How does your garden grow: 2012 Edition!

by **Bridget** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 2:11 pm

Okay folks, here in Zone 6b (previously referred to as 5b before global warming decided that even St. Louisans need subtropical plants), it's seed starting time!
Peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and brassicas all need to be started 6-10 week prior to transplanting. Those trying to sell plants in the spring should be starting herbs and flower sets too.
I always have the hardest time motivating myself to get things started when there's half a foot of snow on the ground and I have to put on a coat just to open the back door to let the dogs out, but this has been a weird winter, with plenty of 50+ degree days to get the mind focused on spring.

Are you starting seeds this year? Improving or expanding your garden? Let's hear what you have in mind for the 2012 growing season!

This year I invested in a large wire shelving unit to make a quasi-professional seed starting area, replete with high-K shop lights adjustable by very professional looking wire (or yarn, or old phone cords, or whatever I had close by when I hung them). Here's what I've started so far, with additions coming weekly as is appropriate:
Tomatoes, 5 varieties
Peppers, 8 varieties
Artichokes and cardoon
Basil, genovese type
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Broccoli
Sweet peas
Eggplant

My starts range between one and two weeks since planting, and germination rates are definitely high. So far, this accounts for almost 500 plants, with likely an equal amount yet to be planted. I plan on selling the excess once it gets closer to planting time to offset the cost of garden renovation, but I am definitely excited about the variety in produce this year.

So, what are you growing? Any gardening questions the hivemind can help you with?

by **CipherNameRaVeN** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:29 pm

I never tried to grow Brussels Sprouts? Are they hard to grow? Do they require a lot of space?

by **BigDaddyTX** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:33 pm

I think I'm just going to grow an assload of strawberries this year and a few mini-tomatoes. I'll also be growing okra, but I don't actually eat it, I feed it as treats to my dogs.

by **CipherNameRaVeN** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:57 pm

BigDaddyTX wrote:I think I'm just going to grow an assload of strawberries this year and a few mini-tomatoes. I'll also be growing okra, but I don't actually eat it, I feed it as treats to my dogs.

I usually grow one plant of cherry tomatoes in the pot. And that one plant produces so many tomatoes that end up giving them away to neighbors. I do grow "Early Girl" and "Big Boy" in the garden and they seem to do well.
What I have luck with the most is cucumbers. Plus, I love eating them. Though, nutritional value is pretty low from them (I think).
I grow a lot of greens, because those you can plant early and use them pretty much during the entire season. You cut off a little for cooking, they keep on growing.

edit: I grow strawberries. They are usually start rotting in my yard before the mature. I don't know why.

by **BigDaddyTX** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:22 pm

I used to grow a ton of stuff, but I found that I don't really like to eat eggplant that often, my squash sucks every year so I've given up on it, watermelons stay tiny, jalapeno plants don't get 4' tall like they did when I used to grow them etc.

IDK, I'm just going to grow what makes me happy this year and I can feed to the kiddo. I love going to tend garden and eating a handful of strawberries. I've just gotta make a netting/screen lid for them this year so the damn mockingbirds don't eat/ruin them all.

Your experience w/ cherry tomatoes is pretty much mine, I don't need more than 1 or 2 plants because my wife can't eat them all and for some reason won't take them to share at work, so now she gets 1 plant because I hate them. Last year I grew orange cherry tomatoes and I thought they were damn good for a tomato, so sweet, but still nasty.

by **grennels** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:33 pm

Here it is mid-February in northern Ohio and we still have last years Brussel Sprouts
growing and edible. :shock:

edit 3/20/12

Just picked and ate some of last years Brussel Sprouts. Pretty tasty.
Volunteer lettuce is up and ready to eat also.

by **CipherNameRaVeN** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 4:55 pm

grennels wrote:Here it is mid-February in northern Ohio and we still have last years Brussel Sprouts
growing and edible.

Really? I am gonna have to try them. I love Brussels Sprouts fried in olive oil with Garlic.

I hate cherry tomatoes. But it's fun to grow them.

by **NoAm** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:52 pm

We are switching gears this year and starting a raised bed garden. I am tired of fighting with the acid from the hemlocks. I will post pics of the progess as we start.

Website · by **shriefie** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:29 pm

To people having problems with strawberries: mulch mulch mulch. Strawberries that touch the soil directly rot and or get eaten by short critters i.e. Pill bugs, etc. that is why they are called STRAWberries, most mulch them with straw, newspaper, burlap etc. Hope this helps

My brussel sprouts seem to be taking up about a square foot of space for each plant and get along just like the cabbages and broccoli I planted at the same time, just a little slower. Broccoli is doing great this year! Of course plenty of rain and only one overnight freeze helps.

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by **CipherNameRaVeN** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 8:19 pm

shriefie wrote:To people having problems with strawberries: mulch mulch mulch. Strawberries that touch the soil directly rot and or get eaten by short critters i.e. Pill bugs, etc. that is why they are called STRAWberries, most mulch them with straw, newspaper, burlap etc. Hope this helps

Yes. I think that is my problem. I'll try that.

by **Dawgboy** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:37 pm

I moved in October from 5600 feet to 300 ft altitude, but did not really get to this new house until mid December. It has a 1/2 acre lot and we gardened and then left fallow for years. Below is the 20'x60' plot at the top, (you can see the house below the trees), it's near level, very fertile and loose, and has full southern exposure, even in the winter. I just manured it with composted horse manure from a small local ranch. This weekend the rototiller comes out!

House at bottom:

Here is about 75% of what I am planting this year.. All organic heirloom open pollinated stuff from Seeds of Change. I want to save seed, so this is the way to go...

I am planting:
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Red Bell peppers
Purple Bell Peppers
Corno De Toro sweet peppers(for Chile Rellenos 8)
Napa Cabbage
Red Cabbage
Bok Choy
Celery
Broccoli
Scarlet Nantes Carrots ( Once I get a sandbox made)
Nevada Lettuce
Mesclun mix
Borghese Plum tomatoes
Brandywine tomatoes
Armenian Cucumbers
Satsuki Cucumbers
Yellow Crookneck squash
Mitla Tepary beans
Royal Burgundy Bush beans

Not shown:
Yard long Pole beans
Green Lentils
Kiwi vines
Bunching onions
Red Onions
Red potatoes

All of this is started in 288 mini pots and is starting to sprout except the Kiwi(1 gallon), the onions which need to go in the ground yesterday, and the pole beans that came from a friend.

My weeding tool:

Website · by **shriefie** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:25 pm

Nice weeding tool! I need to get me one of them! Looks expensive though...

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by **ferret** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:41 pm

I dont have a yard this year, so I'm gonna try and grow a few things via some discreet balcony gardening.

by **Dawgboy** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 9:23 pm

Built a garden box and made it gopher "resistant"... This one is for herbs and there will be two more in close proximity on the first tier of the yard.

Soil prep

Gopher wire

Ready for filling

In place

by **BigDaddyTX** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 12:37 am

Dawgboy wrote:Built a garden box and made it gopher "resistant"... This one is for herbs and there will be two more in close proximity on the first tier of the yard.

LMFAO. I've gotta build a screen to keep some birds off my plants this year, but I can't imagine having to gopher proof something, it just makes me think of Caddyshack.

by **Dawgboy** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 2:43 pm

Yeah, I have a couple hungry cats and a weinerdawg too, part of my "Best defense is a good offense" plan.

Here is the complete bed. After planting, I will stick some more 24" poultry wire around the outside too.

Seed starting bench

by **Bridget** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 10:00 pm

Would that I planned to do just a few large beds instead of many small beds. Oh well. There's nothing more fun than pounding stakes into the ground.

by **JohnnyWahkr** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:21 am

I checked out the book "square foot gardening" last year from the library. The plan was to build a second garden, smaller and with less sun than the main spread has. I picked the area behind the workshop and made it slightly larger than the 12'X12' the book suggests. In addition I had less variety, trying to plant higher yield plants.

This is what the book had in mind, planting the taller plants (tomatoes) in the back of the garden so as not to shade the rest..

Here is what it looked like in the middle of july. The peas on the back trellis are just dieing off after a mediocre amount of production.

tomatoes
high yield green beans
radishes - green onions- chives
lettuce spinach and kale.

by **LtCmdLeia** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:33 pm

Zone 5b - Colorado .. nothing to do with my garden except think about it right now.

I need to get some news shelves for my seed flats.

I'm giving in and doing raised beds this year.

I'm playing with this website right now, I think it'll be useful/fun to use. http://www.smartgardener.com

by **Chantrea** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:49 pm

I'm letting my garden "rest" this summer. Realistically I know I will not keep up with it, and it's been in use (all of it) for 5 years now.

Any suggestions for a cover crop that also fixes nutrients back into the soil? I thought of clover, which has the advantage of looking fairly decent as well. But what do others use as covers on the part(s) of their gardens that they're taking out of rotation for a season? I was starting to have some disease problems with some crops last year (I have a relatively small space, so they'd been grown very close to the same area for those 5 years), which is the other reason why I thought I'd give things a rest and just buy a CSA share this year.

by **JohnnyWahkr** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:25 am

I plant winter rye, but only in the non growing months...

by **Bridget** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:24 pm

Chantrea wrote:Any suggestions for a cover crop that also fixes nutrients back into the soil? I thought of clover, which has the advantage of looking fairly decent as well. But what do others use as covers on the part(s) of their gardens that they're taking out of rotation for a season? I was starting to have some disease problems with some crops last year (I have a relatively small space, so they'd been grown very close to the same area for those 5 years), which is the other reason why I thought I'd give things a rest and just buy a CSA share this year.

Legume cover crops will help a lot with adding nutrients, especially available nitrogen. Fava and soybeans work great for this. Alfalfa has a ton of benefits. Oats are great in addition to legumes, as they'll shade the legumes to keep them alive and happy, while providing bulk that you can work into the soil at the end of the season.

So beans, especially favas, buckwheat, fennugreek, and mustard can be planted as a cover crop and still provide you with some food. If I recall correctly, brassicas such as Brussels sprouts and cabbage have deep roots which help bring up nutrients for shallow rooted crops in future seasons. And lettuces are pretty nutrient neutral, if you at least want to make yourself some salads in the spring.

What sort of disease problems did you have specifically?

by **Dawgboy** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:05 pm

Two more projects today:

Two Potato barrels, and the start of a Lasagna bed.

First the potatoes:

You can grow spuds easily in a confined area by growing them up instead by growing them in a tube or square, and burying the greenery over and over with a mixture of straw, and compost.

The cage

Two set in place and a cardboard "weed shield"

A couple inches of soil

Slice your seed spuds and place in the soil

Cut end down, then cover with a few inches potting soil, straw, leaves, more dirt...

Finished Potato pillars

by **Dawgboy** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:16 pm

A Lasagna bed is a No-till way to make a raised bed using debris and compostibles. The idea is you grow in it and then scrape it into your compost to be used again the next season. Mine will be a little more permanent since the lower layers are mostly soil to level the bed.

Cardboard "weed Barrier"

Soil and manure

Finished first layer.

I am a big believer in the Lazybed... More later.