Comments on: Urban Compost + Recycled Potting Soil = Good Tomato Food? We’ll see…

By: Steph

Steph — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:04:00 +0000

Everything I know about growing tomatoes comes from YouGrowGirl (www.yougrowgirl.com) and the links on her site.

But your growing season is so much longer that ours, you might be OK.

By: Kristina

Kristina — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:21:00 +0000

I am a Brand New Gardener, and I am learning as I go. I started in January by checking out every book from the library that I could find on organic gardening, new gardens, and PNW gardens, and by March we broke ground, turning our lawn (aka weeds) over, adding compost (we have a worm bin) and organic fertilizer (expensive!) and starting from scratch.

Just this week, we pulled our first radishes - they grow pretty fast. (I think I planted them in April maybe?) They took almost no care (though we've had a wet season in Seattle) and they were a zillion times better than the grocery store ones - my five year old even liked them. (Pictures on my blog...check it out.) Anyway, if you're looking for suggestions, I say radishes. Peas and beans are supposed to be easy to grow, too. We have sugar snap peas from seed and starts, and they're climbing their bamboo poles like mad now, though not anywhere near producing actual peas.

If I can do it, you can. Head to your library and see what you can find - there are great gardening resources. At our farmer's market there are master gardeners to ask questions, too, so you could see if you have a similar resource?

Good luck!

By: Rejin/Urban Botany

Rejin/Urban Botany — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:16:00 +0000

Hi Beth, your compost looks great in the photos. Funny that you dumped it in a bin that says "paper only."

I once read an urban farmer's account of watering his tomato plants every day, and that has worked well for me. It might also help to plant some flowers that are attractive to bees (like bee balm) so they are around at pollination time. Last year we visited an organic farm that had a wildflower area adjacent to its open greenhouses. It was gorgeous and functional.

(I also thought of you when I read about the plastic balls in the reservoir... We are fighting an uphill battle.)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:02:00 +0000

Beth, with regard to composting, have you looked into having a worm bin? The worms do a lot of the work for you and produce a finer quality of compost much more quickly. They work well for apartment dwellers such as ourselves who generate more in the way of kitchen scraps than things like yard clippings. Kitchen scraps make great worm food, and I've used shredded junk mail and the like for bedding! You can even have a bin indoors, although a (shady) spot outdoors is a bit better because sometimes there's a little fruit fly issue. But really and truly, it's a better way to go for small spaces and works very well without the hard work of handling a big tumbler. Have you looked into it?

Signed, a worm fan

By: Fake Plastic Fish

Fake Plastic Fish — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:57:00 +0000

Hey Terrible Person, guess what we're gonna water them with on June 21:

http://crunchychicken.blogspot.com/2008/06/golden-showers-garden-party.html

B.

By: terrible person

terrible person — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:30:00 +0000

Hey, now that California is officially in a drought, we should maybe put that bucket back in the shower to catch extra water, and use that on the tomatoes. Of course, it's on the other end of the house, a pain to carry around. Maybe we could set up a whole "gray water" system. Unfortunately, gray water is hard to do legally in Oakland.

By: Fake Plastic Fish

Fake Plastic Fish — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:08:00 +0000

Hi Life Less Plastic! You noticed my little fishie! I actually didn't notice your little flower until just now. It's super cute, too.

Yeah, Christy B, the Green Cat and Terrible Person also told me about the black balls in the reservoir. WTF, right?

Axelle, am I allowed to tell them about your open studio?

Beth

By: christy b

christy b — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:10:00 +0000

Okay, totally off topic but I had to share/vent:

In Los Angeles "they" dumped plastic balls into a reservoir that provides drinking water, to keep the sun from reacting with the water and creating a dangerous chemical.

I am guessing that the dangerous toxins released when plastic water bottles get warm is different if the plastic is in the form of a ball?!

You can read the story here.

Loverly!

By: LifeLessPlastic

LifeLessPlastic — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:02:00 +0000

I’m not sure I have anything else to add about gardening, but I have to comment about your new favicon. It’s super cute!

By: Allie

Allie — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:12:00 +0000

That's awesome that the compost worked! We are still a long way off from getting compost, I think.

I am the same way about plants -- I just don't feel like watering them sometimes. Growing veggies is a little easier -- if I can eat it, I'm more motivated. I also understand all too well the whole being on a roll thing. :)

If you're replanting the tomatoes anyway, bury them up to the lowest set of leaves. It makes them stronger.