Getting Started

As I mentioned in the previous post, we're behind on the game; our seeds should have already been started at least half-a-month ago.  I tried to get as much done as possible while the weather was nice and Clemmie had not yet started his new job.  Sometimes, life has other plans.

However, I'm trying to make sure it all goes our way today and tomorrow.  I have garden soil but not the seed starting materials and soil.  Well, mostly: I've saved food containers I thought fit for starting seeds: yogurt containers, milk jugs, blueberry and strawberry containers, etc.  I'm torn on whether to spend the money on buying the biodegradable seed starting supplies.  We're definitely acquiring potting soil and scrubbing the containers we have a 1:9 bleach/water solution between today and tomorrow.

I've also scoured Craig's List for potential free gardening stuff: mulch, containers, etc.  Thought I scored a free lot of 33 gallon trash cans in which to grow our root veggies but someone else claimed them first, the emails were just in the person's spam box.  So, it appears we will purchase a couple of 20 gallon tubs from Walmart for about $5 each.  There is also an ad to free plastic seed starting containers. I saw it before work yesterday and didn't have time to reply.  I'll let you know how that pans out.

In case you’re wondering what we plan to grow, here's a list of seeds we picked up for $0.20 each packet from American Seed:

• Black Seeded Simpson lettuce
• Italian Mixture of loose leaf lettuce
• Early Golden Acre cabbage
• Chantenay carrot
• French Breakfast radish
• Grey Zucchini squash
• Muncher cucumber
• Large Red Cherry tomato
• Rutgers tomato
• California Wonder pepper
• Top Crop garden bean (green bush)
• Cherokee Wax garden bean (yellow bush)
• Dwarf Gray Sugar pea
• White Lisbon Bunching onion
• Cilantro

A customer at Walmart advised me stay away from the American Seed fruit seeds because they don't germinate well.  Clemmie doesn't eat much fruit so it doesn't make much sense to attempt growing any this year.

Of course, we also have the seeder spuds for the All-Blue potatoes coming in on Thursday.  I'm pleased to say, by the way, that we have sold all of the extra spuds in the bag to help recoup the enormous expense of ordering a 50 lb bag.

I'm undecided as to whether or not we’ll directly sow our root vegetables into the containers or to start them inside since our last frost is not expected until the end of May.  Perhaps we'll put them in the containers and get some clear plastic to cover the containers to keep them warm and protect seedlings/plants from frost.

All Blue Potatoes

I've wanted a garden since I started living on my own in 2006.  Clemmie started to have a desire to start a garden with me after I told him we can have rare vegetables, including Purple Peruvian potatoes, purple carrots, and purple podded pole beans (I'd prefer the Moonshadow Hyacinth Bean or Scarlet Runner Bean).  They're nutritious and make for some yummy, eye-catching cuisine!

From what we've read online, any type of root vegetable will grow well in appropriately-sized containers.  The most popular way to grow potatoes is with the tire method--put four to five seeding spuds inside a tire located on top of some good quality garden soil.  Cover over.  Let the plant grow 4" to 6" tall, then cover plant with soil only 2" to 3" are showing. Repeat, adding new tires as needed.  Radishes are great companions to both carrots and potatoes; they can actually promote growth by loosening the soil, allowing the shoots of carrot and potato plants to break through.

So we know how to grow what we want, now to get them, right? Almost.  Purple Peruvian potatoes are not only extremely expensive, they are difficult to find or sold out.  Clemmie, thankfully, found an alternative: All Blue potatoes.  We visited local nurseries looking for starter spuds.  Most didn't even know that purple or blue potatoes exist.  One shop in Charleroi, Bill's Feed and Seed, called their distributor to see if they had any; they do!  The All Blue potatoes are expensive but much less so than we could find online. The only downside: we had to buy a 50 pound bag!

Yikes, right?!? Maybe not.  We placed an ad on Craig's List here in Pittsburgh, offering the starter spuds as $8 per five pounds.  We've had one gentleman place an order with us for ten pounds.  We also plan to share five pounds with both our neighbor Cindy and our friend Lisa.  That leaves us with twenty-five pounds of potatoes for which we need to find a home.  The order arrives on Thursday...we'll see how it goes!