Mar32012

EarthTainer Update

EarthTainer Tomatoes

So we’re two weeks in with our EarthTainer tomatoes, and they seem to be doing really well. Each plant has grown a couple of inches and they’re spreading out a bit more, and there are bunches of tiny new leaves.

The plant on the left is Sweet 100’s. We only got about a dozen or so the last time we planted and I hope we get a lot more this way. The site says they’ll keep producing right up until frost (which we don’t really get here), but even a few months’ worth would be amazing.

The plant on the right is Beefsteak. This is our first try with those and I’m really hoping they work.

As soon as they hit a foot tall or so we’ll have to get the cages up around them.

Not having to go out and water them every day is still taking a little getting used to. Right now they’re only needing about 1/2 a gallon of water every four days or so, but that will change once we heat up (that’s what the white pipe is for, by the way. You pour the water into that and it goes directly down to the water chamber).

I think within the next month we’ll be starting at least two more. We’ve talked about what else we want to plant, and most of them will need to go in within the next few weeks. I want to do some zucchini and sugar snap peas, and we both want jalapenos and bell peppers. Honestly, I’d love to try corn as well but I can’t get over how funny that would look on the patio.

Feb222012

EarthTainer Container Gardening

EarthTainer Container Gardening

Three years ago we set up a little container garden in our front patio area (it’s enclosed and gated, as you can see here, so it’s not as weird as it sounds).

We planted tomatoes and several different peppers, and though we were able to harvest a few tomatoes, the majority of the project failed as soon as the infamous Las Vegas heat hit the valley in mid-June.

We’ve wanted to try again and have casually researched different methods since the last attempt, and this past fall we started prepping the patio area again. Since it was the end of the season, we were able to get a good deal on a solar shade that Mike installed above the courtyard. It will still let plenty of sunlight through, but not enough that it’s going to bake whatever we’re trying to grow (and it will also cut down on the amount of heat coming in through the hundreds of windows that for some reason circle the courtyard). Read More