Author Topic: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017  (Read 105754 times)

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #100 on: April 11, 2017, 11:14:35 AM »
I planted some of last year's bell and banana pepper seeds.  No germination with the bell peppers, about 1/3 germination with the bananas, which will give me enough plants.  I have been starting sweet potato slips, some of those are rooted and potted up.  Time to start some tomatoes.  We have just enough chance of late frost that the tender plants get planted the end of May.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #101 on: April 11, 2017, 11:40:03 AM »
Did you guys know Aldi sells raised beds? I bought one for the little scrap of yard that I'm allowed to use at my new apartment. It will contain tomaroes.

There is still some space left over outside the bed, and I'm trying to figure out what to put there. No greens, as the neighborhood has a serious bunny problem and I don't want to put up fencing; my community garden bed is fenced so I will put the greens there.

I'm probably going to have more peppers than I can fit in the community garden, so maybe I'll put some of those in the yard. And eventually some basil. I also am seriously jonesing for some berry bushes, but I'm told that raspberries will become invasive, and since I'm renting that seems unwise. Maybe blueberries?

I want to get something in there growing NOW but it won't be warm enough for tomatoes, basil,  and peppers for at least another month, month and a half. Hmmm. Carrots? Onions? Herbs? I have a dill plant I started from seed that can probably go in the ground soon. Do bunnies eat dill?
Don't think they like herbs at all.
My experience with juneberries is that they take about three years to begin fruiting.  It is too alkaline for blueberries here so I have no wisdom about them but the plants are similar size and shape.  I have to fence mine because bunnies find them very tasty.
Raspberries are very spready but can be contained by the lawnmower if they are surrounded by turf.  I am not sure how quickly they will set fruit and you need a fair number to get any volume of harvest. 

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #102 on: April 11, 2017, 12:52:50 PM »
I think some of my indoor starts (tomatoes) were too wet and got wilty from a fungal infection :( I clipped off the wilty bits and most of them seem to be bouncing back. Most of my other tomatoes seedlings are getting nice and stocky, which is great! Except that it's still dipping below freezing here and I won't be able to plant them out for another month at least!

We're starting to do yardwork and remove all of the gross overgrown plants (looking at you, lilacs). I'm hoping to eventually replace these with food bearing plants, ie: haskaps, saskatoons, apples, etc.

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #103 on: April 11, 2017, 01:09:07 PM »
Oh lovey ooeei.

Still too cold here on average to put tomatoes out. But my starts are getting huge.

No germination of lettuce or peas I planted earlier. I guess I'll reseed the lettuce. Not sure about peas... it may have been too early...

Yeah we have the opposite problem here, in a month or so it's going to be too hot for the blossoms to fertilize, so you've got to get started early.  This year is somewhat of an experiment to see how everything turns out, I'll be dialing it in next year.  Until now I've just done balcony planting with 4-5 hours of sun a day, which is not nearly enough for tomatoes.   

One plus to containers is being able to move them indoors if you want to get a little risky with your start date.  Granted, these Earthtainers are HEAVY when full.  Next year I'll probably start a bit earlier even, this year I had to build the containers and was a bit lazy about it.

This Spring is being a bit schizophrenic - some very warm days (or even a week) starting in early February, then back to normal temps, then up, etc.

I replanted peas, planted beans (2 plant starts, and direct seeds) - gave both inoculant.  Then planted some potatoes.
Radishes and beets are coming up. Brassica all look OK except when bunnies or birds can access them as a "salad bar". Garlic, rhubarb, and horseradish started to really take off now.

Oddly, some of the marigolds look burned, I assume it got too cold overnight one night. They are recent transplants, so not really hardened. I've started some more, but even with those we may need more for the garden.

FerrumB5

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #104 on: April 11, 2017, 09:46:49 PM »
40 degrees weather, WTF!? Slowest germination and slow seedlings growth, nevermind starting anything outside except parsley and dill.

Poundwise

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #105 on: April 12, 2017, 06:01:08 AM »
I also am seriously jonesing for some berry bushes, but I'm told that raspberries will become invasive, and since I'm renting that seems unwise. Maybe blueberries?

Blueberries grow wonderfully in containers and small spaces, as they require only shallow soil. Try a container variety such as "Top Hat".

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #106 on: April 12, 2017, 08:40:57 AM »
I have a Top Hat! It bore well and the few berries I got to taste after the birds decimated the rest of them were pretty good. (Note to self- net it right away this year.)

I left it in its pot in the community garden bed, which we don't have access to until Saturday, so I don't know whether it made it through the winter. I have never, not once in all the years I've been gardening, successfully overwintered anything in a container - even stuff that's supposed to be impossible to kill like mint -  so I'm going to assume it's dead until I see otherwise. Following some advice I found online, last fall I buried its pot in the garden bed so that the roots would be protected against cold. Fingers crossed.

I wonder what would happen if I got another Top Hat and put it in the soil instead of a container?

It's in the 50s today and I took a chance and put my pots of greens outside, as they're looking pretty limp in my warm apartment.

And, one of my sugar snap pea plants is making a pea pod already!!

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #107 on: April 12, 2017, 08:46:08 AM »
My DH went out some rainy and foggy night to cut off the tops of some branches in a field of what he thought we grape bushes. We put them in pots in a warm place and they are doing very well, developing many leaves. Turns out they are raspberries. We'll plant them in the garden soon. I know they will grow big, so we'll need to put them some place controlled.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #108 on: April 12, 2017, 09:14:59 AM »
It was wonderfully warm here yesterday and then the thunderstorm - complete with hail - coming down sideways.  Our porch is 10 feet deep and the hail stones were bouncing off the door.  Today it is just above freezing and cloudy and damp.  Wishing the furnance would turn on because my hands are freezing.
Have some greens up in the greenhouse
Flowers, tomatoes and peppers are up in the basement under the grow lights.  Some of the tomatoes were collected seeds and I have no idea what they are.  I meant to label them better last year and didn't, again.  Tags read: "mystery cherry dark colour or large lighter colour"
Ordered some more rhubarb and asparagus plants.  The ones I have are just not coming along well so am going to go for volume. Also ordered a collection of three species of Tayberries.  Had never heard of them before, but it isn't an expensive experiment.  The Juneberry experiment was very successful.

And the best surprise of all - drum roll please -

the shiitake mushrooms are coming out of a log that that I had thought was a complete bust.  Planted - inoculated? a bunch of logs in 2015 and nothing happened - except every chipmunk or bird or squirrel or raccoon pulled the plugs that took a day of drilling to install or so I thought.  I left the logs lying around for biomass and low and behold - while hanging out some laundry I noticed that there are mushrooms on one of them.  A bunch of tiny ones and two large ones.  The inoculant plugs ended up costing like $70 bucks so it was a really wasteful experiment and low and behold two mushrooms.....at a ridiculous unit cost.  Will try not to think about it.

ooeei

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #109 on: April 12, 2017, 11:21:27 AM »
It was wonderfully warm here yesterday and then the thunderstorm - complete with hail - coming down sideways.  Our porch is 10 feet deep and the hail stones were bouncing off the door.  Today it is just above freezing and cloudy and damp.  Wishing the furnance would turn on because my hands are freezing.
Have some greens up in the greenhouse
Flowers, tomatoes and peppers are up in the basement under the grow lights.  Some of the tomatoes were collected seeds and I have no idea what they are.  I meant to label them better last year and didn't, again.  Tags read: "mystery cherry dark colour or large lighter colour"
Ordered some more rhubarb and asparagus plants.  The ones I have are just not coming along well so am going to go for volume. Also ordered a collection of three species of Tayberries.  Had never heard of them before, but it isn't an expensive experiment.  The Juneberry experiment was very successful.

And the best surprise of all - drum roll please -

the shiitake mushrooms are coming out of a log that that I had thought was a complete bust.  Planted - inoculated? a bunch of logs in 2015 and nothing happened - except every chipmunk or bird or squirrel or raccoon pulled the plugs that took a day of drilling to install or so I thought.  I left the logs lying around for biomass and low and behold - while hanging out some laundry I noticed that there are mushrooms on one of them.  A bunch of tiny ones and two large ones.  The inoculant plugs ended up costing like $70 bucks so it was a really wasteful experiment and low and behold two mushrooms.....at a ridiculous unit cost.  Will try not to think about it.

The mushroom experiment is great!  I've wanted to do it since researching it, that sounds pretty expensive though.  Mushrooms are just interesting things.

geekinprogress

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #110 on: April 12, 2017, 05:59:33 PM »
The fact that there are actually mushrooms now though is a great sign - since it did managed to get established within the log (and as long as it's not attacked by disease or battling it out with other fungi for dominance in the log) it will probably keep growing and fruiting for a good long while.  Frustrating that it's taken so long for payoff for sure, but the dividends over time will hopefully make it worthwhile.  Mushroom farming in logs is the gardening equivalent of investing in bonds :D
« Last Edit: April 12, 2017, 06:01:23 PM by geekinprogress »

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #111 on: April 12, 2017, 07:35:39 PM »
The fact that there are actually mushrooms now though is a great sign - since it did managed to get established within the log (and as long as it's not attacked by disease or battling it out with other fungi for dominance in the log) it will probably keep growing and fruiting for a good long while.  Frustrating that it's taken so long for payoff for sure, but the dividends over time will hopefully make it worthwhile.  Mushroom farming in logs is the gardening equivalent of investing in bonds :D
Thank you so much for the encouragement.  The ones I picked today are a really good size.

geekinprogress

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #112 on: April 12, 2017, 10:52:18 PM »
Thank you so much for the encouragement.  The ones I picked today are a really good size.

Yay, that's rad!  You'll have to update us if there are any new developments!  :D 

Speaking of rad, one of my luffa seedlings is doing pretty well.  Not convinced its roots will fare well in transplant so could still easily be a bust, but the dream is alive for now, at least. 

Plot assignments for the community garden at work are coming up in a few weeks.  The gardens aren't actually "open" until May-ish, which is a bit of a bummer because it'd be nice to try to direct sow a few things earlier, but whateva - it's a great location, they do a lot of setup for us, and it's free. 

Interesting re: overwintering questions above, I haven't had much success overwintering anything perennial before, but my chives are springing right up this spring.

Also, tangentially related to gardening - I started a few trays of cat grass for my cats, my parents' cats, and my friend's cats, using recycled to-go food containers and some of last year's used potting soil.  Going great so far, so I'm probably going to use this as a go-to gift for cat owning friends for the next couple months...

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #113 on: April 13, 2017, 08:03:39 AM »
You are all doing so well!  My pepper plants are still tiny, but I just started my tomatoes.  All old seed, so in damp paper towels in the oven with the light on, for extra warmth.

Poundwise

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #114 on: April 13, 2017, 09:41:50 AM »
I have a Top Hat! It bore well and the few berries I got to taste after the birds decimated the rest of them were pretty good. (Note to self- net it right away this year.)

I left it in its pot in the community garden bed, which we don't have access to until Saturday, so I don't know whether it made it through the winter. I have never, not once in all the years I've been gardening, successfully overwintered anything in a container - even stuff that's supposed to be impossible to kill like mint -  so I'm going to assume it's dead until I see otherwise. Following some advice I found online, last fall I buried its pot in the garden bed so that the roots would be protected against cold. Fingers crossed.

I wonder what would happen if I got another Top Hat and put it in the soil instead of a container?

I'm not sure... it would PROBABLY be just fine, but I haven't had much success with planting blueberries in ground. Last year I had 12 potted blueberries, and with considerable effort and hope I planted 10 of them. Only three are still alive, between summer drought, winter cold, and a husband with a weed whacker. 

A bright spot in my brown-thumb misery (I am an aces container gardener but apparently no good at keeping things alive in the ground) is a bunch of 20 ramps that I bought at the grocery store last spring and planted in a woodsy area. They disappeared without a trace by early summer, so I thought it was another fail for sure. But  3 of them are coming up!!  I hope we will have a nice patch some day.

sol

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #115 on: April 13, 2017, 12:04:46 PM »
My new asparagus bed is coming in strong, I'm very excited.

Average date of last frost here is this weekend and the weather is warm, so I'm going to start hardening off my window sill seedlings for transplant to their new outdoor homes.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #116 on: April 13, 2017, 12:44:37 PM »
You are all doing so well!  My pepper plants are still tiny, but I just started my tomatoes.  All old seed, so in damp paper towels in the oven with the light on, for extra warmth.

Huh, I never heard of starting seeds that way. I may try this. I think my new apartment is too cold for successful seed starting, and some of my seed is old. I started them a few days ago in the peat pellets, which usually worked well in past years, but was struck by how cold it was in the room I have them in (only room I can put them in so that the kitty doesn't mess with them). Our old apartment constantly had the heat blasting - seriously, it was always in the mid-80s in there! - which was not too comfy for me but the warm-weather crops certainly enjoyed it.

totoro

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #117 on: April 13, 2017, 01:36:05 PM »
Well, the slugs got all my pea plants. Guess I'll do a little pest control and try again.

I've planted loads (like 100) alpine strawberry seeds (yellow and red) in trays (using a tweezer for the seeds - painstaking!) and they are now up with their first leaves.  I'm excited about this as I'm going to use them to line the flower beds - they don't have runners and are supposed to grow okay in part shade so we'll see.  I've had one plant for a few years and the fruit is tiny but has a fantastic taste.  100 plants might even get me enough to make a couple jars of jam one day.

The regular strawberry plants have spread everywhere so I'll be doing some digging.  I've got a lot of extra raspberry shoots I have to remove too so if anyone is in Victoria and wants some let me know - Carolina and Autumn Gold for the raspberries and the strawberries are ever-bearing while the raspberries are fall-bearing with a smaller summer crop if you leave some of the canes in.   Some of the raspberry canes have flower buds already.   

I'm doing a long row of sunflowers at the back off the vegetable garden.  I've planted them in peat pots and they are up but their roots are big.  I guess this is why usually you'd direct sow them.  Hope they make it through the hardening off before the roots get too cramped. I've planted tomato seedlings outside already with more in seed trays. Also planted some zucchini starts. 

The dwarf peach, plum, nectarine and cherry trees are covered in blossoms - really pretty.  My clematis armandii is also blooming. 
I've come to love this vine for its evergreen nature and easy to grow ways - we get loads of blooms from the three we've planted and I think I'll plant more this year as they make a great fence cover at a time in early spring when nothing else is blooming.

If you are looking to grow blueberries in pots we've had excellent results with pink lemonade blueberries - they really are pink, prolific, and taste delicious.

Last fall I experimented with planting snow crocuses that I ordered from Brecks in the grass, and darned if it did not work out great.  The crocuses came out before the grass started growing and were done by last week when it was time to mow.  Really pretty - looked like this except i didn't have so many: https://oldhousegardens.com/LawnCrocus

So, now I have one empty half barrel to fill.  I'm thinking of another dwarf fruit tree.  Looking for something that is maybe a bit expensive in the store or perishable - maybe asian pear?  Maybe another fig tree?  Any suggestions?

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #118 on: April 13, 2017, 03:09:11 PM »
You are all doing so well!  My pepper plants are still tiny, but I just started my tomatoes.  All old seed, so in damp paper towels in the oven with the light on, for extra warmth.

Huh, I never heard of starting seeds that way. I may try this. I think my new apartment is too cold for successful seed starting, and some of my seed is old. I started them a few days ago in the peat pellets, which usually worked well in past years, but was struck by how cold it was in the room I have them in (only room I can put them in so that the kitty doesn't mess with them). Our old apartment constantly had the heat blasting - seriously, it was always in the mid-80s in there! - which was not too comfy for me but the warm-weather crops certainly enjoyed it.

This is a must for peppers, my house is way too cold for them.  I don't bother with new tomato seed, but these will have iffy germination.  I plant them in starter pots as soon as there is any root, so there is no issue of roots growing into the paper towels.  Although wet paper towel rips nicely, so I can be slow and just pot up plants with roots in a blob of paper towel if things go too fast. Sometimes one or two seeds will be super fast and be big before I am even thinking of checking.

Biggest worry - forgetting they are in there and turning the oven on!

SAfAmBrit

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #119 on: April 15, 2017, 11:01:48 PM »
I will be harvesting my sweet banana peppers tomorrow, hopefully I get more grown before the 110 weather. My tomatoes are growing - cherry tomatoes and roma are definitely doing well. My San Marinos not so good - plants look healthy just no tomatoes showing yet. We shall see.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #120 on: April 16, 2017, 12:06:18 AM »
Our tomatoplants are growing green plants. They were started by putting slices of small tomatoes in a pot with earth. Because of our cold climate they are standing in the living room and are lokked after well.
We have also some samplings of raspberry (commercial size berries) and they are all growing green leaves on the stems. Even the chili peppers are starting to grow. Both the chili peppers and the raspberries are standing in a plastic crate in the living room, on a warm floor.
In the kitchen we have 3 pots of herbs, started from seeds. The corianders is becoming recognazible. The other pots contains some small green leaves that all look like basil, although I'm sure I planted different herbs. I will know when they get bigger.
In the kitcher is also a plastic box with samplings of grape plants, on a heating pad. They are the most difficult to grow un til now. The samplings we cut from our own grapes never started to get leaves. Now we try with some others.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #121 on: April 16, 2017, 05:55:52 AM »
Outside rhubarb and chives are up. Shiitakes look like they got hit by frost.  Bunny barricades are up in our front garden.
More lettuce seed planted in greenhouse along with dill, coriander, parsley, kale, cukes.  The greens and a whack of weeds are coming along.  No sign of peas yet.
All tomatoes are up and onto secondary leaves.
Some of the Cal wonder pepper are up - highly variable germination rate from the same seeds in the same tray on the same heating pad.
Nasturiums, morning glory, strawflowers, marigolds are up and the morning glories are likely going to need to go into the greenhouse to slow them down.

I want to plant herbs for under the grow lights - greenhouse is not warm enough for basil.  I also want to grow zinnias, portulaca and scarlet runner beans.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #122 on: April 16, 2017, 08:23:24 PM »
All of the tomato seeds that I started have sprouted! So did the purple basil and - FINALLY - the cilantro. Of course, the cilantro sprouted the day after I gave up and bought a plant; I figured after 3 tries with no success, I was going to write off the seed, which is quite old.

I'm not allowed to plant my community garden bed until next Saturday - when of course it will be cold and rainy, sigh. But we had our garden volunteer cleanup day yesterday. I signed up so I could get a sneak peek at my plot and see what survived winter. Almost everything did! Only thing that died was the oregano. This is the second year in a row this has happened; I guess oregano does not like to overwinter in my plot. Maybe this year I will dig it up and bring it indoors.

My dwarf blueberry and dwarf raspberry both look great! I didn't realize dwarf raspberries will spread, but I found raspberry shoots in places they don't belong. All 3 strawberries look good. Thyme and chocolate mint are slowly regenerating, and the chives got huge! Minor bummer, only about half the garlic I planted came up. Maybe because it was a mild winter with almost no snow.

Bad news: There is almost certainly lead in the soil in the yard of the building I just moved to, which I have permission to plant. I was going to do a soil test, but a friend who is an urban farmer told me that given the neighborhood I live in, it almost certainly would come back positive, so I may as well save the time and expense of the test and do containers and raised bed only. I already have the raised bed, but will need some bigger containers. Which means I will also need more soil to fill them with. Argh. Oh well, at least I found this out before I stuck my onion sets in the ground and gave my family lead poisoning!

This is getting to be more expensive than I had expected. At least all of my seeds this year were free, and assuming everything continues to do well, there are only a couple of plants I'll need to buy (favorite high-yielding plants that I've not yet found seeds for.)

sol

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #123 on: April 16, 2017, 10:37:21 PM »
One of my kids dumped out my window sill tray onto the floor, crushing everything that was growing, destroying everything that was recently planted, and completely ruining my carefully labeled ordered grid.  I think the whole thing is a loss. 

I've probably got enough toms and cucs into larger pots already, but I'm going to need to restart everything else.  So sad.

frugalwitch

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #124 on: April 17, 2017, 05:01:55 AM »
One of my kids dumped out my window sill tray onto the floor, crushing everything that was growing, destroying everything that was recently planted, and completely ruining my carefully labeled ordered grid.  I think the whole thing is a loss. 

I've probably got enough toms and cucs into larger pots already, but I'm going to need to restart everything else.  So sad.

That's so sad, so sorry :(.

I started cold tolerant varieties in my zone 5b garden and they are finally starting to show up! Also started about 72 seedlings of tomatoes and peppers. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to take care of them all :P.

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #125 on: April 17, 2017, 06:10:26 AM »
One of my kids dumped out my window sill tray onto the floor, crushing everything that was growing, destroying everything that was recently planted, and completely ruining my carefully labeled ordered grid.  I think the whole thing is a loss. 

I've probably got enough toms and cucs into larger pots already, but I'm going to need to restart everything else.  So sad.

That's so frustrating. But, it's just stuff - messy, messy stuff.
Third time is the charm, right?

horsepoor

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #126 on: April 17, 2017, 08:12:52 AM »
I am probably going to be dialing it back a bit this year.  My seed starting efforts have been a little lackluster for one.  I started the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants in 72 cell trays right away when I got back from an extended work trip to DC, but then I had to travel a few more times, and was just busy, and the trays kept drying out, so I had very spotty germination.  Then I didn't get them transplanted to cups soon enough, so the seedlings I do have are smaller than they should be at this point.  I've also started kale, cabbage, cauliflower and onions in cups, and some of the cauliflower is buttoning at the 4-leaf stage, so that is a total loss.  Probably also from uneven watering, though this was supposed to be a hardy, drought tolerant variety.  Outside, germination of the root veggies and greens I've planted has been really slow.  On the other hand, we have weeds galore.  Not so much in the veggie beds, but weed control is going to take time away from getting the veggies tended.  Last weekend I ripped out a raised bed that has always been plagued by grass.  The other raised beds are needing an infusion of composted horse manure. 

All in all, I think I just need to focus on growing in a few beds and building the soil in the others this year, then go big again next year.  Also, I just bought a new horse and will be riding two for the next couple months, and honestly, as much as I love gardening, riding wins.  I'm raising chicks this year too, and need to build an mother in law suite for my old girls, so the new girls can take over the main coop in about six weeks.  So yeah.  Less emphasis on the veggie farming this year.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2017, 08:16:26 AM by horsepoor »

rockeTree

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #127 on: April 18, 2017, 04:52:59 AM »
So far no exciting new veggies but shallots and garlic overwintered, peas are up, bunch of new flowers for the bees in the new beds out front, and this morning brought the first bean sprout! Cukes and tomatoes and peppers on the way (buying tomato plants- cats and kids hate seedlings, as noted above...).


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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #128 on: April 18, 2017, 05:40:41 AM »
Let's see... my thyme, oregano, chives, sage, and mint all look robust, and we've been using all of those for a while, now.

I have three dwarf blueberries in tubs. They're a couple of years old, and we've only gotten a few berries from them the previous summers, but they are certainly flowering enthusiastically this year!

The first round of onions are up, and the peas are in planters on the deck - I need to put some strings up for them soon!

Lots of seeds in various stages.

Poundwise

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #129 on: April 19, 2017, 05:34:32 AM »
For blueberry enthusiasts, I forgot to point out that you often need a combination of different varieties for effective pollination and fruit set. I like to visit the garden centers at the end of the season and pick up the bushes when they are 50% off.

ooeei

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #130 on: April 19, 2017, 12:11:43 PM »
Saw some of the Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes blushing today, hopefully we can start harvesting soon!

ooeei

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #131 on: April 20, 2017, 06:26:40 AM »
Took some pictures yesterday, everything is coming along nicely.  For size reference, those totes are 31 gallons, and just under 3' long.  The plants are getting TALL. 
« Last Edit: April 20, 2017, 06:28:26 AM by ooeei »

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #132 on: April 20, 2017, 08:12:50 AM »
Oh wow, I am so envious. Where are you? Here in Chicago we've still got another month until last frost so we can't even plant yet!

ooeei

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #133 on: April 20, 2017, 08:25:53 AM »
Oh wow, I am so envious. Where are you? Here in Chicago we've still got another month until last frost so we can't even plant yet!

Houston, TX, we had I think 3 days below freezing this last winter.  I've worn shorts and t-shirts for the most part since mid February.

Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #134 on: April 20, 2017, 08:56:35 AM »
Got some chard planted outside that is looking good.   Pepper plants indoors also looking good -- will set them out soon, as soon as I get my new hugelkultur raised bed finished.  Two out of our three fig trees look like they made it through the winter.  We are still learning about those, as we just moved down south last year.  We are right at the edge of where you can keep figs going, and it was probably not a coincidence that the two with the best protection (cages stuffed with leaves) made it and the other did not.  Hoping that the dead-looking one has enough energy in the roots to at least send some shoots up -- then we can try to nurse it through next winter and keep it going.   

Planted some young blueberry bushes last weekend and the deer have been at them -- eating all the leaves off.  We have acres of beautiful grass, and they have to eat the blueberry leaves?  Why? Fencing the blueberries today.  That and/or deer netting.  Damn deer. 

Roots&Wings

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #135 on: April 20, 2017, 11:16:30 AM »
Good luck protecting those blueberries! I'm planting a blueberry bush this weekend, will see how it goes. At least not many deer around here, birds will likely be the biggest competitors.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #136 on: April 20, 2017, 05:27:14 PM »
No deer here either but I lost almost all my blueberries to the birds (I assume. Hope it wasn't rats.) last year. This year I'm netting whatever fruit bushes I end up putting in.


Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #137 on: April 21, 2017, 04:10:02 AM »
Yeah, I was definitely prepared to argue with the birds over the berries when the time came, but these bushes are brand new.  No flowers even, just a few leaves.  I hadn't ever heard that blueberry leaves were so yummy that animals would go out of their way for them?   Weird.   

Trifle

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #138 on: April 21, 2017, 04:30:57 AM »
This weekend I'm going in search of a mulberry tree to plant for the birds.  I'll plant it far from the house.  Learned my lesson on that one.  Mulberry tree = purple, staining bird poop.   :)  And you don't want it anywhere where you would pick up fallen fruit on your shoes.

G-dog

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #139 on: April 21, 2017, 07:34:03 AM »
This weekend I'm going in search of a mulberry tree to plant for the birds.  I'll plant it far from the house.  Learned my lesson on that one.  Mulberry tree = purple, staining bird poop.   :)  And you don't want it anywhere where you would pick up fallen fruit on your shoes.

The birds "plant" the seeds EVERYWHERE! Especially along fence lines, where they sit and poop out seeds. The seedlings are very hard to kill, made even more difficult by trying to work around your fence.

I'd never voluntarily plant a mulberry, unless I had several acres of land... Or even then.

rachellynn99

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #140 on: April 23, 2017, 04:33:18 PM »
We've got lots of goodies going this year also. So far I've got out:
60 tomato plants ( variety of breeds)
34 pepper plants ( variety of breeds)
eggplants
zuchinni
yellow squash
cucumbers
onions
corn
potatoes
beets
broccoli
cauliflower
lettuces
radishes
strawberries
blueberries
muscadines( a variety of grapes grown in the south)

We also planted a few new fruit trees in addition to the ones we already have so hopefully we'll up our fruit production this year
pear
plum
sour cherry
apples
peaches
pecan

Last year we got over 50 gallons of pecans, the year before that nothing, so who knows this year? We got tons of pears last year, but just a handful of plums. We only got about 6 peaches this year, but we are looking to have more this year!

This Fall will be the first time we harvest our honey as well to I'm excited about that.

sol

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #141 on: April 23, 2017, 04:40:41 PM »
We've got lots of goodies going this year also.

Wow, you are WAY more serious about this than we are.  I thought I was going overboard with eight toms, five cucumber, and three pepper plants.

rachellynn99

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #142 on: April 23, 2017, 05:45:12 PM »
So we kind of have this weird commune thing going on- my husband and I built our house on land gifted to us by my father - a piece of his land. So we live pretty close to them and we share gardening space, gardening duties and then of course share the bounty. We have 3 growing kids to feed- and I don't work during the summer so I have time to can, freeze and work in the garden.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #143 on: April 23, 2017, 06:18:41 PM »
Wow, you are WAY more serious about this than we are.  I thought I was going overboard with eight toms, five cucumber, and three pepper plants.

Um, I will not disclose how many tomato seedlings I currently have, haha. (Fewer than rachellyn, except I'm cramming it all into a TINY yard and a 4 x 8 community garden bed.) I may have a problem.... :D

I pretty much spent the entire weekend planting cool-weather crops in the community garden bed, which opened for the season yesterday. I bought 2 lettuce, 1 spinach, and 1 cilantro plants as the cilantro didn't come up from seed (although of course it did the day after I bought the plant! Oh well, cilantro bolts quickly here so good to have backup) and I can't seem to get lettuce started in pots, it only does well for me if I sow it right into the ground. I have, I think, 8 different varieties of greens going, between the plants and the seeds.

Also put in onion sets, carrot seed and snow pea seeds, and planted the 2 sugar snap peas I started from seed that are already making pea pods. Oh, and the "mammoth dill" I started from seed. That thing'll be as tall as me when it's fully grown.

My dwarf blueberry bush is covered in flowers and two out of three strawberry plants are flowering too. Everything looks good, I feel very accomplished!

totoro

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #144 on: April 23, 2017, 09:34:36 PM »
I bought five huge used concrete planters today.  Going to plant dwarf fruit trees with strawberries - I have hundreds of new strawberry plants popping up and I've given away a bunch.  Had to replace some of my sunflower seedlings that toppled over.  And hung up a stained glass square in the garden arch - it looks pretty nice when the sun hits it. 

totoro

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #145 on: April 24, 2017, 08:01:36 AM »
Totoro that looks great! Good luck with the dwarf fruit trees.

Thanks!  I'm pretty amateur but we started with zero (backyard was a mix of weeds, broken fencing, gravel, pavement, concrete and a big pile of dog doo in the corner where the neighbours had been dumping over the fence for years!), so anything is an improvement.  It sounds like you are in a more southern region than me (Victoria BC), but I'm interested n trying lemons, kafir limes, pomegranate and persimmon.  Our winters are mild enough that some of the tropical stuff will do ok on a south-facing wall with xmas lights for warmth over winter.

I have a hard time spending all the funds at once for the garden - it sure adds up when you start from nothing - but the sooner you plant the perennials and trees the longer you enjoy the benefits and more established they become, so it probably best to bite the bullet and get all the rest done this year.   If you haven't tried those pink lemonade blueberries I recommend them - not sure if they pollinate the regular sort.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #146 on: April 24, 2017, 08:42:05 AM »
Oooooo... I really wanted to try the pink lemonade blueberries. I was very curious about those, but couldn't stomach paying $35 for the bush. But that was at Fancy Garden Center; I know I saw them at Home Depot too and am pretty sure they were cheaper there. Instead I got a Northcountry and a Northsky blueberry; both dwarf bushes that get 1-2' high. That works better for me anyway as we're renting so those can go in containers and travel with us should we need to move again (please god no; we just moved a few weeks ago and I never want to do that again.).

I agree with you, totoro; I have startup costs this year due to having a yard for the first time in my life and it's been painful. I'm trying to make frugal choices, but there is some stuff that you just cant get around. Just the cost of soil/compost alone, ugh. My landlord gave me permission to start a compost pile in the backyard so hopefully that will at least partially solve that issue in coming years.

When I had chosen my blueberries, I asked one of the workers if they'd already been treated with soil acidifier, or if I still needed to put some on. And they gave me a small free paper bag of acidifier! That was a nice surprise. Saved me some money.

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #147 on: April 24, 2017, 08:54:20 AM »
Alrighty, though I'm a renter and so can't dig holes in the ground, I'm joining this thread in a limited manner: got some free, second-hand large pots, filled with dirt, and planted a small tomato plant in each. They're lined up on the south-facing side of the house! Hopefully this summer we'll have delicious tomatoes to enjoy!

And I've lined the stoop with pots of herbs: the rosemary, parsley, and oregano that survived our (mild) winter, plus new pots of basil, garlic chives, lavender, and dill. Cilantro is next!

totoro

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #148 on: April 24, 2017, 09:04:51 AM »
Oooooo... I really wanted to try the pink lemonade blueberries. I was very curious about those, but couldn't stomach paying $35 for the bush.

We got ours two years ago at a non-fancy garden place out in a more rural area - they were 15 each.  They are in pots and produce a lot of blueberries (pinkberries?) - more than the regular bushes have for us - and did so from year one.  They are about a foot taller now.  This year I'm going to put them into the garden bed and free up the pot space for fruit trees on the patio I think. 

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Re: Planting / Growing Your Own - 2017
« Reply #149 on: April 24, 2017, 09:40:29 AM »
Harvested some asparagus - the first time we have gotten enough to warrant cooking it - we each ate a spear.  It is still super early but I moved the asparagus that wasn't really doing very well into a sunnier location last year.  I planted it in spring 2011 in a place that was just too shady and also got quite dry.
I also cooked up all the shiitake mushrooms and we feasted.  There are a couple more coming.  Hopefully the two logs will continue to produce.

Greenhouse greens should be ready for picking in a week.

I opened my full sun allotment garden.  Garlic is up and doing well.   I planted some old garlic that was trying to sprout in the garlic patch to fill it out.
A profusion of strawberry plants is trying to take over the garden. Hopefully I can make some trades. 
I worked in forking through the soil and fencing to keep out the bunnies and squirrels. 
Then I planted some peas.  Thinking I want to eat peas until I get sick of them.  Planning on planting a crop every week until it gets hot.

The haskaps around my house are loaded with blossoms.  Some of the plants got overtrimmed by the bunnies but are still flowering.  The large bush that was fenced is huge.  Praying that we don't have a super cold frost.

Rhubarb is up but seems too small to pick.  My home garden is so shady.  My allotment is only 10x10 feet so I have to be very careful with my planting plans.

Tried to move the tomato seedlings to bigger pots but the roots aren't developed enough.  The pepper seedlings look anemic.  I have a lot but they don't look that great.  Four plants died.  Hopefully I get enough to plant out.  I have a plan for creating a little hot spot for them.  I read that they can't have any temperature dips or moisture issues or they stop fruiting.  They sure don't germinate very consistently.