Homesteading Summer/Fall 2009 Options

[Deb Mc]

Hello everyone! Long time no see. :-)

2008 wasn't a good year for gardening, didn't do much except grow a few herbs for cooking (i.e. Organo, Parsley, Sweet Basil, Sage and Stevia). 2009, however, was a different story.

This year, the potatos were grown in the 64 L plastic tubs from Wal-Mart. Yukon Golds only grow down, not up the stalk, so they're not stackable. Still, there was a respectable harvest from just three containers. The Yukons had a delicious, buttery flavor, that smelled a bit like cooked cabbage as they were simmered with the green beans and ham. Was quite good!

As for the plastic pond turned container garden, I replaced last year's flimsy fence. Went with a solid plastic green poulty fence. (Very sturdy.) Doubled it up and wove tomato stakes through it vertically for more stability and as fence posts. Stapled the bottom 6" of the fence to the top of the plastic pond. (Used 3/8" staples.) Kept one area unstaple to use as a gate. Put bricks on the bottom to keep the animals from going under the fence. Tied the gate shut with some new rubber-coated metal wire. (Nice stuff! Rubber is very stretchy and cushioned. Wire has good memory.)

The new fencing worked great! Kept the cats and kritters out this year - no groundhog or raccoon invasion. Harvested a little zucchini, and about 2 gallons of Kentucky Wonder green beans.

Zucchini wasn't so hot due to powdery mildew. Will need to rig up some sort of hose/drip irrigation to prevent that for next year.

Tried Eggplant for the first time and did pretty well! The Black Beauty has produced the most with about 7 good-sized fruits. The Ichiban has produced one so far, but two more are on the way.

Tomatos were doing pretty well until the blight hit. Ended up having to severely prune all varities and throw them out. (No composting that - blight would infect it all and carry it over next year.) Pruning bought some time and most of the plants bounced back. Lost the heirloom Black Krim entirely. The Cherry, Grape and Early Girl tomatos hung on though. Have had about 2 gallons of tomatos, even with losing many to the blight.

Bought some "Saddle Container" for growing on the porch and deck railings. They worked fairly well. Am growing some herbs and veggies in them. The Butter Crunch lettuce did pretty well, considering the very dry weather we had. Ditto for the Swiss Chard.

Added Marigolds and Wave Petunias in among the herbs and veggies. Looked quite nice - added some much-needed color. It also seemed to keep the critters away too. No groundhog incursions onto the deck as they'd done in the past.

Anyway, gotta run. More later...