In Nebraska, we start container gardens and regular gardens in April or May, and start seedlings indoors as early as February. This year I wasn’t able to do any seedlings because of the move. In Arkansas, everything has been picked over by June. I couldn’t find a tomato tree for under $14!

The first week I just started some seedlings.  Even though the deck is on the north side of the building, it gets sun all day long.

The second week it finally rained, and I bought a tomato plant. I planted some okra, and it grew a half inch after the rain.

The third week we cheated and bought some bigger plants to catch up.


My best container gardening find has been cheap second-hand Styrofoam coolers. Most large planters are $4, and even more for attractive ones. I like the look of the Styrofoam, it is light, I’m saving it from the landfill. Maybe I’ll paint it someday, I like how spray paint dissolves the outer coating of Styrofoam.  Note the drainage holes at the bottom of the cooler.  There are beets in this planter, maybe I’ll put some carrots in the other one.




We have a two-story set of stairs with two landings appropriate for plants, however the owners, Covington Properties, were unable to paint the stairs before we got in. Right now I only have one plant out there in case they decide to paint the stairs next week.  We’re hoping to put more out there soon.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 2:41 pm and is filed under gardening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.