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Gardens - 4/26/2017 4:50:30 PM

Posts: 2837
Joined: 6/6/2013
From: The Shire
Status: offline

So for the first time ever- I'm starting a garden! On my own!

I'm hoping to do a good sized raised bed. I'm hoping to grow tomatos- heirlooms and San marzanos. Carrots, tomatillos, lettuce, red onion (maybe- so far struggling to find that), green onion, green pepper and jalapeños, chives, basil, cilantro, oregano, mint, rosemary. I'd like to do spaghetti squash also, but "meh"- I'm intentionally not growing cucumbers or zucchini- because others do that and have thousands so I decided to let them do that for me.

Also not in the raised bed, but just in general, we are hoping to grow hops, raspberries, figs and strawberries. Also considering grapes.
Who has gardens?
Favorite thing to grow?
Most interesting thing to grow?
What soil do you use (our backyard ain't great so I have to buy)?
How do you keep pests out?
Words of wisdom?

I am buying ALL non GMO and organic plants so please don't tell me about saving the bees.
I'm in the far far northeast so we will see how this all goes. I have a good deal of enthusiasm, so hopefully far.
Please share pics if you know how to do that anymore.

RE: Gardens - 4/26/2017 5:41:13 PM

Posts: 5
Joined: 4/18/2017
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: shiftyw

So for the first time ever- I'm starting a garden! On my own!

I'm hoping to do a good sized raised bed. I'm hoping to grow tomatos- heirlooms and San marzanos. Carrots, tomatillos, lettuce, red onion (maybe- so far struggling to find that), green onion, green pepper and jalapeños, chives, basil, cilantro, oregano, mint, rosemary. I'd like to do spaghetti squash also, but "meh"- I'm intentionally not growing cucumbers or zucchini- because others do that and have thousands so I decided to let them do that for me.

Also not in the raised bed, but just in general, we are hoping to grow hops, raspberries, figs and strawberries. Also considering grapes.
Who has gardens?
Favorite thing to grow?
Most interesting thing to grow?
What soil do you use (our backyard ain't great so I have to buy)?
How do you keep pests out?
Words of wisdom?

I am buying ALL non GMO and organic plants so please don't tell me about saving the bees.
I'm in the far far northeast so we will see how this all goes. I have a good deal of enthusiasm, so hopefully far.
Please share pics if you know how to do that anymore.

You'll have to buy a lot of loom to grow all of that.

(in reply to shiftyw)

RE: Gardens - 4/26/2017 5:45:48 PM

Posts: 6677
Joined: 8/7/2004
From: Wisconsin
Status: offline

I'm not big on gardening......but you might want to start with some easier crops.......strawberries and raspberries both are a lot of work to get them producing enough to enjoy and generally take more than one season.....though you may get a handful of fruit your first year....hops and figs I'm not familiar with....

perhaps try some potatoes, peas, carrots, cucumbers, beans, radishes....they grow almost anywhere and need very little maintenance.....

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(in reply to shiftyw)

RE: Gardens - 4/26/2017 6:25:01 PM

Posts: 2837
Joined: 6/6/2013
From: The Shire
Status: offline

We have cheater plants from tractor supply for the straws, raspberries, and figs. Like they will likely not produce much, I'm more doing them because they were inexpensive and fun seeming. As far as hops grow- I actually have done them before. And while I'm not that interested because I think they will struggle in this environment, boyfriend is a brewer and he wants to try, so here we are.

I do not know what "loom" means in this instance, but if you mean space, we have a good deal- and I have three more experienced gardeners helping helping me plot it out so I feel in good hands.

< Message edited by shiftyw -- 4/26/2017 6:30:11 PM >

(in reply to MasterG2kTR)

RE: Gardens - 4/26/2017 6:25:32 PM

Posts: 6374
Joined: 11/1/2014
Status: offline

I have a garden and though ive not taken advantage of it, much to my chagrin, the local cooperative extension does free pH testing.

I don't buy soil and some things just don't grow well for me as do others. it might be a pH problem---but I suspect what you buy commercially would be good for most things.

I have a pond (where I get my soil from), and one year the geese ate most everything. I put a small fence around the garden. last year, the deer were getting in and eating everything. im reluctant to put a big fence around it and I don't know yet what im going to do this year.

chicken wire fences will keep all the small critters out. there is a commercial animal repellant that works also---though its kinda expensive.

radishes seem to do really well for me. and ive had some success with lettuce, spinach mustard and cucumbers.

I think its rewarding to grow anything period, but theres something especially rewarding about growing things you like, and things that are kinda expensive at the store.

I love potatoes, but when you can buy ten lbs for just a few dollars, growing them in the garden doesn't give you such a bang for your energies as say, growing cilantro.

ive had mixed, but mostly bad results with watermelon---but I love it when it goes well. they take up tons of space though.

I think, if you plan to grow a decent sized crop of all of the things you mentioned, you are going to be needing a ton of space. otherwise, you'll be having just a handful of representative plants from your list.

im in the northeast also, and we typically get frost in may---so I would encourage you to not plant things until the end of may.

< Message edited by bounty44 -- 4/26/2017 6:32:12 PM >

(in reply to shiftyw)

RE: Gardens - 4/26/2017 6:31:10 PM

Posts: 2837
Joined: 6/6/2013
From: The Shire
Status: offline

Thanks Bounty!

I only want a couple of each plant, at least this time round. Narrow it down when we see how things turn out for us. Plus the herbs will more likely than not end up on my porch in their own respective containers. I do have a decent amount of space planned out also. With three other gardeners lending their advice. I always grew up with a garden, so while it seems ambitious- I do have some experience with it. Although- I've yet to be successful with jalapeños. But I will try again. Because I'm a glutton for punishment.

And yes- I'm not putting anything in the ground until Memorial Day weekend.

(in reply to bounty44)

RE: Gardens - 4/26/2017 6:40:28 PM

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Joined: 11/1/2014
Status: offline

youre welcome.

another thought came to me---I only ever work from seeds as opposed to buying starter plants, but I suspect the principal is still the same. there are some varieties of plants that work better in full sun, or partial sun/partial shade or full shade. if you consider your yard's exposure, and keep those distinctions in mind, that might help you select the better varieties.

two thoughts on the jalapenos---do some reading and see what kind of soil and pH they like best and maybe you can adapt a section of your garden for them--or alternatively, try growing those in pots by the house instead of in the garden.

< Message edited by bounty44 -- 4/26/2017 6:43:09 PM >

(in reply to shiftyw)

RE: Gardens - 4/26/2017 6:50:53 PM

Posts: 6374
Joined: 11/1/2014
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: shiftyw
I do not know what "loom" means in this instance,

she means "loam"---its a type of soil mix you can buy.

(in reply to shiftyw)

RE: Gardens - 4/26/2017 7:20:14 PM

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Joined: 6/10/2008
From: Somewhere Texas
Status: offline

I suggest, for at least the first season to go with easy crops.

I also suggest setting up a compost heap, just remember to turn it daily, anything can go in it from paper to coffee grounds and it does provide the best fertilizer around, if you want to go organic.

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(in reply to bounty44)

RE: Gardens - 4/27/2017 9:29:39 AM

Posts: 3901
Status: offline

I have a pure organic garden here in the UK. I grow all sorts of stuff. At the moment I'm cropping chard and perpetual spinach, Thyme and sage. I have cabbages sown last Autumn and over wintered that should be ready soon. Peas just spouting, kohl Rabi that we love, lettuce, toms, Rhubarb, Raspberries (and they have to be one of the easiest plants to have with tons of fruit, along with our strawberries), I have trees; two different cherry, apple, pear, and a cherry plum. Last year I grew new potatoes in tubs, and they actually crop for much longer if you just carefully hand dig out what you need. I had two different types, three plants each, and cropped for at least three months solid. Carrots, beets, courgettes, butternut squash, pumpkins, onions, cucumbers, leeks, and loganberries

This year I shall be adding more herbs, I add ground egg shells and coffee grounds on top of the soil, as well as tea leaves to keep slugs at bay. I also put all the lemon peels on top of the soil as it keeps the cats away :-) I use chicken manure pellets every time I plant sometime too. I have tons of birds visit for the slugs, although I fed them to my chickens when I had them. Sadly I lost my last one a few weeks ago. You can buy straw bales, wet them, stand them on their side, grow plants in them, and then afterwards turn the rest of the bale in to your other soil, or use it as a mulch to keep you soil warmer in the spring next year

Also, check out what weeds you have growing. These will tell you what PH your soil is.

Needles

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RE: Gardens - 5/3/2017 6:34:58 AM

Posts: 12580
Joined: 2/11/2007
From: a mean old Daddy, but I like you - Joni Mitchell
Status: offline

I don't garden anymore. On a fluke, I bought several flats of tomatoes. I had never grown a tomato plant before. I remembered my friend's plant. It was 3 feet tall and had like 5 tomatoes on it. So I had no idea how big the yield would be. I planted 3 rows behind the garage, a row on the side of the garage and rows on both sides of the driveway. About 30 or 40 plants in all. Oh boy was I surprised.

I had quite a lot of experience growing pot commercially, outdoors and hydroponically. I rented a gas powered rototiller. I prepped and conditioned the soil using the rototiller to mix in perlite, peat and fertilizer. I mixed up my own super strong plant food and sprayed them twice a week. They got so big, I bought these tall wire cones for them. But they outgrew them so I had to string wires a couple feet above the baskets. They grew all the way up, as high as I could reach... 7 feet tall and then all way the back down. It turned into a jungle. The plants were 14 feet long in all.

They were monsters and I ended up with a bazillion tomatoes. I didn't know they kept making more and more tomatoes. I thought it was just going to be one harvest and done... but no... they just keep making more and more tomatoes... hundreds of tomatoes at a time.

It was so bad, to sort the harvest out, I covered the entire basement floor with newspapers. And each harvest would fill up the whole area. I was giving grocery bags of tomatoes away to friends. I was making and freezing gallons of spaghetti sauce. It got so bad friend's would automatically say "no more tomatoes" when I called them. I finally put a sign in my front yard that said FREE TOMATOES and had bushels of them out by the curb. I must have grown a thousand tomatoes or more.

So I had a lifetime's worth of experience gardening that summer. Nope... no more gardening for me.

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(in reply to shiftyw)

RE: Gardens - 5/3/2017 6:37:58 AM

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Joined: 3/20/2017
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I'm growing wasabi plants indoors,they are doing quite well.

My best one looks like a mini jungle now.

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RE: Gardens - 5/4/2017 4:01:42 PM

Posts: 93
Joined: 7/2/2010
Status: offline

If you are growing Figs be careful when you prune them, cover bare skin as the sap can blister and burn the skin, took almost six months for the marks to go the first time I pruned mine

(in reply to NoirMetal)

RE: Gardens - 5/4/2017 6:24:42 PM

Posts: 25191
Joined: 11/25/2007
From: Apple County NY
Status: offline

I remember a summer when the tomatoes wouldn't stop growing. I had my own. I got a package in the mail, yup more tomatoes. Came home to find a bag on the door knob, more tomatoes.

Then there was the year I bought two little starters of baby seedless watermelon. Late October, when we cleared out the vines, half a dozen more watermelons appeared.

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RE: Gardens - 5/9/2017 4:37:18 PM

Posts: 2111
Joined: 1/15/2016
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: shiftyw

So for the first time ever- I'm starting a garden! On my own!

I'm hoping to do a good sized raised bed. I'm hoping to grow tomatos- heirlooms and San marzanos. Carrots, tomatillos, lettuce, red onion (maybe- so far struggling to find that), green onion, green pepper and jalapeños, chives, basil, cilantro, oregano, mint, rosemary. I'd like to do spaghetti squash also, but "meh"- I'm intentionally not growing cucumbers or zucchini- because others do that and have thousands so I decided to let them do that for me.

Also not in the raised bed, but just in general, we are hoping to grow hops, raspberries, figs and strawberries. Also considering grapes.
Who has gardens?
Favorite thing to grow?
Most interesting thing to grow?
What soil do you use (our backyard ain't great so I have to buy)?
How do you keep pests out?
Words of wisdom?

I am buying ALL non GMO and organic plants so please don't tell me about saving the bees.
I'm in the far far northeast so we will see how this all goes. I have a good deal of enthusiasm, so hopefully far.
Please share pics if you know how to do that anymore.

My garden is.....weeds.

I grow weeds exceptionally well.

I've grown weeds for years.

I have irrigation (I spent 10 grand designing same)...guy comes every spring and turns it on....weeds result.

My weeds are extraordinary.

I have the best weeds in town.

(I'm quite proud of my weeds).

(in reply to shiftyw)

RE: Gardens - 5/9/2017 4:44:24 PM

Posts: 5079
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: AtUrCervix

quote:

ORIGINAL: shiftyw

So for the first time ever- I'm starting a garden! On my own!

I'm hoping to do a good sized raised bed. I'm hoping to grow tomatos- heirlooms and San marzanos. Carrots, tomatillos, lettuce, red onion (maybe- so far struggling to find that), green onion, green pepper and jalapeños, chives, basil, cilantro, oregano, mint, rosemary. I'd like to do spaghetti squash also, but "meh"- I'm intentionally not growing cucumbers or zucchini- because others do that and have thousands so I decided to let them do that for me.

Also not in the raised bed, but just in general, we are hoping to grow hops, raspberries, figs and strawberries. Also considering grapes.
Who has gardens?
Favorite thing to grow?
Most interesting thing to grow?
What soil do you use (our backyard ain't great so I have to buy)?
How do you keep pests out?
Words of wisdom?

I am buying ALL non GMO and organic plants so please don't tell me about saving the bees.
I'm in the far far northeast so we will see how this all goes. I have a good deal of enthusiasm, so hopefully far.
Please share pics if you know how to do that anymore.

My garden is.....weeds.

I grow weeds exceptionally well.

I've grown weeds for years.

I have irrigation (I spent 10 grand designing same)...guy comes every spring and turns it on....weeds result.

My weeds are extraordinary.

I have the best weeds in town.

(I'm quite proud of my weeds).

Spend $30 on a bag of weed preventer.

(in reply to AtUrCervix)

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