What’s in Our Garden?

This is a post I originally came up with last fall, but it was too late in the growing season to make sense. This post is going to be regularly updated to share what we’re currently growing. It’ll be a way to keep everyone in the know with what’s currently in the garden and containers.

Beans

Our beans are being grown in two sections of our property. We have the majority of them growing in the ground in one of our garden beds alongside our corn. These are our bush-habit beans, so they won’t grow too tall and don’t have to be trellised. They’re growing along the perimeter of the bed, alongside the fence. The 7 varieties we’re growing here are Cranberry (shelling), Missouri Bill (shelling), Black Turtle (shelling), Maxibel Hericort Vert (snap), Blue Lake 274 (snap), Beurre de Rocquen (snap), and Cherokee Wax (snap). All of our bush beans have germinated, with the majority of the plants about 2 inches tall. These were planted close together and shouldn’t need to be thinned.

We also have 3 pole beans growing elsewhere on the property in the trellising containers that I built. These are located alongside our garage and by our potatoes. The varieties are Iroquois Skunk Pole, Cherokee Trail of Tears, and Grandma Nellie’s Yellow Mushroom. I’ve had some difficulty getting the pole beans to germinate, apart from the Iroquois Skunk Pole beans. Those ones germinated within a couple of days of sowing and are starting to climb the twine. The Cherokee Trail of Tears and Nellie’s Yellow Mushroom beans have been slow to germinate. I thought they failed to germinate after a couple of weeks, but this past Sunday (June 7), we saw that they have germinated. I’m still a bit dubious of how successful they’ll be, though.

Corn

We enjoyed growing corn so much last year that we wanted to expand upon the 3 varieties we planted, which we did by buying 9 varieties for this year’s garden. As mentioned above, our corn is growing in the same bed as the beans, which was intentional since they are companion crops and are two-thirds of what the Native Americans called the Three Sisters, along with squash. In the right circumstances, corn stalks can be used as the pole that beans will climb, eliminating the need for a trellis system.

The 9 varieties are Hopi Blue (flint), Painted Mountain (flint), Northern Lights (flint), Country Gentleman (sweet), Luther Hill (sweet), Stowell’s Evergreen (sweet), Sweet Iroquois Black Mexican (sweet), Hjeirleid Blue (sweet), and Bear Paw (popcorn). Of these, we grew the Hopi Blue and Sweet Iroquois Black Mexican last year. Everything else is new to us. We’ve also never grown popcorn before, so that’ll be exciting.

The flint and popcorn varieties were planted in full rows since they take a lot longer to grow than the sweet varieties. The sweet varieties were planted in half-rows to start. In late June, we’ll plant the rest of the rows so that we get a late batch of corn instead of having it all mature at the same time. The plants are currently 3 to 4 inches tall, and the majority have already been thinned out. They’re on pace to be taller than our knees by the Fourth of July.

Cucumbers

We’re only growing 2 varieties of cucumbers this year. One is called Bushy, and it’s a non-vining variety that produces cucumbers that can be used for slicing or pickling. I started four of these inside and transplanted them into our garden. They’re currently about 4 inches tall with a second set of leaves.

The other variety is the Mexican Sour Gherkin, also known as the Mouse Melon cucumber. These put out vines and need to be trellised. The cucumbers are small, roughly the size of a golf ball, and look like baby watermelons. We’re growing these in one of the planters I built from the Ikea chair. I started the first batch of these inside and transplanted them. Unfortunately, they didn’t transplant successfully, so I had to restart them by direct sowing. They have yet to germinate.

Eggplant

We greatly enjoyed growing and eating eggplant last year. We bought an Asian variety from our local greenhouse and enjoyed slicing and roasting them all summer. This year, we again opted to buy 2 starts from the greenhouse over seeds. They were a couple of inches tall when purchased and have grown since being transplanted into the garden, but they aren’t looking the healthiest. Some of the leaves turned brown at first, which I think is the result of a watering issue (Too much or too little? Who knows?). We also had some small flying bugs that were causing damage, but I think these have been addressed with Sevin spray. Currently, the plants are about 4 inches tall.

Leeks

I don’t understand how to grow onion-adjacent vegetables. I’ve never tried to grow bulb onions, but I’ve never been able to get spring onions to reach maturity so that they can be harvested. They start out looking great and eventually die off. This year, we passed over onions in favor of leeks, but it looks like it could be the same result. I started 12 cells of them inside and transplanted them when they were 3 inches tall. They looked good at first, but I don’t believe they’ve grown since. I later directly sowed another batch of them, but I don’t think they’ve germinated yet. I’m guessing that our soil is the issue. It’s pretty compact and not as loose or sandy as you’d prefer for root vegetables.

Melons

Pennsylvania isn’t the first state that comes to mind when you think of growing melons, but we had decent success last year with them. We grew heirloom varieties that weren’t native to the region. They also weren’t bred for cool climates, yet we still harvested a half-dozen or so fruit. This year, we focused on varieties that were bred to have success in cool areas. They are Cream of Saskatchewan, Montreal Market, and Pride of Wisconsin. We are growing 4 of each, and all were directly sown into the garden bed.

All 12 locations have germinated, have been thinned, and are about an inch tall.

Molokhia

I also struggle to grow greens. I’ve never been able to successfully grow lettuce. Last year, we grew mustard greens with some success, but they quickly got out of control. Molokhia is the only green we’re growing this year. It’s a vegetable that is popular in Middle Eastern and African cuisines and is also known as Egyptian Spinach. Molokhia plants enjoy hot weather, so I started the seeds inside to give them a head start. They germinated well, and I was able to transplant 6 plants; however, in the first days after being transplanted, they began not looking so great and have since died. I directly sowed another line of seeds, which have germinated, but it’s still too early to know if they’ll succeed.

They’re currently about a half-inch tall and will need to be thinned soon.

Peas

We grew one type of peas last year. They were a snap variety, which I love to eat. They were successful in that we harvested some pods, but we didn’t get the yield I was hoping for. That was largely because I planted them when I was feeling overwhelmed by all the other plants and didn’t give them the attention they deserved. This year, we’re growing 3 varieties: Green Arrow (shelling), Sugar Ann (snap), and Oregon Sugar Pod (snow). I was more careful with organizing the rows of peas this year than I was last year, and it’s going to pay off as the plants grow.

Currently, all 3 varieties have germinated, with the Green Arrow ones about an inch tall. I planted the seeds close together this year and won’t be thinning them after learning that peas, much like a good friend, will support each other as they grow.

Peppers

Peppers were another vegetable we had issues with last year. I started seeds and we bought starts, but none of the plants ever produced a mature pepper. Peppers can be tough to grow, and I don’t believe I was ready to correctly handle them last year. This year, we bought 4 varieties: Gochugarju (hot), Jaluv an Attitude (hot), Habanero (hot), and Takii’s New Ace (sweet bell). We bought the Takii’s New Ace largely because it can produce mature fruit quicker than other varieties, which is important in northern states where it can take until June to regularly get above 70 degrees. I also started a lot of cells for each variety and was intentional with developing a good root nest before transplanting.

I believe we currently have 12 pepper plants in the garden, which are divided among the 4 varieties. Some have transplanted better than others, with 3 of them looking great and 4 looking like they may not make it while the rest are somewhere in between. We’ve already had a couple of plants die after being transplanted. Plus, a rabbit got past our fence and dug one of the plants up. Luckily, I started more seeds, and they should be ready to be transplanted in a couple of weeks. Between the new starts and the ones in the basement, I think we’re in good shape to have a solid pepper harvest.

Potatoes

I recently wrote in-depth about how we’re growing our potatoes in bags this year and how well it’s going. If you didn’t read that post, I recommend checking it out. We’re growing 4 potato varieties this year: Red Norland (early season), Adirondack Blue (midseason), German Butterball (late season), and Magic Molly (late season). They’re all doing very well.

We split each of the 4 varieties into 5 grow bags for a total of 20, and they’ve all needed to be hilled with dirt to the point where we won’t be adding any more dirt to the bags. Within a few days of planting, some of the plants began poking through the soil. We were adding more dirt on a daily basis for a while until we decided to buy enough dirt to top off all of the bags this past weekend. I am shocked with how well and quickly they’ve grown. Still, we’ve had several of the bags begin to show plants poking through the soil, so we’re seeing a lot of growth and may only be a couple of months away from harvesting our first potatoes. From here on out, we’ll only have to water the bags, monitor them for weeds, and wait for the plants to flower and die off.

Pumpkins

We loved growing pumpkins last year and had a lot of success with them despite not knowing what we were doing. We harvested 3 of them, making pumpkin pie with them for Thanksgiving. They made the most delicious pumpkin pie we’ve ever had. We would have been able to harvest more of them had deer not broken through our fence and ate some of the pumpkins.

This year, we’re only growing 2 varieties—Winter Luxury and New England Sugar Pie, which grew last year. We’re being really intentional with how we’re growing our pumpkins this year, with 5 hills built for each variety. Weirdly, only 1 plant of each variety has germinated so far, and we’re going to re-sow seeds. The plants that have germinated, though, are about an inch-and-a-half tall.

Squash (Summer)

We are growing a ton of summer squash with 7 varieties: Black Beauty (Zucchini), Costata Romanesca (Zucchini), Early Summer Crookneck (Yellow Squash), Lebanese White (Zucchini), Ronde de Nice (Zucchini/Scallop hybrid), White Scallop (Patty Pan), and Yellow Crookneck (Yellow Squash). We love squash, if you couldn’t tell.

We directly sowed 5 of each variety, and all have germinated. Currently, each plant is at least an inch tall, with some of them developing their second set of leaves.

Squash (Winter)

We’re also growing 3 varieties of winter squash: Burpee’s Butterbush (Butternut), Turks Turban (Gourd), and Burgess Buttercup (Buttercup). We started 3 of each variety directly in the garden, and then our neighbor gave us 5 more buttercup starts. Three of the starts didn’t make it, but I replaced them with seeds from our stash, giving us 14 winter squash plants, assuming everything germinates. In fact, none of the winter squash that I directly sowed germinated, so we have to re-sow them, which we’re doing after work today.

Tomatoes

We’re growing a ton of tomatoes this year, so buckle up. After growing some rare and colorful varieties last year, we returned to growing all red tomatoes. The varieties are Aichi First (Slicing), Early Cherry (Cherry), Heinz (Paste), Korean Long (Paste), Large Red (Slicing), Little Bing (Cherry), Martino’s Roma (Paste), Mountaineer Pride (Slicing), Sub Arctic Plenty (Slicing), and Umpqua Beauty (Slicing). I don’t remember the exact number, but I think I started 6 cells of each variety and transplanted a total of 20 or so plants. Not all have survived, but we probably have around 16 plants, with 13 of them in the garden and 3 Little Bing plants in a planter. Immediately after transplanting our starts, I started more Heinz, Early Cherry, and Aichi First seeds, which have since germinated.

Currently, our tomatoes are a wide range of heights. The most recent tomatoes I started are about 2 inches tall. Meanwhile, the biggest ones in the garden are 7 inches tall already and are looking superb. We’re still a while away from blossoms and fruit, but it’s easy to envision a garden bed full of tomatoes this summer.

#73 – Welcome, Again!

A lot has changed in the 2 years since this blog was launched, and I thought, it might be time to update my introduction.

In 2023, my plan was to finding a new landing place for me to explore writing again, after Muirin Project, my blog from 2016-2019. I wanted to showcase my novel, catalog my knitting and sewing journey, journal my bible study, and share my love for creative expression in many artistic mediums.

Now I have added some new things to the mix – Japanese learning, Kpop, garment workers/conscious consumption, and most excitingly: gardening! Which welcomed my husband to the site to share his experiences with gardening and bring awareness to why natural ecosystems, seed saving, and eating local matter. He is also preparing to share his other favorite hobby – woodworking.

Now, for something I question – should I change the site name? I am uncertain for SEO purposes and the likelihood of broken links. I don’t think it is wise. But this site is so much more than just my work, it is the harmonizing voices of myself and Kyle which is how I think the world becomes a better place – working together. Let’s keep the honmoon sealed. ❤

Testing Gardening Hacks & Myths

I love how cultural and mythical gardening can be. Sure, it is also scientific, and it’s important to understand nutrient requirements and how plants benefit each other when planted in close proximity. But it’s the stories and conversations that really pull me in. Gardening is a very old hobby, with tips and techniques that get passed down from generation to generation. It’s also quite regional, with the climate and environment determining how people garden in that place. And while the basic foundations of gardening remain the same across the decades and regions, there are many intricacies that make gardens unique to a group of people. Combine all of these aspects together, and you have something that is the perfect setting for hacks and tips to be shared with anyone willing (or unwilling to listen).

If you ask 5 people the perfect date to plant peppers or the best way to deal with a specific pest, you may get 5 different answers. It’s unlikely that any of the answers are completely wrong, just that the answer is the result of a person’s background and experiences.

I’ve always enjoyed learning about lore and mythology. Magz and I both studied history in college, and history is full of mythology. It’s important to study because it helps us to better understand cultures. I also love baseball. It’s my favorite sport. It’s full of tall tales and stories that aren’t necessarily 100 percent accurate. Take Babe Ruth “calling his shot” in the 1932 World Series. Did he point before hitting the home run? Absolutely. Was he actually calling his shot, though? Probably not, but it makes a great story.

Gardening is like that. People will tell stories and offer advice that has been passed down through the decades. It often has to do with unique ways to successfully garden that don’t adhere to mainstream versions of doing things. I’m starting a series where I will test some of the popular gardening hacks and myths that I’ve encountered to see if they work. I’m unsure how long this series will be, but I’m excited to see where it takes me. This idea came to me after my dad offered a hack for deterring deer from getting into our garden. That will be the first hack that I tackle. Stay tuned.

Are there any gardening hacks and myths that you’ve been told and find interesting? Are there any hacks that you’ve tried and had success with? I’d love to hear what they are.

June 12, 2026 0

Only Going to the Coasts or National Parks

What are the biggest mistakes people make when visiting your country?

Before I dive in, I’d like to acknowledge that the United States is a very big place, and it’s not easy to see all 50 states. Most Americans haven’t done that, nor do many of us have the opportunity to visit all the National Parks in our lifetime. There is a lot to explore, but that’s also why I am sharing this, because getting off the beaten path of travel vloggers and notable cities could be the key to making one-of-a-kind memories for yourself as a traveler. I want you to get the most bang for your buck and make some great memories! My hope is to emulate Geography King’s spectacular regional guides, which have helped me learn more about my own country and inspired me to want to explore new destinations.

The Big Two Cities

Now, this could just be the travel vloggers I have been served up on YouTube, or potentially James May being singularly focused on Southern California and New York City as the defining regions of America, but it can create tunnel vision. These destinations, I would say, are highly influential on a world scale, but as defining all of the United States, they are just one topping on the pizza. One character in the film. The rest of the United States is different from these microcosms.

We have a lot of cities to see, each with their own unique flavor. Chicago has amazing views of Lake Michigan, deep-dish pizza, and kayaking in downtown. Cincinnati offers a rich German heritage and skyline chili. Portland is a donut capital and uniquely charming, with stores and hotels unlike anywhere else. Boston has history, walkability, and seafood. Austin has barbecue, music, dance halls, and more. Savannah is a low-country gem, with historic charm and a complex history that holds important lessons from the past.

Many Regions with Endless Variety

The contiguous US has many regions: the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, the Mid-Atlantic, the Rust Belt, the Midwest, Big Sky Country, the Southeast, the Deep South, Appalachia, the Rocky Mountains, and the Northeast. These regional distinctions are a great foot-in-the-door to research places completely unknown. For example, the Southeast and Deep South are known for their swamps, but did you know the Mid-Atlantic, specifically Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, have swampy-marshy low country too? Along with great beaches and seafood, due to their proximity to the Chesapeake Bay! For another example, did you know that natural hot springs are found in central California, Idaho, and also Arkansas and Alaska? What about sand dunes? We have big dunes in North Carolina, Indiana, and New Mexico. There are tons of options for whatever you are looking to explore!

Tour by Food

I believe food is one of the best ways to explore the US. Food tells the story of the people, particularly immigrants, by which the US has been shaped. But did you know, we owe a great deal of our food heritage to black culture and the seeds carried here, by African people who were kidnapped and brought here as slaves? They cultivated the plants and created the dishes, that have become mainstays of Southern cuisine and Soul Food.

Indigenous nations, long before North America was colonized, developed a rich food history that has survived genocide and cultural erosion. Without their contributions food staples such as beans, corn, squash, salmon, venison, etc would not be part of our culinary knowledge.

Thirdly, the contribution of Mexican cuisine is incredibly important to understanding the food landscape of the United States. Without Mexican culture, we do not have tacos, burritos, avocados, tortillas, chiles, salsas, mole, tres leches, agave, etc. Mexican food deserves respect.

In addition, exploring the United States through barbecue, pizza, hotdogs, sandwiches, beer, and hamburgers is a great way to learn about regional lore. Take for example Carolina style barbecue, Detroit style pizza, the Po’boy, the Wisconsin butter burger, Dogfish Head’s Punkin’ Ale, or the Primanti’s sandwich. Go check them out!

Our Third Coast and Great Lakes

What is the Third Coast? It’s the coastline along the Gulf of Mexico that stretches across Eastern Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Western Florida. The Great Lakes sit to the North, along our border with Canada, and comprise five freshwater lakes. Moving from west to east, they are Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. These regions are generally more affordable, less traveled, and offer stunning scenery, seafood, gorgeous beaches, swimming, and sunsets.

We are more than FL, TX, CA, CO, UT

Sure Disney World in Orlando is fun, Texas has Buc-ee’s, California has the redwoods, Colorado the mountains, and Utah has Moab and Zion. These are the big states for tourism, and they are booming, but don’t let FOMO and trends define your travels. These all very pricey, very crowded, except for Texas. Texas is just turned into the charicature, and this can drown out the real culture, for the kitschy cowboy vibes. Just like Montana and Wyoming, are more than just the Yellowstone of streaming. Looking beyond these popular destinations can break your trip out of the hive mind of the post social media landscape.

West Virginia and Kentucky

Don’t sleep on these two stunners. Along with Alabama and Mississippi, West Virginia and Kentucky are the butt of many jokes, even though the people are lovely, the scenery is picturesque, and these communities have been extracted to within an inch of their lives for coal that made a lot of people rich in other states, while making them very poor. Look beyond the hardships and the rough exteriors to see the good hiding underneath. Hiking, cave exploring, bourbon tasting, rafting, pepperoni rolls, and waterfalls are just a few things you can explore.

National Parks and Western Scenery Bias

Because of social media, I believe there is an intense focus on visiting National Parks. The views are incredible, the hiking is pinable, the content is effortless, I get it. These still exist at State Parks, without the extra fees. Trump recently added a fee of 100 USD, per person, for international travelers who visit the 11 most popular parks. Or you can pay 250 USD for a pass, but I think it’s wrong to paywall natural beauty that cannot be owned. NPS staff are also short staffed due to Trump’s DOGE fiasco, so this is plea to give these places a break while we sort out this mess for you and for all of us. Plus then, you don’t have to buy the 250th anniversary pass, with his ugly mug on it.

Take Yourself Out to the Ballgame

Why not go to a baseball game while your here? With 30 professional teams and 120 minor league affiliated teams, there are endless opportunities to take in a baseball game. MLB stadiums boast impressive view of their cities, with great snacks, affordable tickets, and a lovely day outside.

I Beg of You, Skip This City and This State

Please, do not go to Washington D.C. right now. The White House looks like a pile of rubble because of the ballroom build, and the UFC arena being built on the White House lawn. Go another time, when this is all a distant memory. Please skip Hawaii too out of solidarity to the local people of Hawaii, who have been priced out of their homeland by the rich and the land developers. Hawaii was colonized by force for military strategic position, over time Hawaiian culture has been diminished by forced assimilation into white cultural norms, and now overtourism is hurting Hawaiians once again. Let’s give Hawaii a break.

Kindness Still Exists

My final point is to not throw away the United States just because evil is being done by those in power right now. The majority of my fellow citizens are outraged and fighting to stop ICE, the War in Iran, Data Centers, and corruption. There are still good people here, who will welcome you with open arms regardless of where you are from, what you look like, or who you love. You are welcome here. Please come visit and let us share this beautiful scenery with you!

June 11, 2026

Using Grow Bags for Our Potatoes

We’re growing potatoes again this year after not doing so since 2022. We attempted to grow them last year, but our seed potatoes arrived moldy and rotten. We still tried to plant them, but the wet spring we had killed them before they could grow. We wanted to attempt to grow them again this year, but we didn’t want to grow them in the ground, and we wanted to buy them from a different seed company.

In my post that went over the varieties of potatoes we bought, I mentioned the varieties we’re growing as well as the company we bought from, Urban Farmer. Those potatoes arrived in late April and were in perfect condition. I was surprised at how late they arrived and thought there was a chance they weren’t going to arrive. I eventually emailed the company, and they arrived within a few days of getting a response. Given the condition of the potatoes when they arrived, I’m a fan of not receiving them until late August. It was not nice having to worry if I was properly storing them for a month or so until it was time to transplant.

When we decided we were growing potatoes again this year, we knew that we weren’t going to grow them in the ground. Standing by helplessly as last year’s seed potatoes died in the ground was an awful feeling, and it wasn’t one we want to experience again. Even though the soil is better this year, which would provide a better growing environment for them, we can’t control the weather, and another wet spring could kill another year’s worth of potatoes. That brought us back to our old friend, the container garden.

In 2022, we grew our entire garden in containers, and by containers, I mean 5-gallon buckets and plastic totes. I wrote about our experience in this blog post, so I won’t rehash it here, but it was mostly successful, and I recommend it for anyone who’s limited on space or can’t have a traditional garden. Growing potatoes in them was a success. We grew three varieties in three separate totes and probably harvested between 15 and 20 pounds. For our first time growing potatoes, we were very happy with the results. This year, though, we aren’t growing our potatoes in containers but instead are using grow bags. Don’t get me wrong; the totes worked great, but it was too easy to crowd the potatoes and too heavy to move if we had to relocate them.

What Grow Bags Work Best?

There are numerous sizes of grow bags. We went with the 10-gallon ones, and they came from Amazon. These are the ones we’re using. I picked the 10-gallon bags because they are big enough to hold four pieces of a seed potato and have enough space to hill them as they grow. At the same time, they are small enough that it’ll be easy to move them when they’re full. Grow bags are also great because it’s really hard to overwater what’s growing in them. Made of mesh, they’re breathable and let excess water flow through.

Although there are some grow bags that have flaps on the side that provide easy access to the potatoes when they’re ready to be harvested, ours don’t have that. It is convenient, but I don’t think it’s necessary. It’s easy to pull the plants out to access the ready potatoes, and I prefer to harvest all of them from one bag.

We started with 10 bags, which were a birthday gift from Magz’s parents, but when we started to plant the seed potatoes, we knew we needed more, so we bought another 10-pack, which was the perfect amount for the four varieties we bought.

Planting in Grow Bags

Growing potatoes in bags couldn’t be simpler. We used a mushroom compost and top soil blend that we bought in bulk from our local Agway and put a layer on the bottom of each bag roughly five inches deep. After that, we applied an all-purpose 5-10-10 fertilizer and mixed it in. The seed potatoes went in next. Whether the seed potatoes need to be cut prior to planting seems to be personal preference, but I like to cut ours as long as each segment has an eye. Any potatoes that only have one eye go in whole. I try to cut the potatoes at least 24 hours in advance of planting them. This allows the potato’s flesh to harden over and develop a skin that protects it as it starts to grow. With the potatoes in the soil, I cover them with a few inches of soil and water them. It’s that simple.

It’s important to use ID tags in the bags if you’re growing multiple varieties to know which type is growing in each bag. This helps to know when the potatoes are early, mid, or late-season varieties and to recognize when each is close to being ready for harvesting. After they’re planted, you just need to pay attention to when the potato plants start to grow. When you start to see the green of the plant breaking through the soil, you want to hill them up with more soil so that the plant is covered. With the bags, we’ll continue to add more soil until the bags are full. At that point, we’ll stop and wait until the plants die off, indicating that they can be harvested.

5 Reasons to Grow Potatoes in Bags

I feel that using grow bags takes some stress off growing potatoes. Granted, it is a bit more work than planting in the ground, but I think it takes a few years to improve soil to make it suitable for potato growing. Most of our yard is heavy with clay, which compacts and makes it tough to grow tuberous plants, such as carrots, beets, and potatoes. Over time, that should improve, but it’s not where it needs to be yet.

1.) Choosing the Perfect Soil

With grow bags, you can buy the perfect soil for potatoes. This blend we bought seems to be advantageous for potatoes, as it’s loose and has the necessary nutrients that help potatoes thrive.

2.) Water Management

They’re also great because you can’t overwater what’s growing in them. Excess moisture simply drains out. The flip side of this is that you need to water more often than you would in-ground plants, but it’s not a big hassle.

3.) Maneuverability

Another reason to use grow bags is that they’re easy to move. Any container is technically able to be relocated, but it becomes a pain once it reaches a certain size and weight. The 10-gallon bags are perfect for this because they never weigh so much that it’s hard to carry them, but they’re still heavy enough to not be blown by the wind.

4.) Sustainability

A major reason we wanted to use grow bags this year is that they’re sustainable. They may not be as sustainable as growing in the ground, but the bags we bought are durable and should last at least a few years. They’re made of a sewn fabric that has some flexibility and won’t rip under normal conditions. They’re much better than the plastic containers we used in the past, which would crack and break within a few months. And when we’re done using them in the fall, they’re easy to clean and store until next spring.

5.) They Can Be Decorative

Over time, our goal is to make our garden more aesthetically pleasing. Grow bags contribute to this. They look much better than the totes and buckets we previously used. The bags can be placed together in one location, simulating a garden bed, or can be placed in separate locations as space allows. We currently have ours on the hillside beside our house, and it gives this area of the yard some purpose and beauty.

To wrap up, if you’re on the fence about using grow bags, I would recommend it. Even if you have the space for an in-ground or raised-bed garden, grow bags can be the perfect complementary vessel. They’re affordable (our 10-pack cost $25.99), sustainable, and easy to move around. Have you ever used grow bags for your garden? If so, what has your experience been?

June 5, 2026 1

Our Irrigation System Failed (an Opportunity to Learn & Improve)

Our irrigation system didn’t work. When I wrote my previous posts on our irrigation system, I hadn’t had the chance to fully test it. All of the PVC components were together, and, I thought, the tubing was ready to be connected once all the holes were drilled. Unfortunately, when we were ready to give it a trial run, there were multiple failure points that I hadn’t planned for. What went wrong, how are we watering our garden this year, and what’s the plan for the irrigation system moving forward? I’m going to answer all those questions.

What Went Wrong?

I wish I could say that only one element of the irrigation system went wrong, but that isn’t the case. There were several things that contributed to it not working.

Not Drilling the Drip Holes Correctly

The tubing we bought for our system didn’t have holes already drilled in it. I wanted to be able to determine how close the holes would be. That alone wouldn’t have been a big deal. But the other issue is that I drilled the holes too big. When we were buying supplies for the system, I grabbed the smallest drill bit at our local Ace Hardware store, which was 1/16″. That is very small when you’re used to drilling holes in wood or metal. The smallest bit I tend to use is 1/8″, which is double the size of the bit from Ace, so I thought it’d work fine.

However, when you’re drilling holes for irrigation, a sixteenth of an inch might as well be a mile. I also drilled through the tubing so that there is a hole on both sides. The goal was to have the tube lay flat and water plants on both sides. The plan and reality were completely different things.

When we hooked the hose to the system, the holes let so much water out that it looked like a fountain, which wasn’t what we were going for. Combined with how close the holes were and that I drilled some before the tubing reached the plants, there was so much pressure loss that the water couldn’t reach the plants at the end of the tube. I attempted to fix this by filling some of the holes with Flex Seal caulking and Gorilla Glue tape, but it hasn’t worked.

Remedy: There are a couple of easy ways to fix this in the future. One is to buy tubing that already has the holes drilled in it. Tubing that is designed for irrigation purposes will have the right-sized holes, and they’ll be correctly spaced. If we don’t want to go that route, I would buy the same tubing I got this year, but I’d use a much smaller drill bit. I think a 1/64″ would probably work. I also wouldn’t drill through both walls of the tubing. Finally, I would lay the tubing out in each garden bed to figure out how much was needed and mark where the plants will start. That way, there aren’t unnecessary holes, which cause a loss of pressure.

Inadequate Water Pressure

I was sort of prepared for this problem, but I didn’t think it would be as large of a problem. I even wrote about water pressure and the role of gravity in my tips post. It quickly became evident that our rain barrel was unable to provide enough pressure to push the water through the irrigation system. Our rain barrel is only a couple of feet higher than our garden beds, so it was only generating a few PSI of pressure, which isn’t enough. Perhaps if the holes in the tubing were smaller and there were fewer of them, it would work for some of the closer beds, but that’s not a guarantee. I thought that the hose bib connected to our hose would provide enough pressure to operate the system, but even that failed thanks to the holes I drilled. Are you sensing a theme?

Remedy: Without fixing or replacing the tubing, there isn’t a remedy that can be applied in the near future. We could build a platform for the rain barrel to get it higher off the ground and generate more pressure, but building a platform to get it high enough would be expensive and potentially dangerous. That isn’t an option we’re interested in pursuing. Another option is to buy an RV pump that could generate pressure for the system. This type of pump typically runs off a 12-volt battery, which would allow us to use solar energy to charge it, but I also think it could be modified to run off AC power via an extension cord.

Measurements Unclear/Inaccurate

This problem applies to a few aspects of the irrigation system, and not all of them were the result of an error we made. All of the tubing we bought was supposed to be 1/4″. The first 200 feet that we bought didn’t specify if this was the interior or exterior diameter. I was planning on it being the interior diameter. It turned out to be the exterior diameter. This caused a big problem because the connection I got to go between the PVC pipe and the tubing was based on the tubing having a 1/4″ interior diameter. Now, had I learned this in that first 200-foot section of tubing, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. Unfortunately, though, I didn’t check it until we ordered 600 more feet and drilled holes in all of it.

The worst part of things not being measured correctly or not having their measurements clearly listed is that the last section of tubing we bought had a slightly larger interior diameter than the first two sections. I went back and checked the Amazon listing for it, and it was supposed to be identical to the other sections. I’m unsure what happened, but the clamps we bought didn’t fit this larger interior diameter.

Remedy: I learned that there are reducers for this type of a project that allow you to transition from one size of tubing to another. I just had to find the right one because there are a lot of versions available, all with different measurements. First, I needed to convert all of the measurements into the same system and format. In my situation, I went with standard and decimal points. This made it easy to compare sizes and guarantee that the reducer I bought would fit both sizes of tubing. Eventually, I determined that I needed a 5/32″ x 1/4″ reducer. The 5/32″ side fit the interior diameter of the tubing, and I would need a small section of tubing with a 1/4-inch interior diameter. The goal was to go from the 1/4-inch barbed fitting that was connected to the PVC pipe to the new 1/4-inch interior diameter tubing to the reducer to the tubing we already had. We also needed new hose clamps to fit the 1/4-inch side of the reducer and barbed fitting.

How Are We Going to Water Our Garden This Year?

Even though I listed a remedy for each problem in the previous section, you may have guessed that we haven’t fixed our irrigation system so that it can be used this year. That is true. Even after buying the reducer and ensuring that all the components fit, the holes I drilled were too much to overcome for this year’s garden. The tubing won’t go to waste, though. Magz is going to craft something with it. She mentioned a basket that can be used outside, which would be really cool and useful. Meanwhile, the PVC pipe, the connectors, and valves are all able to still be used this year.

We forgot until about midway through the irrigation project that we have a sprinkler that we previously used to water our container garden in 2022. When we realized that the irrigation system wasn’t going to work, Magz mentioned the possibility of using the sprinkler again. We gave it a go, and it works perfectly. The sprinkler connects to a small section of hose that attaches to one of the PVC fittings we were using for the irrigation system. We’re still able to use the PVC portion of the system, which is great. We connect our garden hose to one of the three hookups we have in our garden beds. We then attach the small hose section and sprinkler closest to the bed(s) we want to water. Once that section is watered, we move the sprinkler by relocating the hose or connecting to a new PVC section. We have to move things around a bit, but it’s still much better than using watering cans for everything, and we can use a lot of the valves to divert water as needed.

It’s not the outcome I had hoped for when I began planning and designing this system, but it is still an efficient way to water everything. And because we weren’t able to use the rain barrel with the irrigation system, we’re using the same water source with the sprinkler. We’re also still going to use the rain barrel by filling cans to water plants in bags or planters.

Will We Revisit the Irrigation System in the Future?

Absolutely. The failure of the irrigation system for this year’s garden is only going to be a one-year setback. We have the bulk of the materials needed for the system and only need to buy replacement tubing to make it work. I also still believe in the effectiveness of an irrigation system relative to other watering methods. The plan is to either buy pre-drilled irrigation tubing that fits our fittings or buy the same tubing that we did this year but be more intentional with drilling the holes and use a smaller bit. Doing that, along with addressing the water pressure problem, can still see this become a successful and useful system in 2027.

Last evening, we did a walkthrough of our garden, and I was disappointed in myself for not thinking of the sprinkler before I went down the rabbit hole of an irrigation system. Because we were already buying a new fence this year, we could have avoided wasting money on an irrigation system that failed. I voiced that, and Magz is always so good at pulling me out of that mindset and helping me see things more clearly. The truth is that if I didn’t try the irrigation system this year, I probably would have wanted to try it next year. I also think that I would have made the same mistakes next year that I did this year because you can’t learn what doesn’t work until it fails. It would have taken me one round of buying the wrong size of tube to learn what works. And because we did try the irrigation system this year, we have the PVC portion in place, which is how we’re able to connect our hose and sprinkler. Not all is lost just because it didn’t work this time. Happy gardening!

June 2, 2026 0

Hammock with a View

It’s not my best work, but a try to add depth to my art. I’ve been watching the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, so I challenged myself to draw without sketching before hand.

This scene is purely from my imagination.

First, I drew the ocean scene, then the doorway and walls. I accidentally marked the page, so I added a sleeping dog to cover the mistake. Next the floor, a rug, and a fan, inspired by the fan in front of me (in real life). Finally a hammock edge, like you are lying in it, staring out to the ocean beyond.

May 30, 2026 0

A Carrot Named Lila Lu Sang

A purple carrot. At first it reminded me of Purple Heinz Ketchup from childhood. (Anyone else remember that?) But really, this purple carrot is more natural, and normal, than our uniform orange varieties. Before we domesticated carrots into monotony there were vivid, rainbows of carrot. I’m glad we never lost these to time.

May 28, 2026 0

Ground Cherry Pie

The first in a new series called, Drawing the Seed Catalogs. We obviously have a lot of seed catalogs kicking around, what better way to put them to use? And the best part? Being able to find muses to draw without using my phone. 😁

May 26, 2026 0

I’m Going to Miss Watching Colbert

I was pretty late to the Late Show party, becoming a fan after it was canceled by CBS, for ‘purely financial reasons.’ What a shame that is! I think what we need more of is laughter. Pure, intelligent comedy for the sake of the joke. Not for the algorithm, or to bow down at the altar of tech bros, or the gold Nebuchadnezzar statue of Trump. But to instead frustrate the heck out of these life-draining entities with comedy.

In both my personal life and the greater world around me, the stress level is high. Morale is low. I think we’re all feeling tired by the burden of man doing what is right in his own eyes. But wait, there’s more! Now, the so-called “Christians” are whoring themselves out again, like the Israelites did in the Old Testament, raising up idols for their own gain and neglecting the covenant God made with them. It’s infuriating to be an adult and realize that this story is not a Bible story from the past, but a living example that continues to evolve with the generations, in repetitive cycles of taking God’s name in vain. Being the absolute worst representatives of God’s image, and claiming their actions are blessed by God.

As a kid, I naively thought this was what people from the past did, not us. In our “Christian” nation. I feel so dumb remembering how duped I was by the authority figures around me. As I got older, like we all do, we begin to see the signs of hypocrisy and corruption around us. Nowhere was it more apparent than in the Christian bubbles and institutions I interacted with. I remember my parents and grandparents warning me that the deepest cut would be in these circles. That sinful actions would feel more harmful in these environments, because we expect the believers around us to play by the rules, but we don’t. We treat each other just as badly, and sometimes worse, than the non-believers around us.

Politically, the age of MAGA and the culture wars of the last decade have exacerbated the tension in this dance of Christians being terrible representatives for the gospel, but wonderful representatives for their political parties, and the sin patterns being held onto, instead of being transformed by the sanctification process.

What I have the most irony, as I reflect right now as I write this, is that for my whole life, I have heard that the problem with America is that the church doesn’t preach sin anymore. This is usually targeted at things like unmarried couples living together, promiscuity, homosexuality, and gender expression. But I realize that, yeah, this is one of the problems with America, but not for any of the reasons listed above; instead, racism, bigotry, political idolatry, Nationalism, greed, capitalsim, extraction of the global south, ICE, Fascism, and more recently, worship of Trump, are some of the sins that are not preached about in the majority churches – and these sinful behaviors are running rampant in our world, destroying whole nations like Palestine, Iran, Congo, Sudan, and Lebanon for the sake of these bloodlusts “sanctioned” by people who aren’t being taught by churches that this is sin.

Getting back to the point of this post, all this darkness has felt like a dense fog spreading across all the light and truth, but comedy, by those like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, has cut through the complicit silence. Now we only have one of these shows left, although Trump calls for Kimmel’s job constantly. I’m going to miss Colbert’s voice in the void and hope that he finds a new place to do the same thing – call out the evil and stand for the truth, while making us laugh. The sweet pressure valve release of laughing through things that scare us is essential, I believe, for us to maintain our humanity.

It is a non-violent fight against fascism, an unwillingness to buy the crap they are selling us, and remain focused on what is good and true, when the propaganda tries to drown it out. That’s what is happening here with CBS, a complicit, chicken-sh*t response to pressure from above. What they have chosen to silence is the reminder to be kind, to be unwavering in our beliefs, and to not let the bad around us determine who we will be.

I’m thankful for the time I got to watch Colbert’s show, for the comfort pause to laugh through the ‘Hormuz news you can uz’ segment, in the middle of a war that none of us want but can’t depend on our leaders to stop, while watching our tax dollars be ripped from social programs to bombs and guns. It was like a balm to the soul, a place to reset and breathe, with a laugh. A way to process together. Thank you, Colbert!

In the meantime, what will I do? Watch Jimmy Kimmel. Rock out to the Piedmont Raging Grannies, and laugh my butt off watching RuPaul’s Drag Race.

May 26, 2026

6 Tips for Building an Irrigation System

Last week, I wrote about building an irrigation system for our garden. In it, I went over the process of designing the system, purchasing the supplies, and putting everything together. I wrote that post before the irrigation tubing was attached to the PVC pipe. Since then, we’ve started to attach the tubing and have learned a lot of things about building an irrigation system, so I thought I’d share some of those lessons.

1.) Buy Extra Pieces

When you’ve designed your system and figured out the pieces you need, buy at least one extra of each joint, elbow, valve, and connection. Also, buy another full section of PVC pipe and an extra 100 feet of the irrigation tubing if you can. It’s similar to any woodworking project: buy at least another full board than you think you’ll need. That way, if something was measured or designed wrong or something was incorrectly cut, you have extras and may be able to avoid another trip to the hardware store or having to place another online order…which brings us to tip #2.

2.) Plan for Extra Trips to the Store

Like any project, it seemed like we never got everything we needed in a trip to the store. Before we began, we understood that we would likely need to make more than one trip since this was a project we had never attempted before, but even I underestimated how much running and how many online orders would be needed. Two Saturdays ago, we picked up the majority of our components, making two separate trips that day. The first trip included buying all the PVC pipe and some of the joints. The second trip was to a different store to buy components that the first store didn’t stock. A third trip was needed to pick up something that needed to be special ordered (and because I forgot a couple of things). That doesn’t even include the multiple Amazon orders we’ve made to buy shutoff valves and irrigation tubing. I thought that 200 feet of tubing would be plenty. It was enough for two beds. We ultimately ordered 600 more feet.

3.) Gravity Is Both an Enemy & a Friend

The plan for our irrigation system was to connect it to our rain barrel and use that water as much as possible. It’s a couple of feet higher than the majority of our garden. This is a good thing. You don’t need a lot of water pressure to move it throughout the irrigation system, and each foot of elevation is roughly equal to 1 psi of pressure. When working properly, we can water our garden without spending any money on water or electricity. That’s the good part of gravity.

That negative part of gravity is that our garden isn’t level, and two of our beds go up in elevation from where the rain barrel sits. I knew this when I designed the system but thought that the pressure would still be enough to overcome the elevation gain. That hasn’t been reality. When using our hose hookup and city water, it’s enough pressure, though, so there’s a solution. We ended up moving the PVC pipe in this section of the garden so that where we connect the hose to the PVC pipe is positioned at the highest point of elevation in the garden. This will help us overcome the elevation problem, but if we still feel like we aren’t getting adequate pressure from the rain barrel, we’ll either elevate the barrel higher by building a stand for it or buy an RV water pump that can be powered via an extension cord or with a simple solar panel setup. If you’re planning to build an irrigation system, never underestimate the elevation changes in your garden relative to your rain barrel if you have one.

4.) Lay Everything Out First

This one may seem obvious, but it’s wise to leave everything disconnected until it’s all laid out and you’re confident in the positioning of everything. It’s tempting to connect components before everything is positioned so that you can see progress, but it’s best to wait. I didn’t do this and have run into some problems as a result. Because the main hookup and PVC section needed to be moved (gravity!), the direction of angles and valves needs to be changed. They started out left and should be flipped to face right. Thankfully, because I didn’t use cement on the joints, it isn’t the end of the world; just a minor annoyance. It still could have been avoided, though.

5.) Have Patience

That dreaded ‘P’ word again. Patience is such a big deal for me (I’m still learning) that I wrote an entire blog post about it last year. In the garden, it seems to be a requirement every step of the way. The same is true with building an irrigation system. Anytime you’re doing something for the first time, you’re going to run into issues. It’s inevitable. In the case of our irrigation system, issues included multiple trips to the store and placing multiple online orders, not accounting enough for gravity, and not having enough time to prep everything before we needed to install the system. Those are frustrations in the moment, but they can be overcome.

6.) Drill Drip Holes Before It’s in the Garden

This was probably the most frustrating aspect of building our irrigation system. I intended to drill all the drip holes on my drill press before the tube was ready to be installed in the garden. That didn’t happen. I ran out of time, and the tubing got tangled, causing a big mess. The result was needing to use my battery-powered drill to add the holes while the tubing was on the ground. It was hot, sweaty, dirty, and difficult to evenly space the holes. I made sure that I drilled the holes ahead of time for the tube in the second bed. It went much easier. The drill press makes it easy to have consistent spacing between the holes, drill the holes in the center of the tubing, and ensure the holes are vertical instead of at an angle. Even without a drill press, drilling the holes anywhere that isn’t the garden or yard is wise. You can get out of the sun or rain, and in general, it makes for a more relaxing experience.

If you’re thinking of building your own irrigation system, I hope these tips help.

May 21, 2026 1