Garden thread
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@mtaratoot What is that?
Artichoke
Got it, thank you! I've only ever eaten them from a can and in spinach and artichoke dip. So that's what they really look like whole...
If you go back to pages 57 and 58 you'll see some pictures from last year. I have a full garden bed full of 'chokes. They have become perennial. They also have mutated somewhat. They are quite tasty. I eat a LOT of them for a couple months and then I don't eat them for the other ten months. I don't remember the last time I bought one.1 -
I've been holding off this year...last year...planted too early.. plus I'm starting from seeds this year.
Dining room has become the green house.. 😂
Cleared the garden area last weekend.
Bought grow bags.. planted some potatoes and onions in em..
Didn't take pic. But the onions are sprouting up.9 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Out of curiosity does anyone here plant spinach? I eat a lot of it now and am wondering if it's easy enough to grow a bountiful amount?
I've never had good luck here in Massachusetts - like mtaratoot said, any unusually warm days will ruin it for the season. You could ask your local greenhouse about bolt-resistant varieties.
You may wish to consider Swiss chard instead, which can be used like spinach in many dishes, especially when the leaves are on the smaller side. It's been extremely easy to grow in MA.
I have had fabulous success with Malabar spinach. Unfortunately, I don't like it raw and my partner doesn't like it cooked, so I stopped growing it, but perhaps will give it another go now that we are living with my mother and brother. Mom loves it. It is very slow to get started, but once it takes off, produces like mad until the frost. I've never seen seedlings locally, so buy seeds online.
https://www.burpee.com/malabar-spinach-red-stem-prod500145.html
Despite posting this last month, I could not resist the regular spinach at the garden center yesterday. It's supposed to mature in 40-60 days, so I should get plenty before the first unusually hot days make it bolt and ruin it. I'm going to plant it with violas, and plan to rip both out and replant with warm annuals around July 4.
I do prefer plants like Swiss chard, which I can plant now and keep through a heavy frost, but I was worried my mother would also stop at the garden center while she was out and then we would have way too much chard.3 -
I potted 6 jalapeno seeds and 3 of those have sprouted.
I potted five Bell Pepper seeds yesterday. So I'm hoping those sprout next week.
Two years ago I put a ton of random seeds in my garden. One reason was that I dumped potted soil into my garden that I thought had "duds" of random seeds in it. The second reason was that I put seeds in to grow. Well...
About seven or eight months after I put a line of parsley in my garden, it germinated and sprouted and it was about a four foot bushy line and about two feet high.
What I learnt is that even if you think seeds are "old" and won't germinate, you may be pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised.
I have many, many random surprises growing in my garden. Some are weeds; some are not. It will be interesting...4 -
One man's trash is another man's treasure. Our neighbor threw it on the curb for trash pickup and it's going to be ours now. Not perfect but with a few screws and a cleaning, it'll be nice for planting some spearmint and strawberries.
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Pushed son in stroller to the playground and found this trash of another neighbor on the curb. It's in good condition, 10 inches in height, and I like the drainage holes in the bottom and on the sides.
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I'm glad I'm not the only salvager! I asked hubby how he'd feel about me growing acorn squash and it turns out he's never eaten one. Need to fix this immediately (and I'd better do a good job so it becomes something he'll happily eat if there's a bumper crop)! 😅2
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SuzanneC1l9zz wrote: »I'm glad I'm not the only salvager! I asked hubby how he'd feel about me growing acorn squash and it turns out he's never eaten one. Need to fix this immediately (and I'd better do a good job so it becomes something he'll happily eat if there's a bumper crop)! 😅
Oh I like that word so much better than "dumpster diver!" I've salvaged many things I've seen in other peoples'trash. Our trash has disappeared before, too, makes me happy to think of someone else using it for a good purpose. I love all squash, spaghetti squash being my favorite and butternut is a close second.2 -
Love the salvager idea! No sense in watching it land in the landfill if you can use it! And you found a couple of treasures.
Wish there was more of that around here.
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That's also how I got my weight bench of all things! It's a super lightweight one, but fine for my 130 lbs. I assume the neighbours' teenaged son got bigger than me....3
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Salvaged book cases can make nice raised gardens.3
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I lined the interior of the shelves with visqueen plastic sheeting that I got for free at work. I put the plastic down first, placed the shelf on top and brought the plastic up the sides before filling with dirt. I set the whole thing in a very shallow trench.
Since the shelf was made from cheap particle pressed board, the plastic really helped it last and kept any treatments or varnishes away from the plants and soil. After three years, the corners got a little wonky and it would have been easy to scab them back together, but I simply grabbed a hammer and returned it curbside on rubbish day.
I suppose if one was worried, plant flowers rather than veggies.1 -
I've acquired a bunch of (I think they're) 2' x 2' solid-backed pallets that I think will work well 🙂2
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Over the long weekend I planted sweet corn, sunflowers, carrots, cornflowers, green beans, snow peas and nasturtiums. We have just come in to Autumn here in Oz and as I am in the north of Queensland we get a lovely mild winter with temps between 3-25 degrees Celsius and lets me grow plants that find it too hot in our summer as well as plants suited to colder temps.
My beds have been either fallow or growing flowers over summer because I was having a lazy garden phase and occupied with other hobbies but now it is much more pleasant to be out in the garden and it also isn't getting drowned every other week with monsoonal rain!3 -
Neighbor Bob's loooong row of rhubarb plants (in my garden!) is coming along nicely. Soon, we'll have more rhubarb than I and all of Bob's many friends can eat. They're pretty plants, at least. (This is just one clump of many. There are like . . . I dunno . . . twenty feet or so of them? It's a lot of rhubarb!)
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@Kshama2001 Any tips with the malabar spinach? I have some I just planted, I put it by my bean trellis. My kale and regular spinach and lettuce is all bolting already here in the Sacramento area, Swiss chard is doing well so I'll grow that again next year but not regular spinach again.
Have all my tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, beans, and everything else going including a bunch of flowers around them all, I'll have to send some pictures to my laptop to post stuff. I have all the annual herbs added to my herb collection as well. My big score at a plant sale at the food bank farm where I volunteer was a dwarf Moringa tree, I must've bought 30 plants between that plant sale which helps the school greenhouse where we grow out seeds and my favorite garden center. I'm not allowing myself in any more areas where plants are for sale, we're in a drought and I'm sacrificing my back lawn for all this stuff so I can't be adding more things but it sure makes a lot of room for more goodies! We lost some plants with a late frost at the food bank so I was starting more seeds at the greenhouse this morning.
@Mtaratoot It's been awhile since I was in the forums, aren't you the one with the awesome artichokes? I bought two plants this year, I love artichokes so I'm really excited! I think you were the one posting them in this group or the vegetable group.1 -
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@Mtaratoot It's been awhile since I was in the forums, aren't you the one with the awesome artichokes? I bought two plants this year, I love artichokes so I'm really excited! I think you were the one posting them in this group or the vegetable group.
I might not be THE one with the AWESOME artichokes, but I do have a large bed of them that has become perennial. I thin them every few years. I never thin them enough. One year I left them all sitting beside the bed while I had it covered with plastic to reduce weeds. As spring came, I sorted them into categories something like:- These will thrive for sure
- These look pretty good
- These are questionable
- These will probably survive, but I'm not putting money on them
- Ha ha ha ha ha
I tried to group them so I'd still have enough. Well.... less than two years later I needed to thin again.
I was pleasantly surprised a few weeks ago when I went to check on them and saw they were already spitting out flowers. This was April 7:
I'll be eating them soon. And more and more and more. And giving some away. Then in a month or so, I will quit eating them for ten months.
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Was browsing in the seed aisle yesterday, just dreaming of warmer weather really, but a package of seeds caught my eye. Has anyone ever tried lettuce seeds on strips? They look really easy to plant and says I could plant them now, even though we may still get frosts for the next month. Then I can keep planting them every 2 weeks.
Thoughts?1 -
@mtaratoot love seeing that beautiful flower! It was seeing your about 2 years ago that got it in my head that I needed them, I can't wait! Keep posting pictures of them!
@ReenieHJ I haven't tried the seed tape, I just sprinkled seeds but because we went into the 80s for a few days my lettuce is flowering already, I'm going to let it and hopefully have lettuce in fall.1 -
@Kshama2001 Any tips with the malabar spinach? I have some I just planted, I put it by my bean trellis. My kale and regular spinach and lettuce is all bolting already here in the Sacramento area, Swiss chard is doing well so I'll grow that again next year but not regular spinach again.
Have all my tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, beans, and everything else going including a bunch of flowers around them all, I'll have to send some pictures to my laptop to post stuff. I have all the annual herbs added to my herb collection as well. My big score at a plant sale at the food bank farm where I volunteer was a dwarf Moringa tree, I must've bought 30 plants between that plant sale which helps the school greenhouse where we grow out seeds and my favorite garden center. I'm not allowing myself in any more areas where plants are for sale, we're in a drought and I'm sacrificing my back lawn for all this stuff so I can't be adding more things but it sure makes a lot of room for more goodies! We lost some plants with a late frost at the food bank so I was starting more seeds at the greenhouse this morning.
I'm in zone 6b - looks like you are in 9b, so my advice may not apply to you. For me, south of Boston, the advice is Patience. Malabar spinach needs summer weather to take off, but once they do, start picking and eating
Oh, I use an 82" tall tomato tower and need every inch of that.@Mtaratoot It's been awhile since I was in the forums, aren't you the one with the awesome artichokes? I bought two plants this year, I love artichokes so I'm really excited! I think you were the one posting them in this group or the vegetable group.
He's being modest. He IS the one with the AWESOME artichokes
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Whoohoo! Gardens are all rototilled and mulched. Seedlings are hardening outside. Still gotta a couple of weeks to go in my grow zone. There's a frost coming mid week, so everybody will be back inside.
Soooo ready!2 -
@kshama2001 You have me a little worried, I have them by a trellis but have a bunch of beans by it too, hope they can all co-exist on it! They're starting slow so far for sure but we're going into the 80s this week so hopefully they'll pick up.
@Mtaratoot Just found out artichokes throw down big taproots so I had to move them out of grow bags into the ground, hope they get as big as yours!
I have all my pics on my phone and am listening to a podcast but all the herbs are flowering and my gray sage has beautiful purple flowers. My lettuce bolted before I ever harvested any so I'm letting it go, the flowers are pretty too. Tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and peppers are picking up but cucumbers are slow going, hopefully they'll pick up this week. I have to get my drip system going, I've been watering by hand and still will for the veggies and herbs. I harvested some spinach and Swiss chard today and some herbs to put in my eggs, love when I can use my garden in the kitchen.2 -
@kshama2001 You have me a little worried, I have them by a trellis but have a bunch of beans by it too, hope they can all co-exist on it! They're starting slow so far for sure but we're going into the 80s this week so hopefully they'll pick up.
@Mtaratoot Just found out artichokes throw down big taproots so I had to move them out of grow bags into the ground, hope they get as big as yours!
I have all my pics on my phone and am listening to a podcast but all the herbs are flowering and my gray sage has beautiful purple flowers. My lettuce bolted before I ever harvested any so I'm letting it go, the flowers are pretty too. Tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and peppers are picking up but cucumbers are slow going, hopefully they'll pick up this week. I have to get my drip system going, I've been watering by hand and still will for the veggies and herbs. I harvested some spinach and Swiss chard today and some herbs to put in my eggs, love when I can use my garden in the kitchen.
It's often hard to visualize how much space plants will need. The package suggestions or advice on sites like almanac.com are often very good guides, although I do tend to plant a little closer than suggested. If you planted too close this year, there's always next year 0 -
Very excited about my peas!
I aim for starting staggered plantings on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, usually actually get them in a week after, and to finish before May 1. I'm right on schedule this year. This is a new spot with less sun, so we'll see how they do.
I'm a big believer in mulching to keep moisture in and weeds out. I hadn't mulched before I took this picture, and wanted to lead by example, so thanks y'all for getting me to weed and mulch
Here I have sterilized straw (no weed seeds) but I also use leaves and wood chips from landscaping companies, who, when working in the area, are happy to dump a load of chips on our property. Make sure they weren't working on trees with poison ivy!
I've not had success getting chips from this service in the past, but it might just be my area:
https://getchipdrop.com3 -
I mulch with thick grass clippings right after rototilling. The heat the clippings generate burns out any weed they land on and their light blocking does the rest. Plus, slugs don't wander across grass clippings once they dry. I'm still about two weeks out from ground planting and the grass clippings will be dried and matted by then.3
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It's starting to be that time.....
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I bought two nice Bonnie plants yesterday, brought them home and potted them. Today we had high winds and heavy rain for about 10-15 minutes. It was enough to snap a stem on both, not the main stem though, like the extension parts. Anyway, damaged yes but I'm hoping they're not destroyed. Anyone have an experience like this and plants survived fine?1
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Both plants weathered the storm and are thriving.
The only plants I started from seeds are jalapeno peppers and bell peppers. This is a picture of my bell pepper plant, starting to sprout that third leaf.
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I’m so excited for my little garden this year. I’m in the Midwest so we are finally having nicer weather. We just got to plant over the weekend. We have a small area approx 7x20. No tiller so it took four of us the entire weekend to till, build the beds, and plant. It was a hoot.
Our mini garden has 8 tomato plants (Roma and beef), 8 bell and mixed pepper plants, 2 small rows of carrots, on one end we’ve planted sunflowers and squash, on the other we have corn and pumpkins. We also planted three watermelon plants off to the side. On the porch, so far we have thyme and 2 cilantro plants…hope to add more herbs.
We have no idea what we are doing. We are taking this year to learn and have fun with it. We just moved to the Midwest from the South. Huge change for us. Everyone here cans, so I reckon we will be learning too. Lol
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