How does your garden grow?

highsteaks · May 2018

do you garden? do you want to start gardening but don’t know where to begin? do you have a plant fetish? well, let’s get dirty and get to know each other and what we’re doing! (like what i did there?)

indoor plants, vegetable gardens, flowers, container pots, whatever. some jumping off points:

1. What’s your skill level? How many years experience?

2. What all do you have currently planted and how are they growing so far this year?

3. Questions? Concerns? Raves?

4. Recent accomplishments?

5. What do you need to do next?

*bonus points for pictures!

offtoneverland · May 2018

I'll just be lurking this thread because I have a black thumb.

Although we do need to plant some things this weekend...we got some plants that I heard might keep mosquitoes away (basil and lavender), but they've been sitting in their pots on the back porch for over a week now. Oops!

lurvleybunchococonuts · May 2018

YAY!!! Garden talk

1. What’s your skill level? How many years experience?
I am NOT an expert nor do I pretend to be. I've had raised beds and containers for the past two years however my yard has terrible lighting so this is my very first year with a garden plot at our local community garden! I'm so excited!

2. What all do you have currently planted and how are they growing so far this year?
So far I have a few herbs planted in containers at home, they are NOT doing anything yet. I'm afraid the squirrels may have gotten into them and kicked all the seeds out.
At the plot we have onions, beets, and carrot seed planted, tomato plants, and a row of sun flowers

3. Questions? Concerns? Raves?
Just hoping this plot won't be an utter failure and I can keep up with the weeding. It was easy in my raised beds but the plot was sorely neglected last year/early this year so it's gonna be a battle. Anyone have any tips?

4. Recent accomplishments?
Just excited to have the first 1/2 planted!

5. What do you need to do next?
Up next: I need to finish weeding the 2nd 1/2 of the garden, trim the excess chicken wire for the fence, and work on some trellis/support systems for my shell peas and cukes (and obviously plants them). Also I dumbly bought pole beans (not realizing they need a 6-7' support system *face/palm*) instead of bush beans, so need to get a few more seed packets (bush beans, pumpkins, squash) and also still need to go get pepper plants.

nothing pretty yet but fx it will be soon!

highsteaks · May 2018

@offtoneverland i LOVE lavender, but i’ve never planted it.
@lurvleybunchococonuts your own community garden plot

that’s so cool! how often do you try to get to it? is it nearish your house? ugh stupid squirrels.

*i have to be honest and state that dh has done 90% of the yard work since dd1 was born. i help “design” if you can call it that and will water, weed, and harvest veggies from time to time when i can. since i’m not as much of a help anymore, we’ve scaled the vegetable area wayyy back so it’s more manageable. we’ll expand again in the future, but it’s definitely just the right size for where we’re at in our lives now.
1. What’s your skill level? How many years experience?
i’d say i’m barely past calling myself a beginner. so intermediate level i guess. i know enough to chime in with some confidence, but there’s always some issues every year. this will be the 8th summer we’ve been doing stuff to the yard. i’ve had an indoor plant or two for just as long as well, but i’ve really started adding to the collection more so in the last year.
2. What all do you have currently planted and how are they growing so far this year?
as for veggies, we have a bunch of kale, 1 tomato plant, some cauliflower that is all leaf no cauliflower, and two cucumber seedlings. we had some cabbage that never balled, so dh ripped it up last weekend. except for the tomato and cucumber, dh picked out the rest, so i’m saying the cabbage and cauliflower is his failure. we also have some sunflower seedlings that germinated from last year’s flowers; they’re the mammoth variety that grow to about 8-10ft tall every year. we also have lots of shrubs, trees, and flowers in the front and side yard that we’ve added over the years, but it’s too much to mention in this post. we bought a new construction house, so we started from nothing but mud. i’ve very satisfied with how the trial and error planting has eventually come along.
3. Questions? Concerns? Raves?
i found the garden edging for the ornamental beds, and i’m beyond pleased with how they came out. it’s heavy rubber, but it looks just like stone. it came in 4ft strips, so they were (err... looked to me from a chair on the deck that they were) easy to install. i like that they are rubber, so that if one of the kids trips and falls, they’re less likely to gash their heads on them.
4. Recent accomplishments?
we finally got around to adding some ornamental beds to the backyard, mostly part sun and shade loving plants. dh did the larger one from basically nothing last weekend, and redid the smaller one this morning with some existing shrubs and flowers that needed to be moved. i decided where everything should be placed.
5. What do you need to do next?
the back deck needs to be sanded and re-painted. we were planning on ripping it out and upgrading it this summer, but then we found out about the twins and well, we’re saving money for the medical bills now.

pictures:

^ so dh discoved weedblock fabric this year, and he went CRAZY adding it everywhere.

^ all of the rocks you see in these pictures are ones that we’ve had to dig up while gardening over the years. i’m not sure if that’s because of the area we’re in, or if they’re just new construction debris, but they’re trophies as far as we’re concerned.

^ the shrub in the corner is new; it will eventually be something like 4’w x 8’t, but it’s just a baybee shrub for now.

lurvleybunchococonuts · May 2018

@highsteaks it's only about 3/4 of a mile from my house so pretty darned close. I haven't walked over there yet cause it's been a little too hot and don't wanna lug all my garden tools in hand

but might walk when I have it all set up and preharvesting when I'm going to water. Depending on the weather I'm hoping to get there everyday or at least every other to make sure things are watered and doing well.

So we stopped by this morning to work some more. Got the 2nd 1/2 a little more weeded and tilled. Planted a row of cukes and have some trellis/supports set up to plant some shell peas tomorrow AM (read that they recommend soaking the peas overnight before planting).

Above: 1st 1/2 we got done yesterday

Below: 2nd 1/2 siill looking rough but we're slowly getting there. The back row will be cukes and the chicken wire/cages are where I'm gonna plant the peas

josie12367 · May 2018

Dang...I was kind of hoping this was about personal grooming. Please tell me I'm not alone in this?!

highsteaks · May 2018

@josie12367 i’m dead

i mean, i did include a “whatever” caveat, so if you wanna talk about hedging the southern garden, i can’t really stop you haha.

offtoneverland · May 2018

@josie12367 Hahaha I thought that for a split second too when I saw the title!

josie12367 · May 2018

I was going to reply, "Like the freakin garden of Eden!"

We'll save that thread for another day...LMAO!

highsteaks · May 2018

@josie12367 omg, thinking about the questions in that context are killing me all over again. no bonus points for pictures.

lurvleybunchococonuts · May 2018

Bahaha oh god... The thought didn't even cross my mind until you said that @josie12367

MouseMama817 · May 2018

@josie12367 I literally thought this thread was going to be about waxing and such. I was like “Oh what a cute post title!”

I try to garden but I’m not great. I have a blackberry plant in my backyard that produced 5 blackberries (very excited) but now I’m wondering if there’s something I can be doing to make it produce more. The berries only sprouted from one branch of the bush and I’m not seeing any flowers since I harvested. I feel like I’m doing something wrong. Does anyone have any experience there?

highsteaks · May 2018

@MouseMama817 no experience growing blackberries, but i had a hunch that i looked into, and i think it might point you in the right direction. if you have the vining kind of blackberry plant, it may only produce fruit on 2nd year shoots. some of the articles i glanced at stated that pruning blackberry plants properly will yield better results. i definitely can’t explain how it’s suppose to be done, but check out these articles and they might make more sense to you than to me.

https://www.almanac.com/plant/blackberries

https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/plant-low-maintenance-blackberries-zmaz07djzgoe

https://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/outdoors/gardening/how-to-plant-blackberries

lurvleybunchococonuts · May 2018

I know nothing about blackberry (or any other berry bush aside from basic strawberry knowledge). I hope it's something simple and you can get a better crop! How yummy! Fresh blackberries sound delicious

bqtmom25 · May 2018

@lurvleybunchococonuts I think you can co plant pole beans with corn so I wonder if you could do the same with the sunflowers?

@mousemama817 I think high steaks is right about the second year growth. I also dont think they are everbearing so once you harvest that branch is probably done. I have a raspberry and it only had a few the first couple years because I would prune and wait. Now its HUGE! With hundreds of bids I'm so excited and already waging war so the birds dont get them first.

highsteaks · May 2018

@MouseMama817 @bqtmom25 i’m envious of you ladies with blackberries and raspberries. a huge bowl of those sounds sooooo good right now.

lurvleybunchococonuts · May 2018

@bqtmom25 ooo... I'm off to go google that and go down the rabbit hole. If that works thats be ahhhhmazing! Thanks for the idea!

lurvleybunchococonuts · May 2018

We're gonna attempt to sunflower/pole bean idea. May end disasterously... Or it might work well. We shall see

also got my peas planted this AM

goldie987 · May 2018

I definitely thought this was about other...uhh...gardens...too!

1. What’s your skill level? How many years experience?
Basically none. I killed a plant that's on NASA's basically unkillable plant list a few years ago.

2. What all do you have currently planted and how are they growing so far this year?
We have 3 smaller raised planters of strawberries and 2 young blueberry bushes that got hit but the late frosts this year and only have half a bush of leaves. Whomp whomp. I flooded the strawberries last year by accident but one of the plants was a little engine that could and sent out a butt-ton of runners so we have a ton of strawberry plants again (and they're just starting to fruit which makes me happy).

3. Questions? Concerns? Raves?
I hate birds and bugs and squirrels. They eat my fruit.

4. Recent accomplishments?
We havent killed any plants so far this year?

5. What do you need to do next?
I need to get more mulch or straw to keep the strawberries up off the ground where the bugs have been munching on them.

MouseMama817 · May 2018

@bqtmom25 @highsteaks Thanks! I had no idea about the branches being one and done.

highsteaks · May 2018

goldie987 said:
Basically none. I killed a plant that's on NASA's basically unkillable plant list a few years ago.

love this quote. thanks for the laugh.

i feel so uncool that the double entendre didn’t even cross my mind!

smulrich16 · May 2018

1. What’s your skill level? How many years experience? Skill level is pretty low - we're learning as we go.

2. What all do you have currently planted and how are they growing so far this year? We got a raised garden (it's about 3ft off the ground) so that our dogs don't barrel through it constantly. We have cucumbers, two kinds of jalapenos, two kids of bell peppers, romaine lettuce, and roma tomatoes.

3. Questions? Concerns? Raves? We're both pretty tall so the raised garden is REALLY nice because we don't have to bend over to care for it. Hooray for saving our back/knees.

4. Recent accomplishments? All of the vegetables are still alive and prospering!! (the same can't be said for the flowers we planted out front - it's about 50/50 out there)

5. What do you need to do next? Well, we have the garden taken care of, but now we're waiting on the landscapers to give us the call that they're ready to rip out the ugly, thorny bushes we have out front and replace all of that. Plus we're (DH, my dad,and some friends - if we're being honest) are going to tear out the old deck, cut down the tree that's WAY too close to the house, and rip out the overgrown lilac bush so that the landscapers can lay down a new paver patio. We almost nixed the project due to finding out we had twins on the way, but it all needs to be done and we're trying to save money by providing the dumpster (my dad works for the local waste company) and tearing out all of that stuff for them. I can't wait for it all to be done, but we're not even on the schedule until July.

highsteaks · May 2018

@smulrich16 all the the future upgrades sound like they’ll be wonderful when they are finished! we wanted to replace the deck as well, but we just had to settle for replacing rotted boards and repainting it for now. i have no idea what the final bill will be for the twins, plus we now need a bigger car, so we’ll have to make sure that stuff gets taken care of first

a garden update:
-harvested a boatload of kale, and made 4 cookie sheets of kale chips!
-looks like we’ve got some tiny green tomatoes growing already.
-i might have to eat my words about the cauliflower plants, because they might actually be doing something now. i should know by this weekend if we’ll eventually have edible cauliflower.
-the new azalea bush we planted is already starting to bloom, so it must be very happy in its new home. in fact, all of the new plants we planted look like they’ve had a growth spurt, so the backyard is coming along.

someone remind me why birds are important, because i’m getting irritated that they keep pooping in the brand new ornamental beds.

lurvleybunchococonuts · May 2018

@highsteaks ooooo I'm so jealous of your kale chips and little green 'maters

I dunno I think birds keeps certain bugs away that you don't want??? Maybe? I think I heard that once... but I might be making that up too

Ugh... I have SOO MANY weeds popping up, but since my little sprouts are just starting I can't tell if it's weeds or veggies yet so now I just need to wait on them before doing anything productive. FX it become obvious otherwise I'm DOOOOOMED.

smulrich16 · May 2018

@highsteaks That is one thing I am very blessed with - great maternity insurance. Barring a long NICU stay, we should have pretty low costs. Even if that does happen, we should be well covered. My worries come in when we start talking about day care costs for two infants.

But, I suppose that's our new normal.

highsteaks · May 2018

@smulrich16 that’s great that your insurance is really great! we got the best insurance offered this year, and the max oop is by far the highest it’s ever been by thousands more than last year’s. ugh, great timing for having twins lol. but thankfully (hopefully) it will be ok.

lurvleybunchococonuts · May 2018

Checked on my garden last night and I have sunflower sprouts!!

The beets, onions, and carrots have itty bitty sprouts too but gotta wait for them to get bigger before weeding (can't tell it apart yet). The sunflowers are super obvious though. YAY!

ETA: I'm so excited. I LOVE seeing my little seeds sprout and grow. It's such a good feeling

lurvleybunchococonuts · June 2018

Got my pepper plants this morning. I'm so excited to plant them tomorrow!! We got 1 cayenne, 1 jalapeno, 1 habenaro, 1 tabasco, 2 yellow bell, and 1 green bell.

amjschmidt · June 2018

How did I miss this thread???!!! I LOVE gardening! ! Or, at least, I love being surrounded by flowers and plants and growing things. I'm a little lazy, tbh.

1. What’s your skill level? How many years experience?
I'm very experienced with container gardens. I worked at a nursery caring for stuff in pots and flats and small containers for 10+ years every summer, through middle school, high school, college and beyond. (Don't anymore, but mostly because I moved away from the family friends that employed me.) I ~know a lot about gardening more generally from that work, but don't that have much experience with in the ground gardens.

2. What all do you have currently planted and how are they growing so far this year?
I've kept two small shade gardens and a dozen or so containers on my porch the last few summers. DH weeded and planted a flat of impatiens in the shade gardens, so that they are starting to look great.

3. Questions? Concerns? Raves?
At my request, DH is doing a lot of the dirty work this year because our neighbors have six outdoor cats that use our flower beds as their litter box. Safety concern? Laziness + pregnancy card? Could be either.

4. Recent accomplishments?
My two small containers of greens are ready to harvest for a salad!

5. What do you need to do next?
Make my run to the nursery for all the annuals for my eight or so porch containers. Then, plant them!

highsteaks · June 2018

@amjschmidt that must have been such an awesome summer job! glad that you’ve joined us. and, ugh to your neighbor’s cats using your garden for relief, but at least you’ve got a doubly good excuse to have your dh do the dirty work.

lurvleybunchococonuts · June 2018

Something is eating my sunflower sprouts

I had a row with them all nice and popped up and happy little plants starting to grow. Two days ago I noticed one missing and thought, that's weird, maybe one wasn't there really. Yesterday out of the 10 sprouts I have 2 left. TWO!! WTAF?! I am NOT a happy camper. Will be re-planting some this weekend and I dunno if I should use netting or put pinwheels next to each seed or what. I have chicken wire up surrounding my garden but I obviously birds and/or squirrels can still get in. It didn't look dug up though so I don't think squirrels. Would a bird take seedlings like that? I suppose maybe a deer could have stuck their heads over the fencing and ate them. It's just weird. I had a few broccoli and cabbage plants sitting in pots waiting to be planted this weekend and all the leaves have been completely stripped from those too so it's almost as if rabbits but how the fuck would they be getting in? Any one have any thoughts or ideas? Just by walking by and looking it doesn't look like ANYONE else is having this problem

I'm so disheartened.

highsteaks · June 2018

@lurvleybunchococonuts

try bird netting for sure

highsteaks · June 2018

what do we think of eow updates posted in this thread? same prompts, but feel free to post as you see fit, and i love looking at pictures! if you’re joining us for the first time, you can use the op 5 prompts to give us a better idea of your background.

1. What all do you have currently planted and how are they growing?

2. Questions? Concerns? Raves?

3. Recent accomplishments?

4. What do you need to do next?

highsteaks · June 2018

@offtoneverland what did you end up doing with those lavendar and basil plants? notice a decrease in mosquitoes?

@lurvleybunchococonuts how are all your little seedlings doing? did you ever figure out a way to keep critter burglars from your sunflower and leafy seedlings?

@MouseMama817 did you get anymore blackberries? what did you end up doing to your plant?

@bqtmom25 how’s raspberry season been so far? when do you start harvesting?

@goldie987 how are those strawberry plants doing? get any whoppers?

@smulrich16 how are your veggies and flowers? any progress on the backyard redo?

@amjschmidt shade garden and container pots still prospering? what annuals did you pick up this year?

lurvleybunchococonuts · June 2018

@highsteaks ugh... No! I replanted my sunflowers and also put down a bunch of critter repellent. Hopefully it'll work well. Did a bunch of weeding and planted a few cabbage plants today too. Pics in spoiler.

How's your garden going?

smulrich16 · June 2018

@highsteaks We picked two nice roma tomatoes, 2 mild jalapenos, and 1 hot jalapeno last night!! While I think we missed our opportunity on the romaine lettuce, everything else seems to be growing great!

As far as the landscaping - DH and I cut down the out of control lilac bush last weekend. That thing was INSANE. It's amazing how much more of our yard I can see out the back window now :-) Next up is the tree and then tearing out the deck...we won't tear out the deck until July because the landscapers don't have us on the schedule to put in the patio until then (and we have 2 dogs who would have to tromp through that dirty mess constantly).

highsteaks · June 2018

1. What all do you have currently planted and how are they growing?
cucumber seedlings look good, and i need to think of how i want to support them this year. tomato plant has a half dozen green fruit growing, but looks pretty short—i think the late frost stunted it. kale is still going strong, and we’re at a point where we have more than we need. i wish i thought of cutting a bunch last night to send in to dh’s co-workers today; hope they’re not too tough by sunday night. there is cauliflower in the middle of its leaves, but two of the four plants have leaves that are completely lacey from worms/caterpillars. i told dh to pull those ones up and put them in baggies to kill off whatever is munching on them before the other two succumb. sunflowers seedlings are about a foot tall last time i looked.
2. Questions? Concerns? Raves?
i still have a 2x4 space left. any recommendations on what to plant? i was thinking of trying out something that is harvested in the fall.
3. Recent accomplishments?
nothing.
4. What do you need to do next?
i’ve been putting off re-potting some indoor orchids and a fiddle leaf fig plant because i haven’t really been up to it, but it’s getting to be painfully obvious that that needs to happen soon.

highsteaks · June 2018

@lurvleybunchococonuts your garden is looking so good! hopefully that repellent keeps the pests at bay!

highsteaks · June 2018

@smulrich16 cool! what do you have planned to do with your recently harvested veggies?

smulrich16 · June 2018

@highsteaks - We're thinking we might need to get a couple avocados and make some spicy, homemade guacamole! We have TONS more tomatoes coming in, as well, so I think we're going to be set for salsa soon, too

offtoneverland · June 2018

@lurvleybunchococonuts We planted some of DD's sunflower sprouts outside a couple weeks ago, and the next day they were all eaten by something.

Hopefully you can find something to keep the pests away!
@highsteaks We planted the lavender and basil next to the porch. But seeing as how I was just sitting outside practically ON TOP of the citronella candle and was still getting swarmed by mosquitoes--it did not make a difference at all. Maybe it will when the plants get bigger. Mosquitoes make me ragey. I stomped off inside leaving MH to play with DD.

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