The Friday before last (sorry for the lag time) was a busy day. And POD’s hoping for a bumper crop of French fingerling potatoes, lettuce, parsley, basil, provider snap bush beans, and French hybrid melons; tomande, gold nugget, and patio princess tomatoes; and white wonder, Adam F1, and spacemaster cucumbers.
Just a few weeks ago, the French fingerlings emerged. Finally. It’s amazing what three weeks, a little Bennett Compost, and some natural rain can do.
Plants on Deck enjoyed some much-needed attention on Friday and these potatoes were first up on the to-do list. As they had shot up from no inches to eight inches in just 14 days, it was time for the first application of additional dirt.
A layer of compost and potting soil was gently hilled around the potatoes, covering 2/3 of the exposed plant, leaving just a few inches exposed. And wouldn’t you know it? Just four days later and they need (make that “desperately need”) another hilling.
Which means the stroller’s going to be doubling as a wheelbarrow tonight.
Note to future self: the deeper the container, the better!
The plural is misleading…but here’s the first of the strawberries. Shared with the hurricane, it offered little more than the essence of strawberry, but after months of California and then another month of the only slightly better Florida berries, both the girl and the gardener were quite favorably impressed.
Happily, there’s more to come.
To prepare the massive flowering thyme for partial transplantation, it seemed wise to trim it down some. And what better use than a delicious roast chicken?
These days, POD’s all about trying new things. For years, the Endurer’s been asking for berries. For years, he’s been ignored. Suddenly, though, there seemed to be a new wisdom in his request: they’re perennials. One and done. Just like babies! But, one hopes, less noisy and more tasty.
Anyhoo, this dwarf Top Hat bush found a home alongside a semi-dwarf Sunshine Blue about a month ago. In the intervening month, both bushes turned burning-bush/toddler tantrum crimson and I feared the stress of shipping and replanting had already gotten the best of them.
It seems the tantrum has passed.
Bonjour!
It only took about a week longer than anticipated, but the French fingerlings say, “‘Allo!” Vigilance has been employed and the soil has been kept (more or less) consistently moist, yet somehow not soggy.
Happily, Plants on Deck just received a delivery of Bennett Compost, so in other couple of weeks, rich handfuls of Bennett’s best will be hilled around the growth.
Last year, spring sprang late.
The year before, it sprang and ran.
And this year’s just a bewildering, disconcerting, and unsettling mess of a spring. These travel-stressed and sunlight-starved Celebrities made their debut just yesterday. But we’re looking at an 88 degree afternoon. Which is hot. Too hot, POD thinks. When the heat of the day hits, they’ll be coming inside for an afternoon rest. (Thanks, Endurer.)
Which is, you know, insane.
POD’s generally a big fan of growing its own. And usually that extends to seedlings, but things are different this year. And, one suspects, things are going to be different for the next 18 years or so. So, with that in mind, POD purchased three nice, hearty tomato seedlings a few weeks ago.
made in michigan
Evidently, Gurney’s decided that it was time to plant, even though the pages of this blog indicate that we’re running more than a month early. These Celebrity seedlings arrived on Wednesday, and after a few days acclimating to daylight after their darkened journey, they’re finding a new home this afternoon. Much like their new minder, these starlets were made in Michigan, my friends.
celebrity seedlings
These ginormous French fingerling seed potatoes could have very easily been cut into smaller segments. But that would require 2-3 days “healing” time. Which would require some advance planning. Which, alas, the good folks at POD no longer really do. When it comes to gardening, at least.
But hey! Potatoes! Something that’s never before been tackled here at Plants On Deck — as they don’t play well with tomatoes, they’ve never been planted. But the tomatoes are moving to the front of the house this year (where sunlight is more direct and water is more readily available), so potatoes are the new tomato.
These babies were plopped on top of about four inches of dirt, six inches apart, and topped with another three inches of soil. The 18 gallon container (drilled well on both the bottom and sides to promote drainage) is home to five seed potatoes — which is, perhaps, a little tight, but we’re planning on harvesting a majority as new potatoes, anyway.
Happily, the heavens opened soon after the spuds were planted. The tricky part’s going to be keeping the soil consistently moist (not too wet nor too dry) until harvest.
In a few weeks, once the plants reach a towering height of six or eight inches, they’ll be “hilled” (that is, some more dirt and compost will be gently mounded around them, leaving about two-thirds of the plant exposed). This hilling process will be repeated until the plants reach to top of the bin. After the plants have bloomed, POD’s sending in the little fingers to find the wee fingerlings.
Grow Great Grub promises the whole enterprise will take 45-60 days…
Top Hat Blueberry
POD’s expanding! Well, sort of. At roof-level, Plants on Deck has always been all about the veggies; but at street level (POF never quite worked, so the plants out front have gone largely undocumented on these pages), there have always been containers full of blooming annuals and perennials. Each year, hours were spent plotting pleasing combinations and combing the area nurseries for perfect flowering flora. Lately, though, those hours are spent doing other things (like reading the classics.)
So this year’s gonna’ be different.
The Black-eyed Susan’s surrounding the maple are here to stay, but those annual containers? That require replanting each year? Way too much trouble.
Earthworms!
Blueberries, baby. These two- and three-year-old plants, purchased from Gurney’s, just arrived. Worms included!
The interwebs assure gardeners that growing blueberries is easy! (Then again, they say that about tomatoes, too.) Alas, I’ve seen other, more accomplished gardeners (read: my folks) dedicate years to the miserable little shrubs with little to show for their efforts. Somehow, though, that doesn’t deter. Even if they don’t produce the 5-10 pounds of berries the catalogs promise, here’s hoping the shrubs are aesthetically pleasing enough to justify their existence.
These Dwarf Top Hat and the semi-dwarf Sunshine Blues were planted in two large containers in soil formulated for shrubs (higher acidity). A few scoops of regular potting soil and pine much were thrown in to round things off, and a cup of blueberry food (Holly-tone would work, too) was mixed in and top-dressed for good measure. We’re not expecting much this year, but we’re hoping for dividends down the road.
