Finally I have filled my long raised bed. This took some real effort. The metal bed is from Vegega and is 17 inches high. It had 12 pieces to assemble and it was a hot day. It actually took me 2 days to put it together, and then it was time to fill. That took many days and a couple of trips to the Yard Shop.
The last push to fill it took 8 bags of purchased soil. I also mixed in some perlite, compost, and fertilizer. At last it was full.
I’ve had some sweet potato slips growing on my windowsill for a few weeks. I kept finding sweet potatoes buried in the yard that were rooting. They really needed to get into the ground. Our weather is not super hot yet, but I figure the plants are better off in dirt than in water in my house. Also, we have an upcoming camping trip. The goal is to plant things before I leave.
Originally, I had planned to order some sweet potato slips. When companies send out the slips, they do not specify when they will come. We have a couple of camping trips coming up and I’m afraid I will not be home when the slips arrive. Also, I found so many potatoes in my yard that were already growing, that I don’t really have room to plant more.
I have one more raised bed to set up. It could take me a while. I’m feeling good that this one is planted and hopefully I will have sweet potatoes to eat in a few months.
Peppers and Eggplant
Both pots of peppers were doing nicely. I have not tried to grow either type before. I planted the seeds for the Sweet Banana and Ubatuba months ago. The seedlings were thinned to 2 in each pot. Have you ever heard that peppers like to touch each other? I remembered this so I left 2 together. I’ve always had a very hard time getting peppers to grow, so I don’t have high hopes for these.
Now they are safely planted into the round metal bed. I had to set up my umbrella because it was very hot and sunny. I’ll let them have sun all day once they are adjusted to their new grow space, or if it cools off a bit. They will definitely need this shade every afternoon during summer.
In Hindsight
I’ve written about growing peppers often. Last year I had many plants that looked great for a while and then suddenly died. One had waterlogged roots, so I knew the cause of that. It made me empty my grow boxes and drill holes for drainage.
The other pepper plants were in fabric bags. I think there is a problem with these bags. First, I moved the plants from one area to another. I suspect the roots were damaged when I did that. Also, fabric bags dry out fast. I’m learning this from emptying them now. Even though I water like mad, there is lots of dry soil in every bag. I plan to write more about this.
Happy gardening! … to those who are lucky enough to be able to do it in February.
Thanks for reading!
Thank you for sharing!
Hydrangeas Blue 
It looks great. Kudos to you for filling that huge bed. That is a BIG job!! I am thankful that mine were established a couple of years ago; so this year all I had to do was replenish them- they had settled about 8 inches or more! That’s amazing to me.
I just saw that now is the time to plant just about anything here in zone 10a, including cantaloupe and watermelon. You are not far from me. Do you ever grow melons? I love eating them, but I have never grown a good tasting watermelon. I haven’t tried since living in Florida. Maybe this is the year?
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Filling the beds is a big job and I can’t wait to just have them all ready to go. I think it may take a while for the dirt to become “good”. I always add worms from my compost too.
I grew watermelons in my first gardening year – year before last – and got 3 I could eat! They were delicious. Then, last year I had no luck at all. Strawberry was the type I grew. The raccoons got into one of the small ones. I think you should try growing them. I was so amazed when I actually got watermelons. I’d love to hear how it goes for you.
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