Feeling Green

I think it’s time for a green update!

In the garden, the corn is doing very well in its self-contained watering box. It’s nearly six feet tall (from the ground, including the box).

I think all of the corn plants have 2 ears of corn developing, so I should get a couple of dozen ears of corn.Regardless of how the corn turns out, I’m not sure if I’ll do corn again next year. There is so much wonderful fresh local corn available everywhere, that it seems kind of a waste of my small space. I would probably be better off growing peppers or eggplants – they produce longer, and they’re much more expensive to buy. But we’ll see.

One drawback to this system is that it really uses a lot of water. During the really hot days (around 100), I was adding about 2 gallons of water to the bin every day. Of course, it’s a lot of plants packed into a small area, so certainly it will need a lot of water, but still it uses more than if they were planted in the ground.

Originally I had thought that this might be a way for me to grow melons or squash, since I don’t really have room for them otherwise. But those would probably require even more water, so I’m not sure that would be a great idea. But maybe if I only put one or two plants in the box it would be OK.

The tomato-on-a-stick has now become about 5′ tall, and is a couple of inches higher than the end of the stake. I was thinking maybe I should get taller stakes for next year, but I think if they were any taller, they’d be too unstable. So far it’s working out well. Of course, there’s much less production when tomatoes are pruned to a single stem, but the tomatoes that are developing are looking pretty good.

How about if I finish up with some fibery green? Yes, it’s really that bright. Am I crazy?

I’m planning to make Becky (scroll down) from Debbie Bliss Summer Essentials. If nothing else, I can go out in the garden and pretend I’m a giant preying mantis.