It's Growing Time!

Now that you have your seeds and plants in the ground, it may seem like you have nothing to do but sit back and watch your plants grow. Nothing could be further from reality. Your plants need water, occasional fertilizing, pruning and general TLC. 

Check on your plants daily. Observe the buds, blooms, shoots and yes, even what pests may be lurking under their tender leaves, munching new holes through them more rapidly than you can spray. Aphids and many other small pests can be blasted off with a spray hose, but stubborn worms and insects may need a homemade concoction sprayed on to keep them at bay.

Now is the time to enjoy your garden. You've done the hard labor, the maintenance is minimal and the overwhelming harvest has yet to begin. Take a few moments everyday, or as often as possible to look at the blooms, observe the bees, butterflies and the beautiful show that Creation displays for you. 

Dare to take off your shoes in the dirt or the grass and I promise you that you'll feel relaxed and revived. The sights, sounds, smells (especially if you rub some basil or rosemary between your fingers) will ignite the desire to grow more, do more and eat more from your own backyard or patio.

Smart Pot Big Bag Bed: A Product Review

It's raining outside, so I thought I'd use the break from my break-neck pace of planting to give you my first product review. And for the first, it sets the bar high because I have yet to find a down side to the Smart Pot Big Bag Bed.

Moving into our home at the peak of planting season, I knew I'd be hard-pressed to get everything out that I wanted in time for summer growth. In one of my Urban Farm Magazines (a periodical that has since closed) I first saw an advertisement that indicated Smart Pots could be used as raised beds. I mentioned my plans to use these to a friend and she got one for herself and has been growing cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, bok choy and herbs in it.

Sounds like a lot, doesn't it?

It should! The Big Bag Bed holds 100 gallons of potting mix and has 13.5 cubic feet of growing space. It's round, so that is the only "difficult" accommodation that my linear mind grapples with. On a square foot garden scale, I should be have the equivalent of 13+ squares, but going by the 5 gallon bucket per tomato plant standard I've used in the past, I should have about 20 "spaces" to use.

If you're an accomplished gardener, you'll be able to "eyeball" how many plants you can use. If you are a beginner, start with the 13 square foot space idea and tuck in lots of small herbs and plants that don't need large root space.

One word of caution: at 100 gallons, this is going to take a lot of potting mix. I went discount by mixing my own from peat, vermiculite and compost. This will be your greatest expense, because at $40 or less for the Big Bag Bed, I really don't think you can build a raised bed for any less than this. I've also been told that just like a wooden raised bed, you need only amend the soil in years to come and that the bag itself should last up to 10 years.

If you want an easier way to garden quickly and something that will pay for itself in the long run, this is definitely an option to explore!

Wow! Has It Been a Busy Month!

I notice it's been just around a month since I launched this blog, and I have yet to update anyone about what's been taking place. It took a little longer than anticipated to complete our closing. So now, not only have we been scurrying to get things moved, boxes unpacked and necessities found...I've personally been on hyper-drive trying to get the urban farm up and running.

Just moving 25+ 5 gallon container pots from apartment to house has been physically demanding...but worth every achey muscle! I've been having some pretty long days, but for the most part, deep sleep has been an amazing fringe benefit of all this effort.

On an urban farm, every possible available square inch is used for growing food. Over time, we'll pull up the perennials that outline the entire house, and instead create raised beds, or work with the current beds, as I did with the two Green Globe Artichokes planted today in these beds. These artichokes can grow up to 5 feet. As they grow, we'll pull up the other bushes and perennials in their path.

There's no denying, this is tough work. But when I see these gorgeous Red Acre Cabbages and feel the tennis-ball-sized heads growing inside, or I harvest a small head of Winter Density Lettuce for lunch, I am reminded that it is more than worth it.

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Come back soon for my first product review!