What's in the Garden?

[Leolady]

Ok, you guys! Have you started your vegetable gardening yet?

What have you gotten accomplished? I have planted a pear tree, a crabapple tree, two plum trees, and have temporarily potted my wild strawberry plants because their bed is not ready.

I got all of my potatoes in, and half of the enormous quanity of sweet onion sets I bought are in. The other half will go in this week.

What's happening in the garden world?

 

[justplainbill]

Spring (warm weather) has certainly sneaked up on us but it's hard to say what's in store for us through May. Right now I'm wishing I had some Lamb's quarters going and am looking forward to some fiddleheads and garlic chives. Meanwhile we have quite a few quahogs harvested this winter which we will start baking tomorrow.

 

[MrsLMB]

We have planted tomatoes- 3 varieties, green onions,artichokes, asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries green beans, peas. Also tons of flowers - marigold, petunia, rose of sharon, coleus and some seeds that are a mystery !

 

[Dawgluver]

Rule of thumb here is to not plant till Mother's Day. Though the weather has been scary warm, and it's very tempting.

 

[Leolady]

We have planted tomatoes- 3 varieties, green onions,artichokes, asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries green beans, peas. Also tons of flowers - marigold, petunia, rose of sharon, coleus and some seeds that are a mystery !

Tomatoes!

My little town hasn't even had a chance to get broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower plants in the stores. I'm still waiting for them to arrive!

 

[taxlady]

We have had a few warm days, but there is still some snow on the ground. I guess I should plant some snow peas.

 

[FrankZ]

I tilled the ground today so Kathleen can start her plantings...

 

[PrincessFiona60]

You are about a month early for us here. I won't be planting, it's just an exercise in futility for me.

 

[Leolady]

Do you have a "black" thumb? Why is planting an excercise in futility?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Do you have a "black" thumb? Why is planting an excercise in futility?

I kill green things...

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

I tilled the ground today so Kathleen can start her plantings...

Do you have a machine? The weather is really strange here, yesterday was sunny and 17c and last week we had about 3 days the same.
I finished tilling the compost into the specialist veg patch in the paddock last week and my wife planted her pots yesterday.I tilled the main veg patch and I will spread the compost on it today.
I have a 1968 Merry Tiller that I bought some time ago.America may not be able to make a good car or bike but the Tiller is as good as new and that is better than the modern Japanese stuff.
Here are some pics from last year
Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

 

[MrsLMB]

Tomatoes!

My little town hasn't even had a chance to get broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower plants in the stores. I'm still waiting for them to arrive!

I start many of my plants indoors from seed. They stay in pots until we are sure the outdoor temps are good.

 

[FluffyAngel]

I kill green things...

Me too and it is heart breaking. I know the mechanics of it. But I just don't pick good garden spots or I don't protect it with pesticides or the green stuff just don't grow. I absolutely can not grow anything in a pot. It has a better chance alone in the yard than in a pot in my care. 3 times so far I killed my potted Basil plant - that was just last month alone. I gave up.

 

[FluffyAngel]

Me too and it is heart breaking. I know the mechanics of it. But I just don't pick good garden spots or I don't protect it with pesticides or the green stuff just don't grow. I absolutely can not grow anything in a pot. It has a better chance alone in the yard than in a pot in my care. 3 times so far I killed my potted Basil plant - that was just last month alone. I gave up.

But hey! WE can keep People alive.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

But hey! WE can keep People alive.

I was just going to say that...

 

[Addie]

I was just going to say that...

The only green thing I can grow is mold. Anybody want to come to supper?

 

[Leolady]

I start many of my plants indoors from seed. They stay in pots until we are sure the outdoor temps are good.

I tried growing my plants from seed many times. The little seedlings always grow well for awhile, then fall over and die.

 

[GLC]

So far, I have two 30-foot by 6 feet outside beds tilled. One was treated with corn gluten, and it now has leeks and red torpedo onions planted. It will get other onions and garlic in time. The other has been planted about half in okra and a quarter in zucchini. More seedings will follow.

Got white cover on the 18'x40' hoophouse and am working on framing the ends. We went by a metal recycler and happened to find four 2-foot square and two 5-foot square greenhouse aluminum ventilation louvers for scrap price. About $100 for $1,000 worth. It has a variety of herbs in pots. It is mostly the two halves inside tilled. The herb pots will go in as pot-in-ground. The other side will be non-food, propagation of shade ground cover. And some space will also be occupied with starting herbs from seed. The hoophouse should allow things to carry on in the high Texas heat later on.

I also bought some lemon, lime, kaffir lime, and satsuma trees. They will live outside until the need shelter in the hoophouse. And I put in 14 fig trees, Texas Everbearing and Brown Turkey. They have all leafed out now. And two new upright blackberries that are in bloom.

The arugula that came up volunteer from last year has run its course and bolted, and the volunteer borage has bloomed, so they're about done, unless you like really strong arugula.

And the well pump is in and working, and I just need to test the water before hooking it into the landscape and garden watering system. Also had to fence the chickens out of the garden area. They come running any time I dig or till and start scratching.

The hoophouse is something of an experiment. The photo is of an earlier stage, when it was only covered in shade cloth and before we began framing the ends. It's made of 1-1/2-inch PVC. The center pipe was an experimental self-watering system that worked but not as well as I wanted. I'm still discovering how much it takes to keep plastic on it during a storm and was out before dawn yesterday reattaching one side.

 

[FrankZ]

Do you have a machine?

Yes, we have a little baby tiller. The garden is only 10x15 feet. (That's, umm... some meters by some other meters).

Almost life sized...

 

[GLC]

But this is a tiller...

It's nice. But if you're not large, it kind of drives you.