Ok...so life's been a bit hectic lately. I can't believe I haven't posted in over a month !
This topic seems the easiest to post right now since I haven't had much time to do much around the house.
Since my post about starting pots with newspaper, I've had a couple mishaps with the starter pots - but no fault of the pots themselves ! First, Stout thought it would be fun to pick out and munch on about half of the labeled popsicle sticks (maybe I shouldn't have left them on the ground...oops). Even though they were not labeled, most pots survived the canine attack. But then a drought and heavy heat came upon the surviving sprouts. While I was away and left the hubs in charge of watering my little sprouts, they gota little too much A LOT of sun and not enough water. Out of all 22 started plants, one bean, one zucchini, one cucumber, and three basil plants survived the disasters. Look how sad the plants look !
So I planted the survivors (with paper pots) into the garden and started the rest with seeds (not pots, just garden) on April 21, 2012. I planted eggplant, broccoli, beans, bell peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce.
I also love succulents and have added to my succulent garden. For whatever reason, this one chicks-and-hen has been growing like crazy ! The soil for this pot has sand mixed in it. My friend told me that sandy soil is better for succulents than regular garden soil. I suppose that makes sense since most of these plants grow in hotter places.
This topic seems the easiest to post right now since I haven't had much time to do much around the house.
Since my post about starting pots with newspaper, I've had a couple mishaps with the starter pots - but no fault of the pots themselves ! First, Stout thought it would be fun to pick out and munch on about half of the labeled popsicle sticks (maybe I shouldn't have left them on the ground...oops). Even though they were not labeled, most pots survived the canine attack. But then a drought and heavy heat came upon the surviving sprouts. While I was away and left the hubs in charge of watering my little sprouts, they got
So I planted the survivors (with paper pots) into the garden and started the rest with seeds (not pots, just garden) on April 21, 2012. I planted eggplant, broccoli, beans, bell peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce.
Update: May 20, 2012 - beans are growing like crazy! Eggplants did not sprout. I planted them again with the seeds. Broccoli sprouted ! A little tomato plant sprouted, but no luck with the bell peppers. Basil is in a pot up on the deck with some more spinach and beans. All are growing well.
Update: May 28, 2012 - Eggplant is still a no go, as well as bell peppers and other tomato plant. Bugs have eaten all the leaves off the broccoli and one of the bean plants. Lettuce is also being eaten by bugs :( I gave in and went to Lowe's and picked up some already started plants. I figured if I wanted some fresh veggies, I had to get them somewhere because it was too late to start from seed now. I also picked up some pesticide, but will be making my own organic soon (Look for an update on that later).
I also added some old tomato cages around the beans so that they could vine their way up the cage and added two round tomato cages around the tomato plants. Hopefully these guys actually all stay healthy and produce some yummy veggies !
And since this post, I've also added more pots. I have a (ceramic) pot obsession ! I've picked up some dirt cheap pots at stores like Ollies, Tuesday Morning, Home Goods, and Big Lots. Along with the veggie purchase at Lowe's, we picked up some flowers and potted plants.
One of the first things my husband and I did was line all the pots with coffee filters. This ensures that the plants still get drainage without the soil falling out of the bottom of the pot.
Then we transported the plants from their plastic pots to some new and gorgeous ceramic/pottery/terracotta-type pots. I still have a few more pots to fill with flowers, but until then, we're enjoying what we have. And if you can't tell, I LOVE cobalt blue !
I also love succulents and have added to my succulent garden. For whatever reason, this one chicks-and-hen has been growing like crazy ! The soil for this pot has sand mixed in it. My friend told me that sandy soil is better for succulents than regular garden soil. I suppose that makes sense since most of these plants grow in hotter places.
So that's that with my garden. I've been working on a flower bed that will go in the far right hand corner of the patio. It's coming along.
I hope that your gardens are doing well !
What did you plant in your vegetable/flower garden this year? How is it doing?
Now you can Do It Yourself Too !
~Stephanie
Great grandma Miller and Grandma McCarthy had these succulent plants also. They had a lot of flowers & plants all over the house & the gardens. Grandpa Miller had a beautiful garden and had flowers blooming from early spring until late fall. Many different flowers.
ReplyDeleteAunt Char