Thanks Wolf!

Earlier this year on a whim, I planted 9 onions that had bolted before we had a chance to eat the (bought from Walmart, btw). 2-3 months later (yesterday) I harvested 52 onions! They range in size from a ping-pong ball to a tennis ball. I will do this again.

FYI----I planted 5 in one large container and 4 in another and just let them do their thing. They are now hanging in a nice cool, dry space to "cure" so they will last a little longer. However, you can eat them right out of the ground or "green" as some folks call it.

 

I've really decided that containers are a much better way to grow things - even with a lot of space outdoors to use as garden plots because it is so much easier and less expensive to set up several small containers with "super soil" than it is to overhaul a large area.

I'm continuing to research lettuce - and have found out a lot since I began to really think about what lettuce is and what it needs.

Some varieties I am looking up are:
Darwin
Queensland
Minetto
Montello
Mesclun
Parris Island Cos
and Aragula


~ these are all HOT WEATHER types of lettuce, several of them are of what is called an "OAKLEAF" type. I have been looking at web pages especially from the Carribean and Australia to find better info about growing lettuce in the hot days of summer, and in humid areas.

One advice comes out over and over again - grow it in shade, but not full shade.
The temperature sensitivety upper range seems to be 83 degrees F., beyond which average or typical varieties will bolt and edge burn.

Methods of keeping the plants cool are discussed in many places, east or west sides of houses are a better place to keep them instead of the south side or behind the house (north side). Dappled shade is highly recommended, like from an overhead lattice.

Growing lettuce in containers though (and they do have very shallow roots!) means that the containers can be moved around until the very best spot can be figured out. I'm going to be looking at porch areas and similar places.

 

If I can get my hands on a HUGE tractor tire - I want to use a really big tire as a base, then fill it with soil and set a mud truck tire on top of that in the center.

Next I will set a drag slick in the middle of that - with the final level being a garden tractor tire, forming a "PYRAMID" garden with all sorts of things planted from the bottom to the top in several tiers...


***I have MALABAR sprouts now - those are real quick seeds!

 

A couple of pics to brighten your day:


I thought this plant had vanished - it popped up ten feet out from the bushes where I first planted it a year ago.


~ a miniature version of what I was talking about above. Under the basin at the bottom
is a wooden turntable, so I can spin it around to water it


I picked a few of these today and used 'em on Pizza -OH YEAH!

They're everything I hoped they were. Poblano Peppers are going to be a staple in my gardens from now on, the perfect blend of sweet, and HEAT
As you can see, my "Truck garden" concept is in full production

Here also are some of my 'COLEUS' plants -



And THIS is what I think of as "CHAOS GARDENING"...

(In which we plant things that are every bit as territorial as the weeds are)
The Celosia plants are the ones with feathery fronds at the tips, and the close-ups show how brightly colored even the stems are.

 

When I returned home from the trip, I found that I had several cucumbers, summer squash and various peppers ready for harvest. A nice surprise. The tomatoes aren't doing so well, though. Not sure what the issue is, but I will be trying to fix it over the next week or so.

Your garden's looking great Wolf! I agree that containers are the way to go for just about everything. I think squash needs a little more room to grow, but can still work in a large tub.

 

I've gotten away from squash because of those little grey beatles they attract, but it seems to me like a pyramid setup made from a stack of old tires might make an ideal squash "HILL". Put squash at the top and let it spill down the sides, plant corn around the bottom and largest level, and then maybe beans in the tiers between them...

 

Your garden is look good. Our tomatoes have produced lots of maters. But plants are not looking good. Too much rain I suppose

 

Plants get oxygen from the roots - so if they are flooded, they can actually DROWN because of it.

(FALSE idea: Plants do not draw oxygen directly from water, anymore than a swimmer can)

This is why we have to pay attention to both drainage and air holes in the soil from gravel or sand.
It creates air pockets in the soil.

 

The drainage is pretty good in our garden spot. We have had so much rain, day after day.
We have had a few fried green tomatoes, one Cherokee Purple so far has ripened and it was so good. Green beans coming in and some peppers. Cucumbers doing good this year. And the wife has Sugar Baby watermelons growing well.

 

Woo-hoooo!!!

Check out my new (Dodge) planter:

 

I like that planter! Pretty good use for old tires/rims.

Going to have to pick some more peppers & squash this weekend....they should be just about right.

 

Here it is in "The Wild" so to speak - it's a lot bigger than the planter on the right, and will last so much longer it isn't even a comparison!

UV rays crumble plastic - but won't even phase this thing:



* The tire under that plastic container has "MORPH ME" written all over it...

NOTES:
When I cut the sidewall I used a plain old razor knife (boxcutter) and it zipped right through in two passes.
Turning the tire inside out was a chore, but a hot tire that has been in the sun all day is softer.
You want to have a big pair of channel locks handy
Wear gloves, if wire braid is sticking out of the tread. THAT one had a separated tread, and was more difficult because of it.
Once you get one spot turned out, it can be easier to stand the rim up vertical and step on the part you got started-
it helps keep it from rolling back under.
A TIRE IRON is a big help, you can run it around the work to lever the tread out and up, while using a knee to press the inside into shape

 

I harvested some summer squash, a few cucumbers and several peppers this weekend. I also thinned out/harvested the spearmint, peppermint, lemon balm, sweet marjoram, sage, sweet basil and Genovese basil. Kitchen smells very nice with all the different herbs.

 

I can't remember if I sent you some Cumin seeds, but I'm lining up more planters to set out herbs in.

The new one (above) now has a red stemmed Malabar sprout in it, and last night I sent for seeds of the Green varient.

In my other notes (and since no one seriously grows banana trees except as ornamentals) I noticed a few offerings in various catalogs for both a winter hardy banana that is not edible, and a PALM TREE variety that is good to -10 or -20 degrees. They have me thinking, since I once bragged to a neighbor that I was going to turn my place into a miniature California.

I'm about to give up on my citrus trees though. Too many years without any yields from any of them. This winter I'm going to leave them all out on the porch, and if they survive I'll water them. If not - lemon burns as good as maple.

 

Update - especially on the Malabar Tower:

August 11 2014

- off to one side is a basil sproutlet, in the back more Malabar is starting up

August 25 2014



Poblanomation!

This next pic shows how the peppers are surrounded by Basil plants ~


Tomatofication!


* Tomato and poblano pepper pics were taken two weeks ago, the toms have over-topped the cage now.