is anyone planning a garden this year?

chickpea

i have swung with the pendulum on this endeavour over the years.... my best year ever i had 32 different food "crops" but as more kids arrived and the deer population encoached on "my" encroachment, i let it disappear from the " to do " list"

this year, i am determined to get back at it full force...... with modifications to accomodate my "older" knees and the still encroaching deer, using the "square foot gardening" approach as well as container gardening on the deck..... anyone here have experience with either?

having just finished a nutrition course and dealing with the rising costs of fresh food ( that is not over salted or corn syrup sweetened), i really feel an urgency to try to supplement what is available

anyone else gonna play in the dirt?

momzcrazy

I always had a vegetable garden in Utah. I tried it here and couldn't keep up with it. Everything grows great here, even the weeds! And the darn bugs, too many.

In my new house landscapers did the front: manicured bushes and mulch. But on my back patio I am growing pots and pots of flowers and herbs. I even snuck in some ajuga in the front landscaping. Gotta have my flowers! Luckily we have farmers who set up road side stands to help support themselves. All fresh and homegrown. I get fresh veggies from them.

momz

dinah

We have one every year. It's really big. I freeze alot of stuff to have through the winter. It's better than the stuff you buy at the supermarket. Tomatoes taste different when you grow them yourself.

I am planning to grow a couple of Roma tomato plants in containers.

DJK

I have already started preparing my garden, tilling and fertilizing. Planted my peas and garlic.

Started 48 tomato plants and they have been repotted already. Next I have to harden them off.

I have 1800 sqft in a community garden and deer can be a problem for the folks with perimeter plots. What has worked for them is hair, collected from hairstylists or pet grooming shops, placed around the edges of their plot. One gardener uses coyote urine that can be purchased in the hunting department of a sporting goods store.

Finally-Free

I just moved into a new place and will finally have a backyard again. I'm planning to put in some red currant bushes because I love to make wine out of them. I'll also plant some squash, tomatos and peppers. Not sure what else yet.

Chickpea, your deer population is making me think of venison sausages.

W

studier

This will be my third year with a large food-type garden. I grew up in house with over 200 potted plants though and learned many wonderful things. Make sure whatever you pot-grow has plenty of root space, drainage (for those torrential down pours) and keep them watered in the heat and all should be fine. We live in town so I don't think my neighbors would appreciate it but potatoes can be planted and then old tires added around the base (added one at a time with soil -- til about five high) and when it's time for harvesting...simply remove the tires and NO DIGGING THEM UP!!!!

Sad emo

Got my first early potatoes in a few weeks ago, now I'm just sprouting my maincrop.

I've also got onions, cabbage, brussels sprouts, carrots and calabrese (a bit like broccoli!) to put in but its been too cold. I have four plots about 6ft square and I rotate - so one plot is always empty each year.

Eventually I'd like to try growing some fruit trees - apples, pears and plums (just about the only fruit I eat lol)

You could try building raised beds if you can afford - if you want instant ones you'll need to buy a lot of topsoil - aim to raise them about 2ft above ground level.

chickpea

studier..... have you heard of growing potatoes in a bag? it seems to have and equivalent process .... rolling the bag down to begin the planting and then keep rolling it up and adding mulch ..... that is the one i am thinking of trying i have some 100 lb sized burlap bags i think will work

finally free...... the deer make me think many things.... but we usually have at least one a year that is delicious as venison bacon, pepperoni, jerky, sausage, yada yada......

djk........ dang! do you can all your produce or do you sell too? any fruits in that plot ? we have too many locally available u-pick-em fruit growers here but i am considering strawberries eventually

dinah..... i hear you on the tomatoes, mate..... we have a guy here who sells heirloom plants .... those watery things they sell in a grocery store hardly have any flavour, let alone character.... we freeze and can the fruits we pick from local orchards, etc but i am hoping to have the type of success that will allow more of the garden's bounty to be frozen too

sad emo.... the square foot gardening is a sort of raised bed approach modeled after french intensive.... very manageable and compact.... NO weeding!! or very little

we live in zone 4 so our planting season is still about 6 weeks out... i do have some seeds started, peppers, eggplant and squash

great good luck to all of you.... best crops ever!

Sad emo

great good luck to all of you.... best crops ever!

Thanks chickpea, I hope your crops go well too.

I'm optimistic - mine can't get any worse than last year - totally ruined because of all the rain and very little sun - even my potatoes were poor!

oompa

I only grow tomatoes and square watermellon....first saw them in a market in Japan...................oompa

is anyone planning a garden this year?

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