Another thing that helps is this new website that I found via Pinterest: www.smartgardner.com. I absolutely love this website. It really helps you figure out when to plant stuff. The best thing: it's personalized to your zip code!! It gives you a to do list week by week. All you have to do is layout what your garden looks like, even if it's just pots, add your plants and it then generates your to do list.
So with that said, I got my garlic out last week and started my peppers, cabbage, and tomato seeds inside. I also started growing my sweet potato "slips" (more on that in a moment). I also set out my yukon gold potatoes to "chit" so I can plant them next week. I love fresh food from my backyard.
Just a little on my gardening experience before I go any further. **I AM NOT AN EXPERT. I have a backyard garden to help supplement what I have to buy. I use my items for fresh food and I also have learned how to preserve a lot along the way. I gladly share what works for me and how I have come to the level of gardening that I am at right now.**
Last spring, my husband and I went on Craigslist and bought some pickle barrels and turned them into rain barrels. We bought the spout and related hardware from a big box hardware store. They sure saved us in the hot summer (one rain storm filled both: that's 110 gallons of water). They also helped when our water heater went and we had no hot water for about 2 days. I boiled the water on the stove to use for dishes and dilute with cold for baths (yes, that's just how I roll!!). But I also learned that my plants grew better from the rain water because it wasn't treated with chemicals like city water is. I think it cost us a total of $60 for both...you can't even buy one for that price online!
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| We have 2...each one is 55 gallons! |
Also, I have a small backyard because we live in the city. I so wish we had open country like my friend in Florida has. I am slightly jealous :) So because of that I use the Square foot Gardening method. It works for me and I get so much more because of it. I also bought a recycled plastic compost bin last spring and well, it will save me from having to buy compost this spring. I have been putting food scraps, grass clippings, leaves in the fall, and ash from our wood stove in there and I have my very own black gold homemade.
With that said, here is what I have done so far:
I started my sweet potato "slips" yesterday. If you have never heard of these, it's those stalky things that grow out of your sweet potato when you've left them sit too long in the cupboard!! If you didn't know...those plants what to grow!
So, to grow slips, get yourself a sweet potato from your local grocer (preferably organic because non organic is treated to prevent slips from forming) or get one or two from your local farmers market. I used a potato that I got in my CSA basket last fall. I know exactly where it was grown (about 20 minutes from my house) and I know the grower personally and they only use organic materials to grow. To start growing, we are going to do some elementary science experiment kind of stuff :) Find the eyes on your potato (dimples). Put the end with the most eyes up. Put 4 -5 tooth picks spaced evenly around the sweet potato (this is what keeps the potato from being totally submerged). Then "hang" the potato in a cup or jar and fill with water. Change the water every 2-3 days so it doesn't get yucky. Here is what you get:
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| Slips should be upright in about a week or so. |
My slips already start forming, so I am basically just watering them and letting the leaves open. When they start to form leaves and get a little bigger, then I'll gently take them off the potato and let them root in some water. You want to start the slips about 6-8 weeks before you plan to plant them outside. I plan on growing my sweet potatoes in pots, otherwise they will vine all over my garden and look like ground cover. I can control them better in pots. Now when you are getting the potatoes to grow slips, don't go hog wild. Each potato can provide you up to 12 slips and each slip can provide you 7-10 lbs of sweet potatoes. A little goes a long way!!
The next thing I started is my red and yukon gold potatoes. We eat these a lot: mashed, homemade fries, homemade chips, hash, home fries. We love our potatoes. I am also going to plant these in containers to get a bigger yield than my little garden can hold. I am going to be planting these in plastic tubs (think sterilite or rubbermade). With just a dozen potatoes, I should get a least 75 lbs of potatoes!! Then over the summer I will have to start researching how to properly store them over the winter!
So, because my potatoes have to be planted in about a week for my area, I put them out to "chit". Again, this is that wonderful phenomenon of "your potato wants to grow"!! If you ever see the eyes of the potato "sprouting", then plant it!! Well, store bought aren't exactly the best, unless they are organic. I got some seed potatoes from big box hardware store and did this:
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| They are trying to bud!! No water needed. |
Leaving them out, they are already sprouting. I will plant them next week and show you how to do that in a plastic tub.
The third thing I did this past week was to plant my pepper, cabbage, and tomato seeds. The peppers and tomatoes take a while to start up, especially the peppers. They like the warmth of being started indoors. Peppers are very slow growers. They won't go out until about the end of April/beginning of May. The cabbage will go out in a few weeks because they like the cool weather. I like to recycle as much as possible, so this is where I started my seeds:
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| Egg cartons great for seed starting!! |
Mind you, not every section has a seed in it. I will have other things in a few weeks to start seeds!!
Sorry this post was so long. I am hoping to update at least once a week as to what I am doing in the garden. I love getting feedback as to what works for you and anything that might help me!! Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Digging!!
Amanda
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