Gardening on the cheap--good and bad

Originally posted July 28, 2010
Now that summer is in full swing, gardening is on my mind. The house took a few months to get into, so I started tomatoes and cucumbers in Topsy Turvies at the apartment. The tomatoes made it, but the cucumbers did not and the squirrel that sat in the cucumber Topsy Turvy did not make the move with us--I wish he had!

The Sweet 100s are taking off and I am looking forward to red beautiful tomatoes! I don't love tomatoes, but Professor loves to eat them off the plant like candy. Putting tomatoes in salad and cooking with them are my favorite ways to eat them. For those with Topsy Turvies, or those contemplating using them, read the directions for best results. You really need to water daily, or even twice a day and fertilize weekly or every other week when the plant is in full growth and production mood. Watering can be a real chore. At the apartment we did not have access to an outdoor spigot and all the watering had to be done with a can. When you took into account the three TT and all the flowers in containers that was a lot of watering. I bought a big plastic watering can, which was great until I left it on the rotisserie and it melted. I bought a new plastic watering can and was very careful about checking what was on and around the rotisserie, until the kids turned it on and melted the second watering can. That's when I decided to invest in a good watering can. While at CostCo last spring, there was the watering can I was looking for price at $19.99! Yikes! I'm glad I bought it, as it will be around for years, provided we don't drive over it.

Now that we're at the house, watering has become more of a chore and one watering can will not suffice. Before the move, we had a hose that works great and we set it up in the front of the house to water the flowers and strawberries. The grass is a beautiful shade of light brown--I refuse to water it, but my plants look great! Anyway, we needed another hose for the back to water the tomatoes and other things we want to live. We go to the hardware store a lot, and the last time we were there, the light duty hose was 54% off. Great! A hose for under $5. I should have just put that $5 in my mouth and ate it. Never buy a light duty hose unless you never have to move it, or turn it on. It kinks and there is no rubber gasket, so the hose sprays water everywhere. I priced other hoses and had to pick my jaw up off the floor--$20 for a hose! ACK! My plan is to get by with the cheap hose until next spring when gardening items can be found on great sales and with rebates.