Shift in Tactics?

I have difficulty working within limitations sometimes.  Lately my health hasn't been that great, and I've had to deal with problems in air quality.  When it's smoggy in the morning, I have to wait a few hours to work outside.  That cuts way back on my gardening time, since I'm also susceptible to sunlight and heat.

So I'm thinking about how to maximize productivity within those limitations.  I've considered raised beds, going back to just smaller containers, or pushing ahead with the very large (57 cm) nursery pots.

Right now, the 57 cm pots on concrete blocks are winning.  They're cheaper to set up than the raised beds, and they seem to more consistently productive than the beds I have in the South Garden. Another issue is the fact that the front lawn area was the only place I had that doesn't stay flooded or waterlogged through half the year. The house is built on a big mound of contractor fill, the rest of the property is level for the most part...and very wet in the rainy season. I need a garden that produces year-round, since I rely on it for most of my produce. You can't grow much in waterlogged soil...kang kong (Ipomoea aquatica) grows well I'm sure, but it's a felony to grow that here...no, I'm not kidding.  Too bad, it's very easy to grow and very nutritious.  (All right you, put down that trowel and come out of that garden with your hands where I can see them!)

So I chose the front lawn for my latest garden effort...it never floods out there.  Unfortunately so did the people who installed the drain field.  I think the effluent is leaching into my garden beds, and who knows what's settled into the bottom of that septic tank in 25 years of use?  Could be all kinds of toxic cleaners and disinfectants down there after all those medical people came here to help take care of Dad during his later years.

So this urban gardener is choosing to at least temporarily plant cover crops in the South Garden and shift back to container gardening for a while.  I plan to use a lot of #20 pots, those hold 20 gallons in case you're familiar with the Old English system of measuring.  Since soil is measured in "dry gallons", that comes out to nearly 90 liters capacity.  Most garden vegetables can really stretch out their roots in a pot like that.  I layer some pine twigs in the bottom, followed by a piece of landscaping cloth, then fill them with a blend of my potting soil, compost, some vermiculite, glacial rock dust, and pulverized rock phosphate.

As I recycle pots of various sizes, I blend in more compost and rock dust.  The seedlings I plant in that potent mix usually take off really fast.  To help them along, I layer more compost on top as they grow; then cover it all with a layer of hay, chopped palmetto fronds, or pieces of rotten wood.

I try to buy the big pots locally, but the nursery crews like to cut them with a box knife when they take the young palms and citrus out of them.  So buying the used ones from nurseries hasn't been going well.  Still, any I can buy used for five bucks is better than the ten dollars I would have to pay if I ordered them online and had them shipped. For those who measure soil in cubic yards, a yard of soil will fill about eight of those big pots.  It annoys me that local people insist on using the Old English system, even though they seem to know almost nothing about it.  They seem to universally believe that a #20 pot holds 25 gallons.  It would if it were measured in liquid gallons, like a beer keg...but soil is measured in dry gallons, not liquid gallons.  So it's 20, not 25.

Maybe if I habitually drank a lot of whiskey, that kind of vague measuring might make more sense to me...LOL.  Call me picky, but being off by five gallons seems significant to me.

The new crops in the 34 cm pots are growing well.  I've got Miyashige radishes, Pac Choy Shanghai, Bangladeshi eggplant, Clemson Superb okra, molokhia, Evergreen onion, and Jwala pepper plants coming up. Those are all plants that tolerate heat well...it's still hitting the 32C/90F mark almost every day lately, with overnight lows around 24C/75F.  Never used to be quite this hot in October years ago.  I'm glad I didn't plant the cool-season crops like lettuce yet.  I tried some White Lisbon onion seed, but the seedlings seem to have mostly died.  I guess I'll wait for cooler nights and more temperate days to plant things like lettuce and kale.  For now, I'm thinking of sticking to my okra and peppers and such.  Some years it never does get that cool during the shorter days...just have to wait and see.

I refuse to call this "Fall", even though the transplanted people from northerly climes insist on it.  Temps of 32C/90F are not "Fall" weather.  People are infuriatingly illogical.  This is the end of the rainy season here, not "Fall".