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Garden Gate:  How Are Everyones Gardens?  |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
 Posted - May 18 2006 : 06:34:52 AM
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I think that when you can cut depends on the size plants you start with, but I know that it's at least a year before you can harvest the asparagus. After it establishes, I believe you can cut it every year and the plants are supposed to last for at least fifteen years. I want to make a raised bed to transplant mine to and also to add more to what I inherited from previous gardeners. I figure I can put my perennial veggies all in one bed so they can be undisturbed for as long as possible. I think that's going to be one of my many summer projects. I want to put a small orchard where my garden is now next spring.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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julia hayes
True Blue Farmgirl
1132 Posts
julia
medical lake
wa
USA
1132 Posts |
Posted - May 18 2006 : 07:04:17 AM
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WoooHOOO! I love this gardening season. This year has been the best so far for me since my wee ones are either truly helpful or completely happy to entertain themselves. One of my drip tape hoses has a leak and has made the most perfect kid size mud puddle, which the kids have wallowed in for days!! We are having unusually warm weather so they have really enjoyed being naked/covered in mud. Very fun!. My veggie garden is nearly planted. Basil is all I have to plant. But I have 70 tomato plants in, spinach, lettuce, 40 pounds of potato, sweet potato, onions, garlic, beets, carrots, cucumber, squash, and kale. I put in a brand new garden (the sacred garden) last summer. I've been amending soil since then and completely planted that space with peas and a variety of bush and pole beans. I've also tilled up another new garden..this is my You Pick Flower and Pumpkin patch and I'll be planting next week. I have to lay the irrigation system down first..But I'll have several kinds of pumpkins and flowers..should be really neat. "Naamah's Garden" a perrenial garden is, alas, a perpetual work in progress. Right now I am duking it out with weeds and grass.. A little every day gets a lot done so that's my committment. So great to read what you are all planting. I'm green with envy over those with greenhouses.. What I could do with a greenhouse! But now that I have a tractor, my physical labor has been cut wayyyyyy down..it has made a huge difference. Yeah! Happy today to each of you! Julia Hayes
being simple to simply be |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - May 18 2006 : 07:27:33 AM
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Wow Julia. You are an inspiration. I gather that you have a farmstand type business going on. I would like to do that but don't really know where to start with amounts of plantings. HOnestly, I'm not even sure how much to plant to be able to put up enough food to last the winter. I'm sure I have at least 70 tomato seedlings though. Maybe over a hundred. I've lost count. I wish I could find instructions for getting started in that area. It's my goal to sell veggies and eggs from my home and maybe add cut flowers eventually. We'll have dairy goats eventually but I'm thinking that's going to be just for personal use since I can't sell raw milk in Michigan. So, is there a resource for getting started?
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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Destiny~
True Blue Farmgirl
195 Posts
Dar
west
TX
USA
195 Posts |
Posted - May 18 2006 : 08:37:17 AM
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Julia, it's great to read about the fun your kids are having. It's so rare now-a-days that kids actually get to get dirty and have fun. Sounds like your growing a good crop of kids too.
"Let us, together, sow seeds for a better harvest-a harvest for hope."
Jane Goodall, Harvest for Hope |
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sillyfoulks
True Blue Farmgirl
164 Posts
Elizabeth
Illinois
USA
164 Posts |
Posted - May 19 2006 : 06:18:10 AM
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It is also my goal to eventually to produce extra for a Farmstand type business. I am not sure how much to grow either, so I have started slow. We had plenty last year to provide for ourselves and many friends. So this year the garden grow by 150%, which doesn't include our acre of sweet corn. For the last 4 months I have been spreading the word, to everyone I see, that I am growing lots and will have plenty to share. So far the response is great. Our town doesn't have a formal Farmers Market, however sometimes growers sit down at the town square once a week. I expect I will be there this year. I am not to concerned with making a profit this year, and expect to give away plenty. However, I have kept track of my cost, which have been very little so far. It helped that our handyman has been working in trade (sort of). We where lucky enough to have several tanks of farm grade fuel for his tractor. He has done all the tilling and planting of the sweetcorn in trade.
I didn't really know where to start either. But I just decided to get on it. And I am glad I did.
Elizabeth
Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.
http://livingcountrystyle.blogspot.com/ |
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yf4life
Farmgirl in Training
14 Posts
Maree
Nine Mile Falls
WA
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - May 21 2006 : 8:07:48 PM
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We just finished remodeling our house and so I am way behind. I do have lettuce, spinach, some herbs, tomato, and peas planted. That is about it though. I hope that by this time next week, I will have everything else planted.
Maree |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - May 22 2006 : 03:26:00 AM
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I have lettuce and peas and rhubarb and a few beets growing in the garden. I planted a row of beans a week ago, they finally are showing their first leaves yesterday! My tomatoes are in the garage overnight because they forecasted a frost last night.
I saw a million weed sprouts in my garden yesterday so I tilled again last night. Hope I killed them and not just wounded them!
Our last frost date here is May 15, so that is quite late, and I don't believe we actually got a frost, so I am going to plant my tomatoes and cukes and zucchini this week, I hope. Also another row of lettuce, and then I'm going to start some more lettuce seeds in seed packs to have some more ready to move in when these get big enough to harvest.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
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RosieRiveter
Farmgirl in Training
45 Posts
Rosie
White Creek
NY
45 Posts |
Posted - May 25 2006 : 10:22:06 AM
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This is my first year in this growing zone, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants. :) I put in potatoes, peas, corn and a small patch of lettuce last week.This week another short block of corn, a row of beans and the last row of potatoes. I hope it does well. The garden patch is brand new (has been hayfield for years), so we had to have it plowed and disked, but it is still chunky. And we grow very nice rocks here in our neck of the woods. We have been clearing the rows by raking or lifting all the rocks and grass clods to the paths in between. So, it is a pretty rough looking garden! I figure it can only get better each year, with mulching and tilling (we don't have a tiller but hope to get one by the end of the season).
Rosie |
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prairiemomma
Farmgirl in Training
33 Posts
Cherri
McPherson
KS
USA
33 Posts |
Posted - May 28 2006 : 3:07:09 PM
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You girls are an inspiration for me to keep the goals in mind that dh and I have. We too are hoping to produce enough eventually to not just supply friends and family, but others also. We enlarged our garden this year also, and made our own raised beds. I planted strawberries, 3 different varieties of lettuce, an herb garden, corn, potatoes, pole beans, squash, zucchini, watermelon, canteloupe, 2 varieties of onions, 2 varieties of cucumber, jalepenos, habeneros, and tomatoes. I also tried my hand at blackberries, but not successful with those  . I will try again though. I really long for the day when I can pick my own raspberries, blackberries,and blueberries. I will have strawberries this year....YEA!!! So there's the rundown on our garden in our neck of the plains...(not woods here). I did find a wonderful book called square-foot gardening which I think will help us utilize what space we have most effectively. You gals are hard workers! Cherri
Living simply with hopefulness and joy! |
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asnedecor
True Blue Farmgirl
1054 Posts
Anne
Portland
Or
USA
1054 Posts |
Posted - May 28 2006 : 6:20:01 PM
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Well carrots have sprouted, bought some more seed to fill in bare spots. Will pick lettuce tomorrow and then reseed for a later harvest. Pole peas up climbing rapidly up the teepee, soon to bloom. Pole beans are just starting to take off. Tomatos are really starting to grow, same with the spuds, onions and garlic. My early blue blueberry bush is full of berries just barely starting to turn, the blue ray will be later, first part of July. My raspberries are starting to form berries and the marion berries have just finished blooming. Pull rhurbarb tomorrow to cut up and freeze to make apple/rhurbarb crisp later. Mine is a very, very, small garden, but producing well.
Anne in Portland
"Second star to the right, straight on till morning" Peter Pan
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Edited by - asnedecor on May 28 2006 6:21:01 PM |
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Judes
True Blue Farmgirl
156 Posts
Jude
OH
USA
156 Posts |
Posted - May 30 2006 : 6:31:49 PM
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Here's a link to my garden blog/album. Haven't had much time to write because I've been too busy hauling bricks & moving dirt. But the before/april/may photo albums show my garden's progress! The soil & air aren't very clean here, so mostly flowers this year. One day I'll have a greenhouse & vegetables!
Love
Judes
http://web.mac.com/jacnd/iWeb/City%20Garden%20Manual/Welcome.html
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Edited by - Judes on May 30 2006 6:33:23 PM |
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asnedecor
True Blue Farmgirl
1054 Posts
Anne
Portland
Or
USA
1054 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2006 : 07:05:31 AM
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Jude -
Great progress on the garden. I just love what you are doing and cute kitties and honey too.
Anne
"Second star to the right, straight on till morning" Peter Pan
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tbroens
Farmgirl at Heart
3 Posts
Tracy
Russiaville
Indiana
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2006 : 07:21:04 AM
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I live on a very small lot in the city and have a very small raised bed garden and some pots on the back porch w/ Patio Princess tomatoes planted. The small garden has 2 tomato plants, a tarragon plant, a row of mesculun, a row of spinach and one white eggplant :) I had one son who picked the white eggplant and the other son pick the tomato plants..Everything is going well. We've had a lot of rain which is nice so it makes the growing easy!
Can't wait to start picking lettuce!
Have a great summer!
Midwestern Farmgirls Chapter
Tracy Broens
Farmgirl/Gardener Forever! |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2006 : 07:55:34 AM
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last evening .. i planted more 'herbs' right beside the front porch steps .. and planted more seeds .. sure hope it rains a lot while we are gone for ten days! bright red poppies have popped and are on the wane .. snowballs have done come and gone .. can hardly wait for the SUNFLOWERS to get TALL!
True Friends, Frannie
My KENTUCKY RAMBLINGS 'blog':
http://cabincreekfarm-kentucky.blogspot.com/ |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2006 : 08:27:41 AM
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Well, over the last couple of days we've had blustery weather of truly unbelievable proportions and two hard freezes, so..... whatever I had, except rhubarb, lovage, strawberries and anything in the allium family, has gone "the way of the wind." Yesterday, my son and I broke down and bought some tomato plants, squashes, herbs and some other fun things to replace part of the damage. It's disappointing, but it's still pretty fun to be out digging around and hoping for the best!!!
I'm SO happy to read about everyone's gardens - it gives me vision and optimism. Thanks!!!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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jillofalltrades
True Blue Farmgirl
90 Posts
Nicole
USA
90 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2006 : 12:13:01 PM
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This is our first year with our very own garden. In the past we went in with my mom and grandfather in a family garden. We have potatoes that are ready to dig. Our onions are growing very well and are about baseball to golf ball size already. I'm very proud since this is my first attempt at oninos other than green onions. My Roma tomatoes are beautiful! I planted 20 and have not lost one! I think it's because our farm has not had a garden on it in 7-9 years. My mom and grandfather have lost many from tomato blight. We also have Romanie and buttercrunch lettuce almost ready to harvest. This was also a first attempt. We have a small patch of early carrots but I'm going to plant some larger ones in the next few days. We have pole green beans, bush limas, watermelon, cantaloupe, 2 varities of squash, cucumbers, bell peppers, and many varieties of hot and sweet peppers. I got a late start compared to everyone else in the community because of the way DH works and breaking of new ground. I also planted some gourds for loofah sponges. This week I will put my winter squash and pumpkins in the ground. Overall it looks really well. At the moment it is pretty grassy because I've been dealing with sick goats and have not had time to till and hoe. Dh comes home tomorrow so i'm going to keep him busy. It is already very dry here in North Louisiana therefore we are watering every 2-3 days hence the grass problem. Overall I'm very please since i'm a greenhorn veggie gardener. I also have a new strawberry pyramid but since planting them they stopped growing like they were in the greenhouse. I have hay around them but i think i'm going to remove that and add dry pine needles. I'm clueless about strawberries. Since planting them they have not produced any fruit. I hope the root systems are developing since i'm not getting fruit. I'm waiting on my new digital camera to arrive then i will be able to update my farm blog with the garden's progress.
Nicole~ mom to Makinlee Georganna
Louisiana Chapter Leader
Louisiana Farmgirls Blog
http://farmgirlsoflouisiana.blogspot.com
http://www.crunchycountry.com -Natural Products for Crunchy Families
http://www.thelazydeaux.com -Registered Boer Goats-traditional & colored
http://lazydeaux.blogspot.com -My Farm Blog
http://crunchycountrymama.blogspot.com -My daily blog |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - May 31 2006 : 1:43:07 PM
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Just tore out some of my snap peas this afternoon in the blistering heat. They had reached their limit. I am proud of how well they did overall, since I planted them in February. It is way too hot. That is why my peas konked out. I left a few that still have blooms, hoping to get another meal out of them. My tomatoes look good and plentiful. I have Better Boys, Romas, and several other kinds. I planted six more pepper plants because they like it hot, and so maybe they will produce through the summer. The cucumbers are doing well. We have not had tons of rain, which is good, because cukes get a little soggy with too much rain. So, anyway, my salads are enjoying fresh produce, and I just wish I had a couple of more acres to plant more. Oh well, I could probably not stand the work! I am old!
Peace |
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JennyWren
True Blue Farmgirl
201 Posts
USA
201 Posts |
Posted - Jun 02 2006 : 9:37:40 PM
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My daughter brought a little tomato plant that I had started from seed, for me, to sit in the window at the hospital. Everytime I felt really awful, or had trouble breathing I looked at that little plant. I have to tell you that helped me get better faster! Kept my mind on something positive.
When I came home from the hospital, I went out in the backyard to look at what needed to be done. I came back in the house 10 minutes later completely overwhelmed. Little by little .. I am able to do more. My starts are huge and need to be planted. But the fence needs to be weather proofed first. So I am hoping to get that done this weekend. Then during the week.. I will get my garden in.
I am excited about this year's produce, because I based everything I planted on the canning recipes I collected throughout the winter!
If you treat an individual as what he is, he will stay that way, but if you
treat him as if he were what he could be, he will become what he could be.
-- Goethe
www.jennywrensurbanhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
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westernhorse51
True Blue Farmgirl
1681 Posts
michele
farmingdale
n.j.
USA
1681 Posts |
Posted - Jun 03 2006 : 05:53:11 AM
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Carla, I am so glad your feeling better. A flower or plant can do so much to lift us up. Start very slow and don't push yourself. it will all get finish in due time. 
she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13 |
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JennyWren
True Blue Farmgirl
201 Posts
USA
201 Posts |
Posted - Jun 03 2006 : 7:44:34 PM
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Thanks Michele...
I was outside the better part of the day today... No asthma problems today. YIPPEE!!!
I got the very best news.. on Friday. I'm not allergic to birds, ducks, chickens, geese (who would think there is an allergy test for geese?) dogs, rabbits, goats, sheep or horses.. Not so great on the cat thing.. but I can live with that. Just cannot without birds!
The garden is shaping up.. I just have to pace myself.. and I am fine. Thank you for your kind comments.
If you treat an individual as what he is, he will stay that way, but if you
treat him as if he were what he could be, he will become what he could be.
-- Goethe
www.jennywrensurbanhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
Edited by - JennyWren on Jun 03 2006 10:14:14 PM |
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sillyfoulks
True Blue Farmgirl
164 Posts
Elizabeth
Illinois
USA
164 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2006 : 06:57:36 AM
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Frustrated!! We went for a week to visit family in Georgia, and returned only to find the weeds threatening to take over. I have spent the last week at war with them, and it looks like I might come out ahead. We are loving the radishes and lettuce, and have already had friends asking after some. The tomatoes are struggling some with the heat and no rain, so we are back to hauling water. Darn! Next year, the tomatoes will be up closer to the house or at least closer to one of the faucets. Everything else seems to be doing great including the flowerbeds.
Elizabeth
Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.
http://livingcountrystyle.blogspot.com/ |
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Juliekay
True Blue Farmgirl
237 Posts
237 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2006 : 07:23:22 AM
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My garden didn't do so well. The only thing that seems to be doing okay is the eggplant, tomatoes and herbs. The broccoli, cauliflower and kohl rabi didn't get enough sun, I think. We also have been gone a lot this month so we didn't thin on time, and didn't weed enough.
Julie |
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Jackiestar
Farmgirl at Heart
6 Posts
Jackie
Lincoln
Montana
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2006 : 4:33:59 PM
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| I'm extremely jealous that some of you are having TOMATO sandwiches already!! The lilacs in my yard have just bloomed so we are quite a ways behind most other parts of the country. This year, spring in Montana is everything I want it to be....some really hot days to plant seeds, followed by a good, weekly rain. And of course the weather is great for displaying the wildflowers in a mason jar on my desk :) I'm crossing my fingers for a tomato crop nearer to August so wish me luck! |
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knittingmomma
True Blue Farmgirl
106 Posts
Tonya
Vermont
106 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2006 : 05:39:34 AM
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Ahhhhh, Our cold weather crops look beautiful and we have been eating and selling leaf lettuce. Our beets, carrots, peas, broccoli, bachelor buttons (flowers) all look great. BUT! Our warm weather crops have not done much as we have had and continue to have soooo much rain and cloudy weather. Our beans all rotted (fungus) so we will have to replant when it dries out. Right now we plan to continue planting lettuce, swiss chard, more beets, etc.. in case this is a trend.
Warm wishes,
Tonya - Simple Living Mom of 5
Natural Earth Farm - A Village Homestead making handcrafted goods of natural fibers - http://www.naturalearthfarm.com |
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Judes
True Blue Farmgirl
156 Posts
Jude
OH
USA
156 Posts |
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Garden Gate: How Are Everyones Gardens? |
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How Are Everyones Gardens?
