Peppermint planter

Spring is sprung! And so are new ideas for containers for planting! I like to re-use things in my garden like a peppermint tea tin to plant peppermint in....

Does anyone else have unusual planters in their gardens? Please Comment!

White Trash Gardening

A little white trash gardening for y'all... I could've painted the Big Gulp containers, but didn't. Maybe this fall. They are the perfect size for these hanger rings though!

Building a bottle tower for container gardening

TIPSY PLANTER

What to get Mom for Mother's Day? Well Mom mentioned she saw a tipsy planter on the news from the Northwest Flower and Garden Show... I went to the show but could not find the vendor so I made one myself...

TIPSY PLANTER:
1 piece of rebar
1 10" clay pot
4 8" clay pots
plants
potting soil

Take 10" clay planter, set in desired place, take a piece of rebar (I used 4' but think 8' would be better, provide more stability) pound the rebar into the ground through the drain hole
Fill the bottom planter with dirt:

then start stacking 8" planters through thr drain holes of each, filling each with dirt as you climb up the rebar:

The end result is a tipsy looking conversation piece in the garden.

Just fill with plants and enjoy!

What to do with old hateful tree stumps...

Some times, in container gardening, You have to let Nature guide you. This tree stump in my front yard, finally hollowed out enough to become a planter for this Artichoke and some petunias!

Making my own Lettuce Basket

I posted the instructions on making a "Lettuce Basket" last week. Well the oppurtunity came to make my own! I was at dollar tree and they had hanging cage basket that match up with coco- fibre. Know ing a bit about using coco- fibre, I bought two. That is one difference between the Original and mine- they had used moss.

I soaked the coco fibre liner for about a half hour (seems to make it more pliable and "mold-able" and easier to poke holes in. Now one thing about coco fiber liners--- the are extremely porous, so I put a liner inside the liner- a plastic shopping bag. The holes you poke in the liner and the bag should allow enough drainage. So I proceeded to put eight lettuce plants in the sides at random, then filled with dirt (planting mix) and plant 4 more lettuce plants on top. This is the finished product:

Will it look like this?

Only time will tell- keep your fingers crossed!

Pea Tendrils... An Early Season treat!

As your peas start growing and you start thinning, don't dispose of the thinnings! You can use the thinnings in the kitchen!
Pea shoots are the tiny, tender leaves and vines of young pea plants. Any type of pea will suffice, but sugar pod peas are the easiest types to grow for shoots and tendrils, since they tend to shoot up faster and stay light and crisp. Pea shoots and tendrils are tender enough to serve with no or minimal cooking. They are often tossed into salads or on top of soups. You can always add a few curls as an edible garnish. Pea shoots and tendrils are also a tangy addition to stir-fired dishes or simply steamed or sautéed as a side dish.
Wondering how to cook pea shoots? Here's an easy, quick and tasty pea shoots and tendrils recipe from Kim Knox Beckius, a blogger at About.com

Easy to grow Lettuce Basket

pic Rainyside.com

I am so going try this this year. Before too long, my entire garden will be hanging if I want. This is so easy to do, according to the instructions posted HERE, that a person has to try it to believe it! So maybe I will post some pics when I do it.

Fill 'er Up!

You know sometimes inspiration just comes to you. A guy at work was getting rid of this gas tank for a hog, (Big Motorcycle) it was really dented on the top. So I cut a bigger hole in the top and a drain in the bottom, and a 2" hole on the side opposite the fill side hole. I may add a few more holes along the side and turn it into a strawberry planter in the fall. But I like the look, and I think it makes a great conversation piece in the garden

Garbage in my Garden!

I was sitting around one day, (always dangerous) and I was looking at the bag of chips I just polished off at lunch. Then it came to me! The chip bag is made from mylar (a plastic), it would hold water and soil! Why not use one for a planter? So I snip a small hole in the chip bag, and filled it with soil, and put an Oregano plant in it! Has worked well so far!

I planted this some arugula seeds in a paper board berry box I had just received with strawberries bought at the Farmers’ Market!, and some domesticated Lambsquarter in a sip planter I made from an Ice tea bottle. The Yellow flowers in the background are some Kale that have gone to flower, which I understand can attract bees and butterflies, so why not leave them?

REPOST: Gutter Garden!

I love repost days. I get a day off and get to feel like I am contributing to the blogoshpere! Serious though I thought this was one of my better "Weird Garden Science" posts. So from 8/25/2011, and 8/15/2011 we have GARDEN GUTTER SUCCESS!
 
Just thought I would give y'all a look at the Gutter Garden all planted and happy!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN HANGING GUTTER GARDEN:

I am going to have a talk with a gal from the community garden who is a professional landscaper on adding drip irrigation to it!

I became so obssesed with the Gutter Garden I had to make one for myself! First problem is I couldn’t find the “U” shaped style gutters they used in theirs, but I did find this kind of hermaphrodited "V" shaped at Lowes for $6.19 for a ten foot section, since I am making 5 levels to my gutter garden, that was great… although the end caps were $2.77 each or $16.62. Still, Under $5 for each section… is more than Do-Able. Of course my garage has those crappy vinyl gutters, and they must come off soon so it is good to know I will have a use for them after their existence has been terminated. Anyway back to the project:
First- I cut the gutters to 5- 23 ½ inch sections

Then I drilled to holes for the Eye Hooks and for drainage
(A quick hint: Since the holes have to be approximately the same measurement on the gutter, you can stack the gutter pieces together and drill them all at once to dave some time and frustration.
Then I installed the end caps
Then I put the eye hooks in,
a ¼”-20 X 2” on the bottom,
and a ¼”-20 X 4” on the upper or inside of the gutter using a coupler nut (so I have an eye hook above and one below so a person could stack the gutters by chain
Then it is done- you can go hang your gutter garden.
I suppose a person could just build on a wall or a fence by installing the gutters like they are on your house, but where is the fun in that? Besides I needed something in this space on the front porch. Now to start planting with chard and lettuce seeds! This would also be perfect for planting strawberries. The total cost ended up being $30.75, but would of course be a lot cheaper if I reused those old gutters on the garage!

Reasons To start a container garden...

 Mary Mazzoni over at Earth 911 gives 5 good reasons to start a container garden. Well besides her 5 reasons Shrinking your carbon foot print, reducing packaging waste, Enjoying healthier produce, improving indoor air quality, and stop worrying about food safety) I can add a few more- 

• Home grown veggies are fresher
• And better tasting
• And Cheaper (Okay maybe not at first but once you get the hang of growing your own you will find this true as well)
• You can teach your kids where their food comes from 

And don't forget, you are stepping on one of the biggest bandwagons around! The best part is once you had a home grown piece of broccoli or a home grown brussels sprout, you probably would never go back to buying that processed shit again.

Tomatoes for Mom

Mom's apartment manager is a cool guy. He recently decided to let her have tomato plants  (in pots in front of her apartment). So I went and moved two of her pots to the area and got her two simple varieties of tomatoes- One "Early Girl" and one "Sweet One Million", a cherry  tomato. Which makes my life easier because she won't want to plant them in my plot at the community garden. Personally, I believe if apartment managers let their residents have some small spaces to garden it improves the quality of living and saves money on some of the landscaping, Sounds like a "twofer" to me! Of course I will sneak in another planter with some radishes and lettuces in it. Heh heh heh. Give me an inch, I will take a mile make a garden!

Blanche Marriot's Complete hanging garden!

How do you fit a big garden in a small space? You do like Romance Author Blanche Marriot and make a complete hanging garden! She really used her brains on designing this neat little overhead garden in a compact space!

DIY Insecticidal Soap

You all know I think the world of Dr. Bonner's soaps, both liquid and bar. But did you know it makes a great insecticidal soap when you (or rather, your plants) get attacked by aphids and other related crawly things? Well it does. It disrupts insects’ cell membranes, and kills pests by dehydration. Or rather it gives them a big case of Bug Diarrhea!.

Insecticidal Soap Spray
1 to 2 tablespoons Dr. Bonner's or other pure Castile liquid soap
1 quart water
Combine ingredients in a bucket, mix, then transfer to a spray
bottle as needed. Or if you are like me and have two or three empty Dr. Bronner's bottles in your shower just refill those and squirt it on the affected plant.

Pea Shoots

I love pea shoots! I sometimes grow some in the winter inside just to use them in stir fry! Easy to grow inside- just plant some peas in a shallow planter, place in a sunny window and poof! You can start taking them when they are about 2" tall! And this is fun for the kids; a quick and easy to teach them about growing things!
In the garden, as your peas start growing and you start thinning, don't dispose of the thinnings! You can use the thinnings in the kitchen!
Pea shoots are the tiny, tender leaves and vines of young pea plants. Any type of pea will suffice, but sugar pod peas are the easiest types to grow for shoots and tendrils, since they tend to shoot up faster and stay light and crisp. Pea shoots and tendrils are tender enough to serve with no or minimal cooking. They are often tossed into salads or on top of soups. You can always add a few curls as an edible garnish. Pea shoots and tendrils are also a tangy addition to stir-fired dishes or simply steamed or sautéed as a side dish.
Wondering how to cook pea shoots? Here's an easy, quick and tasty pea shoots and tendrils recipe from Kim Knox Beckius, a blogger at About.com

'Sup, Tex?

Found these old cowboy boots discarded So of course y'all know how my mind works... what to do with them. My first thought was make Romeo size cowboy boy boots out of them but since I lack the nessecary cobler-sewing-leather working skills to do that, I made a planter... at least if the plants die... I can say they died with their boots on!

Improving SIP's

Very exciting- A few years ago there was almost no news on SIP's- now people are coming up with improvements seems like every day. Larry Hall is one of those folks- he came up with a watering method that doesn't use a bucket, (Saving more buckets for growing!) The cool thing about this design is I could see using it straight from one of my rain barrels to the gutter for irrigating. And since I will probably replace the plastic rain gutters on the garage this year, gives me an idea what to do with the old plastic rain gutters!

Here is what you need to build Larry Hall's self filling Rain Gutter Grow System! 
2- 10 ft treated 2x4's
1- 10 ft rain gutter and 2 end caps.
a mini float valve to regulate water
3 inch net cups (they are cheap!)
roofing screws

Read More on Larry's Rain Gutter system at INSIDE URBAN GREEN.com

What grows well in a shady container garden

THe topic comes up all the time--- Here are some vids to help give some answers
I didn't think Jerusalem artichokes would grow well in the shade:
and for a little inspiration:

Fall planting... let the games begin!

Beets... a great fall garden choice!

It's time to start planting those fall gardens

Radishes, basil, mustard greens and spinach each take as little as one month to mature, and can survive light frost.

Lettuce, Swiss chard, kale and collard greens take as few as 40 days, and the latter two can survive temperatures in the 20s.

Beets and cabbage take as much as two months to mature, but can survive temperatures in the 20s. And beets are a great fall crop!

Garlic and leeks can be planted now for harvest next summer. And you can plant garlic in a container...I have successfully planted it in 5 gallon buckets before! 2 or 3 cloves per bucket!

Check with your local garden supply store, or agricultural extension service for advice for varietals that will survive best in your climate. Buy or start seedlings to give yourself a head start if it's too late to plant from seed.