Saturday, May 30, 2009

Vegetables in the Flower Garden

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This year I decided to plant vegetables in the flower bed and in containers. (See February 4 post “Planning for Vegetables” and May 13 “Seed Challenge”)

I only wanted to grow as many vegetables as we could eat this summer – no canning, no freezing, maybe a little for friends. Most of the seeds were in the ground on May 9. The pepper plants and tomato were planted a week later.
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Oregano, basil, parsley, and lettuce grow in the fish boxes. I’ll have fresh lettuce this week. The herbs will take a little longer.





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The peppers and squash (Yellow Bush Scallop) are planted in a “rabbit cage”. Rabbit cage is DH’s name for my metal fence post/plastic fence. I keep telling him it’s to keep the rabbits OUT not IN. And it’s working very well, thank you.

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Cherokee Wax Beans grow between the holly and the daylilies. It’s getting a little weedy in there.


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Radishes and carrots are up around the lilies in the Oriental Garden. The radishes are almost ready to pick.



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I’ve planted containers with pole beans and bush cucumbers the past two years. They do pretty well. Watering becomes a problem in the summer. This year I bought “Precision Drip Spikes” to help keep the soil from drying out. (You know those things with an upsidedown liter soda bottle sticking up in the pot.) Not very attractive but, if I can stand looking at “rabbit cages”, I guess I can put up with soda bottles sticking out of pots.

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The beefsteak tomato has flowers behind the euonymus with marigolds and an ageratum for company. I may have planted a little close here but it will have to do.



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So, my “Vegetable Experiment” is underway. I’ve been fertilizing with fish emulsion once a week. I’ve used compost and compost tea on the vegetables that are planted in the ground.
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So far everything looks good. (Click on the pictures for a larger view.)
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3 comments:

Kathy said...

looking good.

donna said...

This post makes me wish I was a vegetable gardener. Well, I am sort of....one lone tomato plant! It was fun enlarging the photos because then I could see all sorts of interesting things growing. Looking at the Precision Drip Spikes will be worth it if you end up with yummy pole beans and bush cucumbers.

Marie said...

Thanks, ksr. Time will tell if I reap the benefits of my labor :-)

Donna,
I tried "Drip-it Pro Waterer" last year. (See August 9, 2008 post "Watering Container Plants".)

They didn't work so well for outdoor containers. They may be more for house plants. One broke by the end of the summer.

I hope these work better.