How I did it: Got cheap and unusual heirloom seed varieties of beets, tomatoes, squash, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, beans, carrots, dill, chives, chard, quinoa, and radishes. I already had the pots in the garage and just had to get some mushroom compost, some plant food for the tomatoes and beans, and some potting soil.

Lessons & tips: Well, in a city like Chicago, and with a summer like this one we had, it was doomed from the beginning! Between the odd temperatures, not germinating the seeds soon enough for them to have a fighting chance, and the squirrels stealing my bounty it really did not do any good.

I think in the future I would use larger pots or plant in the ground. I would also grown the plants into larger seedlings. I would really be careful about starting the plants during their proper time of the season.

If you want a good natural pesticide, I used garlic, chili powder, jalapenos, salt, and castille soap. This makes the leaves unpalatable, suffocated out scale bugs, and burns slugs. It helped A LOT. (but beware if it's directly sunny outside when it's applied because it might burn the leaves, wait until dawn or dusk every other day)

Oct 10, 05:40PM PDT | 0 comments | 1 cheer