My Urban Garden (2 Viewers)

[E Street Brat]

Here is my fall harvest.

I just pulled my sweet potatoes out of the ground. Here are some pics.

pic 1

pic2

two biggest

To Small.

This tomato plant must have started from from dropped seed in one of my containers. I have done nothing but to help it grow.

Tomato 1

tomato 2

For poops an giggles I this pineapple in the ground about mid-summer and it's still going strong.

Pineapple

Now that I cleared out the sweet taters, I'm gonna try some strawberries.

 

[Cunk]

I'm gettin' the fever. Just bought some seed starting mix, ordered seeds and have planned out what I'll be doing this year. I think I've figured out what I did wrong last year (my first serious year). I'm going to have to move my 4x8 raised bed so it gets out of the way of a giant tree which was covering just that one spot with shade for a few hours of the day. Then I'm going to mix my compost with more potting soil and perilite to make the soid more "fluffy". I think my soil was too dense last year (cow manuer soil mix I had delivered) and not aged quite enough.

I'm still trying to a few things like should I start spinach and onions indoors? And if I do can I put out the seedlings in mid-March? I know I can sow in the ground in mid-March (Greater Boston area). Also I been reading a ton. Probably too much about gardening since last year was a failure. But I want to know the reason why all the books I read tell you to start your seeds in a small container then transfer them into a larger container when they outgrow the smaller container. Why can't you just start them in a larger container to begin with?

Also I'm building a cold frame to harden off the seedlings. Once I'm ready to harden off the seedings can I just put them in the cold frame for a week or do I still have to do the "take them out and bring them back in" routine?

It's funny, the year before last (at a different apt.) my g/f and I flipped over a book case, filled it with Miracle Grow potting mix, threw some seeds in there and got a much better result than my efforts last year. Of course the small book case was in a spot that got great sun throughout the day and had a great medium to grow in.

 

[Men-in-Cleats]

I'm gettin' the fever. Just bought some seed starting mix, ordered seeds and have planned out what I'll be doing this year. I think I've figured out what I did wrong last year (my first serious year). I'm going to have to move my 4x8 raised bed so it gets out of the way of a giant tree which was covering just that one spot with shade for a few hours of the day. Then I'm going to mix my compost with more potting soil and perilite to make the soid more "fluffy". I think my soil was too dense last year (cow manuer soil mix I had delivered) and not aged quite enough.I'm still trying to a few things like should I start spinach and onions indoors? And if I do can I put out the seedlings in mid-March? I know I can sow in the ground in mid-March (Greater Boston area). Also I been reading a ton. Probably too much about gardening since last year was a failure. But I want to know the reason why all the books I read tell you to start your seeds in a small container then transfer them into a larger container when they outgrow the smaller container. Why can't you just start them in a larger container to begin with?Also I'm building a cold frame to harden off the seedlings. Once I'm ready to harden off the seedings can I just put them in the cold frame for a week or do I still have to do the "take them out and bring them back in" routine?It's funny, the year before last (at a different apt.) my g/f and I flipped over a book case, filled it with Miracle Grow potting mix, threw some seeds in there and got a much better result than my efforts last year. Of course the small book case was in a spot that got great sun throughout the day and had a great medium to grow in.

Sometimes you don't want to start smaller plants in a much larger container is that the excess soil can retain way too much moisture and waterlog the litte thing that doesn't have that extensive of a root system to use it up. I'm no expert but that's one of the reasons I've been told. I have some seeds ordered and also hope to be able to get some plants from some of my leftover seed from last year. The success rate on those seeds will surely be a bit lower but I ended up with more plants than I could use last year anyhow. Winter garden has been going berserk lately with the springlike weather we've been having the last three weeks (got up into the 80's this last weekend and set record highs). Most of my stuff has done really well except for the fact that something ate off the tiny heads of every single one of my cabbages. Nothing else, just the cabbages. Need to pull those and put something else in there if I can find something ready to transplant into there.

 

[FBGirl79]

I have some questions for you green thumb guys. I wanted to plant a garden last year but didn't bc we were having the yard excavated so now we are getting closer to the final grading stage and I'm trying to start planning (I probably posted the same questions in this thread last year but didn't look back to see what I asked). I know nothing about gardening other than last year I did successfully grow a large pot (about 24" diameter) of organic herbs that worked great. I am in southwest Ohio (zone 6 I believe) and want to do a raised bed with veggies, some blueberries and strawberries on the side of our house and plant 2 apple trees. Does anyone in here have any experience with apple trees in the same zone? I was planning on ordering a granny smith and honeycrisp tree.

I also wanted to plant a variety of greens such as spinach, cabbage, kale, dandelion greens, lettuce, mixed baby greens variety, etc. but wasn't sure if I should plant those in the same raised bed with the other veggies or do a large separate container.

Are potatoes easy to grow in this area? I was thinking of trying white, red and sweet but again, didn't know if I should plant those in the same garden with the regular veggies (i.e carrots, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, etc.).

The left side and left rear of our house is full sun most of the day. The only shade issue I could forsee would be a couple years down the road if the apple trees would be large enough to shade some of the raised bed as it would be located behind the area for the trees.

Any and all advice welcome bc I have no clue how this will go but don't want to spend a ton of money on organic seeds/starters/trees if they don't work around here.

 

[Men-in-Cleats]

I have some questions for you green thumb guys. I wanted to plant a garden last year but didn't bc we were having the yard excavated so now we are getting closer to the final grading stage and I'm trying to start planning (I probably posted the same questions in this thread last year but didn't look back to see what I asked). I know nothing about gardening other than last year I did successfully grow a large pot (about 24" diameter) of organic herbs that worked great. I am in southwest Ohio (zone 6 I believe) and want to do a raised bed with veggies, some blueberries and strawberries on the side of our house and plant 2 apple trees. Does anyone in here have any experience with apple trees in the same zone? I was planning on ordering a granny smith and honeycrisp tree. I also wanted to plant a variety of greens such as spinach, cabbage, kale, dandelion greens, lettuce, mixed baby greens variety, etc. but wasn't sure if I should plant those in the same raised bed with the other veggies or do a large separate container. Are potatoes easy to grow in this area? I was thinking of trying white, red and sweet but again, didn't know if I should plant those in the same garden with the regular veggies (i.e carrots, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, etc.). The left side and left rear of our house is full sun most of the day. The only shade issue I could forsee would be a couple years down the road if the apple trees would be large enough to shade some of the raised bed as it would be located behind the area for the trees. Any and all advice welcome bc I have no clue how this will go but don't want to spend a ton of money on organic seeds/starters/trees if they don't work around here.

My advice would be to start relatively small and expand the garden with time. I'd talk to someone local, beit someone at your farmer's market or someone at a local plant nursery to find out what things do well in your area and when to start them. Apple trees grow all over the place, the key is picking varieties that do well in your area with your soil conditions and that will not exceed any space requirements. Sometimes the difference between whether a tree does well for you or not is picking the right rootstock. If you pick one grafted to a rootstock that requires good drainage and your trees will be in a low spot that is bad news. Some fruits have requirements as to how many chilly days you have in a year, particularly stone fruits. Strawberries are relatively easy to grow if you pick the right varieties and blueberries can be easy but require special treatment to provide the acidity they need in the soil. You'd have to check with someone local on the different greens as in my area they are better winter/spring/fall plantings as it is too hot for them here during the summers and they bolt (go to seed). Most of those greens can be grown with a lot of other things but I'm not an expert on that subject. I followed the Square Foot Gardening method with my raised beds last year with good success on most things.

 

[ditka85]

I have some questions for you green thumb guys. I wanted to plant a garden last year but didn't bc we were having the yard excavated so now we are getting closer to the final grading stage and I'm trying to start planning (I probably posted the same questions in this thread last year but didn't look back to see what I asked). I know nothing about gardening other than last year I did successfully grow a large pot (about 24" diameter) of organic herbs that worked great. I am in southwest Ohio (zone 6 I believe) and want to do a raised bed with veggies, some blueberries and strawberries on the side of our house and plant 2 apple trees. Does anyone in here have any experience with apple trees in the same zone? I was planning on ordering a granny smith and honeycrisp tree. I also wanted to plant a variety of greens such as spinach, cabbage, kale, dandelion greens, lettuce, mixed baby greens variety, etc. but wasn't sure if I should plant those in the same raised bed with the other veggies or do a large separate container. Are potatoes easy to grow in this area? I was thinking of trying white, red and sweet but again, didn't know if I should plant those in the same garden with the regular veggies (i.e carrots, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, etc.). The left side and left rear of our house is full sun most of the day. The only shade issue I could forsee would be a couple years down the road if the apple trees would be large enough to shade some of the raised bed as it would be located behind the area for the trees. Any and all advice welcome bc I have no clue how this will go but don't want to spend a ton of money on organic seeds/starters/trees if they don't work around here.

My advice would be to start relatively small and expand the garden with time. I'd talk to someone local, beit someone at your farmer's market or someone at a local plant nursery to find out what things do well in your area and when to start them. Apple trees grow all over the place, the key is picking varieties that do well in your area with your soil conditions and that will not exceed any space requirements. Sometimes the difference between whether a tree does well for you or not is picking the right rootstock. If you pick one grafted to a rootstock that requires good drainage and your trees will be in a low spot that is bad news. Some fruits have requirements as to how many chilly days you have in a year, particularly stone fruits. Strawberries are relatively easy to grow if you pick the right varieties and blueberries can be easy but require special treatment to provide the acidity they need in the soil. You'd have to check with someone local on the different greens as in my area they are better winter/spring/fall plantings as it is too hot for them here during the summers and they bolt (go to seed). Most of those greens can be grown with a lot of other things but I'm not an expert on that subject. I followed the Square Foot Gardening method with my raised beds last year with good success on most things.

If I'm not mistaken, some apple trees need both a male and female in close proximity to produce fruit. Not sure if this is true for all apple trees. You might want to look into this before deciding which variety you want.And as MIC stated, don't start too big. Plan out your garden as some plants take up tons of room.

 

[Cunk]

I've got some onions starting indoors. That's about all I can do for a couple of weeks.

I have been reading a TON about gardening. I think a little too much. But I always seem to find a little nugget of info in each book that the other books don't tell you.

Then my g/f just happens to pull out a gardening book that she is translating into spanish for a local urban community garden nearby. PERFECT! It told me exactly what I needed to do inside and out.

There are so much varying info around. What's my frost date? Could be from May 1 to May 15th. I've seen both. This book tells me I can plant 9 onions in a square foot while the package says space them out 6-8 inches from each other.

Really, no matter how much you read it seems like the best thing is just experience. After reading so much it makes it seem like the plants are so fragile and won't do much unless you do everything perfectly. I'm going to stop reading and start doing.

 

[Men-in-Cleats]

I've got some onions starting indoors. That's about all I can do for a couple of weeks.I have been reading a TON about gardening. I think a little too much. But I always seem to find a little nugget of info in each book that the other books don't tell you.Then my g/f just happens to pull out a gardening book that she is translating into spanish for a local urban community garden nearby. PERFECT! It told me exactly what I needed to do inside and out. There are so much varying info around. What's my frost date? Could be from May 1 to May 15th. I've seen both. This book tells me I can plant 9 onions in a square foot while the package says space them out 6-8 inches from each other. Really, no matter how much you read it seems like the best thing is just experience. After reading so much it makes it seem like the plants are so fragile and won't do much unless you do everything perfectly. I'm going to stop reading and start doing.

I think with onions it would depend on what you want. If you want to grow the biggest onions you can then you give them plenty of space so they get plenty of nutrients. If you want to have green onions to harvest then you can plant them really close together. Personally I probably would go more towards the 9 per square foot and get more smaller sized onions than a fewer number of monster ones. The book is probably similar to the methods of the Square Foot gardening book like I follow that has the philosophy of maximizing the number of plants in a space. You may get fewer veggies per plant but you may end up with more since you are fitting in more plants. I have a relatively small space and have so many different things I want to plant, I'll gladly get smaller harvests individually while maximizing the amount of different things I can plant. As for planting time, I've experienced the same thing with respect to safe planting date. If you want to play it safe you pick the latter date, if you don't mind having to watch the weather reports and potentially have to cover things if cold nights are expected then go towards the earlier side. A lot of it will depend on your location as in your town there may be a variety of different growing regions within there. In my area it makes a difference if you are up on the foothills at 500 feet of elevation higher than most of town or if you are down on the river or creek bottom and actually a couple hundred feet lower than mine. Is your garden in a sheltered area where the warmth from the house creates a microclimate. If you know anybody in your block that's been gardening a while they may be a valuable resource. My neighbor has been a good source of info for me and the next guy past him has been doing it even longer.

 

[GreatLakesMike]

I've got some onions starting indoors. That's about all I can do for a couple of weeks.I have been reading a TON about gardening. I think a little too much. But I always seem to find a little nugget of info in each book that the other books don't tell you.Then my g/f just happens to pull out a gardening book that she is translating into spanish for a local urban community garden nearby. PERFECT! It told me exactly what I needed to do inside and out. There are so much varying info around. What's my frost date? Could be from May 1 to May 15th. I've seen both. This book tells me I can plant 9 onions in a square foot while the package says space them out 6-8 inches from each other. Really, no matter how much you read it seems like the best thing is just experience. After reading so much it makes it seem like the plants are so fragile and won't do much unless you do everything perfectly. I'm going to stop reading and start doing.

Apologize if this book already been mentioned, but I love it. I bought it used off E-Bay for like 10 bucks. http://www.amazon.com/Rodales-All-New-Encyclopedia-Organic-Gardening/dp/0875965997

 

[D_House]

I'm really looking forward to the gardening season. This year my wife and I have expanded our little vegetable garden and are going to try some new early season plants from seed: carrots, radishes, peas, kale, chard, and lettuce. Most of these are sown 'when the soil can be worked' so we are planting seeds this weekend, even though we had snow as recently as yesterday here in southern CT. We read the Square Foot Gardening book and will be sowing seeds according to those directions (closer together than suggested on the seed packages), hopefully increasing our output from last year.

First week of May is our first average frost free time, so we'll put in some store bought tomato, pepper, and basil plants then.

 

[Cunk]

Tomato seedlings looking real nice. Planted onions I grew from seed although I'm concerned they'll get any larger than a golf ball after everything I've read. Going to add some sets to see how those come out in a week. Spinach, lettuce and carrots, which I direct sowed, are starting to come up.

You know you've got the gardening bug when you look forward to your Amazon delivery of Seaweed and Fish emulsion.

 

[Men-in-Cleats]

Have been having a really wet and cool spring relative to what is typical around here so my seedlings are about a month behind what they were last year. This has actually worked out fairly well since I got a bit of a late start on my seedlings. Have a bunch of different things going and still haven't gotten much of it into the ground since it was too wet until just recently and my peppers have been a bit slow going. Total gardening space will be 3-5 gallon, 2-7 gallon, and 2 10-gallon smartpots along with my 4-1/4 wine barrel planters, 2-4x4 raised beds, 3- self-watering containers made from 20 gallon bins, and a few miscellaneous containers ranging from 1-gallon up to a couple of 16-20 inchers. Will get some pictures up once I have everything in. Here is the list of what I am putting in the ground, even if I'm unsure of where exactly they'll go:

chocolate cherry tomato

pineapple tomato

purple Russian tomato

Silvery Fir tree tomato

chocolate jalapeno

habanero

ancho pepper

fish pepper

tobago pepper

couple of peppers that could either be lemon drops or chocolate habs (6-section tray dumped on floor and dirt was placed back in containers so no clue what the ones that actually popped up were)

bronze fennel

cocozelle squash

charantais melons (forgot the labels on the two melons so I'll have no clue which are which until I actually get fruit on them)

crane melons

sweet corn (some variety my wife picked up)

herbs: several types of basil, sage, marjorem, oregano, Mexican Tarragon, thyme, chocolate mint, pineapple mint, chives, rosemary

couple of bright red sunflowers that I thought would look cool.

radishes

choggia beets

Still have some onions, kale, arugala, and my sugar snap peas going from the winter garden. Just pulled up the rainbow chard yesterday since it started bolting on me. Hopefully the radishes and beets will get done in time to get some of my other stuff in their spots. Radishes will be done for sure but beets will be a bit longer. In the meantime I'll probably just put my peppers into larger cups and keep them growing until a spot opens up.

 

[Cunk]

I have a 8x4 raised bed along with 3 window boxes and a bunch of smaller pots on our deck.

In the raised bed (using the square foot system) I've got:

About 50 onions I grew from seed with another 50 from sets a buddy gave to me.

Spinach, lettuce, carrots and garlic.

Upstairs on our deck we've got sage, basil, strawberries and some other herbs.

I've got hot pepper seedlings I grew from seeds I saved last year along with San Marzano and Jet Star tomato seedlings I grew from seed in my basement under shop lights. I've been hardening them off for planting 2 weekends from now. The tomatoes will go in self watering containers I made last year and the peppers will go in a window box somewhere. I also bought some sweet corn seedlings which I may also put on the deck in a box I'll have to make. It will produce corn and give us a bonus off added privacy.

 

[D_House]

Just pulled up the rainbow chard yesterday since it started bolting on me.

I'm surprised at this. My chard went all summer last year without bolting (it was Ruby Chard I think), and from what you are saying you still have other less heat-resistant plants (snap peas) still growing.I have a bunch of 5 week old rainbow chard seedlings growing in the garden that I have to thin soon. A row cover has mostly protected them from predation but they are starting to get picked at by slugs that must have burrowed under the cloth.

Our 14'x3' garden in Southern (coastal) CT has the following at varying stages:

Cool weather plantings from seed:

Cascadia Sugar Snap Peas

Parris Island Cos Romaine (grown both for heads and for baby leaves that we are going to start harvesting this weekend)

Swiss Chard - Rainbow mix

Easter Egg Radishes (the slugs LOVE these)

Danvers half long carrots

Went in the ground as seedlings:

4 Tomatoes (1 Beefmaster, 1 Husky Cherry Red, 1 San Marzano, 1 Paul Robeson)

2 Peppers (1 Early Jalapeno, 1 Sweet Pimiento - both in 12'' pots)

Cilantro

Parsley

Thyme

I put some Kentucky Wonder pole beans in the ground last weekend and nothing has popped up yet, might not be warm enough for them yet. I planned another planting for Memorial Day Weekend anyways. Basil we'll buy and plant the same weekend. It doesn't tolerate our wet New England springs very well.

For the fall garden, we'll be planting the areas now populated by radishes and lettuce with Kale and Parsnips.

 

[Men-in-Cleats]

Just pulled up the rainbow chard yesterday since it started bolting on me.

I'm surprised at this. My chard went all summer last year without bolting (it was Ruby Chard I think), and from what you are saying you still have other less heat-resistant plants (snap peas) still growing.I have a bunch of 5 week old rainbow chard seedlings growing in the garden that I have to thin soon. A row cover has mostly protected them from predation but they are starting to get picked at by slugs that must have burrowed under the cloth.

Our 14'x3' garden in Southern (coastal) CT has the following at varying stages:

Cool weather plantings from seed:

Cascadia Sugar Snap Peas

Parris Island Cos Romaine (grown both for heads and for baby leaves that we are going to start harvesting this weekend)

Swiss Chard - Rainbow mix

Easter Egg Radishes (the slugs LOVE these)

Danvers half long carrots

Went in the ground as seedlings:

4 Tomatoes (1 Beefmaster, 1 Husky Cherry Red, 1 San Marzano, 1 Paul Robeson)

2 Peppers (1 Early Jalapeno, 1 Sweet Pimiento - both in 12'' pots)

Cilantro

Parsley

Thyme

I put some Kentucky Wonder pole beans in the ground last weekend and nothing has popped up yet, might not be warm enough for them yet. I planned another planting for Memorial Day Weekend anyways. Basil we'll buy and plant the same weekend. It doesn't tolerate our wet New England springs very well.

For the fall garden, we'll be planting the areas now populated by radishes and lettuce with Kale and Parsnips.

The chard (and peas as well) was started late last summer and produced all winter long. Guess it can only go for so long before it decides to jump ship on you. The peas are going berserk right now and I have a gazillion of them that I need to pick off of there right now. Kids have been grazing off of it for a while now but they can't keep up.

 

[D_House]

I'm going to pick the first of the sugar snap peas tonight to go with dinner. Our romaine and chard have been producing side salads for my wife and I for a while now. We failed at radishes though. I think our heavy clay soil is not conducive to bulb formation, because although the radishes produced nice thick greens (edible and good mixed in salads or made into pesto), the biggest bulb that we found was about the size of a pea.

 

[Cunk]

Lettuce has been coming up great. I've got 13 tomato plants coming up. Initially I planted 8 in self watering containers I made but found I had some left over potting mix and pots so I planted 4 leftovers in those. They were planted a couple of weeks later than the self watering container ones and are much smaller. Pepper plants are still tiny and I'm doubting they will do much this year. Should have started them along with the onions in Feb. instead of April. The onion sets I got to go along with the onions I started from seed quickly surpassed the ones I started from seed although they good as well. Garlic is growing fantastic. I've finally got a strawberry turning red from the 2 plants I planted in flower boxes on the deck. Purple and lime basil growing nicely as well. Already trumps last year's production. I moved my raised bed to where there is more light and I used better container soil (as opposed to just compost) in my containers. I also hardened off my plants as well this year and started them in a sterile starter mix as opposed to potting soil last year. Big difference. I'll post some pics when I get the chance.

 

[urbanhack]

update

hops a climbing up the string!

got tomatillos, cilantro, cerrano peppers, jalepenos, oregano and rosemary all going as well.

 

[Regular Crust Pizza]

update

hops a climbing up the string!

got tomatillos, cilantro, cerrano peppers, jalepenos, oregano and rosemary all going as well.

Ah. I'm jealous of your hops. What variety and how old is it?

 

[urbanhack]

update

hops a climbing up the string!

got tomatillos, cilantro, cerrano peppers, jalepenos, oregano and rosemary all going as well.

Ah. I'm jealous of your hops. What variety and how old is it?

Wilmette and Cascade. This is their 3rd year.

 

[D_House]

update

hops a climbing up the string!

got tomatillos, cilantro, cerrano peppers, jalepenos, oregano and rosemary all going as well.

You have a nice layout. That deck looks like a great place to chill, drink beer, and eat some salsa verde Is that a rooftop deck? I'm wondering about the planters and if/how/where they drain.

 

[urbanhack]

update

hops a climbing up the string!

got tomatillos, cilantro, cerrano peppers, jalepenos, oregano and rosemary all going as well.

You have a nice layout. That deck looks like a great place to chill, drink beer, and eat some salsa verde Is that a rooftop deck? I'm wondering about the planters and if/how/where they drain.

yea....rooftop deck. they just drain onto the roof of the building.

 

[D_House]

Picked the first ripe tomato of the season yesterday - it was just a cherry tomato though. Looking forward to our beefsteaks ripening.

I also pulled out most of my snap pea plants, the recent heat did several of them in. Snap peas are excellent fresh off the vine, as are the pea shoots. We'll definitely be planting them again.

Our pole beans (green beans and yellow wax beans) have taken off and we should be able to harvest the first ones in the next couple days.

I've already plotted out my fall plantings as well as next spring's plantings :totallyhookedongardening:

 

[Cunk]

Everything is growing nicely. The tomato plants are going CRAZY! I built a 5x5 cage to keep the varmints out and they (4, 15 gallon self watering containers) are going over the top and are growing through the chicken wire sides. I should have made a 10x10! The onions I grew from seed, in February, look much better than the sets I planted. According to the package the carrots should have been mature already. They are growing well but not nearly the size I thought they would be at this point. This is my second year gardening and I'm learning a lot. Next year should be even better. How are you guys doing with onions? Any tips?

 

[D_House]

Everything is growing nicely. The tomato plants are going CRAZY! I built a 5x5 cage to keep the varmints out and they (4, 15 gallon self watering containers) are going over the top and are growing through the chicken wire sides. I should have made a 10x10! The onions I grew from seed, in February, look much better than the sets I planted. According to the package the carrots should have been mature already. They are growing well but not nearly the size I thought they would be at this point. This is my second year gardening and I'm learning a lot. Next year should be even better. How are you guys doing with onions? Any tips?

This is also my second year. I have a few scallions scattered about the garden, but no bulbing onions. My plot is so small (just about 50 square feet) that I try to grow the veggies that will give me the most bang for my buck while taking the least amount of space. So pole beans, staked and pruned tomatoes, and swiss chard are the major crops this summer, with a few herbs, marigolds, and scallions mixed about.Last weekend I extended the garden bed and planted kale and carrots for harvest in the fall, after the frost when the summer garden is spent.

I have been getting a lot of ideas from gardening blogs, this one is especially interesting since the author is in a similar zone, takes great pictures, and talks a lot about extending the season.

Also, yesterday I found an online source for free heirloom tomato seeds - link. I'm going to try 'winter sowing' them since I don't have the space for an indoor seed starting setup.

 

[Cunk]

Well I've learned what blossom end rot is . Apparently my tomatoes aren't getting enough calcium. So I bought some toma-tone and lime and applied that so hopefully that will do the trick. It's so disappointing to be plucking off tomatoes and just throwing them into the woods cuz they got the rot. It's funny, no matter how much research one does there is always something that isn't covered. I see new tomatoes starting to grow and I wonder if they are just going to wind up projectiles.

 

[D_House]

Well I've learned what blossom end rot is . Apparently my tomatoes aren't getting enough calcium. So I bought some toma-tone and lime and applied that so hopefully that will do the trick. It's so disappointing to be plucking off tomatoes and just throwing them into the woods cuz they got the rot. It's funny, no matter how much research one does there is always something that isn't covered. I see new tomatoes starting to grow and I wonder if they are just going to wind up projectiles.

I had a few San Marzano tomatoes develop BER in mid-July. To add calcium, I watered with water that had been steeped with crushed egg shells, and left the egg shells on top of the soil. I had added eggshells to the planting hole when the plant went in the ground, but I guess I should have added more since plum type tomatoes are supposed to be a little more prone to BER. Haven't had any more issues since the eggshell 'tea'.In other garden failures, my pole beans succumbed to rust, which is a fungal disease. I had to pull them, and I don't think I can plant beans next season as the plants dropped spore-filled leaves all over the garden.

 

[Cunk]

It's weird. I've got this giant Brandywine plant which is extremely healthy. Only thing is that its only produced about 3 giant tomatoes. If you saw this plant you'd think I'd be swimming in them. For some reason the flowers aren't turning to fruit.

 

[urbanhack]

tomatillos are going crazy! First time I've ever grown them.

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

Looking forward to my 3rd season of growing my own vegetables. I think I've been fairly lucky my first two years because I had good results without really knowing a whole lot.

Anyway, I got a shelving unit type "greenhouse" (27*19*61) to try and start some things early this year with the intention of moving them to the garden later. Unfortunately it came with no information at all on using it. Anyone have experience with one of these small units that could give me some tips on where to put it, when to start seeds, which plants are good candidates, how much cold it can protect from, is overheating a problem, or pretty much anything? I live in Ohio and last year grew lettuce, tomatoes, onions (from sets), arugula, peppers, and broccoli. I tried cauliflower, but the heads came in too late.

 

[Cunk]

Looking forward to my 3rd season of growing my own vegetables. I think I've been fairly lucky my first two years because I had good results without really knowing a whole lot. Anyway, I got a shelving unit type "greenhouse" (27*19*61) to try and start some things early this year with the intention of moving them to the garden later. Unfortunately it came with no information at all on using it. Anyone have experience with one of these small units that could give me some tips on where to put it, when to start seeds, which plants are good candidates, how much cold it can protect from, is overheating a problem, or pretty much anything? I live in Ohio and last year grew lettuce, tomatoes, onions (from sets), arugula, peppers, and broccoli. I tried cauliflower, but the heads came in too late.

I haven't used one of those greenhouses. I grow them under shop lights in my basement. When to start the seeds depends on your zone. I'm in zone 6 which has a frost free date of about May 1st. I just started onions which recommends starting them about 10 weeks before the frost-free date. Peppers next week and tomatoes in mid-April. You can google a chart or hit the library. All the gardening books will give you a layout when to start your seeds indoors relative to the frost-free date. My seedlings grow fine in the basement where it is usually around 60 or so degrees. I'm no expert (I've been growing for about 3 years and am still learning a lot) but I think your greenhouse may best serve you as a tool to "harden off" your plants. Getting them acclimated to the outdoors gradually. It won't protect from much cold at night but could overheat during the day if not watched properly.

 

[cosjobs]

I posted this in another thread, but it probably belongs here.

ITS SPRING!!!111!

Not sure if I mentioned in here, but over the winter I put in a bunch of raised beds for vegetables.

I made them 3 cinder blocks high and then stuccoed. I left a half inch opening every third block for drainage. I filled the bottom with rocks and then covered with a landscape cloth, so excess rainwater could drain away and the soil would remain in place. I then fill with a premium soil mix and and install both drip and microspray irrigation. After I planted my veggies and got them going, I covered the bottom with 3-4" of pine straw. THis provides shading to keep the soil moist.

I have three beds, totaling about 100'. They are five ft wide.

Next I will be putting in an aquaponic system- a connected hydroponic and aquaculture system to raise more vegetables and fish.

Here's some pics:

Bed1Southend.

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[Battles]

I posted this in another thread, but it probably belongs here.ITS SPRING!!!111!Not sure if I mentioned in here, but over the winter I put in a bunch of raised beds for vegetables.I made them 3 cinder blocks high and then stuccoed. I left a half inch opening every third block for drainage. I filled the bottom with rocks and then covered with a landscape cloth, so excess rainwater could drain away and the soil would remain in place. I then fill with a premium soil mix and and install both drip and microspray irrigation. After I planted my veggies and got them going, I covered the bottom with 3-4" of pine straw. THis provides shading to keep the soil moist.I have three beds, totaling about 100'. They are five ft wide.Next I will be putting in an aquaponic system- a connected hydroponic and aquaculture system to raise more vegetables and fish.Here's some pics:

Looks good. Did you start from plants or seeds? I planted some herbs from seeds since there isn't much organic available on this side of town. I've got basil, oregano, and parsley sprouting. No go on rosemary so far. I was able to find some organic roma tomato plants and have two of those going.This is a first for me, so I need to go through this thread and get some ideas.

 

[cosjobs]

90% starters at this point, but I have a bunch of seedlings in the pipeline. Looking into putting in a cloning system soon. Looks like you can get a decent one off the shelf for couple hundred. Then you just need clippings.

 

[Dr. Gobbler]

I thought you guys might appreciate this:

I have two tomato plants that I bought from a farmers market last spring that are still alive and STILL giving me tomatoes. I grew each one in its own container on my patio and I really never did much except water them. This has never happened in all my years of growing tomatoes, they usually die by Xmas. I am completely blown away, I went out today and there are 3 new tiny green tomatoes starting from 3 month old flowers that just stayed dormant and never formed. I know it's Los Angeles but we had some stretches of really cold weather but these suckers just keep on going. I kept a couple tomatoes for seeds. Anyone ever have this happen to them?

 

[Bull Dozier]

I'm starting a salso garden this summer. We moved last year mid summer, and the house has a nice raised bed the previous owners had full of ferns and other perenial green plants. I plant on ripping those out of one end and putting in peppers, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro. This is my first go at gardening, so I'm planning on learning more than producing this go round.

I've got my seeds started already. The seed packets gave the same timing for starting all the plants I have, though it sounds like some need more time than others. How do you know when to move them to larger holders? Some of the tomato and onion plants are about a foot tall. I don't even know how onions grow, do they need something to hold the stem up like a tomato plant?

 

[cosjobs]

I'm starting a salso garden this summer. We moved last year mid summer, and the house has a nice raised bed the previous owners had full of ferns and other perenial green plants. I plant on ripping those out of one end and putting in peppers, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro. This is my first go at gardening, so I'm planning on learning more than producing this go round.I've got my seeds started already. The seed packets gave the same timing for starting all the plants I have, though it sounds like some need more time than others. How do you know when to move them to larger holders? Some of the tomato and onion plants are about a foot tall. I don't even know how onions grow, do they need something to hold the stem up like a tomato plant?

Ferns usually take different sun requirements than vegetables, so be careful about ripping them out and expecting something new to prosper. Maybe put in a new bed more properly situated for veggies and let the established plants remain? I get bundles of onion starters- usually about 50-100 for a few bucks. The look almost like a small scallion. I just stick em in the ground and they grow into an onion.Talk to your local nursery. Even if its a Lowes store, they usually have someone pretty competent on staff to help you out.

 

[Bull Dozier]

I'm starting a salso garden this summer. We moved last year mid summer, and the house has a nice raised bed the previous owners had full of ferns and other perenial green plants. I plant on ripping those out of one end and putting in peppers, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro. This is my first go at gardening, so I'm planning on learning more than producing this go round.I've got my seeds started already. The seed packets gave the same timing for starting all the plants I have, though it sounds like some need more time than others. How do you know when to move them to larger holders? Some of the tomato and onion plants are about a foot tall. I don't even know how onions grow, do they need something to hold the stem up like a tomato plant?

Ferns usually take different sun requirements than vegetables, so be careful about ripping them out and expecting something new to prosper. Maybe put in a new bed more properly situated for veggies and let the established plants remain?

You could be right, but the bed is on the north side of our yard. The neighbors to the south have a tall tree on the yard line directly south of the box, but nothing else to block the sun. It would be getting direct sunlight for most of the day, and realistically, with as wooded as the yard is, I have no alternative. Our proprty is long and narrow, and divided into thirds. The front third has our house, and no spot for a garden unless I put it in the front yard, which would look weird. The middle third is our patio, pool, and this garden bed. The back third is heavily treed, and no direct sunlight. I'm just going to give it a shot and see what happens. If the worst thing that happens is I get rid of the ferns, I won't mind as I'm not a fan. The box is probably 30' long, and I'm just ripping out the first 5' to 10' to start, so I'm not removing everything.

 

[Cunk]

Just saw that something nibbled all the stalks off my garlic that had been growing since October (were about 5 inches high). Didn't dig up the cloves themselves. Should I be concerned or should they bounce back?

 

[urbanhack]

update?