The 2013 Garden Thread

Found some old photos in a couple of older threads.....

Square ft gardening thread:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Lessons learned from a backyard garden
www.abovetopsecret.com...

rattlesnake beans


tomato row

S & F

This thread imo complements nicely the existing "Survival Gardening" thread

I think it's called something like that.. the one with the ATS member with a Moose in her avatar and she was talking about how summer days barely reach 70F and how the sun is out about all day long..

And others talking about hiding veg/fruit plants among other plants so as not to be robbed of all ur edibles... Cool stuff

reply to post by tropic


I'd love to grow some of my own stuff, but I'm limited in that I live in an apartment with very little daylight-space. I have a patio that is 99% shade, and a small area that is 99% sunlight. (approx 2 sq ft). Any advice for things easy to grow in either one of those environments in pots? (No soil area at all). Alternately, is it illegal to plant food based seeds on public land? I'm in northern california.

Still three feet of dense snow in the yard. The banks are still four to six feet high. It's supposed to snow again this week. It'll take a couple of weeks for the ground to warm up after the snow is gone.....I won't be planting till the second week of June. :shk:

reply to post by Inannamute


Go for pottted things, on wheels if possible, that way it can be moved from sun to shade as neccessary. Small stuff, like rocket, salad lettuce leaves, and herbs such as chives, lemongrass, parsley and so on do well in pots. You can also try cherry tomatoes or bell peppers, but they will eventually outgrow a potted area, but for a season growing and then dig them out for the next season should be ok.

An area of about 1m (3ft) by 1/2m (1.5 ft) should be enough to grow about half a dozen different vegetables, and if you keep the herbs in medium pots it should be ok.

As for whether it is illegal to grow seeds where you are, I can't imagine it would be, but I'd go to the local garden centre and ask for organic seeds to get started, or seedlings for the herbs. They should be able to tell you at the same time if it is allowable or not.

reply to post by Inannamute


You can grow vegetables on an apartment porch. This link is a review of several methods of growing vegetables in grow boxes which fit in small spaces and by and large water themselves. Staking is essential when growing things like eggplant or tomatoes or cucumbers. The last thing he reviews is a DIY grow box - I'm not much of a DIYer, but this doesn't seem overwhelming. I bought grow boxes from A Garden Patch a few years ago - I use them all summer long because I can start them in my garage under lights and return them to the garage/lights when it gets cold. HTH

ETA: According to the California Native Plant Society it is illegal to collect plants without a permit on public lands. Same loophole here in Utah - you can plant it, but you cannot harvest it.

reply to post by 74Templar


Even though I have a large garden, I grow my tomato plants in planters carried in children's wagons.

Where I live in Texas, a spring thunderstorm brings high winds and heavy hail. I lost my tomatoes so many years in a row that I started growing them in wagons. The kids know to pull all the wagons in the house if we are under a severe T-Storm advisory.

all the best.

reply to post by frayed1


Nice...

My peas officially sprouted over the last three days, including the seed I saved from last year. Oh happy day....

Also got some spinach and swiss chard coming up. Jane's gettin' serious.

My broccoli seedlings are flourishing. I may start setting them this weekend so they'll be ready in a week or two.

Happy Times Are Here Again.

reply to post by otherpotato


What do you cook with the broccoli? I have a hankering for broccoli-cheese soup....

Seriously though, how do people here use the produce of their gardens? salads mostly, or do you can and freeze?

Originally posted by tovenar
reply to post by otherpotato

 

What do you cook with the broccoli? I have a hankering for broccoli-cheese soup....

Seriously though, how do people here use the produce of their gardens? salads mostly, or do you can and freeze?

I personally try to stay away from salad-type vegetables. Although I happen to have plenty of garden space, I still want to maximize the nutritional value that space produces. Instead of growing different types of lettuce, in the summer I grow Swiss Chard for greens, and in the fall and winter time I grow turnip greens (in my opinion, the healthiest vegetable out there).

Most of my vegetables are eaten fresh. I do freeze the vegetables that are the most productive. I still have a bunch of yellow squash from last year in our big freezer (still tastes just fine). I recently bought a bunch of rattlesnake beans. I would like to grow a whole bunch of those, let them mature and dry on the vine, and then harvest and store them; then start the whole process over again right away. The same thing with amaranth. That way I will have a couple of staple foods dried, stored and ready to go year round, and supplement the fresh stuff right out of the garden with them.

I also want to try sun drying. It's free and very easy. I am growing yellow pear tomatoes this year and I think I am going to try that with them. Maybe some squash, too. Thin sun dried squash slices take up very little space, yet swell back up pretty well when thrown into a pot of soup or stew.

For my birthday, a friend bought me some herbs...lavender, pineapple sage, boxwood basil and german thyme. I bought some double peonies and other lovely flowers to plant for my Mom.

reply to post by tovenar


A lot of my garden is eaten fresh, but I also can and juice and roast and sautee and fry and grill and mash and dry and bake and puree and candy and stuff the things I grow.

Salad is very, very limiting and eaten rarely at my house.

Originally posted by tovenar
reply to post by otherpotato

 

What do you cook with the broccoli? I have a hankering for broccoli-cheese soup....

Seriously though, how do people here use the produce of their gardens? salads mostly, or do you can and freeze?

We eat as much as possible while the garden is producing.....corn on the cob and creamed....I fix a lot of squash and peppers as stir fry or grilled. Green beans tossed in with some fat back and done like stir fry....Okra and squash coated with a little corn meal and fried. My kids' friends will drop everything and come over when we're having my chicken nachos in the summer....with fresh red and green bell peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes.

I freeze a lot....corn, beans, strawberries, okra, peas...

I can tomatoes to use for soups or stews and spaghetti sauce.

l love pickles....cucumbers, beets, even green beans or wax beans....

I make jelly from the extra strawberries, and wild blackberries, and the jalapenos make great pepper jelly!

We do eat some salads and the main thing I grow a garden for.....Tomato sandwiches!

Whats become most annoying gardening (especially in USA moreso than ASIA)...

is them nasty feral cats!

Time and time again I witness families adopting kittens, letting cats have litters, then later on throwing the cats out of the house. These become feral cats which spread Toxo everywhere.

I became deadly ill from getting some infected dirt under my nails last summer when in the states and the tests came back positive for Toxoplasmosis. Was put on a cocktail of lots of antibiotics/antiparasitics - Sulfa, Amox, Cipro but they didnt work... Minocycline seemed to but made be depressed, suicidal, feeling insane in the brain. I am back in the states now to follow up with my favorite doc for this and other issues (high blood pressure, etc)

Not sure how many people are infected with Toxo but fear a huge percent of gardeners get it I use gloves but seems tiny molecules get thru and under the nails, plus blow up into the mouth through wind. It's very disgusting how many feral cats are roaming everywhere, breeding more than rabbits.

Stay safe, fellow gardeners!

Transplanted 29 strawberry plants into a 4X8 raised bed this evening. Donated by a friend who has thousands.

The hubs bought a tiller last weekend. Said if I was going to garden more, we didn't need 17 buckets in the side yard. Funny, he ended up tilling literally half the side yard. Didn't have room for beans last year, that same friend gave me heirloom greasy grit green beans. Man these got all the flavor you can imagine.

So I now room for corn and green beans. But my question is do I still get to put tomatoes and peppers in my buckets and use the real garden for more variety?

Question will beans transplant, or do I need to wait and sow directly?

reply to post by SunflowerStar


I'm happy to hear you got a big garden expansion. That's always fun.

At a guess I'd say your beans are bush beans, which do better when direct seeded. When they start to grow they really take off and can be stunted by too much warmth (greenhouse) or by root binding. Bush beans can be started indoors, or in a greenhouse, but they don't take root insult very well and may lose a week or two recovering from a transplant, which is a long time considering bean growth. Pole beans, however, are worth starting and transplanting because they have a longer growing season and start bearing later.

reply to post by Halekoch


Thanks so much. Greasy grit are pole beans, so thats good news!

Time to get more trays out and seeds started then! thanks again.

Originally posted by tovenar
reply to post by otherpotato

 

What do you cook with the broccoli? I have a hankering for broccoli-cheese soup....

Seriously though, how do people here use the produce of their gardens? salads mostly, or do you can and freeze?

Broccoli goes with everything!

I do a bit of everything. I tend to prefer growing things that can be put by in some fashion, with lettuce being the exception. I grow a ton of lettuce and of course that has to be eaten as you go as there is no way (that I know of) to preserve it. In fact my lettuce reseeded itself from last year so we have a whole bunch of baby lettuce growing willy nilly everywhere.

As another poster mentioned we like to grow Swiss Chard as well. Best leafy green out there in my book and it freezes well, as does spinach. I find that chard will come back and I have four plants from last year that are leafing out already. We have yet to find a good permanent spot for it but I think where they are now (in the garlic patch) seems to be a good place.

I learned how to can two years ago and so I can as much as I "can." After all there is only so much freezer space and one good hurricane can take away your whole harvest (thanks Irene!!). Not everything can be canned though, and not everything can be frozen, so it's a balancing act.

I can green beans, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber soup, and of course pickles. This year I'm trying peas and carrots. I freeze broccoli, snow peas, shredded zucchini, whole ears of corn, whole tomatoes and peppers. Winter squashes and garlic go in the root cellar/canning room. I have yet to try long term storage of potatoes and carrots as I haven't yet grown enough.

My peas, chards and spinach just sprouted this week so I'm doing the happy dance. My broccoli seedlings will probably be ready to go into the ground in a couple of weeks. I need to try posting pictures here (for the first time) so I can document my progress.

reply to post by Halekoch


I second Halekoch, bush beans do best direct sown and will produce more if you crowd the plantings - two inches apart all around is about all they need. Another tip is to never pick beans when the plants are wet. They get this "rust" disease that means the end of the plant - you'll know it when you see it as the leaves turn a funky color.

I would not plant corn in containers as they are heavy feeders. Tomatoes can be container plants but I find they will not produce as much (but if you lack the space might as well go for it). You'll need to water frequently in hot weather though as they get dry quick.

reply to post by tropic


Funny you mention cats, we found paw prints and a dug up spot in the garden the other day right where I planted my peas. First year I've seen that. I tested positive for tox years ago so it's not a concern for me, but a good reminder for others that when dealing with garden soil you are encountering all kinds of microbes and other assorted critters. I recommend a good fingernail brush next to the sink during gardening season. Not a fan of gloves myself. Need to feel my way around....