Planters to the Rescue!

 

My garden isn't ready yet, but I have planters! I can plant things! 

Big gardening day!  I planted many things in planters: Carola and German Butterball potatoes in grow bags, gladiola bulbs in a large pot, and Super Sugar Snap peas, Catalina Baby spinach, and two kinds of baby bok choi (Purple Lady and Green Jewel) in the long white planters.  

I scattered the bok choi on the surface of the soil, and then lightly sprinkled soil to cover it.  I read an article on seed germination recently that said seed depth is critical, as a small seed planted too deep can use all its energy without breaking out of the surface.  I think that’s why so few of my bok choi came up in California, I planted them in holes poked with a chopstick that were probably a half inch deep.

I hope we can start working on the raised bed garden soon, but for now I feel good that at least I have planted some spring greens.

This is the first time I've grown potatoes, and the first time I've used grow bags.  I rolled down the edges to make a shallower pot so I can hill up the potatoes as they grow by rolling up the edges and adding soil or straw.  I've seen videos on YouTube from both Ben at GrowVeg and Kevin at Epic Gardening, so I think (haha?) that I know what I'm doing.  I planted an extra German Butterball potato in one of the pots, crowding them a little, because supposedly you get a bigger crop of smaller potatoes.  I prefer cooking with little potatoes that I can just wash and halve or quarter.  

I had to leave my gorgeous pink gladiolas in California, since I didn't want to risk bringing agricultural pests with them, and they had already started to sprout in December.  I bought a large pink and purple assortment at Jerry's Hardware, and planted them in my big planter.  This is not a long-term planting-- they are much too crowded.  I will take them in next winter and then replant them in the spring, either in multiple pots, or in the ground.   The bulbs are about the size of a half ping pong ball.  My 15+ years old ones in California were as big as small onions, and kept throwing pups that would grow large too.  I hope to have many years of beauty from these new gladiolas.