Cucumbers, peppers, eggplant 5/28/13

Trench town rock

Week 12 Tomatoes

This year we started our tomatoes a bit early... like a month too early. They got leggy and too tall to keep themselves upright. We were worried that we completely screwed them up this year. Do we start over? Do we take cuttings and replant them? Do we repot all 60 of the tomatoes we started?

Nope, we left them as is. Hardened them off and chose the best 20 to plant.  Normally we would dig a really deep hole, so only the top 4 inches of the plant would be above ground. But this year, we tried out the trench method.

Step 1: Dig a horizontal hole 4-6 inches deep, and as long as your plant is.
Step 2: Pinch off all but 2-4 sets of leaves
Step 3: Lay the plant down and cover with soil. Gently bend the top of the plant and support it with soil.
It's ok if it's not perfectly straight, once it starts growing it will straightened itself out.

Squash, Cucumbers, and Flowers week 9-10

Every year Chris says we should start our squash and cucumbers inside. I'm like " eh, they germinate so quickly, lets not". Then they get eaten by slugs or other bugs and we have to start them over.
This year we started them indoors. So when we plant them, their tasty tender leaves won't be so attractive to the slugs.

A bit behind on photos and blogging. The squashes, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplant are all a beautiful size now and have been moved outside to the tent. They will have the week to harden off, so we can plant them next weekend.
We planted our tomatoes on Saturday (week 12), so once I take some pictures I'll post them with how we trench planted this year.

Week 6-8 Broccoli, Cabbage, and Potatoes Oh My!

Week 5 the onions, leeks, shallots, broccoli, and cabbage started to transition to being planted outdoors. First they hung out on the porch, getting accustomed to cooler nights and a few hours of real sunshine. It's like when us New Englanders try to go somewhere warm with beaches during the winter months. Without sunblock and too much sun we burn to a crisp. The plants tender leaves also need some exposure to the sun. Too much sun = unhappy plants.
Once the plants had enough time to make their adjustment we planted them in freshly turned soil filled  with red wriggler worms.

Cabbage

Potato Towers

This year we ordered 25lb (wow that's lot) of certified seed potatoes.  Potatoes can take up quiet a bit of space in your garden and this year we decided to try out a new method. I can across this website Potato Towers through Pinterest. It's all about vertical space and wherever there is sun.

Step 1: Take some wire fencing and cut to the size you desire. Attach it with zip-ties or some other easy way you will be able to detach them later on.

Step 2: Place them in a desired location with plenty of sun and them wont tip over (via dogs, kids, etc).

Step 3: Place straw in the bottom and a few inches up the sides of the wire fencing. Then add in a nice thick layer of soil/mulch. Water. Place seed potato about 5-6 inches apart with eyes facing towards the outside of the fencing.

Step 4:  Repeat 3-4 more layers. The last layer of soil you can plant herbs, other veggies, or flowers.

Step 5: Find a handsome husband to help build your potato towers :)

The idea is that the potato leaves will grow all along the outside of the tower. When they are ready for harvest, just detach the zip-ties and dig through the soil. This is our first year trying this, so I will be interested in the results (size, yield, critters).