let's talk dirt...

decides2dream · March 2009

Fifthelement wrote:

Great idea for a thread D2D. I'm looking forward to working the soil as well. So far the crocuses, hyacinth and daffodils are all blooming. The tulips are on their way (at least the ones the deer didn't top) and the lilies and bleeding hearts are poking through as well. The lilacs, cherry blossom and magnolia trees all have hundreds of leaf buds getting ready to unfurl

I can hardly wait to plant the vegetable gardens. This year we'll do potatoes, tomatoes, corn, zucchini, carrots, peppers, onions, rhubarb and maybe I'll try garlic again. I never seem to have much luck with it. I get the stalks (which smell very garlicky) but not the bulbs :x Any suggestions? :geek:

Berry-wise we'll have two types of blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and a ton of raspberries. Hate to say it, but by the end of the season I am thoroughly sick of raspberries and blackberries. Never get tired of the blueberries though

It's been unusually cool here this Spring, but I'm hoping to get a start on the veg. garden within the next week or so.

Happy gardening everyone.

ahhhh yes, our lilies of the valley are starting up too!
the daylilies are starting to poke own, soon enough the hostas will follow...and before you know it, the azalea bushes will be in full glorious bloom! spring is soooo awesome.

when we first started gardening, we planted strawberries, a blueberry bush, raspberry and blackberry.......and as i mentioned earlier, whenever we started to develop any fruit, the birds ate it all. i got at most a handful of raspberries, a few straweberries......never any blackberries or blueberries. :(

i NEVER tire of ANY berry....so send em my way!

oh and i have no tips for garlic....never tried to grow any. we really should grow even more veggies, but we altreayd set out our boundaries for all, so limited in what we can fit where, so we usuallt stick with the few we know grow well and we love. we used to grow snowpeas at our old place, i miss em! i think i may start growing more stuff in pots. we have limited area with full sun b/c overall have such a shady yard.

also grow herbs - basil, rosemary, chives, cilantro (a must for fresh salsa) chives, lemon balm and different mints.

Cinnamon Girl · March 2009

Herb garden question - What kind of sun for a good herb garden? Morning, afternoon, or full? I'm a beginner but I do have a big yard to fill!

decides2dream · March 2009

Cinnamon Girl wrote:

Herb garden question - What kind of sun for a good herb garden? Morning, afternoon, or full? I'm a beginner but I do have a big yard to fill!

most herbs, just like fruits and veggies, prefer full/direct all-day sun. however, i have managed to grow many 'full sun' herbs in mostly eastern/morning sun...and the there are some herbs that can take part-sun, such as most mints. go to your local garden center and look at tags, and of course gardening catalogs and websites are great learning tools too. most hers are annuals - especially in your climate, but there are some that are perennial and will come back year after year...such as some mints, lavender, and on......have fun!

Cinnamon Girl · March 2009

decides2dream wrote:

Cinnamon Girl wrote:

Herb garden question - What kind of sun for a good herb garden? Morning, afternoon, or full? I'm a beginner but I do have a big yard to fill!

most herbs, just like fruits and veggies, prefer full/direct all-day sun. however, i have managed to grow many 'full sun' herbs in mostly eastern/morning sun...and the there are some herbs that can take part-sun, such as most mints. go to your local garden center and look at tags, and of course gardening catalogs and websites are great learning tools too. most hers are annuals - especially in your climate, but there are some that are perennial and will come back year after year...such as some mints, lavender, and on......have fun!

thanks.

dawng · March 2009

Ooh - I love gardening!

My husband built me two new garden beds last weekend so now I get to fill them! One is in our front yard and will house mostly flowers, and the other in the back yard and will hold veggies. While I haven't finalized the list of veggies, I think we'll have broccoli, zucchini, carrots, peas, pumpkin, sunflower, heirloom tomato, and watermelon (we'll see how the last one goes - in our last house I got one tiny three-inch melon. It was cute but not very tasty.)

I started some indoor seeds a few weeks ago, but honestly they're not doing well and I will most likely end up purchasing starts. We're in zone 7 - but have had freezing as recently as two weeks ago and it hasn't been nice enough to leave the starts outside for real sun as often as I'd like - so they're all very tall & spindly (not good.)

One issue that I'm having - the very first day after we put the beds in, there were obvious signs of a cat using the fresh dirt as a litter box. :twisted: Barring standing in the bushes all night waiting for the little shit, does anyone know any tricks to keep the neighbor cats away?

cheers, dawn

iluvcats · March 2009

I love tomatoes. Should be my new username since I no longer own a cat.

I am an indoor gardener. My living room and dining room are very green

Who Princess · March 2009

*dawn* wrote:

Ooh - I love gardening! My husband built me two new garden beds last weekend so now I get to fill them! One is in our front yard and will house mostly flowers, and the other in the back yard and will hold veggies. While I haven't finalized the list of veggies, I think we'll have broccoli, zucchini, carrots, peas, pumpkin, sunflower, heirloom tomato, and watermelon (we'll see how the last one goes - in our last house I got one tiny three-inch melon. It was cute but not very tasty.)

I started some indoor seeds a few weeks ago, but honestly they're not doing well and I will most likely end up purchasing starts. We're in zone 7 - but have had freezing as recently as two weeks ago and it hasn't been nice enough to leave the starts outside for real sun as often as I'd like - so they're all very tall & spindly (not good.)

One issue that I'm having - the very first day after we put the beds in, there were obvious signs of a cat using the fresh dirt as a litter box. :twisted: Barring standing in the bushes all night waiting for the little shit, does anyone know any tricks to keep the neighbor cats away?

cheers, dawn

I used to start a lot of my plants indoors but like a lot of things I got carried away with it and instead of being something I enjoyed my garden started to be a source of stress! Now I only grow things that I can seed directly into the ground and buy a few bedding plants. But I don't have a vegetable garden anymore. I have an herb garden and a big flower garden.

I've experienced the cat problem myself and it's a frustrating one. We used to have lots of feral cats in our neighborhood and they used my beds as their litter box. I'd be outside digging and make a nasty discovery. Disgusting! :x There aren't as many cats now so it isn't much of a problem anymore but I'm not sure what the solution is. I've seen a few products in the organic gardening section that are supposed to keep animals away but I haven't tried them. :?

decides2dream · April 2009

man, its meant to be 80 degrees here on long island this weekend! almost *too* warm for me, but hopefully since it's spring...no humidity...it'll be wonderful!

last weekend hubby and i did some major yard work. cut a LOT of dead branches out of our trees. he cleaned up the lawn, i cleaned up all the garden beds. we set up all our outdoor furniture, and you bet.....i spent a good portion of at least one day in the hammock.

i am totally looking forward to doing a LOT of that this weekend! definitey will be cleaning/opening the fishpond this weekend, maybe hanging a new birdhouse and windchime, but that's it. i am not going to let myself get seduced by this one warm weekend and mistakenly buy/plant any annuals before the 15th of may, our last official/possible frost date. of course, i may get some stuff a few days early

...but yea...i always err on the side of caution with starting my plantings.

YAY beautiful spring!

redrock · April 2009

We now have sweetcorn, tomatoes, frisee lettuce, head lettuce, radishes, garlic, peas, potatoes, watermelon, blueberries and strawberries on the go. Not to mention the flowers and trees (apple, fig, etc). Also loads of cat poo in the lovely dug up bits... surprising how that just 'springs' up!

decides2dream · April 2009

redrock wrote:

We now have sweetcorn, tomatoes, frisee lettuce, head lettuce, radishes, garlic, peas, potatoes, watermelon, blueberries and strawberries on the go. Not to mention the flowers and trees (apple, fig, etc). Also loads of cat poo in the lovely dug up bits... surprising how that just 'springs' up!

wow you fit all that in your little garden? fantastic!
i am surprised you alredy have it all in the ground, but perhaps it gets warmer sooner by you? somehow that surprises me, but i guess our risk of frost may be higher/longer, even if overall our temps are warmer.

i've never grown lettuce, is it easy to grow? also, isn't that more of a cooler weather crop? never grown garlic or potatoes either. no interest in potatoes...but garlic would be nice! grown watermelons, but none ever grew into relly tasty fruit....and the berries......it's the birds! :evil: :twisted:

redrock · April 2009

decides2dream wrote:

wow you fit all that in your little garden? fantastic!
i am surprised you alredy have it all in the ground, but perhaps it gets warmer sooner by you? somehow that surprises me, but i guess our risk of frost may be higher/longer, even if overall our temps are warmer.

i've never grown lettuce, is it easy to grow? also, isn't that more of a cooler weather crop? never grown garlic or potatoes either. no interest in potatoes...but garlic would be nice! grown watermelons, but none ever grew into relly tasty fruit....and the berries......it's the birds! :evil: :twisted:

Amazing what you can fit in a bit of garden! Don't know if you remember the layout of the gardent, but peas on the back fence with the tomatoes, sweetcorn and watermelon on the right hand side fence, lettuce/radishes/potatoes on a patch near the apple tree (not under it - there we have all our flowers!), strawberries, blueberries, etc in pots! No worries! We have had beautiful weather lately and the risk of night frost is gone. I didn't sow any of the veggies in the ground but started them off in pots. Only the sweetcorn was started indoors (not planted out yet actually - will do in the next few days). Lettuce is almost all year around and is very easy to grow... start sowing March time and you can go on until September/October (keep on sowing a couple of weeks apart and you can have lettuce for months! Same for radishes). Garlic dead easy too... just put sprouted garlic cloves in the soil or in a pot. Harvest it when the green stuff is dying out.

Berries and apples and birds.... Oh well... birdies need to eat too!

Not sure what we will harvest, but it's good fun trying!

decides2dream · April 2009

redrock wrote:

decides2dream wrote:

wow you fit all that in your little garden? fantastic!
i am surprised you alredy have it all in the ground, but perhaps it gets warmer sooner by you? somehow that surprises me, but i guess our risk of frost may be higher/longer, even if overall our temps are warmer.

i've never grown lettuce, is it easy to grow? also, isn't that more of a cooler weather crop? never grown garlic or potatoes either. no interest in potatoes...but garlic would be nice! grown watermelons, but none ever grew into relly tasty fruit....and the berries......it's the birds! :evil: :twisted:

Amazing what you can fit in a bit of garden! Don't know if you remember the layout of the gardent, but peas on the back fence with the tomatoes, sweetcorn and watermelon on the right hand side fence, lettuce/radishes/potatoes on a patch near the apple tree (not under it - there we have all our flowers!), strawberries, blueberries, etc in pots! No worries! We have had beautiful weather lately and the risk of night frost is gone. I didn't sow any of the veggies in the ground but started them off in pots. Only the sweetcorn was started indoors (not planted out yet actually - will do in the next few days). Lettuce is almost all year around and is very easy to grow... start sowing March time and you can go on until September/October (keep on sowing a couple of weeks apart and you can have lettuce for months! Same for radishes). Garlic dead easy too... just put sprouted garlic cloves in the soil or in a pot. Harvest it when the green stuff is dying out.

Berries and apples and birds.... Oh well... birdies need to eat too!

Not sure what we will harvest, but it's good fun trying!

i do remember your garden quite well - what a lovely day we all spent there!
didn't remember the actual layout tho, bit busy drinking/socializing.

aha, you start a lot in pots! i never do that, haha. i mean, i grow all our peppers in pots, everything else in 3 raised beds. i may just have to try the garlic. i've seen this thing for gorwing cucumbers on that allows space underneath for growing other things...and it suggests lettuces. i may have to give it a go! i love, love, love cucumbers, and we grow 2 plants and eat loads.....but they go crazy and take over the full bed! perhaps this growers raised fence would be perfect, and try some lettuce.....always eat a ton of salad, so could be well worth it. thanks for the suggestion!

and while unlikely, we do have may 15th as the 'official' date for our zone, zone 7, as the last chance for frost. we get a lot of veggies and annuals, so definitely don't like risking a killing frost b/c that is planting and $$$ down the drain.

Riot_Mac · April 2009

This is a nice thread.

I can't wait to start up the garden again. When we purchased our house the previous owners had a small garden. We expanded it last year and had our own garden for the first time.

We planted 3 tomatoes, 1 cherry tomato, 4 bell peppers, 2 hot peppers, 10 broccoli, 1 green beans, 4 different kinds of lettuce, 3 cucumbers, 4 strawberries.

We had a lot of success for our first year and plan on expanding the size even more this spring.

decides2dream · April 2009

Riot_Mac wrote:

This is a nice thread.

I can't wait to start up the garden again. When we purchased our house the previous owners had a small garden. We expanded it last year and had our own garden for the first time.

We planted 3 tomatoes, 1 cherry tomato, 4 bell peppers, 2 hot peppers, 10 broccoli, 1 green beans, 4 different kinds of lettuce, 3 cucumbers, 4 strawberries.

We had a lot of success for our first year and plan on expanding the size even more this spring.

awesome!

and as everyone gets their gardens started/growing....post pics!!!

and yes, that's the thing with gardens....as soon as you start one, you always want to grow it bigger. we've done the same, 3x hahaha.....and our fishpond too! if i had the $$$, i'd get an even bigger pond, but i think what we have now is what we can manage at least for now...;)

and 10 broccoli?! you must LOVE it!

i;ve never gorwn that either, but we do eat it weekly.......

redrock · April 2009

decides2dream wrote:

aha, you start a lot in pots! i never do that, haha. i mean, i grow all our peppers in pots, everything else in 3 raised beds. i may just have to try the garlic. i've seen this thing for gorwing cucumbers on that allows space underneath for growing other things...and it suggests lettuces. .

Lettuce and radishes are ideal for 'under' plants.... I forgot, I also have two bell peppers and 1 chili plant!!!

I do start them off in plants before planting out the seedlings (even those that are outdoors) mainly because of the cats. If I sow directly in the ground, all the cats in the neighbourhood love freshly turned soil and all I 'harvest' are poos or, as eventually stuff does grow, it is all muddled up. If I sow in pots and plat the seedlings, it's safer!

decides2dream · April 2009

redrock wrote:

decides2dream wrote:

aha, you start a lot in pots! i never do that, haha. i mean, i grow all our peppers in pots, everything else in 3 raised beds. i may just have to try the garlic. i've seen this thing for gorwing cucumbers on that allows space underneath for growing other things...and it suggests lettuces. .

Lettuce and radishes are ideal for 'under' plants.... I forgot, I also have two bell peppers and 1 chili plant!!!

I do start them off in plants before planting out the seedlings (even those that are outdoors) mainly because of the cats. If I sow directly in the ground, all the cats in the neighbourhood love freshly turned soil and all I 'harvest' are poos or, as eventually stuff does grow, it is all muddled up. If I sow in pots and plat the seedlings, it's safer!

see, i *cheat*...i always buy prestarted plants, never sow seeds...thus i don't have that issue.

besides, thankfully, no cats use our garden as a litterbox. our own kitty is indoors (tho she ventures out on the back porch sometimes when we are outside)....and most cats avoid our yard b/c we have 2 dogs!

i think i will suggest that whole cucumber/lettuce bed to hubby, seee what he thinks......be nice to try something new!

btw - you grow blueberries in pots? we used to have blueberry, raspberry and blackberry plants....they grew quite big....but the little fruit they produced, the birds got 98% of it. :evil: of the 3 i guess the blueberry was the most compact...perhaps i too will try it in a pot, easier to keep netting on, and uncover easily to harvest.

you're just full of good ideas today!

dawng · April 2009

We got the brocolli and onion starts in the garden, as well as carrot seeds. The kids had a lot of fun with the planting.

And I found a fix for the cat problem.

:twisted:

First I dug out the patch where they had been going and put all the dirt between our yard and the neighbor's yard - right in the path where the cat comes into our yard. So I gave it an alternative. I even put in some catnip seeds over there

Then I sprinkled 1/2 a bottle of cayanne pepper and another 1/2 bottle of red pepper flakes into the flower garden. We have not had anymore cats in that garden! LOL

redrock · April 2009

dawng wrote:

I even put in some catnip seeds over there

Catnip!!!!! Never thought of putting some of that in the garden. Must do... get all my cats and the neighbourhood's cats high!!!!

dawng wrote:

Then I sprinkled 1/2 a bottle of cayanne pepper and another 1/2 bottle of red pepper flakes into the flower garden. We have not had anymore cats in that garden! LOL

Tried that as well as citrus peel..... no luck :(

decides2dream · April 2009

redrock wrote:

dawng wrote:

I even put in some catnip seeds over there

Catnip!!!!! Never thought of putting some of that in the garden. Must do... get all my cats and the neighbourhood's cats high!!!!

dawng wrote:

Then I sprinkled 1/2 a bottle of cayanne pepper and another 1/2 bottle of red pepper flakes into the flower garden. We have not had anymore cats in that garden! LOL

Tried that as well as citrus peel..... no luck :(

i've seen this product in one of my gardening catlaogues. dunno if it works, but it's meant to be a humane/environmentally sound way of keeping kitties out of your garden. it looks to be some little hard plastic mat with short little spikes on it, not sharp really......but supposedly it annoys cats to walk on so you are meant to put them around areas you want cats to stay out of and it acts as a deterrent. i'll see if i can find it online and come back and link.

well that was easy

hereya go:

http://www.gardeners.com/Safe-Cat-Deter ... lt,cp.html
scatmats

covered in bliss · April 2009

decides2dream wrote:

for really large containers, i add crushed soda cans at the bottom to take up space, use less soil and keep em lighter. also, i swear by hydromats - which i purchase the gardener's supply catalog - that 'hold on' to extra water so you water less, and your plants don't dry out and stay healthy!

do the cans rust? worried about rusty water stains on brick.

let's talk dirt...

Comments

Categories