Create a container garden on my porch

I have several tomato plants that I didn’t cage. One is stretching itself across the patio like a cat in the sun. The kids are totally amazed by the beans and baby tomatoes. We also have a small sunflower in a 3inch cup that has done valiently considering its lack of soil. It sort of droops each afternoon and the kids say the same thing every darn day, “Oh look at the poor sunflower, it needs water”. No its not pointing its sunny head down, the leaves are wilty. Had a bout of leafborers and some mildew but considering the space and humidity, we are doing well. Lettus is going to seed. Spinach and FINALLY the chard is big. Still cant figure out where the carrots and green onions are going. Maybe they are slow.

The zucinni seeds we planted the other day are growing so quickly that I swear you can almost watch them! Got the trays ready for beans but grandkids preferred pool today. Found 1 snail

Finally! Got seeds into pots(zuccini, basil, onion) hydroponics setup for
Spinach, lettuce in hydroponic jars ,topsy turvey tomato hanging, and will do beans this am.
Just goes to show me that I can work slowly on some goals and it’s
Ok

I borrowed a neighbors car, so now I have the soil. I’m going out of town next week, so when I get back I’ll start the seeds. It makes no sense to start them now because they will just dry out when they sprout because I’ll be gone during the critical days. Still working out recyclable containers to use as pots. We have these new rectangular plastic milk jugs. I think I’ll work with those with the carrots. They’re tall.

I have a new bunch of seeds. Now I just have to drag potting soil home on the bus.

I decided to grow some of the upsidedown tomato plants that I saw on TV. I think this will help avoid snails at least for a while. I was going to even buy one of those kits, but it kept nagging at me that it seemed really overpriced. So I googled it. I found a great site that has links to a bunch of people who have used different things to grow the upside down plants. Mostly people use Home Depot buckets. Someone also made a youtube showing how they used grocery store recycling bags. So now I’m going to try it. http://www.rubberingot.com/ and http://www.upsidedowntomatoplant.com/messageboard/

I finally broke down after months of avoiding purchasing pots and bought some. Tomorrow I’ll repot everything with the help of the grandkids. I also got a new supply of seeds.
My coworker inspired me. He was overjoyed this week because his 2yr old “pineapples that I ate then planted” FLOWERED. He took lots of photos and showed me about 3 times on Friday. I’m so excited for him.

The sprouts didn’t all die. We have Kale, Carrots, and Cherry Tomatoes. The potatoes are getting huge. Must transplant to bigger pots, make a deal with the snails, and hope the rains continue.

I’m so sad. I went to check on the sprouts and the carrots dried out beyond regeneration. I’m such a rotten mom. I was fooled by the misty rain. They were under shade cloth but it filtered the water too much. The baby tomatoes are ok.

My grandkids and I planted the seeds I bought months ago 2 weeks ago and now we have these tiny baby tomatoe, kale and carrot newborns. They are so beautiful and the children love them.

We also took the potatoes that were budding from the kitchen and threw them into pots with dirt. They are magnificent. I don’t know what will happen in the future with those guys. It seems to me that people have been growing potatoes for many generations and that maybe it might work this way. My friend showed me how to grow them from seedling potatoes, so I don’t know whether this will also work.

What a dork I am. I have a college education and I don’t know how to grow potatoes.