Gardens, anyone? What are you growing this year?

[Beekissed]

WOW, folks!!!! I love to hear about so many people who still think its a good thing to put in a garden. All I seem to hear, nowadays, when I discuss homesteading, raising chickens, gardening or any kind of self-sustaining lifestyle is, "Sounds like a lot of hard work to me!" Since when did hard work become dirty words? People used to be proud of being a hard worker!!!

I am putting in:

*Ambrosia sweet corn, in succession plantings
*6 doz. tomatoes - Brandywine, Germans, Big Boy, *Big Girl, and Sweet 100s
*Green beans---Blue Lake stringless pole, Tenderettes and half-runners
*Squash--yellow str. neck
*Cantaloupe
*Cucumbers---Str. Eights and Burpless
*Melons--Sugar Babies
*Onions---Walla Walla and Kandie
*Peppers---Big Bertha and California Wonders
*Hot peppers--Hungarian Wax
*Gourds---Dipper, Birdhouse and Luffa
*Pumpkins---old-fashioned, small, and jack'o'lantern sizes
*Herbs---lavender, thyme, key lime basil, chives, *chocolate mint and rosemary.
*Lettuce--Romaine, red leaf and buttercrunch
carrots
*Fall crops of broccoli, savoy cabbage, lettuce, carrots, radishes
*Assorted perennials
*Am also starting some apple seedlings from my 15 tree orchard of assorted apples--best tasting mountain apples ever!

I am trying, for the first time, raised-bed gardening, no-till gardening, complete mulching, green mulching, composting bins, trellises, row covers, cold frames and square foot gardening. This has been an exciting spring and I can't wait until the crops show up, so that I can see if these methods are all they are supposed to be. I hope to have a roadside stand this year also.

Isn't this fun??

 

[lilcountry]

Okra, Green Beans, Lima Beans, Watermelon, Cantelope, Squash, Zucchini, Eggplant, Carrots, Tomatoes, Cabbage, Peppers, Cucumbers, Corn, Pumpkins later, I think thats it...I also work on a farm!

 

[lilcountry]

Quote:
Keep us updated, specifically on the raised beds, complete mulching and what exactly is the no till all about and the green mulching, cold frames and square foot??? I thought about having somewhere to sell a little of what I have, I work at a farm which sells through a Certified Roadside Market by the Dept of Ag, you can go to PorterFarmsandNursery.com and see more on it, but they started little and have grown by leaps and bounds adding a little each year. Plus the economic growth in my area and the development! Not always good, but for them great!

 

[BJ]

tomatoes, green peppers, turnips, cucumbers, 2 types of Indian corn (for ds to sell in the fall)...and lotsa weeds!!!

(Actually, I feel like I have a large tree farm-in-the-making with all these silver maple whirly birds flying around everywhere. My yard and flower beds are COVERED!!)

 

[silkieboxerluv]

Broc,Cabbage,Celery,Bush Cukes-4 different kinds,egg plant, butternut,acorn squash, zuchinni,red yellow and green peppers, all the hot peppers habs,jale, even pimentos, any kind of tomatoe-had 16 plants last year, red potatoe and yukon gold, 2 kinds of eggplants, umm if I forgot anything else i'll edit. I LOVE MY GARDEN!

 

[Fowl-Language]

Tons of yummy corn, beans, peas, carrots, lettuce, spinach, yellow squash & tomatoes. The chickens are pouting because I've temporarily fenced them out of the garden, their favorite place to play.

 

[Poison Ivy]

We planted corn, green beans, red potato's, yukon gold potato's, yellow tomato's & big boy tomato's, bell peppers, red & yellow onions. Sunflowers, millet & my daughter planted some different flower seeds.

 

[Beekissed]

lilcountry[/quote :


Keep us updated, specifically on the raised beds, complete mulching and what exactly is the no till all about and the green mulching, cold frames and square foot???

No-till gardening is a method in which you use little, to no, tillage in your beds or garden, to promote the growth of organisms living in the soil that are beneficial. The idea is to mulch and just loosen the soil with a broadfork when ready to plant. I will tell you that I had to have the garden space tilled for the first time but plan to do no more tilling from now on. Some folks don't even do that! They feel that exposure of the soil to UV rays kills too many beneficial bacteria and organisms and releases too much carbon into the air.

Green manure is simply planting cover crops (after your done with your growing season) that winter-kill, providing nitrogen replacement and soil aeration from the dead root systems. Keeps the soil from compacting during the winter months from rain and snow. Buckwheat, field peas, etc.

Cold frames are just boxes, or frames, of soil with a glass or plastic topper in which you can start your seedlings early or grow lettuce and small crops in while it is still winter.

Square foot gardening is a space-saving method developed to maximize garden space, particularly for folks with little space. Joel Salatin even favors this method in his plantings.

If you folks don't already get Countryside magazine, it will be the best thing you've ever done for yourself to subscribe to it. Anything you ever wanted to know about living in the country and self-sustaining lifestyles....its in there!​

 

[Dixiedoodle]

I have 37 tomatoes in the ground and 40 waiting to be planted in another week, 100 watermelon , 4 cukes, 4 squash, 4 zucc., 6 pumpkin, okra, greenbeans and limas, peas, corn, sunflowers and a patch of greens will be planted in the fall. I joined the sister site also..

 

[NurseNettie]

Mind you... this is the first time I've had a garden in 20 years-- we just bought our house 2 months ago and have plenty of land to plant. Hubby is working on tilling and clearing garden #3, and we've got seedlings everywhere ( still a couple weeks shy of planting most of it outside here).
Found the asparagus and onions yesterday-- cleared, weeded etc, and can't wait to eat them!! Onions will be a while- but asparagus is ready.
Plum, cherry, and slicing tomatoes. Bell, cherry, and several varieties of hot peppers. Rhubarb (already growing). Cabbages, lettuces, brussel sprouts, whatever pea and beans that are here in the house (former owner left a stockpile of seeds--so we're gonna try them). Pumpkins, squashes, herbs........
I know there's more, but I just can't think of it.
This is a test year. We're also getting a later start than we'd like, but heck-- we just got here. We've got to see what grows,and what doesn't.
Oh--- can't forget broccoli and cauliflower!