This is a new urban gardening magazine. It concentrates on hydroponics and organics, but has many articles that are applicable to any urban gardener.
I have wanted to make my own pickles ever since I saw this episode on Good Eats on the Food Network. Only you can’t just buy any cucumbers to pickle. The ones that you buy in the average grocery store have a wax on them and won’t pickle properly. I was planning on buying some at the farmer’s market but it never happened. Guess what’s going in my garden next summer, cucumbers!!
Books
So I’ve been trying to find a good resource for container gardening. I’d really like to have a regular supply of a few choice veggies and fresh herbs that I use all the time. Below is a list of books I’ve found that might help you out. Reviews to come!
McGee & Stuckey’s Bountiful Container
This book has a lot of reviews and almost all of them are 5 star (like 78 out of 93). Reviews say that it is a great reference book. And appropriate illustrations.
Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces
I think I’m going to end up buying this book. It has instructions on everything you need to know and big colorful pictures.
So I grew up making Mayhaw jelly (a small berry that grows in the south in marshy areas). So I’m familiar with some canning principles, but I’m always worried that I’ll do it wrong and end up with grossness in a can. This book has good reviews. Beautiful layouts and very informative pictures.
I’ve been thinking about adding two more window boxes while I know that I can get matching ones. I have also been thinking about what I’m going to put in them. I want to grow things that I know are practical that my husband and I eat a lot of. I’d really like to grow onions, but they require pretty deep soil and I don’t have much room for a collection of big pots.
Beans don’t require a lot of depth of soil and aren’t picky about fertilization.
I also started carrots in a pot my mom gave me. They haven’t started peeping up yet, pictures to come when they do.
I’m going to need a bigger watering can….
I just planted 8 heads of lettuce in my brand new window boxes! I’m so excited. I’m growing romaine and bibb lettuce. This will be the first plant that I’m going to work in rotation to have a steady supply. I’ll start planting seedlings this week.
Container Gardening - Water System
So, as I’ve already stated I am going away for the weekend. And I have been terrified to come home to shriveled, dead plants. With all the heat I have been watering them twice a day. If I miss the morning watering I come home to find my basil all shriveled and limp and my bell peppers practically lying on the railing. Given 3 days they might just jump out of their pots. So I went out to home depot to get some of those glass bulb water things. They will do fine for the herbs in small pots. I was talking to the nursery expert who suggested the simplest thing. And I felt so stupid for not thinking of it myself. She suggested that I fill a coke bottle with water and then poke a hole in the cap and turn it upside down. (Pictures and instructions of my version to come)
I have dreams of large plots of land and never having to buy vegetables. However I currently have to settle for fresh herbs and a bell pepper every now and again. I found this great how-to about growing carrots in containers. I’d like to try as soon as I get those pots from my mom.
Rosemary Love
I just got a new rosemary plant from my mother-in-law. It smells amazing , but it needs some work if it is going to survive. (pictures and garden update soon). I found a short but informative posting on Gardening Know How about caring for rosemary.
Rosemary thrives in a warm climate but likes dry soil. So it should be dry before watering again. Pruning is necessary for most plants, rosemary should be trimmed just above the base of a leaf joint. The article notes that no more than one third should be trimmed at a time. Rosemary needs between 4-6 hours of sunlight.
A box of seeds and goodies to get your garden going!
