Great Tip for Sowing Small Seeds

Planting lettuce in straight rows (or any other precise looking shape) can be pretty difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. Check out this cheap and easy trick for planting small seeds. I wish I had thought of it.

January 6, 2009 | Filed Under Fruits & Vegetables | 4 Comments

Food Stamped: Can Food Really Be Grown in an Urban Setting?

Over at The Jew and Carrot — a really wonderful blog about Jewish food issues and ethical, local, organic food in general — guest blogger Sarah Newman brought up an interesting documentary called Food Stamped about food stamps and whether you can really eat healthily on our government’s food program for the poor. In the movie, the documentarians try to live off of $50 for food a week, and supplement their diet with some vegetables and herbs that grow along their driveway.

It seems as though Sarah generally liked the film but had a few critiques, one of which involved the driveway herb garden:

And, what if they don’t have tidy herb gardens lining their driveway, like Shira and Yuval, to add nutritious and tasty ingredients to spice up their somewhat bland foods?

The implication being (I think) that it isn’t possible for poor, urban food stamp users to grow their own herbs, or even better, their own fruits and vegetables. And certainly not on a serious budget. I have to say, I heartily disagree! I thought I would round up some of the posts I written about growing your own food without access to an in-ground garden or even very much room. Even a windowbox provides enough room to produce tomatoes, blueberries, herbs, and more.

Growing Your Own Food:

Frugal Gardening:

December 30, 2008 | Filed Under Frugal Container Gardening, Fruits & Vegetables, Herbs, How To | 3 Comments

A Cucumber Plant Made for Container Gardening

I realize that now is not the time for those of us in the northern hemisphere to be thinking about cucumbers, but file away this post for spring. I came across another miniaturized vegetable! ‘Bush Slicer’ Cucumber forms tidy mounds suitable for growing in containers and produces 6 inch cukes in record time.

While you’re checking out the cukes, there are also ‘Little Prince’ Eggplants.

Related Posts:

November 11, 2008 | Filed Under Fruits & Vegetables | 13 Comments

Check Out This Great Guide to Growing Carrots in Pots

I found this informative and funny tutorial on growing carrots in containers and thought I would pass it along. I am growing these adorable little ball-shapped carrots. This is actually my first time growing carrots. Has anyone out there have tips for growing carrots? I think they’re supposed to be pretty easy…?

Photo by see.wolf

November 9, 2008 | Filed Under Fruits & Vegetables, Good Reading | 9 Comments

The Decision

I apologize for the ominous title, but cutting off some of my tomato plant’s flowers was a difficult decision for me to make. You see, I grew this tomato plant from seed. I fertilized it every week, watered it regularly, I bought it a special, really tall pot so it could send it’s roots deep into the soil. I picked off caterpillars and directed lady bugs to eat smaller pests.

I really pampered this tomato plant, and my effort was rewarded with three stems of flowers, with 7-14 flowers each. I was going to have around 30+ tomatoes!

So why in the world would I cut off the flowers? Well, even Southern California’s beautiful weather has its limits. It is cooling down here and I was afraid my beloved tomato plant wouldn’t have enough energy to finish growing all the tomatoes. So I sacrificed a few of the flowers that haven’t yet started to set fruit, so that the plant could concentrate its effort on growing the tomatoes that are already started.

What would I have done with 30+ tomatoes in November anyway?!

October 30, 2008 | Filed Under Fall Gardening, Fruits & Vegetables | 8 Comments

Grow Your Own Food So Your Kids Will Eat Healthily

I just read a shocking fact. Fifty-nine percent of American children are either overweight or obese according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s such a huge number, I’ll let it sink in for a moment: three out of every five children in America is unhealthy.

Photo by Stitch

Now that you’ve had a chance to climb back on your chair, I’m sure you’re thinking, “Fern, that’s a shocking fact, but what in the world does that have to do with plants in pots on a balcony?” I’ll tell you what. I’ve been a camp counselor before, and babysat tons. I know how hard it is to get kids to eat anything remotely healthy. But I’ve also seen the pride kids take in a radish they grew from seed in a paper cup.

That last observation is the secret I think. Involve kids in healthy food growing (and buying). If you grow vegetables with your kids, they’re more likely to taste the fruits of their labor. Not having a huge garden is no excuse. A cherry tomato plant can be grown in a pot next to your front door. Same thing if you take them with you to the farmer’s market and they meet the farmer and can talk to him about how he grew the corn they selected for a BBQ later that afternoon. Get kids excited about and interested in fresh fruits and vegetables by making the process of obtaining them personal and fun.

When picking vegetables to grow with your kids, choose seeds that germinate quickly and opt for transplants for those vegetables that take longer to produce something edible. Get your kids involved in picking out what to grow and planning out your container garden. And set your kids up for success by chosing stuff that is easy to grow. If you’re new to vegetable gardening in containers, I highly recommend the book Bountiful Container.

Here are some articles that will help you get started:

Edited to Add: Nancy blogged about a school gardening project that was a great success in getting kids to eat more fruits and vegetables.

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October 27, 2008 | Filed Under Container Gardening, Fruits & Vegetables | 7 Comments

Vegetables And Herbs You Can Still Plant Before Winter

Close your eyes and imagine this scenario…Okay, don’t close your eyes, because then you can’t read the scenario…

You just moved in to a new apartment and it has a great balcony with plenty of sun and you are thinking it would be great to beat the rising food costs and grow some of your own vegetables and herbs.

You’ve had a great balcony for some time, but you just haven’t gotten around to planting any fall vegetables and herbs, and now you’re finally feeling motivated.

The only problem, you realize, is that it is late October and you’re not sure if there is anything you can grow at the moment.

If you resemble either scenario, don’t worry! So long as your balcony still has some sunshine and the dirt in your pots hasn’t turned to ice cubes, there are still things you can plant now, and even some seeds that you can sow.

Arugula - Sow seeds or buy transplants
Broccoli - Buy transplants - Look for ‘Premium Crop’, Romanesco, and ‘Violet Queen’
Cauliflower - Buy transplants - Look for ‘Amazing’
Endive - Buy transplants - Look for curly and broad leaf varieties
Kale - Buy transplants - Look for ‘Winterbor’
Spinach - Buy transplants - Look for ‘Tyee’
Garlic - Buy cloves - Look for ‘Chesnok Red’ and ‘Spanish Roja’
Onions - Buy transplants - Look for ‘Buffalo’
Parsley - Sow seeds - For cooking, look for Italian flat leaf varieties
Rosemary - Sow seeds - Look for ‘Arp’ or ‘Sawyer’s Selection’ for cold climates, ‘Tuscan Blue’ elsewhere

One last tip: when choosing a pot, pick something that won’t crack after a light frost.

Sources: Sunset Magazine

October 23, 2008 | Filed Under Fall Gardening, Fruits & Vegetables, Herbs | 4 Comments

Bell Pepper Experiment

Over at Buddy Garden Blog, Louise summarized an Organic Gardening article about growing better bell peppers that reminded me that…DUH…I am growing bell peppers, maybe I should try some of the techniques they mentioned. I was thinking that I could put my nearly year-round gardening climate to good use and test out the Organic Gardening techniques and report back to you all before you start growing peppers in the Spring. So…now’s the time to subscribe to my feed! Sorry, I’m shameless.

Photo by Edmond CV218

Here are the tips/techniques I plan to implement from the article:

Add dish detergent into liquid fertilizer helps the fertilizer coat the leaf surface (1/4 teaspoon in 1 quart of water).

Add worm castings in the soil around the base of the plant for nutrients and give the peppers a good start in the beginning.

Spray the plants with liquid kelp at 4-week intervals to prevent blossom drop.

Here’s how my pepper plants look right now:

I’ll report back at regular intervals and to let you all know how it’s going.

October 2, 2008 | Filed Under Container Gardening, Fall Gardening, Fruits & Vegetables | 2 Comments

Best Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs to Grow for Beginners

Whether you’re an old hand at gardening but have never grown edible plants, or you’re new to gardening all together, here is a list of plants that are well suited to people who are considering growing something they can eat for the first time.

Photo by GNIKRJ

I’ve linked to growing information from Organic Gardening magazine to help you get your container farming off to a good start. Going organic is really important when it comes to plants you are going to eat because eating chemicals (whether in the form of fertilizers or pesticides) is not very appetizing.

Related Posts:

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September 4, 2008 | Filed Under Fruits & Vegetables, Herbs | 14 Comments

Create a Hanging Salad Bowl

Are you really short on space? Maybe you don’t have any dedicated outdoor floor space. Or maybe one more pot on your balcony will make it so there is no more room for you. No worries! Almost everyone has room for a hanging basket or two. You could grow everything you need for a salad in one basket. Lettuces, spinaches and salad accouterments are great for hanging baskets.

Photo by Miss Xombie

Here are two different ideas for a hanging salad bowl…er, I mean basket. If you’ve never planted a wire hanging basket before, here is a good overview.

Spinach and Strawberries

You will need a wire hanging basket, a natural basket liner like moss or coconut fiber, potting soil, spinach seedlings or seeds, and strawberry plants.
Fill the bottom of the pot with soil. In the sides of a large wire hanging basket, plant five strawberry seedlings. In the top of the basket, plant three spinach seedlings, or sow spinach seeds and thin to three plants. Try to get them in a triangle layout to give each plant enough room. Fill in between the spinach plants with potting soil.
If you don’t care for spinach, substitute a lettuce with soft leaves, such as ‘Salad Bowl’ (as opposed to a lettuce like Romaine that is on the crunchy side).
To make a salad with the contents of your basket, harvest the outer leaves of the spinach and a handful of strawberries. Clean the spinach and strawberries as needed. Remove the stems from the spinach and chop or tear it into bite sized pieces if necessary. Remove the top of the strawberries and cut each one into three slices. Toss the lettuce and strawberries with a balsamic vinaigrette. Sprinkle slivered almonds on top if desired.

Dinner Salad

You will need a medium-large hanging pot, potting soil, a tomato plant (one suitable for containers, such as ‘Micro Tom’), your favorite lettuce seedlings and whichever carrot (preferably a shorter variety) and radish seeds you prefer.
Fill the pot halfway up with potting soil. In the back of the pot, plant the lettuces. In the middle of the pot, plant the tomato. Fill around the lettuce and tomato with soil. In a half circle around the tomato, sow the carrot seeds. in a half circle around the carrots, sow the radishes. Be sure to leave enough room between the radish and carrot rows for each plant to grow to its potential. Thin the carrots and radishes as indicated on the seed packets.
To make a salad, pick a handful of tomatoes, the outer leaves of the lettuces, and a few carrots and radishes (sow new seeds in their place). Wash the vegetables and lettuce . Chop or tear the lettuce into bite sized pieces. Slice the carrots and radishes and toss in the salad. Use the dressing of your choice.

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August 27, 2008 | Filed Under Fall Gardening, Fruits & Vegetables | 4 Comments