Vegetable gardening!

[Tzippi Longstockings]

This is my first spring and summer as a homeowner. We're just getting past the threat of killing frosts here, so I'm hoping to build a raised bed (maybe two) this weekend or next. I have some chilli seeds germinating inside (10 Kashmiri Mirch, 20 heirloom jalapeños), and am waiting on a delivery from an online order that will include a dwarf raspberry bush (to be kept in a container) and a rose that is famous for producing lots of hips.

 

My semi-plans for the summer are:

Sunny side:

tomatoes

zucchini

garlic

beans

 

Shady side:

lettuce

bok choi

spinach

 

I'm hoping to be able to freeze and can a lot of the tomatoes and zucch for fall and winter.

 

[RevQu]

This is my first spring and summer as a homeowner. We're just getting past the threat of killing frosts here, so I'm hoping to build a raised bed (maybe two) this weekend or next. I have some chilli seeds germinating inside (10 Kashmiri Mirch, 20 heirloom jalapeños), and am waiting on a delivery from an online order that will include a dwarf raspberry bush (to be kept in a container) and a rose that is famous for producing lots of hips.

 

My semi-plans for the summer are:

Sunny side:

tomatoes

zucchini

garlic

beans

 

Shady side:

lettuce

bok choi

spinach

 

I'm hoping to be able to freeze and can a lot of the tomatoes and zucch for fall and winter.

 

 

Sounds like a great plan!

 

Last year we canned lots and lots of salsa and chili sauce, all from garden-frown produce. It was a lot of work but fun and delicious! Oh, and we canned pickled beans.

 

I'm hoping to get a better crop of beans and peas this year and freeze some for winter.

 

 

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[Frost of the Gloaming]

I bought 200lbs pumpkin seeds over the weekend; this should be fun. I think I'm only going to keep one in the yard, the others we have a stream out in back of the house that I'm going to plant a few and hopefully figure a way to protect it so the deer don't eat them; I can't put up a fence because it's no ones land

[RevQu]

I bought 200lbs pumpkin seeds over the weekend; this should be fun. I think I'm only going to keep one in the yard, the others we have a stream out in back of the house that I'm going to plant a few and hopefully figure a way to protect it so the deer don't eat them; I can't put up a fence because it's no ones land

 

Awesome!!

 

The first year I tried massive pumpkins I was blown away by how huge the vines and leaves get, haha. It not only took over way too much of my garden, it full-out escaped from my backyard through the fence and grew 15+ feet into the front yard.

 

I learned my lesson and plant them elsewhere now, lol. They're pretty adaptable and I like to stick my seedlings in the big compost pile. They go wild and we get some big pumpkins with pretty much zero maintenance!

 

 

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[Tzippi Longstockings]

1 hour ago, RevQu said:

 

Awesome!!

 

The first year I tried massive pumpkins I was blown away by how huge the vines and leaves get, haha. It not only took over way too much of my garden, it full-out escaped from my backyard through the fence and grew 15+ feet into the front yard.

 

I learned my lesson and plant them elsewhere now, lol. They're pretty adaptable and I like to stick my seedlings in the big compost pile. They go wild and we get some big pumpkins with pretty much zero maintenance!

 

 

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What a brilliant shade cover/stirrer for your compost heap!

[White Cedar]

On ‎3‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 0:01 PM, RevQu said:

Last year we canned lots and lots of salsa and chili sauce, all from garden-frown produce. It was a lot of work but fun and delicious! Oh, and we canned pickled beans

 

Yum..Home canned always tastes better. I'm down to the last third of the last jar of hot pepper jelly I made last year and really bummed. I'm pickling rat tail radish tomorrow morning. Also need to try some sauerkraut again and use up the last of the cabbage. We're hardening off this year's seedlings so they can go in the beds next week.

 

Cheers, White Cedar

[Bean Sidhe]

On 3/20/2017 at 10:28 AM, Tzippi Longstockings said:

This is my first spring and summer as a homeowner. We're just getting past the threat of killing frosts here, so I'm hoping to build a raised bed (maybe two) this weekend or next. I have some chilli seeds germinating inside (10 Kashmiri Mirch, 20 heirloom jalapeños), and am waiting on a delivery from an online order that will include a dwarf raspberry bush (to be kept in a container) and a rose that is famous for producing lots of hips.

 

My semi-plans for the summer are:

Sunny side:

tomatoes

zucchini

garlic

beans

 

Shady side:

lettuce

bok choi

spinach

 

I'm hoping to be able to freeze and can a lot of the tomatoes and zucch for fall and winter.

 

 

This is a great plan and you will be amazed how quickly you notice the difference with store bought. I have a hard time eating celery from a store, teh homegrown stuff is so much better.

Good luck, I am sure you will do great.

[Bean Sidhe]

On 3/20/2017 at 0:40 PM, RevQu said:

 

Awesome!!

 

The first year I tried massive pumpkins I was blown away by how huge the vines and leaves get, haha. It not only took over way too much of my garden, it full-out escaped from my backyard through the fence and grew 15+ feet into the front yard.

 

I learned my lesson and plant them elsewhere now, lol. They're pretty adaptable and I like to stick my seedlings in the big compost pile. They go wild and we get some big pumpkins with pretty much zero maintenance!

 

 

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This right here is why I won't let Youngest have pumpkins. I love the child dearly, but we do need somewhere for her, her brother and dog to run. We have been trying "container" watermelon, but it doesn't seem to do well. I think this year we are finishing the seeds off and if we get nothing, then we will stop.

[Bean Sidhe]

15 hours ago, White Cedar said:

 

Yum..Home canned always tastes better. I'm down to the last third of the last jar of hot pepper jelly I made last year and really bummed. I'm pickling rat tail radish tomorrow morning. Also need to try some sauerkraut again and use up the last of the cabbage. We're hardening off this year's seedlings so they can go in the beds next week.

 

Cheers, White Cedar

 

It really does, and its so much cheaper. I have a hard time eating store bought jam and jelly anymore, its just too sweet. I also love having my pickled garlic to throw in calzones or on pizza.. And garlic is so easy to grow. Youngest asked to grow purple and black radishes this year so we will see how those go.

[RevQu]

 

This right here is why I won't let Youngest have pumpkins. I love the child dearly, but we do need somewhere for her, her brother and dog to run. We have been trying "container" watermelon, but it doesn't seem to do well. I think this year we are finishing the seeds off and if we get nothing, then we will stop.

 

Pumpkins really do take soooo much space. The compost heap works great because it's behind a shed and doesn't take up space we use for anything else, haha.

 

I tried doing zucchini in a (really big) container last year and it really didn't work as well as in the ground. Which kinda worked out because usually we have way more zucchini than I can keep up with, lol.

 

Watermelons are heavy feeders, so maybe try more fertilizing this year and see if it helps. I can see how that might have affected container success.

 

 

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[RevQu]

 

It really does, and its so much cheaper. I have a hard time eating store bought jam and jelly anymore, its just too sweet. I also love having my pickled garlic to throw in calzones or on pizza.. And garlic is so easy to grow. Youngest asked to grow purple and black radishes this year so we will see how those go.

 

My baby planted coloured carrots last year and they were so cool looking - but the taste was meh. Kinda disappointing!

 

 

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[Bean Sidhe]

4 hours ago, RevQu said:

 

Pumpkins really do take soooo much space. The compost heap works great because it's behind a shed and doesn't take up space we use for anything else, haha.

 

I tried doing zucchini in a (really big) container last year and it really didn't work as well as in the ground. Which kinda worked out because usually we have way more zucchini than I can keep up with, lol.

 

Watermelons are heavy feeders, so maybe try more fertilizing this year and see if it helps. I can see how that might have affected container success.

 

 

Sadly, we do live in the city still, so while our yard is large, there is a limit since we have a basketball hoop, a swingset and a shed. This is also teh reason that the garden is only maybe 2 ft deep at any one spot and looks more like landscaping. Its the only place it fits.

Oh, Youngest isn't great with zuchinni. we tried it a few years but we never got much and no one really liked it. Now cucumbers... those disappear as fast as I pick them, no matter how many we pick. Youngest founds some called Dragon Eggs, that she adores. She asked to pickle some last year so we did. She brought them out at Christmas to the nerd family since we do a pot luck thing and said "I brought pickled Dragon eggs." They honestly look like a dragon's egg. But I can barely keep any cucumbers in the house. Usually they get cut up with sweet peppers for lunch in the summer as a veg with whatever else we are doing.

 

The watermelon was suppose to be a container variety, we will see how well it really does. Honestly, I am not shocked it didn't work. we kept getting one like the size of a softball. I think until we can move from our current school a bit farther out or buy 2 lots and have a real garden (or greenhouse, I want a greenhouse, no more grocery store cucumbers and tomatoes in winter). then there are some things we are going to have to buy,

 

4 hours ago, RevQu said:

 

My baby planted coloured carrots last year and they were so cool looking - but the taste was meh. Kinda disappointing!

 

 

Mine loved taking them to school and confusing her classmates. This is also the same child that more than once has asked to put chives in her lunch and then tells the other kids she is eating grass for lunch. Thankfully when I told the assistant principle that day (to warn her) the garden club teacher was standing right there and laughed and said "well, shes not wrong." I swear that child does things just to confuse people. I noticed the multi-colored mixes don't taste a good as when you get just one type. However, Eldest won't eat a carrot that is not orange (he is on the spectrum very slightly) so we grow him his own "Normal" carrots. I have never tasted a difference.

[RevQu]

I love the pickled dragon eggs!! Lol that's awesome. How old is she? Sounds a lot like my youngest.

 

My girls LOVE chives and eat them all summer like candy. None of them are in love with zucchini although the they'll put up with it grilled. I usually shred a ton of it and make zucchini bread and/or muffins. I can't lie, it's not my fav vegetable either, lol.

 

My younger son is on the 'mild' end of the spectrum too! He pretty much ate zero veggies until I started really gardening back in the day. Something about eating things right off the plant really did it for him, lol. Now he'll eat pretty much anything (thank god, because the really picky early years were brutal!).

 

 

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[RevQu]

 

Yum..Home canned always tastes better. I'm down to the last third of the last jar of hot pepper jelly I made last year and really bummed. I'm pickling rat tail radish tomorrow morning. Also need to try some sauerkraut again and use up the last of the cabbage. We're hardening off this year's seedlings so they can go in the beds next week.

 

Cheers, White Cedar

 

YAAAAAAY for transplant time!!! I'm just starting seeds this weekend; dang cold climate!

 

I kinda want to try canning more this year, and also blanching and freezing fresh veggies. It's a lot of work but so worth it.

 

 

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[Frost of the Gloaming]

Currently looking up planting date guide lines have to love the short growing season

[White Cedar]

1 hour ago, Frost of the Gloaming said:

have to love the short growing season

 

You'd think living in the south we would have longer growing seasons but we don't. In the spring, it's always a race to get things harvested before the humidity, bugs, wilt, mold, winds, rain, demolish it all. In the fall it seems to take a crystal ball to decide when to plant after the summer yuk but still harvest before the first frost and freeze. Weird, weird, mini-ecosystem here. Last winter was so mild we were able to prolong the season which was great. Seedlings went out for their first foray outside today - they didn't appear too happy about it .

[Bean Sidhe]

7 hours ago, RevQu said:

I love the pickled dragon eggs!! Lol that's awesome. How old is she? Sounds a lot like my youngest.

 

My girls LOVE chives and eat them all summer like candy. None of them are in love with zucchini although the they'll put up with it grilled. I usually shred a ton of it and make zucchini bread and/or muffins. I can't lie, it's not my fav vegetable either, lol.

 

My younger son is on the 'mild' end of the spectrum too! He pretty much ate zero veggies until I started really gardening back in the day. Something about eating things right off the plant really did it for him, lol. Now he'll eat pretty much anything (thank god, because the really picky early years were brutal!).

 

 

My youngest is 9. She adores playing in the garden. Her and her best friend will go through the herb bed and make "tea" by putting random herbs in a glass of water then drinking it through a chive (The hollow ones). Entertains them both for hours.

Eldest, while on the spectrum is very functional. He is very "no, I want what I have had forever." HE was sooooo mad for the first 2 years after we started making salsa and jam having preferred his "Original" stuff. Now he has either learned to adapt (and ask for Blueberry or strawberry syrup instead of raspberry for his pancakes) or given up hope. I am not sure which one.

 

[Bean Sidhe]

7 hours ago, RevQu said:

 

YAAAAAAY for transplant time!!! I'm just starting seeds this weekend; dang cold climate!

 

I kinda want to try canning more this year, and also blanching and freezing fresh veggies. It's a lot of work but so worth it.

I fully admit, when strawberries and blueberries are in season and cheap, I will buy them and freezer them in the freezer. Then in the middle of winter we make Jam or syrup out of them. In fact, we don't even buy "maple" syrup for pancakes anymore (And our kids eat them every morning for breakfast). They get homemade syrup. So much less sugar and so much healthier. We buy 1 bottle of real maple syrup for Christmas eve dinner (we do a family recipe from Hubby, its basically fried dough balls) and then when its gone, its gone.

[Witchwolf]

Oh this thread is just my cuppa tea! I am currently converting the back out our garden into a small veg/meditation area.  We have quiet a short growing season too, being on the north east coast of Scotland, and lots of wind to contend with

 

I am doing a lot of ground work to get the poly tunnel in and some raised beds.  I've got some spinach and salad seedlings on the go, my first set of peas, some potatoes in bags.  I plan to grow Tomatoes, cucumbers, watermellon, cucamelons, cape gooseberries and sweet peppers in the poly tunnel, out side lots of salad, sprouting broccoli, sprouts, kale, beetroot, welsh onion and salad carrots out doors.  Well thats the plan at least whether it comes off or not is another plan.  Its down as one of my epic quests so points if I do

[White Cedar]

5 hours ago, Witchwolf said:

quiet a short growing season too, being on the north east coast of Scotland, and lots of wind to contend with

 How exciting to get a garden going! Are you close enough to the sea that salt in the air is a problem? We were always having to wash it off the plants. Is your poly tunnel an above-ground cover over the beds or individual rows? Tell me about welsh onion and cucamelons, I've not heard of those before.

 

We're hardening off seedlings and the potatoes go in the ground tomorrow. The spring onions are up about 2 inches.

 

Cheers, White Cedar

[Witchwolf]

On 26/03/2017 at 11:31 PM, White Cedar said:

 How exciting to get a garden going! Are you close enough to the sea that salt in the air is a problem? We were always having to wash it off the plants. Is your poly tunnel an above-ground cover over the beds or individual rows? Tell me about welsh onion and cucamelons, I've not heard of those before.

 

We're hardening off seedlings and the potatoes go in the ground tomorrow. The spring onions are up about 2 inches.

 

Cheers, White Cedar

 

Generally the salt is not too much of a problem in our garden, unless the plant is particularly susceptible, its more the wind, it just burns many of our plants.  The poly tunnel is above ground cover, its about 3 metres by 2 metres and 1.9 meters high (I know this cos I just ordered a new cover for it today ).  I also have a large cloche tunnel about 1 metre by 2 metres by 1 high which I used for seedlings, hardening off and growing some bushy veg.

 

Welsh Onions (aka Allium fistulosum, commonly called bunching onion, green onion, Japanese bunching onion, scallion according to wiki!) so you may know it by one of those, its a perpetual spring onion.  I like to go for high yields or cut and come again crops to get the most out of our small space.   Going to do a fair bit of vertical gardening where I can and companion planting to maximise space. 

 

The Cucamelons a about the size of large grapes, look like watermelons on the out side an taste like cucumbers.  Bite sized cucumbers!  They are pretty growing, quiet delicate, small little yellow flowers.

 

Which variety of potatoes are you growing?  We had bad blight last year towards the end (lost all my xmas spuds ) so this year its blight resistant ones! 

[White Cedar]

1 hour ago, Witchwolf said:

Which variety of potatoes are you growing

 

We're trying out Yukon Gold this year. Root veggies grow well here but I don't have the space to dig and keep them. Our water table is very high so having any type of basement or cellar doesn't really work. My dream is to have a walk-in cooler some day. I see plans on the internet for a DIY using just a regular window AC unit. For now, I leave things in the ground as much as possible and use as I go along. I have three jicama left in the ground and my winter onions.

 

The cucamelons sound very interesting..will see if I can find some seeds here and try them out.  The tunnels sound great - probably help keep the bugs down too?  Bummer on losing the potatoes - always frustrating when you lose a crop. Wild pigs broke through our fence one year and decimated everything-nothing but nibs left. Such a shock to walk out and see that in the morning. But we fixed the fence and started all over again.

 

Is it windy year-round? Can you plant wind breaks? Or put up a little windmill to generate electricity? Just my mind rambling off with thoughts  

Happy planting, White Cedar

[Bean Sidhe]

2 hours ago, Witchwolf said:

 

Generally the salt is not too much of a problem in our garden, unless the plant is particularly susceptible, its more the wind, it just burns many of our plants.  The poly tunnel is above ground cover, its about 3 metres by 2 metres and 1.9 meters high (I know this cos I just ordered a new cover for it today ).  I also have a large cloche tunnel about 1 metre by 2 metres by 1 high which I used for seedlings, hardening off and growing some bushy veg.

 

Welsh Onions (aka Allium fistulosum, commonly called bunching onion, green onion, Japanese bunching onion, scallion according to wiki!) so you may know it by one of those, its a perpetual spring onion.  I like to go for high yields or cut and come again crops to get the most out of our small space.   Going to do a fair bit of vertical gardening where I can and companion planting to maximise space. 

 

The Cucamelons a about the size of large grapes, look like watermelons on the out side an taste like cucumbers.  Bite sized cucumbers!  They are pretty growing, quiet delicate, small little yellow flowers.

 

Which variety of potatoes are you growing?  We had bad blight last year towards the end (lost all my xmas spuds ) so this year its blight resistant ones! 

 

So I just ordered Youngest her blue potatoes. She loves the funny colored ones. I need to hit up the nursery (that the plan this week) to get my husband the Irish creamer potatoes he likes. We are in the states, so I doubt they are really Irish, but they tasted really good last year. it does stink when you get a blight on something. I know more than once I have had problems with some of my container plants not making it through the summer. we get horrible squash beetles. Fortunately, they tend to go for my potted plants and leave my in ground cucumbers and dragon eggs alone.

I will have to look into the cucamelons too. That sounds right up Youngest's alley.

 

You said wind is a problem. We grew ground cherries (or cape gooseberries) a couple of years ago and they just fell off the plant if you looked at them wrong. Do  you have a problem with them falling off. It made them so much harder to pick and clean up the area. I am wondering if it was just us or if that is common.

 

[Witchwolf]

3 hours ago, White Cedar said:

 

We're trying out Yukon Gold this year. Root veggies grow well here but I don't have the space to dig and keep them. Our water table is very high so having any type of basement or cellar doesn't really work. My dream is to have a walk-in cooler some day. I see plans on the internet for a DIY using just a regular window AC unit. For now, I leave things in the ground as much as possible and use as I go along. I have three jicama left in the ground and my winter onions.

 

The cucamelons sound very interesting..will see if I can find some seeds here and try them out.  The tunnels sound great - probably help keep the bugs down too?  Bummer on losing the potatoes - always frustrating when you lose a crop. Wild pigs broke through our fence one year and decimated everything-nothing but nibs left. Such a shock to walk out and see that in the morning. But we fixed the fence and started all over again.

 

Is it windy year-round? Can you plant wind breaks? Or put up a little windmill to generate electricity? Just my mind rambling off with thoughts  

Happy planting, White Cedar

 

The winds are usually bad over winter and spring, but they can catch you off guard any time really here. Not really enough room to plant wind breaks or for a windmill alas, not that we would be allowed, its a rented property.  Our garden is long but narrow and acts like a funnel for the wind as its between houses.   Its split into sections which helps break some of the worst winds by the time it gets to the back where the veggies are. 

 

I still get bitten to bits in the poly tunnel and we often open it to the bees for pollination in summer so not so bug free! 

 

Wow Wild pigs! Now that's a new pest problem I've not heard of, sorry to hear you lost the lot.

 

A walk in cooler sounds very useful, let me know if you get round to making one.

 

2 hours ago, Bean Sidhe said:

 

So I just ordered Youngest her blue potatoes. She loves the funny colored ones. I need to hit up the nursery (that the plan this week) to get my husband the Irish creamer potatoes he likes. We are in the states, so I doubt they are really Irish, but they tasted really good last year. it does stink when you get a blight on something. I know more than once I have had problems with some of my container plants not making it through the summer. we get horrible squash beetles. Fortunately, they tend to go for my potted plants and leave my in ground cucumbers and dragon eggs alone.

I will have to look into the cucamelons too. That sounds right up Youngest's alley.

 

You said wind is a problem. We grew ground cherries (or cape gooseberries) a couple of years ago and they just fell off the plant if you looked at them wrong. Do  you have a problem with them falling off. It made them so much harder to pick and clean up the area. I am wondering if it was just us or if that is common.

 

 

I love oddly coloured veg too! so much fun I just planted rainbow beetroot today.  I was intrigued by those dragon egg cucumbers, I am currently trying to track down seed for them in the UK. 

 

I'll be growing the cape gooseberries in the tunnel, so they should be protected.   This is the first year I am attempting them, I'll let you know how I get on with them.  I'm trying a few firsts this year, Sweet potatoes, New Zealand yams (oca), the cape gooseberries and sweet red peppers are all new to the veg program this year. 

[Bean Sidhe]

21 hours ago, Witchwolf said:

I love oddly coloured veg too! so much fun I just planted rainbow beetroot today.  I was intrigued by those dragon egg cucumbers, I am currently trying to track down seed for them in the UK. 

 

I'll be growing the cape gooseberries in the tunnel, so they should be protected.   This is the first year I am attempting them, I'll let you know how I get on with them.  I'm trying a few firsts this year, Sweet potatoes, New Zealand yams (oca), the cape gooseberries and sweet red peppers are all new to the veg program this year. 

 

Youngest loves all sorts of random color foods. It entertains her and while Oldest is less enthused, he will eat anything being an almost 14 year old boy. I hope you find them, they taste really good and are just fun to have around sometimes. "Oh heres a dragon's egg for the salad.." Lol

Good luck with the gooseberries. We only did them the one year and that was enough for us. We didn't have much in the way of uses for them and I think they are still in the freezer while we decide what to do with them. LOl. WE haven't done yams or sweet potatoes yet. For the life of me I can not grow a bell pepper. IF its bell shape it ends up tiny and rotten on the end. Its alot like blossom rot. But if RIGHT next to it is a pointed end pepper, I can grow those all perfectly all day. So we went to pointy sweet peppers like Youngest favorite Violet Sparkle peppers. Those we have so much more luck with. And if I remember to put the pepper booster (Epsom salt and water) on them, I have peppers coming out my ears.