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Garden Gate:  who has started this year's gardening?  |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 14 2013 : 11:04:13 AM
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getting ready to plant soon. I normally start planting seeds for peas and lettuces on Feb.14th. And yes, today I have one 4 foot by 8 foot garden bed ready for seeds.
I assembled and filled a large tower planter today that will hold twenty six strawberry plants. I put that at the end of a four foot by eight foot raised bed that has my raspberry canes in it also/so all my berry plants can be near the same area for easy harvesting.
I have about eight strawberry plants that survived the winter that I will remove from an 8 ft by 4 ft garden bed and put them into the stacking tower planter/replenish soil in the area they were in and sow seeds for veggies in that garden bed...
I am going to take some leftover herb plants out of another 4 foot by 8 foot area and pot them up and add new soil to that raised bed area also this week for sowing beans and
a few other things.
I have a total of 5 eight foot by four foot raised bed garden areas/ plus an 8 foot by eight foot iris bed.
1 garden area houses raspberries and will now have the strawberry tower in it too/1 had herbs but will be converted back to veggies/ and one had strawberries but will be converted back to veggies also. and 1 is a permanent asparagus bed.(yes asparagus can be grown in central Florida..yay!)
Gosh..I am excited about seeing the first seeds sprouting......what about you?
what garden plans do you have this year?
~I Dream of a Better World..where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned!~
blogs:http://gardengoose.blogspot.com/
and http://thevictorygardener.blogspot.com
magazine: www.stliving.com
etsy shops: http://GardenGooseGifts.etsy.com
and http://myvictorygarden.etsy.com |
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prariehawk
True Blue Farmgirl
2914 Posts
Cindy
2914 Posts |
Posted - Feb 14 2013 : 3:51:49 PM
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I've ordered seeds for some herbs I'm growing indoors. I'm using seeds leftover from last year for my vegetables. Still too cold to plant anything outdoors but I have noticed some green shoots coming up--I think they're jonquils--the previous owner of this house planted the bulbs and they come back every year.
Cindy
"Vast floods can't quench love, no matter what love did/ Rivers can't drown love, no matter where love's hid"--Sinead O'Connor
"In many ways, you don't just live in the country, it lives inside you"--Ellen Eilers
Visit my blog at http://www.farmerinthebelle.blogspot.com/ |
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Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1403 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1403 Posts |
Posted - Feb 14 2013 : 4:15:33 PM
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I have planted marigold seeds in a milk jug as a winter sowing exercise. Nothing has come up yet, so I will try something else.
Nothing yet on the marigolds. I have also started some hollyhocks and will see what happens. It is still getting down to the 20's at night, so it is going to be a while. (2-20-13)
Betty in Pasco |
Edited by - Betty J. on Feb 20 2013 09:43:41 AM |
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laurentany
True Blue Farmgirl
3259 Posts
Laurie
Patchogue
NY
USA
3259 Posts |
Posted - Feb 14 2013 : 5:40:44 PM
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Havent yet, but will start lettuce and sno peas outside soon!
So excited to get going again this year! Good luck with all of your growing gals...
Hugs,
~Laurie
"Little Hen House on the Island"
Farmgirl Sister#1403
View my New Blog:
http://simplesuburbanpleasures.blogspot.com
Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.
~Robert Louis Stevenson |
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Dorinda
True Blue Farmgirl
1023 Posts
Dorinda
St. Cloud
Florida
USA
1023 Posts |
Posted - Feb 14 2013 : 6:17:32 PM
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Tina, I live in central Florida. Yes I have started my garden. I have cabbage growing doing good. Red sweet onions. I added 3 plum trees to my fruit garden. I am also going to add a cocktail tree in about 2 weeks. I have about 40 tomato plants started. I am fixing to plant lettuce and carrots. Also going to start squash and zucchini. I am also going to plant a row of mustards and turnips. I am going to also try a pickling cucumber this year. i decided not to plant potatoes this year and green beans. About the middle to end of march I will plant okra. Also thinking if I have room on some eggplants.
Seize The Day!
Dorinda |
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magnoliakathy
True Blue Farmgirl
453 Posts
Kathryn
Magnolia
Texas
USA
453 Posts |
Posted - Feb 15 2013 : 06:03:41 AM
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I started my garden a few weeks ago in a little greenhouse in the garage. Tomato seeds have sprouted and have their first and second sets of true leaves, bell pepper seeds have sprouted,eggplants are a little slow, I have 60 assorted companion flower seeds sowed in flats. I plant my beans, squash, and melons around the middle of March in the ground. This year I will be starting a container garden. I have bought 12 55-gallon plastic drums, cut them in half and have 24 "pots". I plan on getting 12 more, each pot will have a circle of drip pipe and each row of pots will have a water header pipe with a cutoff valve, all headers will connect to a supply header and there is a timer at the faucet.
When you free your mind your heart can fly. Farmgirl # 714, |
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Katlady93
True Blue Farmgirl
361 Posts
Charlotte
Denmark
SC
USA
361 Posts |
Posted - Feb 15 2013 : 10:15:25 AM
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i have started looking at seed catalogs and figuring out where it going to go. i won't be able to start planting for a while yet. :-( sometimes, usually around this tine of year, i wonder if maybe we shouldn't move South.....
Some dreams are worth the risk it takes to make them real.
Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footsteps on the moon. |
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BarnHeart
True Blue Farmgirl
83 Posts
Autumn
New Albany
IN
USA
83 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2013 : 04:56:47 AM
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All your gardens sound incredible! I'd love to see pictures, especially of the containers and the berry towers. I don't do anything fancy in my yard; I plant directly in the ground, and have had much success doing it that way. It's so weedy though, that my DH wants to do raised beds. I actually enjoy weeding, so I've nixed that idea for now. :)
I've got kale, spinach, chard, lettuce, cauliflower, and broccoli going in my living room under grow lights. They'll go in the ground in about two weeks, pending I can get the soil worked by then. It's either been frozen or too muddy to get started. Perhaps DH is on the right track with raised beds...ha.
Anyway, this is my first successful attempt at starting seeds indoors, and I am thrilled. Here they are - they make me smile!
I love wool! Visit my website at www.heartfeltwool.com to see my creations! |
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13628 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13628 Posts |
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Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1403 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1403 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2013 : 08:33:55 AM
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CJ, try putting black tarps over your garden area to warm the soil and then cover them after the soil has warmed. It's a lot of work, but well worth it.
Betty in Pasco |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
Posted - Feb 16 2013 : 11:15:33 AM
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I just started some seeds yesterday. Bob made a cold frame and then a warming tray, but I am starting seeds indoors first. Last year we started stuff in the cold frame and it worked great and then when we transplanted we put them in the green house. Not much goes in the ground (seeds) til May at least. But it is all fun. MB
http://www.smallcityscenes.blogspot.com
www.day4plus.blogspot.com
"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
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HodgeLodge
True Blue Farmgirl
662 Posts
Tiana
Berkeley Springs
WV
USA
662 Posts |
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Katlady93
True Blue Farmgirl
361 Posts
Charlotte
Denmark
SC
USA
361 Posts |
Posted - Feb 17 2013 : 11:24:19 AM
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same here, nothing will go outside for a while yet. Mid to Late May. and then it is iffy
Some dreams are worth the risk it takes to make them real.
Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footsteps on the moon. |
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13628 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13628 Posts |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
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Pasthyme
True Blue Farmgirl
99 Posts
Gail
Mountain View
AR
99 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2013 : 04:03:01 AM
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Indooors started tomatoes, cukes, banana peppers, basil, chives. They are up under a florescent light fixture. Will start more as time permits.
Outdoors in cold frame I put some radishes, lettuce, spinach, kale, collards. Some of them are just now coming up. I recently made the cold frame with cinder blocks (2 high) filled with compost soil. I bought a clear shower curtain and put that over it held down with rocks. Not exactly the way a cold frame is supposed to be made, but it seems to work to get a jump on the season. I'll use it as a raised bed planter when it gets warm. I cleaned the hoop house yesterday--the sun was shining nice and warm. I have black garbage cans in there--cut in half and filled with composted soil. I planted some spinach, lettuce, and mustard. My garden is all raised beds because we have very rocky soil.
Can't wait to be eating this stuff!
www.thealteredego.webs.com |
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Madelena
True Blue Farmgirl
1919 Posts
Mary
Central
TX
USA
1919 Posts |
Posted - Feb 18 2013 : 06:25:46 AM
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Beds are ready to go. And this year I need fencing for our new rescue greyhound who thinks the garden is his personal dirt pile. Dig, Dig, Dig. He has a moat almost done around our shed!!
Seems I can't grow seedlings in the house -- they all damp off. Same for house plants.. they just don't like me. Cacti.. they do. Even African Violets. Everything else started indoors is a bust. Outside, I can grow most anything from seed.
I love sitting in the grass and watching the little seedlings just breaking the soil surface. I can imagine how God felt to see His creations coming to fruition. New Life.. such an awesome moment. Okay, perhaps I am the only one that feels that way. But it's a great moment. LIke watching a baby chick peck out of its shell.
Beds are prepared and ready. Temps in Cen-TX can range be from the 30s at nite with a wind chill in the 20's and reach mid 70's during the day. What a roller coaster. February. Still the chance of an ice storm. Go figure. Makes me awfully caution to put summer veggies yet.
"There is no unbelief: Whoever plants a seed beneath the sod and waits to see it push away the clod, he trusts in God." (Kate Douglas Wiggin) |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2013 : 09:38:12 AM
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Here in upper Midwest there is fresh snow on the frozen ground. Our pond is really high due to repeated freeze/thaw cycles, I think the drain is plugged with ice. This is a really good thing because last year we had drought.
Anyway, back to your question. I got really cabin-feverish last month and so I started going through old seed packages. I had a rather large bag of beet seeds I did n't plant last year, so on a whim I decided to do a germination test to see if I could plant them this year. I placed 100 seeds on a wet, folded paper towel in a plastic bag and put them on the top of the refrigerator. I had about a 60% germination rate, then I couldn't stand to waste them, so I filled up a seeding flat with dirt and planted each of them in a cell. I put them in a South window but I don't think they are getting enough light, they are really spindly. I am hoping the ground thaws enough in March that I can put them outside (if the cold temps don't kill them). Maybe I can rig up a cold frame. I think beets are supposed to be direct-seeded because of the long taproot so it will be interestng to see what I get. Anyway it is nice to know I can use the rest of the seed outside when the ground warms up, just sow it a little thicker than normal. Or maybe I can just cut the tops of my spindly little plants and use them in a salad.
Normally I am always anxious to start my seeds indoors in February and I have to restrain myself from planting too early. Since we can usually plant warm-weather crops outside on May 15, I start my tomatoes and peppers around March 15. Lettuce and Swiss Chard can be planted outside a little earlier.
One tradition I have always tried to follow is to plant potatoes and peas outside by Saint Patrick's day for the best crop. Problem is that the ground is not always thawed sufficiently by then.
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 blogs at http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com (farming) http://brightmeadowknits.blogspot.com (knitting) or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2013 : 12:14:24 PM
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Here it is to plant Sweet Peas on Washington's birthday. We have Lettuce in the greenhouse. My Mother always grew Lettuce year-round in a container so she could move it around. MB
http://www.smallcityscenes.blogspot.com
www.day4plus.blogspot.com
"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
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sissarge
True Blue Farmgirl
502 Posts
Linda
Montgomery
Texas
USA
502 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2013 : 12:44:20 PM
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| Kathyrn, tell me what all you put in the barrels, what is your mix of dirt I mean. Seems just like using potting soil is not to good. Would you tell me what mix you use. I have some barrels cut in half also, and would like to try this. Farmgirl #946 Linda |
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rubyleesmom
True Blue Farmgirl
190 Posts
Colina
Homosassa
FL
USA
190 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2013 : 5:40:18 PM
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| We have lettuce and broccoli growing in our garden right now.. We did buy a variety pack of seeds for our summer garden and I have a few different packaged of herbs I'm going to try as well as some Zinnias. Looking forward to getting my hands in the dirt soon! |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
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Bonnie Ellis
True Blue Farmgirl
2474 Posts
Bonnie
Minneapolis
Minnesota
USA
2474 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2013 : 10:47:37 PM
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I love this post because I envy you farmgirls out there who live in a warmer climate. Its been below zero her for some time and snow covers the ground. Outside planting is impossible but I'm thinking about it. Inside it is different. We have an indoor koi pond, orchids, water garden plants and house plants. I will be planting seeds about March indoors for the summer. Enjoy your gardens whenever they happen!
grandmother and orphan farmgirl |
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nancygene
Farmgirl at Heart
5 Posts
Nancy
Michigan City
Indiana
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2013 : 08:17:00 AM
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| Still snow on the ground here in NW Indiana, but according to my planting guide I found on the internet somewhere, I can start some of my indoor seeds on Friday (I also plant by the moon cycles). Woo-hoo, can't wait. I have much to do outside when the weather breaks. Lots of branches need to be picked up around the yard and I had neglected my spice garden quite a bit to take care of our veggie garden (mostly by myself). However, if this year's veggie garden does as well as last year, I will be soooo happy. |
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LeighErica
True Blue Farmgirl
306 Posts
Erica
PA
USA
306 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2013 : 11:22:49 AM
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No planting going on in PA, but last Friday it was unseasonably warm so I pruned back the dead branches on my hydrangea bushes, pulled the dead stalks from my mums and cleaned up my beds a bit. We pulled all of our hostas out around the house this past fall because snakes were hiding under them, and I was scared to weed...and I have to admit...I really don't like hostas in my flower beds. Anyway, I will begin planting new bushes and shrubs in the spring, but no veggie garden this year...moving yet again...so that bed will lie asleep until we return, or if the new tenants want to use it. :( I had so many plans for this property, but I guess it will just have to wait. Sigh, Erica
Farm Girl #2731 |
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Catherine
True Blue Farmgirl
166 Posts
Catherine Ann
Temple
TX
USA
166 Posts |
Posted - Feb 23 2013 : 07:54:22 AM
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I have planted spinach, sugar snap peas, lettuce, and sweet peas in containers and raised beds.
Looking forward to more planting in the next few days!
:)
http://stillroomherbs.blogspot.com
http://lovelivingsimply.blogspot.com/
Farmgirl Sister #1801
Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant. ~Robert Louis Stevenson
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Garden Gate: who has started this year's gardening? |
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who has started this year's gardening?
