SD Weather Doesn't Like My Garden

So sorry for the absence--I've been busy reporting on the news, which has actually been the weather this weekend. My plants have been through a lot the past few weeks ... but few things have been as damaging as the rain and high winds we've seen in the past few days.

Soggy Stalks

My pepper plants have grown to new heights, looking quite promising with their full leaves and tall stems. Sadly, though, those same qualities made their more susceptible to wind damage.

I was very disappointed to see them all slumping in their pots Friday morning. One of the bell peppers did not survive. It's stem broke at the base, leaving it attached to the soil by one lone root. It's pot will soon house a second pot of fennel (and maybe some flowers--we'll see). The white lanterns will also have to go soon. Big, fat rain drops didn't mix well with their paper covering.

I should consider myself lucky. People in town just a few blocks from me lost vehicles, garages, and at least one person is now homeless because of the same storm. 75 mph winds wreaked havoc in Sioux Falls thanks to two micro bursts. Still, loss is loss.

On the brighter side, the bent and broken stems forced me to get creative. Leftover popsicle sticks (my homemade tags) came in very handy this evening as I made a crude support for each plant. I stuck a stick into each pot, right next to the stem, and then tied the stem to the stick with sewing thread to aid the plants in reaching their potential.

I have no idea if my stick-system will do any good, but I figured it couldn't hurt. It's working at my parents' house, where the only reason Mom's pear tree isn't growing horizontally is Dad's tie-down straps. I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree in this case.

Survival Instincts Strong

I should've known that most of my babies wouldn't succumb to the storms. They survived my vacation.

The man friend and I spent a few days in Las Vegas after he finished graduate school to unwind and get ready for summer insanity. It was in the desert, but not as gross as it was back home. Somehow, though, every single one of the vegetables made it through ... with some even growing excessively.

Miracle Growth

Many weeks ago, I thought all my pepperoncini plants had gone the way of the 8-track. Still, I planted one in a sand bucket and kept watering it. I'm not sure why, but I guess I held out hope that one of them would be okay.

A few days ago, I noticed the sprout was standing a little taller, a little stronger. The next day, it looked even better. It's come back from the dead! In fact, it survived the weekend weather better than any other pepper.

Whether or not there is any harvest from the pepperoncini is another story. Growth-wise, it's far behind it's brothers and sisters, several inches shorter, and still with only two leaves. Still, it's pretty cool that I am a nurturer.

Catch Up or Ketchup?

Hopefully in the next few days I'll get some fresh pictures up here. There's been a lot of growth in the garden, and it's truly starting look like a jungle out there. I can't wait to show it off :)

First Harvest

Ah, harvest time ... just a few weeks after planting season. Gotta love those onion sets for quick turn around. Sadly, though, I may have jumped the gun. Take a look.

Peppers Not So Poppin'

The strongest of the bunch have each been planted, but things aren't all looking up. The banana peppers are looking quite strong, read jalapenos y to bear fruit. The bell peppers look like they'll pass with a solid B, but the others are iffy. The look a little sickly, but I have faith they'll pull through. The pepperoncinis, though, are still quite sad. My faith is not as secure there.

Fruit

There are some pleasant surprises in the garden. My blueberry plant has blossoms--there is hope that this season will be a success after all. Granted, it's still early, so I may be wrong, but I feel pretty good about this one.

The strawberry plant is looking good, too. There were some berries on it when I bought it, so I don't even have to have faith in this one. As they say, seeing is believing.

Changes, Changes, Changes

Life goes on in the garden, despite my absence from the blogosphere. Let's take a look--here's a video tour of what can be found in my future produce section.

Not All Sunny Here

Life on my balcony isn't all good news these days. I was out of town for a couple days last week visiting my parents and littlest sister. I had a great time away, but sadly, my plants had a rough weekend.

Wind speeds reached gusts of up to 30 mph those days, and while my deck is mostly enclosed, the breeze was too much. Two of my herb pots, one of the dill and the cilantro, decided they needed to buy the farm, and took that final leap off of their home on the patio table.

The pepper seedlings didn't fare well either, although I don't necessarily blame the wind for that. When I arrived home, several sprouts had shriveled up to the point where I don't think I can rehabilitate them. Their pods were incredibly dried out, like they hadn't been watered in a couple days.

Moving On

Not all the plants' futures are in question. The two strongest pepper plants of each kind moved into their new pots this evening. The bell peppers now live in medium-sized terra cotta pots, while everyone else lives in a brightly colored sand bucket, courtesy of Target's dollar section.

The decaying strawberry plant has been replaced. At Wal-Mart, I stumbled upon an ever-bearing strawberry plant that already had some fruit on it. Hopefully this means that, for the first time, one of my fruit plants will actually give me tasty results.

Still to Come

I promise, I will get to the story of the pigeons' revenge, as well as my reasons for believing it's not over between me and the birds. In the next few days, I should be able to harvest my first onions. Trust me--there will be lots of photos from that momentous day! Plus, we'll see if the pepper plants that aren't already in a pot survive the next week.

Sprouts!

My thumb may be green after all--stuff is sprouting up all over the place on the balcony.

Herbs

So far, my miniature herb garden may be the biggest success story (comparatively speaking, of course) so far. They're growing like crazy. I need to start researching when to harvest, how often it needs to be done, ways to dry the fruits of these plants, and, well, basically all the basics of growing on herb garden. To think I thought the growing would be the tricky part!

Peppers A Poppin'

Just because the herbs have the best growth at this point doesn't mean I can't brag about the rest of the garden. My peppers are wasting no time in introducing themselves to me. So far, every single starter set I planted has a plant peeking out of the soil. Now I just can't kill them.

Jalapenos, Banana Peppers

Pepperoncinis

Not All is Good News

My strawberry plant appears to be dead. Very, very dead. Granted, for all the things I did to it and forgot to do for it last summer, it probably should be. I was a bad gardener then.

I've been holding out hope that my refreshed dedication to urban farming would bring it back to life, but, alas, it seems I'm wrong. If no green appears by next weekend, I'm buying a replacement strawberry plant for that pot.

The blueberry plant appears to have a slightly brighter future ... or at least a more alive one. I'm still skeptical about how this one will fare, but, this whole thing is really one big experiment. It makes sense that I would have some really wild things mixed in with the practical pots.

Name Tags

I have a problem with plants. Once they actually start growing, I can't tell them apart from weeds. Especially plants in the same family, like the pepper tray. Initially, I tried using a paper tag taped to the outside of the tray, but a necessary evil known as water keeps splashing onto the ink.

I tried it on the outside of the herb pots, too, if you remember (see photo from original entry), but that lasted only a couple of days before the tape refused to stick. Luckily, I may have found the solution-popsicle sticks!

It makes sense--they're big enough for big writing, and they're tall enough to keep themselves dry when shoved into wet soil. Plus, I've had enough room left on the sticks to mark their birthdays (or the date they were planted on). Plus, they're kind of fun looking inside their homes.

A multi-colored pack of Sharpie's makes color coding super easy. My garden wasn't really big enough to do that with, but I'm sure someone out there in the world has a big enough balcony to need such a clever organization trick. I can only hope to have that myself someday!

Still to Come

Keep checking back for an update on the pigeon situation. Let's just say things have taken a dramatic turn in the battle for territory. Plus, some of my more adventurous seedlings are starting to peek out in their trough.

Successes and Struggles

The garden's growing well so far--lots of little wins to report on, as well as a few roadblocks, too.

Cheers!

My vision for an outdoor paradise is starting to come together. All but three of the lanterns that lit up the summer night's sky last year still work after a rough winter outside. Sadly, the hooks they hung from did not fair as well, so now they hang from the railing instead.

I actually think this will be less annoying than the old system. Every time a storm blew in the lanterns came down. Besides, I don't see how a little more light could hurt the plants.

If you look closely, you can see some new containers hanging out on the balcony. They are the new homes of my root vegetables. The closest container holds two rows of white onions while the far container is incubating carrots, fennel, kohlrabi, and radishes.

I'm having doubts about the viability of some of the goodies in the far trough. The seed packages were pretty specific about giving the plants more room to grow than the planters allow. Let's just say I'm already bracing myself for one failure.

Boos!

My project hasn't gone as smoothly as I wanted it to. When I finished planting the non-onion trough, I tried to move it off of the patio table and onto the ground. But, in the process, I accidentally tipped it over ... and everything inside spilled onto the table, chair, lanterns, and floor.

It was such a mess! I meant to take a picture for proof, but I moved into cleanup mode a little too quickly. Luckily my man friend was here to help me calm down and sweep up the dirty, muddy mess.

In the process, though, we found something bad. Behind the central air is a pigeon's nest, complete with three eggs. It would explain why a pair of those crazy, dirty birds keep hanging out on the balcony during the day, but I'm not pleased about the whole thing.

As much as I hate to hurt baby animals, that nest has got to go. I don't care that I'm wrecking a family--they're going to wreck my garden. I haven't quite figured out how to do it yet. Basically, I have two options. I can just shove it off the side of the balcony, onto the ground below. Or, I can scoop it up, put it into a trash bag, and throw it down the garbage shoot.

Either way, I need a partner in crime to get the job done because of how precariously close to the edge of the balcony this nest is. And I need gloves, because, as we all know, pigeons are dirty and carry diseases.

Keep Reading

I have some seedlings starting to sprout, but it's just too dark to take any photos to show them off. I'll put those up later on and share more about their progress. Also to come, fun ways to label seedlings so you know what's coming up where.

Sun and Fun

Sunny spring weather finally seems to be here for good, which means it's time to get dirty.

Planters Found

My internal struggle to decide what containers to plant my food in seems to be over (for now). I found plain terra cotta planters at (where else?) Wal-Mart for cheap, so I've stocked up. If all my seedlings sprout, these probably won't be enough, but it's a good start for now.

New Kid on the Block

I may have gotten too brave. I found a blueberry plant on sale in the Wal-Mart Garden Center. It didn't seem any more difficult than my strawberry pot, so I bought it, and now it's joined the collection. It adds a nice layer to my own produce section since I really don't grow a lot of fruit. Hopefully it doesn't die.

Not Just for Eating

Not everything I'm growing has a practical purpose. I'm growing two pots of tulips (one yellow, one white), and two pots of yellow/orange daffodils. So far, these are by far my most successful specimens. Just this morning, a yellow bloom said 'hello' to the sun for the first time.

Patio Party

It's not quite warm enough out to leave my babies outside 24/7, but today was nice enough to give it a whirl. Everybody spent a good hour and a half or so sunbathing on the patio. It'll be nice when that can be their home. Right now there's a lot of pots strewn about my living room, as close to the windows as possible. It's tough to get outside to enjoy the fresh air or grill.

On the Hunt

My seeds on the verge of sprouting, and as excited as I am to get this garden growing, it'd be okay if they waited an extra day or two to say hello. My current challenge is finding things to grow my plants in.

Material Girl

My book recommends not using plastic because the chemicals could leach into the soil and inevitably my veggies and, you know, cause cancer and stuff. The book is probably right, but non-plastic planters are a little spendy.

My next thought was coffee cans. They're easy enough to scrounge (as long as you know coffee drinkers), are sturdy enough to hold plants when they become voluminous and heavy with fruit. But, alas, my affordable alternative does have its flaws. The metal cans can get too hot if placed in full sun (which is where most garden vegetables are supposed to be planted) and can scorch the essential roots.

Glass jars don't seem like a bad plan. They've got that cool see through thing going, so you could keep an eye on the root systems. They're everywhere--mayonnaise jars, pickle jars, mason jars, etc. But, I worry they'll just be too small to support my peppers and other plants.

It seems all that's left is the old stand by: terra cotta. Sadly, though, I have very few of these, and they're currently occupied by tulips and herbs. The best prices I've found so far are at Home Depot, but for the size I need, it's still about $8 per pot ... and I need quite a few pots.

Prowling for Deals

I've been trying to keep my eyes peeled for containers to use that I hadn't thought to use before. 5-gallon buckets have come to mind ... but I don't know where to find those. The man friend has suggested looking at garage sales, but my work schedule doesn't permit that kind of fun. So, I've put him to work scouring Craigslist and other websites to find a retired gardener's supplies.

Sadly, though, I'm starting to come to the conclusion that I may have to shell out more money than I planned to for this endeavor. If anyone has any ideas I haven't considered yet, I'd love to hear them. The peppers should be popping soon, after all.