Bloglines - How About a Portable Veggie Teepee?

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How About a Portable Veggie Teepee? By Love Apple Farm on Edible Flowers My previous post about the Painted Lady Runner Bean prompted me to talk a bit about the teepee I've planted them on.  I plant 10 or 12 bean seeds in each large 15 gallon black nursery pot.  I use good potting soil (not garden soil). The beans must be kept moist at all times while germinating.  They take about a week to poke through the surface, depending upon the weather.  Once up and growing, I  remove all but the strongest 6 plants. The pots are arranged in a circle of eight, with a teepee of tall bamboo arranged around the pots and attached together at the top with twine.  The bean vines eagerly scamper up the bamboo.  I love the pot teepee.  You can take it down in the winter and store it if you don't want to grow a cool weather climber on it.  You can set it up anywhere: on pavement, gravel, rooftops, or in other hard to handle areas, such as fertility-deficient soils, virus-infested soils, or gopher-ridden areas. You can also move it between seasons, to maximize the differing sun conditions between the summer winter gardens.  You can see I've got mine set up on mulch. The teepee is also a great idea for renters, who may not want to make the financial commitment of building permanent garden beds.  I have heard from upset renters who have carefully and expensively nurtured vegetable gardens only to have to move out when the landlord must reclaim the property.  The disappointed tenants bemoan leaving their precious gardens behind, unharvested and unrealized.  The portable veggie teepee can be moved (perhaps not fully laden with 100 pounds of beans, but certainly the pots, soil, bamboo, and carefully cut-back plants to their new garden spot. Other suggestions for what to grow on a portable garden teepee are: edible snow peas or fragrant sweet peas in cooler weather, cucumbers, smaller melons such as Charentais, gourds, or mini pumpkins.  Remember that the bigger the fruit, the less plants per pot.  Growing larger vining fruit on the teepee requires attaching the vines carefully to the teepee as they grow.  A bit trickier, but what a show-stopper! My other tips would be frequent watering and fertilizing with a good all-purpose organic liquid fertilizer, and don't make the mistake of using pots smaller than 15 gallons!