Who is planting a vegetable garden this spring?

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

More and more people in our neighborhood seem to be rediscovering vegetable gardening. We plan to expand ours this year.

Do you have a green thumb? Care to share any gardening tips?

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

I planted a vegetable garden for the first time 2 years ago. I spent a fortune, and it was a lot of work. I think this year I'm going to try containers, and only have tomatoes, and basil....2 of my favorite things.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

I am sooooo late in starting my seeds this year. I normally start indoors in my orchidarium (orchid house with good lighting) in mid March. It is now early April, and I haven't even started.

I expect that Sunday I will start my seeds, including: 4 or 5 types tomatoes, green pepper, squash and some flower types. The three raised garden beds will be prepped for the transplants as well as the direct plant seeds (peas, beens) which will be going in about Mid May. I am going to try my second year of yukon gold potatoes. They are so good fresh from the garden.

This year, I am going to work on a watering system for the garden. I had my worse year last year with our lack of rain. A good watering system should get my produce back up.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

I'm beginning spring clean up of the garden. No tomatoes this year (fungus last year), but I will be planting snap peas as soon as I can, onions, carrots,peppers,summer and winter squash, cucumbers, cilantro, lettuce, beans,kohlrabi and probably a thing or two I can't think of now.

[JoAnn Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoAnn]

Living in SW FL DH & DD's garden is already producing and producing!!! DD started her seeds in our lanai (which makes a great green house). The garden was doing great until our below freezing weather in January. Luckily, she and her BF had put in a misting system, which ran all the nights it was to get below 32. Some plants didn't make it but she just put new ones in.

They have all raised beds and have planted: onions, peppers, tomatoes, collard, Okra, radishes, celery (yes it does grow here), beans, lettuce, cabbage (red and dwarf white), brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, beets and I'm sure there are some other veggies growing out there.

Pat took a couple of baskets of 'assorted' veggies to the local Spring festival and won a 1st and 3rd prize.

There is a lot of fungicide and fertilizer put on down here, plus the watering when it's dry. And weeding, of course. It does take a lot of time, but it's all worth it when you eat those fresh veggies. And it's certainly cheaper than the grocery store.

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

ME!!! I have a friend bringing her 3 strong kids this weekend. WOO HOO!!

I have a giant plot, 20'x40', that I have never fully cleared to work, but got thru half of it one year.

Tomatoes, lettuce, onions, peppers, maybe squash or melons...

best tip I have: Envirocycle Systems inc. - Homepage

awesome composter, mine is green, fits in well.

cheap, too, for what it is, and love being able to roll it to its destination.

If you don't compost, be sure to mix in a bag of manure. It makes a huge difference to the veggies.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

...I have a giant plot, 20'x40', that I have never fully cleared to work, but got thru half of it one year....

Bet I could get 3 or 4 of those in my garden.

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

Bet I could get 3 or 4 of those in my garden.

you must have a plow?? It's way too much for me to do by hand myself, 3-4 times that? no can do.

[Elan Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Elan]

I plan on doing my usual -- tomatoes, peppers, cukes, squash and maybe some carrots and/or herbs. About another month until we can put anything in the ground around here. Snowed yesterday.......

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

Bet I could get 3 or 4 of those in my garden.

Now you are just trying to make me feel bad with my 4 raised beds of 4X8ft each, and one of those is a permanent asparagus, so no planting of other stuff. I have about a third acre, although I think the dw will be very unhappy if I took over more of the yard.

[3kids4me Super Moderator and Super Mom Find all posts View Profile Close 3kids4me]

Care to share any gardening tips?

Yes. Don't live near deer. Or moles. Or turkeys. Or pretty much anything that will eat your entire vegetable garden before you can harvest it.

And don't live near black snakes, because if you try to protect your vegetable garden by putting chicken wire around it, then the snakes will get stuck in the chicken wire. Which is a big ewwww factor.

Oh wait...I suck at gardening. So ignore all of my advice.

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

Yes. Don't live near deer. Or moles. Or turkeys. Or pretty much anything that will eat your entire vegetable garden before you can harvest it.

And don't live near black snakes, because if you try to protect your vegetable garden by putting chicken wire around it, then the snakes will get stuck in the chicken wire. Which is a big ewwww factor.

Oh wait...I suck at gardening. So ignore all of my advice.

We have deer, and gophers, and lizards. Have dealth with all the ewwww factor. We also have rabbits, javelina, ravens, ground squirrels...snakes and ants.

For the gophers, when we designed our garden, we put chicken wire under the plot, this stops the buggers cold. They cannot chew thru to the goodies above.

For the deer, we have a high fencing, and sunshading which sort of disturbs their sense of fair play.

For ants, ugh! Is there a solution? We sometimes use the gel.

For ground squirrels, a bit trickier....we trap them if we have to...humanely.

Ravens, they love to outwit any and every one!

Snakes, they like mammals...and keep clear of any hazard.

Lizards....we save them if we see them tangled....have lost a few....and thus the ewwwww!

[Icc5 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Icc5]

We plant every year

My wife and I just talked about this about a week ago. She started some seeds in her little pods but the birds got to those.
We plant a garden every year and just got done with broccoli, cauliflower, peas (very few came up this year), and chili peppers.
Now it is time for tomatoes, green onions, bell peppers, and more. We also decided on another area for squash plants.
We moved down the street from were we were living before so we are hoping for a few less squirrels stealing everything.
Bart

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Now you are just trying to make me feel bad with my 4 raised beds of 4X8ft each, and one of those is a permanent asparagus, so no planting of other stuff. I have about a third acre, although I think the dw will be very unhappy if I took over more of the yard.

I do somewhat raise the rows in my garden. The garden proper does not include the main asparagus bed or the two smaller ones. I spend a lot of time outside.

Critters abound in my rural neighborhood. We have a large bear that lives somewhere nearby, deer, rabbits and many other critters. The only problems I've had in 30+ years of gardening is deer nipping the tops of peppers (caging them with tomato cages reduces that damage) and birds (bluejays and cardinals) damaging nearly mature corn ears.

[JudyS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JudyS]

We have a plot at the community garden at the Ann Arbor airport. (I used to be the site coordinator of that community garden, but it was too much hassle.) It's about a 10 minute drive from our house, but the great soil, and open space (which means full sun and less animal problems) makes up for the extra time spent getting there.

I have about 400 seedlings growing under lights in my house -- mostly peppers, tomatoes, and basil. Some were only started about a week ago, but some were started in late February.

We also have a couple raised beds for vegetables at our house, and I'm planning on planting tomatoes and a few other things in containers this year. DH & I are also planning to put containers with vines on our roof, to see if that helps cool the house.

I have gardened most of my life. I think a lot of people have started gardening the past couple of years, hoping to save money on food. Unfortunately, this is much harder than it looks. I doubt I save much (if anything) on my food bills, especially since there is a $105 fee for the garden plot rental. I just garden because I enjoy it.

To save money by vegetable gardening, you really need to have both land and water available for free (well water, for example.)

I have two suggestions for beginning gardeners:
1) Grow what produces a lot in a little space, especially things that don't ship well. We've been happiest with tomatoes, ripe (red, yellow) peppers, bush beans, and basil. (Summer squash also produces well, but DH & I don't like it.) Don't bother with things that take tons of space (corn and pumpkins) or that ship easily and sell cheaply (potatoes.)

2) Mulch! It keeps water in, and keeps weeds down. We use black horticultural plastic for plants that like heat, and marsh hay for paths (less slippery than plastic) and for plants that like it cool.

Oh, a third suggestion: My favorite seed store is Pinetree Seeds. Amazinly good prices, and good descriptions. Aimed at northern gardeners. (They're in Maine.) Pinetree Seeds is online at www.superseeds.com I always pay the $4.50 extra for overnight processing, because otherwise their shipping can be slow.