Gardening Thread

[sb2009]

This is my 7 year olds garden, so no picking on me for not being hard core enough LOL

tomatoes, two varieities
cucumbers
zucchini
lettuce
peppers (she will will decide when we get to the store to see the seedlings)

we tried a watermelon last year but when it grew to abouat 2" across some dastardly animal ate it :-(

We also have a strawberry patch beside her garden area. It's really cute, husband made a little bench for her out of logs and a small table out of a tree stump, and we put up a sign that says "Emma's Garden." It's precious, I tell you, just precious!

 

[Soumis]

I hate bugs! Therefore my favorite garden is my aerogarden. I've got herbs right now, but I might do cherry tomatoes next. I planted some perennials today in front of the house and put down some mulch, so hopefully I can keep the upkeep to a minimum.

 

[neci]

i have a little garden with some tomatoes, peppers, squash and onions. i need to get my basil and cilantro planted soon.

 

[sb2009]

I bought some mint and basis to plant as well. We just finished planting in the dark. Hopefully it looks decent in the morning!

 

[WriterDom]

My mint grew back from last year. Got the garden all tilled today.

 

[graceanne]

My landlord said he'd till us a garden at the end of the month (hopefully this weekend), and we're going to put in potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, beets, corn, onions, and let each of the kids plant a pumpkin for harvest. We're also going to put in some elephant garlic, but that takes two years before you can harvest it. Nearer the house I want to do an herb garden, with rosemary, chives, and parsley. A, my older girl, already has a planter with mint in it, but I promised my other daughter that she could have her own, cause A does NOT share her mint. Mint grows like a weed in oregon, though, so you have to put it in a planter or it will take over. I think I promised yakashi kaze some mint this summer.

Ooh, maybe I'll put some lemon balm, I love lemon balm tea.

 

[WriterDom]

So one $3.50 sized scoop of corn seed from the hardware store was good for 6 fifty feet rows. I know the more corn the better so I think I'll get another scoop. Or two even. I'm going bulk this year and not buying three dollar plants every time I go to Walmart or Home Depot.

 

[WriterDom]

Today I planted okra, eggplant, cucumbers, and zucchini. All seeds so don't know what will come up other than the okra. Okra grows really well but you have to pick them early or they get really tough and stringy. The beans and corn seeds are starting to sprout. Just from the seeds so far. The ones that were half buried anyway. Once everything sprouts out of the ground I'll know how much more room I have. I've got plenty of room for the other 48 tomato plants. This is a budget garden and I'm not buying a lot of 3 dollar plants at Walmart this year. I do want a TABASCO® pepper plant or two.

 

[sb2009]

so, we may have to put some some sort of high fence, the cats seem to be attracted to it. We haven't found any POOP yet but it's irritating the hell out of me!

Damn cats!!!!

 

[panty wearer]

I'm going for broke this year. one plot is 40x40 and the other plot is 20x40. The small plot is going to have just corn and watermelon, and the large plot will have all the other vegges.

 

[WriterDom]

so, we may have to put some some sort of high fence, the cats seem to be attracted to it. We haven't found any POOP yet but it's irritating the hell out of me!

Damn cats!!!!

Cats don't bother me. I figure if I have a cat in the garden then I don't have to worry about other animals that would be dining in. Yeah they might dig a little but not enough to worry about. Or use the tomato hole I dug right in front of me. He's probably still telling the other cats about the great bathroom I dug just for him.

 

[JMohegan]

so, we may have to put some some sort of high fence, the cats seem to be attracted to it. We haven't found any POOP yet but it's irritating the hell out of me!

Damn cats!!!!

You can try educating the cat owners about the dangers of toxoplasmosis, and politely asking them to keep their cats away from your yard. But my experience with cat owners who let their cats outdoors is that they somehow feel entitled to use of the entire neighborhood for their pets' entertainment, so that may not work.

A fence won't do the trick (as cats are magnificent climbers and jumpers). You'll need a cage of some sort.

 

[chy_girl]

so, we may have to put some some sort of high fence, the cats seem to be attracted to it. We haven't found any POOP yet but it's irritating the hell out of me!

Damn cats!!!!

Two words: Water. Scarecrow.

My landlord said he'd till us a garden at the end of the month (hopefully this weekend), and we're going to put in potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, beets, corn, onions, and let each of the kids plant a pumpkin for harvest. We're also going to put in some elephant garlic, but that takes two years before you can harvest it. Nearer the house I want to do an herb garden, with rosemary, chives, and parsley. A, my older girl, already has a planter with mint in it, but I promised my other daughter that she could have her own, cause A does NOT share her mint. Mint grows like a weed in oregon, though, so you have to put it in a planter or it will take over. I think I promised yakashi kaze some mint this summer.

Ooh, maybe I'll put some lemon balm, I love lemon balm tea.

A cheater trick about the potatos... Once you get your trench dug and the eyes where you want them, try covering them with straw instead of dirt. It makes it much easier to find the little buggers come harvest time.

And a few years ago we got some mint as part of companion gardening and put them in huge planters (because mint grows like a weed in Oregon). Every last article I read said it needed to be a foot to a foot and a half deep to contain the root. The smallest planter was just over 2 feet deep. Three weeks later the damned things were growing out the bottom and trying to root in garden.

We stopped trying to companion garden with mint after that.

 

[WriterDom]

What's fun about corn is that you can go out in the morning and see that it has grown two inches overnight.

 

[IrisAlthea]

so, we may have to put some some sort of high fence, the cats seem to be attracted to it. We haven't found any POOP yet but it's irritating the hell out of me!

Damn cats!!!!

I´ve heard that cats stay away if you throw some orange peels among the plants. I think it was something about the smell that they don´t like.

 

[AngelicAssassin]

Two words: Water. Scarecrow.

Water Scarecrow, or Ultrasound.

 

[WriterDom]

Got some pea seeds tonight. They grow well but hard to get enough to eat even for one person unless you plant a lot.

 

[WriterDom]

It's always interesting what you find in the garden that you didn't notice the day before. Little peppers starting of the long and skinny red variety. Some of the bush beans going from a leaf or two to serious looking plants. And the second day corn seeming to catch up with the first day's corn. Yesterday it was the four rows of okra establishing itself. At the very end I planted zucchini, cucumber and eggplant seeds not really expecting much. I think those are best bought as plants but easy to throw three dollars of seeds in the ground and some of that is coming up. Spotty but some. I'm bad about not labeling things so it's just mystery plants for now. The first wave of tomatoes are getting big but no blossoms yet. I bought them in trays of 48 around 8 to 10 inches high and now some are looking like the huge ones you can buy from greenhouses.

I have more tomatoes and squash getting partial sun today before they jump in and some running beans seeds to go between the corn.

 

[graceanne]

We got our rows hoed, and nice looking yesterday. If it stops raining we'll start putting in seeds and starts today, but we'll see.

We're going to do corn, tomatoes, beets, carrots, a pumpkin a child (for harvest), green beans, cucumbers, and lettuce. Yay!

 

[WriterDom]

It's hard to get corn to do right in a small garden. It will grow but the ears will have lots of issues. What I did get one year was incredible straight from the garden into the steamer.

I'm hoping the rain will move in late tonight and early this morning and we'll have an inch or so.

 

[WriterDom]

I should have a jungle by August. About 65 tomato plants around the perimeter. The corn as gone from 6 inches to about 12 in the last 5 days. We noticed the watermelon is coming back from last year. And from one little cup of mint last year I have about eight square feet now.

 

[minx1]

A cheater trick about the potatos... Once you get your trench dug and the eyes where you want them, try covering them with straw instead of dirt. It makes it much easier to find the little buggers come harvest time.

When I was in the UK I grew spuds in a container one year...worked really well.
Considering we didnt get much sun, we grew some pretty good veggies...peppers, potatoes, courgettes, corn, onions, marrow, chilli peppers. Way too many tomatoes....I was sick of tomato and basil salad by the end of them lol.

I havent grown anything since I've been in Oz, still trying to get my head round the seasons and whether it actually matters when I plant...but hope to do it again in the coming months. Certainly saves money.

 

[neci]

i have cherry tomatoes and hot banana peppers!

 

[chy_girl]

It's hard to get corn to do right in a small garden. It will grow but the ears will have lots of issues. What I did get one year was incredible straight from the garden into the steamer.

I'm hoping the rain will move in late tonight and early this morning and we'll have an inch or so.

The thing my mom always said about corn was you had to have at least a five stalk by five stalk square. Something about the way the pollination works. It always worked for her.

 

[graceanne]

The thing my mom always said about corn was you had to have at least a five stalk by five stalk square. Something about the way the pollination works. It always worked for her.

Really? Weird. I'll have to try that. lol