Garden time!

[marmalady]

At least here in SC! Our winter has been so mild I've still got flowers blooming from last fall!

I'm soooo excited; been gardening out of big pots for 3 years, and this is the year we decided to put in a permanent garden. Found a 'method' I'm going to try, call 'square-foot gardening'. Everything is in raised beds (I ordered mine from Gardener's Supply), 3 x 3 x 10 inches, and the soil mixture I'm using is 1/3 garden soil, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 mulch (we have a beautiful mulch pile from a tree taken down in our yard 2 years ago). You don't need to till the soil under the beds at all!!! I have 6 beds to grow in, and will rotate the cool-weather crops with warmer ones as the season goes on.

PLanting a little of everything, with lots of greens for salad; mesclun, spinach, arugula, frisee, baby beet leaves; kale; snap and regular peas; green beans; yellow squash and zucchini; of course, tomatoes and peppers; cucumbers; eggplant; going to try some fennel this year, too; and my herbs will finally have a permanent home!

Can't wait to go 'dig in the dirt'!!! What's everyone else doing?

 

[licia]

My fingers are getting itchy to get started. My first task will be to clean out the garden house so I can get at my supplies. I've been snapping off the dead parts of some of my plants already. I think I will only have what I can grow in my flower beds. I have a very large flower bed between the house and the pool and usually have herbs along with my permanent plants, but this year I'm putting in a few vegetable plants also. We have acreage, but getting dh to make a garden area is harder than pulling teeth. In the past we've had lots of problems with varmints getting our produce so he won't do it again. Good luck with whatever you grow.

 

[grumblebee]

Can't wait to go 'dig in the dirt'!!! What's everyone else doing?

Shovelling snow. It's March and we just got a big dump of it last week....ugh.

What I wouldn't do to be able to be gardening right now!

 

[marmalady]

Grumblebee, I seriously considered you Northerners before I posted; didn't want to dangle our warm weather in front of anyone! You can certainly start your wish list with catalogs now, tho!

Licia - Check out www.squarefootgardening.com - you can do it all yourself! You just put the beds right on top of the ground - no tilling! There are some veggies that would look great in the flower beds; pepper plants, some patio tomatoes; Park seed has a dwarf Okra that puts out beautiful hibiscus like flowers.

 

[AllenOK]

Well, it is to early to really start thinking about that up here, but....

I noticed a couple weeks ago that our daffodils are coming up, and we obviously did NOT get all the tulips out of the main flower bed last year. I've got about 20 or so sprouting up.

I also noticed that some of my chives are sending up shoots. Maybe I can remember to use them this year?

 

[thumpershere2]

To early here in Northern MN. too but I am looking through the seed catalogs and planning my garden. Going to try some different kinds of veggies this year also. tomatos are my main plant and then corn. I plant carrots, beets, onions, cucumbers,squash, cabbage. Will do beans and some herbs also this year.

 

[buckytom]

i can't wait marm!
going out to buy my seeds this weekend. hopefully we'll start the early spring stuff in a few eeks, while i start the nightshades and other may plantings in the basement under lights.

btw, my favourite gardening website: http://www.garden.org/home

 

[ronjohn55]

Funny that this thread has come up today! Before we got a cold snap the last two days, I was starting to notice some of the flowers along the drive way showing signs of life again. Well, that, and all the sale papers are loaded with fertilizer and lawn care equipment all of a sudden.

This can only mean one thing - I REALLY need to get my butt in gear and get the propellers for the boat repaired!! Ice out can't be far away! Oh, and yeah, we need to figure out what to put in the garden this year, too!!

John

 

[Constance]

I'm sure we'll get some more bad weather, but spring is definately "springing" here in Southern Illionois. I have crocus, early daffodils, and anemones blooming, the trees are budding, and the frogs are hollerin' in the pond behind us. I even saw a bluebird yesterday.

 

[marmalady]

I think the weather's been a little weird everywhere. But - nooooo, there's no global warming, lol! I don't think we ever had a really hard freeze here this winter; temps that flirted in the low 30's, and frost on the ground, but nothing serious.

Constance - a bluebird! Surely that must mean good luck or something?

 

[Dina]

The weather's been in the mid 80s here so gardens and lawns are beginning to look beautiful around the area. My dianthus and geraniums are beautiful but have yet to see my hibiscus bloom. My DH was spraying weed killer the other day and decided my baby sprouts of sweet basil were weeds. Bummer! I have to plant these all over again.

 

[grumblebee]

Grumblebee, I seriously considered you Northerners before I posted; didn't want to dangle our warm weather in front of anyone! You can certainly start your wish list with catalogs now, tho!

True enough. Actually, I've been thinking of starting a mini-indoor herb garden. I've always wanted to grow some herbs for myself but have never tried before! I want to plant things that will grow EASILY in a small window box. Mint? Dill? Thyme? I havent decided yet...

 

[Raven]

My fingers are itching too. We've been having really mild weather here in Little Rock too and I'm so tempted to start hardening my tomato plants off but I know if I do it too early I'll have to move them all indoors again LOL!

Tomatoes watching TV during an unexpected cold-snap 2005

I have several bags of Peat Moss and well rotted cow manure stacked on the front porch waiting to be mixed. I almost went out yesterday and started mixing them but I don't want the peat to start breaking down a full month before the real time to plant so I'm just on hold

~ Raven ~

 

[marmalady]

For those of us in the South, I think it's fine to put out the 'cool weather' veggies now; from what I've gleaned from the old-timers here in Charleston, these are already in the ground or should be in the next week or so; collards/mustard/kale; lettuces; cabbage/broccoli/cauliflower; peas.

We're putting up the garden fence today, and will build the beds tomorrow, so I can plant this week. I've started eggplant, squash, melon, cukes in peat starters - Lowe's has really neat little peat pot starter containers, complete with a top. Lol, I feel like the little kid in the Disney commercial - "I'm too excited to sleep!"

Driving around yesterday, the azaleas are popping already (so much for the Azalea Festival in April!), Bradford Pears are starting to bloom, dogwoods are budding out. All of the hibiscus and flowering maples (?aubutilon - can't spell) are coming back from last year, as well as the Angel Trumpet.

And the best thing about being outside right now is - NO BUGS!!!

 

[licia]

I have the book on square foot gardening started years ago by Mel Bartholomew (sp). For quite a while he had a gardening show on tv (pbs,I think). It was always amazing to see what was coming in and going out in his garden at each season. I've used a few of his techniques, but never made the gardens like his. I use my flower beds mostly so I can watch them better. I stopped Friday and picked up several herbs to put in this week. I will hold off on the basil since I've already lost one pot trying to be an "early bird". My grandfather always prided himself on having the "first" of the season and the best garden around. I can't live up to that.

 

[marmalady]

I know, Licia, my grandfather was the same way; but I absolutely know where I got my love of gardening!

I'm not following Mel's instructions to the 'T', modifying them just a little to fit our budget, lol; all that peat and vermiculate runs into bucks!

I'm a big fan of companion plantings, and raised bed gardening; you can pack so much more into a little space that way!

 

[buckytom]

companion plantings are a great way to garden, saving space. the best one that i know of is to grow corn or sunflowers, and plant beans next to them shortly thereafter. the beans will use sunflower or corn stalk as it's trellis.

 

[licia]

It's fun to plant running beans at the base of a makeshift trellis made of 3 long sticks (can be limbs trimmed in the yard) with the tops tied into a point. The beans grow up the sticks or limbs and form a tower or tent like structure. Kids like to play under them and eat the beans they pick.

 

[mudbug]

OK, you serious gardeners:

I've got an unopened bag of potting soil that has been sitting on the porch, and then the deck, in a covered location for at least a year.

Should I toss it, use it to repot inside plants, or throw it on one of the beds I'm gonna replant outside this year?

 

[kingfisherfd2]

Mudbug, as long as the bag is still sealed, it should be fine for what ever purpose that you want. It is dirt, It doesn't really have a shelflife.

Marmalady,
Another name for the gardening that you are discussing is Raised Beds. I would suggest that you make them with 2"x8" 2x10 or 12 lumber in my opinion is better. Also you might want to line the bottom first with the black landscape clothe, On top of that a Hardware Clothe,(not really clothe at all but metal screan that has about 1/2" openings.) On top of that goes pea gravel. Then fill with your soil, vermiculite and mulch mix.
Doing this will protect your boxes from being invaded from below by moles/gophers. Also they will be assured a good drainage so that the soil doesn't retain too much moisture.
If you plan on planting tomatoes in a specific box you might want to make sure you add additional Calcium Carbonate to the soil in that box. Tomatoes are known for getting Blossom End Rot, I had that happen this past summer. Cal Car will help prevent the BER.
Make sure that you add some kind of materail to your soil to help with airating the soil. This is the reason behind the Vermiculite. Perilite will work just as well. If you are going to fill the beds with baged soil I would suggest about 30% perilite be mixed in. This gives your soil less room to compact and more placeds for disolved O2 to be found in the soil. Plant roots like O2 and will search it out.

Good luck. I've done a little research on growing plants, so I guess I will try to help where I can. I don't have space for a garden this year, but I had a great time doing it last year.