Friday, March 2, 2012

Taters in Tires!

This year's new gardening project is to grow potatoes in old tires. While I'm very comfortably growing taters and have for years I've never done them in tires.

First I made a facebook post asking for 3-4 tires.....I now have 15. LOL

Second I put 3 tires on the ground and added some gravel in the bottom for drainage. Taters don't like being really wet and will rot!


Then Pepper and I sat down and cut up many taters to plant. I also planted 3 rows in the garden so we cut a lot of taters....and had to have a conversation about how she is NOT allowed to eat the seed taters!

Everyone has different opinions on how to cut the seed taters. Most say to cut with 2 eyes, my dad cuts each eye out and they aren't very bit pieces and he has TONS of taters each year....he also has perfect tater soil. I cut larger pieces to hopefully ensure sprouting.


Then I mixed topsoil, peat moss, and compost and filled in each tire. I planted 4 seeds in the larger tires and 3 in the smaller tire. 


I lightly watered since some of the soil was already damp. Once the rains pass through today and tomorrow I'll start treating the small tire with Terra-Fresh. I'll be using the 1 drop/1 gallon ration and treating once a week.

As the tater plants grow about 8" tall I'll add another tire and more dirt to encourage more rooting and go 3-4 tires high. 

Since it was such a nice day I went ahead and planted my spring onions! I can't wait to eat these....they are SOOOO good. I'm going to have to find another place to plant the rest of them. I have 1.5 rows of onions and will be extending the one row so I can treat it with Terra-Fresh and have an equal control group.



I got my 6 azaleas planted out front. I was SO happy to find that under the first 1-2" of really hard dirt was super sandy soil. These azaleas will LOVE living there.



I know I already told y'all that I got a new iPhone but anyone notice the picture quality difference since getting my new phone? I'm excited.

2 comments:

  1. Hahaha... I see you finally got them tires you were waiting on! :D Congrats! I haven't tested these out with tires yet, another project for another season. ;-)

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  2. I haven't been able to do a whole lot with my seeds/garden yet... I have to live vicariously through you! Hopefully this coming week I can find some time, if it ever stops raining.

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