Sweet Potatoes Will Indeed Grow in Containers

It’s been months since I posted an Independence Days update.  And this would be a very long post if I tried to detail everything that we’ve accomplished in that time.  Instead I’m going to tell you about how our sweet potato experiment turned out.

Back in June, when I bought home my four little sweet potatoes slips I wasn’t at all sure if we’d have any success growing them in containers.  We did lose two of the plants for reasons unknown but the two survivors grew well.  They didn’t flower much… not like regular potatoes.  We knew that we had at least one sweet potato because we could see it peeking up out of the soil, so we left them in the containers as long as possible.

Then on the last Sunday in October, the weather service broadcast a frost warning.  It was time to empty the containers and see what we had.  One of the great things about growing sweet potatoes in containers is that to harvest, all you do is dump the container upside down onto a tarp like this:

That smaller container only had one fair size potato and a couple of small ones.  We were, however,  pleasantly surprized when we turned over the second, larger container and lifted it off.

And here they are all laid out to dry in the sun for a bit.

Not a huge harvest.  Still there was more than enough for a side dish for Thanksgiving and some left for Christmas as well.

We are counting this experiment as a success and will definitely be planting sweet potatoes in containers again next year.

Note:  For Sharon Astyk’s latest Independence Days post: Independence Days… As the Snow Falls.  Make sure to check the comments section for even more updates.

Independence Days Challenge – Aug 10th to Aug 16th

For Sharon Astyk’s latest post… Independence Days Update: Summertime and the Living is… Sweaty.  Make sure to check the comments section for even more updates.

1.  Plant something: I haven’t been able to decide exactly where would be the best place to build my herb garden, so the herbs I bought a couple of weekends ago got transplanted into hanging planters and once they’ve had a chance to adjust for a few days, I’ll hang them from the old gazebo frame we’ve converted to a clothesline.

Over the past week, something got to eating the pac choi and it was looking pretty awful, so we pulled that out, added some compost to the bed and planted beets and collards.  We’re still having trouble with one of the neighbour’s cats using our gardens as a litter box, so we recovered the bed with garden cloth and we’ll cut slits in the cloth once the beets and collards are up.  There’s enough room in that bed to add swiss chard, which I’m going to experiment with starting inside this coming week.

Bought petunias that had been discounted and repotted them into hanging planters.  They look a little scraggly right now, but in a few days they should perk up and look nice.  And while they’re not food… they do attract pollinators.

I also divided one of the houseplants that had outgrown its pot.  That gave me one plant to bring back into the house and three to trade or sell.

2.  Harvest something: Tomatoes from the Lincoln tomatoes.  I’m really impressed with the Lincolns and hope to be able to save seed from them for next year.  We just have to figure out some kind of temporary covering to keep the birds out.  And then over the winter, maybe we can work out a better solution.

Picked up the veggies from our CSA.

3.  Preserve something: No

We have discovered that none of us really care for eggplant, so this past Thursday, I traded eggplants for tomatoes from the swap box when we picked up our CSA veggies.   With a few of the tomatoes from our square foot garden that the birds haven’t gotten, I may have just enough tomatoes now to make a small batch of salsa.

4.  Reduce waste: Dave made our regular trip to drop off the recycling.   Conserved water by catching water in pails while waiting for the hot water to arrive.  Used reusable bags when shopping.

All veggie matter got composted.

5.  Preparation and Storage: Our local fabric store had 50% off on all notions, so I stocked up on cheese cloth, sewing machine needles and thread.

Bought several lbs of various types of dried beans.  Wheat and oat bran.   And my order of clearjel arrived.  I should now have lots enough to making pie fillings and pressure can soups this fall.

Bought four cases of jars; on sale combined with coupons they were a pretty good price.   Also bought some replacement lids since those were on sale too.

With the three storms brewing in the Atlantic and Gulf, Dave decided it was time to refresh my memory and teach our son how to start the camp stove.  We’re not so far inland that a big storm couldn’t knock out power, so this was a good time to do this.

6.  Build Community Food Systems: I mentioned in a previous update that I had volunteered to teach a new friend to can and we’re getting together this week to can some pears she picked from her father’s trees.

Bought eggs from our egg lady and raw milk from a local farm.

7.  Eat the Food: I cook most of our meals from scratch, so the food definitely gets eaten.   This week we ate a lot of stir fry type dishes in an effort to use up all the little bits of leftover veggies from the CSA.

Independence Days Update – Jul 20th to Aug 2nd

It seems like the only thing I have the time or inclination to post lately are these Independence Days updates.   And even then, this update is for the past two weeks, since I didn’t get around to posting last week.

For Sharon Astyk’s latest post… Independence Days Update: A Day On, A Day Off.  Make sure to check the comments section for even more updates.

1.  Plant something: Potted up seven more strawberry shoots.

Purchased some small herb plants at the farmers’ market and will get those into larger pots this week.

2.  Harvest something: Nothing from the garden.

Picked up the fruit and veggies from our CSA.  Bought Georgia peaches from farmers’ market

3.  Preserve something: Corn relish, canned chicken breasts, canned peaches

4.  Reduce waste: Dave made our regular trip to drop off the recycling.

I’ve forgotten to mention this in previous posts, but we continue to use reusable bags for any shopping we do whether its at the grocery store or the farmers’ market.

Used water from canning to water plants.   We also save the water when we’re waiting for the hot water to come when we shower or fill the sink for dishes and use that to water plants as well.

All veggie matter got composted.

We purchased a new set of sheets for our bed, since the fitted sheet had worn so thin it kept tearing and repairing the tears was no longer lasting more than a day.  So I’m cutting the good parts of the old fitted sheet into several 17″ squares and after hemming, they’ll make really nice, soft hankies.   The top sheet and pillowcases are now stored with the rest of the extra linens.

5.  Preparation and Storage: Purchased good quality spade.

Found two old matching oil lamps at a farmers’ market/flea market… for lighting should power go out.  They need a good cleaning, but they are good sturdy glass.

Bought more canning jars and extra lids.

Stopped off a Costco on way back from a farmers’ market on Saturday and picked up sugar, olive oil, coffee and dried cranberries.

6.  Build Community Food Systems: Supported local farmers’ markets.

I put up an ad on Freecycle asking for canning jars and the lady who responded offered to drop off some jars she’d been given.  We got to talking and she mentioned that she’d like to learn to can, so I offered to teach her.  We’re going to be getting together the next time I get enough from the farmers’ market to can something.  And then again in the fall, once it cools off, we’ll get together again so I can show her how to use the pressure canner for canning soups and stews, etc.

7.  Eat the Food: I cook most of our meals from scratch, so the food definitely gets eaten.  This is some of what I made over the last two weeks:

Potato puffs from lefover mashed potatoes and fried chicken tenders (I cut these off of the chicken breasts before I canned them.)

Pasta with Pesto.  I’d never made pesto before, but we’ve got a basil plant that was getting tall and starting to flower and needed to be cut back more than just the little handfuls that I have been taking, so I decided to give it a try.  And the pesto tasted great, what I didn’t like was the after taste that last all evening long.  Oh well, not all culinary experiments work out.

I had a bit of corn relish left after filling jars.  That got put in a bowl in the fridge and I’ve been using it in toasted cheddar cheese sandwiches.

Yellow beans from our CSA as a side dish one night.

For snacks, we ate the melons from our CSA.  They were so sweet and clean tasting.  Melons bought at the grocery store simply can’t compare.

Used the sauerkraut that didn’t get canned to top off hot dogs and hamburgers.

Fried up zucchini with onions (both from CSA) as a side dish.

Made Peach Kuchen with the peaches that were too bruised to can and the cream I skimmed from our raw milk.

There was more, of course, that I’m not remembering right now.  I guess that’s what happens when you wait two weeks to do an update.

Independence Days Challenge – Update Jul 13th to Jul 19th

For Sharon Astyk’s latest post… Independence Days Update: Taking Credit Where None is Due. Make sure to check the comments section for even more updates.

1.  Plant something: Potted up another little strawberry shoot.  I noticed there are a couple more almost big enough to cut and pot… probably this week sometime.  At this rate, I may just have a full 4′X4′ strawberry patch by fall.

2.  Harvest something: Basil

Picked up the fruit and veggies from our CSA.

3.  Preserve something: Last Monday, we canned whole kernel corn and froze corn on the cob.

Then on Sunday, we canned the sauerkraut that we started three weekends ago.  It turned out great, if I do say so myself.

4.  Reduce waste: Dave made our regular trip to drop off the recycling.

Used water from canning to water plants.   We also save the water when we’re waiting for the hot water to come when we shower or fill the sink for dishes and use that to water plants as well.

All veggie matter got composted.

5.  Preparation and Storage: We collected some fire wood for using in our fire pit.  Last week, along different streets in town, people were putting out their downed tree branches for collection.  It was a great opportunity, so we drove along and collected the larger pieces (plus some smaller ones), brought them home and then Dave sawed and split them.  When our neighbour saw what he was doing, he offered to pick up some more firewood for us the next time he makes a trip out to his in-laws.  They had a bunch of firewood in their garage and decided they didn’t want it anymore, so they dumped it way in the back of their property and told our neighbour he could have whatever he wanted of it.

6.  Build Community Food Systems: Bought eggs from local farmer where we usually get our eggs.  They should have more produce ready for sale soon.

Since we were canning sauerkraut and collecting firewood this weekend, I didn’t get anything at the farmers’ market this week.

7.  Eat the Food: I cook most of our meals from scratch, so the food definitely gets eaten.  This is some of what I made over the last week:

We’re getting an abundance of onions from our CSA so I used several of those to make two large Zwiebel Kuchen.

Grilled pork chops and scalloped potatoes and corn of the cob (from CSA)

Last night we had sausages and sauerkraut (saved some out from the sauerkraut we canned), mashed potatoes and yellow beans (from CSA)

I’m adding one more subject this week…

8.  Learn something new:  Thanks to a post by Anais from Little Homestead in the City and her directing us to a post at Market Manila called Ubad/The Core of a Banana Stock, I now know that we can eat the core of the banana trees we planted in the back yard the first spring we lived here.

I missed having banana trees, so I took the chance and planted some outside our bedroom window that faces south. We use the leaves to wrap pork roasts to make kalua pork each fall.   They freeze off each winter, but new babies grow back each spring.

And then thanks to one of the comments in the comment thread, I now know that I might just be able to save at least a couple of the banana trees so that they will fruit for us.

Mark said:

” I’m in Dallas and I enjoy the tasty, free from pesticide fruit from my bananas. Before the first frost in late November or so, just cut the top of the stem off, leaving 5 or 6 feet of trunk on the banana. I then make an enclosure from plywood around the trunk and fill the enclosure with grass clippings. This protects the stem from freezing and next year you will have bananas.”

We’ll be giving that a try later this fall and wait impatiently for spring to see if they survive and set fruit.   It would be great to pick bananas right from the tree again.

Independence Days Challenge – Update for Jun 30 to Jul 12th

I missed posting last week’s update so this will for the past two weeks.

For Sharon Astyk’s latest post… Independence Days Update: If Summer Never Comes. Make sure to check the comments section for even more updates.

1.  Plant something: Planted seven tomato plants that I bought at a local farmers’ market.

When we lived on our acreage in Alberta, I planted dozens of tomatoes and had great crops each year.  But here in Georiga I haven’t been so lucky.  Last year, I lost my tomatoes to worms and Mockingbirds, to blossom end rot and then to blight.   I wasn’t even going to plant tomatoes this year but the old couple selling the tomato plants was so sweet and encouraging that I decided to go ahead and try again.   I bought 4 Lincoln and 3 Gurny Girl.

To try to combat the blossom end rot, I’ve placed crushed egg shells around the base of each plant.  And I’ll have to be watching carefully for any worms and get them picked off each day, several times a day.  Then once they start to fruit we’ll have to  try to construct some sort of covering to keep the birds out.   As for the blight, I’ve changed to different planting spots and also changed my watering method.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and hope they don’t get it this year.

We’ve also had to cover the gardens with garden fabric (cutting out holes for the plants) in order to keep one of the local cats from using them as a litter box.  It only seems to be the one cat and I’ve tried spraying him with water and sprinkling cayenne pepper on the gardens but those only work for a short time before he’s back.  So far the fabric has kept him out, though I did have to go out and add some more to small patches that we’d left thinking they were too small for him to bother with.  Turns out we were wrong.

I also should note that I lost two of the sweet potato slips that I planted.  I’m not sure why they died.  The other two slips are growing well and climbing up their trellises in their containers.

And I potted up two little strawberry cuttings.   In the new edition of Square Foot Gardening, he doesn’t recommend letting the strawberry shoots take root because they draw too much energy from the parent plant, but I figured if I cut those off and root them in their own little pots and then transplant them once they get well rooted, I can still grow more strawberries plants without paying for new ones.

2.  Harvest something: Several basil branches to use in recipes.

On Thursdays we picked up the produce from our CSA.  Potatoes, squash, cucumbers, onions, garlic and then just last week corn was added.  I’ve been swapping the basil for more onions, since I have basil in our garden.

On Saturday, Jul 4^th, I bought  4 more large heads of cabbage and 22 lbs of tomatoes from the farmers’ market.

Then on Saturday, July 11^th, I got a really good price on tomatoes, so I came home with 75 lbs to can.

3.  Preserve something: Saturday, Jul 4th, we added more shredded cabbage to the crock of sauerkraut in an attempt to correct the batch we started the week before as was turning out way too salty.  It seems to have worked, but I think it’ll be at least two weeks, maybe three before it’s ready to be canned.  If the batches turns out as good as I think it now will, we’ll have plenty of sauerkraut for ourselves and some leftover to perhaps trade or give away.

Sunday, Jul 5^th,  we canned 9 quarts of tomatoes.

Friday, Jul 10^th blanched and froze the corn we didn’t eat from the CSA.

Then Jul 11^th after we got cleaned up from the garage sale (see below), we started canning the 75 lbs of tomatoes.  We got 7 quarts of whole tomatoes and 7 quarts of diced tomatoes canned that evening.

On Sunday, we canned the rest of the tomatoes and ended up with 23 pints of diced tomatoes and 3 quarts of tomato juice.

The juice was an after thought.  I pack my jars as full as I can get them with tomatoes so the juice overflows the jars.    Dave suggested we save that juice.   I thought I might end up with a quart to put in the fridge but when it was more than that, I decided to can it.

4.  Reduce waste: Dave made our regular trips to drop off the recycling.

Used water from canning to water plants.   We also save the water when we’re waiting for the hot water to come and use that to water plants as well.

All veggie matter got composted.

5.  Preparation and Storage: This past Saturday, we held a yard sale.  .  We didn’t make a whole lot of money but this cleared the boxes marked “for garage sale” out of the attic to give us more room to store non-perishable just as toilet paper, tissue, etc.

And in the process, we helped out a neighbour.  When they heard we were having a garage sale, they decided to have one too.  So I just included their address in our classified ad as well as on the signs we made up to direct people to the sale.  They managed to sell a few big items to help them with their debt reduction goals.

At our sale, I also sold house plants that I grew from slips.  I’ve had luck in the past selling houseplants, but this time I only sold 5.  I may see about renting a table at the farmers’ market later this summer and see if they sell better there.

6.  Build Community Food Systems: Supported local farmers through our CSA and by purchasing from the farmers’ market.

Had some fun talking with the nurses at the dermatology office about gardening.  It was great to hear that their families are all growing gardens.

7.  Eat the Food: I cook most of our meals from scratch, so the food definitely gets eaten.  This is some of what I made over the last two weeks:

Red, White and Blue potatoes (from our CSA) for supper on Jul 5^th.  I had cooked them for supper on the 4^th but everyone filled up on hot dogs and roasted marshmallows, so I sliced and fried them with onions for supper the next day.

Fried up the yellow and green squash with onions as a side dish.

We’ve been using the cucumbers from our CSA in turkey wraps.  These are so yummy.  Simply mix ½ c miracle whip with ¾ tsp curry powder.  Use that as a spread on tortillas.  Then layer sliced turkey, thinly sliced cucumbers and lettuce.  Roll up and enjoy.

I added some of the squash to my recipe for Creamy Shrimp Pasta.

Ate corn on the cob from our CSA and it was so good that I arranged to buy another 6 dozen which we picked up Monday.   More on that in next week’s update.

Independence Day Challenge – Update Week of Jun 22 -29

The following are the steps we took in the past week towards greater self-sufficiency (information on the challenge and my first Independence Day Challenge post):

1.  Plant something: This morning, I finally got the strawberries plants that I was given for Mother’s Day transplanted into the new square foot garden that hubby built last weekend and I painted during the week.

2.  Harvest something: Nothing this past week.

But on Thursday we picked up the produce from our CSA and on Saturday I bought green beans, potatoes and cabbage at the farmers’ market.

3.  Preserve something: Saturday afternoon we started a crock of sauerkraut.   It should be ready to can in 10 to 14 days.

Then Saturday evening we canned 4 pints of tomatoes (from the CSA.)

Sunday it was back to canning more french cut green beans.  Not sure if we’ve got enough to last until next season but I’m thinking the beans may be about done because I had to do a lot of picking through them to get enough to make it worthwhile canning.

4.  Reduce waste: Dave made our regular trip to drop off the recycling.

I fixed the waistband on a pair of our son’s exercise shorts.

And I’m currently working on a couple of quilts using leftover fabrics from other projects.

Used water from canning to water plants.

5.  Preparation and Storage: Dave put up two new shelves, one in the laundry room which gave us room to store our canning equipment and extra paper goods.  And the second, in the spare bedroom closet to hold some of the produce we’ve been canning.

6.  Build Community Food Systems: We found a source locally for raw milk and though it was clearly marked For Pet Consumption only, we made the sweetest butter from the cream we skimmed off the top of the jars and I’m looking forward to learning how to make cheese.   I’m also going to be making some of our old family recipes that require farm fresh milk and cream.

Also found a local farmer selling grass-fed beef.  Now we just need to find another family who is willing to do a shared purchase with us.

As mentioned above, we added a new square foot garden to the backyard.

7.  Eat the Food: I cook most of our meals from scratch, so the food definitely gets eaten.  This is some of what I made last week:

The last of the blueberries from blueberry picking were made into Blueberry Oat Bran Muffins.

Made a dish of braised turnips, leeks and squash (from CSA.)

Independence Day Challenge – Joining In

Recently I came across an interesting blog called Casaubon’s Book by Sharon Astyk.  Reading back through the archives I see that she is doing a weekly post on Mondays in which she lists what she has done during the previous week to move her family closer to food self-sufficiency, hence the title: Independence Day Challenge.  She encourages readers to join her and even though I’m starting a month and a half late, here is a list of what I’ve accomplished in the past week:

1.  Plant something:  I planted four sweet potato slips.

Our CSA had been shipped more than they needed and were giving these away.  At first, I wasn’t going to take them because I know that sweet pototoes can take over a small garden, but when I learned that they can be grown in containers with a trellis, I decided to go ahead and give that a try.

2.  Harvest something:  2 zucchinis and a handful of basil from our containers and square foot garden.  We also picked 3 gallons of blueberries from a local u-pick farm.

3.  Preserve something:  Details of what we did with the blueberries can be found here.  Also later that same day, we made and canned mustard beans from the yellow beans we received from our CSA.

Then Saturday, I bought dill, pickling cukes and green beans, (as well as potatoes and sunshine squash) from our local farmer’s market.

We made four quarts of dill pickles and canned some more pints of french cut green beans.  We have a total of 11 pints of green beans now, but if there are beans available again this week, I’ll be buying more.

4.  Reduce waste:  Dave made his weekly trip to drop off the recycling we collect during the week.

Rather than buy new lumber for an additional square foot gardening box, we bought three pieces of used lumber of varying lengths from our local HomeMart (run by Habit for Humanity.)

I added another bucket of kitchen veggie and fruit scraps and trimmings to the compost bin.

And the water used for preserving from washing fruit and veggies to water-bath canning, pressure canning and blanching all got reused to water the plants (once it cools down, of course.)

5.  Preparation and Storage:  The Gamma Lids and mylar ziplock bags I ordered arrived so we transferred the rice I’ve been getting free after coupons into one of the food grade pails we picked up for $1 each.  (One of our local WalMarts sells the buckets that their icing comes in)

6.  Build Community Food Systems:  As you can see above, we are members of a CSA and I support our local farmer’s market.  I also buy eggs and honey from local farmers.

We have two 4 X 4 square foot gardens with another in the process of being built.  And I’m experimenting with growing zucchini, mint and now, sweet potatoes in containers.

7.  Eat the Food:  I cook most of our meals from scratch, so the food definitely gets eaten.

We’ve been eating blueberries with whipped cream.

The potatoes were boiled and used for two meals.

The sunshine squash were wrapped in tinfoil with onions (from our CSA), minced garlic and butter then cooked on the bbq.

We had toasted tomato sandwiches for lunch twice on the weekend.

With supper last night, we had corn on the cob (using up last year’s before the new corn is ready to be done) and we also had some of the mustard beans made on Friday and refrigerator pickles I made the week before last.

I’d love to hear how other’s gardening and preserving is coming along,  as well as, any preparedness projects you may be working on.  Please feel free to leave a comment.

Super Mom Tip of the Day – How to Make a Garbage Can Compost Bin

We were at a garden show a couple of weeks ago and they were selling a revolving drum composter.  The price?  $200.

That’s Two Hundred Dollars!…  for what amounted to two plastic bins screwed together and mounted on a metal base to spin it on.  Sure it had an opening on either end for adding garden debris and vegetable peelings but I still can’t see how they figured that made it worth two hundred dollars.

The next day, I was in WalMart and saw bins that were very similiar in shape to those used on the compost bin at the garden show.  They were priced at $8.   Hmmm… I thought, how difficult could it be to make our own rotating compost bin?

So I came home and did an internet search.   Not only did I find several plans, I found one that wouldn’t cost us a cent to make because we already had everything we needed in the garage.

We based it on the picture and description posted here.

We had a garbage can that we originally purchased to use as a rain barrel.  But last summer it sprung a leak in the bottom and would no longer hold water.

First, Dave drilled ventilation holes all the way around using a 2 1/8″ hole bit for his drill.

Then he used a 1/4″  bit to drill drainage holes in the bottom of the garbage can.

Next, I covered the holes with window screening that we had leftover from repairing a screen door at the last place we lived.

To finish it off, we added a bungee cord to hold the top on securely.

Rather than building a stand for it to rotate on, we’ll simply roll it around the yard every few days to stir up the contents.

Now I just need to add a bit of top soil.

Some leaves and dried grass from when we raked the backyard.

Vegetable peelings.

And coffee grounds to get it really cooking.

In a few weeks, we should have our first batch of rich compost to add to our square foot gardens when the cool weather spring vegetables have finished producing and we need to add the summer plantings.

This post has been added over at BeingFrugal.net: