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How Do I Start Container Vegetable Gardening?

July 11, 2012 · 0 comments

Rosemary Rosemary

In my post about what to plant in June, a reader comment provided me with an idea for a blog post. This reader wanted to know how he could start small with one edible plant.

Here’s his question.

Great post Deb! What do you recommend for someone like myself who would like to try and start an extremely small indoor garden…I would like to start with one herb or vegetable that I can place in a simple pot, next to a window sill that faces south (in the northern hemisphere), receives small amounts of sunlight, and can be watered ‘somewhat’ regularly (I travel quite a bit)? I envision myself having a great garden like yours one day, but want to try a single plant that I can eat. If I plant indoors on August 1st, what do you recommend that I grow?

My Answer: I told him that mint is a trooper and will do well in nearly any condition. Another benefit is that it can be used in lots of recipes (and to flavor water and tea, which is especially nice on hot days). Rosemary is a tough and resilient plant; it likes bad soil and being ignored, which is great for new gardeners who, like my reader, travel a lot. I use rosemary in Spanish tortilla and when cooking lamb. Greek oregano is resilient, yet I found I did not use it a whole lot. =-)

My reader’s city, Washington, DC, is Zone 7 on the USDA hardiness scale. He wants to plant something around August 1. For the time period he mentioned, the USDA recommends the following vegetables: tomatoes, potatoes, and squash. If he waits until September 1—or at least mid-August—he can plant lettuce, which usually does well in shallow dirt.

As for the veggies the USDA recommends, I will mention some details about each briefly. Tomatoes: These love sun. I am not sure how many hours of sun he gets. If just a few hours per day, then I’d buy a seedling (instead of growing from seed) and see how it does. He could grow a potato or two. The upside is that this is a high-calorie crop. If he grow potatoes, I recommend getting seed potatoes from Seed Savers. Squash is not a good idea for indoors, because they need loads of room.

Here is my fave resource about what you can plant when.

In sum, I suggested he plant mint or rosemary since he won’t be around a lot to water. When you are first starting out, it’s nice to grow something that doesn’t require constant attention while you get the hang of gardening. Mint and rosemary are, by far, the most resilient of all the plants I mentioned above.

Are you ready to get started with gardening? What will you plant this week?

The photo above is by Daryl Mitchell and appears on Flckr. License grants use with attribution.

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51 Urban Organic Gardening Tips from EveningsInTheDirt.com

July 10, 2012 · 0 comments

There’s a lot of information below to help you start or improve your garden today. My entire list of 51 urban organic gardening tips can be had by signing up for the Evenings in the Dirt newsletter. If you are already a subscriber, I’ll be sending it to you ASAP. If you sign up for the Evenings in the Dirt ezine, I promise you short edible gardening tips every week on Monday. If you just want the 15 tips provided here, that’s cool too. They will help you get on your way to creating a flourishing garden.

  1. Start composting. Set up a simple compost bin and start adding shredded paper, grass clippings, and veggie peelings.
  2. Figure out ways to be efficient. This could include batching tasks (doing all the planting one day and all the weed pulling the next) or working in the front yard one day and the back yard the next day.
  3. Mint sends out runners, so plant this herb in a container if you don’t want it to spread.
  4. When you plan your garden, plant “calorie crops” such as potatoes in addition to lower calorie vegetables such as lettuce.
  5. Trade vegetables and/or fruits with area gardeners.
  6. Start collecting planting containers today. These could include yogurt containers, plastic strawberry boxes, and empty plastic water jugs.
  7. Apply chalkboard paint to a plain clay pot. Label it or draw a picture once the paint is dry.
  8. Sketch your garden and label where you planted which vegetable or fruit.
  9. Team up with your community. Allow others to garden in your yard, if possible. You can help each other and take turns watering.
  10. Encourage your children to plant and tend the vegetables. Often, they are more likely to eat something they grew.
  11. Plant edibles you really like to eat.
  12. Attend a gardening class at your local nursery. Often, these are free.
  13. Use raised beds (get raised gardening bed directions). These reduce weeds and allow you to turn and prepare soil easily. They also allow you to create deep, rich, and loose soil—all important qualities for a successful garden.
  14. Keep tools nearby.
  15. Use trellises for peas, melons, and other climbing plants. Doing this will conserve your ground space and reduce rot due to moisture.

Sign up to the Evenings in the Dirt newsletter by filling in the top right box to get all 51 tips!

If you have your own tips to share, please do so in the comments. I love to hear from you. =-)

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Organic Fertilizer for the Urban Gardener

July 9, 2012 · 0 comments


Chances are, you’re like me. You do not have a horse or two or chickens to provide manure to fertilize your garden. This may mean long, hot rides to the local nursery superstore only to slog home smelly bags of plop.

Or, you could consider getting some ManureTea.

Huh? Tea made from manure? Although it may sound gross to humans, your plants—if they are anything like the plants belonging to many happy gardeners—are going to love it.

This month, I had the opportunity to interview Annie Havens via email about her ManureTea product. Disclaimer: I am going to buy some yet I’ve not tried it yet, so I can’t recommend it yet. However, I’ve done some research on the product. Many gardeners find it useful, and I am going to try it out myself soon. Of course, I’ll report back here with results!

Here’s our interview:

1. What is important for gardeners to know about ManureTea?

A1) Manure tea is a great source of natural nutrients used to direct feed your plants via the root system or as a foliage spray. It is important to know that not all manure is good to use. Green manures can burn your plants, so it is critical that it be well aged. Manure from livestock fed antibiotics, growth hormones, medications such as wormer’s, etc., can be harmful to your plants as well (what you feed livestock is what they produce) so knowing the source of your manure is extremely important for both your health and the health of your plants.

2. What is your background with plants and gardening? How did you get started in gardening?

JoyUsGarden JoyUsGarden


A2) I grew up framing and ranching. Haven Seed Company was the largest grower of Seed for Seed Houses in the world from 1853 to 1968. We grew seed and trialed for companies A.W. Burpee, D. Landeth Seed, Comtsock Ferre, to name just a few. My biggest influence in gardening came from both of my grandmothers and my father. Even though we farmed naturally on a large scale, the kitchen gardens were extremely important, along with their love of roses and herbs. We were a sustainable farm and ranch before there was a name for it.

3. Can you share any copyright-free photos of gardens using your product? If so, please include links to them.

3A) Pictures

[Note: I included two of the photos she sent my way. They are listed below.]
1. Garlic raised in Florida by Carolyn Binder (on twitter @cowlickcottagefarm). See photo at start of post.
2. Cactus and Succulents by Nell Foster (on twitter @JoyUsGarden). Second photo in this post.

4. How do you describe ManureTea to people who have no idea of the product or its benefits?

A4) Manure tea conditions the soil, so your plant roots can better absorb needed nutrients for optimal plant growth. It is safe to feed every time you water or feed four good feedings throughout the growing season, whichever works best for your growing conditions. It is safe to use as a foliage spay; it will not burn your plants and should always be sprayed in the early AM hours. Authentic Haven Brand Natural Brew is safe for all plants and soil types, so don’t forget to feed your indoor plants

5. On your website, you mention how ManureTea saved a rose bush. Do you have any similar stories about edible plants?

A5) Yes, I have growers remarking on the health of their plants currently @ModernMiaGardening started feeding Authentic Haven Brand to her edible garden. Shortly after her blog post, she notified me that there was a remarkable improvement in the overall health of her plants. Carolyn Binder enjoyed tomatoes and other vegetables way into the late fall and credits Authentic Haven Brand. In interviews with both Kate Copsey of American Home Grown Veggie and with Steve Howard of Grow Your Grub they share there experiences with Authentic Haven Brand.

6. Do you have examples of bloggers or other online gardeners who use ManureTea? I’d love to include links if possible.

A6) I have blogs posted to my web site page “In the News” and I post tweeted pictures with growers information to my Pinterest board.

7. Is there anything you want to mention that I did not already ask about?

A7) Authentic Haven Brand Natural Brew is harvested, processed and Eco hand packaged from a “Closed Loop” source and from only Haven raised and grass fed livestock, raised free of antibiotics, growth hormones, herbicides, pesticides and GMO/GE feed.

Note: Place small amount of Authentic Haven Brand Natural Brew in your cut flower vase to naturally extend the life of cut flowers and Christmas Trees, Authentic Haven Brand Natural Brew is also great source of nutrients for those that need to over winter plants.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to share the natural benefits of Authentic Haven Brand Natural Brew with you and your followers. Please feel free to contact any of the growers/gardeners on either my web site or my web site or my Pinterest page. I am here for you if you need any further information.

You can reach Annie via Twitter at @greensoil.

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How to Build a Tomato, Pea or Other Veggie Trellis

July 9, 2012 · 0 comments

Garden Tomatoes I’ve been looking for an inexpensive trellis for some future melons. After thinking about the time I would spend cobbling together a trellis versus the simplicity of buying one, I reluctantly decided I would buy one at some point. In some catalogs, they cost about $60. Ugh.

Tonight, I was looking around the web and found a fellow DC-area gardener who shared how he built a vegetable garden trellis on his blog, The Rusted Garden. This process looks so simple that I think even I—possibly the least handy person on the planet or, at least, in Zone 6/7—could create this vegetable trellis. I am so excited that I am going to call up my furniture designer/architect friend and tell her what I am going to build.

Before I send you over to the instructions, you might wonder why you need a trellis in the first place. They serve a number of purposes.

A trellis works well for tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, melons and other veggies that climb or need support (like tomatoes do).

Makes Space

For the urban organic gardener, space is always an issue. A vegetable trellis creates a vertical garden. As your garden goes up and up, you have more ground space for additional veggies.

Prevents Disease

A trellis helps to prevent moisture from causing rot. Learn from a mistake I made many years ago. One year, I grew loads of watermelons. I had so many that I could have opened a watermelon store. Lucky for me, they grew all over the grass and flourished there. The next year, I was not so fortunate with my watermelon crop. The melons rotted in damp grass that they’d flourished in the year before.

So, build a trellis if you want to prevent disease and have more room in your garden.

With some chicken wire, bamboo poles, and a minimum of elbow grease, you can have a trellis for under $20.

Have you used a homemade or store-bought trellis before? If so, how did it work out for you?

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What Can You Do With Gardening in June?

June 28, 2012 · 3 comments

Carrot First Carrot of Season from the Vegetable GardenJune can be full of waiting. Waiting for vegetables to be ready. Waiting for the heat to subside.

“You can’t plant anything in June,” a gardener once told me. Then, I started to do my own research.

(By the way, the USDA has a lot of organic gardening information.)

Well, I’m about to tell you June is better than you might think, and the statement that nothing can be planted in June is not accurate. Starting vegetables in June is possible, and it’s pretty easy to find suggestions about what edible plants can be planted in your area of the country.

I searched a local gardening extension site for “what to plant in June” for Maryland and Washington, DC and found this handy list (link will open a PDF). Now, you might be from somewhere else. I have you covered. You can find your local cooperative extension office and/or use these schedules.

As you may know, I have a lot of space in my garden beds now that my garlic was removed. And I am going to do my best to make lemonade from lemons by planting some foods I love.

The PDF above notes that I can plant the following fruits and vegetables in June:

Beets
Lima beans
Pumpkins (until June 10)
Carrots
Celery
Corn
Tomatoes
Swiss chard
Soybeans
Spinach, New Zealand
Cantaloupes until June 15
Cauliflower (okay, it really says July 1, but I love cauliflower)
Cucumbers.

Pumpkins should have been planted by June 10. I was on vacation so I was not able to meet the deadline. I will either 1) plant them anyway or 2) find some plants at a local nursery. Unfortunately, pumpkin plants are not often available in my area nurseries (I don’t think they are as popular as tomatoes), yet I will try anyway.

Right around the corner in July, you can plant more vegetables in zone 6b/7!

Snap beans
Broccoli
Cabbage
Collards
Turnips
Endive
Kale (Love!)
Kohlrabi
Leaf Lettuce
Romaine Lettuce
Mustard
Peas
Radishes

I am so happy to think I can return to my “old friends”–radishes and peas. My peas did not do that well due to bugs. I’m smarter this time around, and happy I get a second chance to apply what I learned about growing peas from seed.

What are fruits and vegetables are you planning to plant in your June or July planting sessions?

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Community Gardening: Should You Do It?

June 27, 2012 · 0 comments

I decided to share my land with someone who did not have a yard. I thought this would be generous and a great way to work with another person on the garden.

Our big mistake was not being clear about whose space was whose.

Since I have a job, I have to work in the garden in steps. This means, I might put together a raised bed and leave it out until I can fill it with soil. That is exactly what I’d done one evening. I planned to leave the raised bed in the yard until I could figure out what would be the best sunny space to place it and then take another evening to fill it in with dirt. I also planned to take photos of preparing a raised gardening bed for this blog–and then write about it.

My gardening partner had other ideas. He and a friend came over and filled the raised bed with dirt and left the raised bed in the shady place where I’d stored it. They thought they were helping, but it did not help me at all.

Then, I saw my rosemary bush had been cut way back. This was my gardening partner’s idea of what he should do, and he put the fresh herbs in the compost bin. However, this is not what I wanted to have happen to the rosemary bush.

I was starting to feel like I had no control over my own garden.

Soon afterward, I asked my gardening partner not to move things or pull up or cut back my plants without asking me first. I felt hurt. He probably felt hurt too. My thinking was this: He could have his space and do what he wanted with his plants, yet I wanted mine left alone. I thought we had everything all set and figured out. Communication, we agreed, was important.

Then, I came home from vacation and all my garlic was gone.

I admit it. I wept over lost garlic.

It seemed like whatever I did was undone by my gardening partner.

I asked again for him not to pull my herbs and vegetables. In what universe, I thought, does a person think it’s okay to pull plants belonging to another person? I then specifically stated “do not pull out my potatoes.” I was scared I’d come home one day, and they’d be gone. He said he would not. He said he’d go work in the community garden instead because he did not want to ruin our friendship. I can’t help but wonder would he pull out plants that belong to other people in the community garden, or did he do that to me because he knows me?

That same week I received an email newsletter that said when things go wrong look for cause and not blame. Instead of blaming him, I figured out the cause. The cause is that, somehow, we did not communicate well enough to state whose plot was whose. I didn’t think I needed to state that my plants should not be pulled out. Now, I know.

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Urban Gardening Versus Urban Farming

June 6, 2012 · 4 comments

Garden in a Raised Bed

Organic Garden--credit abbydonkrafts

I was reading another organic gardening post about someone who says they are not a gardener. I am in the same mindset. I am not a gardener! I am an urban organic farmer. Yes!

  • My garden will not win prizes for beauty, though I find the resident ladybug on a kale leaf to be a stunning sight.
  • My garden will not be perfect as I will sometimes let the peas go too long into the heat.
  • My garden will not always be 100$ tidy with neat rows and matching raised beds, yet I’m happy I’ve tried out a variety of raised beds and containers.
  • Although I do plant inedible flowers—and like them very much, thank you!— my main purpose is to grow food. If the plant can be eaten, it remains high on my list of priorities. If the plant can’t be eaten, then it falls to second or third place in order of garden priorities.

My goal is to feed my family. If I can do that without a tidy garden and with a whole load of beneficial bugs, then I am happy.

I like to see photos from those who garden for beauty and design, and I and converse with them via Twitter and offline. I love what they do even though it’s not part of who I am and what I am doing. And that’s okay. As my grandma always said, everyone is different. The world would be boring if we all gardened (or farmed) the same way.

Will I use the word “garden” here on Evenings in the Dirt? Yes, I will. That is how people view the work, so I will use the word that makes sense to others. At the same time, I know that—deep down— I am an urban organic farmer.

How do you view yourself in respect to your garden and/or urban farm?

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How to Grow Potatoes

June 1, 2012 · 4 comments

Potato Plants in the Garden

Potato Plants in the Garden, photo by Cygnus921

I promised I would write about how to grow potatoes, so today I’ll share the entire process with you.

First, important points about growing potatoes:

  1. Potatoes do especially well in full sun, so place them in your sunniest spot.
  2. Rotate potatoes in the garden by not planting them in the same spot for four years (not as important when you replenish the soil in raised bed garden).

    3. How to Prepare Seed Potatoes

    Compared to other plants, potatoes are quite unusual. The “seeds” are whole potatoes called “seed potatoes,” and they need to sit out and form sprouts before you plant them. About two weeks before you want to plant them in your garden, set them out in the light where the temperatures are around 60-70 degrees. Doing this starts the sprouting process. Sprouts will appear after a few days.

    Once you see sprouts—and a day or so before you plant—slice the larger seed potatoes. When I did this, I made sure to include a few eyes or sprouts on each piece, which gives them a way to form roots. Each piece you cut should be approximately 2 square inches. I eyeballed the size without actually measuring, and my plants are doing fine. If the seed potato is a small one, it might make sense not to cut it at all. Let them sit out a day or so after you cut them, so they can form a protective cover over the cuts.

    When I planted my seed potatoes, they were squishy. A few were rotting, which was no fun. Honestly, I waited a day too long to plant them. I threw out the moldy ones and planted the rest. So far, I’ve been rewarded with rows of healthy looking plants.

    When To Plant Potatoes

    Plant your seed potatoes in loose soil that is about 45 degrees. I may have planted mine a bit too early because I was excited. It didn’t hurt anything though.

    The Planting Process

    I took a trowel and dug a row about six inches deep in one of my longer raised beds. I made 4-5 rows about 1 foot apart from each other. Then, I planted each potato piece with the cut side down and the eyes pointing up. I left about 12 inches of space between each seed potato. Some say to plant the potatoes at least 2-3 feet apart. I ignored that because I’m working in a small urban garden. So far, I’ve been able to plant veggies closer than recommend with no bad results. After I finished putting the seed potatoes into place, I pushed the soil from the side of the trench (where I’d left it) over the seed potatoes. Plants appeared within 1-2 weeks and then they grew huge very fast. Yay, fertilizer and leaf compost!

    Watering Potatoes

    After some heavy rainstorms, the plants are enormous. I watered them generously to get them growing. Once it started raining, I cut way back. Note that it’s important to water while the potato plants are flowering. When they flower, they are creating tubers—and they need the water to form good ones.

    When to Harvest Potatoes

    With some veggies, I’ve made the mistake of harvesting and then not using the veggie the same day. Then, it becomes spongy and unappetizing. Sigh! If you harvest potatoes early (when the foliage is still green) use potatoes the same day you harvest them. They might be small, of course, if you harvest that early. If you want to store them for winter, harvest them after the foliage turns yellow or brown and dies back.

    Do you have any potato growing tips you want to share? If yes, please share them in the comments!

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Tip: Gardening Edgers on a Budget

May 30, 2012 · 0 comments

Have you ever wanted to buy edging for your garden? Well, you can take advantage of your own recycling to make these garden borders out of water bottles. (These seven ideas for inexpensive gardening containers might be of interest to you too!)

Water Bottles Form the Edging for this Flower Garden

Edging can add a clean look to your home flower or vegetable garden and can be made from a variety of materials. As you can see in these photos, the gardeners from a local school used water bottles in their gardening project. This is a creative use of water bottles and a fantastic way to reuse them. I don’t use water bottles much myself—I’m a steel can kind of person—yet I appreciate that a someone took the time to think this up and to beautify an otherwise drab portion of school property.

Flower Garden with Water Bottle Edging

Flower Garden with Water Bottle Edging

Other edgers you can use include plants of various kinds (someone in the Evenings in the Dirt Facebook community recommended marigolds), bricks, metal, and smooth river stones. Hosta could work well in certain situations and prevent weeds in shady spots. For a vegetable garden, I’d recommend mint in containers in the hopes it would help deter critters from eating the veggies. In one of the photos here, you can see the students used bottles with both green and white tops to add visual interest.

My grass really wants to get into my garden. In the front garden bed, which is not a raised bed, I often find myself fighting the grass despite brick edging. The edging came from the previous owner, and I left it because I like how it looks. However, I may look for a new solution soon since the brick is not winning the battle with the grass.

What have you used to edge your garden?

Flower Garden with Water Bottles as Edgers

Flower Garden with Water Bottles as Edgers

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Organic Garlic Growing: This Huge Mama’ll Be Ready in July

May 24, 2012 · 2 comments

Organic Garlic in My Garden

It’s another Garden Photo Thursday! I poked around in the garden the other day and noticed this purple beauty making an appearance. I planted about 18 heads of store-bought garlic last fall, and it’s supposed to be ready this summer. Yet, doesn’t this big garlic head look ready to eat right now? Yum. I covered it up with some dirt and decided to let it grow a bit more. Meanwhile, I’ll be having some garlic scapes with dinner soon.

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