If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. Anne Bradstreet

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. Ether 12:27

Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season therof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul. And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion. D&C 59:18-20

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Patio container garden update

Monday night's temperature got down to -4 actual temperature.  The soil in my containers froze, at least the top 4 inches or so, some further down than that.  I don't know if my worms made it through the cold as I haven't dug around enough to see any.  All I did was use my fork to break up the frozen soil and mix it around a little bit.  I gathered two more 5-gallon buckets of leaves this afternoon.  They had piled up against the retainer wall in our parking lot so they were easy to scoop up.  I get quite a few in each bucket by breaking them down as I add them.  Next month I'm going to get some black garbage bags and fill them up and then wet them down so they will start to decompose.  I'll keep some dry to use as mulch around the plants next year, but I do need some additional soil so I'll fill in with compost.

I bought another 30-gallon tote and experimented to see if I could put the tomato cages I have into the totes so they are secured to the side.  I drilled holes in each side of the tote for two of the cage prongs to go through, and put the other prong through the open handle.  I will secure the prongs to the sides of the tote by drilling my holes and using zip ties to hold them.  That will make the cages very securely attached to the tote.  In these totes, I will be able to get a tomato cage at each end.  They will be for my cantaloupe and watermelon plants.  I will put a plant in each cage and for the cantaloupes, I will put another one in the center between the cages.  I'll let the vines crawl up the cage.




I'll use the same concept for my tomato totes -- I'll put one of the indeterminate plants in each of three 18-gallon totes.  I will also put Tiny Tim dwarf tomatoes in one of the 18-gallon totes.  I'll get smaller cages for them.  I think I'll put 3 of the tiny tims in that tote. tiny tim Dwarf tomato

I plan to use Bush Sugar Baby's for one of my watermelon plants.  I haven't decided on the other one yet.  I'll see what CaliKim suggests as well as others who do container gardens.  Blacktail Mountain is the other watermelon variety that she grows.  Blacktail mountain watermelons

I'll take a picture tomorrow of the patio with all of the totes in place to put up here on the blog.  I have used every possible inch of my patio and I will be growing my favorites -- tomatoes, strawberries, cantaloupes and watermelons.  I am so anxious to have a garden again next year.
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