Tag: Gardening

Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge – Update 1
Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge – Update 1

Sarah

Two weeks have passed since I planted our seeds for the Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge in Shenandoah Junction, WV. (First post was on April 11th)

And so much has happened in my container garden out back! The warmth came, spring kicked on, and everything is popping.

Cucumbers starting up.

Cucumber starts potted up in a 5 gallon grow bag (next to bush peas). We shall see how they grow this year – a grow bag isn’t the most ideal, but we can do it.

Mesclun Lettuce.

I moved about half outside so far. It will grow quickly in the coming weeks, and be ready to harvest.

Chives starting to sprout.

Potted up. Chives, like many herbs, start slow and tiny, but around the Summer Solstice in June get big. Chives I look at as a two year project. The first year is the getting there. The second year is when they are a ready to go plant, that will grow on its own.

Now it’s time for nature to keep everything growing. It’s hitting the 80s today, and was mid 70s for days – the nights cool off, but are still in the high 50s to mid 60s.

Yes, I am toying with the last frost date here is April 30th (and we shall see in the coming years how real that is) – but with it being an entire container garden this year, if there is a drop at night, and none have been predicted for the next week that are worrisome – I can pick up all the grow bags and haul them into the greenhouse and into the basement, if needed.

~Sarah

Filling Up The Greenhouse
Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

Filling Up The Greenhouse

Sarah

A new grow zone comes with adjusting my internal clock. April 15th was the last freeze day at our previous place. Here, in the Shenandoah Valley, in West Virginia, it is closer to mid May. There will be plenty of hot days, but also cold nights that sneak in and kill everything.

Last week there was multiple days of night time freezes, and it got down to at least 27* at our place. Last night it dipped to 37*. Chilly.

The other day I stopped into the local Home Depot and saw this.

Every plant dead. They knew a freeze was going to happen, yet they sent all these new plants right to their death. Crushing in so many ways to see that. All that single use plastic would be tossed into their dumpsters – if they even got around to tossing the plants. They had been dead for days. It was ROWS of plants left to die. Anything that was an edible or herb plant.

It’s the sheer waste that gets to me.

I was out running errands and saw a local nursery and pulled in. Potomac Farms Nursery, which is located on said road (also known as North Alt 45), just outside of Shepherdstown, WV. They don’t have a social media presence or even a website, so I had wondered if they were even in business.

So old school it’s charming as all get out…

Walk into warmth, as soon as you step in.

It’s a ton of greenhouses that then you can go outside, to even more greenhouse.

Well taken care of plants – and the prices are fair. Unlike big box stores.

In the end, I brought home a nice haul.

So pretty, but not yet.

I was sighing over how pretty this flower was!

I got home, with high winds hitting me, and got working. I tucked everything into the greenhouse to protect them.

I had picked up strawberries, which had been bare root starts, that were coming alive in soil. Easy to plant up. I got 2 varieties.

There’s something very satisfying about planting up lettuce and kale starts. These heavy grow bags are being used as wind anchors in the pop ip greenhouse, but they can also grow me lunch.

I picked up three tomato plants, and moved them up from 4″ pots to gallon pots. They can get tall for the next few weeks, before they get a final pot up into a 5 gallon bucket each.

I also picked up a couple pepper plants, but had to go shopping to find more small pots. I gave away 100’s of pots before we moved – and it so bugs me to have to acquire new ones, but it’s OK, it’s part of building a new garden.

And yesterday I got them potted up – all nice and snug – as we had another day of high winds outside.

But last of all, I noticed most of the seeds I planted last week are sprouting!

I may not have a real greenhouse right now (first time in 9 or so years) but I am good at making what I have work well.

~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

Starting A Container Garden
Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

Starting A Container Garden

Kirk Kirkconnell

It’s been just over a week since I arrived in West Virginia.  The younger two boys, the cat, and I flew out at the end of March. Kirk, the oldest son and the dogs, drove across the country.

In early March, Kirk and I had driven across the US and I had planted a couple things before we flew back. Everything made it except for the strawberry 🍓 plants. They didn’t get enough rain, as they were just bit too far back. But that wasn’t a huge loss financially. I’ll get my alpine strawberry seeds going this week.

I love 5 gallon buckets for pepper plants 🫑, this frame I found at Home Depot slightly classed it up. I decided to treat myself.

We were here a few days when the first drop of shipped items showed up, from the U-Haul boxes:

We had sent thru 10 of these, and a lot of my garden gear was in them.
With time to spare, I started building on the lower patio.
I had ordered another pop-up greenhouse so I could start seeds quickly.
Fully built and weighted down, with it being the second one Alistaire has built, it went up fast.
Bricks, blocks, or pavers hold down the cover to protect from the wind. It’s even windier here in WV than it was on Whidbey Island.
I set up a potting area so I could make soil and get going on filling pots.

The cheapest potting trays are cement mixing trays. I found 2 sizes locally at Home Depot. It gives me one for soaking coconut coir, which is handy. The work table I had shipped through, though I almost didn’t. I am glad I did!

Clancy Potatoes 🥔 and Hedou Bok Choy seeds started today.
The last frost date is later than I am used to, so it has bought me time to seed and plant. I am now in grow zone 7a, where as I used to be in grow zone 8b
Yukon Gold and Blue potatoes 🥔 that I bought in early March, I got into pots this past week. They were definitely ready to be planted!
With my garden gear there, I started filling my grow bags. This morning, I seeded Tom Thumb dwarf green peas 🫛 outside. They are cold hardy.

I have in the container garden so far:

2 kinds of potatoes, 2 blueberries, 2 grapes, 4 containers garlic, and 2 of peas. In the greenhouse, more has and will be seeded. The weather predicts freezing temperatures a couple of nights this week, so I stay patient. Soon, it’ll be lettuce and pea harvesting time, and then to plant tomatoes 🍅 and peppers outside.

There’s nothing wrong with extensive container gardening. It lets one grow, but not have to build the infrastructure. You can work it around everything else that is crushing you and not feel overwhelmed by it. Meanwhile, as we settle in, I have taken a few moments to walk our land and to think where the permanent gardens will go in.

– Sarah