Author: Sarah

Container Gardening Finds: Two Types of Planters
Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

Container Gardening Finds: Two Types of Planters

Sarah

Our move has been an odd one in many ways, but my ability to shop in person has been a huge one. I find myself running the mile numbers constantly. It used to take us 30 miles to get to the tiniest Walmart, that rarely had anything in stock, on the island. (And that Walmart has deep history in how an entire town gets crippled by size restrictions in an attempt to keep out Walmart back in the mid-90’s). So rarely did I shop there, because not only was it a very long drive up a 50 mile long island, there wasn’t much to look at. If I wanted to go to a large Walmart, it was a very long drive.

But now I live within 8 and 13 miles to two Walmart stores, one of which is a massive Super Center on the side of Hwy 81 in West Virginia.

And with showing up here with only a small amount of my gardening equipment, I used my mason jar selling fund to buy new items for my container garden this year. For certain things, I will always go for the lower cost version if I can – and Walmart is more affordable than The Home Depot is. It always shocls me how much some stores think you should pay for a few bits of plastic….

Up first:

I have bought so many of these plastic “whisky barrel” pots. They are huge and lightweight. I have used them in the past years on Whidbey, and they usually hold up for years. Even if they eventually crack, they still work fine. I actually left behind many that were tucked in around our gardens.

They are the Better Homes and Gardens Whisky Barrel pots, in the 20″ size (they are 13″ deep). At under $16 each, they are an affordable option. They slide easily, even when full, across patios.

They are big enough to grow blueberry plants in for years:

As you can see the Whidbey Red Garlic I brought with me is coming up quickly.

Just punch the two spots on the bottom, on each container, with a flat blade screwdriver and you are ready to fill. They take about 1.5 cubic feet of soil, I recommend using a lightened soil, such as potting mix, versus a heavier raised bed soil (which if you use, just lighten with coconut coir/peat moss and perlite).

The Next Find:

I saw the City Picker’s Trellis Towers on a shopping trip, and bought the two they had.

I paid under $24 for each of them. I ran the numbers in my mind and realized that for a pot and a trellis, I was coming out ahead.

But also, this trellis I could break down if I got to move up plants – something you cannot do easily using a metal tomato trellis.

It only took a few minutes to assemble both of them. You get two options on what to show, I went for the faux wood look, there is a wicker look on the backside. I would suggest that you fill the pot and plant first, then assemble the trellis, or you will be lowering your plant through the top like I did….

I used lightened raised bed soil and each one hols about half a cubic foot of soil/plant.

I left the wheels off, but it’s also very windy here, so I didn’t need my plants running away on me. These come with excellent drainage on the bottom, so these are outdoor only.

~Sarah

FTC Disclaimer: This post contains affilate links.

Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge
Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge

Sarah

I saw the 2025 Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge in winter and signed up for it before we moved (Since I had the local address to use!).

I love free seeds, the challenge of growing, and the chance to show off (I am pretty competitive with gardening). Mary’s Heirloom Seeds provided the seeds this year.

I received my seeds in the mail, even though I signed up to pick them up in person at the local library. They had a few issues with the distribution this year. Nothing huge, but some participants never received their cards in the mail (I didn’t and was about to pick them up in person when I found them in my mailbox). But there were no issues; I had my seeds in hand, so it was time to plant.

So what is it?

The Throwdown is a statewide competition that aims to get West Virginians to move more, grow their own food, and crush hunger in our state. Participants complete challenges to earn points for their counties. Some challenges are simple, like donating vegetables to a food pantry. Others are more involved, like organizing a seed library or building a Grow This-themed float for a local parade. The competition is supported by grant funds for these types of educational programs. 

This is something that hits me deep in my love of growing food. Sharing knowledge and helping others become more self-sufficient builds resilient communities. When people have a skill set, they become more confident in life.

It has been freezing the past few days (it got down to 27 one night), so I used my pop-greenhouse to start the seeds.

I planted about half the Mesclun Lettuce seed in 4″ pots.

The Chives I did two pots worth (plenty of chives!)

The Pickling Cucumbers had fewer seeds, so I started all the seeds.

I’ll have enough seed for the lettuce for a late summer start to have early fall lettuce.

I will transplant them into my container garden once they have sprouted. But for now, they will stay warmer in the shelter and exposed to natural light. As I mentioned, I gave up most artificial lighting years ago, as I have long felt that plants are stronger when grown under natural light (the sun).

So here is to a successful sprouting – and updates as the growing season continues.

~Sarah

First Sign Of Spring
Gardening

First Sign Of Spring

Sarah

There is something about the end of February as the first green stalks come up from flower bulbs in the Pacific Northwest.

Sometime in early March, the first flowers open, and for the next month, the bulbs continue until the tulips end it.

The wind might be blowing, the rain dumping, but spring is coming.

~Sarah

The New Kitchen Garden
Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

The New Kitchen Garden

Sarah

Big news! We are moving soon—across the country. In my work on the new place, I found I couldn’t pass up on at least starting an easy garden. My hands must be in the soil! So while doing work on the new place, I went shopping and got some soil, a few plants, and a couple pots (though I found some on the land that I cleaned up).

In saying goodbye to the homestead on the island and looking forward to the new place we are moving to, I learned one extensive lesson in this last homestead:

It’s OK to take the first year mostly off, learn the land, and go from there.

I nearly burned myself out on the island in the summer of 2018. After leaving behind a well-crafted urban farm, I desperately wanted an established garden. I spent the entire spring and fall frantically trying to get beds in the ground and spending too much money on temporary deer fences.

It’s easy to forget that making that urban farm, like our homestead on the island, took years of hard work.

I cannot forget that I also worked on our homestead for 7 years. It takes time!

If there is one thing that isn’t hard, it is to start a kitchen garden.

It’s a low investment. Our new place has a deck off the living room, baking in the sun. Under it is a brick patio where pots can be put out.

Turning land, building beds, or putting up wildlife fences are unnecessary until we are settled in. Just fill pots, grow bags, plant items, enjoy herbs, and produce them in the first summer and fall. The investment is in a few bags of soil and the containers.

It’s still awhile till spring, so I planted things had been in the cold already.

Two grapes, 2 blueberries and bare root strawberries. I also planted a bulb of garlic I brought with us, to restart my hardneck garlic.

I will move the grapes later, into the ground, but I wanted them to get going, to waken up.

I found an old wheelbarrow, all rusty and unusable. By it, I found broken pottery, so I put them together and made a deep planter to add. Use what you have first before spending money. I planted garlic in it. Again, nothing says I will leave it in there, but it can sit for a few weeks until I have time to build the first beds. The garlic will sprout, and start growing for us.

As spring happens, I will add a lot more on the patio. Lettice, bush peas, and so on. Herb plants. A seat or two, to invite one to hang out and enjoy the views. It will be easy to maintain, and quick to walk out to, to take care of.

~Sarah

Seeds To Grow: Mammoth Sunflowers
Gardening · Homesteading

Seeds To Grow: Mammoth Sunflowers

Sarah

Ending this Sunday, the 23rd of February 2025, is the Sow Right Seeds sale! 25% off 10 packets (or more) and free shipping over $25. Use code for 10% off.

Mammoth Sunflowers are a great addition to most gardens, but you must plan for them. They take a lot of room, but if put against a fence, a wall, or at the far end of the gardens, they will fit in.

Plan for 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight as the sunflowers track the light and change their orientation. This is something cool to point out to children, and it’s a great learning lesson in homeschooling.

They only need uncompacted soil, a little fertilizer, and lots of water. Be sure to turn the soil well before planting. Once grown, the stalks can often be as thick as a woman’s wrist, so they have deep root systems. It is time well spent rocking the land.

Sometimes, they will require staking to hold them up as they finish their growing cycle. (I have found over the years that if not grown in densely planted sections, they can be affected by late summer storms if you have winds where you grow.) You can tie them to fences with jute twine. Do this in multiple sections, to hold it straight up, especially near the head. But leave the twine a bit loose so it doesn’t cut into the stalk.

The Mammoth Sunflowers come in fun-to-grow varieties, such as grey-striped and Russia. Other seed companies will just list them as Mammoth, such as Sow Right Seeds does.

While the seed packets will tell you to direct snow, I highly encourage you to start a number in pots. I have found two issues with direct seeding – birds and squirrels eating or moving the seeds and slugs/squirrels eating the seedlings. So I do both. I seed a row about 3 feet apart; then I start the same amount in pots. I find these do best in the greenhouse, not because of heat, but to keep the squirrels out of the pots.

I plant these between the direct-sown seedlings that make it.

And then there are the random sown ones. We found that chickens love sunflower seeds. I would toss them seeds often; some would wander off and get buried in their scratching. These grew well in the land the chickens would cross: free fertilizer and their little rototillers turning the soil.

There is one thing to watch: what you plant nearby. Sunflower seeds can stop or slow down the growth of other plants, such as tomatoes and lettuce. However, plants like peppers, squash, corn, and beans grow well near them.

Pollinators love sunflowers. Native and honey bees will cover them at the hottest time of the day.

The plants are fun to watch grow tall, over the summer. They can take up to 100 days to fully mature, so are a whole summer project. They often reach 12 feet tall, and can exceed that.

For the past few years, I’ve grown sunflower seeds for our chicken flock. Once the heads were mature and the seeds ripe, I’d pull them out and give them to the girls. They would clean a head quickly. Chickens LOVE sunflower seeds.

I’d save some for later use and some for seed swaps. Homegrown is the best if you like eating them.

Just watch for annoying Instagram influencers trying to take photos in your garden…..they cannot resist a field of blooms as the sun sets!

~Sarah