Tag: extending the growing season

Garden Hack: Plastic Tubs as Mini-Greenhouses

Garden Hack: Plastic Tubs as Mini-Greenhouses

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This gardening hack is something I started doing way back in my much more complicated life. For 14 years my business year started and ended in May: my Art Licensing contracts pretty much all came from and led to exhibiting at Surtex, an annual tradeshow for the Surface Design industry. My focus and obsession for months leading up to the show was booth displays, handouts, portfolios full of new art. Must. Have. All. The. Art. Springtime, instead of a time for planning and planting my garden like I’d done all those years before, was my annual mad-scramble to finish all the extra last-minute stuff I decided I had to have done. I rarely took days off anyway back in those years, but spring was the worst of all when it came to any kind of self-care or real-life stuff.

All the local annual plant sales as well as prime planting time in my area happened anywhere from 2 weeks before I left to the week I was in NY for the show. After I got home, I’d hit the ground running with show follow-up, sending out samples, and starting newly requested projects. By the time I was ready to come up for air long enough to think about planting my little vegetable garden, most garden centers only had a few sad, dry, leggy starts stuffed into a back corner – if that. I might get plants at a discount this way but my beloved garden had become an afterthought and I hated that.

After way too many years of this I finally decided I needed a compromise and a way to grow what I wanted around my busy work schedule. I started going to my favorite plant sale the first weekend of May with no spare moments to actually do anything but keep the little plants safe and healthy as possible until I got home later in the month. Doing this meant I’d be forced to take a day off as soon as I got back to plant them. An actual day off. This was me taking baby steps toward a healthier less-complicated life – gotta start somewhere, right?

I needed a setup that was simple for me during a stressful & busy time and something my house-sitter could deal with fairly easily the week I was gone, so I bought some clear plastic storage tubs with clear lids to keep them in for those few weeks. The tubs were large enough the seedlings could fit inside with the lid closed to stack in my tiny living room by the front door at night, then move out to the porch during the daytime for fresh air and sunlight. This became an easy way to harden them off slowly to be ready for planting a few weeks later.

Fast-forward what feels like a thousand years to my new life and my bigger garden, where I’m back to starting everything from seed: my plastic tub method has been a great way to manage seedlings until I get a proper greenhouse (someday!).

They’re like mini-greenhouses early in the season, and portable cold-frames when it gets closer to planting time.

When the seeds are first planted, the tubs can get moved around, taking turns between warm windows and the couple heat mats and grow lights I have inside. With the lids closed, it provides a nice humid little space for them to germinate.

planting tomato seeds on a snowy February day
cat-proofing indoor tubs with stuff I have on hand

When it starts getting warm enough during the day, I can start transitioning them outside to the patio with the lids on or off depending on weather. Good air flow is important for these tender little babies, but spring weather can be a little harsh: hard rain or direct sunlight on those rare hot early spring days can sometimes be too much, and their leaves may get sunburned. Leaving the lids on, propped up with a stick (or whatever else is handy) works great for protecting them while still letting in sunlight and air.

Then, late in the day while they’re still warm from the afternoon sun, I’ll lid them up and bring them inside for the night, stacking the bins in a safe place until morning. As their final planting day gets closer, I start leaving them out during the day without a lid overhead for protection, and to harden them off to outside temperatures I’ll usually leave them outside for a few nights first with lids on and then without, before planting them in the garden.

When it’s finally time to plant, I can just carry the tubs out to the garden. Easy peasy.

I haven’t done this yet, but turning a tub upside down over tender direct-seeded starts could provide extra early-season protection from cold, or even emergency-coverage in hard rain or hail. Clear plastic tubs for the win, right?

Someday I’ll have a real greenhouse, but until then, my plastic tub method has been an excellent way to keep my babies safe and healthy from the time the seeds are planted until they’re moved into their beds.

Tomato Season: Extended Dance Version

Tomato Season: Extended Dance Version

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Ok so maybe there’s not any dancing (sorry/not-sorry) but it was definitely extended as long as possible.

My old city-garden was heavily tomato-centric due to limited time and space. I grew other stuff but my main focus was always the one thing that is so superior to its store-bought version, my favorite food: fresh tomatoes. Once again I brought my old habits with me to my new space and I’m still learning to let them go. I used to say “there’s no such thing as too many tomatoes” but I may have learned my lesson this year.

Or not.

I got a way-too-late start on my tomatoes this year. Most normal gardeners are wrapping up in early October but my tomato plants were just hitting their peak: I was literally popping cherry tomatoes in my mouth all day long and we were feasting on Caprese salads for dinner almost every night. It was kind of heaven.

My October garden was chaotic, messy, and prolific. But when several days of hard-frost were predicted by the 3rd week, it was time to think about extending the growing season indoors.

I’ve had good luck in the past ripening end-of-season tomatoes in paper bags loosely folded shut: the bag allows some air flow, and the ethylene gas they release is trapped in the bag and causes them to ripen more quickly. Check them daily for soft spots or mold which will spread quickly to the rest of the fruit in the bag leaving you with a yucky wet mess.

I needed a new system to keep track of this many tomatoes. I wanted the fruit to get whatever nutrients and moisture they could from their vines, so for 2 days straight I harvested 2-3′ long vines, tying them together in bundles and hanging them from sloppy makeshift nails and wires in my kitchen.

The vines dried out within a couple days but the fruit continued to ripen slowly for another month. As the vines dried they shrunk a lot. I’d bundled a few with rubber bands but most were held together with twine and wire, which I had to scramble to tighten after the vines dried out to keep them from slipping out of their bundles.

Even after the vines were dried up, they benefited from the air flow and I didn’t lose too many to rot or mold. Every few days I’d roast or freeze another small batch, and had to stay on top of that because once they ripened they would soften way faster than summer tomatoes.

As the weeks passed they became less flavorful, but they were still far superior to grocery store tomatoes.

By November 20th they were done, and so was I.

We savored the last fresh tasty one and I processed and froze the last batch.

 

I never really counted how many quart bags of fresh, roasted, and smoked tomatoes I ended up with, but every time I go get a bag out of the freezer I feel sort of rich. I love how easy the bags are: they thaw super fast and are so easy to add to a dish.

I’m starting to plan this year’s garden and am trying hard to focus on a little more diversity and – yes – a few less tomatoes. What are you excited about growing this year?