail was throbbing and I was exhausted but I was proud of the work I had done. Hopefully my plants flourish and all of the days and days of hard work aren't for nothing.