My New Toy

Check out my new garden toy!  I am so happy to be able to compost again.  I haven't been composting due to the fact that since we are currently renting there is no place to build a compost pile. 

Thanks to a program being run buy our township I got the wonderful compact tumbler style composter for only $50.  Now I did a little looking around and found a few compareable bins for anywhere from $110 to $260.  The idea is that the more people compost the less waste gets hauled to the dump.  This allows for less money being spent by thwe township on hauling and storing garbage.  It also increases the lifespan of the current dump.

Hot Stuff

I did have one plant that has surpassed all the others in terms of production.  No its not the zucchini plant... it is my jalapeno plant!  I have already picked 27 peppers off this plant and I figured it was done for the season.... but NO its still going strong!  If you look closely at the picture you can see tons of tiny peppers growing.  It's going to be a hot time at our house when they get done.  I think I'm going to lok for a recipe for jalapeno poppers and try my hand at making my own.  How good do you think they will taste with fresh off the bush peppers?

Don't Give Up On Me

I can't believe the summer is over already and I haven't posted my garden going ons once.  Yes I actually did some container gardening this year but I've been working so many extra hours that my poor blogs have been suffering. 

Well I did have some pretty good luck this year my zucchini did wonderfully.  I had five bushes and got 20 zucchinis from them.  most of my tomato plants did well.  My cherry tomatoes still aren't doing as well as I would like.  And I tried the topsy turvey this year and wasn't impressed.  It is very flimsy and the top piece of plastic broke while I was putting it together.  The hanging ring was too small and I had to get a larger one.  When filled it is too heavy for my shepards hook which I ended up bracing with the container that had the zucchini.  I also had to water about three times more often then my other containers.  I got about t tomatoes off the plant.  For the 10 bucks I paid for it I could have gone to thew farmers market and bought a bushel of tomatoes.

Interesting Store Visitor

We usually just get dogs visiting our store but today we had this wonderful bearded dragon come in. She happily sat on her owners shoulder while talking to us.
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Rather Expensive Recycling

I like the TerraCycle company their use of old soda bottles and such to sell their worm tea is a great was to recycle plastic bottles without having to shred them up and melt them into little plastic pellets to become something new.

But this idea is a little off the mark and I'll tell ya why I think so. They are recycling old yogurt containers into little herb gardens for kids. While that may sound nice its rather expensive for what you get. I saw these at Walmart for $2.50



What you get is three old yogurt containers filled with dirt and a few seeds added. Why would you PAY $2.50 for that? You can easily just save your own containers fill them with dirt and lets your kids pick their own seeds which you can get as low as $ .99 for about 50 seeds. Use a few seeds in each container and save the rest in an air tight container to use again next year at no extra cost! I showed a picture of my seedlings growing believe it or not in the exact same containers and I'm reusing them this year to grow more seeds.

A Most Welcome Visitor

This guy has been hanging out in my garden. I've been trying for wweeks to get a shot of him but he is very fast. Today though I was able to get very close. 5r is still a little hard to see since he is half in shadow and I was using my cell phone to take the shot.

I'm very happy to see him. Not only will he be eating garden pests right and left but he is a good indicator of the health of the environment. Not as good as a frog would be but there is no available water source for a frog so I'll take what I can get.
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Spring is such a busy time

As you can see I've started some seeds. I figured I would try to use up some of the seeds from last year and had a little success. Most don't seem to be doing much. The one in the corner I'll be transplanting today into one of the yogurt containers I saved from last year. It's running out of growing room in the little seedling green house.
I started some romaine lettuce too but it's looking a little scraggly since I forgot to water it. Hopefully it will bounce back.

Need To Know Information

I've been wanting to get an early start and plant some seeds so that after the last frost I can put them in the ground. The problem is knowing when I can expect to be frost free.

SO... I googled it!

What I found was a nifty little site called Dave's Garden. Which has all kinds of gardening information including a look up by Zip Code of the First and last freeze/frost date. Here was my results:

Each winter, on average, your risk of frost is from November 14 through April 1.

Almost certainly, however, you will receive frost from December 2 through March 20.

You are almost guaranteed that you will not get frost from April 13 through October 29.

Your frost-free growing season is around 227 days.

So I think I'm safe to get started and by the time the date for the last possible frost comes and goes I'll be all set with a healthy batch of seedlings.

Second Catalog

This one is from Gardens Alive. It has all sorts of natural garden supplies to help organic gardeners. I have really been enjoying looking through it.

I found the Mason Bee nest and the information about them fascinating. They are suppose to be 95% more efficient at pollinating and don't sting. Sounds like a definite plus for a gardener.

They are so sure you will like them that then sent this coupon with it.

It's $25 dollars off no matter how much you spend. So if I spend $20 then I get it free. Definitely a plus for someone who is trying to save some cash.

Order Your Seed Catalogs

Woo Hoo I got my first seed catalog of the year. It's Burpee's Catalog and I've been enjoying looking through it. They have some really interesting looking choices. You should see those blue potatoes. They also have a collection set for Patios and Small Gardens. It has several of the plants I grew last year including cherry tomatoes, peppers eggplants and a lettuce blend. I'm definitely adding it to the possible order list. I can't wait for the rest of my catalogs to come in.

I'm posting several direct links to the different seed companies that I'm ordering my catalogs from that way you can use them to order yours too.

Burpee Seeds and Plants

Seeds of Change Organic Seeds

Park Seeds

Gurneys Seeds

Harris Seeds

Despite The Snow

I've started planning for my next container garden. I think I will start early and plant seeds once a weed so that I have several plants that arrive at maturity at different times during the spring and summer. I'm going to be ordering some seed catalogs tomorrow. I'll try and remember to post some links so if you need your catalogs you can order too. I'll be looking for compact plants that will do well in a container. I still want to grow tomatos, eggplants and peppers. I didn't have much luck with the broccoli so I think I'll skip them this year since I'm very limited on space. I'm also looking at growing some winter squash so we have some nice fresh veggies in the winter.

For a Little While

For a couple of weeks the weather had been very warm here I even considered setting up a makeshift greenhouse to start some seedlings. Silly me!

Tonight it is going to snow. Don't get me wrong I love snow... absolutely love it... but It was so warm I just couldn't resist thinking about some lovely fresh tomatoes and zucchini.... yummm fresh veggies. It's time for me to order my seed catalogs I think I'm going to try and find some more compact plants. I won't be able to go for heirloom plants I have to go for something newer so my little tiny backyard.

Time to Get out of the Winter Funk

Ok I have to admit it's hard to write about gardening in the winter. Now it's time to start shaking off the winter blahs and start thinking about some nice fresh mouth watering veggies. Well the other day in the mail I got an advertisement for the Earth Box

This is apparently the ultimate in container for gardening in. I would love to try it but I'm not sure if I really want to spend $55 to $60 on a plastic pot for plants. I think I will have to keep an eye out to see if I can find one for less so I can try it. If it works as wonderfully as the ad promises it would be worth the cost in the long run.