@Babichev Good article! Sums it up nicely.
If you live in an area where there a lot of hay farmers, straw bales can be found pretty easily and straw makes great mulch. And on a related note, my garlic is just starting to emerge!
Things are really starting to grow!
1: Chives, rhubarb, baptisia, pansies 2: Lettuce, potatoes, leeks, strawberries, blueberries, back row is mostly herbs + some native wildflowers
@pianomann - regarding getting straw bales (which are a little pricey in the city) - they should NOT be confused with hay. Straw will be yellowish in color (like in @pianomann’s photo above). It’s the stems left over from harvesting grains such as wheat or barley . Hay is greenish, has leaves in it, and is used for feed for horses & cattle. It tends to have a lot of weed seeds and using it for mulch is akin to planting weeds in your garden bed.
I’ve encountered a lot of rocks in my garden bed this year. Not sure why or if I didn’t notice last year but I just dug the whole thing up and planted 500 carrots. I’ve got tomatoes, strawberries and watermelon to plant tonight.
@simsaddict - the freezing and thawing of the ground can bring rocks to the surface. In the Ozarks used to joke that we grew rocks, it was our best crop. I still haven’t planted any carrots, it keeps getting pushed down the list of Things To Do. I’m on a quest to find my favorite carrots. I had some decades ago that were exceptional, very crisp and sweet. I’d love to grow melons but I’ve never had any success and really don’t have the room. Still, there is always that temptation.
@Babichev - Good luck with the strawberries. I have hundreds of wild strawberry plants in my woods. Yet, between the birds, squirrels, raccoons, deer, skunks, and opossums, in 25years, I have yet to harvest so much as a single berry. The wildlife doesn't mind eating them before they ripen.
I have a theory about strawberries. I believe that every strawberry has the same amount of flavor. The commercial ones are huge, so the flavor is dispersed in a big berry, that seems almost tasteless. The wild ones have the same amount of flavor packed into the little bitty berry. Bite into one, and the flavor explodes into your mouth.
@GreatHornedOwl I agree with your theory and It seems to apply to most plant foods.
@Babichev Good callout on hay vs straw—that distinction is important! Re: carrots, between gardening and having worked on a few different vegetable farms, I have grown and tried many different varieties. Generally speaking, while there are some varietal differences in flavor, I find weather to be a strong determining factor between varieties that have a similar flavor profile. Specifically, carrots tend to get sweeter when allowed to sit in cold ground for a while in late fall. But there are some good-tasting early varieties too—I like Mokum, for instance.
@GreatHornedOwl That’s amusing, I like your theory. Around here, there are farms that grow strawberry varieties (of all sizes) you’ll never see in a grocery store because they are highly perishable. But they taste great. Unfortunately, the price of PYO berries seems to inflate much higher than groceries (at least around here). It used to be cheaper to pick your own at a local farm, now it is significantly pricier. I don’t grow strawberries, but I grow red and black raspberries, and black currants, which make amazing jam.
@pianomann - Raspberries are my favorite. When they start ripening, I can walk down my driveway and back, and have a pint or two of black raspberries. They're great with whipping cream. We also have Blackberries, but they seem to be a bit lacking in flavor.
Deeper into my woods, I have a lot of what I think are Prickly Wild Gooseberry (Ribes cynosbati). I've never tried eating them, but they're close enough to currants, that I should try making some jam. If it's good, it might mark up for regularly being attacked my the thorns.
My garden and the upkeep thereof is private information! gasp I thought you were a nice girl!
~ Sunset Snuggles
@GreatHornedOwl I have suffered countless bloody scratches while battling wild berry bushes. Always worth it Good luck!
Depends when I last scaped myself
Omg ~ @SunsetSnuggles ~
Thank you for being the brave soul you are... lol!! Everytime I see the title I'm dying due to my immaturity 🤣 but then... 😳 ["Just close it and move along self..."] My maturity kicks in and ruins my good time!!
@quixotic_life ahahaha Thank you, I'll be here all week!
Got the green house up! And cleared blackberries for a new flower area in the backyard.
But also proper watering, sunshine, and shade, as well as ph balance checking the soil every so often whenever they seem to be not as lively as they should. And I have to give a special thank you to lady bugs they do alot of pest work in my stead.
Gardening season is well underway here in upstate NY! Another rainy day today, which helps the transplants settle in. The homemade trellis is for peas (which have not sprouted yet), in between the pea rows are some lettuce transplants to make more efficient use of the space. Other photos show garlic, kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, arugula, mesclun mix.
Sunflowers are starting to grow 🪴 mimosa in hand
It has been so cold in nyc that my favorite tree (a cherry blossom ) hasn’t blossomed yet 😒
I picked my first big tomato today. It’s supposed to be Costoluto Genovese, a deeply ribbed variety, and clearly it is not. Misidentified? The small one is supposed to be Orange Russolini, an orange variety. What’s going on here? They probably could have used a couple more days on the vine but I’m getting impatient.
How odd! I wonder if cross-pollination could have affected the way they're turning out.
Whatever the case, they look delicious. I didn't used to like tomatoes when I was a kid, but when I hit puberty my taste buds changed (or the way my brain interprets the input from them did), and now I can eat a whole tomato practically plain, with nothing but salt and a little pepper, and relish every bite.
The one on the right looks like it would make a wonderful tomato sandwich.
I cut it up, sprinkled a bit of amber balsamic vinegar and slivers of basil, and it was good. Tomato season is just getting started. I’ve got about a dozen varieties. I’m curious to see what does well for me under the conditions that I have to work with. I’m already seeing one variety is seriously prone to cracking and another is prone to blossom end rot. Altering how I water them might help with both those problems.
I'm glad this thread is here!! I also moved and I'm stating over in some grow bags first. I feel like I have millions of seeds, and I still need a few more. I can't wait!
I'll be following the Farmrs Almanac to know when to start growing particular plants. I love allllll these beautiful gardens and LeadFarmer is the truth!! Keep it up, she's smiling! I aim to not buy any vegetables or herbs from a store next year.
@Opulence - welcome to the addictive world of gardening!
I’ve tried the fabric grow bags. I’m not that crazy about them but others really like them. Here’s what I don’t like over rigid containers: if you need to move them they are awkward. Also, if you are growing something in them that you definitely don’t want to get out of the pot - like mint, for instance, which is really invasive - be sure and put a barrier underneath if they are sitting on the ground because roots will penetrate through the bag to the soil below. This is not a problem if it’s sitting on pavement, a balcony, etc. Also, I like to set a tray of some sort under a lot of my pots so I can water from the bottom and I don’t think they are too good for sitting in water.
HOWEVER, lots of folks like them and there are some good reasons. The larger ones tend to be less expensive than rigid pots of the same size. You can fold them up when not in use so they take up less space. AND I’m not certain of it but they may keep the roots cooler in the brutally hot weather. I have potatoes planted in several 10 gallon pots, all of them rigid pots but one. I was rooting around in the soil in the pots for some new potatoes and noticed the soil in my one fabric pot was cooler than the soil in the rigid pot that was right next to it. I’m guessing that the evaporation from the sides of the pot was keeping it cooler.
If I could only grow one thing it would be herbs because they are expensive to buy, often half of it goes to waste, most are easy to grow, and they make such a difference in cooking! Tomatoes, lettuce, and arugula and the next of my list.
Let us know how it goes for you. There are some really good videos on YouTube. Epic Gardening, MIGardener, and Millenial Gardener are three of my favorites but there are others, too.
Thanks @Babichev! I definetly experienced roots out the grow bag searching for water. I was going to put them on some cardboard on the ground. I would also bunch them together to slow down evaporation a bit. I was thinking of even wrapping some plastic wrap around them. I'll experiment.
I'll defintly start some herbs first. I really need fresh cilantro! I post up pics with my progress.
I also love the plants. This is one of my favorites. It's called "Mother of Thousands". It continually grows babies from its leaves and then they drop and become their own plants.
I used to have about 200 succulents and cacti. Sadly I lost many of them while moving and had to give a lot away 😢 Saving up for my new place and I want to build up my happy plant 🪴 family again!
I stopped having a vegetable garden several years ago because I wanted to support the local farmers. I love the farmers markets. I do love plants of all kinds. I have gone zero scape in my yard.
I have no irrigation and this will be the last summer I need to hand water. After this it is up to mama nature.
I can't wait for everything to get to full size.