MORE FARMING / CUCUMBERS AND MORE STRAWBERRIES

Well, I did a little bit more farming today and some of it was quite interesting. I'll start off with the cucumbers and get to the "interesting" part second. Now because the cucumbers are viney, I purchased another container to set on top of the fence. That way instead of the vine taking up a lot of room in my back area (as you can see on the right, theres not a lot of room)I can have it growing downward on the fence and attach it for support if necessary.

The first thing we went ahead and did is to make sure the drainage holes are in the container. We just took the drill and drilled thru the plastic. Once that is done you are ready to put the soil in the container. Fill it almost to the top because once you start watering it, the soil will become more compact. I just take the container a couple of times while I am filling it and tap it on the ground so as to pack it a little tighter. Iam planting everything this year in natural outdoor potting soil. Part of the plans for the yard are to build a compost and make my own composting soil. I'm looking forward to that. By the way, that is my dog Makenna on the left making sure the holes are being drilled correctly.

The end result is what you see on the right. And underneath that picture you can see that I have it sitting on top of the fence next to the strawberries. There are a total of 5 plants in that pot and as they start growing some will do better than the others and I will thin them out. If everything goes good they will all take and I will have a heck of a lot of cucumbers. But what could be better than being able to pick a cucumber everyday throughout the summer along with some tomatoes and you have a tomatoe and cucumber salad with some vinegrette. Ummm ummm good.

Now water your cucumber plants only in the morning so that the soil is not wet overnight because this can cause the plant to rot. So you want to make sure your pots have adequate drainage. Make sure to plant in full sun and in about 50 - 55 days you will have yourself some tasty, crunchy cucumbers. More on the cucumbers as they grow.

Now, for the interesting part of my farming today. The other days while I was out picking up the cucumber plants, I decided to pick up some more strawberries. I want to be able to have so many strawberries that I can make a cake or something with them.  So instead of buying more plants, I picked up this package, the one you see right below. I actually thought there were 10 little plants in there. Was I surprised when I opened it and this is what was there.

Soooooooooo, we just followed the instructions on the back of the package, we made a wide hole in the dirt, put the strawberries in, covered it and gave it water. So this is new for me. I've never seen anything like this. I would be interested to see if anyone else has grown strawberries from a pkg like this and how it went. I'm not sure if I'm going to get strawberries from it this year or not.

HOMEGROWN JUICY TOMATOES

One of the best experiences in life, I think, is being able to go outside on a warm, sunny day and go to the tomatoe garden and pick yourself a beautiful red sun-ripened tomatoe. You can definetly taste the difference between a home grown tomatoe and store bought tomatoe. The taste, color, and smell are three great reasons I can think of to grow tomatoes.

So far this year I have planted 3 differnet types of tomatoes. There are SEVERAL types, shapes, colors and sizes of tomatoes. My favorite are cherry tomatoes, for salads (or just snacking) and large tomatoes for juicy bar b qued hamburgers or anything else you want to put tomatoes in.

The two larger tomatoe plants are Better Bush Hybrid tomatoes (maturity 68 days after planting) and the Big Beef Hybrid (matures 73 days after planting). You want to plant them in an area that gets full sun (at least 6 hours a day), and after there is no more danger of frost. I also planted Sweet Baby Girl cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket to save some space. This year I bought young plants from the garden center but I thought about doing research for next year to sow them from seed. But this year I planted them in organic soil, water them regulary and watch for disease. You don't want to over water your tomatoes because it will dilute the flavor.

A great book that I have purchased "How to Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes" by Annette Welsford & Lucia Grimmer who are plant nutrition and disease specialists. It is a  a great reference guide to  providing basic information on growing tomatoes at home. Some of the things it covers is health effects, varieties, preparation, cultivation, pests and disease and much more. It has 260 color photos. You can order the actual book that comes with a CD containing a huge database of 1300 varieties plus 4 extra bonus files. It's also avail by ebook which is the way I purchased it because I didn't want to wait. You can also get this book by going to  http://www.bestjuicytomatoes.com

I can't wait to start seeing some tomatoes on the vines. I will continue to update you all with pictures and text as to how they are doing.

Thank you for stopping by and reading about My Edible Garden of Eden.

Super Strawberries

Strawberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow and there is nothing better than biting into one of your own rich red juicy berries.

Since I don't have a huge yard for a strawberry patch, I am choosing to plant some in hanging planters and some in a pot that stits on top of  my six foot fence. I love that the bottom of the planter box is cut out underneath so that it can straddle the 2 x 4 that runs across the top of the fence.  (shown in the last picture on the page)

The 1st three pictures are of my hanging containers that already have some strawberries blooming. Those plants were planted in the fall from some runners that were given to me by a neighbor. I have placed them all in a loocation where they will get at least 6 hours of sun a day.

After planting, remove all flowers for the first 4 to 6 weeks. This will allow the plant time to establish itself and put its energy in developing healthier leaves and roots.

There are three types of strawberries, June-bearing, ever-bearing, and day-neutral. The ones I have planted are the ever-bearing which are great for container growing and will give you fruit from spring to fall.

I can't wait to sink my teeth into my first harvest of fresh, sweet, homegrown strawberries.

In the Beginning

 As you look at these pictures and at the title of my blog you are probably thinking "Really? This is a Garden of Eden?" I know that it doesn't look like one right now but I have faith that by the time I am done, it will look like a "Garden of Eden".

 My father bought this manufactured home in February of 2011 and my brother, myself, my daughter and my father moved in in May of 2011. My daughter is away at college most of the time and my brother and myself take care of our father since his stroke in January of 2010. We haven't had a chance to do very much with the landscaping due to some situations that came up and then the holidays and winter came around. But now that it is almost spring, it is time to get to work, and believe me, by the time we are done it will be "My Garden of Eden."

 I have big plans for this small amount of property that is around the home. As we go along I will be sharing our progress, our successes and our failures. This will be an edible organic garden. I welcome any sugestions or ideas.

There is a very well established tangerine tree in the yard already.
 They are the sweetest tangerines I have ever tasted. The fruit started ripening around the beginning of December and it still has approximately 150 tangerines waiting to fully ripen.

One of my pictures shows an azalea that has been a little neglected. I transplanted it the other day and put it in an area that has part sun and part shade. I trimmed back some of the little branches and cleaned off the spent flowers. Hopefully in a while I can post some pictures of it doing quite well in it's new home.

The last picture shows a dirt area with a latice fence separating the upper yard from the lower yard. That was done for two reasons. One, so my dog Makenna would not be able to get out of the yard and two so that the fruit and vegetables would have protection from my dog. She is part boxer, part rottweiler and we think she may have a little shepard in her also and she is quite energetic so we thought it would be a good idea to separate her from the vegetables and fruit.

Well, until tomorrow when I will be planting some strawberry's, I have enjoyed sharing "My Garden of Eden" with you and  I thank you for stopping by.