Forum: Gardening

I am so flipping ready for spring time. Cannot take one more inch of snow. So I have been planning out my little garden for this spring. We have to put up a small fence this year to keep the groundhog out. I would just shoot the damn thing but I am sure there is some law against that. Bastard ate all of my peas last year. I have a baby coming around planting time so I got to keep things simple this year. What are your plans this year for your gardens? Trying anything new?

So happy to see longer days and sunshine! Who here has a vegetable/fruit/herb garden? I'd love to learn about what you are doing and where you are with it. About my garden: Other than the sea-shore, I'd rather be no place else but in my garden. Sometimes it is the only place that life makes sense, and it's more than just a vehicle to grow food, it has become a retreat and a blessing. But of course the food production is the practical key of it. My goal for the yard is to have it be an edible landscape that will be here long after I am not. So permanently planted there are 2 apple trees, 2 plums, 2 cherry, several blackberry and raspberry vines, and some blueberries. The trees are still young and didn't bear last year, but I think they will this year, as they are full of blossoms which smell like a Celtic heaven. (Avalon, Apple-land) There is a grape vine we found in the back, covered by years of morning glories and wild blackberries, that I am trying to rejuvenate. I have strawberry beds too, mixed...

Anybody ever plant these? I planted a bunch and trimmed them to about 3 little plants per hole after they hit about 3 inches. The weather here is funky so I am not sure how they are going to do overall. Anybody have any tips or tricks?

We didn't even know it was there for the longest time, hidden as it was beneath a ton of morning glories and blackberry vines, but sure enough, there it was- an old grapevine. I have no idea how old it is, but the house was built in 1943, so maybe it is as old as that. Do they live that long? Well actually, it can't be that old unless the chain link fence it is tied to was here in 1943, which I doubt. So, who knows. We've kept the area clear and have been pruning it as per directed. This summer I worked up the soil beneath it some and added compost as well as some pine straw. It just seems like the grapes would like an acidic soil, and pine needles can help with that. Does anybody know anything at all about reviving grape vines, or how to tend them properly?

Whether you're growing from a bunch of pots on your patio, or you have full blown back-yard garden going on, these days leads one to think about planting food not just as a hobby, but to survive. The cost of food in the grocery stores is astronomical (I really wish I could grow peanut butter!) and god-only-knows what might be in it, so planting something, anything- is a good idea. A busy person can easily grow their own salad greens and never have to worry about buying in bulk only for the greens to go bad- you just pick what you need as you need it. I have found one of the best and easiest things to grow in a survival garden is kale and chard. Why? Because, I swear, it lives forever. When I left the house, I sadly left behind a chard plant that we'd been eating off of for four years! If you do not pull them up and do not let them go to seed, the plant just keeps producing leaves and getting bigger, wider, bushier each year. And it is a pretty plant, too- food for the soul. Another thing to plant...

Due to its properties bacterias tend to die off when confronted with honey. Just thought I'd post the tip here. This is what wikipedia has to say about it. FYI, normally a scratch can kill. With modern medicine that isn't much of a problem, but once that stops being available a honey compress can help a lot if you wound yourself when society has disintegrated. On top of that it can be useful for some other medical issues.

Long story short, I had to carry this up 2 flights up stairs to set up. Damn glad I did. We got 4 different kinds of tomatoes, several jalapeno plants, green + red pepper, even 1 habanero plant.... (gonna be some wicked chili). There's swiss chard, onions, oregano, parsley and onion chives. ... this was supposed to be small, but there's also a zucchini and cucumbers..... and yellow and green beans. Included is a lovely picture of my roof with the craptastic garden in the background.

This isn't really paranormal, but quite normal, and actual. :-) It starts off a little slow. UVTF-1esL3M The "Green Music", I am so happy that can be done and proven. there is an entire world or reality right before us, that we generally do not see. Another experiment, starts out with interview of Cleve Backster. He also did similar work with DNA with strong results.

Everything is so up in the air right now. Just got a house but cannot move until the closing date. All that stuff happens close to seed starting time. So I have decided to start my seeds indoors in biodegradable seed pots. Some I made myself out of news paper:bounce: That way I can let them do their thing while I get the home situated and the garden plots made up for them. I am having to start even easy staple items like zucchini indoors so I get everything on the staggered schedule I wanted them on for the summer. Really do not want everything getting done at once.

I am redoing my garden. I was very happry with the results, but my back has begun to act up again. In order to compensate for bad knees, a shot back, and a pissy attitude, I am redoing the entire garden. I know how to put one in, and the area could be redone in the future. In place of a large area that has seen a large amount of good produce come out, I will be moving some of my apple trees into the fenced in area, giving me a half dozen enclosed. I will train them to the fencing, so as to make an espalier. I have blackberries that are already inside the fencing and doing well trained to the fence. I will keep these in place, and will also keep the pair of pears that are also doing very well. I will then make raised beds to help with the back issues, and plant irish moss in the walkway areas, or throw down mulch. Anyway, my planned late season crop will be as follows: Mustard greens for green manure where I will plant my batch of potatoes in the early spring. Lettuce... not sure what variety...

I thought it might be useful to share information on various diseases and pests encountered. I just lost my entire tomato crop to tomato spotted wilt virus, and further, my suspicions that the eggplants are infected are bearing out, but I'm not sure yet. :( It relates to thrips, destructive little creatures I am just now learning about. I've been kind of reading with my jaw dropped because the way I have been growing plants in my greenhouse is actually very inviting to these pests. Cornell University: Some examples here. Mine don't look as terrible as that, but the tomatoes are all turning that color and they grew in a funny, elongated kind of a pear shape. A lot of the leaves are dark and curly. And, the blossoms dying is something I noticed since last year, not too much but I did wind up sacrificing 4 plants, though I thought they had something else. The blossoms would die about an inch above the stem, from there on the blossom just turns brown, dies and disintegrates.

I just found "Pick Your Own". It is not only a searchable database to locate pick-your-own farms nearest you, but also has loads of information on how to choose the best produce, how to put your food up, ect. About.com has a pretty comprehensive selection on Organic Gardening. The page I linked to is "How To Start an Organic Garden".

Ok-- I bought a piece of land and ruined it. It used to be a strawberry field, back in the day--- but forget about that. Long story short (kind of a strawberry short cut) I brought in a bunch of fill and now it is basically clay. BUT-- I have almost an acre and the property has a well. I'd like to plant a nice garden. How do I begin to redeem/ammend the soil so it will be a wonderful veggie garden?

Well, I went out of town for a few days, and when I returned, it was hot a few days and then rainy. I completely neglected my garden for over a week, and it was being semi neglected at least 2 weeks prior, so I am now about 3 weeks behind in weeding the garden. It looks completely overgrown. Perhaps this was a blessing, as I went out there today and discovered my tomatoes were perfect and extra ripe. Usually the birds get them, but the weeds had grown around them, completely hiding the good stuff. Once I cut my way to them and bagged them, I made my way to the corn, which turned out to be great too. My peppers were also ready, and so I now have an afternoon of cooking and canning. Anyway, I am finally getting some more from the garden, after the May and June harvest period. Now I need to start thinking about the fall season planting, as the weather looks to be cooling off for a while. It will be my luck to plant cool season crops like mustard greens, cabbage, and broccoli, only to see it all crap...

I could have sworn I'd already posted these pics here earlier this year but I can't find them so i'll post them again; they have an almost spiritual quality about them, man working in beautiful harmony with nature to produce food to stay alive..:) (tip:- hold CTRL and roll your mouse wheel to shrink/enlarge them)

So, 3 years ago we planted 2 apple and 2 cherry trees. This year we have 3 nice, round apples growing, which is exactly 3 more apples than we had last year. Every day I go outside and pet them. I am afraid the gale-force winds we're just now getting into for the season might blow one of them off. We've yet to produce the first cherry. Both types of trees flowered beautifully and the scent was wonderful. I amended the soil this year with nice, rich compost, and gave them a boost of blood meal early in the spring. However obviously I am missing something. I wonder in regards to the cherries if it is too cool here? Any advice, tips or links is most welcome.

In a large barrel that sits in the center of the yard, I have potatoes started in a mixture of compost and rich, earth-worm filled dirt, about half and half. I started the seeds in about 8 inches of soil. As they grow and leaf out to about 4"-6" tall, I cover them just to the tops of the leaves again. I've covered them once more right after this picture was taken, and that will be it for the covering. Now they will be allowed to grow to maturity. I did the same thing in a plastic barrel, just a common trash-can. I started these in saw-dust, but sometimes when it comes time to cover them there isn't any sawdust ready, so actually this has been being alternated with sawdust and dirt. As you can see these have a long ways to go. I suspect that's because this barrel, which is right up beside the house facing West, gets much less sun than the wooden barrel. According to the directions and testimonials, I should get close to 100lbs of potatoes from this plastic barrel. I figure for the wooden one...

Score! An elder lady has gifted me with a very nice compost bin. It's in great shape and I am totally stoked to seriously begin home composting. Thinking about location, is it OK for the compost bin to be where there is not a whole lot of sun?

So I have been practicing my my skills of indoor growing for transplant. I do not plan to actually transplant these slips but I want to maintain their health. My slips were started about a week and 1/2 ago. I started five potatoes in water to start growing slips. I only have two left. The water, it keep turning rancid. I change it daily. Now the last two potatoes I have left are growing leaves very well, but they are only 2 to 3 inches high. Not ready for removing yet. Now their water is turning too. Help!