On Gardening
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jmbmilholland wrote: »@stealthq what is that peach rose? Is it a David Austin heirloom? I love it! Roses love Texas, and Texas loves roses.
Seed Savers, an heirloom seed organization, used to have some tomato fanatics from Texas on it, but I don't think the forums exist any longer. If I remember correctly, they would have to do tomatoes that produce earlier before the heat causes the blossoms to fall. If you do a determinate (ripens all at once) like Early Girl, you might get in a crop. If you do an indeterminate (bears over an extended period and the vines keep growing) it might (just guessing) go dormant over the summer but then start up again in the fall. But at least that way you have a head start with the plant. Partial sun might be a blessing rather than a curse in this case.
@Notreadytoquit I heart that mossy heart!
Now I wish I had a mossy heart icon.
It is - that one is Tamora, and she's picky. Gorgeous spring blooms and foliage, and then the heat and black spot get her and all I have is nasty bare thorny canes until fall when she'll do a bit of rebloom for me. She's so pretty, I put up with it.
I have much better luck with Charlotte, Molineaux, and Sharifa Asma from the Austins, and better yet with roses that aren't Austins. But, I started with them and I can't quite bring myself to replace them yet.
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If I were to plant veggies, can I just put seed in or do I have to like start it somewhere else and transfer? That sounds really stressful. But sticking some seeds in good soil, giving water and sun, that I can maybe do. Might be better than this whole grass thing (actually no grass and hella weeds)0
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I love gardening, but here in Florida it's tough to grow anything including in pots
, BUT we do have farmers markets all year long. 
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DorkothyParker wrote: »If I were to plant veggies, can I just put seed in or do I have to like start it somewhere else and transfer? That sounds really stressful. But sticking some seeds in good soil, giving water and sun, that I can maybe do. Might be better than this whole grass thing (actually no grass and hella weeds)
Sure, you can plant from seeds. Spring stuff like lettuce, spinach, radishes and onions. Summer plants like beans, squashes, melons, corn, carrots, potatoes. Tomatoes and peppers I would buy plants or start inside, but that also depends on whete you live.0 -
Gardening can be just as intense as a cardio workout. Back when I had more time to garden, my legs would feel like jelly and I couldn't move for days. Good burn!0
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DorkothyParker wrote: »If I were to plant veggies, can I just put seed in or do I have to like start it somewhere else and transfer? That sounds really stressful. But sticking some seeds in good soil, giving water and sun, that I can maybe do. Might be better than this whole grass thing (actually no grass and hella weeds)
What kinds of vegetables and herbs do you like to eat? Also, you sound like you are in high desert, right? Do you know what kind of soil you have (sand, clay, etc.) and is the area you want to plant a sunny spot? You have a lot of hard core gardeners on this thread who can render advice.
Herbs especially are easy to start with.0 -
jmbmilholland wrote: »@stealthq what is that peach rose? Is it a David Austin heirloom? I love it! Roses love Texas, and Texas loves roses.
Seed Savers, an heirloom seed organization, used to have some tomato fanatics from Texas on it, but I don't think the forums exist any longer. If I remember correctly, they would have to do tomatoes that produce earlier before the heat causes the blossoms to fall. If you do a determinate (ripens all at once) like Early Girl, you might get in a crop. If you do an indeterminate (bears over an extended period and the vines keep growing) it might (just guessing) go dormant over the summer but then start up again in the fall. But at least that way you have a head start with the plant. Partial sun might be a blessing rather than a curse in this case.
@Notreadytoquit I heart that mossy heart! Now I wish I had a mossy heart icon.
It is - that one is Tamora, and she's picky. Gorgeous spring blooms and foliage, and then the heat and black spot get her and all I have is nasty bare thorny canes until fall when she'll do a bit of rebloom for me. She's so pretty, I put up with it.
I have much better luck with Charlotte, Molineaux, and Sharifa Asma from the Austins, and better yet with roses that aren't Austins. But, I started with them and I can't quite bring myself to replace them yet.
I am a sucker for an Austin rose too. They are so voluptuous. I try to garden as organically as possible but I have to use a systemic on most of my roses, which stinks because then you can't use the hips for teas or jelly. At my old house I did several true heirlooms...you can see in my pics that our playhouse is being devoured by a sweet autumn clematis. It needs to be torn out so the house can be devoured by a Paul's Himalayan Musk Rambler instead.0 -
Flowering ornamentals are not out of the question, now, in the North, BTW . . . and not just bulbs. This is mid-Michigan, photo taken a a week ago, in March. (Helleborus, I forget exactly what, probably all/mostly niger, on a guess. It's had buds/flowers since January.)
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I love fruit, but mostly eating it
My only contribution to this thread will be my amazement in your ability to grow peaches, mangoes and citrus, and by the notion of it ever getting dark during growing season. That's what living close to the polar circle does to you
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Going to make hibiscus tea today. It's very easy! Just add hot water to the freshly picked flowers, a squeeze of lime and some mint, and you're done. (not sure what is wrong with the red balance on my phone)
We've also picked some of our chickpeas today, leaving the rest to mature. Green chickpeas are AMAZING roasted with just a bit of salt water and nothing else. Not sure how to count them though, since we roast them in shell and a the moisture weighs the whole thing down.
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amusedmonkey wrote: »Going to make hibiscus tea today. It's very easy! Just add hot water to the freshly picked flowers, a squeeze of lime and some mint, and you're done. (not sure what is wrong with the red balance on my phone)
We've also picked some of our chickpeas today, leaving the rest to mature. Green chickpeas are AMAZING roasted with just a bit of salt water and nothing else. Not sure how to count them though, since we roast them in shell and a the moisture weighs the whole thing down.
I've never grown chickpeas. Are they crunchy when you roast them?
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jmbmilholland wrote: »@tomteboda what a beautiful garden! Now you are making me yearn for summer, although I can't tell a Minnesota girl anything about that. What is the tree with orange fruits?
You're going to think I'm a heretic, but I used to ONLY do perennials, but now I am editing out a lot of perennials to add in fruit trees. For example, taking out 10 of the 15 "festiva maxima" peonies the previous owner planted, or giving away some of the hundred-odd garden phlox. We have 8-ft beds going around the entire property, and every spring I am digging out more and more "bulk" perennials and replacing them with boxwoods, hydrangeas, roses, lilies, hellebores, and more carefully curated peonies.
Edited to add:
Regrettably, I have no summer pictures on my phone, so I will freeze everyone's knickers with some photos I took while carrying pots, moving plants inside from the unheated mini greenhouse and digging leeks on Saturday. Fortunately we have a brick carriage house that retains warmth and is a nice place for working even on the worst days. In the picture with the car, in the foreground you can see my beloved peach tree, one of my strawberry patches (you would be surprised at the huge yield from such a tiny space), and some herbs tucked around. I will also plant eggplants and peppers in the perennial parts of the garden, because they stay pretty through the summer and integrate well with the perennials.
I absolutely LOVE the little house with the vines on top of it. If I was a child....lol.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »Going to make hibiscus tea today. It's very easy! Just add hot water to the freshly picked flowers, a squeeze of lime and some mint, and you're done. (not sure what is wrong with the red balance on my phone)
We've also picked some of our chickpeas today, leaving the rest to mature. Green chickpeas are AMAZING roasted with just a bit of salt water and nothing else. Not sure how to count them though, since we roast them in shell and a the moisture weighs the whole thing down.
I've never grown chickpeas. Are they crunchy when you roast them?
No, green chickpeas have a sweet fresh flavor, almost like a vegetable. When roasted the pods get slightly charred and brittle, while the inside softens a bit and acquires this nice smoky and salty flavor. I will post a picture when we roast them this evening. They are very easy to grow by the way. You can even grow them from regular good quality dried chickpeas.0 -
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In SE Texas, we have not really had much of a freeze for the past year or so which means pretty much a year-round vegetable garden. We planted some lacinato kale back in early October and we are STILL getting plenty of kale. Our jalapenos and habaneros have started coming back too. We will soon be planting several types of lettuce, radicchio, cabbage and tomatoes (for salsa only) ... while I love purple hull peas and string beans, my family won't eat them so I have to purchase at the local farmers market when I want some fresh.0
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haven't started anything yet. I might have some blackberries and chives that have come back from last year, and maybe sage.
this year i plan on growing foods/flowers that my bearded dragon will eat. She loves berries and greens. She is supposed to eat some flowers too, so i thought I'd try that too.
I might try a salsa garden again too0 -
haven't started anything yet. I might have some blackberries and chives that have come back from last year, and maybe sage.
this year i plan on growing foods/flowers that my bearded dragon will eat. She loves berries and greens. She is supposed to eat some flowers too, so i thought I'd try that too.
I might try a salsa garden again too
There's something sweet about growing flowers for your pet. Love that!
Salsa garden would be fun too.0 -
It's almost planting time for me. In about two weeks. I'll start tilling and getting my rows set in a week or so. I am cutting back my garden this year. With two of my three teens working this summer I will be losing some of my help and I can't do a huge garden by myself. We grow and preserve as much of our food as possible and I love it! Gardening/weeding is my stress reliever. The kids know if I'm out there by myself to leave mom be - she's de-stressing! LOL Hopefully, some of my work will translate to weight loss this year. I don't plan on logging it as exercise at this point. Or, if I do, not eating back the calories.0
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I really love the idea of gardening, but as an apartment dweller had mixed luck with containers. Last year was probably my best one, and even then, it was haphazard at best. The storms would get bad and blow the containers over.
Also: squirrels in my neighborhood ate everything. They ate the heads off of our sunflowers. They ate all of the strawberries. Something ate out the stems of the tomato plants. It was about two-thirds of the way through the summer when I realized that I may not gotten all of the information I needed to successfully patio garden, lol.
This year I'm growing herbs (both for wedding centerpieces and because those were the only things I kept alive well), and maybe in a few years we'll have a place with a yard and can look into raised beds.0 -
And this is in the debate forum why, exactly?0
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FunkyTobias wrote: »And this is in the debate forum why, exactly?
I thought it would generate more debate, or at least cat gifs. Feel free to upload some pictures of ducks.
Since it successfully promotes nutrition, fitness, and physical and mental health, I probably should have been more contentious and said "gardening is the single best activity you can do to promote all aspects of your health." I would expand that to small-scale farming, but not the kind of farming where you are spraying your migrant workers with pesticides.0 -
Tempted to make a Trump joke, but will restrain myself.0
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jmbmilholland wrote: »FunkyTobias wrote: »And this is in the debate forum why, exactly?
I thought it would generate more debate, or at least cat gifs. Feel free to upload some pictures of ducks.
Since it successfully promotes nutrition, fitness, and physical and mental health, I probably should have been more contentious and said "gardening is the single best activity you can do to promote all aspects of your health." I would expand that to small-scale farming, but not the kind of farming where you are spraying your migrant workers with pesticides.
I lost about a pound a week during gardening season last year. Slowed to about a half pound per week when it was over. Gardening rules!
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Eh, I'm just jealous. The ability to have a real garden is the only reason I occasionally consider the 'burbs.0
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lemurcat12 wrote: »Eh, I'm just jealous. The ability to have a real garden is the only reason I occasionally consider the 'burbs.
My plentiful gardening space is why I put up with my landlord's nuttiness.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Eh, I'm just jealous. The ability to have a real garden is the only reason I occasionally consider the 'burbs.
You need a dacha, like the Russians, the little summer cottages where the country grows 40% of its food. Or at least a nice plot at "the lake," as we Hoosiers refer to ANY of the hundreds of lakes dotting our landscape, to the endless amusement of my East Coast colleagues who go to "the shore" (of which there is only one).
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/07/russian-summer/newman-text
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I would be very sad without my garden, and likely very fat. It is my chief form of exercise and why, like you, I generally gain weight every winter.
Gardening is such a great pleasure to me. Not only does it supply a great deal of our vegetables and fruits but it's the best stress reliever I know of, except maybe hiking.
My garden is pretty organic. I compost our vegetable waste, fireplace ash, sawdust and wood chips from firewood and what I muck out of the chicken coop for fertilizer and rarely use pesticides other things like milk and teas.
I'm not much on growing things I can't eat though. All our flowers are wild or perennial except those I plant in the garden to attract or deter bugs.0 -
jmbmilholland wrote: »I have a small garden. Eating what I have grown is awesome. The pride tastes good! I eat more vegetables when I grow them. Sometimes I wish I had more people to feed so I could have a bigger garden. I can what we don't eat. It's great in the winter to have summer squash.
Other than steps I take, I don't log the exercise I get. I consider it every day activity. I move slow though. The days where it's a lot of work, I figure it's extra calorie deficit.
Mentally it's relaxing. I like providing fresh food for my family. If it's a good year, it really does save money. Starting the seeds in the house gets me through the end of winter and beginning of Spring. It's fun watching the plants grow.
It is a lot of work and can be disappointing when it doesn't perform well because weather or my lack of effort. Animals eating before I can harvest is really aggravating! Deer, bears and chipmunks enjoy fresh veggies.
I started with a small patch of blueberries. Now I have the blueberries, tomatos, potatoes and spinach. Fresh spinach is really something special. I have grown others but these seem to be the best as there isn't much waste and they perform well.
If you aren't sure, start small. If you don't have a yard or bad dirt use containers. A container, dirt and a plant or seeds wouldn't be more than $10. If you have a yard, you can easily plant a couple of seeds or plants. You don't need any equipment like a big shovel if you start small.
I can definitely sympathize about the animals--they are our bane! We have a dog, so the garden in our yard (1/4 acre city lot) doesn't get messed with, but our community garden (which is 7000+ square feet) is just a few hundred feet away, on the property of a church next to a large wooded area in the city, so we have an 8-pt buck and a few does that enjoy hanging out in the garden, along with smaller critters. We have it fenced, but the fencing is cheap and cobbled together, and apparently deer can carefully jump between strings up to 8 ft. We have found that we have to build mini-cages for the popular plants--strawberries, cabbages, lettuce, carrots, beets and beans, mainly. They don't mess with the potatoes, peppers, eggplant, rhubarb, garlic or leeks, but they will take a bite here and there out of the marigolds, kale, tomatoes and squash and pumpkin vines, but must not like them too much. Then there are the tiny critters that like to eat holes in the leaves.
I have also found diversity to be the key to a successful harvest--our tomatoes and squash were horrible last year, but our eggplants and leeks went crazy. It varies from year to year, but yeah, 14 eggplants were probably too many.
If you would like to expand, any foodbanks or pantries in your area would probably love to get fresh veggies. For our community garden, we give 10% or greater of the harvest to a local pantry. (They probably got sick of eggplants last year!) I have a bunch of seeds popping up right now and am shuttling seedling trays from the heatmats inside to my mini-greenhouse outside. My kids won't stick with a task for too long, but they each enjoy picking out a couple of packs of seeds and planting a few of them.
Deer won't jump a fence if there is nowhere to land on the other side. We secure our garden from deer with just a 5 ft fence by simply running a brightly painted 2x4 around the interior about 2 ft in from the fence. We attached chicken wire to the bottom of the fence and ran it around the outside to keep our burrowing critters, then covered it with mulch which means we don't have weeds within 2 feet of the garden perimeter.
I also deep mulch with hay so I rarely have to weed.0 -
jmbmilholland wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »Eh, I'm just jealous. The ability to have a real garden is the only reason I occasionally consider the 'burbs.
You need a dacha, like the Russians, the little summer cottages where the country grows 40% of its food. Or at least a nice plot at "the lake," as we Hoosiers refer to ANY of the hundreds of lakes dotting our landscape, to the endless amusement of my East Coast colleagues who go to "the shore" (of which there is only one).
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/07/russian-summer/newman-text
I've actually considered buying a place on the west side of Michigan (friends of mine have done that), and for a while my parents were even considering retiring up there (they ended up near Portland instead) and having a huge garden (and my dad kept joking about goats and chickens to annoy my mom). Of course, then I'd have to drive through your lovely state, and they always seem to plan the road construction to be especially irritating on long weekends or whatever weekend I happen to be going to Michigan. ;-)0 -
haven't started anything yet. I might have some blackberries and chives that have come back from last year, and maybe sage.
this year i plan on growing foods/flowers that my bearded dragon will eat. She loves berries and greens. She is supposed to eat some flowers too, so i thought I'd try that too.
I might try a salsa garden again too
Nice!
I grow kale and arugula in containers just for my chickens because those are their favorites. On days we aren't home and they have to stay in their run all day I'll put the container in there for them to much on.0
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