Container Vegetable Garden

Prior to any individual updates coming at the weekend here are a few snaps of the Container Garden in its current glory;

Container Vegetables - Transplanting Vegetables - Corn and Beans

I Have acquired 2 more Vegetable crates which will be used for my Beans and Tomato with one more added for Salad greens.

Beans Transplanted with their frame






5 Corns transplanted





Finally a quick glimpse of my new Vegetable Crate Containers



Will update soon with some step by step transplants as well as new planting - i know its JUNE but i am hoping the weather will make up for it and i should be able to grow for longer as well..

Vegetable Update - Asparagus, Garlic, Basil, chilli and Carrot

To my surprise i was greeted with Asparagus shoots a few days ago, they came out of no where and look great, have got me proper excited!!

Garlic still growing well

My Basil seedling forest



Chilli Peppers, and if you look closely you can spy some rouge Asparagus shoots!!!



Carrots tops




I cant wait to see what happens when i experiment with my fertilizer!!

Vegetable Update - Tomato

Update on the Tomato plant and seedlings - all doing well, going to be experimenting with fertilizer this week on half of the seedlings to see what happens.....

Cherry tomato starting to ripen

Seedling feeling happy!

Watering the Containers

It was incredibly hot over the weekend and the small containers were drying out quickly, i will not be using these again i think due to this heat. the bio pots which i have not had success with anyway are drying out in 15 minutes!

They enjoyed a good soaking;

Olive Tree, Carob Tree, flowers and some Cactus

I took a few snaps of the trees around my house as well as those in small pots. When we built the house we had a large old olive tree which we were led to believe was just inside our boundary wall, turns out it was 10% in our land and 90% on where the pavement would be.

((You can actually read my blog on the house being built here; My House blog - unfortunately we were without internet for close to 6 months so i could not update or finish it, but i have new focus now with my vegetable blog - and internet.))

We kept it stood tall of course;



Across from the Olive Tree we have an old carob tree as well;



The Carob tree has a long history and many uses, if your interested you can read more about it here; Carob Tree.

As well as the large trees grown by nature or long lost communities i have some trees potted in the garden and patio area also. These are sparse at the moment but i hope to be adding to them very soon.

A small Olive Tree



A small tree which provides colourful blossoms - no idea on the name of this one.



Any my Cactus planters adorning my kitchen windowsill



I will be replanting some other trees i have at the front of the house into pots so i can place 3 or 4 smaller olive trees at the entrance of the house over the coming weeks.

Vegetable Update - Chicory Lettuce Strawberry

The Strawberries are growing well and i will have another small harvest soon, i will definitely be expanding on the Strawberries next year.



Chicory



Lettuce



Lots to learn and plan for next year, my mind is already racing...

Vegetable Update - Corn

Even though Corn will not prove to be the most cost effective vegetable to grow, it will be one of the tastiest, and they are doing well, will need to check the minimum container size for each one..

Vegetable Update - Carrots and Chilli

I planted the chilli's together in one pot after being unconvinced by the small starter pots or bio pots and they are all doing well. As for the carrots, the tops look great, may be a little over crowded..

Chilli pepper in a larger pot

Carrot Tops

Vegetable Update - Runner Beans

The Runner Beans are starting to grow at a rapid pace, will need to arrange something for them to grow up very soon..



Transplanted Runner Bean

Vegetable Update - Tomato

As i wanted to have a fair crop of Tomato's so i can make Tomato Sauce and store it fro the winter for my pasta's etc, I decided to start a few Tomato plants to see how they go.

My Cherry Tomato

My Cherry Tomato seedlings

I need to do some research on how BIG i should allow my seedlings to get in the seed tray before transplanting them to bigger pots.....

I also planted some full size Tomato seeds in my vegetable container, i planted 9 seeds and will eventually thin out to 2 plants, or maybe i will transfer the seedlings to there own container. My thoughts are that two Tomato plants can grow in this container at each end - its about 30 by 12 inches so i think there is room...

At the moment you can see about 9 shoots - i will see how they grow..

Next up... an update on my Runner Beans and Corn and a glimpse at my Chilli Pepper seedlings.

Container Vegetable Garden - Containers

One of the greatest advantages of Container Gardening is you can grow in anything, here are a few ideas i have come across that help to show the versatility.

Standard Terracotta Pots

General use Storage containers

Plastic Pots

Straight in a Compost or Soil mix bag

In used plastic bottles

Drain pipe

Even Vertically in custom made boxes or converted old pallets

With so many options available easy, hard, quick or fast - who couldn't find a way to grow vegetables?

Vegetable Tips from a Beginner

Having been involved in the Container Vegetable Garden World for only a matter of months, by initial baptism by fire has taught me a few things already. I am going to share these ‘tips’ if you will with you so you can perhaps avoid the same mistakes.

Firstly, let me reiterate something – I am a COMPLETE BEGINNER – but if there is one thing I have come to learn already it’s this; ANYONE can grow stuff, be it flowers of vegetables its possible for everyone no matter your space or time allowance.

Tip 1 – Start Small
Whether you are planting in your garden or a container, you learn the most when you can focus on what you’re doing. Too many pots or to large an area can be too much to process if it’s your first time, starting a bit small and growing the following year is easier than starting to big and being overwhelmed.

I started pretty small focusing on around 10 containers of various sizes as well as some seedling trays, it was easy to manage (I work full time) so far and the progress is good so far.

I already have plans for next year and I can see myself leaning towards Square Foot Gardening.

Tip 2 – Start with the EASY stuff
Growing Vegetables is almost instantly rewarding, you add some basic ingredients and before you know it you have something growing, something which hopefully you can eventually eat.

I don’t have years of experience behind me to tell you what the truly EASY vegetables are to grow, but so far I have had the best success with Tomatoes, Chillis, Garlic and Chicory. They all seem to grow with ease, with little to no attention and I can make one of my favorite Salads with the ingredients!

That being said I have also had success with Strawberries and my onion, corn, pumpkin, herb, and lettuce seedlings also, although I have found these require closer watching, but maybe this is due to my location, in Cyprus it is hot!

Tip 3 – Don’t waste your Money
I started with mud from my garden, some compost ‘borrowed’ from neighbors and friends and some seeds, all in all I spent maybe 5Euros. With little more than sticking the seed in the mud, and watering I had a seedlings growing.

I would advise spending your money wisely, many things can be used as containers to start your seeds, plastic drink cups, old plastic bottles or pots – anything that you can fill with mud and keep moist with drainage and you’re good.

My only advice would be buy good seeds, buy good soil as and when you’re able, and invest in some good tools, even if its just the basic watering can.

Tip 4 – Do some Research
Admittedly I did none, and whilst it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, after planting and seeing my seeds take off I found myself frantically trying to learn as much as possible in a short a time frame as possible, which is not easy.

Read some blogs and check the web – everything you need is there and free – Some sources which gave me inspiration can be found in my Blog Roll, but here you go;

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/
http://www.gardenguides.com/685-guide-container-gardening.html
http://journeytoforever.org/garden_sqft.html
http://www.bucolicbushwick.com/
http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/

Amongst others, but you get the drift, any blog or site, with any amount of information can help, whilst these tips you read are from an amateur, they are my initial observations and everyone’s opinion may help.

Tip 5 – Easy on the Seeds
The first thing I learnt when my seedlings began growing was how much I over seeded my pots. I put WAY to many seeds in my pots and when they all started growing I had to quickly learn about thinning out. Since my initial seedling experience I have stuck to 1 or 2 seeds per pot or area and so far my germination rate has been very high! 

At one point I had about 8 Tomato seedlings in the space of a square inch and had no idea what to do, I left them to see and they all died, the next pot with 2 seeds grew perfectly, I pulled one from the pot and its now my healthiest Tomato seedling!!

Tip 6 – FUN
If you do not enjoy it, don’t bother, BUT, please persist when difficult. When things are at there hardest it normally means success is around the corner. That being said have fun, learn and look forward to eating something you have grown.

Staying on Top of your BLOG

This is only a small post, but, one thing i have noticed is that i spend hours reading and searching for other blogs like my own, for many reasons.

It helps me with ideas on gardening, on blog design as well as allowing me to read alot of varied content - giving me the ability to see what people like to read and what i like to read.

However, something that became apparent was the HUGE volume of decent blogs which kind of fell off the radar, just suddenly stopping mid season...

I Love Strawberries 

Im sure like most hobbies interest can wane but a lot of blogs i have encountered actually seemed to be driven by a real passion. Maybe my blog in its infancy doesn't really allow me the insight in to reasons why this could occur, but i love what i do and love the fact i can document it..

Hopefully, in 2 or 3 years i can look back at all the silly mistakes i made and look how far me and my vegetables have come...