Melons, Finally!

For the last week or so it's been tomatoes and nothing more. At this point I think 20lbs are going to go to waste which is not what I wanted. All of the references said not to go to big but I can say Patch was the perfect size even with the extra containers. Potagar may have been too big with too many tomato plants for our own good. 

Anyway after days and days of just tomatoes and some growth of the other plants but not much because its been unseasonably cool, first rainy, then hot, now cool. This summer has been the worst for a garden but like I was saying after many days of nothing to report I picked a watermelon. It wasn't as big as it should have been but it was ripe and sweet. Pretty awesome coming from a container. 

Boyfriends Birthday

Twenty Six and Counting...

Today was Mike's twenty sixth birthday so we did what he wanted to do which did not include much gardening. He likes checking the garden out but doesn't like to work it which is fine with me because I love it so much it was also okay because it happened to be another rainy on and off again day. UGH! Apparently, this June was the rainiest June in DMV history. Unbelievable! The first year we plan a huge scale garden we get the rainiest summer in history. I say summer and not June because the rain has steadily continued into July. We've had at least 26 days of rain and we're still counting. Weird. 

While Mike slept in I did get out for a few minutes and picked a few more ripe cherry tomatoes. They were amazing! I cannot wait until we get a full serving, like with everything else. I don't know if we will because of all the rain but I'm hoping things will turn around. The berries are officially, hardly, producing. Its such a damn shame. I gave them so much love and attention. I really pampered them but it didn't and doesn't matter berries are much more sensitive than any other crop and they were bound to feel the rainy sting. 

ENORMOUS SIGH! I'll post a real update on things tomorrow if the rain doesn't get in the way again. 

Strawberry Boom

Hanging the Topsy...

Today was another chilly and windy day. It was sunny, though I just wasn't up for much gardening, I didn't sleep well. What I did have to do was set up the Topsy Turvy on the shorter shepherd hook, again. So I took the large hook out went into Potagar grabbed the small hook and put the chimes and lure hanging on it on the ground and trucked back over to Patch. I dug the small hook into the ground, on a level spot, as deep as I possibly could then I grabbed the Topsy, off the chair, and hung it using the new hanging hook so that it was able to turn and put the painted rocks back on top. It's funny because this time even though the Topsy seems to weigh more the shepherd hook didn't lean forward as much. It seems like the issue was more the hanging hook than the S. hook. I rearranged the lantern so that it filled in the spot that used to be filled by the large hook and the Topsy Turvy. 

5 Gallon Boom...

When I was done I took a look into my 5G bucket and noticed that I had the most beautiful strawberry flower, yet. It even looked like a strawberry because it had that big green stem and leaf part that top strawberries from the store. After I saw that I noticed that the there were at least 15 other big buds that look exactly like the flower did when it started. It's amazing because the 5G bucket took, at least, 3 weeks longer to produce any buds than the Topsy and the 8G bucket so I thought it either wouldn't produce at all or that it was setting up a stronger base and would produce better. I sure it'll be my second thought, now. It's producing what I believe will be my first berries. The other two containers have produced several flowers and buds but none that look like the ones in the 5G bucket and none of which have that leaf and stem formed; largely or properly. The flowers that seemed like they'd turn into strawberries have shriveled and aren't growing. I'm hoping that the flowers that die now aren't going to continue to die as more are produced. I hope that they're setting up a stronger base and will start producing flowers that look more like the 5G bucket flowers. 

Tonight is supposed to get down into the high 30's. I thought about bringing the 5G and 8G bucket inside but seascapes can handle as low as 55 degree soil temperatures, with ease, and I don't think one cold night will bring the soil temp. down that far. If it does I hope they are resilient enough to take it and perk back up during the sunny 80+ degree weather we're going to get the rest of the week.

5G flower and buds. Notice the large green leaves behind it. Looks just like a store bought strawberry's top. 

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.