What did you do in the garden today?

[AmeliaBedelia]

Did some "preschooler gardening" today...basically bought the cheapest spring planting bulbs I could find and let him go to town in the front yard. Did the same in the fall, and the daffodils, tulips, etc, are starting to sprout!!! Hoping it will be beautiful chaos this spring/summer and not just a mess, haha.

Any suggestions for full or partial shade plants, flowers, cover crops, food, etc I could plant in the back yard where the chickens free range? I would like to beautify it a bit and add some nutritional value to their foraging, but don't want to waste my time on stuff that needs full sun or that they will completely demolish in 5 seconds (or that could poison them). I've done a leeeetle research, but it's been daunting. Zone 7/8 (basically on the line).

Bonus points if it would be easy and fun for small children to help plant. And inexpensive.

 

[karenerwin]

No heater in my greenhouse but since our winters are pretty mild (maybe 14 days of freezing temperatures at night a year) I seem to have good luck with mine. I wintered over a few peppers and my snap peas are just about all sprouting now. This time of year I'll just be starting the cold hardy stuff and leave the tomatoes and pepper seeds for another month or so.

I haven't posted pics in a while so here's a few:

View attachment 2542232
This the the pepper I trimmed back like you're supposed to do.

View attachment 2542236
Dottie and Amelia "sharing" a nest.

View attachment 2542241
And an example of what happens if you leave your beets in the ground over the winter. The chickens love these and eat them leaves first then the beets.

My Mom gave me a pair of those boots a couple of years ago! Unfortunately they were a bit too small so I passed them on to my grandkids!

 

[karenerwin]

I am still in "use up what is in the freezer" mode so that I will have room in the freezer when needed for this year's garden produce. I made a couple batches of blackberry/strawberry Jelly. Hopefully they will set up They are still looking pretty runny at this point.
I know I still have watermelon in the freezer to use to make watermelon jam and there is at least 1 more bag of blackberries. I think there are some bags of Roma tomatoes in the chest freezer too. I need to find time to dig in deep and see what is in there!
Almost all of our snow has melted today and the yards are quite soggy and squishy!
I located my grow light but still need to pull it out and hook it up in the small raised bed/greenhouse in the living room and get some seeds started!! I can't wait.

 

[WthrLady]

I haven't even made a dent in what I put up last year.

 

[BReeder!]

I am still in "use up what is in the freezer" mode so that I will have room in the freezer when needed for this year's garden produce. I made a couple batches of blackberry/strawberry Jelly. Hopefully they will set up They are still looking pretty runny at this point.
I know I still have watermelon in the freezer to use to make watermelon jam and there is at least 1 more bag of blackberries. I think there are some bags of Roma tomatoes in the chest freezer too. I need to find time to dig in deep and see what is in there!
Almost all of our snow has melted today and the yards are quite soggy and squishy!
I located my grow light but still need to pull it out and hook it up in the small raised bed/greenhouse in the living room and get some seeds started!! I can't wait.

You have a raised bed in your living room?
This I have to see. Pics please?

 

[BReeder!]

I haven't even made a dent in what I put up last year.

I dream of saying that this time next year.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

I am still in "use up what is in the freezer" mode so that I will have room in the freezer when needed for this year's garden produce. I made a couple batches of blackberry/strawberry Jelly. Hopefully they will set up They are still looking pretty runny at this point.
I know I still have watermelon in the freezer to use to make watermelon jam and there is at least 1 more bag of blackberries. I think there are some bags of Roma tomatoes in the chest freezer too. I need to find time to dig in deep and see what is in there!
Almost all of our snow has melted today and the yards are quite soggy and squishy!
I located my grow light but still need to pull it out and hook it up in the small raised bed/greenhouse in the living room and get some seeds started!! I can't wait.

Even if the jam does NOT set, I volunteer to eat it. That sounds DELICIOUS.

 

[BReeder!]

My native plum trees are supposed to ship in the next 1-3 weeks. That seems a bit early to me. We are definitely still getting freezing temps in March, especially at night. I cannot seem to find info on transplanting native plum. Any thoughts on planting them outside or sticking them in pots indoors until things warm up a bit?

 

[chickengr]

We are 6A. We bought a Chicago Hardy Fig from Burpee (pretty sure) as a 1" tall sprout. Yes, 1 inch, and just a few leaves. We planted it next to a south facing brick wall, with a large bush just to the west of it, to help block bad winter winds.




Just a few months later, This is what it looked like. It did develop some figs, but they did not mature that first year.
View attachment 2542225


So it died back to the ground over the winter. Roots were viable and it sprang back to life.
Here is a pic from Sept 1, 2020 after the first winter. The figs showed up earlier and several ripened. I didn't get a pic though.
View attachment 2542227


This is planted in an area we don't walk by much, so we forget about it. I'm a bit worried it is planted too close to the wall - not sure how troublesome the roots are on a fig. Anyone know?

very troublesome. in greece we keep figs away from any buildings.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

My native plum trees are supposed to ship in the next 1-3 weeks. That seems a bit early to me. We are definitely still getting freezing temps in March, especially at night. I cannot seem to find info on transplanting native plum. Any thoughts on planting them outside or sticking them in pots indoors until things warm up a bit?

You could maybe rig up a "green house" for them with some clear plastic sheeting?