Gardening in Tidy Cat buckets! Who knew it was a thing?
Hello Friday!
It’s been a while since I’ve shared any pictures of my neighbor’s greenhouse and garden set up so I thought I’d show you how much everything has changed since I last featured their garden on the blog back in early June.
First of all, there are tomatoes EVERYWHERE!!! Inside and outside of the greenhouse and in about two weeks… holy canolies they are going to be swimming to tomatoes.
The bumble bee tomatoes I started from seed on the radiators earlier this spring are my favorite ones they’ve got growing over there though. Have you tried the bumble bees? Soooo good! And the colors are beautiful as well.
Thai basil.
They’re even gardening in Tidy Cat bucket! Cucumbers and green beans growing in buckets!
I noticed another gardener in town with probably 50 tidy cat buckets in their yard filled with all sorts of plants. I should wander over there and see about getting a picture for you. It’s quite a sight to see. I just LOVE how creative people can get when it comes to growing food.
One side of the greenhouse has brussels sprouts, kale, chives and rhubarb.
Their brussels sprouts were attacked by bugs though so they probably are not going to end up with any.
And check out the garden boxes they built this year!
The plants are just oozing out of them. I love it!
I wish I would have planted nasturtiums, they’re so pretty and you can use them in salads.
When I said they have a lot of tomatoes growing… I wasn’t kidding.
The plants were getting so heavy, they used torn up t-shirts to secure them to the stakes.
They’re baby cukes are looking good too.
Anyone here in New England grow artichokes? We both planted our outside at around the same time and so far… no sign of flowers.
I started the seeds in my favorite Jiffy pellets in early February and then moved them out to the neighbors greenhouse in early May. Now I’m thinking I should have started them indoors sooner. Anyone know for sure when the best time to start artichokes here is?
Delicata squash.
And tomatillos! I’ve never had one before… are they good? The neighbors say they’re great in salsa.
And last but not least… Morning glory. I wish I would have planted some. Maybe next year I’ll plant some along the back fence.
Well, that’s all that’s happening over here in zone 5b. What’s growing at your place? What are you harvesting these days? Curious minds want to know.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone,
Peace Out.
~Mavis
Rajena says
Good morning Mavis. Artichokes have to go through a cold period before they set flowers. It’s a little tricky where I’m at because it’s just a little too cold for them in my area and because of that they have their own little cold frame that was built just for them. Hopefully yours makes it through the winter or you can put starts out really early in the spring and trick them into thinking they went through winter.
Mrs. C says
I grow artichokes from see in zone 6a/b almost every year. I usually start them in January to get flowers that year. They need to go through a 3-4 week cold period (below 50 degrees but above freezing) to produce the same year. If I start them in January, by March-April I can keep them in the garage near a window, or covered porch. I will only bring them in if there is a chance of freezing. Here is a good resource guide: https://gilmour.com/growing-artichokes
Mavis Butterfield says
We will try your method next year. Thanks Mrs. C.
Mrs. C. says
Yes, tomatillos are great! I make a green salsa every year and use it in cooking to braise pork or chicken.
Catherine says
I just canned some tomatillo simmering sauce to use with chicken this winter.
Carolinas Cooper says
Not anything to do with gardening, but did you see that RAO’s spaghetti sauce is on sale for $4.99 at Market Basket, starting Sunday 08/02? Just in case your HH needs to stock up….
ld says
Instead of $11/ per jar???!!!
Carole says
Tomatilllos are delicious. Use in salsa verde, or posole verde. I always have them in my kitchen here in south Texas. I remove the husks, can be a bit sticky, then I roast them and schooz them up in the blender with roasted peppers, onions and cilantro I put it on everything. YUM!!
Lisa says
That sounds great!
Wendy says
I used to make a white bean chicken chili with tomatillos. It was delicious!
DeeCee says
We’re picking beans, cukes (regular and zillion lemon cukes), zucchini, all kinds of peppers, and just started picking tomatoes. Picked a bunch of bumblebee tomatoes and a yellow and pink brandywine over the last two weeks.
We’ve grown tomatillo and okra before. Easy and fun to grow and prolific producers, but we don’t eat that much of either of them so we don’t grow them anymore.
Adeline says
I’m amazed by either your and your neighbor’s gardens ! I livre in Brittany, France, near the sea, and without a greenhouse it’s hard to grow tomatoes, and our harvests are quite small. Temperatures are always mild, be it winter or summer, but the rain is quite present… and so are my nemesis, the snails and slugs gang ! Next year I’ll try to grow leafy greens and herbs inside so we humans can also eat some… And I’m gonna research how to cover tomato plants to protect them from the rain, so if your readers have any ideas they’re welcome ! Thank you for your blog, and keep making me dream of a huge garden bounty 🙂
Gigi says
I’d suggest tomatoes in containers with drain holes. That will let all the excess water drain. It will also let you move them to a more sheltered spot if needed.
Susan says
We’re harvesting lettuce, tomatoes, cherry and slicing, cukes, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, beets, radishes, rutabaga, kale, and cabbage. And our starts for peas, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, spring onions, turnips and parsnips are off to a great start for fall. Plus I’m drying thyme, rosemary, parsley, and dill.
Donna Sanford says
Tomatillo make the best salsa and that is the only kind I use anymore. They have a natural pectin in them that produces salsa with a good consistency. I also froze some extras to make enchilada sauce in the winter so yummy.
Elly says
Roasted tomatillo salsa from food in jars is my family’s favorite. It is delicious on any savory breakfast food. Unfortunately, our plants aren’t doing so great this year.
https://foodinjars.com/recipe/small-batch-roasted-tomatillo-salsa/
Amber Triplett says
Tomatillos have a taste sort of between a tomato and a pepper. We chop them up and put them right into the taco meat as it cooks. Delicious.
Lynne says
The only thing growing at my house are my eyes and my stomach bc the local farm store has corn, tomatoes, peaches, plums, and potatoes, all of my favorite carbs. Zone 6a.
michelle says
I had planted morning glories and they were growing and beautiful and then found out they were poisonous to dogs. Just wanted to share that. I pulled them up to protect my pup. Not sure if this is true but wanted to pass it on. thanks
MEM says
I was going to post the same thing – the plant and the seeds are toxic to dogs. Mavis, I would stick with nasturtiums.
Sue Baziluik says
You should NEVER use anything but food grade plastic contains for growing food plants. I would not eat anything grown in kitty litter containers.
MEM says
I thought the same. The bucket is only safe for kitty litter – new and used.
Claudia says
Verde Sauce (so good!) Adjust as you like
4-6 Tomatillos
6 Green Onions
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
8 pickled jalapeno slices
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp. oregano
Juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp. sugar (optional)
Salt, spice to taste
Put in blender and blend for 1 minute!
Vy says
Be super careful with morning glories, they’re called bindweed for a reason. I planted one packet 10 years ago that proceeded to choke out almost my whole yard. I’m STILL fighting them, because even a piece of root left over grows like mad. BUT as for the tidy cat buckets, I rescued a bunch from recycling and have planted in them because of you, thank you! And finally, you can pickle nastursium seeds and they taste just like capers, fyi 🙂
PD says
I agree, Vy! Every year I fight the highly invasive morning glory vines. It definitely spreads and attempts to choke out all other plants. I didn’t originally plant it, but the previous owners must have. Please think twice before planting it, Mavis!
Kimberly O'Donoghue says
Confirmed there maybe a variety that doesn’t shoot up but I fight those vines all summer long my New England kudzu never again but they are pretty
Wynne says
I’m getting tomatoes, cukes, noodle beans/long beans, herbs, okra, kale, and chile peppers. First year for okra and we’re really into it, mostly raw or roasted but I fried some for the first time yesterday. I also tried planting tomatillo for the first time, but my very lush bushes dropped all their flowers for more than a month, so they’ve been yanked. Shishito peppers will go there instead. … My artichokes didn’t flower until I moved them to my sunniest spot; 7b though.
Brenda says
I had a client who called Morning Glory’s the farmers scourge! Beautiful but it takes years to eradicate them. If you decide to pull them out at the end of the season know that you still will have tons next year. The seed pods drop easily and bam!
Mel says
We’re harvesting tomatoes (despite awful blight for some reason), peppers, cucumbers, beans, and basil. In addition to freezing extra tomatoes for sauce, I’m leaving coolers of our extra veggies out for friends to pick up, and it’s really nice to have enough to share.
I need to start my fall seeds today. Little late, but it was hard to find seed starting mix this time of year.