How does your garden grow?

[mustangclaire]

I'm about to start on my first gardening season. My dad had veg patches galore and a fairly big greenhouse when I was a kid, but I lacked the interest and/or motivation to really learn. The amount that stuck is funny, though.
Unfortunately, the gardens at the place we moved to haven't been tended very well for years, by the looks, and the weather's been so changeable that I've not been able to get out there as much as I'd have liked. The lawns at least look like lawns instead of a setting from Jurassic Park, though, and I've got my seeds to hand. I just need to work out when to plant what, now. (I'll be trying to grow cauliflower, onions, carrots, parsnips, green beans, broad beans, and swede. Then next year I'll be trying to learn how to make a nice, concrete extended patio area, no doubt. )

If you order plants from Marshalls Mr Nobody, they deliver at a time that they are ready to plant. Takes the guess work out of it.

 

[blunthead]

I don't do nearly as much gardening as I would like but plan to do more once I have more free time on my hands. For now my partner does the vegetable gardens and I tend to the flower gardens. We also have grapes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and rhubarb and this year should be able to start picking asparagus. We have wild blackberries so don't have a more formal area for those. The fruit trees are getting old enough to start producing fruit so hopefully we will have some from the 2 apples, 2 pears, plum, 2 cherries, and peach. Will have to replace the nectarine as that didn't make it. The wildflower garden area is in its third year and starting to take off--assuming we didn't lose most of it from the severe winter or the birds eating the flower seeds. I'm sure I'll be replacing some of the perennials in my other flower gardens because of the below freezing temperatures we had for so much of the winter. This year I have several hardscaping projects on my to-do list that didn't get done last year and plan to build at least a couple waist high raised beds from plans I found on-line. My partner will be going in tomorrow for hip replacement surgery so am hoping those will help him out.

(((((ModMan))))) Thoughts and prayers, Mod.

 

[Moderator]

(((((ModMan))))) Thoughts and prayers, Mod.

Thanks! Not his first rodeo with this. He had the other hip replaced about 7(?) years ago but still going to be a major event--as you well know.

 

[skimom2]

Me!

...though not veggies yet. But I was just thinking yesterday I really must start a veggie garden in the back since it gets direct sunlight like a hundred hours a day. It'd be a raised garden, I think, due to the kind of ground I have, what with roots and buried tires and all. How would I begin such a thing, after I set out the lumber or whatever I use to put the soil in?

You could start small, with pots or half rain barrels If you want to go right to raised beds, tis is a pretty good start (and there are lots of other sources online): How to Build a Raised Bed Garden: Organic Gardening.

 

[blunthead]

Thanks! Not his first rodeo with this. He had the other hip replaced about 7(?) years ago but still going to be a major event--as you well know.

I'll be praying for him and for you. I'm sure all will go well, and that he'll have a fast recovery. He might just be a bit easier to deal with afterward. I know I'm easier for me to deal with.

 

[skimom2]

Funny you should post this thread skimom2! This weekend we planted radish, beetroot, rocket, land cress, sweetcorn, chilli plants and tomato plants. Garlic is coming on strong too. Got loads of herbs coming too. Sowed loads of mixed flower seeds too

Too much chance of late frost or torrential rains to plant much here before Mother's Day I envy you! I do keep meaning to try beets, as I love them--maybe I'll do that this afternoon! Way too early for corn, tomatoes, or peppers (except to sow seedlings indoors, I guess) here.

 

[blunthead]

You could start small, with pots or half rain barrels If you want to go right to raised beds, tis is a pretty good start (and there are lots of other sources online): How to Build a Raised Bed Garden: Organic Gardening.

Thankee, Sai skimom. I'd looked at one site a minute ago. This one looks even better.

 

[skimom2]

And, if I'm right about where you're located, our climates are approximately the same! Okay--earwigs. How do you deal?

 

[skimom2]

The only thing I plant is flowers and only if they are perennials.

I have a flower bed that's driving me nuts! South side of the house, but shaded by huge elms. Where the sun gets through, it can be really hot, but the rest of the time it's in deep shade. So far, only my lilac bush is reliable there. I'm not nuts about annuals (too much work for a single season), but I'm open to suggestions Any ideas?

 

[mustangclaire]

My extremely modest raised beds. Made them out of an old bench. This was last Summer by the way.

 

[skimom2]

In years past we enjoyed tomatos, basil, herbs, blueberries, grapes, and catnip. I love fresh flowers and grow asiatic lilies, roses, and my grandmothers blue iris too. For the last couple of years, stink bugs have taken a toll on harvest. We live within 10 miles of two different pick your own farms, a food co-op, a roadside stand, and have a farmers market at our local library every Saturday. Financially, it is less expensive and labor intensive to stop at one of these places. My goal this year is to finally 'grade' a steep slope into two or three steps and use the bottom one for herbs. Also to dig out our 10 by 12 area by the front of the house and either pour concrete, place pavers or slate in that spot. It gets morning sun and is really cozy to read or enjoy a cup of coffee out front, to write or practice chords on my guitar. Couple years ago it was an herb garden with a rose bush, but the invasive species 'persicaria perfoliata' has taken over. It has little barbs so after my short gardening adventure this morning, my arms look like I tried to bathe a grumpy cat. But yes, I will be growing something this year.

I envy you! We have a Farmer's Market that I raid when it's in session, but that's only 3 mos of the year. City council thinks it's a waste of space, unfortunately, and it has lots more 'art' (most of it is not) than fruits/veggies.

I love my back deck in the morning and the little paved area in our front yard later in the day. Our house is older (pre air-conditioning), so the builder situated it and the trees to make a sort of vent, so that there is an almost constant slight breeze through the front yard. Lovely on a stifling afternoon!

 

[skimom2]

I'm building a fenced granny garden this year. I also have a loooooong stretch of dirt along a fence that runs the length of one side of my property. I want to put in a one-row herb garden along that fence. All of this will be my first foray into gardening. Wish me luck. I'll need it.
My garden will be like this one.

LOVE it! I'm trying to talk The Man into making my regular garden into a series of raised beds. I have a friend who has had tremendous luck with that lay out, and almost no issues with garden pests.

 

[skimom2]

We grow raspberries here and Andy planted some nice purple grapes that really took off. Of course there is the ever popular rhubarb which is almost impossible to kill. We had fresh chives growing in a big bucket so I hope that comes back this year. Since they put that garage in the back yard our garden space is severely cut back now.

VultureLvr45 - try planting chrysanthemums near the plants you don't want eaten by the bugs (well duh I guess that would be ALL of them, right?)

I put yellow and orange mini chrysanthemums in between my tomato plants back when we used to live in Ottawa. The neighbours had plants right next to ours on the other side of a chain link fence but they did not put the mums in.

All their tomatoes got earwigs in them but ours weren't touched. We finally had to let them in on the secret! (Maybe they thought we just liked the pretty orange and yellow chrysanthemums?)

I guess mums smell funny and give off a chemical that naturally repels bugs that want to eat all your good stuff.

YES! Thank you! I'll definitely try that for the meshuggunuh ear wigs

 

[skimom2]

No matter how cool it might look, do not plant any bamboo.

One night, a few years later, when you sleepy shuffle to the toilet and sit, you will get anally impaled. Bully full-on Vlad Tepes style.

The stuff IS that invasive.

Oregano and mint, too (minus the anal impalation-lol), unless you really love them.

 

[skimom2]

I don't want to bring shame to the family. My aunt, who's in her 90s, walks at least a mile every day at 6:00 a.m., and has a "garden" out in her back yard. (Grandma calls it a truck patch.) She has a variety of corn, beans, berries, fruits (tomato is a fruit), and who knows what else. And she knows how to make candles and soap and churn butter and, for that matter, butcher a pig. If we descended to postapocalyptic dystopia tomorrow, she'd outlast us all.

For me, when I pluck an older garlic clove out of the fridge, I see a sprout starting to come out of it and wonder, "What if I just put that thing in the dirt?" I may have to try that.

And after I made the last batch of guacamole, the non-bio daughter took the avocado seed and half-immersed it in water. Since then, I've teased it out to a two-foot ten-leaf tree (yes, I count the leaves) that seems to be doing okay. We'll see where it goes.

That's my idea of gardening. I'm exhausted just talking about it.

If you put it in the dirt, chances are that it will grow Each sprouted clove should grow a whole new head.

My grandma had one of those gardens, too--the garden was pretty much the same size as the whole plot her house and yard sat upon. I still dream about her dill pickles--best I ever tasted, and no one had the recipe when she died.

 

[skimom2]

My garden has almost come to the end of its season. End of last/this year I had: tomatoes, (cherry & 2 other large varieties) beans, capsicum, spring onions, silverbeet, pumpkin, 4 different types of lettuce, courgette, strawberries, basil, thyme, chives and mint.

You're making me hungry! I love fruits & veg, and from the garden are the best

 

[skimom2]

I grow pineapples in my yard. They are super easy because I normally don't any issues with bugs or critters. Pineapples have an armor that seems to keep those things away. What is kind of weird is that they don't require much water, although they grow in very rainy places. They grow best in soil that drains water quickly (sand is ideal). The biggest drawback is that they take about 18 months to get a ripe pineapple. But the wait is worth it because there is nothing quite like a fresh picked pineapple. I usually have 15 - 20 plants scattered around the yard. The plants are very hardy and will survive almost anything.

I have a lemon tree too but I rarely get any lemons because it is in my front yard (not inside the fenced area) and the tree is just too tempting for the little kids in the neighborhood to leave alone. Every time I start getting lemons, the kids pick them. Things like that are really hard for kids to resist. I'm sure I did my share of that too.

WOW! My FIL has a friend who grows lemons/oranges, though it's not the climate here. He has the trees in huge pots on rollers: in the warm weather (it gets damn hot here in summer), they go outside & he wheels them inside in the cold weather. That's dedication!

 

[skimom2]

I don't do nearly as much gardening as I would like but plan to do more once I have more free time on my hands. For now my partner does the vegetable gardens and I tend to the flower gardens. We also have grapes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and rhubarb and this year should be able to start picking asparagus. We have wild blackberries so don't have a more formal area for those. The fruit trees are getting old enough to start producing fruit so hopefully we will have some from the 2 apples, 2 pears, plum, 2 cherries, and peach. Will have to replace the nectarine as that didn't make it. The wildflower garden area is in its third year and starting to take off--assuming we didn't lose most of it from the severe winter or the birds eating the flower seeds. I'm sure I'll be replacing some of the perennials in my other flower gardens because of the below freezing temperatures we had for so much of the winter. This year I have several hardscaping projects on my to-do list that didn't get done last year and plan to build at least a couple waist high raised beds from plans I found on-line. My partner will be going in tomorrow for hip replacement surgery so am hoping those will help him out.

Good vibes for his surgery! And I'm moving in with you, by the way

 

[blunthead]

I have a flower bed that's driving me nuts! South side of the house, but shaded by huge elms. Where the sun gets through, it can be really hot, but the rest of the time it's in deep shade. So far, only my lilac bush is reliable there. I'm not nuts about annuals (too much work for a single season), but I'm open to suggestions Any ideas?

Azalea (Azalea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) is a perennial which does very well in shade, though I'd study up a bit. Your area might be too shady even for them. I understand Helleborus is another perennial which likes the shade (Hellebore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), and Hosta (Hosta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

Here's a site to give you some landscaping/planting ideas...

Shade Garden Ideas : HGTV Gardens

 

[skimom2]

Azalea (Azalea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) is a perennial which does very well in shade, though I'd study up a bit. Your area might be too shady even for them. I understand Helleborus is another perennial which likes the shade (Hellebore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), and Hosta (Hosta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

Here's a site to give you some landscaping/planting ideas...

Shade Garden Ideas : HGTV Gardens

Thank you!