|
Gardens
May 16, 2007 9:33:13 GMT -4
Post by honeybee on May 16, 2007 9:33:13 GMT -4
Last year I grew upside down tomato's. You have to use the plum, tommy toes or small tomato's.
Take a 2 liter plastic bottle, turn it upside down and cut the bottom off just past the little ridge. Punch 3 holes around it and run yarn or string through, this makes your hanger.
Put your tomato plants in from the pour spout at the bottom, sticking their little stems and roots through. Put your dirt in from the cut-off top part and hang them up in a good sunny place on a nail or cup hook.
Even though the plants are hanging down, they will grow up towards the sun. You can water it easily, see the roots as they grow and pluck you some tomato's when you want them.
An excellent idea for someone who has trouble bending over.
|
|
|
Gardens
May 16, 2007 9:46:11 GMT -4
Post by honeybee on May 16, 2007 9:46:11 GMT -4
|
|
|
Gardens
Jun 4, 2007 23:16:01 GMT -4
Post by kopycat on Jun 4, 2007 23:16:01 GMT -4
HB. I've been experimenting with your small up side hanging baskets. I used a coffee can and planted an heirloom yellow lemon variety of tomato that we got at Home Depot in Atlanta. I've never seen that variety before. I'm saving seeds if I get a good yield.
I have larger tomatoes in 5-gallon paint buckets that are painted black or Grey. It doesn't stand out like the normal white bucket. Miracle grow plant mix does great and I feel like I am saving H2O using the 5 gallon buckets.
I have the small containers hanging on top of my tomato tee-pee. Beans and cucumbers are planted at the base of the tee-pee. I'm doing more successive planting this year, instead of planting ever thing at once. I ran a soaker hose around the base of the tee-pee and I am using a lot of soaker hose for the main garden. I've started mulching the tomatoes with compost and putting wood chips in the garden path to keep the moisture from evaporating. I'm looking for a cheap source of saw dust to hold moisture.
|
|
manape
Guide
Manape is alive!!!
Posts: 413
|
Gardens
Jun 5, 2007 13:30:20 GMT -4
Post by manape on Jun 5, 2007 13:30:20 GMT -4
Tips for frugal gardening Source: www.cherokeesentinel.com/news/2007/0523/home/056.htmlWho doesn't want a picture-perfect garden? After all, if you're going to invest the time and effort into revamping your landscape you don't want to cut corners, right? Actually, you can take shortcuts in the garden to save a lot of money without compromising the finished product. This mostly involves using some inexpensive items in place of more costly ones when possible. Here are a few ideas to get you started. Then use your imagination to cut costs even further. Radical recycling: Container gardening is an easy way to add visual appeal to a home. Containers are generally simple to maintain and can be moved or changed as whimsy directs. Containers come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from small terracotta pots to large window boxes. Large containers can be somewhat costly, and filling them to the brim with rich soil can be even more so. Instead of spending a fortune, look for inexpensive resin containers that have the look of real ceramic or stone. Fill the bottom half of a rather large container with crushed up aluminum cans and those discarded plastic flower pots that your annuals were packaged in at the nursery. Fill the rest of the container with soil and you'll save money in the process. Most plants have shallow roots and they will never even reach the cans you have in the bottom. What's more, the containers are much lighter from this effective "fill," and have improved drainage. Use what you've got: Why spend a lot of money on specialty items that cost more when you can use what you have around the house, or modify inexpensive gardening tools for your purposes? For example, many at-home gardeners enjoy the look of topiaries in their yard. Topiary forms can be $20 or more, depending upon size. Instead, use a tomato plant cage with the ends tied off to mimic a similar shape. The cages cost a fraction of the "forms," and no one will know the difference once your topiary has filled it out. Make your own soil: Pre-packaged gardening blends cost more than if you whip up some on your own. The cost is even less if you mix in some home-grown compost. Creating a rich soil can be as simple as mixing in some fallen leaves that you've let sit in a trash bag over the winter with some ventilation holes cut in it. Mix the leaf debris into your soil for spring planting. Grocery gardening: You can experiment with planting produce from the grocery story. Whether you have garlic cloves that are past their prime or potatoes you want to discard, try planting them in the yard to see if you can obtain a new crop. Other things to experiment with include avocado pits, citrus seeds, pineapple tops, and more. There's no harm in taking a chance at expanding your garden for no additional cost. Grow lettuce: Salads are the quintessential diet food. But those bowls of mixed greens can be pricey if eaten out, or even if you purchase pre-mixed salad from a store. You can grow your own lettuce varieties relatively easily and cultivate what you need for personal use. Add a little homemade dressing and you have a light meal.
|
|
|
Post by summerose on Jun 7, 2007 9:15:25 GMT -4
Salads are a good diet food and also taste especially good on a hot day.
|
|
manape
Guide
Manape is alive!!!
Posts: 413
|
Gardens
Jun 7, 2007 13:46:51 GMT -4
Post by manape on Jun 7, 2007 13:46:51 GMT -4
I think I'm going to change my strategy on the salads. I tend to plant too much at one time. I'm going to try to find varieties that I can plant successively, so I can harvest it all through the summer. I plan to use a four by four raised bed like the ones used for square foot gardening. Got ideas on "hot weather" varieties, or am I dreaming? The leafy stuff I planted is still green, but it taste bitter.
|
|
|
Gardens
Jun 14, 2007 15:03:40 GMT -4
Post by greenspace on Jun 14, 2007 15:03:40 GMT -4
|
|
manape
Guide
Manape is alive!!!
Posts: 413
|
Gardens
Jun 26, 2007 23:42:29 GMT -4
Post by manape on Jun 26, 2007 23:42:29 GMT -4
I sliced some yellow squash from the garden longways and grilled it Monday. It was mighty fine eaten with the steak we had. Also, I like to chop up onions, grate cheese, and put them in half a squash with the seeds removed. Then I bake them.
We will have fried green tomatoes soon and cucumbers for a salad. I mix cucumbers, fresh basil, onions, and black pepper in vinegar and olive oil.
How are your vegies surviving the drought conditions? That reminds me, it rained Monday, so I put an Ace Hardware green trash can under the down spout. How is that for going green? It's my poor man's rain barrel. It was a little late to catch water, but I will be ready for the next rain. I figure I can save a lot of water that way.
|
|
|
Gardens
Jun 27, 2007 0:55:03 GMT -4
Post by karmaxtrodinair on Jun 27, 2007 0:55:03 GMT -4
Manape.. this is actually the first time that I can say, our veggie garden didn't get planted.. I worked many of hours cleaning up my flower gardens.. separating the ones that have made many new friends to the point they couldn't or wouldn't bloom.. by doing this tho, a lot of them made more beautiful blooms even short lived because of the draught conditions.. I honestly didn't take extra time to plant veggies.. but yours does make me wake up and wish I had.. and will do better at this.. it would save us so much too.. and there is nothing in this world like home grown garden fresh veggies.. I am smiling that yours has done well and the squash and fried green tomatoes sound so good.. Enjoy friend..
|
|
|
Gardens
Jun 27, 2007 14:20:53 GMT -4
Post by summerose on Jun 27, 2007 14:20:53 GMT -4
I agree Karmax.....their is nothing in this world that tastes as good as home grown veggies! Maters, sweet corn, okra, white-half runner beans, peas, carrots, etc. Yum! Yum!
|
|
|
Gardens
Jun 27, 2007 14:45:57 GMT -4
Post by honeybee on Jun 27, 2007 14:45:57 GMT -4
Rabbits and Chickens are in high gear.
Ya'll come get'cha some.
We now have 2 more sets of baby chicks that have hatched.
I have several roosters to sell, 1 is Buff and Rhode Island mixed, the rest are banty's
|
|
manape
Guide
Manape is alive!!!
Posts: 413
|
Gardens
Jun 27, 2007 22:51:07 GMT -4
Post by manape on Jun 27, 2007 22:51:07 GMT -4
When I got home, my wife raided the garden and we had our first fried green tomatoes for the season. Also, we had boiled squash.
Does anyone know some other ways to fix squash? I know it sounds like Bubba in the Forest Gump movie...I like squash fried, baked, squash casserole, raw squash, boiled with onions, boiled without onions, _____ help me out here, I'm going to run out ways to cook it before I run out of squash.
|
|
|
Post by summerose on Jul 2, 2007 9:04:53 GMT -4
Manape, the only ways I know of to cook squash, you have already mentioned. I love it fried and in a casserole.
|
|
|
Gardens
Jul 2, 2007 18:28:51 GMT -4
Post by tessa on Jul 2, 2007 18:28:51 GMT -4
Slice into 1/2 pieces, drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on the pieces, add salt, pepper and grill for a couple of minutes on each side.
|
|
|
Gardens
Jul 8, 2007 20:47:23 GMT -4
Post by summerose on Jul 8, 2007 20:47:23 GMT -4
Thanks to all the rain we have been having, my flowers and shrubs are doing great. The blackberries are so big and juicy. I picked 3 quarts before the bears got to them! lol!
|
|