They do not come back, pull them out and put them away from the beds. If there was blight or something on them it can survive in the soil and come back next year.
We found out why our garden wasn't doing so well this year. We watered with softened water. Must have been too salty after a while. Now we have a second spout, but it is kind of too late. However, we still get beans, soy beans, tomatoes and herbs. Our potato yield was pretty good too.
Three of my melons have split open after heavy sudden rain. Now I have two big ones left, a medium one still growing and some baby ones here and there. I hope at least one of them makes it into our stomachs. We also harvested the pumpkin. It's not a giant, but a good child head size.
And we still got carrots, kohlrabi, savoy cabbage and kale coming. And a butternut squash.
The only thing that did and still does really well is the wildflower patch. Even the hummingbirds go in there and check the blooms out. Such an amazing sight.
Next year is gonna be better.
Please, Pearl Jam, consider a Benaroya Hall vinyl reissue!
With all of the plants you mentioned above you will have to save some seed and replant next year. I don't even think the greenhouse will save them, my sister lives in Nanaimo and she never has tomatoes survive the winter.
you just reminded me I need to go visit Nanaimo...some bakery out there makes the original Nanaimo bars.
The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
You can go on a nanaimo bar tour there. There's like 27 stops or something like that. I don't know if you do bbq but if you do hit up a place called Smokin' George's BBQ, it is fantastic eating.
Anything you lose from being honest You never really had to begin with.
Sometimes it's not the song that makes you emotional it's the people and things that come to your mind when you hear it.
we had a huge windstorm while I was on vacation-47 MPH winds...so I came back to most of my corn being blown over and the sunflowers were leaning over as well. Doesn't help that both are shallow root plants.
I staked them all and most seem to have survived, the sunflowers still bloomed and the corn seems to be still alive. My squash plant died, and I came away with 7 nice butternuts that we will be using throughout the winter, maybe I will try my hand at making soup.
I only got 2 watermelons, they are kind of small, but I will save the seeds and see what happens next year.
Lots of cucumbers and peppers though. More tomatoes than I know what to do with...I already froze 5 pounds of them for sauce in the winter. Do I let the plants die off? Will they come back next year? do I have to replant seeds?
You can paper wrap the tomatoes to put up for winter. Paper wrap them and line them in a box with holes, but one that can be closed to shut light out. You have to check them every week or so. If you don't and one ripens, it will ripen the entire bunch. I did it once with Brandywine tomatoes. I had tomatoes through January that year.
we had a huge windstorm while I was on vacation-47 MPH winds...so I came back to most of my corn being blown over and the sunflowers were leaning over as well. Doesn't help that both are shallow root plants.
I staked them all and most seem to have survived, the sunflowers still bloomed and the corn seems to be still alive. My squash plant died, and I came away with 7 nice butternuts that we will be using throughout the winter, maybe I will try my hand at making soup.
I only got 2 watermelons, they are kind of small, but I will save the seeds and see what happens next year.
Lots of cucumbers and peppers though. More tomatoes than I know what to do with...I already froze 5 pounds of them for sauce in the winter. Do I let the plants die off? Will they come back next year? do I have to replant seeds?
You can paper wrap the tomatoes to put up for winter. Paper wrap them and line them in a box with holes, but one that can be closed to shut light out. You have to check them every week or so. If you don't and one ripens, it will ripen the entire bunch. I did it once with Brandywine tomatoes. I had tomatoes through January that year.
wait, like green tomatoes? they don't go mushy?
The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
Nope. They don't go mushy. Wrap each tomato separately in newspaper. Place them in a bottom of a box (no more than 2 layers of tomatoes) and make sure the box has holes. Check tomatoes once a week or so for ripening. Pull those that are ripening out and eat. I swear that it works.
Nope. They don't go mushy. Wrap each tomato separately in newspaper. Place them in a bottom of a box (no more than 2 layers of tomatoes) and make sure the box has holes. Check tomatoes once a week or so for ripening. Pull those that are ripening out and eat. I swear that it works.
wow, that's awesome...I have a bunch of cherry tomatoes...wrapping those little guys is gonna suck.
The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
I did cherry tomatoes in paper egg cartons and just went ahead and placed those in a bigger holey box to make sure that it was dark, but that they still got air. Worked just fine!
My sunflowers are somewhat recovering from the windstorm...they have wonky, bent stalks. I see lots of bees around them when I go out to water.
Can't wait for the corn to dry out so I can bring them in.
The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
I checked on my watermelons today. They have not considerably grown more in a while, but thankfully also didn't rot. The tendrils closes to the fruit were dry and it sounded hollowish, so I cut them off the vine now. I still have baby heirlooms and one more regular watermelon happily sitting in the patch, but I don't have much hope for them, it is just getting too cold. Now I am super excited, but also hesitant to cut them open I never grew them before, I want them to be good! Ah! Maybe tomorrow for breakfast... Manwhile, the kale is coming back, finally recovering from the caterpillar madness earlier in summer, and the carrots and beans are still doing great.
Please, Pearl Jam, consider a Benaroya Hall vinyl reissue!
I ate one of our watermelons...it was awesome...I miss spitting the seeds on people. I'm a little sad they only got stars...no moon.
I was going to bring in the corn to dry further because it was supposed to be overcast and drizzly for the next few days. Weather has changed, and it will be drizzly today and sunny and warm (in the high 60s/low 70s for the next week. So I will give them another week. i will be eating homegrown popcorn in about a month.
As for the sunflowers, I just have to keep an eye on them so I can pull them in before the birds get to them. I cannot reach the blossoms on some of them to cover them, most reached 8-10" tall. I discovered a planting trick for the sunflowers and the corn for next year, so hopefully I won't have to worry about them falling over if we get another freak summer windstorm.
The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
I can't believe I never saw this thread, gardening is my biggest passion. I call growing food "the holiest of rituals" and I scale up every year. We just bought a house on 5 acres so this year is a huge expansion year. Who is going to water my sets when I go on vacation to see PJ lol
Who else is seeing seed catalogs in their dreams right now? Lol I keep going out with the boy and wishing I had a sitter so I can clear brush here, pull sod there, till the first row, and turn the compost that doesn't need turned lol
Awesome, rgambs! I have my Baker Creek seed catalogue by my bedside And I also already have some seeds preordered and a list made what still to get. Cannot wait for spring!
Please, Pearl Jam, consider a Benaroya Hall vinyl reissue!
Awesome, rgambs! I have my Baker Creek seed catalogue by my bedside And I also already have some seeds preordered and a list made what still to get. Cannot wait for spring!
I might pay a local greenhouse do my seeds for me this year, I am doing 3x as many and I will be out of town from April 15 to April 23 for SC PJ and Blue Ridge hiking. I use Baker and Livingston but mostly Jonnhy's because they have a great website and the selection is huge. They are down to just a few easily recognized Seminis selections so they are ethical enough for me.
Sounds good. I have ordered from High Mowing seeds last year, and they were great too. I am still looking for a good potato and garlic source. Somehow our garlic did not work out well last year. Since we are only going to a few shows and planting does not start before mother's day here, I think I should be fine
Please, Pearl Jam, consider a Benaroya Hall vinyl reissue!
Sounds good. I have ordered from High Mowing seeds last year, and they were great too. I am still looking for a good potato and garlic source. Somehow our garlic did not work out well last year. Since we are only going to a few shows and planting does not start before mother's day here, I think I should be fine
Hahaha you and everybody else too! I am planting from mid April to...well I don't stop planting till November lol
Hi my name is 30 Bills Unpaid and I like gardening!
So rather than sifting through the advice of strangers on the interwebs, ask your questions here and get direct answers from less strange (more weird, less strange?) strangers here!
What must a novice gardener take into account prior to planting a garden in its second year? In particular... what considerations must I give the soil before making my choices for what to plant?
Last year (off the top of my head): lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, squash, radishes, peas, and tomatoes (in four large plant pots).
Can I just repeat the same selections? Should I rotate them to different areas of the garden patch?
What must a novice gardener take into account prior to planting a garden in its second year? In particular... what considerations must I give the soil before making my choices for what to plant?
Last year (off the top of my head): lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, squash, radishes, peas, and tomatoes (in four large plant pots).
Can I just repeat the same selections? Should I rotate them to different areas of the garden patch?
Rotation is a good idea, but in my second year I would focus more on priming the soil. I planted three years straight in heavy heavy clay my first few years. It wasn't big enough to rotate anything because I mostly grew tomatoes and peppers which are in the same family anyways. The biggest reason to rotate is to prevent maladies in a particular family of plants from building in the soil. Most of the stuff that we grow for the table feeds pretty heavy on the nutrients in the soil, so rotation won't save you from nutrient deficient soil. Back to priming, compost is the best thing you can work into your soil to build fertility, especially in the long run, but fertilizer is somewhat necessary as well. I fertilize with an organic granular before planting but I don't side dress throughout the season at all. Through the season I use an organic fish/kelp emulsion that I buy locally. It mixes in the watering can and goes on every 2 weeks, with an extra use at bloom time.
2nd and 3rd years are good years to focus on the soil, before you get bogged down in adding more planting space and varieties. When I expand I do very little soil work, I just get it broken up enough to plant and take that first (usually decent) harvest with gratitude. During the expansion is when I am focusing on working the compost deep and really getting good filth from last year's addition.
What must a novice gardener take into account prior to planting a garden in its second year? In particular... what considerations must I give the soil before making my choices for what to plant?
Last year (off the top of my head): lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, squash, radishes, peas, and tomatoes (in four large plant pots).
Can I just repeat the same selections? Should I rotate them to different areas of the garden patch?
Rotation is a good idea, but in my second year I would focus more on priming the soil. I planted three years straight in heavy heavy clay my first few years. It wasn't big enough to rotate anything because I mostly grew tomatoes and peppers which are in the same family anyways. The biggest reason to rotate is to prevent maladies in a particular family of plants from building in the soil. Most of the stuff that we grow for the table feeds pretty heavy on the nutrients in the soil, so rotation won't save you from nutrient deficient soil. Back to priming, compost is the best thing you can work into your soil to build fertility, especially in the long run, but fertilizer is somewhat necessary as well. I fertilize with an organic granular before planting but I don't side dress throughout the season at all. Through the season I use an organic fish/kelp emulsion that I buy locally. It mixes in the watering can and goes on every 2 weeks, with an extra use at bloom time.
2nd and 3rd years are good years to focus on the soil, before you get bogged down in adding more planting space and varieties. When I expand I do very little soil work, I just get it broken up enough to plant and take that first (usually decent) harvest with gratitude. During the expansion is when I am focusing on working the compost deep and really getting good filth from last year's addition.
The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
First off, can I just say how difficult it was to find this thread in a sea of Madison Square Garden posts?
Second, I've been thinking about an herb garden for a while now, because fresh herbs are so expensive and inconvenient to purchase. (If I only need two sprigs of thyme, I'm not spending $5 on a whole package, and even if I do, the rest will just go bad before I can use it again)
I was originally considering a windowsill box but then I remembered that my building is run by assholes. By sheer coincidence today, I found this!
Figure combine the two ideas by putting rocks in the bottom of the Ikea tin, and then putting the food can into that. I don't really know how to garden. Like at all. Like I'd probably kill a cactus. But I mean how hard can it be, really?
The challenges for me are: a) as mentioned, my building sucks. Can't put pots on the fire escape (the lady that used to live next door used to do that and got a lot of shit for it. I'm rent-stabilized so I can't afford to be taking any risks like that. b) the way the building is, the heater is under the window. So I can't just leave plants on the windowsill because it gets really hot when there's heat coming up. c) I have a cat who could easily jump up on the windowsill and munch away. d) I have to be able to open the window because they installed new smoke alarms outside my f-ing door. Everytime I make bacon I worry I won't have enough for the firemen! e) I can't hang anything from the ceiling because a)it's too high, I'm too short b)my upstairs neighbors are a tribe of stampeding elephants.
So what do you guys think? Suggestions? I'm figuring I'll go for Basil, Rosemary, Thyme and Cilantro.
The fun thing about gardening is you learn by doing It is not really hard to grow something, and if something goes wrong, you just do it different next time. I have two of these (Socker mini greenhouse from Ikea), and use them when I get my seeds going. I like that you can open them for airflow. This might be a solution for you too because the kitty can't get in...
Please, Pearl Jam, consider a Benaroya Hall vinyl reissue!
How much Rosemary and Thyme do you use? Maybe also add some parsley, chives, chervil or tarragon? For everyday use like the basil and cilantro... I also always have some cress going.
Please, Pearl Jam, consider a Benaroya Hall vinyl reissue!
Don't you have to put plants by the window though? I looked at the Socker thing on the Ikea website and while it looks cool I just have nowhere to put something that big where it could be in sunlight.
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,289
We're going to try another "surprise garden" this year. How does it work? Section off a little portion of your garden, mix in a couple inches on compost with the soil, cover with a little mulch, water occasionally and wait a while and pretty soon "things start jumpin' up from the ground" ( a line from Neil Young's, "Home Grown"). Last year we got some flowers, a few different types of melons, a number of different tomato plants that ripened at different times and some very cool unidentified pioneer plants. It was a lot of fun!
"Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!" -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
Comments
We found out why our garden wasn't doing so well this year. We watered with softened water. Must have been too salty after a while. Now we have a second spout, but it is kind of too late. However, we still get beans, soy beans, tomatoes and herbs. Our potato yield was pretty good too.
Three of my melons have split open after heavy sudden rain. Now I have two big ones left, a medium one still growing and some baby ones here and there. I hope at least one of them makes it into our stomachs. We also harvested the pumpkin. It's not a giant, but a good child head size.
And we still got carrots, kohlrabi, savoy cabbage and kale coming. And a butternut squash.
The only thing that did and still does really well is the wildflower patch. Even the hummingbirds go in there and check the blooms out. Such an amazing sight.
Next year is gonna be better.
- Christopher McCandless
You never really had to begin with.
Sometimes it's not the song that makes you emotional it's the people and things that come to your mind when you hear it.
2016: Lexington and Wrigley 1
- Christopher McCandless
2016: Lexington and Wrigley 1
- Christopher McCandless
2016: Lexington and Wrigley 1
My sunflowers are somewhat recovering from the windstorm...they have wonky, bent stalks. I see lots of bees around them when I go out to water.
Can't wait for the corn to dry out so I can bring them in.
- Christopher McCandless
I was going to bring in the corn to dry further because it was supposed to be overcast and drizzly for the next few days. Weather has changed, and it will be drizzly today and sunny and warm (in the high 60s/low 70s for the next week. So I will give them another week. i will be eating homegrown popcorn in about a month.
As for the sunflowers, I just have to keep an eye on them so I can pull them in before the birds get to them. I cannot reach the blossoms on some of them to cover them, most reached 8-10" tall. I discovered a planting trick for the sunflowers and the corn for next year, so hopefully I won't have to worry about them falling over if we get another freak summer windstorm.
- Christopher McCandless
I call growing food "the holiest of rituals" and I scale up every year. We just bought a house on 5 acres so this year is a huge expansion year.
Who is going to water my sets when I go on vacation to see PJ lol
I keep going out with the boy and wishing I had a sitter so I can clear brush here, pull sod there, till the first row, and turn the compost that doesn't need turned lol
I am planting from mid April to...well I don't stop planting till November lol
What must a novice gardener take into account prior to planting a garden in its second year? In particular... what considerations must I give the soil before making my choices for what to plant?
Last year (off the top of my head): lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, squash, radishes, peas, and tomatoes (in four large plant pots).
Can I just repeat the same selections? Should I rotate them to different areas of the garden patch?
I planted three years straight in heavy heavy clay my first few years. It wasn't big enough to rotate anything because I mostly grew tomatoes and peppers which are in the same family anyways. The biggest reason to rotate is to prevent maladies in a particular family of plants from building in the soil. Most of the stuff that we grow for the table feeds pretty heavy on the nutrients in the soil, so rotation won't save you from nutrient deficient soil.
Back to priming, compost is the best thing you can work into your soil to build fertility, especially in the long run, but fertilizer is somewhat necessary as well. I fertilize with an organic granular before planting but I don't side dress throughout the season at all. Through the season I use an organic fish/kelp emulsion that I buy locally. It mixes in the watering can and goes on every 2 weeks, with an extra use at bloom time.
2nd and 3rd years are good years to focus on the soil, before you get bogged down in adding more planting space and varieties. When I expand I do very little soil work, I just get it broken up enough to plant and take that first (usually decent) harvest with gratitude. During the expansion is when I am focusing on working the compost deep and really getting good filth from last year's addition.
Thanks you!
- Christopher McCandless
Second, I've been thinking about an herb garden for a while now, because fresh herbs are so expensive and inconvenient to purchase. (If I only need two sprigs of thyme, I'm not spending $5 on a whole package, and even if I do, the rest will just go bad before I can use it again)
I was originally considering a windowsill box but then I remembered that my building is run by assholes. By sheer coincidence today, I found this!
http://www.ikeahackers.net/2012/04/window-herb-garden.html
So I'm thinking of using that set up, only problem is there's really no specifics it's just a design example. Enter in this guy: http://www.hgtv.com/design/rooms/kitchens/grow-your-own-kitchen-countertop-herb-garden?crlt.pid=camp.0VxMJY0RnqK3
Figure combine the two ideas by putting rocks in the bottom of the Ikea tin, and then putting the food can into that. I don't really know how to garden. Like at all. Like I'd probably kill a cactus. But I mean how hard can it be, really?
The challenges for me are:
a) as mentioned, my building sucks. Can't put pots on the fire escape (the lady that used to live next door used to do that and got a lot of shit for it. I'm rent-stabilized so I can't afford to be taking any risks like that.
b) the way the building is, the heater is under the window. So I can't just leave plants on the windowsill because it gets really hot when there's heat coming up.
c) I have a cat who could easily jump up on the windowsill and munch away.
d) I have to be able to open the window because they installed new smoke alarms outside my f-ing door. Everytime I make bacon I worry I won't have enough for the firemen!
e) I can't hang anything from the ceiling because a)it's too high, I'm too short b)my upstairs neighbors are a tribe of stampeding elephants.
So what do you guys think? Suggestions? I'm figuring I'll go for Basil, Rosemary, Thyme and Cilantro.
LIVEFOOTSTEPS.ORG/USER/?USR=435
I have two of these (Socker mini greenhouse from Ikea), and use them when I get my seeds going. I like that you can open them for airflow. This might be a solution for you too because the kitty can't get in...
I looked at the Socker thing on the Ikea website and while it looks cool I just have nowhere to put something that big where it could be in sunlight.
LIVEFOOTSTEPS.ORG/USER/?USR=435
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"