Susan's Place Transgender Resources

just wondering if we can have a Gardening section , I have been in the past an avid gardener and use to have a market farm.

i second this motion!!!

gardening and permaculture are my passions!

I have searched through many older posts and found that we have quite a few gardeners who are members.  For some, like myself, it is an activity that helps us find peace of mind.  Others are into the health benefits.  Some grow vegetable, some grow fruits, some grow flowers and other greenery.  In my part of the country, cactus gardens are popular.

I am setting this topic as a sticky in the general Hobbies forum.  If there is enough interest here, we can create a new board.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I have a half wine barrel on casters that I use as an herb garden.  On the south (sunny) side of my house, I keep a vegetable garden.  I think I will do tomatoes, peppers, and onions again this spring - a "salsa garden."

*moves into thread*

I'm a big fan of gardening. Tuesday, thursday and friday I help maintain a park and do contract work and on wednesday i'm at the garden centre.

I'm a bit gutted to be loosing my garden    :( I'm in charge of the veg at the park though, currently i'm growing some kale, red spring onions, cabbage and some broad beans. Tomorrow i've got the job of helping spread mulch over the beds at the park.

I love gardening! <throws shovel at frozen ground, shower of sparks ensues> Not ready yet, though.

I love the idea of gardening, but it has yet to make it onto my "To Do List".

(it's wavering just off-page...)

Gardening is fun, but for me it's tedious after awhile.

I like gardening too. I'm no expert but I do try and grow things. It is starting to feel like gardening time here - I've seen quite a few crocuses and snowdrops out... and daffodils and tulips on their way up.

I used to enjoy gardening, but since being on HRT and the subsequent thinning of the skin, I now find it difficult when trimming bushes, hedges, as the slightest scratch or bump results in bruising or bleeding under the skin.

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on February 18, 2013, 04:46:39 PM
I love gardening! <throws shovel at frozen ground, shower of sparks ensues> Not ready yet, though.

Hey, girl, I've seen pictures of your veggies in the cooking topics!  You have a green thumb.  Maybe you can give us amateurs some pointers.

Quote from: Pleasingly Plump Jamie D on February 19, 2013, 02:20:40 AM
Hey, girl, I've seen pictures of your veggies in the cooking topics!  You have a green thumb.  Maybe you can give us amateurs some pointers.

I am probably past my last cold snap here in SoCal, so I think I will get some tomatoes started in plastic to transplant later.  Tomatoes love the warmth.

BTW - I am in Climate Zone 10 (west coast of southern California).  The following link has climate zone maps for many places.

http://www.weekendgardener.net/climate-zones-map.htm (http://www.weekendgardener.net/climate-zones-map.htm)

Never worked up much enthusiasm for it.I had a summer of landscape gardening which left me feeling like I had done 15 rounds with Mike Tyson!

I gotta find my melon world pictures and get them scanned or something, so i can show my attempts at market gardening  :angel:

I have my asparagus patch started, since this is a long-term project, I hope I did it right.  :)

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1337.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo665%2FLearnedHand1%2FIMG_20130528_195826_710_zps6a1896fa.jpg&hash=0f3d683d21933e25dfcaad29c5700f01d3062bd6) (http://s1337.photobucket.com/user/LearnedHand1/media/IMG_20130528_195826_710_zps6a1896fa.jpg.html)

It looks like you're putting the right amount of effort into it!

That's the beauty of having young teenage boys around, just bribe them with some pizza and soda and they'll get all the rocks out.  ;D

I grew up with a large veggie garden,  surrounded by beautiful gladiolas and irises.   My dad also planted blueberry bushes and we never failed to have a huge crop.

These days, I would love to have a garden.  Fate seems to say otherwise.  My blueberry bushes met a dig-happy puppy, the tomatoes met the neigbor children.  I bought some succulents from the older gentleman down the street, and they seem to be limping along.  Really, the only plant thriving here is the yucca,  despite our attempts to drive it out!

We will plan and try again next year.  I'm strongly considering paying my dad to be my gardener! 

Quote from: prettypoly86 on July 07, 2013, 10:53:31 PM
I grew up with a large veggie garden,  surrounded by beautiful gladiolas and irises.   My dad also planted blueberry bushes and we never failed to have a huge crop.

These days, I would love to have a garden.  Fate seems to say otherwise.  My blueberry bushes met a dig-happy puppy, the tomatoes met the neigbor children.  I bought some succulents from the older gentleman down the street, and they seem to be limping along.  Really, the only plant thriving here is the yucca,  despite our attempts to drive it out!

We will plan and try again next year.  I'm strongly considering paying my dad to be my gardener!

Hopefully things will work out better next year, it sucks having hard work go down the drain.

My attempt at gardening isn't going too well either, because people keep stepping and killing everything I plant (yeah the walkway up to the steps just isn't good enough). Since about half of what I planted has been killed, I've just stopped weeding, what's the point when they're going to kill the other half? Maybe next year I'll set up razor wire around the plants.  >:-)

I am still watering the asparagus though.

Quote from: LearnedHand on July 08, 2013, 04:59:52 PM
Hopefully things will work out better next year, it sucks having hard work go down the drain.

My attempt at gardening isn't going too well either, because people keep stepping and killing everything I plant (yeah the walkway up to the steps just isn't good enough). Since about half of what I planted has been killed, I've just stopped weeding, what's the point when they're going to kill the other half? Maybe next year I'll set up razor wire around the plants.  >:-)

I am still watering the asparagus though.

Yay asparagus! Did all your crowns come up?

There is a small garden space at my apt.s and so I enjoy to do some gardening in it  :)  It's funny, every year there are a few neighbors who show interest and they talk real big about it, but I am the only one who actually does anything  ???

This year I put lettuce, collard greens, spinach, radishes, zucchini, cucumongers (cucumbers), some corn, sun flowers, green beans and snap peas

I also have a small strawberry patch that doesn't look real great this year  :-\  But I don't really care too much because people always steal most of my berries anyway  :P

If I stole your berries you'd get a bottle of strawberry wine out of it! I'm using dandelion wine in tonight's sloppy Joes, see, there's even a reason to let them grow.  Hugs, Devlyn

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on July 08, 2013, 05:44:49 PM
Yay asparagus! Did all your crowns come up?

Most of them did, I planted 20 and about 17 came up. They look like strange fern now, but can't wait til they get bigger.

Quote from: V M on July 08, 2013, 06:06:59 PM
I also have a small strawberry patch that doesn't look real great this year  :-\  But I don't really care too much because people always steal most of my berries anyway  :P

My strawberries didn't grow, but the birds would've gotten them anyways.  :)

The asparagus does make a nice feathery fern, mine get anywhere from three to six feet tall. I picked blackberries this morning and froze them, I'll keep picking daily, then you guessed it, wine.

  The second year carrot has a pretty habit with small pale colored flowers in an umbrel shape.  Carrots are biannual.  The first year it produces the tuber, for harvesting.  The second year, it produces a bush with flowers for seed from the tuber you left in the ground over the winter.  I got some. 

  The pumpkins are really producing for pies and for the grands to pick out for Jack O' lanterns.  No watermelons as yet, the cukes about to produce. Onions and garlic fattening, leeks still in the ringing stage.  Legumes a complete failure this season.  Sunflowers growing quickly.  Potatoes fattening and the first corn at 50% germination, the second 100%.  Herbs; oregano, sage, spearmint, dill doing fine.  A lot of grapes, but too much vine, I didn't have time to trim it this year.  Tomatoes and peppers a little slower due to the delayed planting due to a very cold spring.  Harvesting the few fruit that set in the greenhouse which delays growth and normal harvest times.  Spinach and lettuce done for the season, broccoli already picked and pulled. 

  Garden on auto mostly with timed dripper system and from my severe foot pain.  Getting the drippers installed as you plant and a good spread of mulch helps here.  No carrots, beets, limas planted due to late season plus the visit to the NW to visit lost cousins.  Nearly zero ornamentals planted due to drought restrictions, front lawn is a lost cause.  Too much sand deposition, edge is 3" above the sidewalk, and a buffalo grass with rhizomes that goes for miles.  I may not replace it due to finances.  I am mowing 3-4 weeks at a stretch instead of weekly.  A break in the foot pain allowed to mow what is out there today, but I will pay for it tonight! 

  Joelene

  Here's a video update on my garden I made today with a new camcorder.  You'll will get to finally see Joelene about 5:34 in the video.  About the same story as mentioned above. 

Garden 23 July, 2013 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzmuT4qzgaY#)

  Joelene

Joelene great video! Thanks for giving us the grand tour! I have a giant sunflower also growing, I didn't know they got 12-16 feet tall though. I think mine is around 10 feet now.

  That depends on the strain of the sunflower.  Check on the seed packet on height. 

  Joelene

Are ants living underneath the leaves of your sunflowers? They don't seem to be doing any harm, so I am thinking they're eating little bugs or something.

Ants usually mean aphids.

sadly i cant seem to find all my wonderful garden pics, still looking

I am an obsessive gardener!  I have always loved it, but it's always been a problem for me because I seem to be allergic to virtually every flower known to humankind.  Plus African violets hate me.  I finally solved that problem by returning to something I did a long time ago:  growing edibles.  It saves money, gives me way better tasting produce than you can get at the grocery store (or sometimes even better than the farmers market!), and it's very enjoyable!  I'd love to have a garden forum!

Here's my 2014 planned grow list:
Orange habaneros
Caribbean red habaneros (new)
Tabasco peppers (new)
Orange bell peppers (new)
5 color Chinese peppers (new)
Mortgage lifter tomatoes (new)
Azoychka tomatoes (new)
Bloomsdale longstanding spinach
Wild rocket arugula
Ozark beauty strawberries
Fuji apples
Granny Smith apples
Belle of Georgia peaches
Two varieties of blueberries
Elephant Dill
Hot spicy oregano
Greek oregano
Stevia
Genovese basil
German thyme
Purple leaf sage
American green pineapple melon (maybe)

If anyone wanted seeds or cuttings, that could probably be arranged. :)

Quote from: ThePhoenix on December 18, 2013, 12:21:16 PM
I am an obsessive gardener! 

What a fantastic list. I am enjoying the cold weather and break from yard work. However, you have me thinking of fresh Belle of Georgia peaches.

I have a large yard, but long days at work keeps me from having a full garden. Many perennial flowers in the yard with a scattering of annuals. I do have an indoor container with thyme and rosemary which is  a great luxury for cooking. My new spice grinder for Christmas will have me busy with cayenne, coriander, and other spices.

Julia

I forgot to mention the Royal Burgundy bush beans and may have forgotten others too!

I'm thinking of adding:
Genovese basil
Giant of Italy parsley
Bronze D'Amposta Onions (or some other type of red onion)

I'm also debating what to do about chives.  I don't care for chives to eat, but last year I had some problems with Japanese beetles.  I don't care for chives to eat or cook, but they are supposedly good companion plants to drive away Japanese beetles.  They won't drive all the beetles away, but they will supposedly reduce their numbers.  My apple and strawberry trees might appreciate that.  Chives grow wild in my yard, so I might just transplant some of the wild ones in my yard into the strawberry bed.   Since the strawberries grow under the apple trees, that would help both the apples and the strawberries.  Or I might plant some.  Or I might just rely on onions, which are supposed to have similar benefits! 

My Peace Lily hasn't flowered in a few years, despite being replanted, carefully fertilized, carefully watered, and given happy amount of sunlight*.

Any tips on getting it to flower?

*Regarding sunlight, man, these plants are really temperamental. I basically can't open the curtains at all around them, or else the leaves start getting burned.

Quote from: LearnedHand on January 07, 2014, 09:45:38 PM
My Peace Lily hasn't flowered in a few years, despite being replanted, carefully fertilized, carefully watered, and given happy amount of sunlight*.

Any tips on getting it to flower?

*Regarding sunlight, man, these plants are really temperamental. I basically can't open the curtains at all around them, or else the leaves start getting burned.

Okay, normally I would not comment because I don't grow flowering plants aside from clematis and hydrangea because I am allergic to just about every plant around.  But I do grow fruits and vegetable, and they do flower, so I will try!

I can see two of the things you listed could cause a plant to not flower.  One is the amount of water.  Sometimes, in response to stress, a plant will flower and rush the production of seed by ripening any fruit that has set.  If you deny it water, that may prompt it to direct energy into flowering as a way to try to reproduce.  Of course you would not want to let it wilt much from this. 

The second one is the fertilizer.  Certain fertilizers, especially those that are high in nitrogen, prompt plants to grow more foliage rather than flowers and/or fruit.

These are just my ideas as a person who grows for foods rather than for flowers!  I hope they help though! 

  I got the usual seed catalogs since Christmas.  I glanced through them, reading is difficult due to the pain.  My garden survived last year due to Providence.  My neuropathy in the feet prevents me to do much nowadays.  I managed to can a good crop in 2013 despite only one fertilizer session last year.  Hopefully a visit to the neurologist next week will get some answers soon.  Setting out seedlings under the gro-light and heat mat is next month. 

  Joelene

I hope the neurologist has some helpful answers for you.  I'm also excited about starting seeds next month!  Woowoo!

It's official.  The grow list now includes the following additional plants:

Catalogno parsley
Tender green mustard.

And I'm still looking for an onion!

I'm also getting sick of grocery store produce.  I am so hooked on home grown produce.  So!  I went to the Home Depot this evening, got some potting soil, and I think I will try and start some early seeds tomorrow!  Wish me luck getting them to sprout and survive so early! :)

Quote from: LearnedHand on January 07, 2014, 09:45:38 PM
My Peace Lily hasn't flowered in a few years, despite being replanted, carefully fertilized, carefully watered, and given happy amount of sunlight*.

Any tips on getting it to flower?

*Regarding sunlight, man, these plants are really temperamental. I basically can't open the curtains at all around them, or else the leaves start getting burned.

Actually, I think it's "soluble salt damage". I've never heard of it before, but I leached the pots last night so hopefully that'll help.
http://voices.yahoo.com/soluble-salt-damage-secret-killer-house-plants-400048.html?cat=32

Woohoo!  My first seedlings (a trio of mustard greens) peaked out from the soil today!

Hooray! It's about time to start uprooting the garden here to replant for spring and summer, so that's going to be a fun time.

Here is my grow list for the year.  The number indicates the number of plants growing or seeds planted so far.

HOT PEPPERS
Orange habaneros (14)
Caribbean red habaneros (new) (6)
Tabasco peppers (new) (4)
5 color Chinese peppers (new) (4)

SWEET PEPPERS
Orange bell peppers (new) (6)
California Wonder bell peppers (new) (6)

TOMATOES
Mortgage lifter tomatoes (new) (12)
Azoychka tomatoes (new) (6)
Green zebra tomatoes (new) (6)

LEAFY GREENS
Bloomsdale longstanding spinach
Wild rocket arugula
Black mustard greens (new)
Tender green mustard (new) (3)
Giant curled Southern mustard greens (new)

OTHER VEGGIES
Royal burgundy bush beans
Bronze D'Amposta Onion (new)
Cosmic Purple carrot (new)
Danvers carrot
Waltham broccoli

FRUITS
American green pineapple melon (new)
Ozark beauty strawberries (4)
Fuji apple (1)
Granny Smith apple (1)
Belle of Georgia peach (1)
Earliblue blueberries (2)

HERBS
Slo bolt cilantro (1)
Elephant Dill (1)
Hot spicy oregano (1)
Greek oregano (1)
Stevia (1)
Genovese basil (1)
German thyme (1)
Common thyme (new)
Purple leaf sage (1)
Common sage (new)
Catalogno parsley (new) (1)
Chives (new)
Bay laurel (new)
Spearmint (new) (1)

  I got out of the bedroom today that I was restricted to all of the "Winter of my discontent" due to very painful neuropathy in the feet that caused me to pass out if the pain got too high.  I did not pass out today when I erected the portable greenhouse that is stored in the garage otherwise.  I even washed my pickup truck.  I got tomatoes, peppers, onions, leeks in the seed starters downstairs under the grow lights.  I am still eating 2012's tomato products I canned.  My relatives get the summer 2013 products I canned.  My grow list:

  Peppers:
  Sweet cherry peppers for pickling.
  Ancho, hot.
  Jalapeno Gigante, hot large jalapenos.
  Sweet Golden Giant bell peppers.
  Montebello, my own hybrid of a wild Tunisian pepper with 200,000 Scovilles of heat.

  Tomatoes:
  Summer girl hybrid
  Brandy Boy
  Super Sauce, a giant Roma type that was real successful last year.
  Roma
  Steakhouse
  Principe Borghese, an Italian cherry tomato that can be dehydrated easily.
  Yellow pear, a small pear shaped tomatoes that are pickled when still green. 

  Gourds:
  Watermelon, Moon and Stars, an heirloom type with small yellow spots on the melons and leaves.
  Pumpkin, New England pie, a small pie and jack-o' lantern type.  I had the grand nieces and grandnephews over last fall to harvest.  Ate a lot of roasted seeds also. 
  Cucumber, Suprimo Hybrid. A cucumber with non-bitter skins are good for pickling and slicing. 

  Roots:
  Potatoes, Yukon Gold
  Carrots, Scarlet Nantes
  Beet, Detroit
  Radish, cherry belle
  Onion, Red hamburger
  Leek, Hannibal

  Greens:
  Lettuce, gourmet blend, single leaf mixture.
  Spinach, Salad Fresh.
  Peas, Sugar Snap.
  Lima, Burpee's best pole. 
 
  Herbs and others:
  Corn, Sun and Stars bicolor type.
  Spearmint, already in the ground, perinneal.
  Greek Oregano, already in the ground, perinneal.
  Sage, local native cultivar already in the ground, perinneal.
  Dill, State Fair. Volunteer plants are pulled where not needed. I only planted the seeds once in 1985, they come up everywhere, every year.
  Grapes, Concord.  Already on arbor, 28 year old plants. 
  Zinnia, the only ornamental grown in the backyard this year.  I am letting the front lawn go to pot, it needs replacing, I cannot afford it. 

  Joelene
 
 

Quote from: Joelene9 on March 10, 2014, 01:12:47 AM
  Steakhouse

I'm curious about whether these tomatoes are really as huge as Burpee claims.  If they are, then how would one support the tomato plants? 

Quote from: ThePhoenix on March 10, 2014, 08:46:50 AM
I'm curious about whether these tomatoes are really as huge as Burpee claims.  If they are, then how would one support the tomato plants?

With 2x4's.  I did add 2x4's to prop up the tomato cages in the past.  Also that may have been the larger fruit of the test vine plus a small child was holding the tomato. 

  Joelene

I figure it's time to start planning for gardening this year. I think I am going to get some of those planters that you grow your veggies out of on the deck instead of the yard. There's too much rocks to really dig much, and then someone weedwhacked the rose bushes down anyways. Someone else threw a ton of rocks in the asparagus patch.

I bought some Mandan Bride seeds on Amazon, I'll try to plant some of those by the side of the house (hopefully no one will weed whack those down) and maybe just a few in a planter (saw someone successfully do that on YouTube).  I saved some turban squash seeds, and I'll probably be buying some hot chilies from native seeds (http://www.nativeseeds.org/).

Quote from: LearnedHand on February 13, 2014, 08:08:35 AM
Actually, I think it's "soluble salt damage". I've never heard of it before, but I leached the pots last night so hopefully that'll help.
http://voices.yahoo.com/soluble-salt-damage-secret-killer-house-plants-400048.html?cat=32

Running tepid water through the pot will decrease the amount of salt build up. I always use distilled water. I hope your peace lily blooms for you!!!!

For those of you who go through burpee (and pay an arm and a leg) I highly recommend seeds now. They have sampler packs for 99 cents of almost every veggie, fruit, and herb you will need for your garden this year! all of their seeds are Non-GMO (which personally I could care less seeing as thats just helping the plant evolve against pests and disease, But to some this really matters) They're located in L.A. check them out here -- http://www.seedsnow.com/

Quote from: serenityfaith on March 03, 2015, 02:24:26 PM
Running tepid water through the pot will decrease the amount of salt build up. I always use distilled water. I hope your peace lily blooms for you!!!!

(I am LearnedHand)

I did run it through water to decrease salt build up. They still haven't bloomed. I figure it's a lost cause and they'll likely die eventually.

Quote from: DriftingCrow on March 11, 2015, 07:43:13 PM
(I am LearnedHand)

I did run it through water to decrease salt build up. They still haven't bloomed. I figure it's a lost cause and they'll likely die eventually.

What are the temps in its current location? Humidity? Light source and strength? Also if you could post pics that would really help. Often, if you increase the relative humidity and the heat they will bloom, option #2 is gibberellic acid, which is a natural plant hormone that stimulates cell division and elongation, you can get it here (makes about ten gal) for about 15$ --http://www.amazon.com/SuperGrow-Gibberellic-Acid-Starter-Kit/dp/B0098R2F5E. :) :)

Quote from: serenityfaith on March 11, 2015, 08:22:08 PM
What are the temps in its current location? Humidity? Light source and strength? Also if you could post pics that would really help. Often, if you increase the relative humidity and the heat they will bloom, option #2 is gibberellic acid, which is a natural plant hormone that stimulates cell division and elongation, you can get it here (makes about ten gal) for about 15$ --http://www.amazon.com/SuperGrow-Gibberellic-Acid-Starter-Kit/dp/B0098R2F5E. :) :)

I keep them in relatively low light, because I find the leaves get burned easily if I keep the curtains open (and I also read they actually prefer low light).

I am unsure on the humidity, it changes with the seasons. Winter, it's pretty dry since we heat entirely on wood. Summer, depends on the weather, we don't use A/C or anything like that. I wouldn't use a humidifier since it'll ruin the wood in the house.

I'll look into the gibberellic acid.

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1337.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo665%2FLearnedHand1%2F20150311_212808_zpsznxiibns.jpg&hash=52a8ed57f9214be0211cfc43014710f6af1cb7fe) (http://s1337.photobucket.com/user/LearnedHand1/media/20150311_212808_zpsznxiibns.jpg.html)

Quote from: DriftingCrow on March 11, 2015, 08:56:26 PM
I keep them in relatively low light, because I find the leaves get burned easily if I keep the curtains open (and I also read they actually prefer low light).

I am unsure on the humidity, it changes with the seasons. Winter, it's pretty dry since we heat entirely on wood. Summer, depends on the weather, we don't use A/C or anything like that. I wouldn't use a humidifier since it'll ruin the wood in the house.

I'll look into the gibberellic acid.

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1337.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo665%2FLearnedHand1%2F20150311_212808_zpsznxiibns.jpg&hash=52a8ed57f9214be0211cfc43014710f6af1cb7fe) (http://s1337.photobucket.com/user/LearnedHand1/media/20150311_212808_zpsznxiibns.jpg.html)

What is your potting medium? and how long have they been in it? Also, as far as humidity goes, you can place a tray of water under (with river rock to keep the pot up out of the water) or without rock and just near the pots, that will raise the relative humidity but wont hurt your wood hahaha :P

Quote from: DriftingCrow on March 11, 2015, 08:56:26 PM
I keep them in relatively low light, because I find the leaves get burned easily if I keep the curtains open (and I also read they actually prefer low light).

I am unsure on the humidity, it changes with the seasons. Winter, it's pretty dry since we heat entirely on wood. Summer, depends on the weather, we don't use A/C or anything like that. I wouldn't use a humidifier since it'll ruin the wood in the house.

I'll look into the gibberellic acid.

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1337.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo665%2FLearnedHand1%2F20150311_212808_zpsznxiibns.jpg&hash=52a8ed57f9214be0211cfc43014710f6af1cb7fe) (http://s1337.photobucket.com/user/LearnedHand1/media/20150311_212808_zpsznxiibns.jpg.html)

Also reducing the light aids flowering. Since spring is here I would go ahead and re-pot the little guys, looks to me like your potting medium is too dense and is retaining too much water, ergo the small size of them :/ any soil for houseplants will be fine, but I would go ahead and add a bit of perlite to the mix just to ensure proper drainage :)
Are you fertilizing at all? If so with what?

I really miss vegetable gardening. If you've never tried it, it's absolutely worth all the work (if you do it right). I finally gave up after the trees ate all the sunlight in my back yard. I started gardening on a lark after saving the seeds from a particularly good supermarket watermelon. I planted a watermelon patch that covered nearly a third of my back yard. That summer I had so many great melons I was leaving them on the neighbor's front porches. The next year I went all out with multiple veggies. There's nothing like backyard-grown tomatoes or pepper. I also did well with eggplant and squash. Though I tried again, I never had much success with watermelons, though. I love okra, but it only yields about one per day per plant. I never got very far with strawberries, either, though I love to eat them.

I suppose every so often I need to move someplace with a lot of sunlight.

  I never planted trees in my yard because of the garden for one thing and the local climate and area is semi-arid desert, treeless high plain. I seen my neighbors' trees die during drought cycles. I have onion, leek, tomato and pepper seedlings started already in the greenhouse. Cool weather greens to be planted soon.

Joelene

My wife, kids and I do gardening and canning every year.  We always plant sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, lettuce, radishes, carrots, and pumpkins.  We go with differing varieties every year.  I think we are going to add potatoes this year.  We can the tomatoes to make juice, pizza sauce, salsa and chili.  We blanch the corn and freeze it on and off of the cob (after we have gorged ourselves on the harvest).  Last year we had 36 tomato plants and 1/2 acre of corn.  We were overwhelmed, needless to say.  Gonna be in the 60's and 70's (F) this weekend, so I plan to put in the cold weather stuff.  We really need to try and get the others in early, too, because the sept. harvest time of corn and tomato canning will be a bit difficult since my GRS is scheduled for August 31st. lol

I will update as we go along this year.

Quote from: ainsley on March 12, 2015, 02:43:32 PM
My wife, kids and I do gardening and canning every year.  We always plant sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, lettuce, radishes, carrots, and pumpkins.  We go with differing varieties every year.  I think we are going to add potatoes this year.  We can the tomatoes to make juice, pizza sauce, salsa and chili.  We blanch the corn and freeze it on and off of the cob (after we have gorged ourselves on the harvest).  Last year we had 36 tomato plants and 1/2 acre of corn.  We were overwhelmed, needless to say.  Gonna be in the 60's and 70's (F) this weekend, so I plan to put in the cold weather stuff.  We really need to try and get the others in early, too, because the sept. harvest time of corn and tomato canning will be a bit difficult since my GRS is scheduled for August 31st. lol

I will update as we go along this year.

Way cool Ainsley! Thats alot of work!! Keep us posted!!

I got into gardening around the same time I discovered what fresh herbs can do to a dish. I've only been gardening for around three years now, and last year was the first time I grew a vegetable. I yielded a whole four peppers last year off of three plants and even though there weren't that many (made the mistake of putting them in the same pot) it was still really nice to lay on my porch in the middle of the night, watch the stars and enjoy a fresh green pepper off the vine. I'm looking forward to more nights outside enjoying the fruits of my labor this year.

So far the garden inventory for this year is:

~900 peaches and cream corn seed planted (tapered off from years past....my kids just don't eat as much)
6 habanero pepper plants
3 cayenne pepper plants
3 jalapeno pepper plants
3 watermelon plants
2 rows of white radish planted
1 row of white onion planted
3 cucumber (burpless) plants
36 tomato plants (big boys, roma, etc.)


Still to plant:

Pumpkins
Cantaloupe
Snap Beans

The wet May conditions spilled into June for much of Missouri and resulted in one of the wettest May-June periods in decades, ranking it the 9th wettest June on record, and the wettest June since 1981.  This year the statewide rainfall average approached 15-inches for the combined May-June period.  And, we are looking at another inch of rain tonight and tomorrow. yay!

Needless to say I have not had to water my garden at all this year. ;)  However, I am down on production and lost some plants entirely.  All of my corn is still growing, but the stalks are stunted and will probably make short ears (they still taste great, you just have to eat more ears to get your fill. lol).  Lost onions, a few watermelon plants, a couple pepper plants and a few tomato plants, but still on target for harvest in a few weeks.

Quote from: ainsley on July 09, 2015, 03:41:03 PM
The wet May conditions spilled into June for much of Missouri and resulted in one of the wettest May-June periods in decades, ranking it the 9th wettest June on record, and the wettest June since 1981.  This year the statewide rainfall average approached 15-inches for the combined May-June period.  And, we are looking at another inch of rain tonight and tomorrow. yay!

You have had a lot of rain. Major storms just about every day in your area. I hope the remaining plants make up for what is lost.

It has finally started to dry up here. Many lilies are in full bloom. Some have passed their peak. Plan to start a batch of basil pesto very soon.

Fixed a simple omelette loaded with home grown cherry tomatoes, fresh oregano and thyme from the planter, and store bought asparagus sautéed in olive oil. Added a little bit of cheese and prosciutto for fillers. Emphasis on the veggies to be healthy. Also, harvested a good amount of coriander last week. Local sweet corn is available at street stands. Life is good.

That sounds good!

My garden is a wash, except for the few peppers and about 3 dozen ears of corn.  Waaaaaay too much rain.  There are even 100 acre plots that the farmers around me never got their seed into because of the rain this spring and summer.
Boooooo.

Quote from: ainsley on August 03, 2015, 03:33:28 PM
That sounds good!

My garden is a wash, except for the few peppers and about 3 dozen ears of corn.  Waaaaaay too much rain.  There are even 100 acre plots that the farmers around me never got their seed into because of the rain this spring and summer.
Boooooo.

That has to be disappointing. I know you had put a lot of work into your garden. Hope it dries out for next year.

  I had an unusually wet summer here. The water bill is half of last year's. The garden is doing well despite the cooler and wetter summer. The cucumber pickles are at the normal harvest levels. The leeks were usable 3 weeks ago. The used tarps I saved from other more active uses saved the garden during that heavy snowstorm we had this past May. The tomatoes are at normal production but has gotten 25% damage to the first harvest by 2 squirrels over 2 days of raiding. It has been quiet in the garden since I took care of those squirrels. The corn will have the first harvest soon. The lima beans are doing quite well thus far. Pumpkins are good and the watermelons are slow this year due to the cool.

  Joelene

I wish I had pictures for you but my mother is hoarding them and well she wont accept me as a woman, a few things at her house she wont let me have.

I took all the chili planters and the cherry tomatoes inside sometime in October.  The cherry tomatoes are flourishing and some of the chilies are still growing.  Others i have trimmed the leaves and small branches off to try to hibernate them over the winter (they're perennials).

While they sleep you can come work on expanding the asparagus patch!

Hugs, Devlyn

I better get working before the ground freezes.  I hear its best to let the manure sink in over the winter anyways.

  The gardening done for the season. Leeks, potatoes, carrots and beets left in the ground until use or hard freeze forecast. I had scalloped potatoes last night with the potatoes and leeks from the garden. I processed some pumpkins and roasted the seeds, tasty. A lot of peppers this year; pickled, roasted and dried. A record amount of corn and lima beans in the freezer with pumpkin pulp catching up. Moderate amount of tomatoes processed.
  The leaves from the surrounding trees are down and the last mowing of the season over those leaves tomorrow for next year's mulch. The rest of the pumpkins picked and the vines cleaned up tomorrow.

Joelene

I brought in the herb planter. It may have been too late for the oregano because it was touched by the freeze. Large batches of peppers have been sliced and frozen for stir-fry or curries. Fresh toasted pumpkin seeds are much better than the store. Time spent this week winterizing our home.

I started a raised bed about 3 feet wide and 10 feet long in early January with tomatoe varieties along the back, capsicum and lettuce in the middle and herbs all along the front. Is going really well especially since I started regularly adding liquid fertilizer. 
Other garden projects include putting weedmat and mulch through the garden beds, digging out roots and rebuilding a garden bed.
My neighbors keep saying why are you doing so much gardening in a rental house but as I say it is relaxing and cheaper than therapy :)

Barely a week into winter and I'm already thinking about next years garden... I'll be planting seeds in a month and a half. Anyone interested still interested in a garden group?

  I did get a batch of seed catalogs in the mail lately. Garden planning is next month.

Joelene

I was glad to see this post in hobbies. I love gardening, but right now I live in an apartment. As such I can't enjoy my hobby. I don't think my complex would like it. I even got my degree in Landscape Contracting. The most that i can do is enjoy some bonsai trees in my window. I suppose it is something. Gardening I find relaxing even mowing the lawn is fun to me.

I would love to garden!! i been getting a mild itch to do it i guess within the last month. What are good plants to garden for a novice??

So, here I am, early June, middle of Missouri, and I just last weekend planted 400+ seed of sweet corn. lol  Been too busy to plant any earlier.  I have never planted this late it the year.  Wish me luck!!

I just started a thread on bonsai in the main hobby forum but I would love to have a gardening sub forum to place it in.

Hugs,  Carly