Hyper Active Worms – Or – Caffeine Induced Wide Awake Worms!

I have put down so much old coffee grounds in my porch pots the earth worms now have insomnia from all the caffeine! I don’t know where the grounds go. It seems like within two weeks after I put a large coffee can full of coffee grounds in a porch pot they just disappear. Composting into a really good potting soil I hope.

Two nights past it got down to 31 degrees again! I’m hopeful that it was winters last cold blast and I can now start planting frost tender spring garden seeds and seedlings. This morning at 5am it was 58 degrees and forecasting 70 for today’s high but with a 20-25mph northwest wind it feels much colder than the current 60 degrees. Pretty much the same forecast for the next 7 – 10 days.

After SNL(Son-N-Law) tilled in that last ton or so of old grass bedding hay mixed a lot of cow dung about two weeks ago, my garden soil is taking on an appearance of fine garden soil. That red clay based garden soil is taking on a nice dark rich color from all the humus and livestock dung that has been tilled in to compost down during the past 60 days or so. Over the past 2 months I think my SNL has spread and tilled in at least 2 tons if not more old soiled, livestock bedding hay along with a lot of fresh manure.

I have six yellow summer squash seedlings needing planted. I will need to cut the bottom out of 6 large 35 ounce coffee cans to put over the seedlings to give them a little wind protection and I hope, keep the damn rabbits from eating my seedling. I am resorting to harsh rabbit control measures. One box of #5 shot shells and a 12 gauge shot gun. Rabbits that are not processed for my consumption and frozen will be fed to our catfish and crawdads (crayfish). It has been a very reproductive winter for rabbits!

I have a patio container made from a 30 gallon plastic barrel cut in half (length wise) I’m going to try planting some lettuce seed in that container and see how that works out.

My daughter got me 6 pepper seedlings today. Three Hungarian (hot) peppers and three Jalapeno (hot) pepper seedlings. All peppers along with six yellow summer squash seedlings will get planted tomorrow afternoon.

I checked today and at 4 inches deep the soil temperature was 54 degrees. That’s a full 20 degrees to cool for pepper seeds to germinate. So it will still be sometime until I can garden soil plant the remaining pepper seed I have on hand. This year it looks like it will be the first week of May or later before I can plant and reliably germinate warm weather crops like pepper, okra and black eyed peas.

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Walking Catfish – Or – Great Grandson Goes Fishing

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Timer Controlled Automatic Fish Feeder

Our long running drought saw Ronny’s pond dry up during the summer 2010 for the first time. Making the best of a bad situation, we rented a D4 bulldozed and Ronny spent most of 3 days digging out his pond making it much deeper and a bit wider and longer.

Finely in the spring of 2011, we got a hard rain and the pond filled about half way up again. We bought 100 Red Ear (Sun Fish) Perch (about 1 inch long) and 100 (3-4 inch long) Channel Catfish to stock our little fishing hole. Eeeek then it didn’t rain again for 4 months. I was afraid the pond would go dry again and we would loose all of our investment in stocking the pond with fish. But it did rain and this time it filled our little pond up to the top.

If your interested, I got mine from Moultrie feeders They sell deer/turkey feeders as well. It has a lot of features allowing feeding up to 6 times a day with adjustments for the amount of feed dispensed at each feeding. Best part is it is adjustable to dispense the fish food in any direction (directional) you need to sling the feed. Not just in a circular pattern like deer and turkey feeders.

Feeding catfish

To keep Ronny’s longhorn bull and cows out of the fish feeder bucket, I constructed a hinge pole sticking 4 feet out of the ground, with an upset feed bucket holder arm that keeps the feed bucket high enough and far enough over the pond that the cows can’t reach the feeder bucket.

Now The Part About Walking Catfish! Not long ago, Ronny had the feeder bucket off it’s bucket holder arm to replace the 6 volt battery. I noticed that the catfish were all feeding at or very near the pond shore line. After a quick investigation… Oooops, When Ronny reinstalled the feeder bucket he reattached the bucket 180 backwards and was slinging most of the fish food onto dry land. Grin … I explained to him that we had the common American Channel catfish, Not the Amazon river delta Walking Catfish! After he turned the feeder bucket the right direction our catfish are much happier at feeding time.

I have hopes that by mid-summer or so, we will have a few 2 pound catfish and the Red Ear perch should be pan size as well. That’s just the right size to serve one person fried catfish. …. Grin …. That will give me and Great Grand Son an excuse to Go Fishing! I have ordered both of us new telescoping fiberglass poles (like the old real Cane Poles) but more durable I hope. His is 10 feet long (he’s just a little guy, you know) and mine is 13 feet long. We will be using barb-less hooks so we can easily catch and release fish not need for the table.

A few worms or small grasshoppers, a large glass of ice tea for me and a jelly glass of 100% fruit juice (none of that extra sweet, 10% juice for my Great Grand Son) for him and we will be set for our big fishing trip to yea old fishing hole.

Fun Catfish Facts
Catfish get its name from its long, feline whiskers, which are officially called “barbels.”
Most full-grown, farm-raised catfish weigh between 1 and 2 pounds.
Because it’s a firm-fleshed fish, catfish is an excellent candidate for grilling and frying.
Catfish is relatively lean, and is low in saturated fat. It’s also high in vitamin D and is
a good source of protein.
Catfish has a thick, inedible skin, not scales. Remove (skin) before cooking.

Fillet catfish as you would any other fish, this will produce 2 nice sized boneless fish fillets. Fillets because they’re boneless and they have a uniform thickness, makes them easy and they cook more evenly.

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Pickle On A Stick – Or – Another Cucumber Trellis Idea

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It will soon be time for planting cucumbers in my Tiny Garden. Looking for ways to maximize production, conserve space and minimize weeding and watering chores I discovered two cucumber trellis ideas that I really like.

Pyramid style trellis would make a interesting addition to your garden as well as being a functionable vegetable trellis. It can be scaled to any size that fits into your garden size and can be used to trellis any vine plant such as pole beans, peas or cucumbers or as a flower tower covered with morning glory’s.
I have some old salvage 2 by 6 boards that I’m going to run through the table saw ripping them down into 1 3/4 inch wide by 1 1/2 thick boards to use in constructing my pyramid. Adding a little bit of string for the vines to climb on, then planting cucumbers on the south and east sides finishing up by planting a few morning glories on the north and west sides.

I have a salvage cattle panel that is 16 feet long by 52 inches tall. I think that if I form it into an arch 4 or maybe 5 feet wide at the base (bottom) it will be tall enough that I can walk under the arch without bumping my head and make finding and picking cucumbers a simple task.

I’m going to make this arch kind of, sort of the entry way into my tiny garden.

After much searching, I have found most of my drip irrigation parts. I will soon start laying out my rows and design new and better self watering devices to provide ample water for my vine plants and other water loving garden plants. I’m trying this year to stop or at least reduce the use of over head watering with sprinklers that tend to compact my clay based garden soil and can encourage fungus infections in the garden.

Filling a couple of porch containers today I was impressed at the quality and quantity of compost derived from a large pile of chipped trees I got for free last Fall. I’m adding a bit of semi-composted cow manure and grass hay as well. Pure wood chips make great soil amendment adding lots of organic material to your soil, but, can be low in nitrogen content.

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Cabbage Patch |-Doll-| Family Reunion

Stop it, stop making that ugly face. Cabbage and all it’s family members taste good and are good for you. Cruciferous vegetables (cole vegetables) cabbage, cauliflower, collards, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, mustard and turnip greens.

Cole crops will tolerate some shade but full sun is always preferable. Cole crops will grow better in heavier, cooler soils than most warm season crops.
Cole crops are heavy feeders and do best in a deep, fertile soil enriched with plenty of organic matter. Because cole crops can easily become deficient in minor elements, at least part of the fertilizer material should be composted manure or composted vegetable matter to ensure a supply of these nutrients. Cauliflower demands the most exacting soil and fertility requirements to produce large firm heads.

Planting and Culture Most growers grow cabbage(green and red), cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts from spring transplants rather than seeding them directly in the garden. Fall crops may be seeded directly into the garden in June and July for a Fall crop. Quality transplant seedlings are a vital key to a successful crop. To prevent premature flower stalk formation, keep the seedlings growing above 60º F. This is particularly true for broccoli and cauliflower. A good seedling transplant will be 5 to 6 weeks old, sturdy with good color.

Cabbage plants can withstand very low temperatures down to 10º to 15º F for a night or two, broccoli and cauliflower are not nearly so cold resistant.

Harvest Cabbage when the head is very firm. Springy heads are not mature. Harvest Cauliflower heads when they reach a diameter of 5 to 8 inches and before the segments begin to separate. To get pure white heads, exclude light. Tie the outer leaves over the developing head with rubber bands or clothespins and keep them tied until harvest. Do not be concerned if some light gets through and discolors the head the eating quality is not affected.

Harvest Broccoli while the head is still compact and before the small flower buds open up to show yellow. Head diameter will range from 4 to 8 inches. After this center head is harvested side shoots (heads) of 2 to 3 inches will develop.

Brussels sprouts Small, cabbage-like sprouts develop along the thick stem, maturing first at the base of the plant. As the sprouts enlarge, remove the large leaves between the sprouts. Pinch out the growing tip of the plants in early September to hasten maturity. Harvest the sprouts when they are firm and before they open up. A light frost or two improves their flavor.

Harvest kale any time leaves are large enough for intended use. Tender young leaves are best for salad, older leaves are better cooked. Frost improves the flavor of kale.

Don’t over look planting collards, mustard and turnips when you plant your Cole Spring and Fall garden.

Don’t over cook any of the Cole vegetable. No matter what method you choose, boiling, broiling stir frying or steaming, Do Not Over Cook Cole vegetables.

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Home Grown Lettuce – Best Salad You Will Ever Taste

leaf lettuce

Source University of Illinois Extension Lettuce is a cool weather vegetable that thrives when the average daily temperature is between 60 and 70°F. Plant in early spring or late summer. Some types and varieties of lettuce withstand heat better than others.

Leaf lettuce, the most widely adapted of all the Lettuce types, produces crisp leaves loosely arranged on the stalk. Romaine types form a upright, elongated head. Butterhead varieties are generally small, loose heading types that have tender, soft leaves with a delicate sweet flavor.

In my opinion, Crisphead varieties like iceberg commonly sold at supermarkets are tasteless, worthless and a waste of time and space to grow.

Some Recommended Varieties
Green Leaf
Black-seeded Simpson (earliest to harvest)
Grand Rapids (frilly edges; good for coldframes, greenhouse, garden)
Oak Leaf (resistant to tipburn; good for hot weather)
Red Leaf
Red Fire (ruffles with red edge – slow to bolt)
Red Sails (slowest bolting red leaf lettuce)
Ruby (darkest red of all – resistant to tipburn)
Romaine
Cimmaron (unique, dark red leaf)
Green Towers (early – dark green, large leaves)
Paris Island (long – standing)

Northern Climates can plant lettuce in both spring and late summer. Southern climates lettuce planting is best done in late Summer or early Fall. Two or more successive plantings at 7 to 10 day intervals provide a continuous supply of lettuce.

Harvesting and Storage
Leaf lettuce may be cut whenever it is large enough to use. Cutting every other plant at ground level gives the remaining plants more space. Leaf lettuce reaches maximum size (6 to 12 ounces) in 50 to 60 days. Butterhead varieties form small, loose heads that weigh 4 to 8 ounces at harvest (60 to 70 days).

To store lettuce, wash, drip dry and place in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Lettuce keeps best at 32°F and high (96%) humidity.

I planted my lettuce carefully following the seed package instructions.
What went wrong?
Failure of seeds to germinate is almost always caused by insufficient moisture. Take extra care to keep the seedbed moist, but not soggy, until the seedlings emerge.

Formation of seed stalks is caused by warm temperatures. If seed stalks begin to form, harvest your lettuce immediately and store it in the refrigerator.

In overly warm/hot weather Lettuce may become bitter. Harvest wash and store the leaves in the refrigerator for a day or two. Much of the bitterness will disappear.

From my for what it’s worth department.
Nutrition Facts (One cup raw leaf lettuce, chopped)
Calories 9
Dietary Fiber 1.3
Protein 1 gram
Carbohydrates 1.34 grams
Vitamin A 1456 IU
Vitamin C 13.44
Calcium 20.16
Iron 0.62
Potassium 162.4 mg

Don’t ruin the flavor of your garden fresh lettuce covering it with a large amount of strong flavored/tasting supermarket dressings. Try one of these light flavored vinaigrette style dressings.

Red and Yellow Pepper Vinaigrette
1 small yellow bell pepper, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons warm water
pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients until combined well. This vinaigrette will keep, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for 3 days. Recipe may be doubled. Makes one cup.

Citrus Vinaigrette
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (juice of one small orange)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt (1/4 teaspoon table salt)
Freshly ground black pepper
Combine the juices and salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in oils until incorporated. A blender or food processor may also be used. Pour into a glass jar and seal. Serve over your favorite salad greens. The vinaigrette will keep, tightly covered, for a week in the refrigerator. To warm cold vinaigrette, place jar in a bowl of hot tap water for a few minutes.

Mustard Chive Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon grainy Dijon-style mustard
black pepper freshly ground to taste
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
Using a whisk or fork, in a small bowl combine all ingredients except the oil. Slowly add the oil, whisking vigorously, until the vinaigrette is emulsified. Pour over your favorite salad greens and toss. Store remaining vinaigrette in the refrigerator, in a tightly sealed glass jar, for up to one week. To warm cold vinaigrette, place jar in a small bowl of hot tap water for a few minutes. Makes 1/2 cup.

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Tomato’s In Your Home Garden – ‘Again!’

Baxters Early Bush

It would be a challenge to find one Home Garden in America that does not have at least one tomato vine.
You will find them hanging upside down in pots and buckets, in containers of all sizes and descriptions, on porches and patios. You will find them in raised bed gardens, well and not so well maintained gardens every where.

You can find 700 or more if not thousands of different tomato varieties. Some are heirlooms many are hybrids coming in many different shapes, sizes, colors, bush and vine tomato’s. Some developed for special uses such as making tomato sauce.

The number one question I hear tomato growers ask is, Why are my tomato’s not setting fruit and dropping their blooms? Here are a few of the causes for small crops and bloom drop.

Source Tomato Pollination
Tomato Pollination. Pollen is shed with great abundance between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on dry, sunny days. To ensure better pollination, gently shake or vibrate the entire tomato plant.

Tomato’s like it warm, Not Hot. Optimum fruit set occurs within a very narrow night temperature range of between 60° F and 70° F. When tomato plants experience night temperatures lower than 55° F or above 75° F prevents normal fertilization. The pollen may even become sterile causing the blossoms to drop. High daytime temperatures, over 90 degrees, will cause tomato’s not to pollinate and lead to blossom drop.

Note about tomato pollination. Tomatoes are self fertile, but self pollinating?…only when conditions are ideal…they often need help. “Self pollinating” is one of the myths spread by tomato growers. Always clean pollinating tools thoroughly after use with 95% ethanol or 1/2 table spoon of chlorine bleach in 1 cup of warm soap water.

Source Age-Old Trick Increases Your Tomato Harvest
Use a cheap electric, battery powered toothbrush to pollinate your tomato’s. Turn on the toothbrush and gently and briefly touch it to the top of the petals or stem of the flower, or flower cluster. Do not touch it to the face of the flower. That’s all that is required. Spend a few seconds each time you visit the garden, the results will be worth your time and effort.

Bumble Bees are the best and most reliable insect pollinator of tomato’s. The common European honey bee is almost useless and seldom is able to pollinate tomato blossoms.

Some tomato varieties can handle cool damp weather or hot dry weather better than others. Do your homework and research what varieties do best under your normal weather conditions.

In my Tiny Garden, in Southwest Oklahoma our summers tend to be hot and dry. We have many days at or above 95 degrees and nights staying well into the high 70′ and low 80 degree temperatures. Not idea tomato growing conditions. Porter, improved porter and porter cherry, developed by a Texas tomato grower stands up well to our hot dry conditions as do many of the fast maturing cherry tomato varieties. It seems that smaller is better! Large type tomato’s like beefsteak, better-boy and so on often fail to produce a ‘good’ crop or sometimes any tomato’s in SW Oklahoma’s dry heat.

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The Spice Of Life – Better Than Sex (Well Almost) Growing Peppers

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Source of Pepper picture is unknown.,
Peppers like it hot. Pepper seeds germinate at soil temperatures of 75° – 90° F with 85° F being the ideal soil temperature.

The first thing you must decide is do you want to grow Sweet Mild peppers or Hot pepper types. Then you must select the pepper that is ‘Not’ to hot for your taste.

Jalapeno, Serrano, Cayenne or Tabasco type peppers are hot enough for most peoples taste. However they are down right mild when compared with some of the Habanero or Naga Jolokia peppers.

Below is a pepper chart indicating how hot different varieties of pepper will be at maturity.

Scoville Units

Chile Pepper	Heat Range
Sweet Bell	0
Sweet Banana	0
Pimento	0
Cherry	00 ~ 500
Pepperoncini	100 ~ 500
Sonora	300 ~ 600
El-Paso	500 ~ 700
Santa Fe Grande	500 ~ 750
NuMex R Naky	500 ~ 1,000
Coronado	700 ~ 1,000
TAM Mild Jalapeno	1,000 ~ 1,500
New Mexico 6-4	1,000 ~ 1,500
Espanola	1,000 ~ 2,000
Poblano	1,000 ~ 2,000
Ancho	1,000 ~ 2,000
Mulato	1,000 ~ 2,000
Pasilla	1,000 ~ 2,000
Anaheim	500 ~ 2,500
Sandia	500 ~ 2,500
NuMex Big Jim	1,500 ~ 2,500
Rocotillo	1,500 ~ 2,500
Pulla	700 ~ 3,000
NuMex Joe E. Parker	1,500 ~ 3,000
Bulgarian Carrot	2,000 ~ 5,000
Mirasol	2,500 ~ 5,000
Guajillo	2,500 ~ 5,000
Jalapeno	2,500 ~ 8,000
Chipolte	5,000 ~ 8,000
Long Thick Cayenne	6,000 ~ 8,500
Hot Wax	5,000 ~ 9,000
Puya	5,000 ~ 10,000
Hidalgo	6,000 ~ 17,000
Aji Escabeche	12,000 ~ 17,000
Serrano	8,000 ~ 22,000
Manzano	12,000 ~ 30,000
Shipkas	12,000 ~ 30,000
NuMex Barker’s Hot	15,000 ~ 30,000
De Arbol	15,000 ~ 30,000
Jaloro	30,000 ~ 50,000
Aji	30,000 ~ 50,000
Tabasco	30,000 ~ 50,000
Cayenne	30,000 ~ 50,000
Santaka	40,000 ~ 50,000
Super Chile	40,000 ~ 50,000
Piquin	40,000 ~ 58,000
NuMex XX Hot	60,000 ~ 70,000
Yatsafusa	50,000 ~ 75,000
Red Amazon	55,000 ~ 75,000
Haimen	70,000 ~ 80,000
Chiltecpin	60,000 ~ 85,000
Thai	50,000 ~ 100,000
Merah	85,000 ~ 100,000
Tabiche	85,000 ~ 115,000
Bahamian	95,000 ~ 110,000
Carolina Cayenne	100,000 ~ 125,000
Kumataka	125,000 ~ 150,000
Bahamian	125,000 ~ 300,000
Jamaican Hot	100,000 ~ 200,000
Birds Eye	100,000 ~ 225,000
Tepin (Wild)	100,000 ~ 265,000
Datil	1,000 ~ 300,000
Devil Toung	125,000 ~ 325,000
Fatalii	125,000 ~ 325,000
Orange Habanero	150,000 ~ 325,000
Scotch Bonnet	150,000 ~ 325,000
TigrePaw-NR	265,000 ~ 348,000
Rocoto / Manzano	225,000 ~ 350,000
Caribbean Red	120,000 ~ 400,000
Choclate Habanero	325,000 ~ 425,000
Red Savina Habanero	350,000 ~ 575,000
Dorset Naga	800,000 ~ 900,000
Naga Jolokia “Ghost Pepper”	800,000 ~ 1,041,000
Pure Capsaicin	15-16,000,000

FAQ From Pepper Growers and Want To Be Pepper Growers

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Last Frost – I Hope – Spring Garden Plans Are Well Under Way

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Today using the doddle bug I got him last summer, Ronny {sun-n-law1.0) hauled about a ton more cow manure and old soiled bedding hay from the barn dumping it on this years garden plot. In a day or two the garden will be dry enough to till in all the hay and manure. One final raking and I will start planting this years garden.

Corn, mustard, radish, beet root {maybe}, pinto beans, onion sets and celery will go in first. Followed in a week or so with yellow summer squash and cucumbers. Tomato’s, pepper and okra will be planted the first week of May along with a row or two of black eyed peas.

This morning early I dumped out the 22 long rifle shells and reloaded my 22 rifle with 22 shorts. So far today I have harvested 4 garden eating cotton tail rabbits that I processed {about 5 pounds of fresh rabbit meat} and put in my freezer. Nothing is wasted, I keep all the fresh rabbit meat. Anything I don’t want to keep is put in our fish pond to feed the catfish and crayfish. Grinning, now rabbits are truly a renewable food source! They breed, well, they breed like rabbits!

The newest addition to our tiny farm is a lap goat. Bottle fed and almost 2 months old now. He will be about 65 to 70 pounds at 1 year of age and A mature Boer (2 years old) male can weigh 240-300 lbs.

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Sphinx Moth – Tomato Horn-Worm

Hornworms can be found in your garden from early spring, eating your newly planted seedlings until late fall and your first light frost.
The caterpillars of the tobacco hornworn can be distinguished from the tomato hornworm by the color of the horns on their back ends. Tomato horn worm caterpillars have black horns, while the tobacco hornworm caterpillars have red horns.

Hornworms are known to eat various plants from the family Solanaceae, commonly attacking tomato, eggplant, pepper, tobacco, moonflowers and potato. Accordingly, they are often found on defoliated tomato plants, the caterpillar clinging to the underside of a branch near the trunk. They are difficult to spot due to their green coloration.

Some Gardeners say to use of a blacklight to find the hornworms on tomato plants at night, where they glow under the ultraviolet. They can be reduced by planting marigold flowers intermixed with your garden around desirable plants.

If you see this Sphinx moth fluttering around an outdoor light, be assured it is up to no good. Killing this moth on sight may save your garden from being attack by hornworms.

Every time you are in your garden look carefully for caterpillar damage. Kill them on sight! Many gardeners drop them in a cup or can of soap water to drown, I prefer to grind them under the heel of my shoe.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

Insect Diagnostic Laboratory – Cornell University

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Care And Feeding Your Dirt – Garden Soil 101

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Know Your Dirt. These are common soil preparation and soil amendment recommendations. No two places in the world have the same soil conditions nor can you apply the same procedures in the southeast U.S. that work well in Ohio or else where.

A soil test is best. With that said, I know that most gardeners will never take the time nor spend a few dollars to have their garden soil tested. Not knowing what you garden soil really needs means that we must use that shotgun approach to soil care. Almost without fail garden soil is low or very low in humus and nitrogen.

Nitrogen can be added to your soil using a pure nitrogen fertilizer like 20-0-0 but I recommend a better balanced fertilizer like 13-13-13 or maybe something like 10-5-5.
Tilling in a good compost material will add both nitrogen and humus to your soil and most of us need both nitrogen and humus added to our garden dirt.
I do not recommend applying raw manure or livestock bedding in the spring time. Add this type of materials in the fall, till in well, thus giving raw manure and livestock bedding 3 or more months to decompose before planting time.

Caution Tip Don’t over do the nitrogen! To much nitrogen on root and fruit producing crops can cause your vegetables to be all nice green foliage and produce little or no eatable roots or fruits! High levels of nitrogen is fine for leaf crops like leaf lettuce, spinach, arugula and so on.

Container gardening can be a real challenge to get and keep your fertilizer levels correct for the crop(s) you are growing. Having such a small amount of soil to work with and the need to water almost daily quickly leeches all nutrients from your container soil. Mixing in well composted manure before planting is very helpful. Fertilize every two weeks or so at 1/2 the recommended application rate used when fertilizing garden soil.

Source Carl J. Rosen and Peter M. Bierman, Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota Using Manure and Compost as Nutrient Sources for Fruit and Vegetable Crops
Manure and compost not only supply many nutrients for crop production, including micronutrients, but they are also valuable sources of organic matter. Increasing soil organic matter improves soil structure or tilth, increases the water holding capacity of coarse textured sandy soils, improves drainage in fine textured clay soils, provides a source of slow release nutrients, reduces wind and water erosion, and promotes growth of earthworms and other beneficial soil organisms.

Fresh vs. composted manure. Fresh, non-composted manure will generally have a higher N content than composted manure. Caution Fresh manure may contain high amounts of viable weed seeds, which can lead to weed problems. In addition, various pathogens such as E. coli may be present in fresh manure and can cause illness to individuals eating fresh produce unless proper precautions are taken. Always carefully wash all vegetables under cold running water. Cook meats and vegetables to a temperature of 160 degrees to kill bacteria like E. coli that may be present on meats, fruits or vegetables.

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