Garden planning
I've been pondering Ye Olde Garden for the past few days. Last year I tried to grow a lot of stuff (some successfully, some not) but decided to scale back this year, since it was quite time-intensive. So I'm going to focus solely on the things I really want: cucumbers, sugar snap peas, beans, tomatoes, and the usual assortment of herbs. Also Gavin really wants berries, so we're going to give a Tophat blueberry bush a try. (They end up two feet tall, tops.)
The tomatoes will be planted in the usual container (which is a recycled container, 2' by 2' by 3' tall; it used to be our diaper pail for cloth diapers, and it's just basically a rectangular plastic trashcan) that I use for tomatoes, although this year I'm going to do some companion planting. In the tomato container I'm going to plant radishes and also some appropriate herbs that supposedly encourage tomato growth (basil). The Super Sugar Snap peas and Oregon Dwarf Snow Peas will both be planted in their own containers (made from the large plastic jugs that kitty litter is packaged in), accompanied by herbs that get along with peas (rosemary IIRC). The beans will be planted in similar containers, along with carrots (which release a root exudate that encourages bean growth) and thyme (which helps to discourage bean beetles). Cucumbers will have their own similar containers, along with savory and sage (helps to discourage cucumber pests). The blueberry bush will be planted in my other large planter (3' by 2' by 2' deep), along with radishes (help to keep the soil loose) and other herbs that haven't been planted elsewhere.
Mesclun lettuce will be in the long 24" by 6" by 6" containers; probably three or four of those containers in succession (plant mesclun in one planter one week, then the next planter the next week, etc), so we have enough for all summer. Mint will get its own 24" by 6" container, because that shit will take over if you let it; it's best to keep it in a container by itself. I'll probably give Gavin one of the remaining containers for flowers. And that's it. That should cut down on the amount of time I have to spend watering and fighting pests.
The tomatoes will be planted in the usual container (which is a recycled container, 2' by 2' by 3' tall; it used to be our diaper pail for cloth diapers, and it's just basically a rectangular plastic trashcan) that I use for tomatoes, although this year I'm going to do some companion planting. In the tomato container I'm going to plant radishes and also some appropriate herbs that supposedly encourage tomato growth (basil). The Super Sugar Snap peas and Oregon Dwarf Snow Peas will both be planted in their own containers (made from the large plastic jugs that kitty litter is packaged in), accompanied by herbs that get along with peas (rosemary IIRC). The beans will be planted in similar containers, along with carrots (which release a root exudate that encourages bean growth) and thyme (which helps to discourage bean beetles). Cucumbers will have their own similar containers, along with savory and sage (helps to discourage cucumber pests). The blueberry bush will be planted in my other large planter (3' by 2' by 2' deep), along with radishes (help to keep the soil loose) and other herbs that haven't been planted elsewhere.
Mesclun lettuce will be in the long 24" by 6" by 6" containers; probably three or four of those containers in succession (plant mesclun in one planter one week, then the next planter the next week, etc), so we have enough for all summer. Mint will get its own 24" by 6" container, because that shit will take over if you let it; it's best to keep it in a container by itself. I'll probably give Gavin one of the remaining containers for flowers. And that's it. That should cut down on the amount of time I have to spend watering and fighting pests.