I heard keep them well-watered and mulched with straw. I am growing mine in both pots and in the ground so we'll see what works better.

All my little seedlings are up now in the beds, and this rainstorm is gonna help them even more!

3/23/2011 8:19:00 PM

Potatoes in the ground as of last night!!!

3/23/2011 9:39:42 PM

Quote :

"Plus my girlfriend is not a huge fan of garlic"

How in the world can someone dislike garlic?!

3/23/2011 9:46:40 PM

BJsRumRunner, my strawberry strategy is not to grow them! I've never had any luck. every year I'm tempted to try it, and every year I get maybe 3 shrunken berries. forget it!!

3/24/2011 6:21:03 AM

Lol yeah I've never had luck with strawberries. Had a mean raspberry bush at my last place though.

3/24/2011 8:12:29 AM

She doesn't dislike it, just doesn't like a lot of it in her food.

Checked my onions this morning and they are sprouting!

3/24/2011 11:26:50 AM

building a garden box today

anybody have a good recipe for homemade garden soil?

soil + sand + peat + Black Kow + perlite?

4/2/2011 9:28:00 AM

What I did: double dig in the clay topsoil underneath, then put down a mix of half topsoil, half compost in 12 inch boxes. I've mixed in a bag of sand before if things weren't breaking up.

No one I know does in-ground beds here, unless they have a larger plot, own the land and have the equipment to seriously remediate the soil (i.e. real farms). A watershed planner told me Durham has the misfortune of being in the Triassic basin with Person County, with only 6 inches of topsoil to work with before you hit clay. Apparently if you're anywhere else in the state you're more fortunate.

http://gis.enr.state.nc.us/sid/zGeologic_maps/Geology.htm

4/2/2011 11:20:10 AM

bttt. i no longer have a yard. woot.com has topsy turvy planters for 2 for 6.99. Are these worth a damn to get some fresh cucumbers or tomatoes this summer?

4/12/2011 8:23:14 AM

We're thinking of getting a dwarf key lime tree to grow in a container. Anyone have experience with them?

4/12/2011 8:40:10 AM

^^ they work ok, but you have to water them much more than normal. You also have to fertilize them more than normal.

4/12/2011 10:08:48 AM

has anyone made a hydroponic setup for veggies?

4/12/2011 10:12:03 AM

^wolfpackgrr: I knew a guy who kept two of them and some lemons in an office building window year-round and they flowered and fruited like crazy. However, I always felt like he knew some secret about them I haven't yet discovered. I've got a kumquat that did great outside in part shade in a container in NC, but got severe winter chlorosis when I had to bring it in for the winter farther north. In my experience citrus need a large pot with very well draining mix- you should throw a bunch of bark or coco or orchid stratum in with some regular light weight potting mix. It will duly need to be watered daily in july and august. hand-pollenation recommended.

[Edited on April 12, 2011 at 10:14 AM. Reason : ]

4/12/2011 10:14:01 AM

Good to know! I think I'll get one after the wedding and if I don't kill it I'll graduate to a lemon tree

4/12/2011 10:40:21 AM

besides the topsy turvy, what are some other garden methods i can use at an apartment? I have a decent sized balcony and get lots of afternoon sun. I just want some basics, tomatoes and cukes and some peppers.

4/12/2011 11:03:58 AM

If it doesn't rain this weekend I am going to get the garden all ready for planting, including running the soaker hoses. I hope to have plants in the ground next weekend.

4/12/2011 11:37:49 AM

Well, I got a little impatient and stuck everything in the ground this past Sunday. Mostly tomato and pepper plants.. is it too early? I know I run the risk of frost, but for plants like tomatoes and peppers is there a time that is 'too early' or is it just to avoid the frost? A tomato plant should LOVE weather like this.. especially if it stays between 50 and 70 degrees, right?

4/12/2011 3:05:22 PM

You should be ok. You can plant tomatoes and peppers as early as mid-March if you want to. In fact, I probably should have planted my peppers earlier this year. They were WAY behind everything else last year, although they grew well into November.

4/12/2011 3:54:33 PM

It is a little early for tomatoes. I doubt we'll be planting ours (on a farm) until the end of the month. Just be prepared if it decides to frost again.

Also I wanted to comment on the topsy turvy planters. They are great in theory but you have to realize the plant will still try to grow upwards toward the sun/light. You can be successful with them BUT you need to watch out for bad storms. Tomato plants will be severely damaged in the wind if grown in one of these.

4/12/2011 6:00:10 PM

I'm not starting spring seedlings until this weekend or next- my plants won't even go into the ground until mid-May at the earliest. I know too many people who got screwed by a late April frost last year to risk all that work, only to have to re-do it again.

Since I planted later, my plants didn't start production until late July-early August, but I had tomatoes until Thanksgiving. So it's a tradeoff.

4/12/2011 6:19:25 PM

I usually plant mine in phases. Some now, some in a couple weeks, some a couple after that.

4/12/2011 8:05:18 PM

Heading to the prison farm tomorrow to get all our veggies/flowers.

4/14/2011 10:16:53 AM

finished my raised bed
prepared my soil
planted my tomatoes and cauliflower

praying that my pepper seeds germinate (i don't have a heat source on them)

4/17/2011 2:48:09 PM

Pictures of my second year... sorry in advance for the blurry pictures



^Herbs, tomatoes, and peppers



^Lots going on here.. lettuce is in full swing, onions, peppers, cucumbers, and some more herbs



^Found some nice raspberry vines and 3 blueberry bushes... probably won't get many berries this year but hopefully in the future.

[Edited on April 19, 2011 at 2:20 PM. Reason : s]

4/19/2011 2:19:13 PM

Just built my garden box today!! 12' x 4'

That's my roommate in the pic, we both worked for about 3 hours today building the box, filling with compost, and covering with soaker hose and landscape fabric. Look at that compost! GORGEOUS!! (Sadly I only had enough compost to fill the bed about halfway, but I'll have more next year to top it off!)

4/24/2011 4:38:10 PM

Stopping in to brag! Our garden looks great so far this year and we just finished up planting today.

What we've got up right now:
-4 rows of potatoes (different varieties)
-1 row cabbage
-1 row onions
-Mixed row of mustard green, radishes, bell peppers, and more onions
-Two rows of tomatoes (different varieties including roma and big/better boys)

What we just planted:
-2 rows of cucumbers (large and the small white)
-2 rows of squash
-1 row of okra
-1 row of butter beans

We'll be planting some additional okra, beans, and peas at a different field that has different soil, moisture, and sunlgiht.

4/30/2011 4:36:31 PM

Anybody ever grow Silver Queen? I'm looking to plant a 4 x 4 block of it this year with squash and garden beans.
I definitely learned a few years ago that corn hates you and refuses to grow proper ears if you don't plant it in a block formation (it needs a square for proper pollination).

5/2/2011 9:54:48 AM

we plant corn in regular old rows and it grows fine. silver queen tastes great, but some years we'll have problems getting it to fill out. sometimes it just refuses.

5/2/2011 10:03:55 AM

I planted my garden back in early april.

-Row of bell pepper plants
- 5 Tomato plant
- Herbs garden (oregna, basil, thyme, mint, parsley)
- Sunflowers
- Summer Squash
- Chili Peppers

Not even 2 weeks later my landlord gives me a 60 days notice that she selling the unit and we are not invited to extend our lease (ends June 26th).

Fucking Bitch!

I think I am going to return to the property and harvent my garden ninja style assuming that it is still on the market and vacant.

[Edited on May 2, 2011 at 12:50 PM. Reason : a]

5/2/2011 12:49:44 PM

Robbit/deer/somethin came through the other night and ate the top off of each of my tomato plants. And I got slugs everywhere.

5/2/2011 1:29:31 PM

So I worked all day yesterday and finally got everything in the ground. Here are some pictures of the progression, 2 pictures of the onions that have already been in the ground for a while, and 1 of Mr. Pigglesworth for good measure.





















What I planted: 6 varieties of tomatoes, corn, string beans, cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, squash, zucchini, onions, watermelon, cantaloupe, okra, and probably some other stuff I can't think of off the top of my head. We also planted herbs around the house: basil, cilantro, rosemary. And, of course, our asparagus came back and is in full force. We have already been eating on it. The apple and fig trees are starting to fill out nicely as well.

[Edited on May 2, 2011 at 5:20 PM. Reason : a]

5/2/2011 5:13:57 PM

^ Looks good! love the pig! But why did you space your rows so far apart? seems like you could have fit one more row in there easily (not enough hose??)

5/2/2011 6:02:22 PM

Mainly because we don't have nearly the time to tend to it that we did last year. I just got a huge promotion that is going to have me on the road a lot. We only did 4 rows last year, so we already upgraded a bit.

Trust me, if I had the time, the garden would be at least twice that size

5/2/2011 6:06:23 PM

Quote :

"And I got slugs everywhere."

two ideas for this ...

1. put some beer in a tuna can and dig it in the ground. slugs LOVE beer and they'll all drown in it

2. (more work, but is good prevention) you know those spiky gumballs? surround your plants with them! slugs can't crawl over the spikes so your garden will be protected



[Edited on May 2, 2011 at 6:11 PM. Reason : e]

5/2/2011 6:10:24 PM

oh nooo!!! Some pest is eating my tomato stems!!

what do you guys think it is?? HEEEELLLLP!! (I found a tiny slug on the bottom of the stem but I have a hard time imagining such a small critter could do all that damage)

5/16/2011 5:52:41 PM

All I can say is, I am extremely sick of greens and salads by now. At least our CSA has broccoli, which
my garden didn't produce.

5/18/2011 3:44:58 PM

I finally tilled and planted my garden in canada today. the spring has been miserable with heavy rains delaying planting over a month, even for the farmers. I hope I will get some tomatoes this year... Thinking about looking for a large nursery plant that has a head start.


It coulda been a rabbit that gnawed your plant, Nerdchick... but slugs can leave marks like that too. beer in an open can buried in the ground is the best bait.

Edit: since this is a tomato, you should be looking for hornworms. they might be small now... but they'll get bigger. and your plants will get smaller. I like those moths, so If i have many plants i will leave a few worms to watch. if it's just one, just smush it.



there is a parasite that lays eggs on them and you can find larvae covering the hornworm. the worms thusly afflicted are kind of sad, they never get any bigger and start shriveling up, but still moving around and trying to eat.










[Edited on May 23, 2011 at 11:05 AM. Reason : ]

5/23/2011 10:55:36 AM

Just got back from a week in Florida and everything is looking great. I will try to take some updated pics tonight

5/23/2011 11:48:03 AM

Pumpkin vines went in last night. They're from a 400LB genetic lineage, so there should be some interesting pictures to take this summer.

5/23/2011 11:51:06 AM

What time of year is best for planting flowering trees in NC?

5/23/2011 1:12:44 PM

Fall. Basically for every kind of tree.

5/23/2011 1:14:07 PM

Attempt #2 at morning glories. Last time I got too late of a start and they burned to a crisp (at least that's my notion). Also put in three green bell pepper plants.

Inside, I got three tiny ivys for $5 and replanted them in bigger pots. I also repotted my golden pothos. He was in the tiniest, most pathetic pot when I bought him last year. Pics to follow.

Also, how often should I look to water the pepper plants?

5/23/2011 4:02:42 PM

Went ahead with some container gardening this season. I have 4 5 gallon bukets I'm using. I have 2 plants/bucket at the moment. A variety of cherry tomato, larger hothouse, rainbow pepper plants, and sweet basil.

So far they're coming in very well, I just worry about the lack of direct sunlight that my patio gets.

5/24/2011 8:40:50 AM

aren't hothouse tomatoes just tomatoes grown in a greenhouse, not a specific type?

in my experience, tomato plants w/o alot of direct sunlight will grow like crazy, but not actually produce much in the way of quality tomatoes. I'm to the point that ive quit trying to grow them b/c i don't get enough sun anywhere around my house.

5/24/2011 8:48:01 AM

derp...my mistake I meant big-boys

5/24/2011 9:10:16 AM

I HIGHLY recommend German Johnson's if you are going to do tomatoes. Perfect size for sandwiches and best tasting imo. Most of the tomatoes with "big" in their name are bred for their size, not their flavor.

5/24/2011 5:44:41 PM

first time German Johnson grower. came home to see 5 blooms and another 8-10 buds on my pair of plants

growing much faster and healthier than my Better Boy

5/24/2011 6:39:41 PM

so today I turned my soaker hose on like always, and like always I set an alarm for 15 minutes. But I got distracted when the alarm went off, and never turned off the hose! I was away from the house for 5 hours with the hose on

I feel horrible about wasting so much water. I think the plants should be OK but OMG I feel like an awful person

5/24/2011 10:21:36 PM

I'll remember that when I can't find any water to drink on my thru-hike.

5/24/2011 10:26:31 PM

LOL ... I think you'll be fine.

5/24/2011 10:30:39 PM