Cracker-Containers
The cracker containers of Skyflakes ( manufactured in the Philippines) have been collected over the years and came from the Asia Shop in my district. I think I´ve collected around 30 boxes. I made a habit of not throwing them and thought that it would make a good pot for my lettuces which I plant each season...and the collecting paid off. The lettuces have grown in abundance and very healthy in this environment.
Slugs once devastated my plants in the backyard....
... and since then, I decided I would make the top terrace my container garden. We do not use its space tho because it is very hot in Summer. The good thing is, the plants are protected from gusty winds since the terrace is like a box surrounded by the 3 walls and the front is planted with conifers. The side of the roof where the gutter is located has a free space and is very good for the lettuce growing since the lettuces get the full sun.
The reason why I decided to plant not only lettuces but also other veggies on the top terrace is because of its unused space. Though small in size of 9 sqm.... I see to it that I maximize the whole area by planting various vegetables there.
The humble beginning of my lettuce...
The newbies are sold in all garden centers by the dozens at reasonable prices, one can choose which variety to grow, some are organically grown.
Sometimes, I use egg shells that is being processed thru the blender, make them very fine like powder and apply on the soil, it is rich in calcium and thus will feed the plant organically. Sometimes, I get horse manure in the neighboring farm as we are near the border of Lower Austria. But this is becoming rare as many tend to order this because of its proximity to the housing areas.
Eggshells as organic feed...
Do not throw your eggshells, they are good fertilizers for all plants. Wash them and dry , then pulverized using your blender. They are rich in nutrients for the plants particularly calcium for a robust growing.
We can only be sure that our salad greens are organic if we grow them ourselves. I never use pesticides or any other chemicals in my veggies. I eradicate aphids by making a concoction of baking soda and water... spray this on the leaves and the molds or other parasites will disappear.
And the nicest part of my container gardening is the harvest time. I just need to pick and get some leaves and we could eat fresh salad greens everyday! In making salads, I also harvest some container-grown cherry tomatoes and incorporated them just like in the salad below. More on my container-grown cherry tomatoes in one of my upcoming posts..
Have a great start of the coming week
and keep safe everyone!
All images in this post are mine
unless otherwise stated