Planting/Growing Your Own...The Garden Thread

[RetiredAt63]

Well, our high was 28C today.  We may be safe, the lows look like 10 or higher from here on out.  People near me had a low of -4 the other day.  My early tomatoes are outgrowing their milk cartons.  I should take pictures.

Moving west -> -23C days in winter, day after day, are no longer fun.  The longer growing season is an added inducement.

That is why you are moving west, right? ;)

My tomatoes are lovin' life right now. Peppers? Not quite as happy. They are an experiment, didn't have big expectations there...

[PJ]

I might have lost one of the two cucumber plants I have in one big pot, due to frost the other night.  I don't know how one plant could be affected, while the other less than a foot away is fine, but they were both fine before the cold night, and now one of them is not.  Maybe it will still bounce back.  I have some other cukes I planted from seed in other pots, but these are the two (English cukes) that I bought as starts because my cucumbers didn't do all that well last year.  Thought it'd be worth trying a different type. 

Oh well.  Lots of other stuff is still growing fine.

[Erica/NWEdible]

SUCH an awesome day in the garden. Pulled bolting arugula, transplanted corn starts. Got in sweet meat starts and summer squash starts. Got 5 huckleberries planted, did a ton of weeding, and mowed down a veritable field of sunchokes for chicken feed ("tree hay"). Transplanted a few currant bushes, mulched a bunch, harvested potatoes and green onions and masses of lettuce. All of dinner except the protein is homegrown and life is good. I feel SO GREAT anytime I'm able to spend a full day out there.

Does anyone grow poppies for poppy seed? What varieties are good for food poppies?

[1967mama]

I have teeny tiny lettuce and cucumber sprouts! Hurray! It's working!

[tofuchampion]

Well, I drilled the holes in the pots that weren't draining, and it was crazy how much water came out. The pots were like little fountains for a few minutes, and my patio got soaked. The peppers and eggplant are looking better, but I think it was too late for the lavender. :(

Everything else is doing pretty well! I have little tiny tomatoes (and I do mean tiny - they're a super-miniature variety that gets to about 1/4"), a ton of lettuce that we've already started eating, and the cucumbers, peppers, and eggplant are all flowering. I need to remember to take a pic.

[PJ]

I have teeny tiny lettuce and cucumber sprouts! Hurray! It's working!

Hurray indeed!  My most recent triumph, as observed by peering closely at the soil in each pot?  As I was pulling last year's stuff out of the planters this spring, I realized a lot of dried up flowerheads were still on a rogue marigold that grew about 3 feet tall.  They survived a Toronto winter without falling off the old dried up plant.  So, I planted some of the seeds.  Looks to be a pretty low viability ratio, but there are a few little sprouts coming up!  And, after a longer than expected wait, I think I have parsley growing too.  And oregano.  Yay!

SUCH an awesome day in the garden. Pulled bolting arugula, transplanted corn starts. Got in sweet meat starts and summer squash starts. Got 5 huckleberries planted, did a ton of weeding, and mowed down a veritable field of sunchokes for chicken feed ("tree hay"). Transplanted a few currant bushes, mulched a bunch, harvested potatoes and green onions and masses of lettuce. All of dinner except the protein is homegrown and life is good. I feel SO GREAT anytime I'm able to spend a full day out there.

Ok.  I'm tired just reading about what you got accomplished.  That's definitely more than 1 day of work in the garden for me!

Well, I drilled the holes in the pots that weren't draining, and it was crazy how much water came out. The pots were like little fountains for a few minutes, and my patio got soaked. The peppers and eggplant are looking better, but I think it was too late for the lavender. :(

Everything else is doing pretty well! I have little tiny tomatoes (and I do mean tiny - they're a super-miniature variety that gets to about 1/4"), a ton of lettuce that we've already started eating, and the cucumbers, peppers, and eggplant are all flowering. I need to remember to take a pic.

Great to hear that some of the waterlogged plants pulled through.  And I'll ask you, as well as any other pepper growers reading along, whether you pinch back your peppers/pull off the early flowers or fruits?  A gardening book I got out of the library suggested it, to encourage more fruiting.  But they aren't clear on whether it's the flowers I'm supposed to take off, or wait until they form fruit, or should I even do this at all.  I've never been very successful with peppers (a few smallish ones per plant at best) but am willing to give it a try.

[Cookie78]

Planted my little garden yesterday. :) Peas, beans, green onions, lettuce, spinach, carrots.

The plants in the greenhouse are doing awesome too. Butternut squash, watermelon, thai basil, habanero peppers, parsley, two types of tomatoes, zucchini, rosemary. The cucumber seeds must have been to old and the chili peppers didn't come up at all either. I might go pick some up at the nursery. This is the second time I've tried growing lavender, but I must be doing something wrong.

My peppermint plant survived the winter and is just popping up now, and the chives are already growing like mad! I don't think the oregano made it. And the raspberry plant I planted last year is growing like mad too. The rhubarb (which I thought I might have killed even though I know that's nearly impossible) has EXPLODED!

I checked the compost a month ago and was thrilled to find useable compost at the bottom. Spread it out over the garden after I planted everything. Excited to see what happens.

I also signed up for a free permaculture course on Thursday evening. I've been fixing up my yard the last few years a bit at a time, but I'm not sure what to do with the rest of it. I want to create something that is low maintenance and high productivity. I don't mind the 'maintenance' of planting and harvesting and light weeding. To me, that's relaxing and enjoyable. What I don't want to do is constant mowing of the lawn and fighting the losing battle with dandelions. Saying 'the losing battle with dandelions' is a HUGE understatement. They have completely taken over my lawn to the point that it's hard to see any lawn left. Hopefully I can get some good ideas.

[RetiredAt63]

I've never seen this suggested, but then I live in a fairly short growing season - if I did that I would never get any peppers.  It may be advice from a different climate?  What geographic area is the book looking at?

In general, for any plants, taking the first few flowers off may allow them to get more growth so that the rest of the fruit has a better plant growing it.  Same idea as not picking your asparagus the first few years, to get a big healthy root.  But we all have to look at our own growing conditions to see if advice suits our circumstances.

Also in general, I find books about different regions only useful in term of general ideas, often the actual growing suggestions would be disastrous here.  British gardening books, I am looking at you.

And I'll ask you, as well as any other pepper growers reading along, whether you pinch back your peppers/pull off the early flowers or fruits?  A gardening book I got out of the library suggested it, to encourage more fruiting.  But they aren't clear on whether it's the flowers I'm supposed to take off, or wait until they form fruit, or should I even do this at all.  I've never been very successful with peppers (a few smallish ones per plant at best) but am willing to give it a try.

[Jon_Snow]

Going to "earth up" my potatoes today. Another garden first for me - this really has been an exciting journey so far. And since my expectations were fairly muted going in I am pretty ecstatic that I am already eating food I HAVE GROWN. Hard to explain how satisfying this is to me. And it's just my first year. :)

[Rural]

What I don't want to do is constant mowing of the lawn and fighting the losing battle with dandelions. Saying 'the losing battle with dandelions' is a HUGE understatement. They have completely taken over my lawn to the point that it's hard to see any lawn left. Hopefully I can get some good ideas.

For ideas, I recommend eating dandelion greens in early spring and battering and frying the blossoms later in the year. Also, if you don't mind digging, you can eat the crowns at the end of winter and grind the roots for dandelion "coffee" pretty much year round. The "coffee" is an acquired taste, though - I never have acquired it! The rest is just plain good, though. Wish I had more dandelions. :-)

[Cookie78]

What I don't want to do is constant mowing of the lawn and fighting the losing battle with dandelions. Saying 'the losing battle with dandelions' is a HUGE understatement. They have completely taken over my lawn to the point that it's hard to see any lawn left. Hopefully I can get some good ideas.

For ideas, I recommend eating dandelion greens in early spring and battering and frying the blossoms later in the year. Also, if you don't mind digging, you can eat the crowns at the end of winter and grind the roots for dandelion "coffee" pretty much year round. The "coffee" is an acquired taste, though - I never have acquired it! The rest is just plain good, though. Wish I had more dandelions. :-)

I'll try that out. If I like them I'd have enough for breakfast all summer.

[tofuchampion]

I've never heard of pinching off peppers, but I'm really new at this, so that probably doesn't mean anything.

[1967mama]

I am pretty ecstatic that I am already eating food I HAVE GROWN. Hard to explain how satisfying this is to me. And it's just my first year. :)

@jon_snow, I know exactly how you feel! Last year was my first year of planting seeds, and I couldn't believe we actually ate lettuce I grew! Nothing else worked out. This week, I saw the sprouts come up for lettuce and cucumbers and I took a ton of pictures. I still can't believe it! (p.s. I'm a fellow PNW gardener)

[horsepoor]

I have teeny tiny lettuce and cucumber sprouts! Hurray! It's working!

Hurray indeed!  My most recent triumph, as observed by peering closely at the soil in each pot?  As I was pulling last year's stuff out of the planters this spring, I realized a lot of dried up flowerheads were still on a rogue marigold that grew about 3 feet tall.  They survived a Toronto winter without falling off the old dried up plant.  So, I planted some of the seeds.  Looks to be a pretty low viability ratio, but there are a few little sprouts coming up!  And, after a longer than expected wait, I think I have parsley growing too.  And oregano.  Yay!

You might be surprised.  Last week I transplanted some volunteer marigold seedlings from pots I had marigolds in last fall.  It's been warmer this week, and there are now zillions of brand new seedlings in the pots; they seem to require warm conditions to germinate.  But yeah, they produce tons of seeds, so if only 10% of them germinate, who cares.

I've been on a gardening bender this weekend.  The main event yesterday was digging into my giant "slow burn" compost pile and sieving out the decomposed stuff, then putting the rest of it back into a taller, more compact pile.  I got 8 wheelbarrow loads out, and the *remaining* pile is about 4'x4'x8'.  I'm going to dump an old bottle of fish emulsion on it and hope to have more black gold by fall.

[Erica/NWEdible]

Going to "earth up" my potatoes today. Another garden first for me - this really has been an exciting journey so far. And since my expectations were fairly muted going in I am pretty ecstatic that I am already eating food I HAVE GROWN. Hard to explain how satisfying this is to me. And it's just my first year. :)

The most satisfying meals go seed to plate all under your own hand. It's really the best. Congrats!!

[Jon_Snow]

Going to "earth up" my potatoes today. Another garden first for me - this really has been an exciting journey so far. And since my expectations were fairly muted going in I am pretty ecstatic that I am already eating food I HAVE GROWN. Hard to explain how satisfying this is to me. And it's just my first year. :)

The most satisfying meals go seed to plate all under your own hand. It's really the best. Congrats!!

Thanks Erica...that means a lot coming from you. I go to your blog sometimes and realize there is SO MUCH MORE TO LEARN. But I'm game and I will get there eventually. :)

[smalllife]

My garlic and onions are plugging along, but I have the first blooms in my wildflower garden piking their heads out this weekend! I did over half my front yard with one of those seed mixes last fall.  Planting paw paws this fall and greens next spring (trying not to bite off more than I can chew, so thank you guys for letting me live through you!)

[Erica/NWEdible]

Going to "earth up" my potatoes today. Another garden first for me - this really has been an exciting journey so far. And since my expectations were fairly muted going in I am pretty ecstatic that I am already eating food I HAVE GROWN. Hard to explain how satisfying this is to me. And it's just my first year. :)

The most satisfying meals go seed to plate all under your own hand. It's really the best. Congrats!!

Thanks Erica...that means a lot coming from you. I go to your blog sometimes and realize there is SO MUCH MORE TO LEARN. But I'm game and I will get there eventually. :)

Uh...you know I think you are a total badass and stalked the fishing thread with complete awe, right? :) For me, gardening is meditation with good food as it's outcome. There is always more to discover, both in the soil and in ourselves. Woah. I didn't mean to get all deep and shit like that. I just really like growing food.

[Tris Prior]

My community garden's coming along nicely! Tomatoes and peppers are in... of course, even though it's in the 80s now we're apparently going back to that "cooler near the lake" nonsense next weekend. (in which it's 70-80 all throughout Chicagoland except for us poor bastards along Lake Michigan who will be enduring the 50s. :( ) But, the tomatoes I put in first did survive the cool weather... so as long as we don't get frost (! Late May, ffs, let's hope that's over with!) I'm hoping they'll be OK.

Harvesting obscene amounts of lettuce and chard already and we're eating huge salads daily. Pulled some volunteer green onions as they had decided to grow in the squares I needed for tomatoes, so those are chilling out in a jar of water on my windowsill until I figure out what I'm doing with them. Fried rice, maybe? My strawberry plants both survived the winter and are making strawberries, and the oregano, mint, and thyme are all growing like mad.

Most exciting - I bought a patio eggplant and although it's barely been outside (with limited outdoor space, I've been focused on hardening off the plants that needed to go in the garden bed before they busted out of their pots), it is already making three eggplants! I have not grown eggplant before so did not know what to expect. This is very exciting.

[Knapptyme]

While there are multiple growing seasons to enjoy here, this one has been the best. My three year-old son comes out to the garden with me everyday to pick fresh cherry tomatoes, the ever so slightly blue blueberries, anything remotely red strawberries and green beans, and then proceeds to eat them fresh. He loves it, and then we bring the bigger tomatoes and peppers inside to mommy.

Plus, if he starts liking it enough, I might have an extra useful hand (he "helps water" currently) in the garden for the future like in the good ol' farming days.

[Nancy]

Spent two beautiful days in the garden this weekend. Thinned the brassicas: rutabagas, collards, kale, di ciccio broccoli.  Transplanted the waltham broccoli and made room for the later season Brussels sprouts that are growing in the apartment. We did almost everything from seed this year, which has been really rewarding. Bought one tomato plant for my husband as a just in case plant. I weeded a ton and decided to mulch with heat treated straw/hay to retain water and help suppress the weeds. It's been so dry and hot. I do love weeding. Like Erica mentioned, I find it meditative. It's a time when I really can shut off my brain and just be outside. Pretty wonderful.

We have a bunch of strawberries forming. Is anyone netting their strawberry plants to keep birds away? I haven't made up my mind yet.

[Penny Lane]

Strawberries:  yes, I use a net, but I'm not sure how effective it is.  Nothing deters catbirds in my experience.  I have used the dangling CD's on bamboo, bird scare tape, big yellow balloon thing with eye on it.  Chipmunks are a problem here, too.

I love hearing how everyone is enjoying growing food!  Our asparagus is still going, but I will need to stop harvesting next week and let the giant ferns come.  Today is "warm plant" day-- all the tomatoes, eggplants, peppers are going out in the world, which may still be too cool for them.  I get tired of babysitting them after May.  We've had lovely radishes and little white turnips you treat a radishes, lettuces coming in,  masses of "microgreen cilantro" from the selfseeded areas of the gardens.  Nice green onions from those onion starts at the feedstore, planted every 10days through the season.  Green garlic galore.  Rhubarb.

Happy gardening week to all!

[PJ]

Well, I had a gardening dilemma.  Yesterday was my day off and I was determined to get the last few starts planted.  Zucchini.  4 of them (two green, two yellow)

When I had brought the plants home, I ended up realizing that the pots I had were really not big enough for zucchini.  And anyway, that I didn't have enough pots for what I bought, or space on the balcony for them.  I don't own, I rent, and the backyard is quite weedy.  No suitable garden beds.  And we have a pretty active rabbit population in the area.  And I have definitely spent all I can for this year on the garden.  I surveyed my house for any "unconventional" planters, but no luck. 

So, I planted them in big cardboard boxes (an idea I read online somewhere).  The idea is that the cardboard forms a weed barrier, but also decomposes slowly into the ground.  I used some old dry leaves from last year to take up some extra space in the boxes, otherwise would have been putting a ton of soil in.  Theoretically, they will also eventually decompose too.  I'm hoping that having them a little bit raised off the ground will slow down the rabbits a bit (plus, it's pretty close to the house and my door, and I will encourage my dogs to pee a fair amount in that particular part of the yard.)

If it doesn't work ... shrug 

I wasn't realistically going to get them planted any other way, and they'd been sitting around jammed in that little pot for long enough.  But if it works at all, then so much the better.  And I'll have all year to look around for cheap or free materials to turn the area into a little raised bed next summer, assuming that I'll still be here.

[Threshkin]

I am late to this thread but not to the gardening.

After having to deal with severe hail (again) last year, I invested in a smallish (10' x 10') greenhouse.  I considered building it myself but after running the numbers it was cheaper to buy it than to purchase the materials to build it.

Inside the greenhouse I set up a self watering system consisting of sections of scrap gutter in frames with 5 gallon food grade buckets.  I was able to fit 27 buckets into the space.  In those buckets are 22 tomatoes and 10 peppers (2 per bucket).

In our raised beds I have two varieties of peas, radish, spinach, turnip (for greens), pak choi, leeks, kohlrabi, endive, green onions (propagated from the root ends of store bought), and Chinese chives. 

Everything is doing great except the leeks, kohlrabi, and endive.  the leeks did not sprout at all, the seeds may be too old.  The kohlrabi and endive are growing but slowly. 

In addition we have extra tomatoes, peppers, winter squash, mint, basil, and cilantro in outside pots.

Most of this went in about 4 weeks ago just in time for an extended period of unseasonably cold and very wet weather.  The peas, radish, and turnips loved it.  The others not so much.  The micro climate inside the greenhouse was good and the tomatoes in particular, thrived.

We have been eating greens and radishes for the last two weeks or so.  It is so good to have fresh greens from the garden!

For lunch today I had pumpkin soup from last year's crop with fresh greens, meat from (free) salmon trimmings, and Korean rice cakes (duk) with cucumber kimchee on the side.  It was so good!

[asauer]

So happy that my garden is finally producing.  Spinach just finished- had a whole bunch of it- kids will be glad that's done- haha.  Broccoli is about done though we didn't have nearly as good luck with that- it got hot too quickly so only produced 3 heads.  We are getting herbs now and the black berries and blueberries are ripening.  Hopefully, we'll get some before the birds steal it all!  Upcoming in the next couple of weeks for harvest:
1. onions
2. carrots

Next month:
1. tomatoes
2. blackeyed peas (hopefully)

[sequim]

Eek, I just got my little plants in the ground ahead of the big storm I could see coming and what do you know, it hailed!!~  Grrrr....  Now that it's passing by, I'm afraid to go out and look...  On the other hand, at least the seedlings had not sprouted yet.  I think I'm going to have to do some hoop protection because we've been having a very rainy time lately.  Very unusual weather for Salt Lake at this time of year.  In general I love rain, so not complaining about that at all.

I was so excited to moved into our new home and get started on the garden season since I'm so late.  Today I went to the nursery to pick out some tomatoes, peppers, tomatillo, and eggplants, happy they would get some rain.  Okay, got more than I bargained for.

[Erica/NWEdible]

Posted a tour of my garden on the blog today. Hope it's ok to share here and show what I've been working on out there. :) If you are interested, many pictures here: http://www.nwedible.com/photo-tour-may-2015/

[Erica/NWEdible]

So, I planted them in big cardboard boxes (an idea I read online somewhere).

I think this is a great idea. Way to think outside inside the box. Just don't try to move those boxes in 3 weeks! I once planted potatoes in burlap sacks, then decided later they should be somewhere else and the whole bottom fell out of the bag. :)

[horsepoor]

Posted a tour of my garden on the blog today. Hope it's ok to share here and show what I've been working on out there. :) If you are interested, many pictures here: http://www.nwedible.com/photo-tour-may-2015/

Holy crap, that is an awesome garden!  How much space do you have?

[Erica/NWEdible]

Posted a tour of my garden on the blog today. Hope it's ok to share here and show what I've been working on out there. :) If you are interested, many pictures here: http://www.nwedible.com/photo-tour-may-2015/

Holy crap, that is an awesome garden!  How much space do you have?

Thanks! It's my therapy :). We have 1/3 acre including house, shed, driveway etc etc.

[10dollarsatatime]

Eek, I just got my little plants in the ground ahead of the big storm I could see coming and what do you know, it hailed!!~  Grrrr....  Now that it's passing by, I'm afraid to go out and look...  On the other hand, at least the seedlings had not sprouted yet.  I think I'm going to have to do some hoop protection because we've been having a very rainy time lately.  Very unusual weather for Salt Lake at this time of year.  In general I love rain, so not complaining about that at all.

I was so excited to moved into our new home and get started on the garden season since I'm so late.  Today I went to the nursery to pick out some tomatoes, peppers, tomatillo, and eggplants, happy they would get some rain.  Okay, got more than I bargained for.

I'm in the same area, but haven't planted yet.  I'm hoping to do so this weekend once I finish screening all the rocks out of the garden.  (which still puts me a month ahead of where I was last year.)  One of my brothers asked why I didn't just bring in a load of topsoil... my answer was that I have a problem paying for dirt...

After this weekend, supposedly we won't get another bit of rain for a month.  Plenty of nice weather to garden in, I suppose.

[happy]

Posted a tour of my garden on the blog today. Hope it's ok to share here and show what I've been working on out there. :) If you are interested, many pictures here: http://www.nwedible.com/photo-tour-may-2015/

Loved your garden tour Erica. How ever did you have ALL of it weed free at the same time? ;)

I'm behind this year, and getting garden envy  of all you northern hemisphere folks with spring gardens:  its late autumn here and not much is happening. The peas I sowed ( snap and snow) have at last germinated and are at least 3-4cm and not yet eaten. Finger's crossed.  I just have to make up the onion and garlic bed this  weekend…. garlic is starting to sprout, I'm late. Otherwise there will no garlic next season.

[sequim]

Eek, I just got my little plants in the ground ahead of the big storm I could see coming and what do you know, it hailed!!~  Grrrr....  Now that it's passing by, I'm afraid to go out and look...  On the other hand, at least the seedlings had not sprouted yet.  I think I'm going to have to do some hoop protection because we've been having a very rainy time lately.  Very unusual weather for Salt Lake at this time of year.  In general I love rain, so not complaining about that at all.

I was so excited to moved into our new home and get started on the garden season since I'm so late.  Today I went to the nursery to pick out some tomatoes, peppers, tomatillo, and eggplants, happy they would get some rain.  Okay, got more than I bargained for.

I'm in the same area, but haven't planted yet.  I'm hoping to do so this weekend once I finish screening all the rocks out of the garden.  (which still puts me a month ahead of where I was last year.)  One of my brothers asked why I didn't just bring in a load of topsoil... my answer was that I have a problem paying for dirt...

After this weekend, supposedly we won't get another bit of rain for a month.  Plenty of nice weather to garden in, I suppose.

Yes!  I saw the weather forecast for hot and dry for several days.  What a turnaround but I guess it was bound to happen here in Utah.  Just not sure my cool weather plantings will be happy.  I checked the plants after the storm yesterday and all was well.  I think they are well protected by the side of the house and the fence.

[Erica/NWEdible]

Loved your garden tour Erica. How ever did you have ALL of it weed free at the same time? ;)

I'm behind this year, and getting garden envy  of all you northern hemisphere folks with spring gardens:  its late autumn here and not much is happening. The peas I sowed ( snap and snow) have at last germinated and are at least 3-4cm and not yet eaten. Finger's crossed.  I just have to make up the onion and garlic bed this  weekend…. garlic is starting to sprout, I'm late. Otherwise there will no garlic next season.

I just didn't put up photos of the ugly parts. :) Re hemisphere envy: I feel that way in about January when all my Aussie and Kiwi friends are posting photos of massive harvests and I'm like, "oh look - I have mud." :)

[sequim]

Erica, your garden is amazing and I'm so impressed.  I notice you have ducks.  Do you actually kill your chickens/ducks for food?  Just wondering as that is one thing I couldn't bring myself to do in living off the land.  I'd end up being a vegetarian!!~

[Cezil]

I can finally participate!  Our community garden opened on Memorial Day weekend so on Monday, we fenced our plot and plated some tomatoes, patty pans, watermelon, cantaloupe, mystery melon, and kale.  We're going back today to plant store-bought brussels sprouts because our seedlings failed (and the cat possibly ate some), and weed it because this week has been full of water and heat.

In June, we're closing and moving into our first house.  We will promptly fire the lawn care service and dig up a new garden (or put in raised beds, we're not sure yet), and get the asparagus going alongside the garage (or wherever we agree to put the patch - we love asparagus).  I'm so excited!

[Erica/NWEdible]

Erica, your garden is amazing and I'm so impressed.  I notice you have ducks.  Do you actually kill your chickens/ducks for food?  Just wondering as that is one thing I couldn't bring myself to do in living off the land.  I'd end up being a vegetarian!!~

Thanks! Yes, the chickens and ducks are awesome. Re: birds: I don't raise birds for meat specifically, but I am emotionally able to cull. Beyond that, I don't talk publicly about it. I've gotten death threats from radical vegans for talking about beef slaughter, and I just don't need any more of that in my life. If you want specifics or whatever, feel free to email me offline. :)

[Nancy]

Erica, your garden is amazing!! Well done. It confirms my feeling that I'm wasting a lot of space in mine. Do you listen to "row spacing" on seed packets or just space between plants?

[horsepoor]

Erica, your garden is amazing!! Well done. It confirms my feeling that I'm wasting a lot of space in mine. Do you listen to "row spacing" on seed packets or just space between plants?

I'm not Erica, but I ignore the row spacing because I plant in beds.  I also find that interplanting things with different shapes and rooting types makes better use of space.  For instance, I'm planting corn and squash together, okra and sweet potatoes together, and have onions and leeks spread all over the place because they're tall and skinny, so they fit easily between things like cabbage.  It can also work well to plant things like lettuce in between peppers or tomatoes when the weather warms up, because the shade will keep them from bolting as quickly.  While I don't agree with all the spacing recommendations, you might check out Square Foot Gardening for spacing ideas.  I think they're totally wrong on things like 1 SF for tomatoes, or 4 sf for squash (mine need like 4x that much), but if gives you an idea of how you can space smaller things like carrots or beets without using row spacing.

[1967mama]

I bought two cherry tomato plants that are each about a foot tall. Should I plant them in my tiny garden in the real dirt, or just let them grow in the pots they came home in from the garden centre?????

[Erica/NWEdible]

Erica, your garden is amazing!! Well done. It confirms my feeling that I'm wasting a lot of space in mine. Do you listen to "row spacing" on seed packets or just space between plants?

I'm not Erica, but I ignore the row spacing because I plant in beds.  I also find that interplanting things with different shapes and rooting types makes better use of space.  For instance, I'm planting corn and squash together, okra and sweet potatoes together, and have onions and leeks spread all over the place because they're tall and skinny, so they fit easily between things like cabbage.  It can also work well to plant things like lettuce in between peppers or tomatoes when the weather warms up, because the shade will keep them from bolting as quickly.  While I don't agree with all the spacing recommendations, you might check out Square Foot Gardening for spacing ideas.  I think they're totally wrong on things like 1 SF for tomatoes, or 4 sf for squash (mine need like 4x that much), but if gives you an idea of how you can space smaller things like carrots or beets without using row spacing.

I agree with all of this, including the SFG spacing recommendations being cray-cray. Intercropping, undercropping and succession planting are all important tricks in maximizing yield in a smaller space.

[Jon_Snow]

Well, looking (and drooling) at Erica's garden gives me something to shoot for. I really need to develop the quality of my soil. These islands (along with the neighbouring San Juans I'm sure)  are notorious for the poor native soil. Sure, some things are thriving, but some things are really not happy where they are growing - of course it may have something to do with my profound newbness - but I choose to blame the native soil. :)

[Erica/NWEdible]

Well, looking (and drooling) at Erica's garden gives me something to shoot for. I really need to develop the quality of my soil. These islands (along with the neighbouring San Juans I'm sure)  are notorious for the poor native soil. Sure, some things are thriving, but some things are really not happy where they are growing - of course it may have something to do with my profound newbness - but I choose to blame the native soil. :)

Jon, have you watched Back to Eden? That guy gardens in Sequim and his garden is amaze-balls. Swears by woodchip mulch - and after trying it for a few years I'm a believer, too. The show is free to watch online, just search. Very strong Christian messaging but as a non-religious person I still found it very valuable.

[Threshkin]

I bought two cherry tomato plants that are each about a foot tall. Should I plant them in my tiny garden in the real dirt, or just let them grow in the pots they came home in from the garden centre?????

For tomatoes I like to use at least a 3 gallon pot.  Check around and see if you can scrounge some 5 gallon food grade buckets from a restaurant.  That is what I use.  Free is best!

[Nancy]

Erica, your garden is amazing!! Well done. It confirms my feeling that I'm wasting a lot of space in mine. Do you listen to "row spacing" on seed packets or just space between plants?

I'm not Erica, but I ignore the row spacing because I plant in beds.  I also find that interplanting things with different shapes and rooting types makes better use of space.  For instance, I'm planting corn and squash together, okra and sweet potatoes together, and have onions and leeks spread all over the place because they're tall and skinny, so they fit easily between things like cabbage.  It can also work well to plant things like lettuce in between peppers or tomatoes when the weather warms up, because the shade will keep them from bolting as quickly.  While I don't agree with all the spacing recommendations, you might check out Square Foot Gardening for spacing ideas.  I think they're totally wrong on things like 1 SF for tomatoes, or 4 sf for squash (mine need like 4x that much), but if gives you an idea of how you can space smaller things like carrots or beets without using row spacing.

I agree with all of this, including the SFG spacing recommendations being cray-cray. Intercropping, undercropping and succession planting are all important tricks in maximizing yield in a smaller space.

Thanks so much! I will look into undercropping and better intercropping for sure. Cheers!

[happy]

Jon, have you watched Back to Eden? That guy gardens in Sequim and his garden is amaze-balls. Swears by woodchip mulch - and after trying it for a few years I'm a believer, too.

Yes great video, I want to rush out and get heaps of wood chip every time I watch it.

[PJ]

So, I planted them in big cardboard boxes (an idea I read online somewhere).

I think this is a great idea. Way to think outside inside the box. Just don't try to move those boxes in 3 weeks! I once planted potatoes in burlap sacks, then decided later they should be somewhere else and the whole bottom fell out of the bag. :)

Noted!  So far they seem to be doing just fine, and they are planted in really the only possible spot.  My biggest concern is that it might end up being too hot for them, as they're up against the side of the house in full southern sun.  So I'll have to be diligent about keeping them well watered. 

For the most part, everything else is also doing fine.  The only thing I'm really eating right now is bok choy type stuff, which is doing great.  But there are peppers developing on the plants, tomato plants have a few flowers, herbs are sprouting from seed, swiss chard is coming up and spinach is slowly growing, along with the lettuce.  I've got peas and cucumber vines (and the one cuke plant that got frost damaged appears to be springing back). 

Re: plant spacing, I've got all of this heavily planted in pots, multiple plants of different heights in each pot.  Along with nasturtiums and marigolds (both of which are edible flowers).  I've got just myself to feed, so I don't need huge harvests all at once, so I can thin a pot or two to give myself enough veggies for a meal, or snip off a few leaves from each plant.  I'm thinking that I've planted too much parsley, basil and oregano, so will probably dig out some of those when they get a little bit bigger, to give away.  And hopefully this year I'll do more in the way of freezing stuff for the winter.  Although that means I'm going to eat down the freezer a bit before I need to start doing any major harvesting!

[1967mama]

http://imgur.com/JB7Ql2O
http://imgur.com/T27oyfp

This is my first time trying to upload images so, sorry in advance if it didn't work but I had these lovely lettuce sprouts and cucumber seedlings growing in my little garden and now I have NOTHING:-(
What a disappointment for this newbie gardener.

I think I will go pick up some starter plants so I can at least enjoy "fresh from the garden" good, even if I didn't start it from seed myself.

Rabbits? Slugs? Over zealous watering by a 10 year old boy? I'm not sure what happened (sigh).

[Jon_Snow]

I am going to be away from my garden for a week and a half. I am stressed about this. It is REALLY starting to take off now (peas are 5 feet up the trellis!), and I won't be witness to it.

I have a few relatives who are going to "check in" from time to time to check for deer incursions etc...they even offered to water if things get dry, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

There is a bit of precipitation in the forecast, so that eases my mind a bit.

On a positive note, we brought home a TON of lettuce in a cooler, and we are going to be eating gourmet salads for the next week - this will really help out with our "frugal June" project (see my Journal). :)

[Cookie78]

My spinach is starting to come up! :)

I went to the free permaculture course and learned a lot. It was less technical and more mother-earthy than I expected, but I still got some great ideas and resources. I'm trying to redesign my yard to make it low maintenance and high productivity. Lucky for me I find the planting, harvesting, and light weeding to be therapeutic, not work.

Right now I'm trying to plan what perennials, shrubs, and trees to plant. I'd prefer to have as many edible plants as possible. Cherry trees, possible an apple/plum/pear tree, Saskatoon bush, raspberries (already have one), strawberries, blueberries, maybe cranberries, rhubarb(already have one), probably asparagus, and lots of herbs. And of course all the annuals. I have a long list of other things I want to try to grow, but I'm working on remembering to start small with one project at a time. Right now the yard is in a small state of disaster with half finished projects and a severe dandelion outbreak.

I'm in Calgary and open to any advice or opinions about other edible perennials that grow well here, or advice in general.

One down side is that I was planning on selling my house in 2-3 years when I FIRE. If I do all the work that I plan to do it's going to be really hard to leave, especially since I might be just barely finished at that time! But I'll cross that bridge if I come to it. :p