more on gardening

[cynon767]

...Or maybe that should be "moron, gardening..."

In any case, now that spring is here, we've pulled out most of what was left of the winter garden and started seeds for the summer. Rather encouragingly, they are doing quite well. Previously, most of my gardening experience had been growing from started plants, so growing a wide variety of vegetables from seed is interesting.

Happily, the San Marzanos are doing exceptionally well. Where the other varieties of tomato have a few sprouts, the SMs have sent up 30something plants, which seem quite healthy so far. We will definitely be sharing them with our gardening friends. I guess they don't call Sacramento "the Big Tomato" for nothing!

[splatgirl]

Re: more on gardening

Moron gardening, here, here! That definitely applies to me!

I have a big flat of San Marzano seedlings going, plus about four other heirloom varieties, and a bunch of peppers, too. I'm planning other stuff too, but it's still fairly early here in MN. We generally don't put anything other than lettuces in the ground until May.
I'm hoping to have a big enough tomato crop to get me through the year and avoid having to buy ANY canned stuff. We'll see. This is my first season gardening at this home so I've already worked my butt off just putting in beds and trying to get our ridiculously hard, heavy clay soil amended to the point that it might actually grow something besides weeds.

[david s]

Re: more on gardening

Here in the tropics we grow vegetables in our winter. I have just planted my lettuce and tomatoes.

[splatgirl]

Re: more on gardening

Calling for progress updates here...
My tomato crop is looking great! Huge, happy plants with lots of fruit set. I ended up with about two and a half 4'x6' beds of tomato plants. One full bed is San Marzanos, so about 24 plants and they're looking the best of all of the varieties I planted. I'm excited to start seeing red!
Pepper plants and green beans are starting to set fruit, the Egyptian "walking onions" (a perennial) are going crazy and the cucurbits are trying to take over everything. It's been a pretty easy gardening year with good regular rains.
The deer are my biggest concern. They are so tame they actually come TOWARDS people instead of running away. They got to my two apple tree saplings but so far the fence is working to keep them out of the veg. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

[egalecki]

Re: more on gardening

Something's been eating the tops off my fennel and it also ate my alpine strawberries almost to the ground. I don't think it's the groundhog of doom, but I suspect it might be a deer. NOT cool.

On the other hand, I picked my first eggplant today, the first of the yellow pole beans, and three cherry tomatoes!

It's been soo dry here I am having to use the soaker hoses a lot more this year. Every single time I use them I have to go around and tighten up the connections, too. Why can't the stupid things just stay tight?!

[texassourdough]

Re: more on gardening

Way to go splatg!

I have lots of tomatoes but not GREAT tomatoes so I am jealoous! I have to pick them to early to beat the critters.

And I lost my strawberries in the drought last year, Elizbeth so I am jealous of that too.

OTOH, I picked over 400 peaches. We gave away about 200 and froze about 120 and made peach jam and I am going to have to make a peach pizza! So life isn't ALL bad!

Here in Texas it is just about time to dig up the garden and begin for fall.

Thanks!
Jay

[cynon767]

Re: more on gardening

I suppose it has been a while since I posted...

The garden is coming pretty well. It's such a small space that we don't have room for too much, so we ended up giving away many of those San Marzano seedlings we sprouted; we kept a few, though, and they are about to start producing in a big way. We had such a long cool spring here that they got a slow start, but now that temperatures have come up they are exploding. They only real tomatoes yet have been the early girls, but the rest are catching up quick. Our eggplant, squash, cucumber and peppers are also coming along nicely. We got our hops going, too... they won't produce too much this year, but next year we expect that a good many batches of homebrew will be made with our own hops.

We've also planted a row of bamboo along the outside of the back fence to for a privacy screen; it will take a year or two before it really fills in, but it will make a huge difference in the quality of our lives. Our neighbors across the alley are fine people, but it's hard to relax with that kind of overlook. We put in three types: the thin-stalked, broad leafed arrow bamboo, and the larger, fine-leafed black and leopard bamboo. It should be pretty and decorative when it fills out. And before anyone reminds me, yes, we know it's invasive as all hell... that's why we took the precaution of installing a 2-foot deep rhizome barrier of 60-mil polyethylene, overlapped and through-bolted with a steel clamp at the join, to prevent it's spread. Bamboo rhizomes only really travel within the first 8 inches of soil, so they will try to go over the top rather than down the 2 feet and back up; then we'll be able to see them and cut them off before they spread. That's the theory, anyway... but from what I've read, it works pretty well when, as we did, you completely encircle the area before planting.

I wish we had room for that kind of garden, Splatgirl! Our beds are fairly crowded with with 8 tomato vines and a half dozen squashes. Ah, well... the tradeoff for the convenience of city life I guess...