The Garden is Planted!

Well, the entire garden is officially planted! Here is the entire list of crops we have growing, and how they are planted. The potting mix I used is Sta Green Moisture Control (1/5 or so) and the other 4/5 or so is regular Sta Green Potting Mix.

View of garden from porch door

View of garden toward porch door

Fruits and Vegetables

Tomatoes

            Black Krim (4 plants total)

                       

                        2 plants in one 11.4 gallon tub

                        2 plants in one 7.5 gallon pot

            Green Zebra (2 plants total)

                        2 plants in one 11.4 gallon tub

            Burpee Heirloom Mix… I’m calling them mystery tomatoes (5 plants total)  

                        1 mystery and 1 Brandywine in 11.4 gallon tub

                        1 mystery in 5 gallon nursery pot

                        2 mystery in 7 gallon nursery pot

           

            Sweet 100 (2 plants total)

           

                        2 plants in 7 gallon nursery pot

            Sungold (1 plant total)

                        1 plant in 11.4 gallon tub with 3 Yellow Pear plants

            Yellow Pear (3 plants total)

           

                        3 plants in 11.4 gallon tub with 1 Sungold

            Jellybean (2 plants total)

                        2 plants in 5 gallon pot

            Tomatillos (2 plants total)

                        2 plants in 5 gallon pot

The Tomato Section

 

Peppers

            Sweet Banana (6 plants total)

                        6 plants in a 7 gallon long window box planter

            California Wonder (5 plants total)

                        4 plants in 6.5 gallon square planter

                        1 plant in 4 gallon long planter (w/ 2 Carnival)

            Burpee Carnival Mix (6 plants total)

                        4 plants in 6.5 gallon square planter

                        2 plants in 4 gallon long planter  (w/ 1 California Wonder)

Okra (8 plants total)

            4 Red Okra plants in a 6.5 gallon square planter

            4 Green Okra plants in a 6.5 gallon square planter

Burpee Mix Eggplant (6 plants total)

            2 plants in one 6.5 gallon square planter

            2 plants in another 6.5 gallon square planter

            2 plants in a 3^rd 6.5 gallon square planter

Peppers and Eggplant

 

Cucumbers (8 plants total)

            5 Straight Eight Cucumber and 3 Lemon Cucumber (all in one 11.4 gallon tub)

Broccoli (3 plants total)

            3 plants in one 6.5 gallon square planter

            *** a 2^nd crop will be planted in late July for fall harvest ***

Romanesco (3 plants total)

            3 plants in one 6.5 gallon square planter

            *** a 2^nd crop will be planted in late July for fall harvest ***

Bright Lights Chard (7 plants total)

            7 plants in one 6.5 gallon square planter

             

Bush Zucchini (4 plants total)

            2 plants in one 5 gallon nursery pot

            2 plants in one 5.5 gallon pot

Beets (Detroit Dark Red)

            One 7 gallon window box planter (2 rows, plants spaced 3 inches apart)  

            *** plants will be continuously seeded as harvested until fall ***

Red Norland Potatoes (one 7 gallon nursery pot)

            3 seed chunks in one 7 gallon nursery pot

Lettuce (2 window boxes total)

            One 7 gallon long window box planter with Mesclun Mix (½ spicy, ½ sweet)

            One 4 gallon window box planter with Bibb Lettuce

            ** Romaine will be planted in Bibb planter after Bibb crop is harvested **

            ** Mesclun will be continuously seeded until fall **

Ozark Beauty Strawberries (3 window boxes)

            1 36 inch window box (7 gallons)

            2 24 inch window boxes (4 gallons)

Herbs

Dill

Thyme and Lemon Thyme

Rosemary

Purple Basil, Sweet Basil, and Genovese Basil

Chives and Garlic Chives

Spearmint

Lemon Balm

Catnip

Marjoram

Chamomile

Tarragon

Cilantro

Parsley

Sage

Oregano

           

Flowers

Nasturtiums

Marigolds

Forget Me Nots

Zinnias

Petunias

Cucumbers w/ square trellis

Red Norland Potatoes (these grow about an inch a day, if not more!)

  As you can see, that is quite the list! One of my goals in putting together this garden was that we get a high yield out of a small amount of space. Another was that it not look crowded or messy. Finally, we needed to have plenty of room left on the porch to sit outside and enjoy it!

Every porch garden needs a nice sitting area...and a bluejay rain gauge!

I think we were able to accomplish the goals of getting a wide variety into a small amount of space, and so far it looks pretty good. The yields will be interesting to see. I did plant the squash and broccoli a little tight, but the plants look amazing so far. Experience tells me that the tomatoes, okra, peppers, and cucumbers have more than adequate space to produce fairly well. I’ve never grown eggplants, strawberries, or lettuce in containers before, so this is a learning experience!

This table not only helped consolidate the smaller pots, it also doubles as a hose holder!

 As time goes on, look for data on the “Harvest Data/Yields” page. I will keep a running tally of the harvest from each of the major crops (herbs will not be tallied; they pretty much grow and you use them or they don’t grow!) My hope is that if someone is interested in growing Okra (for example) and wants to know how much Okra to expect in a given situation, that person can get the data in a user-friendly format.

Bright Lights Chard

Broccoli

 

Now we water, tend to the plants, and watch for any that didn’t survive the transplant. There are still several healthy tomato, eggplant, and pepper plants in the seedling room waiting for their chance to shine if one of their colleagues can’t hack it outdoors!