How's the garden coming along??

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larry_stewart

Master Chef
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Dec 25, 2006
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Long Island, New York
With a relatively warm winter, I was able to get a lot of the prep work out of the way. This weekend is the first big garden week for me ( here in New York).

Last week I was able to get carrot, parsnip and beet seeds in the ground.
I built a strawberry tower ( that I had seen on line and was tempted to try).
I also started some seeds in doors ( Okra, Specific variety of tomato that I've saved the seeds and been growing for about 15 years, tomatillo, chard

Yesterday I planted about 300 Onion plants, about 80 or so leeks.
I was at the local Home Depot and saw some romaine lettuce , so picked them up and got them in the ground too.

Today, Ill plant my potatoes, possibly plant the leaf lettuce and arugula .

Most everything else I find easier just to buy the plants rather than start from seed. I just don't have the room indoors to start that many seeds. I really want/ need a greenhouse.
 
I'm only growing swiss chard, collards, an Everglades tomato plant and various herbs. Limited space here, besides I just don't have the energy for much else, arthritis has been acting up really badly last few months.

On a decorative note, I'm on the hunt for Fuschia Autumnale plants for the front of the house in a built-in raised bed/box that's mostly shaded. Looks like I'm going to have order them from somewhere though. Can't believe it, just found out they are also edible.
 
so aggravated about getting my garden started. I got it turned under, but I can hit the time when its dry to till it smooth to plant. The last recorded frost here is April 15th, so I always wait until after that for tender plants and flowers in the bed. Need to get my corn in the ground this week.
 
I haven't even started. Last year at this time I had tomato plants a foot tall in the basement. Its been so wet and cold I never even thought about it. I'm going to get some seeds started today.
 
My "back 40" is about 40 feet of back yard -- by choice, BTW. My last home was a big house, with a big yard, and a big garden. I even had a peach tree in the garden (wow, that was good). Now, I like to sit on the patio more than I like to work in the yard.

I planted my herbs and peppers this past week. That's all I am growing this year. I'm just growing cayenne peppers this year, because I use them a lot, and they freeze well. My herb gardens have rosemary, thyme, oregano, and basil. Those are the herbs I use a lot of.

CD
 
We don't safely plant out here until after Mother's Day. Folks who plant before then are a boon for the greenhouses, they get to buy their stuff twice. I'll plant flowers, tomatoes, and green beans.
 
We don't safely plant out here until after Mother's Day. Folks who plant before then are a boon for the greenhouses, they get to buy their stuff twice. I'll plant flowers, tomatoes, and green beans.

Im risking some stuff by getting it out this early.
Some years I get lucky, other years we get hit by a late cold spell, and kinda knocks some sense back into me.

But after thinking about it for the last 4 or 5 months, I'm itching to get outside and get things going, even if it means a few setbacks.
 
This is how I started my seeds in March. This picture is from 3/19 and now most of the plants are a couple inches tall. Our plants will go in at the end of May, so quite a bit of time left for growing. Tomatoes, peppers, brussel sprouts, herbs.

wseedlings2017.jpg


I have two flats of onions from seed. They are about 2 inches tall now.
 
Nice, bliss. I used to start all my plants under lights in the basement with heating cables and the whole shebang. Now I get them at the local greenhouse.
 
When we have extra transplants, and we will, we drag them out to show the neighbors and they buy them from us. :LOL: Sometimes DH takes them to work and his coworkers buy them.
We save seeds too and we have some real winners. High production romas and nice sized San Marzano tomatoes. If anyone wants some seeds, I can mail them out to you tomorrow, just PM me and I'll get some to you.
 
I didn't sell my extras, just snuck around dropping them on neighbors' doorsteps and co-workers' desks... sort of the plant fairy.
 
Well, we had some excitement this morning. Some of our bees swarmed and took off! DH was in the backyard getting the vegetable garden ready for planting and heard them buzzing. He ran inside where I was having my coffee and we watched them from the kitchen window. Wish I'd thought to take a picture. They settled in our neighbor's tree and I called a master gardener friend who is also a beekeeper and has captured swarms before. By the time he called back, they had gone. I posted to my neighbors on Facebook and NextDoor giving the phone number of the Swarm Coordinator in case someone sees them. I hope no one tries to spray them. That would be bad.

In the meantime, yesterday, we went to a local wholesale nursery and bought a bunch of perennials. We have LOTS of weeding to do.
 

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I wonder what caused the bees to swarm and take off from their home, GG? Do you think something spooked them? DH maybe, accidentally? I hope you're able to get them back safely.

I can't imagine someone spraying bees. :ohmy::glare: I'm delighted when I see a few here in the yard.
 
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Oh no, GG! You gave them lots of TLC. Maybe the queen got a wild hair.

Many folks think bees and hornets are the same thing. Sure hope your girls don't get sprayed.

We have lots of them around here, all wild but very mild.
 
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I've been growing a few herbs (basil, thyme, parsley, oregano) in the back corner of the yard. Last year I decided I would grow cherry tomatoes in pots on the patio. I bought a couple of pots, cages, and plants. Just when it looked like some of the tomatoes were ripening, they would disappear. Not laying on the ground or pecked by birds, but just disappearing. Finally Mrs. T identified the culprits - it was those #%&@!$ chipmunks! I never got a single tomato all year. Not even going to try again.
 
Finally Mrs. T identified the culprits - it was those #%&@!$ chipmunks! I never got a single tomato all year. Not even going to try again.

Chipmunks are mostly vegetarians.:LOL: (sorry about your tomato losses)
 
When a hive gets too filled up with residents, some of the girls and boys swarm to start another hive elsewhere. They will pick a queen and start to build another hive. Quite common to see in the spring. During cold weather, the smart ones stay inside the hive and live off the honey they have stored all summer. I am sure there are still enough left in GG's hives to pollinate her garden this year.
 
When a hive gets too filled up with residents, some of the girls and boys swarm to start another hive elsewhere. They will pick a queen and start to build another hive. Quite common to see in the spring. During cold weather, the smart ones stay inside the hive and live off the honey they have stored all summer. I am sure there are still enough left in GG's hives to pollinate her garden this year.

That's mostly right. They developed a new queen, she killed her sisters and then she threw her mother out and and a percentage of the other residents went with her. It's one way they reproduce. There are still several thousand bees and a new queen in both of our hives. That's just one less hive nucleus we could have sold. Ah well - we're still learning [emoji38]

During the winter they huddle up inside the hive and the queen stops laying, so there are no new bees to replace the ones that die (foragers only live a few weeks). So there are fewer mouths to feed on the honey.
 
We don't safely plant out here until after Mother's Day. Folks who plant before then are a boon for the greenhouses, they get to buy their stuff twice. I'll plant flowers, tomatoes, and green beans.

Down here, we are good after mid-March. We might get a rogue freeze after that, but I can throw an old sheet over the garden, and it does fine.

CD
 
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