Our Yearly- "What are you doing in the Garden?" thread! [Archive]

Macky

03-09-2011, 08:57 AM

It's still VERY much winter here. Supposed to warm up to -9C today and hang around 0C for the weekend. YIPEE!! I'm really hoping that this last stint of severe cold will be our last of the season. Long-term forecasts are for colder than normal temps for March through May, though. Might be a blessing in disguise as we desperately NEED a slow, slow melt this spring to hopefully reduce flooding.

I've been busy over on GardenWeb already, trying to get some advice on the predicament we'll be in this spring. I dearly love everyone here, but there are some big-time experts over there that I go to with my bigger problems. If you want to read the thread, click here (http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cornucop/msg031015128080.html?25). Got some good advice, but a few of the posters either didn't grasp the situation or got way too carried away (especially thinking our municipality is obligated to go to extreme measures for us)! I just ignore those. ;)

If you get through all that, you may wonder why I'm even attempting a garden at all this year. :giggle Insanity perhaps? I prefer to think of myself as a die-hard who knows what good produce does for our family. With last year's crop failures, we had significantly less put away for this winter. This is worst winter by far that we've had for sickness in this house... ever. Coincidence?

Right now, I've got 100 onion seedlings under lights. I think I'm going to have to transplant them into larger cell packs because the roots are really lovely. (I LOVE plastic cell packs because I can easily slide out plugs to check on them AND they're washable and reusable if you're careful with them.) Four to a 4" pot would take up the same space under lights (a concern when you have so many!) and give them a taller container for more root space. Now to find the time...

There's also two large pots of leeks under lights down there. I don't know how many there are until I transplant them into cell packs. We (Erin and I :)) seeded them this way on purpose so the seedlings would compete and grow leggy. Counter intuitive, I know. You want leggy leeks, though, so when you transplant them outside, you can bury them deeper and get more blanched stalk. :tu My theory seems to be panning out so far... a little soil in a tall pot (using ones that trees came in) makes the seedlings reach for the light. When I put them in the 4" pots, I may set them all in a tall cardboard box so they continue reaching.

There are 6 peppers and 2 tomatoes down there as well as Erin wanted to "PLANT SEEDS NOW!" and not wait for the proper timing. :lol We'll see how they're holding up come late May when they can go outside! They're in these (http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?p=56130&cat=2,51603&ap=2) air-pruning pots for the time being to hopefully check their growth a little (thinking along the lines of a bonsai tree). I'll have to re-pot them into at least half-gallon pots at some point.

I'll be able to start celery soon. Could probably start herbs any time now, but I can't seem to get downstairs alone long enough to get stuff done.

Seeds were ordered and arrived long ago. My back-ordered carrots and peas arrived last week. If conditions allow, the plans are:

- onions and leeks
- Green, purple and yellow bush beans
- Pole beans and runner (also pole) beans
- Applause tomatoes* and some goofy variety called Tomatoberry for the kids (they like sweet and I don't)
- orange and white pumpkins as well as birdhouse gourds
- white, green, purple and orange cauliflowers (varieties known) and an all-season mix of broccoli (first time trying what is essentially a "mystery" packet)
- corn
- peas
- carrots
- potatoes
- celery
- beets
- thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, parsley

We have established areas of rhubarb, nanking cherries, raspberries and masses of asparagus.

I always have flowers in the garden, but I don't know what kinds this year yet. Always nasturtiums, French marigolds and sweet peas; planting my favourite aster, Pavlova, again this year (been a while). I've got misc. perennials in a small bed, but I won't bother listing here, I think my post is long enough! :)

ETA: Those two little tomatoes already under lights for for Erin's entertainment. The main planting will be in a couple of weeks. I usually have between 20 and 30 tomato plants, depending on space available any given year.

RealLifeMama

03-09-2011, 09:01 AM

We have planted everything except for the things that we should have planted by now. :doh The reason is that the beds where the lettuce and spinach go are not ready, and the other beds were, so we just figured it was better to go ahead and get those things in than miss out because who knows if we will be up to it after the baby is born.
It is a little early for a few things, but we figure we have to have a better year than last year no matter what.
We planted peppers, peas, cantalopes, pumpkins, carrots, broccoli, eggplant and green beans.
If I don't have the baby this week, I will do the herbs Friday.

Rabbit

03-09-2011, 09:05 AM

We have a very shaded yard and a tiny budget, so we are going with just lettuce, peppers, and carrots, in containers. Then lots of flowers.

Macky

03-09-2011, 09:14 AM

:giggle I was you two years ago, Amy. Desperately trying to get the garden mulched before baby came, I had to quit that Sunday because the pain (had IU and contractions since 17/18 weeks) was finally too much. Couldn't do anything on the Monday. Baby came that Tuesday afternoon. I took my last photo preggers in front of the half mulched garden. :)

Blue Savannah

03-09-2011, 09:31 AM

lots of greens (spinach, kale, salad greens, bok choy, etc.)
peas (shelling peas, sweet peas, snow peas)
beans (two varieties and maybe anasazi, too)
carrots, rutabagas, parsnips
tomatoes (roma, two varieties cherry, maybe one more)
squash (winter and summer)
herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, mint, parsley, lemon balm, catnip, maybe lemongrass, calendula, lavender :heart)
peppers (sweet and jalapeno and anaheim)
strawberries
raspberries
cucumbers
rapini
cabbage
popcorn
radishes
sunflowers
sweet peas

I didn't have to buy seeds for all these things this year, but BOY did my bill add up :bag

justbreathe

03-09-2011, 09:50 AM

We are doing a "family garden" with MIL and FIL. MIL ordered the seeds from some heirloom seed place and it took them 8 weeks to send the seeds :hunh so we're just now getting started on a lot of things that should have already been planted.

Our garden plan is:
corn
potatoes
peas (sugar, snow, shelled)
beans (snap and dry)
broccoli
carrots
onions
cabbage
tomatoes
eggplant
cucumbers
squash (lots of varieties)
greens(collards, mustard, kale, turnips, etc)
lettuce
spinach
blueberries
grapes
strawberries
watermelons
pear and apple trees

MIL is starting a big herb and medicinal herb garden

maybe when my IL's dogs are out of here I can start a flower bed :-/

Oh! and, I'm trying to grow some luffa gourds this year!

Ajani

03-09-2011, 10:13 AM

Not totally sure. I always do tomatoes, and we have blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. I also do peas, beans and Little Mister does soy beans. Beyond that there's lettuces, kale, chard, peppers, cucumber.... I have to sort it all out.

Mother of Sons

03-09-2011, 10:18 AM

I really really want a big garden this year but every garden (small) I've ever done has been a huge flop that cost me hundreds of dollars and usually yielded me a couple of tomatoes and a green pepper that the chickens ended up getting. I'm not sure it's worth it. I don't know how to keep the wildlife out and pests and bugs and things... I don't know. Is it really worth the money it costs?

Lily

03-09-2011, 10:45 AM

I have three 8x4 raised beds and then my friend's son is coming in a few weeks to till up a 10x20 section of our backyard for more gardening.

We're doing:
zucchini
squash - 2 kinds of summer and acorn in the winter
3 kinds of tomatoes
2 kinds of peppers
onions
green beans
cilantro
basil

For bugs, I use soapy water that seems to keep just about everything away. For pests and wildlife, some chickenwire is your best bet. We'll be doing a chickenwire fence in the backyard so the dogs will stay out of the garden. I don't think they will want to eat the squash, but I do know they will trample the plants if given a chance.

Your ground needs to be enriched with extra nutrients and stuff because typical soil in your yard is going to be pretty lacking. We are adding diatomaceous earth and a nutrient blend that my dad makes to really bump up the good stuff in our soil. Plus our gardens laid fallow last summer so we're hoping that helped with depletion.

Kernigemom

03-09-2011, 10:51 AM

Well, we're in full swing here in FL, the cool season wrapping up and the warm just starting. I've got lots of stuff that can take a touch of coolness ready to harvest, like spinach, lettuce, kohlrabi, mustard greens, collards, spring onions and peas. We've had a lot of stir-fries.

The broccoli has been lots of fun. I harvested the main heads weeks ago, and now am getting loads of lovely little side sprouts that M loves to pick. He asks for "bow-kee" :giggle

I have too many turnips, not sure what to do with them.:think :shrug3

We went and got mushroom compost this morning, now to shovel it onto the garden!! :phew

momyshaver

03-09-2011, 10:56 AM

:nak2 subbing quickly before I forget. :D

I dug up and transplanted several dozen raspberry plants earlier this week. The silver lining of all the rain we have been getting is that they weren't as difficult to dig up and replant in another location. :phew My muscles are still feeling it though.

Now I can devote my little patch in the front yard to tomatoes and peppers this summer.

BBL.

Macky

03-09-2011, 11:14 AM

I'm supremely jealous of all of you who can actually see the ground. :snooty Let me step out the door with the camera for a sec...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2552.jpg

Blue Savannah - It's nice to finally get to that point with one's seed collection where you don't have to buy everything every year, isn't it? :)

Mother of Sons - Growing vegetables shouldn't cost as much as it does most people these days. People have been duped into believing that only raised, square-foot gardens work and you can't garden without first spending copious amounts of money on gimmicks, structures and specialty soils. There's no way a small garden should cost you hundreds of dollars, even the first year. :jawdrop What were you attempting to grow (and where and how)?

Rabbit

03-09-2011, 11:20 AM

I am starting so small because of that MoS.

Earthylady

03-09-2011, 11:37 AM

I'm supremely jealous of all of you who can actually see the ground. :snooty Let me step out the door with the camera for a sec...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2552.jpg

That's exactly what it looks like here too. ;) In fact, we just got 4 new inches of snow last night and today. :) I'm starting all of my seeds inside though and will transplant them outside as it warms up. Some plants can go out earlier than others, so it's going to be like a revolving green house around here for the next 3 months. :giggle

---------- Post added at 12:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:32 PM ----------

I really really want a big garden this year but every garden (small) I've ever done has been a huge flop that cost me hundreds of dollars and usually yielded me a couple of tomatoes and a green pepper that the chickens ended up getting. I'm not sure it's worth it. I don't know how to keep the wildlife out and pests and bugs and things... I don't know. Is it really worth the money it costs?

We hardly spend any money on our gardens. :shrug Just seeds, and some organic fertilizer is all we use.

Macky

03-09-2011, 11:53 AM

Revolving greenhouse... oh, how true! :giggle When I used to keep my grow lights up on the main floor, it used to get downright muggy in here. They're relegated to the basement now with two kids and more cats. Not a bad arrangement, though, as the transplants grow stockier with the cooler basement temps.

If your yard looks like mine, then when do you get to plant out? My in-laws are only an hour further south than us and can do cool crops like peas in early May with their soil. I can't even work our clay soil until mid-May, even in the best of springs. On average, I get things out the last week in May or the first week in June, then we get frosts in August again. *sigh*

I need another three shelves of 4' lights. :shifty

Earthylady

03-09-2011, 12:04 PM

I'll have to look at my list, but some stuff can start going out next month through May. The last weekend of May is considered 'frost' times around here, then not again until September. I have winter onions and strawberries already planted outside, but those are perennials, so I didn't need to start those or anything, they are just there from last year. I'm going to start Asparagus this year, but it's a fall plant and loves cooler weather and apparantly I won't get a crop for a year or two from it? Not sure on that.

Macky

03-09-2011, 12:11 PM

I should add... I read a refreshing book this past fall that entrenched my already strong belief that in-ground gardening is best, with very very few exceptions. Given the bent of the author, I would have expected him to have a solution for gardening in ANY soil. He does, except for one... my kind of clay. :doh It is the ONLY soil he recommended carting away and replacing. Yeah, thanks. I'm very thankful, though, that he continued and addressed this soil type for those of us who have no choice but to garden in it. I'll be using some of his tips this year (the ones I haven't already learned by doing).

So, to anyone who wants to come along and say that they couldn't possibly grow anything in their backyard dirt is going to have a hard time convincing me... and my posts will likely reflect that position. Just warning you. ;)

I also spend very little most years... seeds are usually the biggest expenditure. Because of the water situation we had for many years, we did spend money on a bunch of hoses and about $200 on a pump to bring water from our neighbours' dugout to our garden (he doesn't use it to fill his sprayer anymore and we're very thankful for their generosity). We'd otherwise be paying to water, though, so it evens out over a few years. We also have a rototiller, but you don't need one. There's usually somebody around who will do it for you for cheap each spring... around here the going rate for a large garden is $20-25. :)

---------- Post added at 08:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 PM ----------

I have a bed of two dozen asparagus I started from seed. :) We did limited picking the third year and full picking from the fourth on. They're doing very well, considering I've kind of abandoned them since having kiddos. If you mulch and fertilize, bonus! Not sure why you're thinking it's a fall plant, though. Asparagus (here anyway), produces before anything else in the spring. Or were you talking about setting them out in the early fall?

ETA a pic... this is the asparagus a few years ago (already on my Photobucket). Shield your eyes from the dandelion glare.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/IMG_2638.jpg

RealLifeMama

03-09-2011, 12:13 PM

I'm going to start Asparagus this year, but it's a fall plant and loves cooler weather and apparantly I won't get a crop for a year or two from it? Not sure on that.

DH's best friend planted his asparagus two years ago and he just harvested the first of it. But, he said it does come back every year, so once you have it, you have it.

MOS, we know very little about gardening and really it is all a big experiment. This is our third year experimenting. The first year, we just did lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes and peppers in some beds by the patio. The lettuce and spinach did well, the peppers were too close to the house and the seeds got washed away.
Last year, we did raised beds in what we thought was a sunny spot, and we tried peas, peppers, eggplant, two or three kinds of tomatoes, and squashes and cucumbers. The peas were fine, but we only got like one meals worth. The peppers and eggplants we started too late and they never did anything but flower. The squash all got eaten at the stalk, and the cucumbers came in a ton at first, but as the season came in they wound up looking like crookneck squash. So, it was pretty much a bust. And that spot gets way more shade than we thought. We are taking out a couple of trees this year. They are only pines, so it is not a big deal.
We did not buy any new dirt or anything this year.
We are really just trying to learn as we go. We get our produce so cheap at the farmer's market through our co-op, it is a lot easier and cheaper to just do that and freeze extra. But, we know that might not always be an option, so we are trying to figure it out while it does not really matter, KWIM?

mum2abby

03-09-2011, 12:33 PM

I have started inside with lettuce, snap peas and tomatos.

I need to decide if we're going to do buckets or if we're going to do a raised bed....

I'd like to add zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, strawberries...maybe a melon too. Hmm...I don't want to be huge but I don't want to be small either.

Macky

03-09-2011, 12:34 PM

DH's best friend planted his asparagus two years ago and he just harvested the first of it. But, he said it does come back every year, so once you have it, you have it.

This. :) It's a perennial, which is why you need to let it gain energy and build it's root system for those first years. You pick for a prescribed amount of weeks in the spring (based on age of crowns), then let the remaining spears grow so they can gather food to store for the winter and the next season. You fertilize after they're done producing in the spring, not before. The spear size and quantity is based on how well the plant grew the year before.

Pic of the tops of our asparagus ferns (sorry, couldn't find a pic with a better view of the whole plant). DH is 6' tall exactly and the ferns grow taller than him, so they grow about 7 or 8', if I can estimate.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_0555.jpg

JoyGal

03-09-2011, 12:49 PM

Macky

03-09-2011, 12:54 PM

I'm looking at seeds right now and debating what I should get. We're only doing containers and I won't be able to plant until June. I'm thinking of just going with some herbs and lettuce then taking full advantage of the farmers market. I haven't tried collard greens yet...I'm thinking about those too.

I couldn't survive without green beans, so if I was limited to containers, I'd take poles and make a teepee for pole beans and get a head start on them indoors. You can plant lettuce inside the teepee. By the time the beans are tall enough to shade the lettuce, the lettuce will likely be harvested. :)

JoyGal

03-09-2011, 01:11 PM

Wishing Well

03-09-2011, 01:12 PM

I'm totally new to gardening and just in the throes of research for my first little container garden on our balcony. I don't want to go nuts, because I have a tendency not to finish projects I start... but I really want to prove that habit wrong with this. :O

I still need to devote a day to observing how much sun my balcony actually gets, but I think it's pretty little, so I'm limited. Here is my first draft plan...

-chamomile
-mint
-parsley
-sweet woodruff
-swiss chard
-lettuce
-radishes
-begonias
-pansies or violets

Earthylady

03-09-2011, 01:16 PM

Not sure why you're thinking it's a fall plant, though. Asparagus (here anyway), produces before anything else in the spring. Or were you talking about setting them out in the early fall?

Right. I have asparagus seeds and can't plant them til fall. ;)

Macky

03-09-2011, 01:22 PM

We're moving in May down to the Pacific Northwest, so they wouldn't survive in a moving truck for a week going through Canada. Originally, before the plans to move, I had planned to have a lot of starts already going to transplant into containers in a couple months before moving them outdoors :)

Nope, you're right. That would make me so sad. You could do bush beans once you get there, though... lots of time. ;)

I still need to devote a day to observing how much sun my balcony actually gets, but I think it's pretty little, so I'm limited...

On a day where you're home all day, set a timer to go off every hour once the sun is up. Take a snapshot of where your plants will be every hour so you have a visual record. There's such a difference in daylight hours at my latitude that this wouldn't work for me until summer, but those further south might get some more useful info.

Earthylady

03-09-2011, 01:27 PM

On a day where you're home all day, set a timer to go off every hour once the sun is up. Take a snapshot of where your plants will be every hour so you have a visual record. There's such a difference in daylight hours at my latitude that this wouldn't work for me until summer, but those further south might get some more useful info.

That's a great idea. But you're right, some areas that wouldn't work for. We get totally different lighting in spring vs. summer, vs. fall, etc. This is our first year in this house, luckily the previous owners lived here for 80 years and have a well established garden. I'm assuming they have it in a good place. LOL

JustMandy

03-09-2011, 01:46 PM

Haven't read everything yet.

I have 4 blueberry bushes in my kitchen waiting to go out

I'm waiting for my seeds so I can start them in the crib (no one else uses it :giggle)

I forgot what I ordered...corn, tomatoes, squash, beans, chard...lettus...:shrug3 I guess I'll see when it arrives!

We are moving the chiclken coop across the yard and turning that area into the garden. Hoping a year of chicken poop helps the soil :lol

Blue Savannah

03-09-2011, 05:14 PM

My garden is buried right now, too. :) Planning is the fun part, anyway. :giggle

Kernigemom

03-09-2011, 07:38 PM

If it's any consolation to you northern gardeners, by the time June rolls around here it's pretty much too hot for anything except okra and sweet potatoes. So in a way, the summer is our dormant season. Plus, our day length is different, so lots of things don't grow as fast as where they have more light. I'll probably never have bulbing onions, although the spring variety do very well.

And have I mentioned how much I hate nematodes? What I am very, very grateful for, though, is a drip irrigation system dh put in for me :heart and the electric fence to keep the chickens out (or in, depending on the season).

There don't seem to be a lot of bees around (I had to hand pollinate the squash last year), but I'll have to start with the BT for the caterpillars soon.

Macky

03-12-2011, 06:09 PM

Well, I just plopped my celery seed in water to soak for a 24 hours before planting. Even with that prep, they can still take two weeks to sprout!

Transplanted 40 leeks (one of two seeded pots). That was way too tedious. :yawn I buried them up to where the leaves diverged and set them back under the lights. Hopefully they'll keep reaching and get even longer shafts. They grew nicely two years ago (flooded last year), but the shafts weren't nearly as long as I would have liked, so it took more leeks to make a recipe.

Need to plant the rest of my herbs as I didn't get a chance during the week.

Have to continue washing last year's cell packs that I didn't get to either. :blush They're piled in the garage and basement.

I'm having trouble planning the garden because I'm not sure how this French drain thing is going to work until the snow melts and that's going to be a loooong time yet. It's a little frustrating because I need to know how many plants to start now!

Kernigemom, it's a very, very small consolation... almost microscopic, though. ;)

erinee

03-12-2011, 06:16 PM

Another gardening newbie here. I tried a little at our old house, but we had a LOT of shade and poor soil, so I was never able to grow anything. Here we have plenty of sun and good soil, so we're going to try again. Megan is going to do gardening as one of her 4-H projects, so we should be able to get some help there. We just started some seeds today -- green beans, cherry tomatos, regular-sized tomatoes, banana peppers, delphinium, petunias, and zinnias. We also have green onions and strawberries. I want to get some lettuces to grow in a pot and keep in the kitchen window to snip off as we want it. And I ordered two flats of geraniums -- the kids sell them for 4-H, and I ordered a flat from each kid. I'm excited to see how it everything turns out!

Mother of Sons

03-12-2011, 06:28 PM

What were you attempting to grow

Well originally I started with a little sprouting kit that came with seeds etc. That cost 20 dollars. They started out good but most died. I couldn't get anyone to till so I tried containers which I jad to buy plus dirt. Since the seeds didn't work out I had to buy started plants and at 3-4 dollars each that adds up.

If I do it this year i kind of just want to skip the seeds because it ended up being a waste of time but eiher way I am going to have to build a fence for sure and if I do an in ground garden I'll have to rent a tiller.

I tried tomatoes. Zucchini. Lettuce. Green peppers and a few other general veggies.

FamilyLove

03-12-2011, 06:35 PM

So far we've planted
4 goji bushes
3 blueberry bushes
2 plum trees
a few types of lettuce
chard
spinach
pod peas
snap peas
snow peas
radishes
kale
tomatoes (7 types)
carrots

We are still needing to plant
cantaloupe
zucchini
yellow squash
cucumbers
eggplant
sweet peppers
beans

Macky

03-12-2011, 07:51 PM

Well originally I started with a little sprouting kit that came with seeds etc. That cost 20 dollars. They started out good but most died. I couldn't get anyone to till so I tried containers which I jad to buy plus dirt. Since the seeds didn't work out I had to buy started plants and at 3-4 dollars each that adds up.

If I do it this year i kind of just want to skip the seeds because it ended up being a waste of time but eiher way I am going to have to build a fence for sure and if I do an in ground garden I'll have to rent a tiller.

I tried tomatoes. Zucchini. Lettuce. Green peppers and a few other general veggies.

Those kits are awful; I'm not surprised it didn't work out. :hug2 The seed was likely cheap and old and those little plugs of peat moss can't sustain a seedling for very long and I don't think many people realize that. Also, the netting restricts the root system when planting if it's not removed, even though the kit says it will degrade. It does, just not by the time the roots need out. I get really steamed that those kits are sold at all.

Don't give up on seeds. Just learn how to start them the right way. It's the best way to get the biggest bang for your buck.

Go to a proper garden store or greenhouse. Buy a bag of sterile seed starting mixture; it will consist of a mix of fibrous material (usually peat), something to keep the mixture light (usually pearlite) and something that helps hold water (usually vermiculite). Buy a couple of plastic trays with clear domed lids. Buy enough cell packs to fill them. All of that should cost you less than $20 and you have twice as much to work with than with that ugly kit junk. The tray (also called a 'flat') and dome are reusable for years and you can reuse the cell packs, too, if you're gentle with them. Fill them up, plant two or three seeds per cell (according to packet directions). Cover with the lid and put in a warm place. As they sprout, take them out from under the dome immediately (too humid). When they show their first true leaves, gently remove the plug, untangle roots, and transplant so that each plant has their own cell. Find info online or in a gardening book because you have to transplant some things in different ways. From the brief list you had there, only the tomatoes and peppers really needed to be started inside. The rest are best seeded right in the ground.

Don't rent a rototiller if you're not familiar with the machine. The big ones are monsters and hard to maneuver, especially on soil that hasn't been worked for a long while. There are loads of people out there to hire, it's just a matter of finding them. They're cheap and quick and they know what they're doing.

Start with growing big, easy seeds... stuff you can plant directly outside in the ground – peas, bush beans, zucchini, squash, etc.

Don't build an expensive fence. All you need are some nice posts driven into the ground with chicken wire wrapped neatly around the garden. Staple the wire to the posts. Bury the wire a little if you need to. Small wood posts from our local farm supply store cost only a couple of bucks each and chicken wire is cheap and attractive if done neatly. :)

Auroras mom

03-13-2011, 08:44 AM

I have a bunch of seeds that I need to do something with, flowers, herbs, and veggies.

I have several beds we have made that have various things in them.

- Rosemary
- Spearmint
- Dill
- Shrubs that attract butterflies
- Butterfly plants and hummingbird attractors
- Roses
- snapdragons
- Tomatoes
- Peppers (green, red, yellow, jalapeno, chili)
- strawberry
- chives
- sweet yellow onion
- green onion
- basil

We also planted a number of fruit trees - peach, apple(s), minneola tangelo, cherry.

I tell you what - my glutes and hamstrings are sore, and despite wearing gloves, my hands are sore and throbbing and torn to pieces.

JenLovie

03-13-2011, 12:31 PM

Our plan is to attempt the following:
tomatoes (roma and another good for sauce)
bell peppers
butter lettuce
squash
zucchini
melons
okra

DH wants to do asparagus, but we have a small raised bed so I don't know if it will work in there.

I bought some basil seeds and want to get some rosemary as well. Maybe mint, too.

Last year I had horrible success with the few plants that I did. They all ended up dieing, but I think I know the problem and hopefully it won't be an issue this year.

Macky

03-13-2011, 04:50 PM

Jennifer, you're spot on with the asparagus. They have extensive roots systems and given that well-maintained crowns can last for years (even decades), a raised bed just isn't enough space. The exception would be if there was no bottom to the raised bed and the roots could continue unhindered down into the regular topsoil and subsoil.

You can make sauce out of any regular tomato. I used a very tasty one called 'Applause' which can be eaten or cooked down. :) The juicier ones just won't thicken as nicely as those with more flesh, so you have to simmer them more gently for more time. Much of the flavour is in the locule, though, so it's a trade-off. 'San Marzano' is a paste (sauce) variety that's very popular with many gardeners, if you're interested.

Tonya, oh how I do NOT look forward to the torn-up hands in spring. Partly from working in tough soil and partly from having to wash them so much. So drying. I found a product (gotta find the name of it again) that's quite different from most creams... it's almost like rubbing soft wax into your hands. It holds up really well as long as you remember to put it on every day. It even withstands three or four good, high-scrub hand washings.

Earthylady

03-14-2011, 09:39 AM

You can make sauce out of any regular tomato. I used a very tasty one called 'Applause' which can be eaten or cooked down. :) The juicier ones just won't thicken as nicely as those with more flesh, so you have to simmer them more gently for more time. Much of the flavour is in the locule, though, so it's a trade-off. 'San Marzano' is a paste (sauce) variety that's very popular with many gardeners, if you're interested.

I make spaghetti sauce and can it every year and I use Roma tomatoes. I too have found the bigger juicier tomatoes make for a very watery sauce that requires extra simmering. This year I'm also going to try Amish Paste tomatoes as well. I don't blanch my tomatoes either, I just chop them up and measure them according to the recipe, then I puree them so the skins aren't an issue. Yummy yum yum!

Macky

03-15-2011, 04:25 PM

I don't mind the skins in there, but I have found that the taste of the sauce is MUCH improved if you can get rid of most of the seeds before it's simmered. Night and day in my opinion. I bought a cheap tomato mill (http://www.leevalley.com/us/garden/page.aspx?c=&cat=2,2120&p=44040) from Lee Valley that gets both skins and seeds while retaining the flavourful juices. :tu It leaks a bit from where the handle screws in, but for the price, I can't complain.

So, I forgot to post what I did on Sunday:

- transplanted 40 leeks (more to go) and the 6 sweet peppers Erin planted a while ago
- transplanted 12 (of 100) onions, trial in different containers
- planted 2 pots of oregano and 3 pots of thyme
- planted tomatoes (34), habaneros (5), celery (36), sage (21) and rosemary (12)

This is all indoors, of course. ;) Today is the first day it's REALLY felt like spring outside. We got to a sunny 1˚C (:dance) and I celebrated by ditching my jacket before going to town. :giggle Oh, how I hate bulky coats!

ETA: I tried making carrot seeds tapes, too. Super easy and I think it's going to work out great! Three feet worth of tape down, 51 feet left to go. :rolleyes

Sandollar

03-15-2011, 04:30 PM

This is my first year planting a garden. I have planted onion bulbs and they are starting to sprout :rockon
also have starter plants of tomato and cucumber
seeds for peppers, corn, carrots

when should I plant the seeds and starter plants? I'm in So Cal and it gets to 42 or so at night, is that too cold yet? :shrug3

Kids and I are really enjoying this, shouldve done it years ago!

Macky

03-15-2011, 08:00 PM

You're in a zone I can't wrap my brain around. :giggle I will say, though, that if I've started my peppers already, you should have started weeks ago. Get those peppers seeded (inside)! :yes

As far as planting out the rest, air temperature doesn't mean much. You need to judge by soil temperature. Not many plants or seeds should go in the ground at soil temps less than 10˚C (50˚F), some need warmer. Feel the soil. Is is a comfortable temp or is it cold to the touch? At 42˚F air temp, I would doubt soil temps have reached 50˚F, but you need a thermometre to tell for sure. The easiest thing would be to find out what the traditional planting date is for gardeners in your area. Here, zone 2, it's the Victoria Day weekend in May, though that's pushing it in recent years. Many people are starting to plant the last May weekend these days. In So Cal (zone 9 or 10?), I have no idea... sorry!

JustMandy

03-15-2011, 08:11 PM

We planted tomatoes, oregano, basil, onions, calendula and swiss chard yesterday indoors. Dh is hanging a florescent light in the spare room tomorrow. I didn't start as many as I woiuld have liked...I ran out of containers (I used pop/water bottles that we put drain holes in and made pots out of newspaper) but MIL came by today with a whole trash bag of bottles. Bless her convenience loving heart! :giggle

I think I'll start more seeds tomorrow. Swiss chard and calendula for sure.

In a couple weeks I'll start a few more things.

Oh and as soon as we get the ground tilled, I'll plant our lettuce and something else...spinach maybe? I can't remember.

Macky

03-15-2011, 08:27 PM

Dh is hanging a florescent light in the spare room tomorrow...MIL came by today with a whole trash bag of bottles. Bless her convenience loving heart! :giggle

:tu and :giggle

itzj

03-15-2011, 09:20 PM

We planted sugar snap peas, carrots, lettuce, and swiss chard so far.

Seedlings are started for lots of leeks and fennel.

The rest will be lots of tomatoes, beans, both pole and bush, zucchini, eggplant, pumpkins and butternut. We're also doing a CSA so I'm mostly planting what we eat a lot of.

I also plan on planting some repellant plants to help with bugs. Our pond frogs do a good job until it gets too hot. So we'll do nasturtium, marigolds, basil and some catnip. I'm hoping it works.

Macky

03-16-2011, 06:33 AM

JustMandy

03-16-2011, 06:41 AM

Does Mint repel bugs? I have been meaning to plant some and I know it loves to take over.

Macky

03-16-2011, 07:28 AM

They say it's supposed to, but I don't remember what kind. The catnip (mint family) I have doesn't repel anything, it seems. Maybe I don't have the kinds of pests it's supposed to repel? :shrug I've got a good companions book I'll look at for you. Gotta get Erin off to school now, though, so BBL. :)

JustMandy

03-16-2011, 08:38 AM

I'd love the title of that book!

Macky

03-16-2011, 09:38 AM

The Gardener's A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food (http://www.amazon.com/Gardeners-Guide-Growing-Organic-Food/dp/1580173705/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300292873&sr=1-1) says that mint deters cabbage loopers (moths and worms) on all brassicas, deters ants from broccoli in particular and improves the growth and flavour of brassicas and peas. Evidence is cited as being anecdotal. I'd take that with a grain of salt personally. I've got cat mint everywhere (it self seeded) and it doesn't do a thing to deter those awful little moths.

Great Garden Companions (http://www.amazon.com/Great-Garden-Companions-Companion-Planting-Chemical-Free/dp/0875968473/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300292980&sr=1-1) add that mint should repel aphids, too. We have aphid, but not enough that I bother to do anything about them. Maybe the mint works or maybe they're just not a problem pest where we live, I have no idea.

The only companion I can totally vouch for is that nasturtiums are an awesome trap crop for flea beetles. When I used to grow lots of lettuce, I planted a row of nasturtiums beside it. The flea beetles preferred the nasturtiums, which meant I could kill them there (we don't eat the flower, though you can) and not have to powder the lettuce that we were going to eat. :tu

Whatever companion planting scheme you plant by, you'll find that there's contradictory information everywhere... even within the same book. The theory is great, but in practice, it doesn't always work. Trying to create an artificial ecosystem in your garden (attracting some bugs and repelling others), is a task far more complex than adding a few plants here and there. If you can do it, great! If not, don't feel bad... you're in good company. Try something else next year. :)

JustMandy

03-16-2011, 09:45 AM

Thanks!! We do have aphids. I don't want to completely rely on companion gardening, I don't mind tipping the scales a bit.

Macky

03-16-2011, 09:58 AM

Same here. :)

itzj

03-16-2011, 08:13 PM

Careful with the catnip. We've got it everywhere and it just encourages our barn cats to roll around and smush plants. :giggle and :mad We've got TONNES of frogs around here with all the flooding; our neighbours have them getting into their basement somehow (ick). They don't come into our garden area, though. Do salamanders eat bugs, too?

Nasturtiums won't repel anything... they're an awesome trap crop. Make sure you plant French marigolds for pests; African marigolds aren't scented enough.

Fennel is something I've never tried. :think Does the bulb taste as licoricey as the seeds? I can't handle licorice flavour, blech.

I'm kinda hoping the nasturtiums might help with squash bugs. I read it in a few places and figured it's worth a shot. Thank you for the marigold tip, I wouldn't have known. I'll probably harvest a lot of the catnip for our indoor cats (and to give DD something to pick). Have you had an luck with basil or oregano repelling? The only bad bug we had last year were those darn squash bugs.

Fennel is awesome. The licorice flavor pretty much cooks out of the bulb and it gets sweet. I like it braised in butter and white wine or roasted with potatoes. I'm growing it this year because I'm tired of paying 3.99 a pound given that we would eat it all the time.

We have awesome frogs here. Regular pond kind, the tiny peepers (they are all throughout our grass), and then some in between. I think salamanders might eat slugs but I don't know abut anything else.

JustMandy

03-17-2011, 12:25 PM

Chickens eat slugs but they tear up your garden so it's a balance. I'm handrasing chicks this spring and hoping that I can bring one with me in the garden to eat bugs while supervised.

I just planted 4 raspberry bushes and 3 blueberry bushes. I have 2 more blueberry plant to get in the ground but I was out of time (and energy :phew)

I'm hoping they work. The raspberry and one of the blueberry plants were clearances for $1 because they looked so bad. I figured it was worth the gamble. 4 of the bluberry plants look great, though.

Earthylady

03-17-2011, 01:36 PM

My garden is finally viewable. There isn't any snow on it anymore. :)

Macky

03-17-2011, 02:04 PM

:P~

Earthylady

03-17-2011, 09:42 PM

Well yesterday the snow piles were still two feet high! Today they are down to just a couple of inches and most of the yard is free of snow. It's been in the 50's the last couple of days. Water is leaking into the basement it's melted so much.

Delaney

03-18-2011, 04:00 AM

This is my first year gardening because we just moved away from one of those oh so snowly places. There is still several feet of snow back there, and here.... I have been digging out in the yard getting some raised beds ready for over a month. I am meeting with a friend today who has a farm and she is giving me some starts of broccoli, cabbage, chard, and kale. I am starting some herbs, tomatoes, peppers, and couple other things I cant think of yet inside. Oh yeah. And I have planted lettuce, spinach and sugar snap peas outside.

What are all of your thoughts on double digging?

Macky

03-18-2011, 08:21 AM

Totally worth it. We double dug the newest perennial bed when we built it (amending at the same time) and it's been the easiest bed to deal with of all. I don't agree with no-till farming or gardening. There are times when you have to dig either to prepare ground or break life cycles of various pests, in my experience.

Macky

03-31-2011, 10:41 AM

So, is everyone just sitting on their laurels then? ;) Gotta wake up this thread.

Seeds are being started and seedlings potted on. I'm running out of room under my THREE 4' BANKS of grow lights and everything isn't started yet! :nails There's still roughly 7 weeks or so before we can even think about planting in our soggy clay. All my brassicas and a handful of other things won't be started for another 3 weeks.

Onions (100 seedlings) and leeks (92 seedlings) are taking up most of the space. They're growing like crazy and I'm having to trim them at least once a week. This year I gave them each their own cell in the flat instead of crowding them to save space. They're certainly taking advantage! Gotta find somewhere else for them to go because I'll be potting on a whole bunch of sprouts in a week or so. :think

Erin and Eliot planted their own marigolds on Saturday and they sprouted yesterday, so they're all excited. :giggle The variety was Queen Sophia, so when we made their labels, I called them Queen Erin and Queen Eliot and the girls stuck them in their respective pots. Too cute! They can find them under the lights pretty quickly because I used some purple 4' pots that I bought herbs in years ago.

We wanted a slow melt this spring to help with flooding issues, but this is getting ridiculous. It's the last day of March and we still can't see the ground in our yard. DH (6' tall), still sinks up to his upper thigh if he steps off the packed path over the snow (we've got various trails around the yard to the outbuildings). :jawdrop Totally nuts and a tad depressing already. I WANT SPRING!!! :pout

Forsynthianicki

03-31-2011, 10:56 AM

I bagged most of my compost pile and moved it to the new house on Tues. What I have left, I plan on working into the perennial
bed. I'll plant a few seedlings when we get into the new house so they can be growing while I get the beds ready.
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Macky

03-31-2011, 11:24 AM

Sounds great! :)

I forgot this in my post...

We've got an ENTIRE WEEK of plus temperatures in the long-term forecast. http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj230/lohagen/Celebrations/frolic.gif Still going down below freezing at night, but hey... it's a light at the end of the tunnel, right?!

JenLovie

03-31-2011, 01:03 PM

DH got dirt/compost/sand from a local place and some organic fertilizer for the raised bed. Our seedlings (I started late) are sprouted and I need to start transferring them. I'm excited.

Annainprogress

03-31-2011, 03:27 PM

I've planted (inside) pepper seeds about a week ago, got 6 sprouted so far. On Sunday kids helped me plant parsley, french beans, tomato, beetroot, cabbage, courgette, spinach, onion, radish, cauliflower & basil. Not expecting to get anything from the tomato or spinach (seeds are 18 years out of date! Yep I'm not good at getting rid of stuff!) but got cabbage, radish, cauliflower & one beetroot sprouted. I aim to plant some corn, sunflowers & pumpkin, and we'll do a few carrot too when it's warm enough to plant out. Oh and some potatoes. I have a strawberry bed (mixed, loads if alpine and some regular), some raspberry canes (planted one & it spread last year), a blackcurrant bush, and a blueberry.

We scattered a mix of wildflower type seeds over the front lawn (good excuse not to mow :giggle) and I planted loads of bulbs at the bottom of the lawn, late cos was Feb & should have been Dec but I planted them a similar time last year and they came up just late and some that I left where they were came up again this year at normal time. I have a chocolate mint in a pot. And some parsley left from last year - that's meant to be a good companion for tomatoes, meant to encourage ladybirds, especially the second year when it flowers.

I want to plant lavender, sweet peas & maybe a few other flowers/herbs too.

I likely won't grow all the seedlings on myself, gave a lot away last year. I don't have a big vegetable patch, was thinking if doing more raised bed type effect along the fence (discovered last year there's concrete underneath & it's only thin soil which its probably why sweet peas & sunflowers planted along it didn't do well, so wanted to be able to add depth) which gets a lot more sun than the existing raised beds. But 4 panels of the fence blew down & I'm waiting on landlord to refinance the whole fence. I'm contemplating whether to plant some food plants out the front which gets the afternoon sun..... There's a couple of barely used patches.

My main aim is to grow some of the things that are expensive (soft fruit, green beans etc) and generally give the kids an appreciation for where food comes from. We didn't get many potatoes last year (think I overcrowded the plants so got less seed potatoes this year) but the kids now know that potatoes grow in the soil :) they were so excited when we harvested them.

I need to do some digging/preparing, so guess better get to that soon.... And also need to actually plant the potatoes this weekend!

I haven't bought much this year, the pepper & potato seeds & sweet pea seeds, and 150 litres of organic compost. Hoping that might be enough to last us but depends if I do get to do "raised beds" along the fence....

Macky

04-02-2011, 10:16 AM

:phew I think the garden map (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/gardenmap2011sm.jpg) is done... finally! Planning is always fun, but takes me forever for some reason!

tempus vernum

04-02-2011, 11:44 AM

:phew I think the garden map (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/gardenmap2011sm.jpg) is done... finally! Planning is always fun, but takes me forever for some reason!

:jawdrop AMAZING. . . :tu

I haven't posted to this because we have been going around in circles about our plan and what we are growing this year :shifty we still haven't made full decisions BUT we had a milestone today.

I removed the lids off our flats of broccoli and tomatoes because they have all germinated :woohoo And we have germinated chard, kale, onions and a few peppers :woohoo

Everything else is just waiting for germination that we have started.

I was :think about celery. How long does everyone's celery usually take to germinate? Usually I buy celery but this year for the first time we are trying to grow EVERYTHING from seed that I transplant :nails It seems like celery is taking particularly long.

We are also planting another flat of somethings that we presoaked either tonight or tomorrow. We have 4 going so far :)

Lily

04-02-2011, 12:50 PM

The bell peppers have finally sprouted! I was worried that I would need to replant. The green beans are almost 2 ft tall and everything else is looking beautiful. The tiller is coming tuesday for DH to do the back garden, the west garden and then the front flower beds.

We looked at the east gardens and they just need to be shovel turned - still very loose from last yr's tilling.

Earthylady

04-02-2011, 02:06 PM

Wow Robin! That is amazing! :thumbsup Way too organized for my blood. :giggle That's a huge garden too! How big is it?

Last night I transplanted the pepper plants to yogurt cups and started more onion seeds, another variety of tomatoes, broccoli, and two types of lettuce. My first batch of onions and tomatoes are looking pretty good!

Macky

04-02-2011, 04:18 PM

Jodi – Celery both germinates (mine was 10 days this year) and grows veeeery slowly. It's almost infuriatingly slow. :giggle Just be patient. They'll take off once they get in the soil outside. Remember that they're heavy feeders and need even moisture.

Jamie – I'm jealous. :snooty We still have years of piling on organic matter ahead of us to get our clay to that point. The only place we can dig easily at this point is the perennial bed, which was double dug and amended with ALL the compost I had at the time as well as some additional peat. It's gorgeous. :)

Mandy – The total growing area, not including the too-shady areas, is 47 by 72' (3,384 square feet) this year. I usually don't plant south of the raspberries and asparagus, but I had too many things on my list this year. :giggle

Here's a photograph so you can kind of see the area. This was 2009; Eliot was born about, oh, four or five hours after this was taken. Planting was late that year, so everything was just getting going here... not as lush as later on.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_0084.jpg

So, I got to go to town by myself today (:rockon) and walked around the greenhouse. Ooooooh... soooo nice! Warm, cozy smells of soil and plants. :) I bought Dragon Tongue bean seeds. :bag There goes the map. :doh

Bought two more 4' shop lights for the grow light setup. I'm running out of space FAST this year. :nails I'm always surprised that more people don't use these things because they practically pay for themselves that first season. $18 for the unit (pre-assembled, hangs from chains and plugs in the wall) and $6 for two bulbs (one warm white and one cool white). :rockon Each one fits two flats when the sprouts are small and need to be close.

Earthylady

04-02-2011, 04:34 PM

Mandy – The total growing area, not including the too-shady areas, is 47 by 72' (3,384 square feet) this year. I usually don't plant south of the raspberries and asparagus, but I had too many things on my list this year. :giggle

:jawdrop Ok, well I guess I need to rethink your mapping then. I thought your garden was like 2 or 3 times that size by how it all looked so neat and laid out. How did you make it (what website) and can you hook me up with how exactly I should go about figuring out how to make a map like that? I suppose I really should put a little more thought into where I'm going to put everything.

2nd, I totally would not have thought you were about to have a baby in that picture! Wow girlie! You look good!

And, I'm so glad someone asked about celery cause I've seriously been wondering if this was actually celery coming up or weeds and it's not growing very fast at all. So, I was just thinking earlier today that maybe I should take a pic and ask....is this celery? :)

Thankfulforgrace

04-02-2011, 04:58 PM

I just saw this, I hope you all don't mind but I'm going to jump in and hopefully catch up with the previous posts later.

Thursday I finally got started! I now have 4 beds, 2 that are about 7 by 14ish feet and then I think the others are maybe 4x8feet? I'm so excited about them, I ditched the raised containers b/c the soil was so awful and they weren't deep enough. So this year I'll really get my intro into weeds, yikes! :P~

I got my asparagus and garlic in on Thurs and then yesterday I got peas, kales and muscluen (sp) greens in.

I still have onions to get in and my spinach, oh and my potatoes. Does anyone know, my spinach says to soak in a mild detergent to help with germination-does that mean my 7th generation dish soap? Or something else? And how long?

So excited for this thread!

Lily

04-02-2011, 05:03 PM

The east side of our house collects leaves pretty much year round so for the last two times that we tilled those gardens, we tilled in a TON of leaves, compost, manure and potting soil. It's really made a difference in the composition. It's still clayish but has some give.

Thankfulforgrace

04-02-2011, 05:35 PM

I want some leaves!! Maybe I should have bagged some from the ILs last fall, hmmm

Macky

04-02-2011, 05:58 PM

Does anyone know, my spinach says to soak in a mild detergent to help with germination-does that mean my 7th generation dish soap? Or something else? And how long?

Seed Savers Exchange thread (http://forums.seedsavers.org/showthread.php?p=16751) on the topic. I personally wouldn't use the soap; a good soak does just fine. I've planted spinach without soaking first and it comes up, no problem. Parsley is one that needs a particularly good soak (and I've never seen mention of detergent).

Thankfulforgrace

04-02-2011, 06:04 PM

Thank you Robin! I've never had a problem with spinach either. I guess I'll go throw it in a bowl with water overnight :). Hopefully it won't be too windy tomorrow to plant. It says we might get rain but I'm not going to hold my breath (though we need it badly).

Earthylady

04-02-2011, 06:04 PM

I got my asparagus and garlic in on Thurs and then yesterday I got peas, kales and muscluen (sp) greens in.

So excited for this thread!

I didn't know you could put out asparagus and garlic in the spring, I thought they only went out in the fall. Will it still grow this year?

Thankfulforgrace

04-02-2011, 06:09 PM

I didn't know you could put out asparagus and garlic in the spring, I thought they only went out in the fall. Will it still grow this year?

Hmmm, the gardens here said asparagus now. But I will have to wait two years (where's an impatient smilie? :wink) to pick. But yes, it should grow...

Garlic, yes, fall is best but I didnt' have the beds b/c I hadn't made dh do it (ok, or dh hire someone else to do it :P~). So I'm doing it now although it won't be as big or tasty. I didn't do tons.

tempus vernum

04-02-2011, 06:35 PM

Hmmm, the gardens here said asparagus now. But I will have to wait two years (where's an impatient smilie? :wink) to pick. But yes, it should grow...

Garlic, yes, fall is best but I didnt' have the beds b/c I hadn't made dh do it (ok, or dh hire someone else to do it :P~). So I'm doing it now although it won't be as big or tasty. I didn't do tons.

I have heard that if you refrigerate garlic 30 days before planting, it will be okay. We are trying it :)

Thankfulforgrace

04-02-2011, 06:37 PM

I have heard that if you refrigerate garlic 30 days before planting, it will be okay. We are trying it :)

Ooh, please let me know how that works! I haven't heard of that.

Earthylady

04-02-2011, 07:59 PM

Hmmm, the gardens here said asparagus now. But I will have to wait two years (where's an impatient smilie? :wink) to pick. But yes, it should grow...

Garlic, yes, fall is best but I didnt' have the beds b/c I hadn't made dh do it (ok, or dh hire someone else to do it :P~). So I'm doing it now although it won't be as big or tasty. I didn't do tons.

Interesting! I didn't know that! My packet said to plant in the fall so I thought I was going to have to wait! And garlic wasn't even available when I was ordering seeds until the fall. Thanks for the info!

Thankfulforgrace

04-02-2011, 08:02 PM

I just used some organic garlic from the store. We'll see if it works :giggle. It did last year, kinda. My box was not deep enough to give it a fair go!

April G

04-02-2011, 08:11 PM

Okay... joining the thread... we just moved into a new place last summer, and after doing a hack job garden at my dad's (which basically rotted into the ground cause we were too busy moving to tend to it :doh), we have a more long term garden to work in again! :woohoo

I spent the last three days doing a garden plan and researching each veggie I'm putting in the garden. I've never done a garden from seed, only starts, so this year I'm taking it on! I have seed trays, heat mats to put under them in our drafty cold house, and a sunny sunroom for them to get plenty of light. :grin

Here's a blog post I published today with my master plan (http://organiquegal.com/garden-plan-2011.html).

Here's how my garden's looking this week (http://organiquegal.com/spring-garden-time-gabriola-island.html).

RedPetals

04-02-2011, 08:16 PM

I'm a newbie, never grown anything but a houseplant!

Our rental came with raised beds! I dug them up last week and today I bought starts of kale, salad mix and walla walla sweet onion. I also bought seeds for snap peas, carrots and ... something else! :shrug3

I'm going to get a fertilizer and put them in the ground tomorrow! I hope it doesn't rain all day!

momyshaver

04-02-2011, 08:34 PM

I repotted some kitchen herbs this afternoon and planted some strawberry roots and garlic that I bought at Wal-mart and I really hope that as the package stated that they REALLY ARE guarenteed to grow! :giggle

Forsynthianicki

04-02-2011, 09:17 PM

Found some repurposed redwood to build my raised beds today. Hopefully will be done by next week.
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Annainprogress

04-03-2011, 12:30 AM

Seed Savers Exchange thread (http://forums.seedsavers.org/showthread.php?p=16751) on the topic. I personally wouldn't use the soap; a good soak does just fine. I've planted spinach without soaking first and it comes up, no problem. Parsley is one that needs a particularly good soak (and I've never seen mention of detergent).

Ah is that why my parsley hasn't sprouted yet, I need to water it more? Onions haven't either, how long do they take (planted indoors a week ago). And unsurprising nothing from the tomato or spinach 18 yo seeds yet :giggle

JenLovie

04-03-2011, 04:34 AM

DH is going to add the fertilizer to the raised bed today and I'm going to move some seedlings to some yogurt cups. I need to decide how I'm going to lay everything out still. I'm very excited about our garden.

Thankfulforgrace

04-03-2011, 05:40 AM

Can I start watermelon and pumpkin seeds inside? How many pumpkin plants do I need for a goood 2-3 pumpkins for fall? :think

I'm guessing herbs are mostly after the frost date for outside?

---------- Post added at 06:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:39 AM ----------

btw, so fun to read about everyones gardens and ideas ;)

JustMandy

04-03-2011, 09:44 AM

I have onions, swiss chard, tomatoes, basil, oregano and calendula all sprouted and doing great under the florescent light.

I transplanted them all on Friday to bigger containers. I hope they can stay there till May!

I think I'm going to start a few more things today. :think

Thankfulforgrace

04-03-2011, 09:51 AM

Cool JustMandy! And btw, love your caption under your avi!!

So the thing I have says do onions in the ground now... Thoughts on that? And how far apart do I put them? They are bulbs....

Macky

04-03-2011, 10:06 AM

Mandy (Earthylady) – Oops, I forgot to answer your question. To make that map, I actually used a professional graphic design program called Adobe InDesign since I have the full CS4 suite for my business. Roughly $700 for InDesign alone; the suite approaches two grand now for CS5, I think. Not worth it just to garden plan... sorry! :( All I'm really doing with it, though, is making a computer version of what anyone can do with a pencil, ruler and a pad of graph paper. That's exactly what I did every year before doing it on the computer and it worked exactly the same way. :)

When I started my asparagus from seed, I did it over the winter under light, then put it out in late spring. I wouldn't have wanted it to go out in the fall because I wouldn't think it would develop a good enough root system in that short time (our winters are severe). It's a few years down the road and going strong!

Garlic... I've never planted it, so don't quote me on this, but I seem to recall that whether you plant it in spring or fall depends on whether it's soft neck garlic or hard neck garlic. I'd look it up if I was growing it. Something tells me that because of our winter, we can only grow the kind that's planted in the spring, but I have no idea which kind it is of the two.

April – Welcome to the thread! :D What a neat little garden planner! You should go over and put the link to it in the online resources sticky. I should link this (http://www.new-self-sufficient-living.com/companion-planting.html) one on companion planting over there, too. I'd be very interested in seeing your garden at it's peak in the summer. It seems there are very few photos of lasagna gardens at that stage online; most are pics of the empty beds in the spring.

Carla – Welcome to you, too! :D Salad greens are something you can seed every week or two throughout it's appropriate growing season (depends on where you live). This way, as you harvest, more are coming up for later! Re: fertilizer... if you're buying a conventional (synthetic, dissolves in water) fertilizer, you won't need it quite yet on the seeds; save for when they're growing (consult seed packet). You don't have to fertilize peas at all because they "fix" their own nitrogen from the air. Kale and salad greens really don't need fertilizer either, although you can give them some extra stuff that's higher on the nitrogen side, if you like. You'll see three numbers on nearly every fertilizer container at the store. The first number tells you the ratio of nitrogen (N) in the mix; the second number tells you phosphorus (P); the third number tells potassium (K). If you can only afford to buy one container of something, buy a general purpose fertilizer where all the numbers are equal (for example, 20-20-20 is the most common in synthetic fertilizers such as Miracle Grow, etc.). Most gardeners have this on hand for general use. Your list, though, has mostly crops that light high nitrogen fertilizers, though, so if that's all your planting, you could buy something with a higher first number instead (for example, fish emulsion is usually 5-2-2; synthetics will have higher numbers and that's fine, you just use less). Whatever you do, don't put lots of nitrogen on the carrots because they'll fork and get ugly, hairy roots all over. Hope that helps rather than confuses! :giggle

Anna, don't change your watering for the parsley. As long as your keeping it evenly moist and warm, like any other seed, it will eventually sprout. The soaking needs to be done before parsley is planted. Parsley apparently has a naturally-occurring coating that acts as a germination inhibitor. When you soak the seeds, you're removing this layer (you change the water every few hours to be thorough). Once the seed is planted, that layer is there. Watering it more won't remove it. Don't worry, the seeds will still sprout... they'll just take a little longer (parsley is like celery, it takes forever)! Re: onions... How old were your seeds? Onions (all alliums, I think) are one of the few types of seeds that MUST be fresh, like no more than one or two years old to get reliable germination. If they're older than that, I wouldn't bother. It's likely too late to start more either. I'm in zone 2 and started mine in January to put out in late May. If you're any warmer than me, you're way late. NOT too late to plant onion sets, though! :)

Heather – Yes, you can start pumpkins inside, but only if you follow a few rules. Pumpkins (all squash) have a fragile taproot, so if you start them inside (I do sometimes), you have to have a nice, deep pot for them so that taproot isn't crowded and gentle hands at transplanting time so the root isn't broken. I use the size of cell packs that are the deeper version of 36 to a flat (no idea what diameter or depth that is) and I don't start them any sooner than 4 weeks before I plan on transplanting them out to the garden (just like brassicas). ETA: How many pumpkins you get per plant will vary on the type you plant and how well you feed it (via soil or fertilizer). My Connecticut field (vining, open pollinated) pumpkin vines produces 2 or 3 nice carving-sized pumpkins per plant in sub-par, heavy clay soil with no additional fertilizer. Racer (hybrid bush), produces 1 per plant in the same soil, but they ripen really early. With those varieties, I could at least double that harvest if I had better soil and applied extra fertilizer. To guarantee 2 or 3 good pumpkins, I would suggest two plants in good soil.

I put new herb starts out after the risk of frost is over, but once perennials are established (in the fall and the subsequent springs), many are frost tolerant (oregano, thyme, etc.). Something like basil would not be frost tolerant at any time. I'd look them all up individually.

---------- Post added at 11:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 AM ----------

Ah, crossposts. :)

Heather, I have no idea what zone you're in, so it's hard to answer your question. Onion seedlings can tolerate light frosts, but I personally wouldn't push it (like you might when seeding peas, for example) because transplanting is stressful in and of itself. If your soil is workable and it's not getting terribly cold, go ahead and put them in. Your average onion is spaced every 4 inches. If you're growing jumbo sweet onions, space them at 6 inches.

Thankfulforgrace

04-03-2011, 10:09 AM

Double thank you :). It's funny, I don't like our winters but after reading about yours I can't complain. I think the onion will be ok b/c I think most of our deep freezes are over.

That said, it will freeze tonight and might snow later and I was out in the garden this morning with light clothing. Colorado is funny. :). I think we are zone 5 but I"m not sure. Our issues are drought, drought, and altitude. Oh and it's dry here :giggle.

Macky

04-03-2011, 10:29 AM

:giggle We're out on the open prairie, so dry is our default state, too. This flooding business only started a few years ago, throwing all us dry-land farmers/gardeners into a completely different world. When we moved here, I never thought we'd EVER be installing a drainage system in our house, never mind the garden. :hunh

Thankfulforgrace

04-03-2011, 10:39 AM

That would be bizarre to me. :) Here's it's usually dry but this winter has been extra dry. Makes me :nails. And when it does finally rain here it likes to flash flood :sigh. I really don't know how the pioneers made it some places they did!

Annainprogress

04-03-2011, 10:50 AM

I'm in the UK, no idea on "zones" but we had snow once this winter. :giggle think the frosts are over now, couple weeks since we had one. Most seed packs say to plant seedlings/plant outside in May, some say April. They were 2 or 3 years old (the onion seeds) I think. I can only find sets in massive packs, way too many for me to fit in what limited space I've got so I'll just not bother (unless my dad had spare, I'll see him soon :think). I don't really eat that many onions anyway.

Mandy - ooh I'd forgotten I've got calendula seeds, I'll have to find them.

Lily

04-03-2011, 12:18 PM

I really don't know how the pioneers made it some places they did!
I wonder how they did it too! I've always marveled at their ability to live where ever they were.

ValiantJoy07

04-03-2011, 12:56 PM

I'm soo excited about my patio garden this year. I've started 3 kinds of lettuce, spinach, 2 kinds of tomatoes, some peppers and some peas... I'm so excited to harvest off my patio this summer!

At my Mom's in the big raised beds we're doing lots of different kinds of plants. Zuchini, cucumber, broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus. :yum

RedPetals

04-03-2011, 04:25 PM

Thank you for the input!

I got the bush snow peas in today, along with the starts: onion, kale and salad mix.

I plan to get a general or veggie fertilizer for my little friends today.

I hope to plant the carrot seeds in a couple of days. Good to know about the nitrogen and carrots!

The parsley says to soak first... so I'm going to do that tonight so that I can plant it when I plant the carrots.

Thankfulforgrace

04-03-2011, 05:49 PM

I think it really depends on where you are for what fertilizer. Here I guess 5-10-5 is best (except for my blueberries, can't remember what I need to grab for that but I have the sheet to look it up :))

What do you all use calendula for? I've only bought things with it. Do you make it into an ointment somehow? So interested in knowning.

JustMandy

04-03-2011, 06:22 PM

I infule oil with calendula and use it to make balms. I've also made tea for drinking and for soaking.

I've heard it keeps some pests away so that's my MO and whatever I get to dry is really bonus.

RedPetals

04-03-2011, 07:46 PM

I'm in the PNW, BTW. As Far Northwest as it gets before you reach Canada. :wink

JenLovie

04-04-2011, 06:34 AM

I transplanted our tiny seedlings into yogurt cups. We only had 8 bigger containers available so I still have about half of my tiny seedlings to transplant. DH and I will be enjoying some yogurt this week. :)

Thankfulforgrace

04-04-2011, 09:14 AM

I infule oil with calendula and use it to make balms. I've also made tea for drinking and for soaking.

I've heard it keeps some pests away so that's my MO and whatever I get to dry is really bonus.

OOoh, I'm so super interested (sorry if this is too :ot!). So how do you make the balms? Just oil infused and then rub it on or are there more steps? How much to soak in tea-I've never heard of calendual in tea and that really intrigues me! And soaking in it, like for a bath? That sounds lovely!!!

I am working on a medicinal herbal garden but so far I only have echinacea and arnica. And I'm still not even sure what I'm going to do with the arnica :shifty

Where do you all get your calendula seeds?

Annainprogress

04-04-2011, 11:52 AM

I got mine as a free gift from a conference stall that Weleda had (think it was them anyway, I'll check when I find the packet). I've never grown it before.

Macky

04-04-2011, 12:50 PM

*moan* I'm sooo tired of washing cell packs and pots! We tore down the little greenhouse last summer (it was falling down and there was lots of broken glass), but I salvaged a lot of pots and flats. Add to that all the cell packs I actually used last year and didn't wash right away (:bag) and I've been washing for what seems like forever. :yawn I love being able to reuse the plastic pots, but it's a thousand times better to wash them gradually as I'm finished with them rather than letting them collect! Lesson learned.

Potted on the sage seedlings this morning. Erin mixed up some more starter mix for me (good number practice ;)). I love transplanting sage... it smells so wonderful! Started potting on some more onions, but Eliot woke up from her nap. Will have to continue later. (ETA: Just wanted to say I don't let Erin handle the pearlite until it's wet, in case anyone might get concerned.)

Making curry tonight. I wish I already had garden onions for it. ;)

Completely unrelated... the Wiggles teach kids Latin?!

JustMandy

04-04-2011, 04:27 PM

I got mine from Seed savers, I have extra, pm me and I'll send you some.

A simple balm is mix infused oil with melted bees wax, pour into a container (baby food jars work great, I also like little tins). I add vit E to help it last and sometimes I add lanolin. I'm not much for measuring...I dont' think it's reallly important. You can use the infused oil as well. And youcan soak in the tub with some salts,or not.

Thankfulforgrace

04-04-2011, 06:00 PM

JustMandy

04-04-2011, 06:44 PM

You can do it with anything...I've done it with chamomile and will doit with lavendar as well. (Everyone will think you are super fancy and amazing for making your own balm, too ;))

Thankfulforgrace

04-04-2011, 06:47 PM

You can do it with anything...I've done it with chamomile and will doit with lavendar as well. (Everyone will think you are super fancy and amazing for making your own balm, too ;))

awesome! Yeah, everyone thinks it's amazing I make my own lotion until they see it only takes a few minutes :giggle. Hmm, I could use lavendar or something it in my oil in my lotion..... oooh.

Lily

04-04-2011, 08:23 PM

You can do it with anything...I've done it with chamomile and will doit with lavendar as well. (Everyone will think you are super fancy and amazing for making your own balm, too ;))

Thank you! I was trying to find a reason to justify buying a lavender plant. Is there a specific kind of lavender I need? I can't remember the kind that was available at my nursery.

JustMandy

04-05-2011, 07:41 AM

I don't know, I'd just get any kind I came across. You can also dry it and make saches for in drawers/closets or just hang a dried bunch in those places.

Thankfulforgrace

04-05-2011, 08:15 AM

Thank you! I was trying to find a reason to justify buying a lavender plant. Is there a specific kind of lavender I need? I can't remember the kind that was available at my nursery.

I've been using my dried lavendar for steaming on the stove when we were sick. I should do saches too! Honestly just having the plant to go rub your fingers on and smell is so lovely IMO!!!

I don't know what kind of plant I have. I hear it depends on where you live if it will come back each year or not...

---------- Post added at 09:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 AM ----------

Any suggestions what to do with my dried sage? Hmmm.

So can we talk pests/keeping animals out of the garden or should I start a new topic? :question :smile

---------- Post added at 09:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:13 AM ----------

Oh, is there a type of bag you use for saches? And where do you get it? :ty

JustMandy

04-05-2011, 08:18 AM

Annainprogress

04-05-2011, 08:39 AM

I got some corn seeds & mixed veg (main ones I'm interested in are tomato, cucumber & pea, but they've got a couple years according to the packet so can plant some of the others next year) seeds today from a bargain shop :woohoo they didn't have sunflower or pumpkin though

Need to start digging & working out what I'm going to put where, and whether to put some veggies in the front garden or just flowers there. Oh and see if any of the flowers need starting inside....

Thankfulforgrace

04-05-2011, 09:58 AM

I use a square of cotton fabric tied with a ribbon. I"m all about using what I have on hand and being able to be done in a short time. :yes

Next week I'm supposed to plant some things outside but we still haven't tilled the garden space. :sigh I'm getting stressed.

Thank you! I love reusing stuff and I was not knowing where to buy such a thing. Although I do have extra soap nut sacks I could use too :tu.

ITU about the garden not being ready. This is our first year of being ready on time and I love the no stress of it. Of course we did cheat and hire someone else to make the beds b/c dh is too busy at work (which is a great thing I know :)). I do have 3 or so years of not being ready on time and I remember the stress. And I was even more of a newbee and I thought all veggies went in after frost so my cold weather ones always did awful. The learning curve is hard for me!

I got some corn seeds & mixed veg (main ones I'm interested in are tomato, cucumber & pea, but they've got a couple years according to the packet so can plant some of the others next year) seeds today from a bargain shop :woohoo they didn't have sunflower or pumpkin though

Need to start digging & working out what I'm going to put where, and whether to put some veggies in the front garden or just flowers there. Oh and see if any of the flowers need starting inside....

Oh, I need to put sunflower seeds on my list!!! Off to do that right now, thanks for the reminder!

RedPetals

04-05-2011, 10:12 AM

I need the rain to stop so that I can go out and plant my carrot and parsley seeds!

Thankfulforgrace

04-05-2011, 10:13 AM

I need the rain to stop so that I can go out and plant my carrot and parsley seeds!

You can send the rain my way!! :heart

RedPetals

04-05-2011, 10:16 AM

You can send the rain my way!! :heart

ANY time! :yes I would die for some sunny spring weather. We're in WA and it will keep raining until July 4th, with little breaks here and there.

Macky

04-05-2011, 10:24 AM

Any suggestions what to do with my dried sage? Hmmm.

So can we talk pests/keeping animals out of the garden or should I start a new topic? :question :smile

Cook with it. ;)

That's probably a good one for a new topic. This is more of a "what did you do today" type of thread. :)

I've done nothing useful today except direct evil glares at all the snow still outside.

Earthylady

04-05-2011, 11:09 AM

Cook with it. ;)
This is more of a "what did you do today" type of thread. :)

Today I watered my seedlings and plants and looked at my super muddy garden and wondered how long it would be for that thing to dry out enough to actually plant anything in it. :giggle Some of my broccoli and lettuce I planted this past weekend are starting to come up! Hooray! Out on the entry way porch it gets nice and sunny and the thermometer was saying 85 out there today! although it's only in the 50's outside. So, it's an excellent spot to be my natural greenhouse. The downside to that is....it's going to be killer out there in the summer! This place doesn't have a/c but thankfully hubby found a window one that I'll probably end up living in front of at least a month of the year this summer. I'm a super sweaty preggo lady. :)

Thankfulforgrace

04-05-2011, 03:55 PM

Got my onions in today and trying to find a bigger container for my seedlings....

JenLovie

04-06-2011, 07:36 AM

I've been moving our seedlings to yogurt containers as we use them. Next year I won't have to wait because we're going to save the containers we are using this year.
DH was supposed to mix the fertilizer into our raised bed last week but it didn't happen. He's scheduled to have Friday off so hopefully it'll happen then.

Lily

04-06-2011, 07:47 AM

DH tilled the gardens last night. If I had been thinking - I would have watered the gardens on sunday so it wasn't so dusty, but we survived with face masks.

April G

04-07-2011, 11:56 AM

Got my seed trays done this week. :phew Some of the herbs are already sprouting. :jawdrop :rockon Also cut up my seed potatoes and they are starting to sprout a little. :tu

Do you leave the clear plastic cover on after they sprout to keep them warm? :think

JustMandy

04-07-2011, 12:34 PM

Dh surprised me by staying hope today and we tilled the garden and cleaned up the yard. I am going to pay for it later but being out in the suyn for all that time was great!!! I even put reclaimed wood from an old fence (untreated :tu) around it as a boarder. It's so great!!

Thankfulforgrace

04-07-2011, 02:45 PM

April, I'm not sure... I"m not very good at sprouting :/

JustMandy-that's awesome! :dance

I planted a few more spinach and watered. It's actually being raining a little but not enough to save me from watering...

Earthylady

04-07-2011, 03:08 PM

Do you leave the clear plastic cover on after they sprout to keep them warm? :think

I do until they are tall enough to touch the lid. Especially when I have multiple things growing in the same plastic tray and they are sprouting at different times.

Annainprogress

04-07-2011, 04:05 PM

I thought you were supposed to remove it as soon as they sprouted :think

Most of my seeds haven't had them anyway, couldn't afford to buy proper trays :giggle

My big news is that it seems some of my tomato seeds have sprouted :jawdrop yep the ones that say plant by year ending 1993.....

Lily

04-07-2011, 04:08 PM

Most of my seeds haven't had them anyway, couldn't afford to buy proper trays :giggle

Most of my stuff is sprouting in gallon jugs with the tops cut off! :rockon
The one and only time I tried trays, nothing would sprout - not even the basil!

Annainprogress

04-07-2011, 04:16 PM

:giggle mine is in cut up toilet inner rolls, set in an old steel tin (well half in the tin, half in the lid) 2 types of seed came with their own mini-propagator - pepper sprouted well, only planted corn yesterday so will have to wait & see....

Macky

04-07-2011, 04:23 PM

Yes, you need to take the clear covers off when they've sprouted a) to provide air circulation that will help prevent damping off and other diseases and b) to allow more light to reach the sprouts (they will reach with the cover on and get leggy). All you have to do is cut apart the tray to take out the ones that have sprouted or use the type of cell pack trays that have perforations so you can do this easily. Plant the same sorts of seeds together in groupings such that you can cut them apart as a group.

If you're not using store-bought flats and covers, just use a rubber band to hold a plastic bag or some plastic cling wrap over whatever container you're using.

Jamie, that's odd that the cell packs would be worse for you for germination. Did they dry out or something? Usually, the smaller the container, the easier it absorbs heat from whatever you're using as a source of warmth for them. The warmer the soil, the faster they sprout. I'm confused as to why a larger container would work better for you. That's definitely not the norm.

Annainprogress

04-09-2011, 01:45 AM

I was planning to transfer all my seedlings to pots today, but I forgot how many pots I gave away last year (with plants in them) :doh so looks like only the bigger plants (beans & courgette) will get actual pots & the rest will just have to have a bit of toilet roll each for a bit till I get more. Which might mean I can't plant all the more seeds I wanted to today as well :impouting

Earthylady

04-09-2011, 08:03 AM

I have some plastic trays with the lids from last year that I'm using with the toilet paper rolls cut in 3rds to start my seeds in, then after they sprout and are looking healthy I transfer to yogurt cups, still in the toilet paper rolls. (it will decompose, so I just leave em) Then after they get too big for the yogurt cups, I have some fiber pots that I put them in and they are staying there until they go in the ground.

I've not done it this way before, but that's how it's going this year. :) I did see at Walmart the other day that they sold the refills for the plastic trays. I'd never seen them before so I'm wondering if this is the first year they sold them that way. They weren't too expensive either. I think $1.50 for 36 refill disks. But I already had my tp rolls saved up so I kept with the plan.

JenLovie

04-09-2011, 12:32 PM

DH amended the soil yesterday so I'll probably start some planting tomorrow. Some of our seedlings look great and some look horrible (or dead). I may either re-try some of the plants or just put some seeds in the ground and see what happens.

Indigo

04-09-2011, 12:39 PM

I am so excited to garden this year! May I join you all?

I am trying out (my own version) of the Ruth Stout's No work Garden. So far I have spread my compost from last year, filled some containers w/compost for warmer weather planting, added a layer of leaves to mulch the vegetable plots, and set up some areas for climbing vegetables (I'm thinking pole beans). I have a part shade area, so I am planning out plants that will do well there & plan to container garden a few in the sun. :dance The No Work Garden has really got me excited for this year. I think this will be something I can actually keep up with. :tu

Annainprogress

04-09-2011, 01:33 PM

:phew I found more pots, they were in a bag. I did some weeding in the soft fruit bed today (not finished :giggle) - my alpine strawberries, and blackcurrant & blueberry bushes have flowers coming :woohoo

I also finished off cutting some bushes right back that I've barely touched the past couple years, and made a start on cutting the lower dead branches off the pine trees (had a fire beneath them in Nov, the middle one barely has any green branches left, more & more seem to keep dying :nails not sure if it might need removing, and if so whether the landlord will actually do it....)

Washed some of the pots but not repotted any seedlings yet. But tired so not sure if I will (plus it's dark and compost is outside). hoping it's sunny again tomorrow!

Macky

04-11-2011, 09:46 AM

Well, I did a whole tonne of potting on yesterday and there's still a whackload to do. :phew I knew it was time to quit when I dropped (:doh) a four-pack of tomatoes. Thankfully, they popped out of the air-pruning pots on landing and although the stems were bent, they didn't break!

We're starting to see a bit of garden dirt now. :woohoo I can't wait until all this dreaded snow it G-O-N-E!! The way everything is melting here is giving DH hope that the French drain may not be necessary. I still think it's a good idea. We'll have to see what pans out.

I've bought supplies to make some hoop-style cold frames because I'm officially out of space in here. Just have to get DH to find and set up the chop saw for me. I can't believe how reasonable the cost will be... I should have done these years ago! Going to try and make them so they can double as hot caps for the tomatoes for a little while. Hoping the leek and onion seedlings could go out there at least because they're taking up just over three flats worth of space under the lights. At some point, you just have to kick them out so they can get on with their lives. ;)

JustMandy

04-11-2011, 10:06 AM

I put my chives in the newly tilled garden area and the three rouge onions that came back from last year :shrug3 I'll plant my first outside seeds this week, I think!!

Lily

04-11-2011, 10:09 AM

I was all excited when DH called me last night and said it was raining (he went on a late night ice cream run for me :heart). The storm turned out to be more wind and lightening than rain which was totally a let down!

So off to water the ground so more before planting sometime this week.

canadiyank

04-11-2011, 10:47 AM

I've been mostly messing with annuals, trying to get our yard in shape. Seems most everything has come back. Lots of bulbs up but not too many flowers yet, just the crocuses. My coral bark maple looks *wonderful,* so glad I planted that. The new growth's bark is bright red and the new leaves are chartreuse - fun!

Earthylady

04-11-2011, 10:56 AM

This weekend I raked out one of the weed beds. It's a huge round area that had really tall grasses in it. I asked the landlord what they had in it and if I could use it for an herb garden. He said it was just quack grass. I had no idea what that was as I don't know old farmer lingo.:giggle He smiled and said weeds and that I could do whatever I wanted with it. So, I worked on that til I had blisters in spite of wearing gloves. Then his wife came over and told me that in another small little round area she had garlic and chives in there that come up every year and in the bigger one there was some bees balm?, irises, and some other flowery type things.

DD also planted some lavender seeds in another area yesterday. It got up to 80 yesterday, was in the 70's on Saturday, but is only in the 50's today.

Macky

04-11-2011, 12:02 PM

Quackgrass (http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/quackgrass.htm) isn't old farm lingo... it's a grassy weed. That's awesome that your landlord is letting you use the area! :tu

April G

04-12-2011, 12:43 PM

Had a brief time of warmer weather yesterday so dh and I did some rearranging on our deck. We have two areas set up with big plant pots now and we're going to try and find some perennial flowers from neighbors and friends to plant in them. :) We have some wild flower seeds for the biggest pot, so we're hoping that works out. The nursery thinks it'll be too sparse, but I'm going to go for it anyway and see what happens.

Our week old seeds are sprouting now... only the leeks and one pot of herbs (didn't check which one) haven't sprouted yet. :tu Just going to do a blog post about how it's going so I can refer back to it next year. :)

Auroras mom

04-13-2011, 08:09 AM

I mostly garden for beauty, birds, and butterflies. I am trying my hand at growing food, but am finding it troublesome.

Our dirt on this lot is very sandy. We have amended with cow manure compost, but not enough probably. One bed is slanted downward, whcih I am sure keeps things too dry. We will build it up, but not til later this year, as the stone costs moolah (making a stone retaining wall).

My pepper plants are looking pitiful, and my basil is looking burned. I think "full sun" in Florida is just too much - even when it is only 4 hours or so.

My onions, dill, spearmint, and cilantro all seem happy. My strawberries look sad. My tomatoes are split (different types - one thriving, one so-so, one sad). My kale is growing, but is pale (how cna i Green it up?).

My hibiscus plants, drift roses, knock out roses are doing great. My milkweed looks sad and weird. My pentas looks good about 50% , the other half sad.

I bought some purslane, which is a flowering and edible plant, but don't know where to put it, as I am realzing it will spread.

My honesuckle needs a trellis, and my passionflower needs a bigger trellis. My jasmine needs planted. :P OKay, wait - they all need planted.

My trees look happy. No fruit this year probably though.

Macky

04-13-2011, 11:12 AM

Some photos would help. "Sad" and "weird" are too general a term to offer any useful help for specific plants.

If your kale is pale, chances are you're either over-watering or lacking nitrogen in the soil (at least in that area). To "green it up", step back watering or add a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen (the first number on the package), as appropriate.

Nitrogen leeches easily through soil, especially in sand, I would think. If the area is getting lots of water, it can push the nitrogen down below the reach of young plants (but not established ones, which is probably why your trees and roses are fine). Adding organic matter – compost, aged manure, peat and alternatives, etc. – will help the soil retain nutrients better. Never stop adding organic matter. You need to do this every year. :yes

Check the pH of your soil. Vegetables like soil that is around neutral or even slightly on the alkaline side. Few veggies like acid soil, but many flowers do. If you're succeeding with flowers, but failing with vegetables, check pH. If your soil is acidic, you can either grow plants suitable for it and abandon the rest OR you can attempt to alter the pH using various additions (various limes, etc.).

April G

04-13-2011, 11:19 AM

My seed trays... the tomato starts seem really leggy... :think :scratch http://organiquegal.com/seed-start-trays-week-2.html

Macky

04-13-2011, 11:27 AM

They're not big enough to be leggy yet. You're doing just fine! :)

As soon as you start seeing the first true leaves budding out, transplant those little guys, each to their own container. They're way too crowded in there. When transplanting tomato and pepper seedlings, always bury the stems at least up to the first set of leaves as they grow new roots from the stem. So, on your first transplanting, you'll bury up to the seed leaves. The next time you pot them on, the seed leaves will be unnecessary, so you pinch them off and bury up to the first true leaves (but leave the point where they join the stem above the soil). The next transplanting should be out into the garden... pinch off the bottom leaves (what were the first true leaves) and bury the plant up to the next set.

Because you're using a window instead of direct lighting, I can almost guarantee your starts will become leggy later on. The sooner you can move them outside (weather permitting) or under direct artificial light, the better.

April G

04-13-2011, 11:33 AM

Thank you! That's fabulous info... I do have a full spectrum lamp I could put over them, but didn't notice any difference in the amount of light they are getting... It's a south facing window and very bright all day, but having it direct makes sense. :yes

JustMandy

04-13-2011, 11:45 AM

Oh! Thanks for the transplant info!! I have my first true leaves coming in on my tomatoes and need to transplant but I thought I had more time and didn't know to do it that deep!

magpiedpiper

04-13-2011, 11:54 AM

Macky

04-13-2011, 12:46 PM

I generally use cell packs that are sized to fit 36 per flat. This year I was trying some fancy schmancy air-pruning pots that look somewhat like upside-down pyramids; they take up more space, but have roughly the same amount of capacity. With most of my veggies, they stay in that size of cell pack until they go out to the garden. The peppers and tomatoes are the only ones that I pot on a second time... and that's only because I often have to hold them longer than someone normally might because of cold weather. If I lived in a warmer climate, they probably wouldn't need a second potting on because the season would be longer (mine is ridiculously short).

wisdomjourney

04-13-2011, 12:50 PM

Oh dearie me, I am going to try to work up the gumption to read these lovely posts. But we just moved states, and are renting, so my beloved garden is blooming without me. Yesterday my little son said to DH, "If we were home, Mommy would be working in her garden. But we don't have a garden at this new home." :cry2 Ah, well. I am trying to look at this time as a brief respite from the work, but I LOVE THE WORK!! :)

In the meantime, I am going live vicariously through the rest of you. Heh heh.

Auroras mom

04-13-2011, 12:53 PM

I will try to take some pictures for you and also to test my soil pH. I hired a lawn service to handle that for me, but they failed to do it on the first visit.

Sad = pale, maybe a bit yelow, ragged leaves, burnt leaves, and smallish (for the most part).

April G

04-13-2011, 01:04 PM

Robin, I am going to keep my tomatoes and eggplant starts indoors till early to mid-June. Would I just do one transplant or two?

JustMandy

04-13-2011, 02:52 PM

Macky

04-13-2011, 07:31 PM

Wisdomjourney, welcome! :hug

April, that would probably depend on how leggy they get. If you're able to grow them slow and stocky, you could get by with one. If they start stretching, two pottings on would be good.

JustMandy

04-16-2011, 02:21 PM

I repotted all 23 of my tomato plants into their own containers and started cucumbers, pumpkin and zuccini. Tomorrow or Monday, I'll plant carrots, potatoes, more lettuce, more spinach and transplant the onions outside. :rockon I'm starting to get really excited about this garden!

April G

04-16-2011, 02:43 PM

We had FROST yesterday. The day before it was SNOWING and HAILING. Crazy weather... :jawdrop I'm SO glad I didn't direct seed anything yet. :-/ It's supposed to stay cold this week... so hopefully by the first of may I can get my seeds in the ground. :doh

JustMandy

04-16-2011, 03:14 PM

Ugh, April, I don't think I would do well in northern climates. KY is cold enough and with a long enough winter for me. :hug

April G

04-16-2011, 03:22 PM

Rain is normal for this time of year, but it's unseasonably cold this year. :(

JenLovie

04-17-2011, 05:25 AM

My broccoli, tomatoes, bell peppers and basil are all looking good. My onions flopped big time. DH is off tomorrow so I'm planning to do some transplanting into the raised bed and to plant some other seeds in the bed as well. I'm really excited that I may actually get something to grow this year!

Annainprogress

04-17-2011, 01:41 PM

My parents helped me with starting to dig allllll the weeds out of one patch (they cling onto so much of my soil between the grass & the dandelions :doh gonna have to buy much more compost than I'd planned....) and weeding my strawberry bed today. And mum has brought me a rhubarb to plant when I've cleared a little more of it (hopefully tomorrow!)

Macky

04-18-2011, 01:41 PM

This is going to be pic heavy. ;)

Trying out COF this year... complete organic fertilizer, recipe as proposed by the author of a book I've read over the winter. I'll have to modify it somewhat because our soil is a lot more alkaline than most. Seed meal comprises the main nitrogen source. This is soybean meal from our local feed manufacturer.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/CSC_2590.jpg

Here's my seed starting area down in the basement. It certainly isn't pretty, but it works! I need one more four-foot light for the bottom shelf so I can lower the lights closer to the plants; the tomatoes are reaching more than they should.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2616.jpg

The rhubarb and daylilies are the only things brave enough to be poking their heads out so far with this crazy spring.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2593.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2597.jpg

These are onions, 12 weeks from seeding. I also have leeks the same age, but forgot to snap a pic of them as they're upstairs under a different light. Erin wanted to plant something, too, (this was mid-January :giggle), so I let her plant a couple of tomatoes and some carrots. Obviously it was waaaaay too early for those, but they're still holding on in pots down there!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2604.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2603.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2601.jpg

I'll just link the rest so this doesn't get sluggish. Here's the top shelf with oregano, thyme and bell peppers (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2598.jpg). Younger pepper seedlings; these are Caribbean Red (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2614.jpg), a habanero-type hot pepper. Tango celery (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2606.jpg) seedlings. Pavlova Dark Blue (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2607.jpg) asters. Sunberry (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2608.jpg) seedlings. Flat-leaf parsley (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2609.jpg). Sage (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2610.jpg) seedlings. Applause (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2605.jpg) tomatoes. Queen Sophia (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2611.jpg) (French) marigolds.

That's what I've been up to lately! :)

JenLovie

04-18-2011, 02:38 PM

I put everything in the raised bed today. I planted seeds for okra, squash, zucchini, melon and onion (my onion seedlings didn't work out) and transplanted tomatoes, broccoli and bell peppers. It was nice to get my hands in the dirt.

Thankfulforgrace

04-18-2011, 03:40 PM

My spinach and a few peas have started to peak through but still nothing on the asparagus. I'm thinking they didn't make it :(. Which is a big bummer b/c they were more expensive, I really want them, and they were a pain to plant :shifty

Earthylady

04-19-2011, 08:27 PM

I've been out of town on a road trip with the kids for the past week and should be getting home tomorrow. I hope hubby took care of the plants for me. I'll be heading into icky weather too. They were expecting 9 inches of snow today. At least we had some warmer weather on our trip and got a taste of spring for a few days. I was hoping winter would be well on her way out by the time we got home. :sigh spring will eventually get here, right? :)

Delaney

04-20-2011, 03:35 AM

Lady TS

04-20-2011, 05:21 AM

All I've done is get most of my seeds. It's been so cold and rainy lately that I haven't gotten the gumption to start anything indoors OR put any seeds out in the garden for cool-weather crops. :shifty

Dh has only gotten a couple swipes with the tiller done in the garden. It's just toooo wet! I have onions that really want to go in the dirt somewhere, though...

Maybe it will warm up/dry off a bit in the next week and I can get to work! :heart

JustMandy

04-20-2011, 07:15 AM

I got all my carrots, potatoes, spinach, round 2 of lettuce, and onions out yesterday. My legs HURT!! :giggle All that squating is good for me. The whole time I kept thinking "This is so good for my pelvic floor!" :giggle

I forgot I needed to harden off the seedlings :blush I don't think my onions are going to make it. I wish they would we eat LOTS of onions. :nails

It was so nice to be in the garden. That's the first time I ever felt that way. It's also the first time I braved the dirt without gloves. I really enjoyed working the soil, weeding (I'm still getting pieces of sod out of the area) and planting. Hopefully I don't get bored with it and ruin everything. :shifty

Macky

04-20-2011, 07:23 AM

Can you tell me a little more about tomato starts? I started mine indoors as well and they seem to be growing very very slowly. I am not even sure if they are still growing. I have them in a plastice greenhouse thingy in the window, and it does get very warm inside. These starts are about 2 inches tall, and it looks like the 1st set of true leaves are getting ready to come, but it has looked like this for over a week. Thoughts?

Need a pic to say anything for sure. Also, what date did you plant them and how many days did they take to germinate? You want toms to grow slowly while they're still indoors... it makes for stockier plants. If all the plants are doing the same thing, I would say that's normal and just keep on waiting. If there are some significantly ahead of the others, I would be concerned about the slow guys. It sounds like they're all in sync, though, right? Your toms should only be in pots for 6 weeks, plus another week (or two) for hardening off outdoors. Slow growth means they won't outgrow their containers in that time. They take off once they're outside. :yes

I made the mistake earlier of heating up my little growing room downstairs too much. I was trying to warm up the poor little guys because the undersides of the leaves were totally purple (tomato seedlings do this when they're too cold). Well, it worked... the leaves are no longer purple... but it caused them to grow too fast and now they're all leggy. I should have just left well enough alone. Stocky and purple is much better than leggy. The purple has never been a problem before because they always grow fine when they get outside. I was briefly (dumb) worried about appearances over health. :doh

So yeah, slow growth is good. ;)

Thankfulforgrace

04-20-2011, 08:15 AM

This is interesting about tomatoes. I tried a few years ago and they were so small that it wasn't even worth planting them and I just bought plants. It's a little tricky to get tomatoes to grow here anyways b/c they finally produce around the first frost. I'm going to try some more hardy varieties I think this year but I'm waiting for plants from the garden center.

Macky

04-20-2011, 09:24 AM

If I can grow tomatoes in zone 2a, you can too. ;) The tough part is that we simply can't grow many of the lovely heirlooms out there because they take too long to mature. I desperately want to grow Black Krim, but it's impossible (tried and failed three years in a row). If you try a short-season hybrid, you'll probably have more luck! My fav right now is called Applause. It's got waaaaay more intense, tangy tomato flavour than most of the hybrid toms out there (heirloom lovers are fond of saying hybrids have no flavour ;)).

BornAgainHippeMom

04-20-2011, 10:59 AM

We do container gardening due to lack of space so we will have:
Tomatoes
Basil
Rosemary
Sage
Radishes
Leaf Lettuces

Thankfulforgrace

04-20-2011, 06:28 PM

I know tomatoes can grow here, it's more if I can get them to grow in my garden :giggle. I do think a lot of it has to do with I was picking varieties that had too long of a growing season. :doh

I do think my indoor set up was just not good enough, my tomato seedlings were so so much smaller than your pretty ones ;)

Aisling

04-20-2011, 06:39 PM

Today I finally got around to planting our seed potatoes. :giggle

I thinned out the carrots (that always makes me want to sob ::eyes brimming:: ) and weeded and wondered why on earth it's taking my lettuce so long to pop up. I've been faithfully tending to the compost pile, and was so excited to notice that it actually felt warm this evening! :woohoo It's on it's way to becoming a proper, soil-producing compost pile!

Our strawberries are starting to turn red, and my tomato plant has 4 baby tomatoes on it already. :dance

SpiritedDuo-that basement setup is awesome! :jawdrop :rockon

Thankfulforgrace

04-20-2011, 06:58 PM

I hate thinning too. Especially when a bunch are growing in one spot and nothing in other spots. My lettuce is taking forever too except for one clump with 4 of them. Otherwise nothing! ARG!

Macky

04-20-2011, 08:50 PM

Closer to planting time, I'm going to make seed tapes for my dill and carrots (I don't do lettuce) because I hate thinning, too. :shifty I've been known to transplant thinned beet seedlings. ;)

Annainprogress

04-21-2011, 01:07 AM

I started beetroot inside. I hate thinning carrot too, last year I planted 4 seeds (only had one pot deep enough), all sprouted, thinned and then one of the 2 i left died anyway:(

Macky

04-21-2011, 06:23 AM

Most root crops don't transplant well... I wonder if that's why your beets died? Beets germinate really easily when direct seeded.

JustMandy

04-21-2011, 08:14 AM

This is the first year I'm not sad (well, too sad) about thinning because I cen give them to my chickens who will love them and need the greens.

Annainprogress

04-21-2011, 12:39 PM

My beets haven't died :scratch it was carrots, even one that was left.

Thankfulforgrace

04-21-2011, 12:57 PM

This is the first year I'm not sad (well, too sad) about thinning because I cen give them to my chickens who will love them and need the greens.

See, I need chickens!! :yes But it does help me a little that when I think it goes into the composter.

Anna-It is super frustrating when the one you pick as the strongest doesn't make it! :hug2

Macky

04-21-2011, 11:00 PM

My beets haven't died :scratch it was carrots, even one that was left.

Ah... the wording was unclear; I misunderstood.

shaslove

04-22-2011, 04:49 AM

:popcorn joining, because I just pd for the rights to a community garden. so excited. I think I'm going to grow green beans, tomatoes, & not sure what else.

Aisling

04-22-2011, 05:39 AM

Closer to planting time, I'm going to make seed tapes for my dill and carrots (I don't do lettuce) because I hate thinning, too. :shifty I've been known to transplant thinned beet seedlings. ;)

I wish I had your knack! I've tried, but they always seem to die. :O

JenLovie

04-22-2011, 08:05 AM

Annainprogress

04-22-2011, 08:06 AM

This is my first year growing beetroot so we'll have to see. I've transplanted radish too but I think they're in big enough pots to finish growing in the pots now so I might leave them rather than transfer again to soil.

I planted the old rhubarb my mum gave me last night in the dark, heaped some extra soil/compost around it but still need to finish digging the weeds out that bed & raise the sides before I can build up the general soil height. I saw a sign saying free top soil yesterday so I might go and enquire - I doubt it'll be organic but I think I'm going to need so much this year that I think that might be the best option rather than buying tens of bags of organic compost (which I can't afford to do). Just have to pray the chemicals in it aren't too bad and wait for them to leach out to get truly organic produce in a couple of years.

Thankfulforgrace

04-22-2011, 01:58 PM

I checked out the garden this morning and so far the transplants are looking good. I'm most excited about my broccoli right now. I'm actually tempted to start some more just in case my other veg don't make it. Is that bad?

I don't think it's bad!

So I have awesome news, my asparagus isn't dead after all!!!! I was out in the garden yesterday and saw them coming up so I cared for them. The peas are doing well and spinach is coming. But pretty much nothing with my lettuce-I have no clue why!

I planted calendula (a site said I could do it now so hope that's right! I have some seedlings inside still. And I planted carrots. So much fun! Oh and an onion is starting to come up. It's so good to see something at least is taking.

Oh and watering but I or dh do that everyday :wink

Annainprogress

04-22-2011, 02:06 PM

Earthylady

04-22-2011, 02:26 PM

Thankfully hubby didn't kill my plants while I was gone. Yay! I need to transplant some of my tomatoes into bigger pots though, and get my cucumber, carrots, watermelon, squash and zucchini seeds started. We still have snow on the ground and it's cold and damp and it's not helping my motivation in the least.

Macky

04-22-2011, 06:44 PM

How long do plants really need to be hardened off for if it's still about 9c overnight? Got some beans & courgettes that really need to go out now not wait till May so gonna start hardening them off (& hopefully get beds dug) tomorrow

I harden off for a week at least, regardless of the crop. I did a quick search online and it sounds like both beans (pole, I'm assuming here) and courgettes don't like temps dipping below 16˚C day or night, so I'd say that as long as your day temps are at that point or warmer and you're bringing them back in at night, then it's fine to start hardening them off. Stick a cloche over them and you might be able to leave them out overnight pretty soon (if your soil temp is decent). Definitely expose them gradually, though. Temperature isn't the only concern. They need to get used to the sun and breezes gradually, too, or they can get burned or stunted.

---------- Post added at 07:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:14 PM ----------

Here's what we did today... finally! :dance Cold-framey goodness, as a friend of mine would say. :giggle

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Macky77/DSC_2632.jpg

JustMandy

04-22-2011, 07:07 PM

Very nice!!

I watered my seedlings today. :giggle

Annainprogress

04-23-2011, 04:44 AM

I harden off for a week at least, regardless of the crop. I did a quick search online and it sounds like both beans (pole, I'm assuming here) and courgettes don't like temps dipping below 16˚C day or night, so I'd say that as long as your day temps are at that point or warmer and you're bringing them back in at night, then it's fine to start hardening them off. Stick a cloche over them and you might be able to leave them out overnight pretty soon (if your soil temp is decent). Definitely expose them gradually, though. Temperature isn't the only concern. They need to get used to the sun and breezes gradually, too, or they can get burned or stunted.

:ty3 I don't have a cloche and can't afford one but will try to find them somewhere to live downstairs so I don't have to keep carrying them from my bedroom each day for a week. They've had some exposure to breezes because I've had my window open a little some days (it's really hot here for the time of year) but it's not that sunny today & pretty breezy so I won't leave them out all day for their first day.

Leaving the rest of the seedlings longer because they have more space to grow yet :) and I still have lots of digging to do to be ready for them!

---------- Post added at 12:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 PM ----------

Very nice!!

I watered my seedlings today. :giggle

I missed a day with mine the other day because they hadn't been drying up that quick before this hot weather hit and I think I may be losing some :shifty oops :bag. Remembered yesterday though!

Mama Bird

04-23-2011, 06:47 AM

Just planted last night!!! Here's what we did:

2 Beefsteak Tomatoes (Heirloom)
2 Red Beef (hybrid)
1 Lemon Yellow (hybrid)
1 Cherokee Purple (heirloom)

4 pepper plants (two green, one red, one yellow)

3 stawberries

12 buttercrunch lettuce

1 cilantro

1 watermelon (because DD planted it in science class) :giggle

Planted last week:
3 lemon balm
4 garlic chives
(both from Mom's house) :heart

Still in the seed packets:
Cucumbers
Cantaloupe
Spinach
Carrots (both multicolored and orange)
zucchini
green beans
wax beans

On the agenda: to clear out the Boston Ivy from the beds next to the house, remove the rose bushes, replace the whole mess with berry bushes like blueberries, raspberries, blackberries. Also need to clean out the mint patch and bring it back to its former glory. :wink

Earthylady

04-23-2011, 08:25 AM

Last night I repotted the leggy tomatoes, added more dirt to some tomatoes and peppers that needed a little extra support, but still had plenty of room in the container, repotted a few broccoli. I need to get my celery repotted and I really need to get my carrot seeds going. I plan to do those tonight. I'm just hesitant to get the last viney melon/cucumber type seeds planted because it looks like it's going to be at least 6 weeks before I can put them out. I was hoping to get stuff out early this year so I could get an early harvest before this little babe comes, but it's not looking like God's weather is cooperating with my desires. :) Figures. Last year we had an early spring, this year we are having a late one.

JenLovie

04-23-2011, 12:13 PM

My zucchini and an okra plant broke through today/last night! I'm excited.

Earthylady

04-23-2011, 06:40 PM

Got my carrot seeds planted today. I still need to repot my celery and lettuce though. I just had too much house cleaning to get done for easter dinner tomorrow.

shaslove

04-23-2011, 06:55 PM

We did a lot today! Bought my tomato starts, bean starts, bean seeds, basil seeds, corn, & bought 2 everything-included strawberry & sweet basil plants. We planted the strawberries, mint, & sweet peppers. The tomatoes & beans will go in the community garden in a few weeks. Yay!

RedPetals

04-24-2011, 12:00 AM

I still need to plant my carrots and parsley, then I can take a pic of my little garden! We are in the PNW, so everything is small for now. :)

Macky

04-24-2011, 09:52 AM

Put the onions and leeks out for their first taste of the outdoors yesterday. They did well. :) They're out again today for a bit. I've been taking soil temps for the past few days. If we didn't have such a horrible clay soil that's still sopping wet, I could be planting early spring crops out there already. :impouting

The flower bed (roughly 2 x 50') that's up by the house was dry enough to weed, though; it's about 2/3 done now. (I have a seriously short attention span. :giggle) As it's bordered on all sides by the kind of grass that shoots out runners everywhere, it's a yearly battle to get it all – plus all the dandelions – out of there every spring. If I can get into the bed thoroughly twice a season, getting right down into the soil, sorting between weeds/grass and roots and putting the lupines' roots back again – then I can sort of keep on top of it. I'm starting to wonder if that bed is more trouble that it's worth, though. I'm not really into flowers as much as veggies, but the bed was already there when we moved here, so I've just been working with it. In the middle of summer, I suppose flowers are pretty. ;) The first couple of years it was planted with a gorgeous mass of California poppies, but I found it too tedious to weed while the seeds were sprouting and DH couldn't help because no matter how many times I showed him, he couldn't tell the difference between a poppy sprout and a weed. :giggle The last few years I've had it filled with a mass of lupines, tucking in whatever bloom du jour I like at the time to fill in spots where the lupines didn't sprout; last year it was Bells of Ireland and rudbeckia.

shaslove

04-24-2011, 10:02 AM

I still need to plant my carrots and parsley, then I can take a pic of my little garden! We are in the PNW, so everything is small for now. :)

Same here! Everything starts later here!

Macky

04-24-2011, 10:34 AM

Oh, I forgot to post yesterday about my near disaster. Missed going down to check on the plants on Friday. Went down yesterday (Sat.) and found a good many leaves on my tomato starts DEAD. :cry I hadn't turned the fan on for two days and the air was so humid I'm surprised there wasn't clouds forming in my basement. I suspect they either rotted or some sort of fungus got them. 32 plants. :cry I pinched off all affected leaves and gave them a spray of fungicide (I only had a type for roses hanging around because I don't usually use these sorts of things) just to be sure I covered all my bases. We put the dehumidifier over by the plants and ran it for a while. It's going again this morning.

So, now that my leggy plants are missing a bunch of leaves all of a sudden, I'm looking at them and thinking there's really no point to keeping all that height. Then I had a epiphany. I'm going to chop all the ones that are missing all their lower leaves and root the cuttings. I still have 4 weeks until the May long (Victoria Day is the traditional planting out date here) and probably 5 weeks before the toms can go out without protection, so there's masses of time for them to get a new root system. I've been perusing the tomato forum over at GardenWeb and it seems the consensus is that tomatoes will start rooting within three days, even without rooting hormone. :tu

Wish us luck! ;)

JenLovie

04-24-2011, 10:42 AM

Good Luck Spirited Duo!

My second okra plant broke the ground today. We had a horrible wind storm last night (we barely got any rain) and all of my plants look okay. Hopefully some of the clouds will cause it to actually rain at my house. It's so strange how the rain seems to skip my neighborhood.

Annainprogress

04-24-2011, 10:53 AM

Ooh intriguing Robin, I'll be interested to hear the outcome :)

JustMandy

04-24-2011, 11:45 AM

It's been days of crazy storms here and the week ahead is going to be just as bad. :nails Hopping my little seeds dont wash away or drown!!!

canadiyank

04-24-2011, 09:19 PM

Oh, how sad about the tomatoes! Amazing how quickly things can change - I lost some of my seedlings this weekend b/c I missed one day of watering. :doh

My dad built me a pea trellis and raspberry cane trellis while he was here this weekend. Yay! My friend had given me a couple pea transplants so I put those in (well, he did, lol) and I'll have to buy some pea seeds to get the rest of them in.

I also planted a ton of perennials and bedding plants that my mom bought me as a birthday gift. :) We went shopping yesterday and she bought them for me as a treat. So generous!

Macky

04-25-2011, 08:59 AM

Stupid, STUPID dog... chewed up my digital min/max thermometer out in the cold frame... to smitherines! :hissyfit

Meghan, you water your seedlings every day?

canadiyank

04-25-2011, 09:37 AM

Well, I spritz them. They're in some sort of growing medium (I think it's coir) that dries out REALLY quickly. I actually need to pot them, they're just in the little round things you soak in water to make them puff up.

Macky

04-25-2011, 10:35 AM

Ah, I see. Try to pot them on as soon as you can and rip off that netting when you do! I only water mine about, oh, once a week.

Aisling

04-25-2011, 10:38 AM

Today I ripped out all the dead/new weeds out of last year's tomato cage box. I realized it would make the perfect place to put this year's stinging nettle plant crop, so the girls can't be hurt by them. :tu

Also, weeded and planted several rows of watermellon turnips.

JenLovie

04-25-2011, 04:54 PM

I finally took some pictures. They're not fabulous, but they show my babies!

A shot from above of the raised bed:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/jenniferlovie/th_Garden.jpg (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/jenniferlovie/?action=view&current=Garden.jpg)

(From the top: row of okra, row with 1 zucchini and 1 squash, row with Roma tomatoes, row of broccoli, row of other tomatoes, row with bell peppers and melon, bottom section is filled with onion hopefuls)

Close up of Broccoli:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/jenniferlovie/th_Broccoli.jpg (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/jenniferlovie/?action=view&current=Broccoli.jpg)

Does anyone know about the bug on it? My broccoli leaves seem to be being eaten. The bug was black and yellow (but not a bee :)). I didn't get a decent picture.
Any recommendations for helping keep the bugs away? I'm willing to get some complimentary plants to add it (like marigolds, if the would work). I would prefer to keep harsh chemicals off the plants, too.

Earthylady

04-25-2011, 05:47 PM

My plants got their first taste of real outdoor sunshine and wind today! It was nice enough that I set them out for a few hours while we did some yard work. I tore up part of the area that I'm going to use for an herb garden and found the most huge and deep fat red root system. I have no idea what it's from, but it's got to go! I only got about a 1/4 of the herb garden area dug up. We worked on raking the pine needles out of the yard. That too is going to take a lot of work. And hubby got about 1/3 of the garden tilled.

Macky

04-25-2011, 06:05 PM

Does anyone know about the bug on it? My broccoli leaves seem to be being eaten. The bug was black and yellow (but not a bee :)). I didn't get a decent picture.
Any recommendations for helping keep the bugs away? I'm willing to get some complimentary plants to add it (like marigolds, if the would work). I would prefer to keep harsh chemicals off the plants, too.

Can't see the bug well enough in the pic. Does it creep or fly? Soft or hard body? Cucumber beetle? Colorado potato beetle? Harlequin bug? All of those (and probably more) are yellow and black. I'd suggest googling broccoli pests and find out for sure what you saw. The specific pest will dictate what measures you use to get rid of it effectively with the least amount of damage to the rest of the environment (including you). You have to know the pest to know whether you need to attack it's nervous system, respiratory system, exoskeleton, life cycle... whatever.

Looks like you'll have to thin some plants as they grow, but otherwise... :clap :D What growing medium do you have in there? Looks like a lot of wood chips. Are they mixed in or on top?

ETA: Wait a sec... melon? A melon vine could take up that entire bed. Seriously.

JenLovie

04-25-2011, 06:25 PM

Off to Google!

Earthylady

04-25-2011, 06:27 PM

Some pics

Our garden area

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/mandemack/0405111131.jpg

Hubby tilling today. He got about 1/3 of the garden done.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/mandemack/0425111704-1.jpg

Pics of my plants a couple of weeks ago
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/mandemack/0401111622a.jpg

Annainprogress

04-26-2011, 04:14 AM

Oh wow, that is ginormous!

MomtoJGJ

04-26-2011, 05:08 AM

wow... I feel so much like a baby :) We basically do a garden for fun, so I know nothing! Luckily I tend to have luck with plants (not quite a green thumb) so what I don't know gets taken up by my luck.

We made a raised bed this year that is about 8x14. We have 6 cherry tomatoes, 8 regular tomatoes (I think half are big boy and half are better boy) a cantaloupe, a strawberry, radishes, spinach, lettuce, kale, and two watermelon plants. We planted the melons in areas that they will be able to grow outside of the box as well as inside.

Everything has sprouted and is doing great except the spinach (the cherry tomatoes and watermelon sprouted yesterday while we watched :D ) but its' due to sprout in the next couple of days. It's exciting to be able to watch them!

JenLovie

04-26-2011, 05:50 AM

MomtoJGJ, my garden is tiny, too. Once I transferred everything we realized that we could have easily doubled or tripled our space, but we figured this would be a good start for us. If it goes well this year then DH will build another raised bed for next year. We've already started talking about the garden we'll have when we buy some land.

MomtoJGJ

04-26-2011, 05:54 AM

yeah, we don't have an area for a bigger garden. :) we expanded from last year as big as we can. Our yard just isn't right for a garden. :) BUt we are happy with the size we have for what we do. If we ever move to a different area we will likely have a larger garden that we will use for food.... but for now any food we get from it is a plus.... it's for fun and learning for the lkids.

On that same note though, we planted lettuce in a pot last year. It didn't grow, squirrels ate a ton of it, etc. It came up this year and we've had mounds of lettuce! Just about every 3-4 days we have enough for all of us to have salads or lettuce on sandwiches out of the one pot!

Earthylady

04-26-2011, 06:29 AM

This is our first year with a garden this sized. I'm not sure that we have enough to fill all the space. We'll have to see once we get everything planted next month. We still have a lot of things we'll plant directly into the soil, like spinach, corn, green beans, etc.

The garden is how we found this house to rent! We were looking for some land to garden on and had an article in the paper and several people responded. This guy had a country house to rent along with it and we fell in love with the place.

Macky

04-26-2011, 09:14 AM

Awesome, Mandy! :rockon Don't worry... you'll find ways to fill the space. :giggle What are the dimensions of the area?

DH is outside right now waking up the rototiller from winter storage. It's elderly and needs a little TLC in the spring. We still can't get in to the majority of our garden, but there's a strip at the north end that might be able to be tilled tomorrow if the showers hold off and the wind keeps up like this. The onions have been out long enough that they could probably go in the ground. We'll likely get frost by the weekend, but I can use my fall blankets to cover them. :)

Earthylady

04-26-2011, 09:33 AM

What are the dimensions of the area?

It's 55' X 106'. Odd dimensions, but I think they just plowed up a space years ago and it is what it is. :)

Macky

04-26-2011, 09:54 AM

Yay, someone on here with a bigger veggie garden than me! :cheer :giggle

Well, I shouldn't say that, I suppose. We have over twice that in tilled area (about 1/2 an acre) that the former owners used to garden, but I can't handle that much. :O (They had three teenagers for free labour. ;)) I typically garden only a quarter of the area available to us... roughly 50 by 60 feet... but this year I'm adding another 15 feet or so for a block of corn. I suck at keeping up with all the dandelion and thistle we have here, so more area is asking for trouble right now. Maybe I'll expand when the kids are older and more independent!

MIL handles a huge, huge garden by planting her rows way, way apart so that the rototiller can fit in between. An added bonus is that they only have to water in times of drought. :tu Since the plants have such generous space, they don't respirate more water than what comes with average rains. DH keeps trying to get me to do this, but the prospect makes me :nails because our tiller is so old and he's not the most talented at doing the job evenly (:shifty). It's too heavy for me to manage because it's the largest tiller you can get before you switch to a garden tractor or pull-behind. :phew Gotta get a little Manis tiller. ;) A gal can dream, right?

RiverRock

04-26-2011, 10:28 AM

On the weekend I weeded, ammended my soil and re-tied my strings for my square foot garden/raised beds. This will be my third year with raised garden beds and I :heart them. In the past I had tilled ground level gardens, but the clay soil was hard to work with, and the creep factor of the weeds and grass were a pain. My feet always looked awful, too, since I would often be outside barefoot, and then be drawn into the garden to weed. I loved the experience, but no amount of soap would get the dirt out of my skin. So far I've been chemical free in the garden. My first year my potatoes were riddled with bugs, my second year my tomatoes got blight....so....this year I will put some of my tomatoes in containers, and some in the other raised bed, and I am trying to decide how to grow potatoes: I'm leaning towards stacked tires. I try to keep only rotation crops in the raised bed, and other fixed crops (berries, rhubarb, some herbs) are mixed into my landscaping beds.

Does anyone trellis squash? I might do this with zucchini, pattypan and maybe even sugar pumpkins.

Robin, I'm surprised you don't have a raised bed for earlier crops. ITU your struggle with a perrenial bed. I have a flower bed in the front of my house, and this year I have decided to add some shrubs so I can have it looking half decent for most of the year instead of only nice in the summer. Every year I add hummus and/or sand to improve the clay soil. It is decent to work with after 10 years of ammending.

canadiyank

04-26-2011, 10:54 AM

"Elderly tiller" :giggle That's a funny mental picture.

Earthylady

04-27-2011, 10:41 AM

Last night I transplanted some celery and lettuce to yogurt cups and fiber cups. Then I started my herb seeds. Parsley, oregano, basil, thyme, and rosemary.

shaslove

04-27-2011, 10:46 AM

How do you do that?

I have some basil I want to plant with my tomatoes, but I have no idea how to start it.

Macky

04-27-2011, 10:53 AM

Have you read the back of the seed packet?

shaslove

04-27-2011, 11:13 AM

:shifty :no

maybe I should do that....LOL!

Its the starters I don't get though. Usually the seed packets just say how to plant in the ground.

Earthylady

04-27-2011, 11:35 AM

My seed packets tell how to start each variety. Usually whether to surface sow or 1/4 inch deep, etc. And when to transfer outside...early spring, after frost, etc. And how far apart.

Macky

04-27-2011, 12:08 PM

My seed packets say the same as Mandy's... how deep, how far apart, how soon before last frost date to start indoors (if applicable to the seed), etc. If you want to start them indoors, you follow the same procedure. Use seed-starting medium instead of garden soil to get the best results indoors. Cover the container with some sort of plastic (saran wrap, a plastic sandwich baggie, whatever) and place in a warm place until it sprouts. When you see sprouts, immediately take the cover off and place under direct light. Water as necessary.

Basil is ridiculously easy to grow, so you should have great success! All you have to do is take the time to read up on the very basics. My first advice is always to get a good, simple garden book to start out. If you don't want to (though I have no idea why one wouldn't)... Google is your friend! ;)

Auroras mom

04-29-2011, 10:34 AM

My basil, lemon balm, clinatro, spearmint, peppermint, and rosemary, and dill are all looking amazing (and tasting good too). we also have huge quantitites of wild dill net to us, yum.

My strawberry plants have perked up, my tomatoes look better and and have flowers ont hem, and my pepper plants look a little better, but something is eating them, I think.

Rain, lots of watering, and extra mulch seems tohave helped 9and i moved my basil, as it was burning up in the sun).

shaslove

04-29-2011, 10:39 AM

Auroras mom

04-29-2011, 10:41 AM

I have a bunch of seed packets I bought last year. I must confess to feeling intimdated by them.

Does anyone think they are still good?

If so, what do I do with them?

shaslove

04-29-2011, 10:44 AM

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/seed/msg0310451016308. html

according to this, they have used seeds up to 10 yrs old, so you could try it. (link broken, delete the spaces between the 8 and html)

canadiyank

04-29-2011, 11:33 AM

Yep, I use old seeds - usually use a little more than usual, in case germination fails.

JenLovie

04-29-2011, 12:23 PM

I identified the bug eating my broccoli plants and found that insecticidal soap spray should work to keep them away. Has anyone made their own? I found a recipe online and intend to try it this afternoon.

shaslove

04-29-2011, 12:33 PM

Annainprogress

04-29-2011, 12:39 PM

Depends on the type of seeds. I sprouted some tomato seeds which are about 18 years old, but the onion seeds that are only one or 2 years old didn't sprout.

I have decided to do a sort-of 3 sisters with the bed I'm trying for the first time - corn, peas (several on UK sites have said they don't wrap the corn as tight as beans) and courgette (zucchini) as the ground cover plant cos someone did that by accident & it worked, and I don't have any squash seeds & not really money to buy any more seeds this year.

JenLovie

04-29-2011, 01:09 PM

Link?

http://www. care2.com/greenliving/homemade-insecticidal-soap.html#

Link broken after the first period. I figure I'll try this and see how it works since I have all of the supplies on hand except an extra spray bottle and it's all natural.

JustMandy

04-29-2011, 01:37 PM

Annainprogress

04-29-2011, 02:31 PM

According to the 3 sisters plan I googled you plant corn first, then beans when the corn is 4 inches high, then squash. Peas grow in the summer here. My other reason for thinking peas rather than beans is that I already have bean seedlings, planted before my corn seedlings and much taller.

Though I did want to ask about my beans ("french" beans) & courgettes (zucchini) - I've been trying to harden them off, and they've gone pretty pale. I was thinking it might be due to my keeping forgetting to move them to the afternoon sun so they've got quite a bit of shade :scratch they've got plenty moist enough compost. Or do I need to give them a little nitrogen aka coffee/grounds (though surely even at this stage - about 4 or 5 weeks old) the beans shouldn't need it?

Macky

04-30-2011, 10:55 AM

:cheer I got my seeds of change seeds today, I had signed up for $5 for 25 packets of seeds, and nearly everything we want is in there! I am going to take back some seed packets I bought last week and use these!

Awesome! :)

I have a bunch of seed packets I bought last year. I must confess to feeling intimidated by them.

Does anyone think they are still good?

If so, what do I do with them?

Whether they're good or not depends on the crop (like Annainprogress said) and where you bought them. If you purchased the seeds from a reputable seed grower or seller, all but the alliums (onions, garlic, etc.) will still be good for years from the season you purchased them. :yes If you bought packets off a box store rack, you have no idea how old they are or under what conditions they were stored (humidity and temperature will affect seed viability over time). Reputable seed companies are reputable partly because they store their seed in climate controlled storage suitable to each crop – that's why you get so much better results.

Alliums need to be fresh fresh fresh to get dependable germination. I've planted onion seeds the year I bought them (Stokes is a seed breeder, so I knew they were fresh) and the following year, but by the third year, germination rate is so far reduced that it's just not worth it; I buy new every other year. Onions and leeks are the two things I will never ever ever buy off a rack.

As far as "what to do with them" that depends on what they are. Each type of seed has different needs for germination. That's where books are helpful. I can't offer any advice unless you tell us what you have. At this stage in the season, it's getting late to start much indoors.

I identified the bug eating my broccoli plants and found that insecticidal soap spray should work to keep them away. Has anyone made their own? I found a recipe online and intend to try it this afternoon.

I'm guessing cabbage loopers? I hate those things with a passion. I've not used insecticidal soap myself, but I've read all over the place that homemade concoctions do sometimes work, so it's worth a shot. :)

I have decided to do a sort-of 3 sisters with the bed I'm trying for the first time - corn, peas (several on UK sites have said they don't wrap the corn as tight as beans) and courgette (zucchini) as the ground cover plant cos someone did that by accident & it worked, and I don't have any squash seeds & not really money to buy any more seeds this year.

According to the 3 sisters plan I googled you plant corn first, then beans when the corn is 4 inches high, then squash. Peas grow in the summer here. My other reason for thinking peas rather than beans is that I already have bean seedlings, planted before my corn seedlings and much taller.

I've tried the three sisters method and it was a disaster. I had to plant the corn further apart than usual in order to have the space to get in there to pick the beans. The corn didn't pollinate evenly as a result. By the time the pole beans were ready to pick, I couldn't navigate through the pumpkin vines to get at them. It was all a big mess. It wasn't until a couple of years later that I realized this method is not meant for sweet corn and snap beans (or summer squash like courgettes). This method was traditionally used for field corn (for flour or feed, whatever), dry beans and winter squash. They're also planted in hills, far apart from each other (water conservation mostly)... not rows in a garden. The system is meant as a plant-and-forget sort of thing. You're not meant to tiptoe through vines every other day to pick beans or check on corn. Since I don't grow field corn or dry beans, I abandoned the whole idea entirely and forever. Not doing that mess again!

If it works for you, that's terrific... I just wanted to pass on my experience.

Though I did want to ask about my beans ("french" beans) & courgettes (zucchini) - I've been trying to harden them off, and they've gone pretty pale. I was thinking it might be due to my keeping forgetting to move them to the afternoon sun so they've got quite a bit of shade :scratch they've got plenty moist enough compost. Or do I need to give them a little nitrogen aka coffee/grounds (though surely even at this stage - about 4 or 5 weeks old) the beans shouldn't need it?

The pale starts could be the shade or it could be overwatering. Soil that's too wet for too long inhibits the plant from taking up nutrients. I'd give them some more sun and let them dry out a bit before trying any fertilizers.