Product Experiment - Upside-down Planters - The Results are In!

By completely accident we became the owners of two separate upside-down planters.

I have always been intrigued by these contraptions.

We never had one during our apartment days.

But I always kinda wanted one secretly.
(not so secret now though)

By the spring, this year, we had two of them.

Along with our gigantic garden and auxiliary garden beds,

it seemed like we really didn't need them!

However, I thought it would be worth a try this year.

And to show you all the results!

Bonus!

We chose two different varieties of cherry tomato plant.

One was a sweet million...the other was labelled tri colour.

(we never did find out what tri colour meant....

they looked exactly like a sun gold to me)

We had them both on our deck railing.

Both were south facing with loads of sunlight.

One did far better than the other.

The tri colour started going to flower almost instantly!

The sweet million died shortly after its first water.

(Luckily we had a bunch of sweet million volunteers in the garden,

so we didn't do without red cherry tomatoes at all!)

I have to say...I was completely unimpressed by these things!

Sure, if you live in an apartment, they kinda make sense.

If I were an apartment dweller...I would just go with planters and elevate them

using milk crates or whatever.

That brings the planter up to a height were the whole plant gets enough sunlight.

(those barricades are tall in apartments!)

I would also recommend rotating the plants so that the entire plant gets light...

instead of just one side.

Its important to note that if you use planters...

make them big but not so big you can't rotate them.

(or put them on something with wheels or casters)

We usually resort to planters for cherry tomato plants because when we plant them

in the ground...they truly go insane.

They branch out and lay down all over whatever had the nerve to be planted next to it.

RESULTS:

Don't bother!

Use a container that allows the plant to grow as nature intended.

If you are only looking for a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes...

than maybe this is the solution for you.

Me?  I love cherry tomatoes.

A few handfuls wouldn't do me (let alone the rest of the family)

any good.

The whole season reaped a sad return for my efforts.

Anyone else had a turn with these contraptions?

I'd love to here your feedback.

Sound off below!

The Little Potato Company Product Review

Surprise, my first product review!!!

On a very unsuspecting day, Handsome Husband declared I had a package.

I had a momentary panic attack...

Was this something I had ordered online that he wasn't supposed to know about?!?

Wait...no...just remembered I don't shop online...

So I opened the box...

Potatoes!

No way!!!

The Little Potato Company sent me two kinds of potatoes to review 

and come up with some cool recipes.

I have never used this product before...so this was all new for me.

I have friends that swear by these potatoes.  They won't buy any other kind.

So needless to say, my interest was piqued...

Type 1 - BABY BOOMERS

Although the cooking instructions did not mention clay bakers...I thought I would give it a try!

Usually I throw everything in a soaked Romertopf clay baker and bake for 90 mins.

This time, I put the dressed chicken in the baker...and in the last 20 mins I threw in

The Little Potato Company's Baby Boomer potatoes.

The result was amazing!

Even though adding the Baby Boomers mid way through the cooking process

made for an extra step...it was well worth it.

The chicken was given to us by a friend who grows meat chickens, the onions and spices from our garden.

These little cuties were soft, tender and full of flavour.

The absorbed a great amount of flavours from both the chicken and 

the spices on the dressed chicken.

The ability to reheat or recreate leftovers is a deal-breaker for me.

Luckily, these potatoes kept on winning me over.

I give you...spicy taters and eggs!

Breakfast of champions...

soft boiled eggs from our girls served up with local goat cheese and fresh tomatoes.

The potatoes were leftover from the clay baker dinner.

These Baby Boomers re-fried up like a dream!

I added cayenne and chili powder.

DELISH!

Another way I served these Baby Boomers was a trip to the East.

Curried Chicken and Veggies

Leftover chicken from the roast, baby boomer potatoes, onions and paddypan squash leftover from the garden.

I fried up the onions and the potatoes for 10 mins, then added the squash.

Simmer for another 10 mins.  Then I added curry, parsley and cilantro.

I used dried cilantro but really wished I had fresh herbs on this one.

Top with plain Greek yoghurt and enjoy warm.

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Type 2 - FINGERLINGS

This was actually my first dish made with the fingerlings potatoes.

I wasn't sure what to expect...so I went with simple to start.

In this case, I made maple flavoured bacon wrapped pork tenderloin.

Served with a spinach side salad and oven roasted potatoes and carrots.

I roasted the veggies on a stone tossed in olive oil, S & P and roasted for 30 mins at 400 degrees.

The carrots were from our garden and while they were small, they were tasty.

The fingerling potatoes tasted amazing.

Tender and tasty yellow flesh...I almost forgot that I grew potatoes this year!

(All of this cooking...I needed a cool beverage too...lol)

The piece de resistence...Potato, Caramelized Onions and Rosemary pizza!

Original recipe was found in the Inspired magazine.

Heat 4 tsp olive oil over medium heat in a pan.

Add 1 cup sliced onions and cook until soft and golden brown.

This is where I deviated from the original recipe.

I roasted The Little Potato Company Fingerlings in a small dish at 400 degrees for 20 mins.

I made some homemade pizza dough in the bread maker.

After the potatoes cooled, I sliced the potatoes thinly and arranged them on the rolled out dough.

Then I even spread the caramelized onions and remaining oil on the dough.

Next I sprinkled dried rosemary from the garden and Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 425 degrees for 16 mins.

Enjoy as a side dish, fun appetizer or a savoury main meal.

Trust me...this dish WILL impress!

*************************

RESULTS:  I really enjoyed this product!

Although I advocate growing your own food and being food self sufficient...

if you can't grow your own veggies (whether you lack the space or you physically can't manage a garden) ...this is a great product for you.

The potatoes come already scrubbed so they couldn't make it any easier to use this product.

Thank you to The Little Potato Company!

I really appreciate this opportunity to test these wee potatoes.