Gardening Gurus

[Selena_Kitt]

I'm starting this thread in the hopes that there are some garden gurus out there who will be able to give me pearls of wonderful wisdom this year as I start out trying my hand at organic gardening...

I'm in zone 5b, and I'm planning on planting the following:

broccoli
brussels sprouts
cauliflower
cucumbers
romaine lettuce
spinach
cabbage
tomatoes
carrots
celery
onions
peppers (green)
strawberries
melon

Any idea on schedules? any good links to share? Any advice? I'm a total newbie...!

 

[HappyLlama]

Try bbc.co.uk

There is a gardening section for us Brits, and seeing as you are in the northern hemisphere there shouldn't be a problem. I don't know what gardener programs are available in the US.

On the first page you can find the BBCiplayer. Streaming videos, quality is pretty damn good. Gardener's World is the one to look for. Programs are only up for a week from the first broadcast but can be downloaded to your PC.

End of Public Service Announcement.

 

[Emerald_Dragon]

I wish I was in your zone. I am a 3a boarderline 2, sob. Still the plants that do well with cooler summers do well here, like spinich, cabbage and stuff.

I would read gardening books and check out sites on the web. There is a ton of stuff on companion planting (planting 2 specific plants next to eachother because they help eachother grow better) and non chemical sollutions for pests.

Have fun!!!

 

[Topanga_Blue]

I'm starting this thread in the hopes that there are some garden gurus out there who will be able to give me pearls of wonderful wisdom this year as I start out trying my hand at organic gardening...

I'm in zone 5b, and I'm planning on planting the following:

broccoli
brussels sprouts
cauliflower
cucumbers
romaine lettuce
spinach
cabbage
tomatoes
carrots
celery
onions
peppers (green)
strawberries
melon

Any idea on schedules? any good links to share? Any advice? I'm a total newbie...!

Not sure where zone 5B is. I'm in New England and I can tell you that starting with seeds is diffacult in this reigon of you don't have a greenhouse. It can be done but it's tougher. Some crops are easier of course. We planted carrots from seeds had had hundred of them by mis summer. Peas also did pretty well. Squash on the other had was a washout. We didn't do a garden this year but the last few years we have. We usually buy seedlings and plant them. It costs a bit more but you get a big jump on the season.

Make sure to keep the birds and bunnies from the strawberries. I grow berries every year and have some good vines but have yet to ever eat one.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Thanks for the advice and the links!

Now we're talking about keeping bees... anyone do that???

 

[Vermilion]

Thanks for the advice and the links!

Now we're talking about keeping bees... anyone do that???

no, but I want to... They have a national Bee-keepers conference just down the road from me each year.

British site for beekeepers - http://www.bbka.org.uk/

I also want to keep chickens and, if we have a big enough garden, a goat or two.

All this will be years in the future, cos as it is with property prices we will be able to just about afford a studio garret. No garden, no parking, no pets, no breathing

x
V

 

[neonlyte]

Thanks for the advice and the links!

Now we're talking about keeping bees... anyone do that???

Don't think you'll get iBBC outside of UK for the present
There are good gardening links on this BBC page http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/tv_and_radio/gardeners_world/factsheet_index.shtml
This is the Royal Horticultural Society Link, lots of good info http://www.rhs.org.uk/index.htm
How to Start an Organic Garden http://www.gardenzone.info/articles/indexnew.php?article=75

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

SK,
I have grown eveything on your list.

Brocoli and Brussle Sprouts ... Buggy fuckers. It was a battle that lasted all summer. It wasn't worth it. Then the bloody roots go clear to China and it was a bitch getting rid of the staulks after they were done.

Strawberries are great. They don't take much work and (assuming the possoms and racoons don't raid your garden) produce really well. I perfer the Rainier variety because they produce all summer and into the fall.

The rest - cucumbers, lettice and so on are pretty easy. Just keep them watered and use lots of slug bait.

Cabbage takes a lot of space. In the end it's cheaper to buy than grow.

 

[tickledkitty]

I'm in Ohio and have started tomatoes from seed twice, and they did great. I got one of those little Martha Stewart greenhouse things to start them, and then replanted them in bigger pots. The seeds came with the kit. I didn't actually put them in the ground until after Memorial Day. I had a nice variety of tomatoes; big heirloom ones, roma tomatoes, pear tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes. They were all great. Tomatoes need a lot of sun.

I've also done cucumbers and pumpkins, which always do well. You need a lot of room for them though, because the vines are huge. It's so much fun though to have a batch of your own pumpkins to carve at Halloween.

I never knew what I was doing and just put the seeds in the ground and hoped for the best.

 

[tickledkitty]

Ok, now I've looked at your list again. That's going to take a lot of space. You need to leave enough room so you can walk between rows, which requires a lot more space than you'd think. Otherwise, you'll end up with this jungle that you have to hack through to get to your ripe veggies. (Yep, been there. )

Tomato plants get huge and need to be staked. Sometimes up to 5 or 6 feet tall. Also, cucumber vines need a place to go. You'll be amazed at how quickly they grow, and they've got these little feelers that will wrap around other plants and choke them. Melons have vines too.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Ok, now I've looked at your list again. That's going to take a lot of space. You need to leave enough room so you can walk between rows, which requires a lot more space than you'd think. Otherwise, you'll end up with this jungle that you have to hack through to get to your ripe veggies. (Yep, been there. )

Tomato plants get huge and need to be staked. Sometimes up to 5 or 6 feet tall. Also, cucumber vines need a place to go. You'll be amazed at how quickly they grow, and they've got these little feelers that will wrap around other plants and choke them. Melons have vines too.

We're on six acres... space, I got!

I just have to do the research on plant spacing, etc...

Also, I want to grow organic, so I've got to find out what kills the buggies that isn't toxic. :x

And we're getting chickens, too!

But no goats... I don't drink goat's milk, and I wouldn't eat them... so they'd just be kind of... moot.

 

[rgraham666]

Yes, I do have advice.

Don't let me anywhere near your plants.

I have a grey thumb.

 

[sweetness6280]

Yes, I do have advice.

Don't let me anywhere near your plants.

I have a grey thumb.

At least yours is only grey, mine is black. If I walk within 3 feet of a plant, it withers and dies.

 

[rgraham666]

At least yours is only grey, mine is black. If I walk within 3 feet of a plant, it withers and dies.

At least that's quick. The plants I'm around suffer for quite a while.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Well then, you can just eat the fruits of my labor! lol

 

[sweetness6280]

Well then, you can just eat the fruits of my labor! lol

Yummy. That I can do, thank you.

 

[tickledkitty]

We're on six acres... space, I got!

I just have to do the research on plant spacing, etc...

Also, I want to grow organic, so I've got to find out what kills the buggies that isn't toxic. :x

And we're getting chickens, too!

But no goats... I don't drink goat's milk, and I wouldn't eat them... so they'd just be kind of... moot.

Just have fun with it. I didn't intentionally set out to be organic myself, but I never did use any type of pesticides. I didn't want my daughter ingesting that stuff. She had a habit of grabbing the cherry and pear tomatoes off the plants and eating them right there before we had a chance to wash them. I felt like such an earth mother.

The only pest problem I had was worms in my zucchini one year. Apparently there are bugs you can buy that will eat the bad bugs. I think that's a pretty cool concept.

I'm so jealous about the chickens! All those lovely fresh eggs. I really wouldn't want to have to take care of them though.

 

[rgraham666]

You can probably buy diseases too.

Biological warfare is not illegal or unethical where your garden is concerned.

 

[neonlyte]

You can probably buy diseases too.

Biological warfare is not illegal or unethical where your garden is concerned.

Easier just to eat them:

"Finding bugs on your plate in a restaurant usually means you'll eat for free.

And you'll likely give said establishment a miss next time you're peckish.

But Taiwanese gourmands are foregoing the flash eateries of the capital in favour of a restaurant out in the sticks that serves up organic bugs.

You can thrill to the taste of deep fried scorpion in chilli pepper sauce, bamboo worms and ant fried rice.

"People in the city eat junk food with lots of fat and chemicals. I suggest they come here and eat something more natural and simple so they'll be very healthy."

Apparently, munching worms and other earthy treats is a surefire fix for a flagging sex drive. "

 

[tickledkitty]

Apparently, munching worms and other earthy treats is a surefire fix for a flagging sex drive. "

I know it puts me right in the mood.

 

[Guest]

.............

 

[Quesla]

Guru? (NOT!)

Hi Gardners. Here in Central Saskatchewan, you pretty much have to start your seedlings indoors in March or April. The ground is still perma frost solid untill middle may. We do peas with great success for fumnbling begginners, tomatoes, and strawberries, our cukes never came up last year and neither did my squash. All our rutabeggers (sp?) and turnips went to spindly stem and seeds and leaf. no chubby yummy roots at all! Would it help to pinch back stems or leaves to force plants to store in the root? Carrots seem to be easy. We are trying to enrich our poor clay & sand soil with compost collected over the frozen of winter. "Give to the Mother and they will give back in rich advice and good commonsense" I sure hope that I can get a better start this year! Love & Light: Quesla

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Goats are good for organic gardens, y'know the compost end of the goat.

Doh! Didn't think of THAT! lol

But we have chickens... can't we use chicken poop for compost? Or is there something about that... salmonella??

Damn, the learning curve is HUGE with this whole thing... *sigh*

 

[neonlyte]

Doh! Didn't think of THAT! lol

But we have chickens... can't we use chicken poop for compost? Or is there something about that... salmonella??

Damn, the learning curve is HUGE with this whole thing... *sigh*

Put the poop in the compost heap between layers of vegetation, it acts as an accelerator to kick start the decomposition. You probably can't use all of it that way, it's too strong. If you are using straw bedding for the chickens, keep the waste in a heap and dig it in each fall, after cropping, it'll break down over the winter. The best way, since you have six acres, is to make a movable chicken coop with a good sized covered outside run, move that across a fallow section of you're fields, the chicken waste will fertilise the land ready for next seasons planting. See here http://www.poultry.allotment.org.uk/Chicken_a/chicken_coop_tour.php

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Put the poop in the compost heap between layers of vegetation, it acts as an accelerator to kick start the decomposition. You probably can't use all of it that way, it's too strong. If you are using straw bedding for the chickens, keep the waste in a heap and dig it in each fall, after cropping, it'll break down over the winter. The best way, since you have six acres, is to make a movable chicken coop with a good sized covered outside run, move that across a fallow section of you're fields, the chicken waste will fertilise the land ready for next seasons planting. See here http://www.poultry.allotment.org.uk/Chicken_a/chicken_coop_tour.php

What an interesting idea!!! I'll have to find a US resource...