2022 Garden Plans

[Faith-manor]

1 minute ago, Sneezyone said:

We have a veritable army of squirrels and rabbits in this old neighborhood. The rabbit family makes it's way to and fro across the street every morning. I think if I raise the bed height to 2' that should deter them but...oh. my. word. The squirrels are insane and they can rain down from the trees above. And then there are the birds. I regularly find half carcasses in my yard from the neighborhood owl's last meal and two days ago, I found a dead fish with CLEAR eyes (note, my house is not on the water)! Some bird unhelpfully lost its lunch on my lawn. 

I had to go to raised beds here because of gophers. Gophers are very cute. Their personalities are adorable. But, if one wants to actually harvest a garden planted into the ground, one has to murder the gophers because there is NO deterring them, and they will destroy the garden. They are the viking raiders of the vegetable world.

[kbutton]

1 minute ago, Sneezyone said:

We have a veritable army of squirrels and rabbits in this old neighborhood. The rabbit family makes it's way to and fro across the street every morning. I think if I raise the bed height to 2' that should deter them but...oh. my. word. The squirrels are insane and they can rain down from the trees above. And then there are the birds. I regularly find half carcasses in my yard from the neighborhood owl's last meal and two days ago, I found a dead fish with CLEAR eyes (note, my house is not on the water)! Some bird unhelpfully lost its lunch on my lawn. 

You might still want some level of short fencing around the 2' beds.

The reality is that a lot of it makes no sense. We had tons of rabbits in our old yard (a mile away), but they mostly came to our yard for amorous reasons, so we'd see the males boxing and all manner of other...behavior. They didn't nibble much; they were too busy doing other things. Once in a while, one would get inside our garden fence (including hopping over it), but that's about all. At the new house, they are monstrous. 

Our neighbors cut down perfectly good peach trees because year after year, the squirrels knocked all the peaches down. We had the same happen with apples and pears at the old house.

The chipmunks like to dig things just to show off their digging skills. Sometimes they munch as well.

We have some hawks and owls, but we're also close enough to fields that we don't see their kills as often. We're not their prime hunting area.

We had tons of nonvenomous snakes at our old house--the last couple of summers I was starting to get paranoid about where I walked because we were a haven. We also had a number of toads. I didn't mind the toads because they will eat bugs. I hoped the snakes were working on the mice. I was not pleased (but I was impressed) when a snake ate a toad in the front flowerbed. That's just counterproductive!!! The frog was far larger than anything google said a snake that size would care about eating. He pinned it up against a rock, latched onto it's face to suffocate it, and then slowly swallowed. 

[HS Mom in NC]

49 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

I had to go to raised beds here because of gophers. Gophers are very cute. Their personalities are adorable. But, if one wants to actually harvest a garden planted into the ground, one has to murder the gophers because there is NO deterring them, and they will destroy the garden. They are the viking raiders of the vegetable world.

My mother boarded horses for a nearby riding school.  Gophers had to be eradicated.  We did it all-spike traps, loose dogs during irrigation, gas mower exhaust in tunnels, and bull snakes caught and let loose into the tunnels.

[Sneezyone]

2 hours ago, Pam in CT said:

we're currently covered by a 4" think, 2-acre sized sheet of ice -- my husband nearly killed himself yesterday when he attempted to go out to check on the chickens and found himself unable to make it back up the ~4 degree slope back up to the house, and, no exaggeration, had to crawl to get back up.  And today it's snowing, hard. So I haven't yet BEGUN to believe that the earth will ever again be soft enough to dig.

But. Re pole beans -- I don't know where I got them, or what variety they are, but several years ago I started growing some that have red trumpet-y flowers and purple beans (they turn green when cooked) which are AWESOME.  The vines are vigorous, the flowers are pretty, the beans are pretty dangling down purple amongst the green leaves, they're a little late to start but extremely prolific and carry on late into October), and delicious.

Most of my yard is shady and the only really good sun is right around the terrace where I live my live and (during COVID) concentrate my entertaining, so I put a high premium on things that can grow in pots and/or are vaguely attractive. Lots of herbs (particularly small-leafed and purple basils, and golden and variegated oreganos), eggplants, red & purple peppers, different types of alliums, beets (very fond of how beet leaves look), and things that climb.

re critter management: In addition to very little sun, I have very many critters.  I visited a community food bank garden in VT last summer that grew *all kinds of crazy stuff* on different lattices and trellises and arbor supports.  The regular stuff that climb or clamber on their own -- pole beans and strawberries and squashes and melons etc -- but also stuff that the volunteers obviously tied up and trained and attended to, but that were clearly flourishing and producing like mad -- cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants.  They planted nasturtiums on every support as well and the whole effect was just magical. When I marveled on how PRETTY it was, the head gardener told me it was all about critter management (apparently nasturtiums give off an odor that some animals dislike?). So, that's going to be my theme for this year.

So, one more thing...

I assume your area, despite the weather differences, is similarly treed to mine. Have you discovered any edible shade-lovers? I'm planting some ostrich ferns that I got from TN Nursery as soon as it quits raining...blerg...so we can try fiddleheads. I have bean searching and searching and don't see too much else. I'm also experimenting with putting lemongrass starts in some outdoor pots.

[Pam in CT]

We basically live in a forest; when we moved here 22 years ago, less than 1/2 acre of a 2.6 acre lot was cleared. While we have slowly expanded on that, there are real limits: I have 150+' trees growing right up to the property line on all sides; and the longest side of a weirdly shaped lot is the southern side.  I refer to the property line on that side as the Mile of Shade.

I do grow fiddleheads, and they grow well enough though as often as not I forget to harvest them until they've uncurled.  Blueberries grow pretty well even in pretty deep shade, though the deer usually get most of them (they'll just munch right through nets and suck them off).  I keep putting them in anyway because (unlike most berries) they're quite attractive bushes and, here at least, turn a lovely red in the fall.  I tried blackberries for a while -- in a prior home, they grew wild in a deep forest behind us, but they haven't taken.  I have *salmonberries* that grow wild by the side of the road on my dog walk and once years ago I just hauled up a clump and transplanted them. They flourish now -- I have a huge sprawling patch in deep shade -- and they're yummy, though the season is very short and the canes are Butt Ugly. Seriously, whatever you might imagine based on raspberries or blackberries, these are muuuuch worse, great big umbrella sized hairy leaves, flopping canes, hopelessly untidy.

I've also over the years just tried plonking things I divide out or that self-seed in the most godforsaken deep shade unwatered crappy soil and seeing what happens. And sometimes they surprise me. Walking onion (which is very acceptable IMO wherever one might use scallions or pearl onions) theoretically is supposed to want full sun, but IME will grow anywhere.  ANYWHERE.  And three years ago I dug up and divided some rhubarb that *was here when we moved in 22 years ago* and put three clumps out in deep shade/ crappy soil and it still seems to be coming along fine.  And if you eat yucca (my kids don't like, but my husband will eat just about anything, particularly if I start with a few well-carmelized onions and add sufficient spice), it reproduces *too vigorously* in sun but manages just fine in dappled shade.

I did lemongrass last year and it was GREAT having it, but I don't think it survived the winter even though I attempted to keep it in the cold frame.  We'll see.

 

All that said: I mostly garden for aesthetics.  It's only in the last few years that I've really tried anything edible beyond herbs.

[Melissa in Australia]

We have 8 foot mesh fence with netting over the top. To keep out kangaroos and bowerbirds. If we didn’t we would not harvest a single thing

[Faith-manor]

12 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

 

I've also over the years just tried plonking things I divide out or that self-seed in the most godforsaken deep shade unwatered crappy soil and seeing what happens. And sometimes they surprise me. Walking onion (which is very acceptable IMO wherever one might use scallions or pearl onions) theoretically is supposed to want full sun, but IME will grow anywhere.  ANYWHERE.  And three years ago I dug up and divided some rhubarb that *was here when we moved in 22 years ago* and put three clumps out in deep shade/ crappy soil and it still seems to be coming along fine.  

This is the best kind of gardening. It is the, "Ha ha 😈, betcha can't survive that!" style of plant management. You throw down the gauntlet, and they either accepted the challenge or die! 😁 

Unfortunately, plants have a tendency to arrive, like newbies at bootcamp, discover I am the drill sergeant, and promptly begin looking for the escape clause in their contract, wilt in the hopes of a dishonorable discharge, or run towards the friendly fire in the hopes of just getting the inevitable over with already. My sister call some the Black Death of Botany.

So the fact that I harvested tomatoes, broccoli, basil, and eggplant last year is a testament not to my own abilities but to the apocalyptic survival determination of some plants. 😂

[Faith-manor]

4 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

We have 8 foot mesh fence with netting over the top. To keep out kangaroos and bowerbirds. If we didn’t we would not harvest a single thing

You win! I have never had to deal with anything worse than rabbits and gophers. Roos are a whole nother level of beast management!

[MeaganS]

2 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

I had to go to raised beds here because of gophers. Gophers are very cute. Their personalities are adorable. But, if one wants to actually harvest a garden planted into the ground, one has to murder the gophers because there is NO deterring them, and they will destroy the garden. They are the viking raiders of the vegetable world.

I hear you. We have rabbits and squirrels (although I've never seen the squirrels mess with our garden), but the big garden killers are the herd of deer that live in our neighborhood and the hundreds of groundhogs. The groundhogs are adorable and if they didn't destroy my house and garden, I would enjoy having them around, but alas.

Edited February 7, 2022 by MeaganS

[Sneezyone]

I'm trying to balance something aesthetically pleasing (b/c suburban neighbors) and something functional. I think I can get away with at least two, maybe three, 4x8 beds.

Based on advice...

I found some relatively inexpensive frames to cover the beds. I will cover them with poly mesh, initially, to see how the squirrels respond (they have plenty of acorns for Pete's sake!) and attach them to the bed frames. If the squirrels chew through that, I'll upgrade to wire mesh. The blueberries, serviceberry tree, and raspberries will get mesh covers too. Sigh.

Edited February 7, 2022 by Sneezyone

[itsheresomewhere]

This year I am expanding and building a small greenhouse.   I plan to expand my garden just a bit. We don’t have a lot of space so I maximize. The dogwood tree died last summer so I ordered a dwarf cherry tree to put there.  I can’t wait for that.  I also ordered some more black raspberries, a golden raspberry and a pink blueberry. And I got some more winterberry plants.  
 We have a large amount of blueberry bushes already so more are always welcome.  Our blackberries last year took off and over so they will need another trimming/hacking/dividing.  DD’s mint garden-  we will add a few more rare mint plants for her.   I will do the usual veggies and herbs.  And we will do more popcorn again.   
We grew several varieties of pumpkins last year. Most were from decomposed Halloween ones.  The neck pumpkins, Japanese pumpkins and cushaw were great.  DD is trying again to grow a massive one.  We grow some of these on our front yard under the ugly yew bushes so it doesn’t take up everything. 
Our strawberries were fantastic last year so we will add a few more new plants.  We grow these in fabric bags and they thrive in it. 
For potatoes-  I use fabric bags to grow them.  We get lots of potato’s this way.  Sweet potatoes, Yukon, purple and another variety I choose that year. 
It is time to repot our dwarf apple trees.  They did great last year again but every few years, you have to repot them.  So I predict very few if any this year from then. 

 

[Roadrunner]

2 hours ago, Sneezyone said:

We have a veritable army of squirrels and rabbits in this old neighborhood. The rabbit family makes it's way to and fro across the street every morning. I think if I raise the bed height to 2' that should deter them but...oh. my. word. The squirrels are insane and they can rain down from the trees above. And then there are the birds. I regularly find half carcasses in my yard from the neighborhood owl's last meal and two days ago, I found a dead fish with CLEAR eyes (note, my house is not on the water)! Some bird unhelpfully lost its lunch on my lawn. 

I will raise your squirrels with giant rats that live on oak trees and gophers. I am giving up this year. 

[Pam in CT]

11 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I will raise your squirrels with giant rats that live on oak trees and gophers. I am giving up this year. 

Oh dear. Oh no no no no no.

Aside from the deer (true story, my son's first phrase was "Dose Damn Deer"), my nemesis is the groundhog. Cute as a teddy bear. Untold capacity for evil.

[LostSurprise]

We live in a cold climate (US zone 4) in an area with sandy soil and many, many trees.

 

We have currants, strawberries, gold everbearing and red summer raspberries, honeyberry, rhubarb, and some cold-bearing cherry bushes developed by the University of Saskatchewan. I have some tall grow boxes on the back porch (only sunny spot). I usually only do succession planting there (leaf lettuce, spinach, radish, cilantro, basil, green onion).

I have 2 other beds in partial sun where I have mostly perennial herbs (oregano, thyme, chamomile, feverfew, nasturtium, marigold, marguerite, valerian, and whatever new thing I try to get started indoors) and the other has a cattle panel arch (sugar snap peas, beans, more beans, cucumber, tomatoes). I stick summer squash, potatoes (usually just sprouted ones from the grocery store) and daikon radish inbetween things in the more shaded beds. How they do is...variable. It's hard to kill zucchini so usually 2 survive which is more than enough, daikons do fairly well and we tend to just eat the seed pods. Potatoes...well, you have to keep covering potatoes to get anything out of them really. <shrug> 

Last year was my herb garden and garden arch year. This year I want a plum tree (ordered). I think I want another arch. I really liked the one I had this year. The black beans took over. I want to start a ton more basil then I did last year and probably keep it on the deck in the sun. The Cardinal basil wasn't nearly productive enough in partial shade. I didn't even get the flowers. I want to continue my medicinal garden in the lawn and see if it can out-pace the creeping charlie and ajuga. 

New tries this year: 
dahlia, from seed
rat tail radish
rose mint hyssop
purple tomatoes
purple beans
sweet peas
parsnip
mizuna mustard greens
caraway
meadow rue 
black cohosh

My general garden philosophy is less total food production and more invest in things you will snack on. That's why we started with fruit. If you get fruit started, a lot of them need very little attention during the year. If I take a year off, we'll still have raspberries, strawberries, and currants. If I don't pick them, the birds will. 

[Faith-manor]

25 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I will raise your squirrels with giant rats that live on oak trees and gophers. I am giving up this year. 

😱

[Pam in CT]

Oh yeah, I tried elderberry and currants last year. We'll see if they survive the winter.  Theoretically they're supposed to do OK in partial shade; that's why I got them.  The elderberry have *extremely beautiful* lacy foliage that comes in dark purple-near-black and just-lovely golden as well as the usual, tiresome, green.

[ScoutTN]

4 hours ago, kbutton said:

https://www.amazon.com/Muncha-Candace-Fleming/dp/0689831528

We have to build little cages around stuff--all of our veggies have rabbit fencing around them and sometimes have hardware cloth instead. All berry bushes have netting. 

The garden is well-armored.

Make sure whatever you use is snug tightly to the ground. 

They know how much money you've spent on your plants and how special certain plants are and go for those first.

If you live in a neighborhood that allows it, I recommend a pellet gun. Squirrel stroganoff is great. Tandoori squirrel is not bad. Soup. Soup is good. 

 

🤣

We do use my son's airsoft gun to keep critters away. It works on everything except moles and we haven't tried it on skunks!

[ScoutTN]

57 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I will raise your squirrels with giant rats that live on oak trees and gophers. I am giving up this year. 

😲

[MeaganS]

59 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

Oh dear. Oh no no no no no.

Aside from the deer (true story, my son's first phrase was "Dose Damn Deer"), my nemesis is the groundhog. Cute as a teddy bear. Untold capacity for evil.

Yup. Groundhogs cost us a total kitchen renovation. They infested under a deck that was against outside of our kitchen. Unbeknownst to us they pushed up so much dirt against the siding that it rot through the walls and caused leaks into the kitchen and made our cabinets moldy. Because it was somewhere we couldn't see, we didn't catch it in time. Fast forward to a year-long total pandemic kitchen renovation. Satan's giant hamsters.

[Pam in CT]

re potatoes in fabric bags

1 hour ago, itsheresomewhere said:

... For potatoes-  I use fabric bags to grow them.  We get lots of potato’s this way.  Sweet potatoes, Yukon, purple and another variety I choose that year.

OK please tell me more about this. You just... dump them all out at some point in the fall?  How do you know they're ready?

I haven't had any supply issues with potatoes, but I can see doing it for the Incan purple ones or the cool variegated dappled ones.  Can I just start with regular organic potatoes, chop em up with an eye in each section?

[Faith-manor]

Back when we were still trying to garden traditionally during my crestaceous era of plant cultivation 😁, a couple of ground hogs that lived under the neighbor's shed came over and decimated an absolutely gorgeous crop of broccoli. Nine plants all of them with lovely heads just about ready to cut. I was MANIACALLY angry at those little suckers and sent Mark and his pellet gun on a mission to hunt down and assassinate the buggers. The house was a rental, and at the time, between tenants. It was owned by my dad's good buddy so Mark just walked over, gun in hand, knocked on the door, and told the owner what happened and what he wanted to do. L grabbed his gun and said, "I better join you and make sure we toast the s.o.b.'s or you won't be able to go home tonight!" Next thing you know, I look out the window and these two men are face down on the ground with the barrels trained underneath that shed. I don't know how many rounds they went through, but that ended the raids on our garden. At times I feel kind of mean about it, but we were financially tighter than two coats of paint that summer due to a bunch of medical bills. We had put in a huge garden and I was feeding my growing boys out of it along with three dozen eggs a week I was getting for helping a friend out with her chickens, and some canned venison from the last winter. If they had decimated the strawberries, I think my middle boy would have tried to kill them himself.

[MeaganS]

9 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

Back when we were still trying to garden traditionally during my crestaceous era of plant cultivation 😁, a couple of ground hogs that lived under the neighbor's shed came over and decimated an absolutely gorgeous crop of broccoli. Nine plants all of them with lovely heads just about ready to cut. I was MANIACALLY angry at those little suckers and sent Mark and his pellet gun on a mission to hunt down and assassinate the buggers. The house was a rental, and at the time, between tenants. It was owned by my dad's good buddy so Mark just walked over, gun in hand, knocked on the door, and told the owner what happened and what he wanted to do. L grabbed his gun and said, "I better join you and make sure we toast the s.o.b.'s or you won't be able to go home tonight!" Next thing you know, I look out the window and these two men are face down on the ground with the barrels trained underneath that shed. I don't know how many rounds they went through, but that ended the raids on our garden. At times I feel kind of mean about it, but we were financially tighter than two coats of paint that summer due to a bunch of medical bills. We had put in a huge garden and I was feeding my growing boys out of it along with three dozen eggs a week I was getting for helping a friend out with her chickens, and some canned venison from the last winter. If they had decimated the strawberries, I think my middle boy would have tried to kill them himself.

I think that is amazing. We bought a trap and trapped a groundhog a day next to our pool for two weeks. We'd drive out to the state forest nearby and dump them. We checked, it was legal (probably, sort of a gray area). Last summer there was a coyote that was wandering around our neighborhood for a few weeks. We could hear it at night and some neighbors caught it on their game camera. The groundhog population took a huge dip after that. We only caught one last year, but that was after it ate our broccoli too. Jerks.

Edited February 8, 2022 by MeaganS

[Faith-manor]

2 minutes ago, MeaganS said:

I think that is amazing. We bought a trap and trapped a groundhog a day next to our pool for two weeks. We'd drive out to the state forest nearby and dump them. We checked, it was legal (probably, sort of a gray area). Last summer there was a coyote that was wandering around our neighborhood for a few weeks. We could hear it at night and some neighbors caught it on their game camera. The groundhog population to a huge dip after that. We only caught one last year, but that was after it ate our broccoli too. Jerks.

I know! They are jerks. There is plenty to eat around here without feasting on my broccoli!

We have raised beds now. But if I didn't, I'd be tempted to trap a coyote and chain near my garden! 😁

[kbutton]

7 minutes ago, MeaganS said:

We bought a trap and trapped a groundhog a day next to our pool for two weeks. 

That's an impressive amount of groundhogs!

I have heard they are good eating if you know how to stay away from the scent glands when you clean them. 

[itsheresomewhere]

18 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

re potatoes in fabric bags

OK please tell me more about this. You just... dump them all out at some point in the fall?  How do you know they're ready?

I haven't had any supply issues with potatoes, but I can see doing it for the Incan purple ones or the cool variegated dappled ones.  Can I just start with regular organic potatoes, chop em up with an eye in each section?

You can get ones with a flap or not.  I have both but like the ones without the flap the best for potatoes. The flap allows you to take a peek at the process ( great for carrots). The fabric bags allow the roots to breath and it lets the excess water out.  You wait until the plant starts to die and then dig them up. Much easier than doing them in the ground.  My personal method is take the leftover potatoes from the kitchen and just plant them in the bag.  I don’t even cut them up. Last year,  we had about 2.5 bushels from 4 fabric bags of regular potatoes and 1.5 bushels of sweet potatoes from two bags. 

[Faith-manor]

7 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

You can get ones with a flap or not.  I have both but like the ones without the flap the best for potatoes. The flap allows you to take a peek at the process ( great for carrots). The fabric bags allow the roots to breath and it lets the excess water out.  You wait until the plant starts to die and then dig them up. Much easier than doing them in the ground.  My personal method is take the leftover potatoes from the kitchen and just plant them in the bag.  I don’t even cut them up. Last year,  we had about 2.5 bushels from 4 fabric bags of regular potatoes and 1.5 bushels of sweet potatoes from two bags. 

Wow! I am totally impressed. I have never heard of this method. Do you mind posting a picture of the bags, and then doing a little detail about your process...kind of soil, how deep, etc.?

[Pam in CT]

re potatoes in fabric bags

13 minutes ago, itsheresomewhere said:

You can get ones with a flap or not.  I have both but like the ones without the flap the best for potatoes. The flap allows you to take a peek at the process ( great for carrots). The fabric bags allow the roots to breath and it lets the excess water out.  You wait until the plant starts to die and then dig them up. Much easier than doing them in the ground.  My personal method is take the leftover potatoes from the kitchen and just plant them in the bag.  I don’t even cut them up. Last year,  we had about 2.5 bushels from 4 fabric bags of regular potatoes and 1.5 bushels of sweet potatoes from two bags. 

OK you've persuaded me; I am going to try this.  Off to the organic section of Whole Foods, just as soon as we come out of Omicron Red category and I'm back in stores in person.

 

 

[Faith-manor]

4 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

re potatoes in fabric bags

OK you've persuaded me; I am going to try this.  Off to the organic section of Whole Foods, just as soon as we come out of Omicron Red category and I'm back in stores in person.

 

 

Sniff sniff, I have no Whole Foods here. But wait!!! Dd has one only 30 minutes from our mountain house. Dare I drive all the way to Alabama??? 😁 Shhhhh....don't remind my husband that I could drive the two hours to Rochester Hills for W.F. I really feel like I deserve a Bama run for gardening purposes. 😇

[HS Mom in NC]

49 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

re potatoes in fabric bags

OK please tell me more about this. You just... dump them all out at some point in the fall?  How do you know they're ready?

I haven't had any supply issues with potatoes, but I can see doing it for the Incan purple ones or the cool variegated dappled ones.  Can I just start with regular organic potatoes, chop em up with an eye in each section?

We're using a Ruth Stout no dig straw or hay version for potatoes so we can just pull it back and have a look and easily put it back of necessary.

Here's link to the bags with flaps: https://www.amazon.com/Potato-Planter-Handles-Harvest-Vegetables/dp/B086QVJDTX/ref=sr_1_2?crid=26DPQFDBIW1WH&keywords=potato+bags+for+growing+potatoes&qid=1644282107&sprefix=potato+bags%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-2

[itsheresomewhere]

23 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

Wow! I am totally impressed. I have never heard of this method. Do you mind posting a picture of the bags, and then doing a little detail about your process...kind of soil, how deep, etc.?

They are on Amazon.  I use a mix of organic soil, homemade compost and a Guinea pig/rabbit poop fertilizer ( DD does show animals so lots of it here). I fill the bags to the top as they will settle a bit over time. I have been using these bags for over 10 years back when you could only get them from a special garden store online. 
 

For the sweet potatoes-  I take a tomato cage and put it upside down.  I train the vines to grow around it and now you have some beautiful green topiaries. 

[Rosie_0801]

8 hours ago, plaidpants said:

I want a garden so badly but we can't even do pots here with critters and creeps and chemicals. Maybe I'll try anyway. Something easy and hardy.

How bout radishes?
They're easy and since the seed pods are edible, you get more food out of them if you forget about them and let them go to seed.

 

I have a crappy area to garden in, some of it is gravel and the rest clay. All of it has creeper grasses to battle. However, I am happily looking forward to purchasing a Californian Queen olive for my nature strip in April! I also have two kinds of saltbush my brother gave me to try and find a happy spot for, and two varieties of English lavender. 
Reckon I'll plant some radishes too. I've been eating pickled pods with congee, and that is marvellous lazy girl food.

[LostSurprise]

4 hours ago, Pam in CT said:

Oh yeah, I tried elderberry and currants last year. We'll see if they survive the winter.  Theoretically they're supposed to do OK in partial shade; that's why I got them.  The elderberry have *extremely beautiful* lacy foliage that comes in dark purple-near-black and just-lovely golden as well as the usual, tiresome, green.

 

I have one red currant which has survived and prospered in heavy shade. Gooseberry will also (supposedly) do well, but the deer eat it down to the ground every year (and it comes back the next). 

It should be a solid one though. I had 2 in heavy shade and only 1 survived. I'm in the process of propagating that red currant and the slips will only take in partial shade. I put in pink and black currants in partial shade last year and they grew well all summer. 

For other shade perennials for eating...rhubarb is very hard to kill....shade, partial shade...I've experimented and wow...I can put it almost directly under arbor vitae. I can't get raspberries to take in shade that heavy, but they will thrive in partial shade with only 4 hours of direct sunlight. I hear blackberries are similar, but I killed mine by going too far into the shade. 

[Faith-manor]

10 hours ago, LostSurprise said:

 

I have one red currant which has survived and prospered in heavy shade. Gooseberry will also (supposedly) do well, but the deer eat it down to the ground every year (and it comes back the next). 

It should be a solid one though. I had 2 in heavy shade and only 1 survived. I'm in the process of propagating that red currant and the slips will only take in partial shade. I put in pink and black currants in partial shade last year and they grew well all summer. 

For other shade perennials for eating...rhubarb is very hard to kill....shade, partial shade...I've experimented and wow...I can put it almost directly under arbor vitae. I can't get raspberries to take in shade that heavy, but they will thrive in partial shade with only 4 hours of direct sunlight. I hear blackberries are similar, but I killed mine by going too far into the shade. 

I am convinced that rhubarb is the edible version of "invasive species". Even my Place Death approach to yard work and gardening has never eradicated the rhubarb next to the propane tank. We did not plant it. We do not know where it came from. A thousand years from now, that rhubarb plant will still be there.

Nuclear Apocalypse survivors? Madagascar Hissing cockroaches, Asian carp, Zebra Mussels, and rhubarb! 😁

[fairfarmhand]

So…I was in Walmart today and

 

i bought a thing.

or two.

 

[Lucy the Valiant]

On 2/7/2022 at 8:43 AM, SusanC said:

You guys are all way ahead of me. I just finished the phase where I dog-ear my favorite catalog, then successively go back through and eliminate the things that won't grow here (i.e. figs), the things I can't get to grow (goodbye lettuce), the things I can't afford shipping for (ladder trellis, I'll be making one myself), the things it turns out I already own (found four packages of spinach seeds in my stash), and lastly things I can't justify paying shipping on (adios last package of butternut seeds and nasturtiums). Now that my cart is empty I'm ready for phase 2.

I'm in Zone 5b and just learned about "Hardy Chicago Fig" . . . and now I'm dying to try. Have never tried figs, and not sure I want to risk the $ . . . hmmm . . . 

On 2/7/2022 at 9:45 AM, Brittany1116 said:

Someone just gave us parts for a raised bed because they didn't get around to it for 2 years. LoL So we will add that one alongside our established beds. We still have kale, carrots, and spring onions in the ground now.

I made tabs in the Baker Creek catalog and pulled out my seed box a few weeks ago. I only need to order a few packs and then sketch a plan.

My bigger goal is learning how to revive the plum trees that have been here and rarely fruit, as well as how to grow the blueberry bushes we have in containers that still only look like sticks.

I ❤️ Baker Creek so much! 

 

My pandemic garden project was birdhouse gourds (I know they're so common down south, but I'm at the upper end of their range) - they turned out beautifully, and I'm over the moon thrilled. Have quite a few ready to put out for birdhouses as soon as we turn the corner of February.

This year's repeat plan:

maple syrup (first harvest!), asparagus, cranberries, raspberries (black, red, and "white" / orange really), 2 cherry trees (we found a new net cover last year that worked PERFECTLY!), blueberries, green beans, butternut squash, tomatoes (all kinds, tons of plants, we eat ALL of them), peppers, potatoes, onions, lots of herbs, peas (kids eat these raw and they never even make it into the house), Concord grapes (wild, but we "maintain" and harvest), rhubarb, strawberries

 

In my butterfly garden:  zinnias, tulips, roses, azaleas, calendula, butterfly bush, milkweed, mock orange, hostas, lillies (trying to expand my varieties), soapwort (weed, but I'm trying to learn to use it), sweet william, dahlias, sweet annie, hmmm, some I can see in my mind but can't remember the name of . . . 

 

 

Newly added hopefuls:

peach tree (I had 2, one died, 1 remains and I'm cheering for him)

3 little pawpaw trees

would like to try some Asian cabbage / greens this year

borage

"bushel basket" gourds - I'm getting SUPER into gourds! Planting more birdhouses for sure, too.

 

We built a (small, DIY) greenhouse and are trying different experiments with it - DH wants to make another one this year out of old trampolines. 

[Miss Tick]

2 minutes ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

I'm in Zone 5b and just learned about "Hardy Chicago Fig" . . . and now I'm dying to try. Have never tried figs, and not sure I want to risk the $ . . . hmmm . . . 

I'm 5b too. We tried that varietal at one time. We wrapped it each fall to over winter, padded with leaves, followed the care instructions, but... It lived for 3 or 4 years without the slightest inclination to fruit. Sad.

We have a few pawpaws too. Those have done ok, but last year we had a late frost that took out the one tree that fried reliably. I'm hoping the showers it left behind will fill in in a year or two.

Your foodscaping sounds fantastic! And delicious!

[Faith-manor]

12 minutes ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

I'm in Zone 5b and just learned about "Hardy Chicago Fig" . . . and now I'm dying to try. Have never tried figs, and not sure I want to risk the $ . . . hmmm . . . 

I ❤️ Baker Creek so much! 

 

My pandemic garden project was birdhouse gourds (I know they're so common down south, but I'm at the upper end of their range) - they turned out beautifully, and I'm over the moon thrilled. Have quite a few ready to put out for birdhouses as soon as we turn the corner of February.

This year's repeat plan:

maple syrup (first harvest!), asparagus, cranberries, raspberries (black, red, and "white" / orange really), 2 cherry trees (we found a new net cover last year that worked PERFECTLY!), blueberries, green beans, butternut squash, tomatoes (all kinds, tons of plants, we eat ALL of them), peppers, potatoes, onions, lots of herbs, peas (kids eat these raw and they never even make it into the house), Concord grapes (wild, but we "maintain" and harvest), rhubarb, strawberries

 

In my butterfly garden:  zinnias, tulips, roses, azaleas, calendula, butterfly bush, milkweed, mock orange, hostas, lillies (trying to expand my varieties), soapwort (weed, but I'm trying to learn to use it), sweet william, dahlias, sweet annie, hmmm, some I can see in my mind but can't remember the name of . . . 

 

 

Newly added hopefuls:

peach tree (I had 2, one died, 1 remains and I'm cheering for him)

3 little pawpaw trees

would like to try some Asian cabbage / greens this year

borage

"bushel basket" gourds - I'm getting SUPER into gourds! Planting more birdhouses for sure, too.

 

We built a (small, DIY) greenhouse and are trying different experiments with it - DH wants to make another one this year out of old trampolines. 

You have a butterfly garden. I am so jealous! Now I am inspired. We do have milkweed pod.growing naturally in one area I have been loathe to "landscape" or turn into lawn (which I hate) so I think so am going to see if I can turn it into butterfly habitat.

[Lucy the Valiant]

13 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

You have a butterfly garden. I am so jealous! Now I am inspired. We do have milkweed pod.growing naturally in one area I have been loathe to "landscape" or turn into lawn (which I hate) so I think so am going to see if I can turn it into butterfly habitat.

That's my fancy name for "weed-ridden hill in weird little corner of the lot where I would prefer to sit with a friend for coffee so I need it beautiful." LOL It's most definitely still a work in progress, but . . . the butterflies have been understanding. 😉 (As have the hummingbirds!)

I got the idea to work toward a certified monarch waystation, and have been little-by-little working for a few years, and finally hit my goal 2 years back. 

[Lucy the Valiant]

27 minutes ago, SusanC said:

I'm 5b too. We tried that varietal at one time. We wrapped it each fall to over winter, padded with leaves, followed the care instructions, but... It lived for 3 or 4 years without the slightest inclination to fruit. Sad.

We have a few pawpaws too. Those have done ok, but last year we had a late frost that took out the one tree that fried reliably. I'm hoping the showers it left behind will fill in in a year or two.

Your foodscaping sounds fantastic! And delicious!

Did you ever have any fig variety actually bear fruit? (Anyone? In colder zones w/ successful figs?)   [Edit: In a large container? That we move indoors? DH has a Meyer lemon tree that we do this with, as well as a so-far-no-fruit-producing avocado tree. Could also put things in a greenhouse over the winter, though unheated so still exposed to freezing.]

(I grew up where pawpaws grew wild, and we ate them on the roadside, but nobody here has ever even heard of them. I'm not overly hopeful for their survival, but I'm giving them everything I've got! 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Lucy the Valiant

[Melissa in Australia]

We have figs, but I think I might be what you guys would call 9b.
 

We don’t use that terminology. We have 4 zones, arid, tropical, temperate and cold. I am in temperate. Which basically means 10 frosts a year.

[Pam in CT]

re monach waystation

34 minutes ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

That's my fancy name for "weed-ridden hill in weird little corner of the lot where I would prefer to sit with a friend for coffee so I need it beautiful." LOL It's most definitely still a work in progress, but . . . the butterflies have been understanding. 😉 (As have the hummingbirds!)

I got the idea to work toward a certified monarch waystation, and have been little-by-little working for a few years, and finally hit my goal 2 years back. 

That is so cool!

[Miss Tick]

36 minutes ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

Did you ever have any fig variety actually bear fruit? (Anyone? In colder zones w/ successful figs?)   [Edit: In a large container? That we move indoors? DH has a Meyer lemon tree that we do this with, as well as a so-far-no-fruit-producing avocado tree. Could also put things in a greenhouse over the winter, though unheated so still exposed to freezing.]

We do that with a lemon tree (we've gotten a few) and a lime tree (also a few) and an orange that died last year (no fruit, but the flowers smelled great). Those the have been around for about 15 years. Does avocado have thorns? The citrus thorns are not subtle, and their winter home is next to the washing machine...

[Rosie_0801]

5 minutes ago, SusanC said:

We do that with a lemon tree (we've gotten a few) and a lime tree (also a few) and an orange that died last year (no fruit, but the flowers smelled great). Those the have been around for about 15 years. Does avocado have thorns? The citrus thorns are not subtle, and their winter home is next to the washing machine...

My avocado does not have thorns.

Oranges that flower but don't fruit might be iron deficient. That was the deal with the rather old orange tree here when I moved in.

[Miss Tick]

49 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

My avocado does not have thorns.

Oranges that flower but don't fruit might be iron deficient. That was the deal with the rather old orange tree here when I moved in.

Good to know, avocado might work for my empty pot.

Iron deficiency is interesting. I'll have to check the other two.

[kbutton]

6 hours ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

I'm in Zone 5b and just learned about "Hardy Chicago Fig" . . . and now I'm dying to try. Have never tried figs, and not sure I want to risk the $ . . . hmmm . . . 

DH just planted one this last year. He has two others of different varieties--I know one is not Chicago, but I have no idea what the other one is. His first one is finally producing really well, but it's taken about 5 years. We did move it from our old house partway through that time, but I don't think it set it back much at all.

6 hours ago, SusanC said:

I'm 5b too. We tried that varietal at one time. We wrapped it each fall to over winter, padded with leaves, followed the care instructions, but... It lived for 3 or 4 years without the slightest inclination to fruit. Sad.

It takes several years. 

[Sneezyone]

6 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

You have a butterfly garden. I am so jealous! Now I am inspired. We do have milkweed pod.growing naturally in one area I have been loathe to "landscape" or turn into lawn (which I hate) so I think so am going to see if I can turn it into butterfly habitat.

Our fall project last year was replanting the beds in the front with naturalized, perennial flowers, grasses and shrubs - purple echinacea, black-eyed Susan, switchgrass, mondo grasses, holly, and carpet flower so far. I'm adding native hyssop and non-native lavender to the mix along the side yard next to my raised garden spot. Bonus, it will be right outside of my office window, smell amazing, and hopefully deter the local rodents. I'm not sure I could get away with a full-on butterfly garden but the neighbors are gonna be in for a show even with the little I did do. It beats the bland azalea clumps that were there before!

Edited February 9, 2022 by Sneezyone

[ScoutTN]

Weather is leading me to revise my plans for spending my day at home alone tomorrow gardening. 30 degrees, cloudy, and windy is not gardening weather for me. I do have a couple of Saturdays coming up that are as-yet unclaimed by kids’ activities or work. I will be defending those fiercely against incursion! 😉

BUT, I will still make the drive to the farmers’ co-op to buy Music City Gold tomorrow. Much less traffic on a weekend. May go by the Ag Center to get manure too.      Need to heat up my compost pile. Possibly a run by the Farmers’ market too, to visit the native plant guy who always has great suggestions. @fairfarmhand
 

I know that it will take several, possibly many, years for my very neglected yard to be really nice again. But I am determined to make progress.

1. Herb garden - easy and inexpensive

2. Flowers in the front yard and on my deck. 

3. Plant ferns and caladiums in my shady corner. I think these will do well and be pretty. 

4. Veggie beds - goal is “not just a jungle of weeds”. 

5. Together with Dh, figure out a plan for the narrow strip beside the driveway that is infested with wild sweet potato vine and numerous other weeds. 
 

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by ScoutTN

[fairfarmhand]

1 hour ago, ScoutTN said:

Weather is leading me to revise my plans for spending my day at home alone tomorrow gardening. 30 degrees, cloudy, and windy is not gardening weather for me. I do have a couple of Saturdays coming up that are as-yet unclaimed by kids’ activities or work. I will be defending those fiercely against incursion! 😉

BUT, I will still make the drive to the farmers’ co-op to buy Music City Gold tomorrow. Much less traffic on a weekend. May go by the Ag Center to get manure too.      Need to heat up my compost pile. Possibly a run by the Farmers’ market too, to visit the native plant guy who always has great suggestions. @fairfarmhand
 

I know that it will take several, possibly many, years for my very neglected yard to be really nice again. But I am determined to make progress.

1. Herb garden - easy and inexpensive

2. Flowers in the front yard and on my deck. 

3. Plant ferns and caladiums in my shady corner. I think these will do well and be pretty. 

4. Veggie beds - goal is “not just a jungle of weeds”. 

5. Together with Dh, figure out a plan for the narrow strip beside the driveway that is infested with wild sweet potato vine and numerous other weeds. 
 

 

You may want to call ahead and make sure they have it in stock. (The MCG, I mean)

[ScoutTN]

4 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

You may want to call ahead and make sure they have it in stock. (The MCG, I mean)

Good tip; they are out right now, but said to call back Tuesday. You saved me an hour of driving and some frustration. Thanks!

[fairfarmhand]

5 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

Good tip; they are out right now, but said to call back Tuesday. You saved me an hour of driving and some frustration. Thanks!

I asked my friend who distributes it and she said that it’s been awhile since they made a delivery to coop. So if you can’t get any by end of next week. Let me know and I’ll see what I can do.