PREPPING PLANTERS & PLANTING VEGETABLES

This is it … the moment of truth!  Now, that the weather is warm, it’s time for planting vegetables. But, there’s ONE last thing to do before the seedlings go in the soil – prep the Self-Watering Planters.  They need to be emptied and scrubbed of any nasty green mossy bits.  Then the soil needs to be fluffed (my unique gardening term LOL!) and replenished.  It sure does help if you’ve got a strong wing-man like my awesome husband Andrew.  Oh, the things I rope him into doing – poor guy! 

To give the plants their greatest chance to thrive they need good organic soil.  It’s okay to reuse your old soil as long as you aerate it so it isn’t so densely packed. For optimal soil health, you also need to mix in some new dry soil to replenish the nutrients.  Finally, you want to be sure there’s no mould in or around the planters from the previous season.  Here’s a video of how to get containers cleaned and prepped for planting vegetables.  Then, the only ingredients you need are sunshine and water! 

My backyard is shady, the soil is lousy and I only have sunshine in my driveway.  That’s why I have a container garden to grow my veggies (if you’re like me or if you don’t have a yard, here’s how to make Self-Watering Vegetable Planters).  The effort is well worth it because I re-use my planters and the soil inside them every year.   Here’s Step One on how I sprout vegetables seeds and Step Two on how I transplant seedlings.  Enjoy getting your hands dirty and planting vegetables!