On Saturday my husband and I finally started our garden for
the season. Normally, we would have planted earlier. However, it has been chilly
here. We planted some tomatoes, parsley, and basil to start
indoors. We will direct sow other vegetables when the weather gets warmer. The
last two years we planted Roma tomatoes. This year, on our third year of
gardening, we are planting a larger variety of tomatoes called Super Sioux
Tomatoes. We're excited to see how they turn out!
In the picture below you can see our babies! Well...not yet,
but we know they're in there! In the large white buckets are the herbs. In the
front pots are the tomatoes. The white containers have been converted to
planting pots from peanut butter buckets. We buy organic peanut butter in nine
pound buckets. Since we had these buckets handy we simply drilled holes into
the bottom for drainage and used them for our plants. We do line the bottom of
our buckets, as we do for all of our planters, with paper which breaks down
easily in the soil. This helps prevent too much soil from escaping. The paper
needs to be replaced each growing season.
The three small containers are called CowPots. They are made
with cow manure and are biodegradable. We have had great experience planting
with them in the past. Though they do break down in the soil, we do cut the
bottom and sometimes two of the sides off the pots before transferring them to
a larger container. Roots don’t seem to
have trouble poking through the pots. However, we did plant beets in the
CowPots one year and it limited how large they were able to grow. The beets
grew vertically, but were restricted in width. It was our mistake, however, as
we were supposed to sow them directly. Though this occurred during our first
year of gardening and was an obvious mistake looking back, we still trim these
containers as precaution.
The CowPots are a onetime use pot due to their quick decomposition
of about twelve weeks! There is no waste and the pots can aid in an easier
transfer for a young plant. The transformed peanut butter buckets, however,
have their own value. Small plants can be directly sown into the pots and kept
indoors. When the appropriate temperature arrives, the buckets are simply
placed outside. There is no need to replant! We use both methods, depending on the
size of the mature plant.
As a side note, I will mention that we reuse the peanut
butter containers for other purposes. This includes bulk food storage for
oatmeal, rice, and quinoa. Other buckets are set aside for hand washing laundry
and cleaning. We also have pails for items
that can’t be recycled through our community’s single stream program.
Related Links
- To continue reading this garden series please visit We Have Babies!
- I highly recommend Vermont Compost if you are looking for soil to purchase.
I have not been paid for mentioning any products. These are
my opinions based on personal experience.
