We just got our new stuff potted: a blood orange tree, a blueberry bush, 3 different kinds of tomatoes (to experiment), a poblano pepper plant, basil, and cilantro. We'll see what I manage to not kill.

quote:

Originally posted by Maeve:
*seethes with jealousy* I can only start my tomato and pepper seedling indoors for now. which I will be doing, soon. I generally start around St Patrick's Day.

I need to get seedling starters of some sort; I've pined for tomatoes for ages, and when 'our Neil' mentioned his seed pusher last month I finally ordered some up.

I also have to start indoors, but I have nothing set up - I don't have any sunny windows or coldframes or raised beds or nothin', so I guess I at least need a lamp, too.

The last time we really did any plantings outside was on a Patriot's Day (April 19); it'd be fun to have some seedlings by then. There's a sunny wall that needs some greening.

I checked out Neil's tomato seed site - it was grand! But it didn't really have anything that I didn't already have. I get a lot of my seeds from Baker Creek.

I have a nice Southern exposure window to set up the mini greenhouse thingys.

quote:

Originally posted by Maeve:
I have a nice Southern exposure window to set up the mini greenhouse thingys.

We have greenhouse-esque windows in the kitchen, but that's also where we set up a computer and such (not in the window, but close enough to be a problem), so no joy there. And right now it's essentially a refrigerated section - loverly cold draft comes pouring in from there, across the kitchen counter, and then down. I don't think they'd like that much.

I never realised how lucky I was when in NZ....

there is no snow, you can grow stuff all year round

I've been trying to grow herbs from seeds using a spagnum moss planter set. I have plenty of window frames to use (they are all now full).
But i have to keep them back from the windows a bit as it's too cold next to them, and the plants are straining for light! Not to mention i had to spend 2 hours digging the snow out where it had built up over the windows.

I'm not even going to attempt a garden here, the snow melts by May and it starts again in Sept.........*gives up*

Greenhouse with a hot-tub (and pub) in it?

I went out and bought potting soil and peat pots this morning, and have 20 tomato starters on top of the basement sink -- I think I'll get a fluorescent bulb of some sort to mind them when the next check comes in.

I have 4 pots each of 5 varieties, and a little section of wall that I am planning to clean up some more and compost for a bed.

It'd be nice to raise it a bit, but I don't have anything to use for an edging, so I'll just take it slow this season.

I saw one of these Backyard Botanical thingys at Sam's Club and I totally wanna make Pappy modify this thing. Mostly for my lettuces and snow peas/regular peas and herbs. The critters get in or it's difficult to open up the fence and then close it up every day.

This thing was expensive, and doesn't come with dirt... but if I didn't have a crafty dad I would totally buy one.

My father built my sister an enclosed garden bed; not raised, but nicely architected.

That's what she gets/got for living 10 minutes away.

I bought the corner posts for our compost heap, which I am seriously considering pulling out and making concrete footings for so that it doesn't lean, but I'm on my own as far as the bed goes. It's not going to be too big; 6'x3' or thereabouts for starters -- I've been ripping out bushes along a low cement wall anyway, so I might as well put tomatoes there.

That thingy does look pretty good, though; I am in no way wood-sy enough to make one for myself.

okay, hubby, being bored of learning japanese has decided his next project of choice shall be a vegtable garden.

he has dug over a lot of our back garden, and has suggested potatoes, carrots and onions.

i believe it's getting late in the planting season, but does anyone have any low maintenance ideas of food stuff we can grow?

i'm all for turning the whole patch into a strawberry patch...but that's just me.

and will it help me to read this whole thread, or do people just want to help me here?

PS - we will be getting horse poop to help the garden along, i'm not sure how much difference it will make.

Sorry, Smaugy - I'm not an I've-got-gardening-ideas-to-spare guy;
I only talk about myself

I've been informed that my thinking re: the location of the tomatoes is incorrect,
and that I need to move the compost corral to 'the point' (our plot is shaped like a pizza slice)
and put the tomatoes/garden in where the compost was.

It does have merit, I suppose, except for the
uprooting and the moving.

I haven't had a garden proper for nearly 20 years,
and I only tended that one, not planned it.
It did have lots of chard and lettuces
and blackberries, but I haven't had any luck with those here

Competely non-maintenance: If you like spinach, then perpetual spinach is the way to go. You can do absoluely NOTHING one year, and it will still come up! And you can dig it up and put something in you like better when you are bored with it!

I think it depends what you want the gardening for. If you want fresh veg on your doorstep, and don't mind a modicum of work, then pick nice flavourful heritage varieties of the veg you usually eat. If you want to save a bit of money (which is difficult in gardening, because growing carrots will usually cost 10x what you could have bought a bag of them at Tescos for), then sow the really expensive things: asparagus, good lettuce, and so on. (Actually a few raspberry canes at the back of the patch are a good idea for this - they will last more than one year, take up very little room, and raspberries are expensive and delicious.) Or if you think you might as well grow something but don't want to be all that bothered with it, just turn the lot over to spinach or potatoes or something.

ETA: if you do go for potatoes, carrots and onions, it really does pay to get good varieties bred for flavour, not just the seeds they sell in the supermarket.

its not to save us money, we don't normally eat veggitables, i expect most of them will be given away!

it is sort of to save us money, in that we don't have to pay the man the old lady downstairs uses to cut our shared garden, she said we don't have to, but we're not that mean, however, in theory with a smaller mowing patch he should charge her less money, and if not, well, she may like some fresh veggies.

i think i'll defiantly add spinach to the list of stuff we need to get.

i'd love to have some nice lettices, but i think they tend to get eaten by slugs!

maybe i can feed the slugs to btb


i think i'll also review the asparagus thing, i likes asparagus but rarely buy it!

I planted one raspberry cane the same year I tried for blackberries - the raspberry never grew very big, but it has produced every year since! I should add a few more, maybe as a shield around the compost (nah - high maintenance later).

put out jar lids of beer for the slugs - that'll learn 'em (if you don't mind drowned slugs, of course)

The other low-maintenance thing I planted ~ the same time as the raspberries was a dwarf peach; we're in New England, so we do get winter, but it's been producing since year two, and last year we had 20+ good-sized peaches, and the tree is only 7' high. We don't spray it or anything, just spread a bit of compost in a ring around the base in spring and fall.

This is perpetual spinach - it's not actually true spinach. My experience with it is that it's a lot hardier and a lot less work than this article makes out.

That looks good, Hive -- and see?! I wasn't kidding!

quote:

slug pub

yai.. beer for slugs.. they can't resist the stuff.. and I'm happy now.. graf got me a small garden "tiller".. Black and Decker rechargable Garden Cultivator... it's good for small gardens and can work through grass and weeds..
So the garden is on it's way! Yay!

quote:

Black and Decker rechargable Garden Cultivator

That looks pretty good - since this is year one, though, I think I'll just stick with the mattock.
it's tempting to spend $ on something like that, but then I'd have to figure out where to put it when I'm done!

Dad got a Mantis tiller way back, but he wants something with a bigger and/or better motor. Thanks for reminding me, 'cos he wanted to research that.

We use LOTS of mulch for weed control, it also holds in moisture. This makes the tomatoes somewhat low maintenance, but that merely my opinion. Anyone else would prolly think I'm nuts.

I have lotsa tomato seedlings and I just noticed some pepper seedlings! If I could find my camera I'd take some pictures, but I fear my random, roving black hole has slurped it up.

and so we have the following seeds:

red and white onions
beetroot
leeks
mixed salad

anddddddd


strawberries.


we need to pick up some potatoes that have gone to seed.

let the experiment begin!