next »

[mookie]

Question for you about Bergenia (pig squeak)

Does anyone have any experience with this? Would this plant work next to a hellebore? By this I mean to ask if the soil conditions are similar for both.
 
 

[pollinate]

First 2012 seed catalogs arrived yesterday!  Let the winter dreaming begin. . .

[pollinate]

Double post, but it's been 2.5 months. . .

It's over 70F again and I'm getting in the gardening mood!  Last weekend I weeded the onions and garlic again.  If I can get out of here a bit early, maybe I'll get peas, radishes and some lettuce planted.

I still need to order tomato and other summer-planted seeds.

Anyone else getting started? (My apologies to those of you who are still a few months away from thawed ground.)

[theritas]

The other day it was in the 60s (months ahead of time, at least) and I weeded the paths.  It felt great to be out there, and the things came up nicely.

[thenewyorker]

Double post, but it's been 2.5 months. . .

It's over 70F again and I'm getting in the gardening mood!  Last weekend I weeded the onions and garlic again.  If I can get out of here a bit early, maybe I'll get peas, radishes and some lettuce planted.

I still need to order tomato and other summer-planted seeds.

Anyone else getting started? (My apologies to those of you who are still a few months away from thawed ground.)

I ordered my vegetable seeds a few days ago. I am currently trying to figure out who to rig lights in the basement. Yesterday we had a 60 degree day. I got to at least poke around in the garden. I also talked my neighbor into giving me free reign over the side of their house that we see and they don't. More flowers!

[zombie_librarian]

My daffodils are coming up. This happened three years ago and bummed me out because they all died when the snow returned. It's definitely going to frost again, so I can write those off. The irises will probably survive, along with the hostas. Now I need something new to put where the daffodils were. Maybe cabbage? It is both pretty and yummy...

I'm going to put in my seed order this weekend. The green bean patch is doubling and I'm cutting out peas altogether. The Other Half doesn't like them, so I didn't really eat them last year (except for raw ones eaten while weeding). I'm trying yet another variety of cucumber. Maybe this one will actually give me more than four puny cukes.

The front yard garden was a big success last year, so I'm going to put tomatoes there again, but not cherry tomatoes. I don't need another mutant plant.

Anyone else plotting things out yet? What new and improved plan have you come up with?

[high_energy_photons]

I have been planting very haphazardly in my vegetable garden.  This semester is so busy, I haven't had time for an actual plan.  I'm okay with that, since my now fully established raised bed seems to require much less maintenance than in the past.  The garden has been producing fantastic vegetables all winter (the joys of a warm climate), and I am hoping spring will be just as productive.  I recently picked my first tomato of the year, and my broccoli is still quite productive, growing like a weed.  I am trying out growing beans for the first time, and I am curious how it turns out!

[pollinate]

I turned two compost heaps last weekend.  Hopefully one will be ready to sift and mix into the garden in another month.

The other is mostly oak leaves from last winter - they're mostly still in large pieces.  That got me wondering about trying the potato growing method where you start them and, when the vines are a foot or so long, you almost bury them in mulch.  Supposedly they root into the mulch and give a second crop of potatoes on top of the first.

Has anyone ever tried this?  Hints?

[farm_boy]

I bought a hobby greenhouse in December, so this is what I daydream about in class when I'm supposed to be focused on my teaching.

Anyone else with a greenhouse?  My biggest challenge was supposed to be heating it without electricity, but the past few months have been strangely warm outside, so my barrels of water as a heat sink haven't been needed.

[erzuliefreda]

I splurged on some gardening equipment recently as a reward for watering every day of the summer here in the Deep South, and have really been enjoying it. I upgraded out Tidy Cat bucket homemade composter for a commercial one, which looks much nicer and sits out by the trash cans. I have seedlings under a grow light, which will hopefully make it to the outdoors. I'm trying a heat mat under a few seeds, which means I have to really be on top of things or they will dry out. My one azalea bush that came with the house is going nuts here, totally covered in blooms. The other is doing nothing. I've had plants here and there since I was a kid, but only now that we own a house am I really getting into both indoor and outdoor plants. It's bringing me much happiness.

[gennimom]

Waaaaaaah! I want to garden! I've been scoping out the daylilies and rose bushes at WallyWorld. But since we may move to another place more convenient to GD's job this summer (now that we'll have more time to look), I can't start anything. It would all have to be in pots (our yard is half rocks) and GD will NOT let me add more stuff to be moved. Dang it!

[farm_boy]

gen,

Maybe you can pull weeds in someone else's garden this summer as your "fix."  Sort of a pay-Tom-Sawyer-to-paint-fence thing.

I'm stuck with a small suburban back yard, so I'll be "share-cropping" (exchanging labor for access to more land) this summer with someone who lives out in the country.

Good luck

[thenewyorker]

Has anyone had any success with floating row covers to prevent bugs from eating young greens and for preventing squash beetles? I am desperate! Last season was a total wash on all my squashes and melons and I harvested few greens. Greens are one of the main reasons I have a garden - for the fresh collards, kale and chard.
Thanks!
tny

[pollinate]

Has anyone had any success with floating row covers to prevent bugs from eating young greens and for preventing squash beetles? I am desperate! Last season was a total wash on all my squashes and melons and I harvested few greens. Greens are one of the main reasons I have a garden - for the fresh collards, kale and chard.
Thanks!
tny

Yes!  I wish I could remember which catalog carries the "summer-weight insect barrier" (Territorial Seeds, perhaps) that I've used.  It's even lighter than something like Remay, only cuts the light a little and doesn't increase the temperature.  The only caveats that I can think of are:  you have to remove it for pollination (or do that by hand, daily); and, some of your bugs may be overwintering in the soil, so they would emerge under the cover.

[thenewyorker]

Has anyone had any success with floating row covers to prevent bugs from eating young greens and for preventing squash beetles? I am desperate! Last season was a total wash on all my squashes and melons and I harvested few greens. Greens are one of the main reasons I have a garden - for the fresh collards, kale and chard.
Thanks!
tny

Yes!  I wish I could remember which catalog carries the "summer-weight insect barrier" (Territorial Seeds, perhaps) that I've used.  It's even lighter than something like Remay, only cuts the light a little and doesn't increase the temperature.  The only caveats that I can think of are:  you have to remove it for pollination (or do that by hand, daily); and, some of your bugs may be overwintering in the soil, so they would emerge under the cover.

Thanks pollinate! I was looking at some available through Johnney's Seeds.