The shed garden: Last year, the area on the east side of the garden shed proved to be an excellent place for pots and buckets.
Shed garden 2009This year I'll keep it almost the same, but plant my cherry tomatoes in the buckets, one or two on each end, and put potted jalapenos in the center. This is an area that is very receptive to a drip irrigation system, being near a water source and not drenched by lawn sprinklers. Last year, the only hot jalapenos I harvested grew here, in a pot. The jalapenos that were in the main garden turned out to be sweeter than the sweet bells, due to the fertile soil and plentiful water. A single strip of drip tubing across the pepper pots in this garden should provide all the water these plants need, and larger emitters can be directed to the tomatoes.
The tomatoes did well in their buckets last year but, unlike the tomatoes around the patio (see photo below), they were not secured to anything. Shortly after the above photo was taken, a windstorm and the weight of the plants caused them to topple over. Even the roots, growing through the large holes in the buckets, couldn't hold them upright. They didn't survive the uprooting. This year I'll secure them by pushing one end of an 8' 1x2 into the the soil, then screwing the other end to the eaves of the shed.
These tomatoes, grown in buckets, were anchored to the eaves of the patio. There were no problems with wind or the weight of the plants, and the 8' secured stakes were also handy for tying up the vines.
Plan for 2010
It must be nice to have such fertile soil! I'm going to drag out my garden drawing and doublecheck it. It at least gives me something to do that's not weeding!
ReplyDeletegorgeous on your pergola! Did your new shed stay as clean as it was when you first posted the photos of the inside, lol?
ReplyDeleteI love that you have the room to rotate locations of things. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteYour plans are looking great Granny, As nice as your garden to come. I dropped your seeds in the box today, should arrive in a week or two.
ReplyDeleteStefaneener, my fertile soil came from the nursery....several yards of rich compost! Next fall I'll be home when the leaves fall, so I will not have to rely on the nursery for compost any more.
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Erin, yes! Except I do have the riding lawn mower in there now, but there is still lots of room for me and my stuff. We'll be putting in the ceiling this spring, with attic insulation, so my seedlings should stay quite comfy.
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Ribbit, I'm not very careful with rotation. I know I should be, but it never seems to work that way. I just plant and keep my fingers crossed.
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Thanks, Dan. I got yours in the mail Monday, so you should have them soon.
I had to tie my buckets to my fence last year. The wind took them down too. I keep thinking I could put a couple by the chimney, but there is no place to tie them.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow, Daphne. You just gave me another idea for extending my garden...down the west side of the house (the fireplace side), along the edge of the pathway. I can just see it now...another dozen buckets, with stakes nailed to the roof eaves ;-) Actually, that might be a good spot for the zucchini!
ReplyDeleteI just love the way you plan out your garden, I wish I was that computer savy.
ReplyDeleteDo you direct seed your Rosemary or buy plants? We have not had much luck starting ours from seed the last couple years and are thinking of just buying plants this season.
Anyway, very impressive garden plans.:)
I love the idea of using all the potted plants. If one gets sick or dies, its easy just to pull it out and replace with another one! Your garden plans look great!
ReplyDeleteMr. H, Thank you! I have a lot of time on my hands through the winter ;-)
ReplyDeleteI bought a rosemary plant to replace one I had for years, that I killed by cutting it back too much. In fact, I've bought three of them, but left the first two in the garden in WA, and they winter killed. This one was left in a pot, and made the trip to AZ with us. It will go back to WA in the spring, and be planted in the garden.
Shanna, thank you! I had really good luck with the potted peppers last year, and good luck with the plants in buckets, too...except the ones that fell over.
ReplyDeleteThe giant tomato plants look so good, I'd say ornamental. Much better than my tomatoes which fell down since my bamboo and metal stakes couldn't hold their weight.
ReplyDeleteI was gifted recently with some large black planting containers (four of them to be exact) from my sister. As I mulled over what to plant in them for the coming year... I always kept coming back to different varieties of ... you guessed it... tomatoes! I think I want to grow up to be you. ;)
ReplyDeleteSome people just wish I would grow up!
Tatyana, I lost two tomato plants that tumbled from their weight, too. I'll be much more careful about securing them this year.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Kitsap. Erin says I should photoshop a tomato, in place of my head, into my picture!
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