NBR: Gardens??

JmUDuuuukes 07 · March 2017

Wondering if anyone is gardening this year? (I hadn't seen a post on this but sorry if it's a duplicate!) I have in the past and I have grandiose plans to this year, but not sure how realistic they are. I already started my seeds, I'm afraid too early. But we'll see. One thing that struck me as odd was that my OB said I couldn't even start seeds without gloves on "all gardening with gloves." What are you planning to do? Are you scaling up or scaling down this year? Are you worried that you won't be able to do all that needs to be done? Bonus points for pictures!

KissMeImScottish · March 2017

@JmUDuuuukes 07, I'm sure you're aware of the reasoning, but in case you're not, the logic behind gloves while gardening is that soil and digging in the dirt is one of the primary ways that women contract toxoplasmosis. I wouldn't stress too much about it, but that's the reasoning. ☺️

chiquita928 · March 2017

I have the worst brown thumb, here. I have killed nwarly everything I've ever grown, both inside and outside. I am thinking about doing a coop with a local farm this year, though.

SpongeWorthy · March 2017

I am going to skip my vegetable garden this year. We have a raised garden bed, and I've already found random poop in there from neighborhood cats. So I'd rather not risk it. Plus I figure I will be huge at the most critical time. I'm still going to do flower pots and my strawberries that I planted last year. @JmUDuuuukes 07 What are you growing? I will live vicariously through you lol

manillabar · March 2017

Not too much gardening, here... my mom is a whiz with plants and gardens but I have unfortunately not inherited that at all. I'm still struggling to keep my one aloe plant alive!

JmUDuuuukes 07 · March 2017

Thankfully we have a big dog, so other animals stay out of our yard. I had a 15 sq ft last year and upgrading to 30 sq ft this year. I've started my tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas, squash, watermelon inside and will transplant once before moving them outside. Right now it's just sitting nicely on my warming mat, waiting for my first seedlings to say hello. Once outside I'll plant the carrots, lettuce, and beets. Then my herbs (thyme, rosemary, cilantro, basil, and parsley). Last year we had impressive results for such a small space. Loved making my own pesto, tomato sauce and dd loved eating the peas and beans right from the stem and OH the beets mmmmm. Can't wait for this year!

JmUDuuuukes 07 · March 2017

And, very odd... but without and seed conditioning, and less than 72 hours, my beans and peas are popping out, and I even have a few tomato sprouts. That was much faster than I expected!

Poppyseed72017 · March 2017

I'm going to start my seedlings here soon. This will be the first time I do them. Any tips @JmUDuuuukes 07 ? We always do squash, peppers, tomatoes, onions and herbs. This year I'm adding beets and I can't wait to try them. I also purchased a mix of greens for salad that I will be putting in a pot for easy access. We also added berries this year as well, blueberries, boysenberry and blackberry. My MIL gave me a kiwi vine as well. My husband likes helping with the garden and my kids are also of enough to help when it becomes too much for me.

JmUDuuuukes 07 · March 2017

I'm still very new at this @Poppyseed72017. I still over pinterest to my garden board. This is my first year with watermelon and I am trying to figure out how to make melon hammocks and figure out what kind of trellis I need to make. I will say if you have an extra square foot, our 3 year old daughter LOVED picking beans to eat fresh from the vine!

abmommy15 · March 2017

I'm skipping my gardening this year. DS was born in August and that year all my vegetables were overgrown and never picked because I had no interest in doing anything but parking in front of a fan before he came and I was a zombie after. Lesson learned for this time.

supermom83 · March 2017

Thank you for starting this thread! I was just thinking about this and was planning on starting my seeds next weekend. I haven't even though if the toxoplasmosis issue with digging. That sort of scares me a bit.

I plan on starting peppers (red, green and chili), zucchini, broccoli, and kale. I'm trying to scale down this year since I know I'll be limited in regards to care of said garden. Zucchini and peppers take care of themselves for the most part, so I'm trying to plan an easier garden this year.

Poppyseed72017 · March 2017

@JmUDuuuukes 07 Pinterest is my go to for ideas but sometimes can be overwhelming. So many different ways and which ones the best?? I think I'm just going to pick one and go with it. Fingers crossed that my seedlings make it. I was thinking of green beans or sugar snap peas?? I really want to try my hand at watermelon but not sure I'll have enough room. We eat a lot of squash in the summer so the majority of my garden will be squash. I'm in CA so the weather is finally starting to warm up. We are also supposed to be getting some rain this upcoming week.

Dcwtada · March 2017

I am so jealous, I had a vegetable garden the last 2 years and wanted one his year but we are moving and won't be able to make it happen. The good news is we have a commercial property (failed bar/liquor store) on a few acres just two blocks from our house. This year DH is working on turning into a hobby farm for me to be ready by next year. I will have all the chickens and goats and vegetable gardens. He has a friend that is actually tearing up the parking lot this weekend. This has always been a dream of mine

ljd2010 · March 2017

My rule of thumb had always been to plant my vegetable garden around Mother's Day. It was difficult planting when I was pregnant with my august son, so I'm figuring it will be even harder this year. Plus maintenance was the last thing on my mind once he was born. In the past I've done a combo of tomatoes, green peppers, sweet peppers, onions, eggplant, pumpkins, lettuce, cilantro, basil, and chives. I'll probably just do a couple tomatos, one or two peppers, and onions this year. I love gardening, and it makes me sad that I won't be doing much of it.

JmUDuuuukes 07 · March 2017

@Poppyseed72017 we had bush beans and sugar snap peas. Dd would go up to one's that were an inch long and try desperately to convince me they were ready to pick so she could eat them. Cracked me up! I have a neighbor that is a very close friend that has already said she will come help with garden stuff this year. So I'll move things outside in late may and then she will pop over with her kids and help- they loved it last year. And they get to keep what they pick, so added incentive. I know once DS is here I'll want to be out there less, but honestly with dd I hated being stuck inside and went on walks just to get out. So first few weeks will be a bust but hopefully a daily watering will get me through to my fall garden. I am a little worried about it though!

Xath · March 2017

With the move coming up I'm not planning anything this year. I love to plant gardens, but then I'm a botanical Darwinist. (I.e. I forget them and see what survives)

tuxielove93 · March 2017

I seriously need a project and love gardening so even though I'm guessing it is going to be difficult, I'm gardening this year. We have a ton of stray cats though, so no gardening for me without gloves and something to cover my arms and feet. My FIL who is moving just gave us a ton of gardening stuff, so I have to go through it and see what seeds he gave me and figure out what I'm going to grow. Worst case scenario, if the seeds don't make it, I'll buy some plants. I also have back up garden help (my parents and DH) so if I can't do stuff, they can.

Cynth0104 · March 2017

I'm planning an gardening this year. I haven't in years past and for some reason feel like it will be a great idea this year! Ha. We will see how it goes!

kat0607 · March 2017

I am planning to garden this year even though I have the worst green thumb EVER!! This is our first summer in our own place, so I finally have the freedom to do what I want in the backyard. MIL already told me she's buying me these two raised garden beds for my birthday, which would be awesome any other year. But my birthday is only a few days after this baby's due date, so I don't know how much use I'll get out of them this year!! I would love to start out with easy stuff like tomatoes, zucchini and peppers.

LoveLee85 · March 2017

ktewart said:

@JmUDuuuukes 07, I'm sure you're aware of the reasoning, but in case you're not, the logic behind gloves while gardening is that soil and digging in the dirt is one of the primary ways that women contract toxoplasmosis. I wouldn't stress too much about it, but that's the reasoning. ☺️

I did not know this! Thank you!!

MamaRN13 · March 2017

Our gardening will be kept to a minimum this year since DH just ripped out our entire front yard and made a gorgeous drought tolerant oasis! That being said, we always grow some hops (which DH and I use to make a home brew) and usually have some wild raspberries that come up in the yard. He built a raised bed when we moved in last year but all the bunnies that are wild around here got to it

oheliza44 · March 2017

@MamaRN13 DH is dying to grow his own hops. He also homebrews. What is your favorite style of beer to brew?

Perfect timing with this thread- I planted my flower boxes for the front of our house today! I think we are through the cold spells and today was too gorgeous outside to not get this project underway. DH is building a few more planter boxes for an herb garden on our deck. I'd love to have a garden in the backyard eventually but for now I struggle to keep my window boxes alive.

Edit because of autocorrect. I assure you my husband is not trying to grow his own hips. Lol

MrsZeno · March 2017

We will be! Last year my husband built some raised garden beds and they were awesome. We had tomatoes, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, banana peppers, basil, beans, strawberries, and spearmint. This year Ive waited too long to start some of the seeds inside so I'll probably just pick some up from our local nursery. My daughter loved going outside and just picking basil off the stem and eating it. We found that she actually ate stuff from the garden when she could see where it came from so that was really cool.

We had intentions of canning the veggies last year but never got around to it so my goal this year is to can as much as possible so it doesn't go to waste. We had so many tomatoes that we could not eat them fast enough. I found gardening to be my zen last year... It was so relaxing to just get outside and dig in the dirt lol. Between that and my bird feeders outside has become my favorite place plus its great getting the kids involved.

Edited because the last part somehow disappeared.

chiquita928 · March 2017

We have an apple tree in our back yard that we didn't know was there until we started clearing some of the trees away from the pool. Last year we had an April frost that prevented any apples from growing, but I'm hoping this year will be better.

MrsZeno · March 2017

@ktewart I did not know that either. Thanks for the tip! I usually garden with gloves but there's been a few occasions where I just dug in with my hands.

lamphele · March 2017

DH has agreed to let me build a raised garden bed once our tax return comes in. I've started watermelon and bell pepper seeds and will plant carrots once the garden is made. I also bought strawberry and tomato plants from the nursery today.

mamadcb · March 2017

We have some raised beds, half barrels, and an in-ground bed. I usually do a lot of potted flowers, full size and cherry tomatoes, squash, beans, and whatever else sounds fun at the the store. This year I do feel a bit behind, though. Our yard is overrun with weeds, we haven't done any soil prep, etc. I feel like I can't make any progress while my son (13 months) is awake because he'd be getting into dog poop and generally making more mess than I could clean, which means my time is limited to naps. Lately, though, his naps are coveted Mama nap time, or chore time, or working on the nursery time, etc. So we'll see. I love to have a garden and I think DS would too, but it seems like a big undertaking right now.

One of my friends is starting a straw bale garden for the first time this year. Has anyone tried that?

MamaRN13 · March 2017

@oheliza44 we are far from the professional home brewers, but we love it! We are all about the IPA but it can get tricky to get a nice clear batch since we have such warm weather in So Cal. It's been fun growing hops then harvesting them and tossing them in our batches! The hops look gorgeous in our backyard since they climb up and kind of vine out. The hop cones are beautiful!

PurplePoppy424 · March 2017

I'm jealous of all of you getting to plant veggies and fruit this year! I wanted to do it, but DH nixed it. Had a legitimate point. We live in South Carolina and it gets ridiculous hot in the summer here. Most of July and August is usually spent in the triple digits, so I won't be able to be out there doing what we usually do. Next year though I'm getting back to our regular veggies.

abmommy15 · March 2017

MamaRN13 said:

@oheliza44 we are far from the professional home brewers, but we love it! We are all about the IPA but it can get tricky to get a nice clear batch since we have such warm weather in So Cal. It's been fun growing hops then harvesting them and tossing them in our batches! The hops look gorgeous in our backyard since they climb up and kind of vine out. The hop cones are beautiful!

DH and I are always in search of amazing IPAs but never thought to try and brew ourselves...might have to give it a shot! If you ever get the chance there is one from Vermont called Heady Topper that is amazing!!

MamaRN13 · March 2017

@abmommy15 done! A cold IPA is one of the things I miss most about pregnancy. (I still sneak a sip here and there if DH's but it's just not the same). I will totally have my eyes peeled for a Heady Topper!

abmommy15 · March 2017

@MamaRN13 It's a small brewery called The Alchemist that has recently expanded but it's so popular that every store has a limit of 2 four packs and people from all over New England travel to get it on delivery days. Their delivery radius is pretty tiny but hopefully now that they have a bigger facility they can ship some out of VT.

JmUDuuuukes 07 · March 2017

They're like my little babies before LO gets here :-D they sprouted in 3 days, so we may have multiple inside transplants. I'm really intrigued to see how hops grow! I could get a lot more support from DH if I told him that's what I was growing!

rnw2019 · March 2017

We are also gardening this year! That's a good point about gloves because I know there are a couple neighborhood cats who have scratched around in our beds. Fortunately husband is just as much (or more) into gardening, so he'll take care of some of it.

We have four raised beds--one is basically zinneas that self-seed every year, and we rotate veggies through the other ones. We always have kale, and then since we're in the south we can do two growing seasons of salad greens, peas, beans, beets, tomatoes and peppers. That's what we've had the best luck with so far. We also have some herbs--basil, rosemary, cilantro, sage, thyme. I'm a little jealous of those of you who can grow tons of zucchini/other squash! We get these squash borers and have never been able to prevent them eating all our zuchinni, so we just gave up

We also have a couple tiny blueberry bushes and a couple strawberry plants, but they don't produce very much yet.

@PurplePoppy424 we are also in SC (coastal), but originally from up north! It took us a couple years to get used to the planting seasons here. Good point about this summer; I certainly won't want to be weeding or tending in July! Hopefully husband can take over...

@Xath haha botanical Darwinist... That's what I often end up doing too. It's just so much fun to plant!

lamphele · March 2017

This post got me in the gardening mood. We don't have our vegetable garden ready yet, but I pulled the weeds from around our back yard tree and fixed up that garden bed with some bulbs. I feel accomplished! We moved into this house in September and the previous owner let the gardens fall apart.

clio · March 2017

This topic has put me in such a good mood- we still have snow on the ground but a girl can dream! We bought a house last year from owners who were master gardeners. I have no experience gardening whatsoever but would love to give it a try- any tips/suggested reading materials for a newb such as myself?

JmUDuuuukes 07 · April 2017

Now that most of the snow is gone, any new garden updates? Hope they're bringing a bit of green joy to your life!

rnw2019 · April 2017

Tomatoes are looking really bushy, the beets and lettuce are in the ground, and we have baby peas!! I also have a small carnivorous plant container garden--the pitcher plants have lots of new shoots, the flytraps are blooming, and an orchid that died last year is sending up new growth. We had a giant rainstorm last night after a couple really dry months, and everything is looking SO happy! Yay spring

ljd2010 · April 2017

No veggies planted yet, but my daffodils are starting to open up, my peonies are sprouting, and my rhododendron is slowly coming to life (it usually peaks around Mother's Day). So happy to see signs of life and spring!

MrsZeno · April 2017

Veggies are looking awesome and tomatoes already have some flower buds popping out. My azaleas, verbenas, and lady banks have all bloomed and are full of life. I love how green everything is right now from all the rain, makes me happy to be outside. Just hoping the storms and wind do not destroy anything today.

@ljd2010 I love peonies! I've always wanted to grow some but have heard they can be tricky. Do you have to do a lot to them?

tuxielove93 · April 2017

I bought some seeds Monday but stupidly forgot to buy gloves. Oh well, I will have to wait until Friday when I go grocery shopping again.

NBR: Gardens??

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