Garden update: 'maters and 'taters
Our tomato seedlings (which were started in peat pellets) have taken off like wildfire. The seedlings are several inches tall. We're now in the midst of transplanting them into larger containers.
Ideal containers for tomato seedlings:
Plastic yogurt cups
Plastic or styrofoam drink cups (we have been using plastic Solo 16 oz. cups)
Aluminum drink cans with the top cut off
Anything else that'll hold dirt
Get your potting soil ready. Have plenty on hand because it'll probably take more than you think.
Fill the new container with soil. Gently remove the tomato seedling from its present container and transfer to the new container. Bury the seedling deep - up to within an inch of its bottommost leaves. Add more soil as necessary.
Give your seedling a good drink. Continue to grow it indoors, under the lights, until outdoor night temps reliably remain in the 50s.
This weekend is also our weekend to plant potatoes.
We don't plant our 'taters in the ground. We plant them in tires.
To plant potatoes in tires, you'll need:
Fill the tire with loose dirt, compost or even chopped up leaves. I usually use the leaves from the previous fall that haven’t yet finished composting, mixed with some dirt. Be sure to fill the tire completely, including the sidewalls. You don’t want to leave room for standing water that could serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
As the potato vines grow and reach 6" in height (basically tall enough to clear another tire stacked on top), add another tire and fill with leaves.
Repeat with a third tire as the potato vines grow. What you're doing here is forcing the potato plants to grow and extra long taproot, along which will form several potatoes.
When the top of the potato plant dies, you can dig around in the top layer and fish out new potatoes. After a week or so, you can knock over the whole stack to harvest your potatoes. It's not unheard of to have a 20 pound yield per stack.
Ideal containers for tomato seedlings:Plastic yogurt cups
Plastic or styrofoam drink cups (we have been using plastic Solo 16 oz. cups)
Aluminum drink cans with the top cut off
Anything else that'll hold dirt
Get your potting soil ready. Have plenty on hand because it'll probably take more than you think.
Fill the new container with soil. Gently remove the tomato seedling from its present container and transfer to the new container. Bury the seedling deep - up to within an inch of its bottommost leaves. Add more soil as necessary.
Give your seedling a good drink. Continue to grow it indoors, under the lights, until outdoor night temps reliably remain in the 50s.
This weekend is also our weekend to plant potatoes.
We don't plant our 'taters in the ground. We plant them in tires.
To plant potatoes in tires, you'll need:
- Seed potatoes (Co-Op has them. Also check with your local farm store. Do NOT use potatoes from the grocery store because they've been treated with growth inhibitors and aren't guaranteed to be disease-free)
- Tires (try the junkyard or trash heap)
- Dirt (doesn't have to be the best, just as long as it's fairly loose)
Fill the tire with loose dirt, compost or even chopped up leaves. I usually use the leaves from the previous fall that haven’t yet finished composting, mixed with some dirt. Be sure to fill the tire completely, including the sidewalls. You don’t want to leave room for standing water that could serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.As the potato vines grow and reach 6" in height (basically tall enough to clear another tire stacked on top), add another tire and fill with leaves.
Repeat with a third tire as the potato vines grow. What you're doing here is forcing the potato plants to grow and extra long taproot, along which will form several potatoes.
When the top of the potato plant dies, you can dig around in the top layer and fish out new potatoes. After a week or so, you can knock over the whole stack to harvest your potatoes. It's not unheard of to have a 20 pound yield per stack.
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