Vegetable Gardens: Tips, Advice, Questions, Tales, Pictures

[CAMAROBOY69]

Well it looks like we couldnt wait any longer fighting the 30 degree weather. We pulled all our tomatoes earlier this week. Will be pulling the bell peppers tonight. Sure was a good time with our first garden. Learned a lot for next year thats for sure.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Its that time of year again!! We took a risk and planted our stuff about 2-3 weeks ago. So this is easily 2 months earlier than last year which means we should have one really good garden this year. Plus we learned a lot from our last year garden. Still waiting for 2 Roma plants to arrive at the store then we will have everything we want. Also planted about 6 strawberry plants beside the house where the sunflowers used to be. There are already at least 6 strawberries!

Its all very well spaced out too. We have the tomatoes way in the back, the banana peppers in the middle, and the bell peppers in the front. Plenty of space between each other and everything should get plenty of light. We already survived 2 frosts in the last couple weeks with another frost coming up this weekend.

 

[Fastas]

oh wow, I thought it was a secret I'd take to my grave I have green fingers too! I will up date you all with my projects some time soon.

 

[FoolKiller]

Also planted about 6 strawberry plants beside the house.

For best results a lot of people suggest pulling off any fruit the first year as soon as it appears and not harvesting until the second year.


As for my garden; I am not messing with one this year. I might grow some tomatoes or something, but that is it. With the baby I don't have the time to keep the weeds back as I should. I did have volunteer lettuce come up this year though, so I will cut that and use it, but then I am doing a full weed kill on the garden and possibly mixing in some fertilizer. I will keep it clean of weeds, but that will be it.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Those tomato caterpillars are pretty scary when seen for the first time. My grandfather used to grow a lot of tomato's and would get the bugs from time to time. Thats where I saw one for the first time. I haven't seen one here where I live ever. I hope I never see one again. Here is what they look like.

We get those pretty much every year trying to eat the leaves of our tomato plants. They are commonly called Tomato Hornworms (caterpillar). We usually kill them, but the kids like to play with them, so we save a couple and put them in a container for the kids to watch and play with. They are huge (about 4" long), and the green color is very bright. The kids love holding them and letting them crawl on them. Interestingly though, when they cocoon, they do it under ground.

After a couple weeks they come out... as pretty big moths.

Here are a few shots I took of one that had recently emerged from its cocoon:

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Wow that is quite large.

We already have 1 tomato growing and about 6 strawberries. One of our banana pepper plants died so we replaced it with a new one. Other than that everything seems to be doing well. The sprinkler is also making a huge difference already this year. So glad I installed that last year even though it wrecked my back in the process. Still worth it.

Total garden plants right now.
(5) strawberry plants
(4) yellow banana plants
(4) bell peppers ranging from yellow, red, and orange
(3) cherry type tomato plants
(1) Roma
(1) other Tomato plant

 

[Joey D]

My dad and I are under way trying to get our garden going. We've already planted a few tomato, butternut squash and cucumber plants. My dad went to the market this morning to see about getting poblano pepper plants since we love to make rellenos out of them. I'll snap some pictures at some point this week since it's been raining for the past two days. I'm really looking forward to getting a nice haul again this year!

I think my mom planted strawberries too, unfortunately I won't be able to eat them . I hate growing fresh stuff I can't eat.

 

[TB]

We removed all the plant remains from our the garden my in-laws took over and it's in the process of being turned into a sandbox. I figure that when the kids are tired of the sandbox we can remove the sand, bring in some good dirt and have a slightly raised bed.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Our garden is doing very well this year. I have already trimmed my tomato plants down because they were too big. Already picked quite a few yellow banana peppers and bell peppers and quite a few tomatoes.

With that said I just couldnt help but post this picture of our Hybiscus. Holy crap this thing is producing massive flowers and usually 3 at a time. Each flower is 12 inches in diameter!!!!

 

[Feral Pigeon]

I'm actually going to start my own "Mushroom Garden". I've heard you can actually cross-breed mushrooms, so you can yield different results from them. I know that "'shrooms" are illegal, and I would never touch them, but I do plan to grow others both for food, and medicine. I plan to cross-breed Reishi, Shiitake, Maitake, Hen O' The Wood, and Red Pine mushrooms together to make a super-hybrid.

anyway, sorry for shroom-ranting.

 

[photonrider]

Hi FK!
Thanks for creating this thread - it's going to be really busy this year !

I did a 12' X 8' vegetable plot in 2009 that turned out very well but I skipped last year because I found it to be time consuming, hard on the back and even costly, but the results were well worth it in terms of fun and produce.

Here are some pics from that episode:

I harvested tomatoes like this several times, enough to share with four neighbors.

I had two pumpkins - one of them viewed from above.

A close-up with some hot peppers I grew, too.

The peppers were scary hot - I couldn't get through all of them.

This was how it began:

On the left is the vegetable garden being watered by Rafe, on the right a bed of poppies being weeded by Nate.

In two months they had grown this big:

I've already put down a garden this year with corn, beets, carrots, beans, cucumber, zucchini, tomato, peppers, and I also have a small herb garden which contains pineapple sage, chocolate mint, and other goodies. Will be posting progress as time goes on.

 

[FoolKiller]

Well, I have been fairly absent from this thread. I wasn't in the best of health last year so I didn't do any gardening. This year I am keeping it small, but got a late start and only planted stuff about two weeks ago.

I am doing tomatoes and green beans in pots on my deck, and around back I have two Topsy Turvys that were designed for strawberries, but it said you could do peppers or herbs as well. So, one is doing peppers and one is doing herbs.

The herbs have all done fairly well. In fact, I had to cut the blooms back from my dill because it is growing faster than I need to harvest it. That garden has:

Stevia
Oregano
German Thyme
Cilantro
Basil
Thai Basil
Dill
Sage

Rosemary - in a pot on the deck.

I have already harvested Oregano and Cilantro for recipes, and I will be harvesting some stevia to begin drying it very soon.

If you love to cook I cannot recommend an herb garden highly enough. They are easy to do and you have fresh herbs all season. At the end of summer cut them back and dry or freeze everything that is left. Even homemade dry herbs are infinitely better than store bought.

In my pepper garden I have
jalapeno
tabasco
green bell
yellow bell
red bell

The jalapenos will be ready to harvest in about a week.

At the end of the year I will let the last ones turn red and then string them up and dry them for decoration/winter use.

And my first green bell just started coming in.

These I can't wait for. I love bell peppers in my recipes.


I'll have more pictures later showing the setup and showing off my tomatoes which are starting to come in.

 

[photonrider]

Hi FK,
Well I caught your threads on your transplant, and also the trip among the big rocks - loved the pics -wow - what a great time ,eh? I was constantly looking for any kind of rocky terrain to climb, when younger - I was game for any hike that involved some kind of elevated view. I have to add that you have a lot of spunk, man, in line for a transplant and yet not letting it keep you down. Inspirational and gutsy!
Meanwhile - in other news - and on topic - I'm so glad to see you greening your fingers again - yes, peppers and herbs from a kitchen garden always come in handy.
I've already used the pineapple sage in roasted chicken - mmmmmm! The chocolate mint is a popular garnish for sundaes and ice cream - and fidgety neighbors keep plucking the leaves off and chewing on it like preoccupied rabbits.

OK. Pictures of course!

The Vegetable Garden, with a smaller Herb Garden to the side 4 weeks ago:

A Week ago:

Close ups of Tomato, and the first of the Zucchini!:

Carrot, and Cucumber on the Left. Corn, Tomato, and Cucumber on the Right.

Huge amount of weeding to be done, since I let it run wild from the beginning. I'll post pix of the plot after dressing -the weather has been extremely dry - really humid - humidex takes us into the 40's often - no rain for almost ten days now - so I make sure it gets a thorough soaking at least every other day - either late in the eve or early morn.

H.

 

[FoolKiller]

The garden is looking good! As for my spunk, I just decided to keep as healthy and active as possible. They give you these average life expectancy ranges of 10-15 years after the surgery for transplant patients and with a baby that doesn't sound good enough. So, the healthier I can stay now the more time I have. Assuming I do fall into that 10-15 range I figure that if I can stay healthy for five years and hold off the transplant that become 15-20 years. I also figure if I can prevent deterioration due to lifestyle beforehand then it prepares me for being one of those people you occasionally hear about who go like 25 years after a transplant because they stay so healthy.

But here is my current setup, although these pics are about a week old.

This is the herb garden:

And the pepper garden:

And the tomatoes:

In this pic the one on the right is a little yellow looking because it is about a day after transplanting to that pot. It is all green now. However, in the one on the right you can see a little water standing in the pot. It wasn't draining properly and I had to take my power drill to the drain holes to open them up. Its suffering some root rot now and I doubt it can be salvaged. I've moved it away, as I've heard that it can spread through spores.

And the rosemary:

This is in a pot that straddles the deck railing. It has done very well.

The green beans were just sprouting:

Now I am ready to thin and transplant some of them.



Since then I have had to start harvesting herbs simply to prevent them from sprouting flowers and maturing and going to seed.

Left to right: Oregano, Sage, Thai Basil

Stevia and Sweet Basil

German Thyme and Dill

And yesterday my first two jalapenos were ready.

 

[photonrider]

Hello, FK! MMMMMmmmmm - all those herbs have made me heady. The hanging planter phenomenon is a craze in the neck of the woods I'm in - don't know how Canadawide it has spread, but around Toronto, yeah, condos, apartments that has a balcony, aound the patio circuit, I see the same type of planter you are using.
It's very popular and most people use it for tomatoes, strawberries, or some type of flower. Using it for herbs is perfect. Everything you need for a stew, curry or grill is right there. The dill looks delicious - I can almost smell the scrambled egg! I have lots of basil growing too - thai basil,too. Basil is a must for me - great with tomatoes of course - and I've heard a tablespoon a day is 'good for the blood'. So I incorporate it into our home cooking often - not necc a TBS a day, though! I have tried Sage a few times, but never successfully. What is your secret?
I use dry Sage as a purifier (air -freshener) burning a sheaf of it to freshen the atmosphere. Right now I have to pay $1.50 for a few sparse sprigs, whenevr I need it.
My Cukes are coming along, though! Yup. Cukes galore. Harvested two last evening as well as a handful of flowers from the flower gardens I have.
I see your produce is healthy - FK - you surely have green thumbs!
What is the weather like there? The Rosemary - and everything else, looks lush.

It's been unbearably hot for weeks - in the 40's C and no rain. All the lawns in the neighborhood have turned brown. No watering ban as yet around here, but some parts of the Province have it - some cities. Canada is supposed to be having the greatest amount of fresh water in the world but I guess its all up North in those muskellunge-terrorized lakes.

I had to go in and attack the first crop of weeds.

Before and After shots:

Clearing out the weed brought to light beets, carrots, beans, cukes and corn starting to sprout. Tomatoes starting to awaken and wanting to be partaken thereof. I have already harvested about a kilo of green tomatoes for a neighbor who uses it in some form of pickle.

Here's my haul from last evening - couple o' cukes and some very fragrant roses for the table:

Hm. I never promised you a rose garden - but there you go. Sometimes miracles happen.

Cheers, FK! See you soon with more!
H.

 

[FoolKiller]

The weather this year has been near perfect for growing around here. 90-100 degrees (F) with 80%-90% humidity and a good rain of one to two inches once or twice a week.

That said, my cilantro did die back. I'm not sure what happened to it, but it just all died. It could be that it doesn't do well in the hanging planter. With most herbs getting bushy someone probably has to give because they can't all get ideal sunlight.

I'm unsure if I like the hanging Topsy Turvy planters or not for this. It is easy to harvest and keep weeds out of, but it is not ideal for watering conditions. I have to water it every day. Sometimes I can go two, but not often. Next year I may look into getting containers that sit on my deck railing the way the rosemary is now.

I currently have a number of bell peppers coming in and have harvested a couple of more jalapenos. And on the tomato front I should start getting my first ones in about a week The one that I feared I had lost to root rot is now showing new growth and the tomatoes are beginning to turn red.

For the sage I don't do anything special, but you being in a more northern climate may need to plant it later in the season. It is a perennial but even my winters are too harsh without bringing it in. I know I have an issue with peppers if I plant them before June most years.

But as for buying stuff I use a local farmer's market a lot and I find the prices reasonable. After my cilantro died I bought some there this week and I got a snack sized Ziploc bag full for about $3. They are pretty awesome about it too, if you don't want it pre-bagged a couple of them bring their potted herbs and will cut them for you there.



But for your cucumbers I just got a great recipe for a cucumber salad from my grandmother. Peel and thinly slice your cukes and mix them with some diced onion. Then mix together 1/2 cup of sour cream , vinegar (white or apple cider), and sugar until you have a slaw dressing consistency and toss with your cucumber/onion mixture. Then add dill seed or fresh dill weed to your preferred flavor. Sorry for the lack of measurements, but that is how it was relayed to me. "1/2 cup of sour cream or so, some vinegar, get that good Heinz vinegar, and a good wallop of sugar."

I don't know where she got that recipe. Her parents and grandparents were German and but she was born in Canada. Its often hard to tell whether her recipes are German traditional or learned from Canadian neighbors/Inuit neighbors, or if she picked them up here in Kentucky. All I know is that dressing works great for cole slaw as well and has a fraction of the sodium and fat as traditional slaw dressings.

 

[photonrider]

The cucumber salad you are talking about is almost a staple here. We make it like that but there are also a few variations depending on the culture - otherwise the basic recipe - the one you detailed, is the one that is used. Great 'sauce' for pork kebabs and I, myself like it Greek-style over grilled lamb souvlaki.
Thankfully, FK, my health is doing fine - having being a smoker for decades, I gave up last year, and feel the difference in many ways! One thing I'm enjoying a lot is that I have got my taste and smell back and that food is a lot more enjoyable.
I'm now beginning to pluck cucumber fresh off the bush, rinse out under the garden tap, and chomp on it as I go about my business.
Neighbors think I'm sort of a plant docter and keep leaving half dead plants on my doorstep for revival. I don't have time for my own plants, let alone sick orphans! But I do my best. I'm psychic when it comes to plants - I can almost feel a plants distress -it makes me sick ti the stomouch, so I avoid plant abuse. The cukes are sprouting out of my ying yang - 3 different kinds - they all taste different - I shall post pictures, and details soon,

Meanwhile - a few more pics -

And - in other news - the roses are doing really well this year:

Cheers
H.

 

[diabolicwyvern]

A thread on Veggies!

I'll put up picks this week. In my small city yard I grow the following:

Veggies
Tomatoes - several types
Green peppers
Celery
Cucumbers
Broccoli
Musk Melon
Watermelon

Herbs
Pineapple sage
Basil - two types
Lavender - two types
Cilantro
Thyme - two types

PS: I just got back from West Michigan with 40lbs of blue berries. Cant wait for Pie!

Oh and I do grow a few other things. Elephant ears, periwinkle and 8-10 varieties of Missouri wild flowers. And grilled lamb souvlaki...A favorite or mine

 

[photonrider]

So great to see you here O Diabolical winged monster! (Who shall not be named . . . . heehee!)

I love periwinkle, and yeah I have quite a flower garden, too!
Good to know someone else here knows what a souvlaki is! Because GTPlanet attracts so many people educated in English, from all over the world (and not just the English-speaking world, either) we have so many cultures/nationalities that bring new concepts in here - new words (taken as English today, since we very quickly beg, borrow and steal from other languages) that could sometimes be misconstrued or leave people baffled, and so it's nice when someone recognises what one is talking about.
That sentence was too long.
I better be going. See you later, FK . . and DW. Have a great day!!
H

 

[diabolicwyvern]

Do you make a Tzatziki to go with? I've had a couple decent ones out and about, but I'll swear by my wife's. We are not growing dill this year, so thats one bummer.

 

[FoolKiller]

Well, I finally grabbed some pictures. My peppers are going out of control at this point. I probably have four bell peppers that I can pick at any time now.

Here's the planter.

And my first tabasco is starting to come in.

And this is my herb garden after a recent harvest. It was so bushy that I couldn't turn it without the plants getting tangled in the pole they hang from.

And my recent herb harvest: It's Oregano, Sage, and Stevia. There was also large bags of basil and Thai basil, but we ate those already. The Thai basil was great on top of pan-seared swordfish with a little teriyaki sauce dribbled over it. And the sweet basil got used in caprese salad. I need to grow more basil.

And this is what I have been doing with the Stevia. I dry it out and grind it down with a mortar and pestle. From this point I can use it as a powder, but about a teaspoon is supposedly equal to a cup of sugar. Another method is to let it steep in hot water, basically creating stevia tea. This will sweeten the water to the point that I can generally use the water on a 1:1 ratio with sugar. There are a few issues with using homegrown fresh stevia. The strength is not guaranteed. Thus before doing anything you have to steep it to test for the strength compared to sugar to know how much of your own you can use. It also does not have the same molecular properties as sugar, so it can't add a gooey texture to foods or be browned. Also, you have to compensate for the lost sugar volume. But this is easily done by draining the juice off of apple sauce and using the remaining apple fiber to replace the sugar volume. Stevia also won't dissolve in its leaf form, so that needs to be taken into consideration as well.

This all sounds like a hassle, but for a zero calorie, all natural, and very low glycemic effecting sweetener it is ideal. I haven't actually tested the strength of mine yet. I want to get that jar at least half full so that I have a wide amount of mix from multiple harvests mixed together and can get a uniform measurement. Otherwise I would have to test it every time I picked it as just the time of day you harvest it can effect the strength of any herb.

I have put it in tea though. I got a 32oz un-sweet tea from McDonalds and put in a pinch. After about five minutes the bitterness was gone but it wasn't too sweet. Stevia is a delayed sweet flavor so you don't get that immediate sweet taste you get from sugar (apple fiber in baking helps with this as well). It was like I tasted tea immediately and then caught the sweetness as I swallowed. I probably could have added some more to get a sweet tea flavor out of it, but I kind of liked the tea that had just enough sweetness to remove any bitterness but not so much you no longer really tasted the tea itself.

Anyway: Powdered stevia.

And here are my remaining vegetables after making salsa, caprese salad, and pizza.

I'm really enjoying the garden this year as I am doing a lot more home cooking than ever before.

 

[photonrider]

Do you make a Tzatziki to go with? I've had a couple decent ones out and about, but I'll swear by my wife's. We are not growing dill this year, so thats one bummer.

DW - yes, of course, Tzatziki is very popular around here. Lamb souvlaki is not the same without it! You must have some Greek in you or a connection somehow ...... We can actually buy prepared Tzatziki from the Deli section at most major Grocers, but we also make our own. No dill this year - well, me, too, unfortunately. Dill isn't that hard to cultivate and I'm baffled how I forgot. I do have dried Dill in my (rather over-enthusiastically stocked) kitchen so maybe negelected the fresh stuff.
BTW - how is that Pineapple Sage doing? Mine is turning into a humunguous bush!! So I trimmed off several large sprigs for drying out - and I shall later make a 'smudge' stick with it - helps to clean out the air when it is burned.

Please - when you have the time - do post some visuals. You know a pic is worth a thousand words . . . .

Well, I finally grabbed some pictures. My peppers are going out of control at this point. I probably have four bell peppers that I can pick at any time now.
............................................
And my recent herb harvest: It's Oregano, Sage, and Stevia. There was also large bags of basil and Thai basil, but we ate those already. The Thai basil was great on top of pan-seared swordfish with a little teriyaki sauce dribbled over it. And the sweet basil got used in caprese salad. I need to grow more basil.
...............................................
And this is what I have been doing with the Stevia. I dry it out and grind it down with a mortar and pestle. From this point I can use it as a powder, but about a teaspoon is supposedly equal to a cup of sugar.

...................... but for a zero calorie, all natural, and very low glycemic effecting sweetener it is ideal.

Anyway: Powdered stevia.

And here are my remaining vegetables after making salsa, caprese salad, and pizza.

I'm really enjoying the garden this year as I am doing a lot more home cooking than ever before.

LOL! Attack of the Killer Peppers, eh? I'm so glad you are having a good season this year. All that energy that you absorb from the plants (photonic energy) is very good for you - relieves stress, improves respiration, etc. etc. etc - of course you probably know there is a whole science to the art.

Basil is a must for me - I have Thai Basil as well as regular Leaf Basil - in my herb Garden. In fact, just today, I made myself a BLT without the 'L' - used Basil instead!

Funny you should be talking about Stevia just after I had finished a lengthy magazine article about it - everything you said was confirmed in there. Yes, it is catching on now I guess, as people become more health-conscious, more nature-oriented - many people are trapped all day in a polluted office or store or factory - and there seems to be a return to Nature as a healing offset to the drudgery of battling everything from traffic to . . . the constant exposure to electronics, microwaves, and other toxic modernities.

Toronto takes great care of its public spaces (and even private spaces!) We cannot cut a tree down for instance without going through a HUGE hassle from the City. Boulevards, traffic-islands, even parking lots have many trees and oases scattered around. We have Nature spaces (Greenbelts) every few yards! I'm in a densely populated area, yet have dozens of Parks all within walking distance or a five minute drive. There is a Botanical Gardens just a short drive from where I live - and they have a large Vegetable Plot that is used as an Instruction Garden for kids - and the produce they grow is sent off to the Food Bank.
So . . . here are some pics, of course:

There you go. Thanks for the attention (and sharing).

More news and pics soon, I guess!

H.

 

[diabolicwyvern]

My small house. Hard to see, but there are two Banana tress just starting to come in at this point. They're much bigger now!

How the season started

I will post some after pictures tomorrow when the sun is up 👍

 

[FoolKiller]

My small house. Hard to see, but there are two Banana tress just starting to come in at this point. They're much bigger now!

Are you going to bring those in over the winter? My mom always brought her banana trees in, but I don't know if it is necessary.

 

[diabolicwyvern]

I'm on the wintering edge in terms of zones for several plants including Elephant ears and Banana plants. They are able to withstand the St. Louis winter if you cut back and mulch appropriately. You can certainly pull the root ball out to winter (as I did with my ears last year) but the one left in the ground through winter is a full foot higher and 200% fuller. Did this answer your question?

I do have a neighbor who leaves eight, yes EIGHT, Banana trees in ground year round and because of that, she acutally gets the plant to bear fruit, which is very difficult in Missouri. I'm quite jealous.

 

[photonrider]

Wow, DW, what a sweet bungalow! Looks very, very comfy! Guess I'm going to have come visit one day, hey? You'll have to wait till I buy that KLR, though! Or probably that Bimmer GS, if I can afford it. Your backyard so reminds me of one I had around twenty years ago - same kind of 2 X 4's laid out in rectangles - I even painted them white! Had all kinds of veggies in them.
Had a Banana plant once here in Canada, but of course, it's impossible to keep out here - we're a zone 5 - 7 where I live - really harsh winters, high winds, etc - the joke here is that we have three seasons - July, August, and Winter. Some would disagree with this - they'd say we have Construction and Winter! LOL!
Everything dies down to the bone here shortly after November. February and March are usually bitterly cold - can go down to -50 Celsius with the Wind Chill.
But this has made us a hardy and tolerant people.
My kids run around in ripped jeans and short sleeved T-shirts in -10 whether, while I of course scream at them to put their jackets on.
I'm then the reciepient of the 'You wussy' look.
Banana plants don't stand a chance wintering out here.
So, I'm jealous of you!
However - something strange last year - wasn't a really prolonged cold winter, and some of the annuals that died came back again, totally surprising me - poppies, sunflowers, and even some black-eyed susans. So I've harvested seeds from these plants. Obviously genetically evolved to be hardier . . . I aim to look after these seeds, and see what develops in the future. I'm also going to let some of these plants naturalise - who knows what may happen. I shall report next year!

FK - How are you?! Hope you are holding up fine, and the kidlet and wifey are blooming like your herbs! Bad news - of a sort - we had several minor storms here (actually killed some people) though I guess not as newsworthy as Irene. My garden was somewhat wrecked - shucks, my cornfield get totaled, sort of, and the cuke vines were practically pulled out of the ground. Still many of the plants survived - still harvesting - here are some pics:

Also: my first 'Peace' Rose. I'm really proud of myself!

Well - the story later. Gotta go. Thanks for being here!

Harry.

 

[Wenders]

I have been planning for the last few years to start a vegie patch and this year I finally made it happen.

I started about 6 weeks ago by getting the workmen who were laying my new pavers to clear and prepare the area I was going to build it. I wanted a raised garden bed so I don't need top bend so far.

Then I had to move this pile of rubble into the base to provide drainage (rubble left over from when the workman ripped up a footpath to lay new pavers) and no Jack didn't help - don't know why you even thought to ask

Once I started I decided that I wanted to whole thing bigger so I had to wait for more bricks.

Finall built and yes I did buy myself I pink shovel.

Had to move this pile of dirt (1.2tonnes) all by myself again. The guy at the garden shop over quoted me on how much I needed so I put the left over on parts of the lawn that needed a good feed.

All planted and mulched.

And two weels later my first tomato.

and my first flowers.

and the way these lettuces are coming along I should be able to use them in the Christmas Day salad. (this is Australia we don't do hot vegies for Christmas lunch )

I haven't got a huge selection of vegies just the stuff we use mostly.

• 3 varieties of tomatoes
• beetroot
• capsicum, beens
• purple carrots (never had them before so I thought I would try them and it isn't worth planting ordinary carrots cos they are cheap to buy)
• a variety of lettuce
• spring onions
• various herbs
• some pretty flowers.

And 2 weeks on I haven't killed anything yet.

 

[photonrider]

Holy Vegemite sandwich, Wenders! Women grow and men chunder? Well, this must make you glow, too. Nice work.
I wouldn't worry too much about killing - just bury the evidence. Love the pink shovel - bet you find it a lot quicker than the other one in the picture. This gives me an idea to go get some Day-Glo spray (maybe neon green) and mark all my garden tools - I'm constantly misplacing them. I also see a knee-pad - good idea, too.
I'm not entirely sure about the plants that are endemic to Oz, but if you look around you may find out about local plants that are bug-repellers, and put them down amongst the veggies, too.
As for the excercise you will get in the garden - it's a lot more natural and healthy than seated at a computer all day. You will benefit immensely. The only danger is overdoing it. Good luck - and yes, us GTPlanter people will be looking over that fence!

Cheers! And G'day! (still learning to speak Aussie - I'm stuck on Pidgin right now.)

Harry.

 

[photonrider]

Spring Equinox around the corner.

The weather over here in Toronto has been unreal. We must have an invisible dome over the GTA that gives us surprisingly balmy weather, while a few miles north they are waist-deep in snow whilst shoveling. The shovels I’m looking at are the garden shovels!
Checked out some of the gardens I do, and I see buds, I see sprouts, but still no sign of that first robin. I love that moment every year - so I hope it comes at the perfect moment.

Anyone who has read, or watched The Secret Garden would emphatize.

I promised the story about the large yellow rose - ’Peace’ ; a voracious reader as a youngster, I would devour every book and magazine I could lay my hands on. A boxload of Readers Digests could keep me invisible for hours. So it happened that I read an article in it that announced the creation of a new rose by a famous French grower, who saved the cuttings during WW2 (etc,etc - please Wiki....) What astonished me was the fact that a ’new’ rose could be created. As I learned about crossings, and hybriding and so on, I was amazed at how much influence humans have over the environment. After I had harvested the fruits of my first crossings - bourganvillea - I was left stunned at the potentials.

The ’Peace’ Rose was a benchmark in rose culture, but I never had the opportunity to own a plant - till last year. It was a hardy looking plant, about 18 inches tall, rootball was about 10 inches in diameter - so I had it indoors for awhile enjoying the smell of roses whenever I entered the Living room; it was loaded with huge fragrant blooms.
The blooms died out soon since the plant was not entirely comfortable indoors, so I transplanted it outdoors, where it picked up in a week or so and started producing fresh blooms. The plant provided me with many a fresh vaseful of roses. This was my opportunity to view the ’Peace’ Rose up close. What an incredibly beautiful flower! There have have been over 100 million of these plants sold. I wonder - how many are still alive? I’m glad I have one, and I’m looking forward to see it awake and open its smiles to the sun.

After all - what else has the Sun to look down upon but the beauty of life.

 

[diabolicwyvern]

The veggies are coming in (and have been for awhile)

tomatoes, peas, beans, cucumber, peppers of all kind, lettuce and the melons are baseball size. neighbor cut down...edit...power company largest tree in neighborhood and now we get full full sun. the tropicals are having a blast but the elephant eats are upset.