by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. July 28, 2013 post here for comparison.

We got tired of looking into the stacks of vegetables for the plant markers. (And tired of remembering which pepper was which.) We came up with this solution:

Continue reading “Container Garden Update — July 27, 2014” →

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. July 7, 2013 update here. (The 2013 post is highlighted by the “zucchini breakage disaster”. And the fact that the post permalink says it’s the year “2103”. Oops. I started to make the same typo this time and caught myself.)

The zucchini have cleared the top of the trellis! I’m now trying to train them over the top and down the other side. We’ll see how that goes.

Continue reading “Container Garden Mini Update — July 7, 2014” →

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here. June 23 of last year here.

The windy, rainy weather isn’t slowing down the zucchini. It’s nearly to the top of the 8′ trellis:

A zucchini blossom, photographed yesterday:

Continue reading “Container Garden Update — June 28, 2014” →

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous 2014 post here. June 23, 2013 post here for comparison.

Cucumbers in the foreground. Tomatillos in the middle. Zucchini in the big trellis:

A closeup of the zucchini. It’s a little less than 6 feet tall:

Continue reading “Container Garden Update — June 21, 2014” →

by A.J. Coltrane

In 2013 we used Ultomato stakes in many of the EarthBoxes. One of the early hodge-podge attempts is shown on June 3 of last year, here. We had a couple of boxes where the stakes wound up branching out in many directions, and to some degree it was a struggle to get everything to fit together. More than a few of the “arms” got warped in the process. Even with a “regular”, symmetrical, setup it can be hard to get the poles just the right distance apart for the arms.

What we learned is that the right thing to do is to assemble the Ultomato cage, *then* put it into the EarthBox. Using a “break” in the concrete ensures that all the stakes line up:

It seems to be easiest to put on the arms open-side up, pushing the stakes onto the arms, rather than the other way around. Like this:

And (Note the bent arms. Those went on last.):

We’d then flip the entire thing over and “close the loop” with the last of the arms. This leaves the open sides of the arms facing out so that if the plants push outwards the arms won’t pop off of the stakes.

The best path to success is to push the center two poles in slightly, then work the corners in a little bit at a time. Once all of the poles are in place it’s easy to push the whole thing firmly down into the box. In the next picture you can see the arms facing “out”.

And sure enough, we learned something this year too. The arms need be attached closer to the top and bottom of the stakes. Once the assembly is in place it’s really hard to put on arms closer to the surface of the box.

Fortunately, we’ve got garden twine.

 

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous Update here.

For reference, the May 16 picture:

And today, Brussels Sprouts in the foreground:

The basil and tomatoes, the tall plants on the back right are the tomatillos:

The Tromboncino zucchini are starting to latch onto the trellis:

From the deck:

The pea plants are done, pictured is today’s harvest. In total we got around 3 pounds of peas, much of which was eaten right off of the vines. I’m thinking a pea pesto may be on the way:

Bonus pic of the blooming oaxalis:

And the boy cat laying in the sun, inviting ear scratches: