Potato Pot

I was in the store yesterday and saw this new product called the Multi Harvest Tater Pot. It's a double planting pot with the inner one having 4 'windows' cut out of it's sides. The idea is when nestled, fill the pot with planting medium (provided), add seed potatoes (also provided) and as the plants grow you can simply lift out the inner pot and harvest your potatoes through the 'windows'. It says that the plant will continue to produce potatoes for you to come back and harvest over and over 

I find this fascinating! I wanted to plant potatoes in our garden but we have a very limited area, if this can really work I'm all in, LOL.  

So after looking it over in the store I came home and searched the web for more information or testimonials. I found nothing other than other folks posting questions about it and the patent application dated Oct 2011. So this product really is super new to the market. 

I returned to the store today and bought one to try out. It was only 12.99 which included the double pot, two bags of planting medium and 3 seed potatoes (white, red, gold). Not terribly expensive but if it works and I decided I want multiple pots it can add up so... 

While in the store, I looked it over and decided that maybe I could make a few of these myself for less. I purchased 2 - 8in plastic pots for 2.30 each. (note the original kit has 10in pots)  I'm thinking our little Dremel will make short work of cutting windows and such. A bag of potting soil is about $3 and a bag of seed potatoes was around $5... so at these prices, I'm back up to the $12-13 price range that the kit cost. I didn't buy the soil or potatoes because I already have a bag of soil and some aging potatoes already sprouting in my pantry :) 


My plan is to plant both sets at the same time and see how they compare with growth, ease of harvest and longevity of the plants. 

How To... Water Bottle Greenhouses (gardening)

Joe and I go thru quite a few bottles of water in a week. I was bothered by the amount of plastic bottles that were finding their way into our trash so started thinking of ways to reuse them, other than the obvious of refilling with water. :)

Since we have been working on our garden these past few weeks, that of course is where my mind wandered to. This is what I came up with... a little greenhouse for starting seeds for your garden. 

Last week I'd bought a box of 10 tiny strawberry plants, so thought I'd try them out with the bottle greenhouse pot. 

************************************************

What ya need...

• Water Bottle
• Scissors
• Soil
• Seeds or plant
• Water

Empty water bottle with label removed

Cut bottle in half

Fill bottom half with soil

Add seeds or plant

Make 6 cuts, 1/4inch long, along the edge of the top portion of the bottle

Using the cuts to fold the edge
inward, insert top half into the
bottom half of the bottle

Here are my 10 strawberry plants
in their little 'greenhouses'. 

Remove bottle lid for watering, replace lid to contain moisture.

I hope to let them grow a bit here before putting them in the garden.

UPDATE:

3/18/12

Joe and I put the strawberries out into the garden today and discovered a couple of problems with the my water bottle idea... 

1) they need drain holes in the bottom. We lost 6 of our 10 strawberry plants to over saturation from the rains. :(

2) The bottles need to be cut in half closer to the bottom. The way I did these, the bottle narrows just before the cut so when trying to remove the plants and root ball with soil, it's difficult to get pass the narrowed section. Solution: cut the bottle below the narrowing, about 2-2.5 inches from the bottom. 

How To... Cardboard Seeding Cups (gardening)

My friend Joyce posted about this on facebook a couple of weeks ago and I thought since I was beginning my gardening venture, I'd give it a try. Using empty toilet paper rolls or empty paper towel rolls you can make seeding pots to start your seeds in. Then later transfer the whole cardboard cup to the ground (or remove plant and put in ground). 

Needed: 

1. empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls
2. scissors
3. potting soil or soil disc
4. seeds
5. water
6. plastic tray or shallow box

1. Cut the toilet paper tube in half

    (paper towel tube into 4ths)

2. fold roll long ways to crease

     fold long ways again 

3. open the tube and
define the creases
to make it 'square' 

4. Cut 1/2 inch up each
of the creases 

5. Fold the sides towards the
middle over lapping each
as you go around

6. Place cups into plastic
 tray or bin

7. Place potting soil or a soil disc
 into the cup

8. Add seeds and water

9. Cover with plastic wrap

Our Little Garden

Yesterday Joe and I finally got the raised bed cleaned out and ready to plant. We had started some seeds in those indoor greenhouse trays a couple of weeks ago and now some of them were ready for their garden home. 

 We were excited that the soil in the raised beds looked so nice. After some cleaning up, Joe made the rows. 

We have green beans, tomatoes, jalapenos, Romaine lettuce and salad lettuce in this bed. 

The back bed will be cleaned out in a week or so for the cucumbers, watermelon and strawberries. 

We have 30 or so Sunflowers started, I think I'll be putting them out this week along the fence. I also have some 4o'clocks started that I'm thinking will go in the front around the windows. I love 4o'clocks, they remind me of my Granny and Papa's house, she had lots of them growing on the side of the house and they were so pretty.

OH and while cleaning up around the fence, Joe found lots of 'briers' just outside the cyclone fence... I 'think' they may be blackberries so we'll wait a month or so before clearing them out. I am so hoping it's berries!! So very cool! LOL

There is a single rose bush by the back patio. When we first moved in, I thought it was dead, it was so pitiful looking. I trimmed it up and was rewarded with huge surprise! She is now showing BIG beautiful pink roses. 

Right next to the porch and rose bush we have bird feeders. I love sitting out on the porch watching the birds and the squirrel who occasionally visits.

The garden and plants make me so happy. I love nature and it's miracles, such a lift to my spirit to be nurturing life and beauty from the soil of Mother Earth. Can't wait to have veggies to put on our table !! 

~~Sonja