Medley

I'm snuggled on my couch writing this post. It's cold and cloudy and I've no desire to step outside. I'll wait till that window of sunshine comes through the clouds before I go out and check on my plants.



I did manage to re pot my tomato plants into 1 gallon containers. I planted them deeply into the pots removing the lowers leaves so that I can get more roots from them. It's helpful with those tall lanky plants, I only had two of those. and they are much more stable now.

The recycled pots were courtesy of Dry Creek Nursery on S. Virginia ave. They were kind to give me some old plastic pots and trays when I asked them for them. They just told me to come back and shop there. I was going to do that already because I like it there. Small friendly atmosphere with all the stuff I need. I was impressed to see their heirloom tomato plants when I walked into their greenhouse; they even have tomatillo plants. I'll have to wait till next year and incorporate them into my garden b/c I don't have any more room this year. On second thought, they grow pretty well in containers and I have plenty of those. They also carry onion plants and sets and more.


I just want to show you the progress on one of my kale plants.

It's doing great. I have lots of other types of seedlings surfacing but they are too small to really appreciate in a photo yet. I think if you click on this photo and look towards the top you'll see some shallots have surfaced.

Liisa, thank you for dedicating one of your post to answering my question about the hoops. I purchased 12gauge electrical wiring (they didn't have regular galvanized wire at Homedepot and I didn't feel like driving all over town) and made some low-lying hoops to lay the fabric on. I need to adjust the wire length some more but it held up through some strong winds we had. The fabric didn't hold up, I had to lay it flat on the beds and hold it in place with rocks... but when the fabric is setup over the wire it create a greenhouse environment...so pleasant inside . The fabric disperses the light, offers pest and frost protection well worth it.

This compost tumbler I purchased on Craigslist last fall. It is very easy to move to different locations and to rotate. It does have drainage on the bottom so you either have to catch the tea with a tray or let the tea fertilize the ground. It's been full for about a month. When It rains the water seeps in and makes the contents soggy so I add more straw and newspapers and that helps with the odor. As far as the odor if you add enough "browns" it shouldn't stink. I don't think I was adding enough. I'm slowly getting the hang of it.

With my green tumbler full, we weren't able to compost anymore so I needed to get an additional bin. A pile in the yard was out of the question with Coco ready to dig in. So I got lucky again and found another bin on Craigslist. It's much bigger than my green one and no it doesn't rotate but I like it just as much. I'm not planning on turning the pile. I will do the french compost method: layering kitchen waste, yard waste, dirt(need those microorganisms) and water.