OK, this is not in a container, but it is setting raspberries, finally.

Alright.  If you're still looking, I salute you, you have the patience of Job.  I admit it, I'm the worlds worst blogger.  But, here are the first pic for 2012, and, so far, things look pretty good, I'd say.  We've already has wide temperature swings here this spring, and gone from well watered, to baked dry, to well watered again.

We're Back!

Well! 2010 was a year that wasn't, at least from a gardening perspective. Other concerns, a long, hot summer that burned most of the garden down to the ground, a broken well that hindered emergency watering... not the best.
It's a new day, though, and the Container Farmer is determined to get it all back on the rails and have a great season! That means timely posts and updates, and hopefully, information that you can use! The Container Farmer is testing the waters of video (he is not ready for his scene, Mr. DeMille!), so look for some how to's (or at least some howdeedoits?!), in addition to photos and progress reports.
And finally, for now, because it is all about the eye candy...

Just another day in paradise

Not a lot to report, other than the tomatoes starting to ripen, and the beans. Oh, and the peppers. Click on the pictures to see more.

Rewards!

The Container Farmer isn't ready to break out the cornucopia just yet, but lest you think this was only all about the building and planting, behold!
The cucumber and the carrots are ours, along with the nasturtium blooms and New Zealand Spinach in the salad bowl. Oh, and I think there's a bit of sweet onion in the bowl, too.
Always eat your onions. They'll make you strong.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

There's not much the Container Farmer likes less than being led down the garden path. (Whaa... ? Never mind...) So, in addition to the (hopefully) good stuff you'll see here, you'll also get to see the things that go wrong. If, as they say, we learn the most from our mistakes, the Container Farmer must be Mensa material.
We tried fabric (natural burlap) liners in some of our SIPs, before we hit on our current one bucket construction method. It seemed to save labor, and let us get away from having to use two nested buckets. Others have reported success with landscape fabric, and burlap seems to perform well in other landscaping applications, so...
Alas, it seems not to be as good an idea as we'd hoped. Not all of them failed, as you can see, and we think the failures were in areas that were exposed to air, as opposed to being mounded over with potting mix right up to the rim. We think we would not recommend this technique unless you knew you could minimize air contact on the upper side of the burlap, and knew that you would definitely be emptying the container at the end of the season. Your mileage, however, may vary.
We also had a weather related loss, due to heavy rain, and lack of staking. This time last year we were nowhere close to needing stakes.

June is bustin' out all over!

Things are moving right along on the Container Farm in June. A little faster than even we expected! We have little Roma and Black Cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, round zucchini, and carrots! The in ground beans are starting to bloom, and quick, somebody better tell us what to do with all those tomatillos. There will be a bunch of them. We also have New Zealand Spinach coming on, though I'm not really sure what to expect of it.
It's been wet here, interspersed with periods of wetness and occasional rain and wetness. Which matters naught to the plants in SIPs, but hasn't done any favors for the few things that went into the ground.
Here are a few shots of the containers. We'll have to do some reorganizing, and a lot more staking than we expected this early. By the way, the spots on the little round cherry tomatoes are just camera flash reflections. And the little romas are in an experimental leaf/compost/vermiculite mixture with a dry organic fertilizer strip.

55

The Container Farm passed a milestone today, 55 active containers.
OK, that third one is pumpkins and potatoes growing out of a compost bin, but it's still pretty cool. And the thumbnails you get right before you click "Upload" are really small.