The Straw Bale Garden experiment has been a bountiful success. These are just the latest harvest of tomatoes. I’m on my way out after I post to take a few of these beauties to my father. He is a fan of tomato sandwiches for lunch! I love having an overabundance of harvest to share. O Happy Day! What a blessing.
I posted in the Spring on “Planting Straw Bales” with tomato plants. The technique has been more successful that I had even hoped. The tomato plants are soaring above my head and loaded with tomatoes of all types. Thus far, I have harvested many grape tomatoes, but so has the neighborhood chipmunk. Growl….
These little guys are adorable until they are ravaging your garden beds or digging dens under your concrete foundations and porches. One of the chipmunk gang in our yard has learned how to raid my suet cage and bird feeders. Double Growl…
I sprinkled chile powder in the chipmunks favorite dining area, but he just brushed it away and kept on feasting. Triple Growl…
One mistake I made with the Straw Bale Garden was placing the bales onto palettes instead of on newspaper. The palettes did keep the area neat at the start, but as the bales have decomposed they have sunk to low levels. I am hoping that somehow the roots of the tomatoes will find their way into the gaps of the palette and reach the ground underneath. I will update again further along in the season.
Several of my past projects are thriving, or at least still growing. The Meyer Lemon Seed sprouts are deep green and perky in appearance, but growing very slowly.
Growing a Meyer Lemon Tree from Seed
One of my Carambola seeds finally sprouted after many weeks sown in potting soil. I was about to give up on this planting attempt, but saw green just in time.
How to Sprout a Carambola Seed
In a day or two after sprouting the seed fell away and tiny fronds emerged.
My Coleus seeds, sown in January, are showing many colors, but in sync with the carambola and lemon sprouts, growing slowly. This week I will take the seedlings outside to the screened in porch and let them begin the hardening off process. If there is a forecasted frost I will keep them in the garage overnight. Coleus are extremely susceptible to cold temperatures.
How to Grow Small Seeds/Coleus
Are my Morning Glories blue or pink? The stray pink Morning Glory was a fluke, most of the flowers are blue. Unfortunately, in their quest to face the sun, the plants and flowers grew toward the window. I decided they would create a better display outdoors.
I had to be ruthless and cut the vines and flowers off at the top of the pot, leaving many inches of vine to wither on the venetian blinds. The Morning Glory plants will be better for the harsh pruning. Each cut vine will branch out in many directions.
This weekend I gridded and planted a few squares in my Square Foot Gardens. I forgot to take a picture afterwards, so the only image I have is from this morning, taken from my upstairs window in pouring rain.
Happy Gardening my friends!
MINDING MY P'S WITH Q 