official veggie gardener's thread

[BoomerD]

To my great surprise...I still have strawberry plants that are blooming...and have one strawberry that's trying to ripen.

MOST of my strawberries have gone dormant for the winter, but I have a handful of plants that are still green and growing...<shrug> I doubt the one berry will actually ripen. It's not warm enough and we haven't had much sunshine in the past month.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

To my great surprise...I still have strawberry plants that are blooming...and have one strawberry that's trying to ripen.

MOST of my strawberries have gone dormant for the winter, but I have a handful of plants that are still green and growing...<shrug> I doubt the one berry will actually ripen. It's not warm enough and we haven't had much sunshine in the past month.

do you still have bees pollinating? Ours died off months ago.

 

[BoomerD]

do you still have bees pollinating? Ours died off months ago.

Only on the warmer days...I still see a couple of honeybees when it gets into the 50's and 60's.

 

[meltdown75]

As in my post above, I'm a complete beginner. Most of what I'm growing has done really well, with some exceptions. I'm definitely loving my new found vege hobby, and I'm getting ready to start sowing autumn/winter crops shortly. Here's my harvest today - I'm picking things every single day which surprises me, but it's been a very good summer.

those romas look delicious!!!!

 

[TraumaRN]

I've got garlic going in pots....they are already 6+ inches high...including one overachiever...

I've got both my onions red and white started under my grow light with just a couple sprouts just starting to peek through(I started from seed)...hell I even made a schematic for my garden next year since I expanded it so much...you could say I've got the itch to get planting but I'll have to wait another 10 weeks or so

 

[BoomerD]

I've got garlic going in pots....they are already 6+ inches high...including one overachiever...

I've got both my onions red and white started under my grow light with just a couple sprouts just starting to peek through(I started from seed)...hell I even made a schematic for my garden next year since I expanded it so much...you could say I've got the itch to get planting but I'll have to wait another 10 weeks or so

I expect to have tomatoes and peppers in the ground by President's Day...March 1st at the latest.

 

[BoomerD]

Well...I missed March 1st because of rain, but I got the garden weeded today. Tomorrow I plant.

So far, I have:
1 mammoth jalapeno (large but not as hot as normal)
1 serrano
1 New Mexico Hatch pepper
2 green bell peppers
1 roma tomato
1 cherry tomato
4 sun sugar tomatoes

Still to get:
1 "regular" jalapeno
1 red or orange bell pepper
1 cucumber...maybe an armenian cuke...not sure yet.

My blueberries are starting to bud nicely, the peach tree is covered in blossoms, and I'll be putting in some radishes and carrots within the next couple of days.

 

[eldorado99]

You lucky Californian bastard.

Not time to plant here yet...

 

[DrPizza]

A little time to plant, but a couple inches of snow still on the ground.

 

[spidey07]

Starting my seeds here in ky. Planting strawberries in a week. I let a lot of my peppers just rot and fall to the ground so I should have plenty of pepper plants popping up.

 

[Sentrosi2121]

My wife and I decided to try our hand at gardening this year. Our 'soil' is really clay with a smattering of dirt just to make it look like its dirt. So we're planning on a raised bed garden. We have this old kidney shaped hosta garden that's become completely overgrown and will probably be digging up that area and putting the bed in there. Unless getting hosta's out is a pain in the ass.

The raised bed won't be bigger than 8' x 6' and my wife wants to plant some tomatoes in there, probably roma tomatoes. We're wondering what else we can put in there. I love fresh cucumber in the summer and the kids are starting to explore other things to eat. Will there be enough room for 3 roma plants, a couple of cucumber rows, and a couple other veggies, like carrots and peas?

Also, is it better to treat the ground before we put the raised bed over it with a mixture of compost and the clay? Till the area to mix the two together, then put the raised bed over it?

We are looking at cedar to use for the raised bed. Good idea? Or is there another option?

 

[TraumaRN]

So far here in southern Michigan, I've got onions ready to plant probably this week. They are a good 6 inches high and already halfway to scallion size, so I gotta plant soon, been hardening them off for the last 2 weeks so they should be good even if we get another freeze.

I just started my tomatoes 2 days ago. I've got Paul Robeson(purple beefsteak heirloom) Topaz(cherry type heirloom yellow with green stripes) and San Marzano(roma type Heirloom for making my own tomato paste and sauces)

I started my peppers on March 1st they have already sprouted(11 out of 12 at least) I have Jimmy Nardello Sweet Peppers, Black Hungarian hot pepper and Roberto's Cuban Seasoning hot peppers.

I've got my flat dutch cabbage started and sprouted. Ditto with my Romanesco Broccoli, I just started to harden them off today. They are all almost 5inches high with 3rd leaves.

I've also got celery started indoors since Valentines day. So far so good. Going to also start my leek seeds this week.

 

[fatpat268]

We're wondering what else we can put in there. I love fresh cucumber in the summer and the kids are starting to explore other things to eat. Will there be enough room for 3 roma plants, a couple of cucumber rows, and a couple other veggies, like carrots and peas?

Summer squash, potatoes, green beans, maybe watermelon.

I'd honestly skip carrots and peas. To get anything sizeable of each, you'll need a lot of plants, and honestly they're cheaper just to buy in the store.

I know, I know... homegrown stuff tastes better, but instead of planting the boring everyday stuff, plant the unique stuff you can't find in stores. There's many different varieties of heirloom tomatoes that you've probably never seen before. There's a lot of different types of cucumbers that you likely haven't tried but can easily grow:

Lemon Cucumber

Armenian Yard Long Cucumber

But yea, I highly recommend planting some form of green beans. I plant Yard Long Beans and they grow crazily fast and produce A LOT of beans and they're pretty low maintenance. Summer squash is another favorite... they're like cucumber plants and can produce a lot as well.

 

[Chaotic42]

I'm thinking about planting some Kiwano and some rosemary. It's probably late to start, since it's been in the 70s and 80s for a while now. The last time I tried to grow something, it got destroyed by blight.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

ive got most of my seeds. need to get the grow light up (so long window seedlings!) and the seeds started. Still need to get some pole wax beans (surprisingly hard to find around here), seed potatoes and roma tomatoes.
I left some onions in the bed last year and theyve been doing well out there all winter. theyve got some nece green tops going.

Currently on this years list:

San Marzano Romas
Goliath tomatoes (friendly competition between friends)
Sweet Success Cucumbers
Potatoes of some kind
Various lettuce
Herbs
Onions
Pole wax and the looooong green beans

i wanted to get the blueberry, raspberry and blackberry bushes planted this year, but its not looking feasable at this point.

 

[bignateyk]

I've still got a good month before I can get started for the year. I'm going to try making hot sauce this year, so I'm gonna try to plant a bunch of different kinds of peppers. Has anyone done this before? What are the best peppers to plant? How many does it take to make a few bottles of hot sauce?

Beyond that, I'm gonna plant the usual roma tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, etc...

 

[cliftonite]

I need to build 2 more raised beds. With these I will have 3 in total. I am going to use one for spinach/other leafy greens, one for eggplant, and one for tomatoes.

We also plant Indian vegetables (squash, bitter gourd, chinese okra, lemon cucumber, tindora, etc)

 

[meltdown75]

i suppose i should get out there soon and move some dirt around in my raised bed

i left a bunch of tomatoes in one spot, i'm going to see if it results in any plants sprouting up. lol

 

[spidey07]

They should as long as they aren't hybrids. Tomatoes self pollinate.

 

[DrPizza]

I was out in the back yard today, taking some pictures of the kids on their track when I noticed... Strawberry plants! Many of them survived!! Hopefully THIS year I get some strawberries (like more than I can possibly eat.)

 

[spidey07]

They do better after a year or two well established. They will need plenty of fertilizer to produce well

 

[TraumaRN]

Have onions about pencil sized. Some didn't make it but most did. Have radishes just starting to come up outside.

Everything else is still inside in starter cells....

 

[HydroSqueegee]

seedlings are doing well. planted out some onion sets, and the ones growing from last year are doing well. Weather was nice yesterday so the flower beds are cleaned up. Need to get the straw off the beds and add some compost. Still have almost 2 months till i can really plant. stupid Ohio weather.

 

[BoomerD]

My radishes are about 2-2 1/2 inches tall already, carrots are at least an inch tall...tomatoes and pepper plants have blossoms.
We had almost two weeks of rain here, so I still have a few plants waiting to go in the ground. (maybe today)
A dozen strawberry plants
1 Fresno pepper
some herbs for my wife's herb barrel

I wish I had more room for a bigger garden plot...but then I'd need a Mexican to tend it for me. I just can't do the work that a larger garden would need.

 

[dullard]

I have a question about indoor tomatoes. My wife planted some around new years in our basement. They are now nearly 3' tall and covered with flowers. But, it is still about 1 month until we can safely plant them outside. Is there a good way to pollinate the tomatoes without wind or insects? I'd like to get some tomatoes growing and not lose these early chances.