Silvermoon Homestead: October 2012

So most of my plants haven't even fruited yet and I'm already making plans on what I'll be doing after they're done.. For one, I'm not too please with my 'tumbling' tom tomatoes.. They don't seem to be tumbling and are starting to grow further up the wall above the window.. It looks like it might have some flower buds starting at the top, but that's almost above the frame of the window so they're getting very little light.. If they need light to set bloom, I'm not sure if I'll get any fruit from it this way.. I'm going to have to crochet a chain to lower the pot a bit to bring the top of the plant back into the light..

I think next time I'll grow a compact variety call Sweet 'N Neat.. It's a hybrid variety but it should work in these pots a lot better since it's supposed to stay very compact and produces lots of tomatoes.. Even though it's a hybrid variety, I'm still going to save some seeds and see if I can get a couple of plants to grow true or close to the parent..

I'm also disappointed with my lettuce.. It's a variety called Black Seeded Simpson.. I know that lettuce isn't really supposed to be sweet, but this lettuce was just bitter tasting from the very beginning.. I'm growing some inside in a window sill and some outside in a small container.. Both are bitter.. Yes, I could put some salad dressing on it and see if that helps.. But I don't really like a lot of salad dressing and I also enjoy just being able to walk by and just pinch off a leaf to munch on.. I've tasted raw dandelion greens too which are definitely bitter no matter what.. Most people that eat dandelion greens cook them.. I don't know.. Maybe I did something wrong or they just didn't like my soil.. I'm not saying it's a bad lettuce.. Could turn out much better for somebody else.. But it just didn't work out for me..

Something I am not disappointed in (and I will be replacing the lettuce with) are my little chard plants.. I've pinched off a couple of those leaves and they're quite tasty right off the plant.. They are still fairly small so that might be part of it.. But in the next week here I'm going to plant some seeds in better soil (have the others in pure coconut coir right now) and give them containers that are a little bigger.. Maybe they'll grow faster for me and I'll have enough to harvest for a side dish for dinner..

But yet again, I've got something else that's been a disappointment.. My snow peas.. They grew SO well at first.. But now that they've started to flower, there aren't many flowers and even then the pods are really small.. I like to eat the pods before the peas even really start to form.. But I think these I'm just going to let them finish what they're doing and then toss them in the worm bin.. I might save seeds from them, I might not.. I think the problem was the fact that they might need a lot more light to grow better and set fruit.. That pot has goat and rabbit manure in it so I know most of the nutrients are covered.. Might be some nutrients that the peas need that isn't in the soil in that container.. I don't know.. I'm still learning.. But I've been watering them just as much as the tomatoes (same containers, same goat and rabbit manure) and the tomatoes are growing fine.. Too much as a matter of fact, but we already went over that..

I just had a thought.. The snow pea plants grew well (a result of nitrogen from the manure) but with the flowers and the fruiting, that's usually what you need potassium for.. Or is it phosphorus? I can't remember.. It's one of those P's.. I'll have to look it up.. But if that's the case, I hope my tomatoes flower and fruit ok.. Yeah, I'll definitely have to look that up and see what I can add to improve my results.. Either way, don't think I'll be growing peas indoors once these are done.. I'll wait until I have a yard to grow them in..

So my zucchini has gotten bigger than I expected.. It's tumbling better than the tumbling tom tomatoes.. The roots have grown all the way down to the water reservoir.. They are growing great, they're just growing bigger than I think these one liter bottles can handle.. I think next time I'll grow them in the one gallon crocheted hanging containers.. That way the roots will have plenty of room and they'll have room to hang over the side.. Even though they've had male flowers (pretty tasty too), they haven't begun any female flowers yet.. But when they do, I'm not really sure how I'm going to handle the weight of those growing in these one liter bottles.. I'm afraid the weight might pull over the bottle if I don't support the fruits.. But I'm not quite sure how I'm going to support the fruits in a window sill.. Guess I should have thought about that before I started a window garden, eh? = )

Anyway, that's it for now.. I'm sure as this adventure advances, I'll learn more pros and cons and make some changes to help improve the experience.. For now, see ya later and have fun..