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You're in Denver too? And you're having this much success? Look, I'm very happy for you and I'm going to want to learn how you did all this, but right now, I have to go outside and kick the containers I've been pathetically trying to grow stuff in quite viciously.
GRRRRRRR.
;-)
Haha! I'm up in Erie - I never really know whether to say Denver or Boulder - I figure Denver's more recognizable. The key to 99% of my success is the concept of this whole self-watering container thing. It really is genious and I can't say enough wonderful things about it. I won't go into a ton of detail here about how to create them because I just followed the instructions I found online to a TEE. Added my timed drip lines and DONE.
If you haven't already, I highly recommend online searches for Earthboxes and "global buckets". I think the global bucket design calls for trash bags or some other related plastic over the top, but I am using disposable shower caps (bag of 15 at Walmart for less than $1) covered over with box tape (the elastic on the shower caps wears out in the wind). I then secure the covering with 6 small binder clips attached to the ribs of the bucket. It's working amazingly well. I am fully aware that the buckets are not the most attractive planter in the world, but at $2/ea (less than $50 total), I can have 12 things growing for the cost of less than one large fancy planter. It also makes for very interesting fenceline chat with the nabes.
I'm happy to answer any questions you might have, either on the open forum or through PM. I will reiterate that I am NOT an expert and will never claim to be, but I can certainly answer questions about what I've done or how I've gone about doing it.
You're in Denver too? And you're having this much success? Look, I'm very happy for you and I'm going to want to learn how you did all this, but right now, I have to go outside and kick the containers I've been pathetically trying to grow stuff in quite viciously.
GRRRRRRR.
;-)
I laughed out loud at this !Thx. By the way, I have mixed results with containers but, that may be more my fault than the plants and containers......
NickMan7, thanks for a great thread. Inspirational and you make it look kind of easy. Sometimes, the stuff I have in a bucket or box does pretty well, though usually succumbs (sp) to to fungus before too long. I don't do a lot of spraying because I don't have the time..... time to plant but no time to maintain....LOL
I am interested in the drip system you put in. Do you have a link ?
Curious as to the squash. The plants gets so big, how do you manage that ?
I had a Japanese eggplant come up in my old compost bed last year. Over wintered here in Florida and made a ton of eggplant before I pulled it up.
A pkg of Sweet100 tomato seeds I threw out in a flower bed earlier in the year almost took over a huge flower bed. I probably ate a gallon or two, out of hand and, put 3-4 qts in the freezer. Never sprayed or did anything to them.
Does anyone have trouble finding the stuff for the blossom end rot problem ? I had some regular tomatoes in pots and the ground and all seem to have that trouble. I couldn't find the stuff at Lowe's or Home Depot.
Plus, has anyone else noticed a lack of bees this year ? I have. I have voluntary dill plants, basil, etc that come up, as well as, flowers and I saw only one or two bees. It scares me.
That's wonderful, nonchalance! How many yellow bean plants did you plant? Are they bush or pole? I have 4 bush and they are ridiculously productive, but I'm not really a huge fan of them (first time growing). I don't think I know how to properly prepare fresh beans and I don't really care for them raw. I want to try potatoes next year! What kind of bag are you growing them in? What's planted in your Earthbox? Tomatoes?
My green onions and celery were planted from the root ends of the stuff I bought at the grocery store, too! The celery is very interesting to watch - it's extremely slow - and the green onions take off like a rocket almost immediately. I harvested 7 3' green onions last weekend and filled two one-gallon freezer bags with them. We grilled the bulbs with a little oil/butter, salt, pepper and garlic - yummo! I also threw some straightneck squash and Japanese eggplant on the grill. I LOVE this time of year - it's so incredibly rewarding.
Thanks, lol. The beans are Cherokee yellow, bush beans, and they're in the Earthbox. I have NO idea how many plants are in there. It was such a horrible winter that we were desperate to grow anything, so I started the beans inside, three to a pot in case they didn't all make it.
They did. The Earthbox is overcrowded with 'em.
Raw beans: ick.
I usually snap beans into short pieces and butter-steam them until soft, then add seasoning. They can then be dressed with feta cheese, chopped onion, pimiento, parsley, whatever you imagine. Or leave out the butter, and dress with mayo or olive oil. You might try this before giving up on beans! It's gooooood.
NickMan7, thanks for a great thread. Inspirational and you make it look kind of easy. Sometimes, the stuff I have in a bucket or box does pretty well, though usually succumbs (sp) to to fungus before too long. I don't do a lot of spraying because I don't have the time..... time to plant but no time to maintain....LOL
I am interested in the drip system you put in. Do you have a link ?
Curious as to the squash. The plants gets so big, how do you manage that ?
I had a Japanese eggplant come up in my old compost bed last year. Over wintered here in Florida and made a ton of eggplant before I pulled it up.
A pkg of Sweet100 tomato seeds I threw out in a flower bed earlier in the year almost took over a huge flower bed. I probably ate a gallon or two, out of hand and, put 3-4 qts in the freezer. Never sprayed or did anything to them.
Does anyone have trouble finding the stuff for the blossom end rot problem ? I had some regular tomatoes in pots and the ground and all seem to have that trouble. I couldn't find the stuff at Lowe's or Home Depot.
Plus, has anyone else noticed a lack of bees this year ? I have. I have voluntary dill plants, basil, etc that come up, as well as, flowers and I saw only one or two bees. It scares me.
Knock on wood, AnnieA, I have yet to have any fungal issues so far. I did get PM on the cukes late in the season last year (late August), but we harvested so many cucumbers I just let it go. I think I *may* have a tiny bit of it showing up on the older leaves, but I just pull them off. All of the new growth is green and luxurious.
Regarding the drip system, it's just something I rigged up. I went to HD and got a two-zone battery-operated timer, a couple of 3/4" to 1/4" adapters, two rolls of 1/4" drip tubing and a couple baggies of t-connectors. Just to be on the safe side, I put a pressure reducer (25psi) and backflow preventer on the spigot before attaching the timer. I thought about also adding a filter, but I plan to take everything apart and clean super thoroughly at the end of the season, so we'll see. None of it is overly expensive, so if it must be replaced, I'll replace it. So, the order is: blackflow preventer > reducer > timer > adapters > drip lines. After pushing the end of the drip into the adapters I just rolled out the drip line and cut it (with a little wiggle room) as I reached each bucket, inserting a t-connector to run a line to each fill tube. I put all of the heavy feeders (tomatoes, cucumbers and squash) on one zone and the peppers on the other zone because they use far less water. I wanted to respond to this post this afternoon, but I will take some photos of the set-up and insert them into this response a bit later when I have more time. I wanted the simplest, quickest way to get my plants watered in the middle of the day when I'm not home and this was my solution.
Regarding the squash, MAN they're amazing. I can not believe how fast they grow. I tried starting them outdoors from seed and failed miserably, so I reluctantly bought transplants. They sat for a bit, but then exploded. I don't really "manage" them, per se, I just let them do their thing. I cut a 54" tomato cage in half and inserted the wider upper half into the bucket to help support the very large stalks and leaves (I did this for both squash plants). The metal does cut into the stalks a bit, but as you can see, they don't seem to mind. Because the crookneck is so enormous, I did drill a couple of 4' stakes into the ground next to the buckets and tied them to the cage with jute twine to prevent them from blowing over. Works really well and that's all I need it to do. I haven't staked the straightneck (closer to the house) yet, but I will if it gets much larger.
I love the idea of just broadcasting seeds and seeing what comes up! If I had a plot in my yard dedicated to gardening, I'd be tempted to do that every year!
I have harvested 19 eggplant from the plant so far and there are about 13 on it right now. I don't even know what to do with it all. I'm growing it mostly for fun, as I am not the biggest eggplant fan, but the plant itself is SOOOOO gorgeous, it will absolutely be a staple in my garden every year. Gifting excess out is one of the many joys of growing your own food!
Blossom end rot (BER) is very common in early season fruit and is caused by so many variables it's not worth trying to figure it out. I have had a lot of issues with it on my early girls and San Marzanos, but so it goes. It's slowing down a lot now that the plants are putting out newer tomatoes.
I was noticing the lack of bees earlier in the spring, but now I actually have a ton of them all over the place, along with all kinds of other buzzies I've never seen before. I hope they stick around because they seem super happy so far. We do tend to get a lot of wasps, but as long as they're pollinating and have bad bugs to eat, they don't bother me one bit. They seem content for now.
Thanks, lol. The beans are Cherokee yellow, bush beans, and they're in the Earthbox. I have NO idea how many plants are in there. It was such a horrible winter that we were desperate to grow anything, so I started the beans inside, three to a pot in case they didn't all make it.
They did. The Earthbox is overcrowded with 'em.
Raw beans: ick.
I usually snap beans into short pieces and butter-steam them until soft, then add seasoning. They can then be dressed with feta cheese, chopped onion, pimiento, parsley, whatever you imagine. Or leave out the butter, and dress with mayo or olive oil. You might try this before giving up on beans! It's gooooood.
The potatoes themselves are just neglected store potatoes that sprouted. Heeheeee.
Our two tomatoes are store-bought seedlings, planted out in oversized plastic pots we already had. They're ripening fast now.
I forgot that we also have a big patch of wild blackberries ripening, but that ain't container gardening.
Okay, your bean recipe sounds DELICIOUS. I love feta, onion, parsley and butter - I will definitely have to try this! I don't want to give up on them, so I will do it this weekend. I have beans coming out of my ears.
The potato bag looks really cool! I saw a Youtube video of a gal that uses them and she had really decent harvests. I love that we can re-grow produce we buy at the store. My onions and celery are ridiculous. Who knew?!? I plan to do garlic this fall in the same fashion.
My tomatoes are just ripening, too, but it'll be another two weeks before I get anything sizeable. I did all transplants this year, but I'm already taking note of some of the amazing varieties out there that I can start from seed for next year.
I am super jealous of your blackberry patch. Salt on the wound. I thought of doing some in larsge containers next year, but I honestly don't know if I'd be able to keep up with a fruit garden and veggie garden. Strawberries keep me busy enough!
I'll let you know how the beans turn out this weekend! Salivating just thinking about it!
wow, really impressive. We do have 7 containers with various types of peppers, they are doing well, except I doubt the bells will ever get the size for stuffing. That is ok. Next year we are doing all containers and raised at that. My back just isn't going to handle the getting on my knees much longer and I certainly am ready for less weeds and easier to maintain weeds. You have made me think, I might be able to grow what I want in containers only. Thanks for sharing.
wow, really impressive. We do have 7 containers with various types of peppers, they are doing well, except I doubt the bells will ever get the size for stuffing. That is ok. Next year we are doing all containers and raised at that. My back just isn't going to handle the getting on my knees much longer and I certainly am ready for less weeds and easier to maintain weeds. You have made me think, I might be able to grow what I want in containers only. Thanks for sharing.
On raising the containers: If you can find an old junker picnic table or bench (or even plastic lawn chairs, people ditch those all the time), put your planters up on that and save your back even more.
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I am fully aware that the buckets are not the most attractive planter in the world, but at $2/ea (less than $50 total), I can have 12 things growing for the cost of less than one large fancy planter. It also makes for very interesting fenceline chat with the nabes.
I also threw some straightneck squash and Japanese eggplant on the grill. I LOVE this time of year - it's so incredibly rewarding.
I did get PM on the cukes late in the season last year (late August), but we harvested so many cucumbers I just let it go. I think I *may* have a tiny bit of it showing up on the older leaves, but I just pull them off. All of the new growth is green and luxurious. 
I thought of doing some in larsge containers next year, but I honestly don't know if I'd be able to keep up with a fruit garden and veggie garden. Strawberries keep me busy enough!
