Organic Gardening
Im starting my first garden this year... a big one... and i think im in over my head! Im planning on planting tomatoes, zuchinni, cucumbers, carrots, seedless watermelon, cauliflower, broccoli,peas, asparagus and swiss chard. My plan was to plant a bunch of different things and to see what grows best.... but i have so much more work to do by next weekend , i dont know if i will be able to plant everything :( I already know im planting tomatoes for sure-- our neighbor heard i was starting my first garden and gave me 15 plants! (I dont know if i'll be able to use all of them, so i'm going to do the "Plant a Row" thing, that i think Davedrum mentioned a few weeks ago!) Does anyone know which things grow the best/ are good for first time gardeners? :P Also, do you guys use any organic or homemade sprays to get rid of bugs? If so what brand.. or how do ya make it ? Yesterday i noticed there were TONS of ants and a few other creepy crawlies. I Dont want to hurt them, but i just want to deter them from eating my stuff!
Thanks in advance!
Daniela
My computer was down for a while, but I've returned....and the garden is going great!
In the past few weeks we've been enjoying a multitude of fresh salad greens (including the tops of the beets and radishes, nasturtium leaves and kale, as well as all the lettuces), snap peas, raspberries, radishes, and we've got 3 zucchinis so far. The spinach we planted late but it's just about time to harvest now. Our tomatoes have flowered so we're eagerly awaiting the fruit...also made pesto with all the basil we have, pulled up all the garlic and the neighbours gave us 2 pumpkin plants. I also found 2 pumpkin or squash-type plants growing back from last year and lots of tomatoes from last year too. It'll be a surprise to see what they are.
All I've been able to grow this year are tomatoes and peppers and herbs in containers. So envious of everyone's gardens! TB- yours sounds wonderful!
This fall we'll be putting my new veggie garden in and planting fruit trees and preparing for bramble and strawberry-planting in the spring. We're moving to our new place finally!
So, I want to start an herb garden on my kitchen window sill. There is so much information and ways to do it that I am quite flummoxed. Are kits easier to start with?
we planted our first fruit trees yesterday!! So excited! Even though they look like dead twigs haha.
OWW- that is awesome! They will grow faster than you think!
LLG- I've never had great luck with herb kits. I'd just buy the seeds you want and the planter you want (or make it, whatever) and go from there, or buy the herb plants. Some herbs are easier to start from seed than others. Basil is ridiculously easy to grow, if you love pesto or fresh basil in your cooking!
My organic peppers!
Top Red: Bhut Jolokia
Right Red: The label just said: hot chile pepper
Bottom Green: Serrano
Left Yellow: Aji Limon
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii85/Stormflakes/Garden/SANY0065.jpg
Here's what I got out of the garden last week:
purple carrots, beet tops, nasturtiums, soybeans, cherry tomatoes, purple calabash tomatoes, black kale, scotch blue kale, onions, zucchini
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs318.ash2/59824_739864429799_120813142_45788642_944678_n.jpg
we planted our first fruit trees yesterday!! So excited! Even though they look like dead twigs haha.
I just moved into a new place in may (my first place ever since i have been on my own that has a yard, and it is HUGE!!) and i found rubarb and mint growning when i moved in. and noticed about 2 months ago that this scraggly little dead looking twig in the corner where i put grass trimmings had peaches on it!! I just harvested about 60 peaches off of it. i am deffinantly going to be keeping an eye on my twig and thinning it down this next summer so i get all nice and big ones.
Nice variety Tino, I'm jealous. My zucchini got fungus and I didn't get a single one this year.
Sunday I planted Lemon Drop Chiles and Rouge D'Irak tomatoes.
Storm, we managed to get alot through July & August but by the end of august powdery mildew had attacked them all... :( including the pumpkin vine. We might still get a couple off them but I think they're just about done.
I'm jealous of your peppers! we've had a few jalapenos, but the sweet peppers are still growing.
My purple cayennes have finally humpbacked up through the soil! Happy naked vegan dance!
Edit: and my chocolate habs and my black prince tomatoes and my edamame! :)
here's the last pictures from this year's growing! We're still enjoying kale, herbs, sunchokes, sunflower seeds, chocolate mint tea, and beets from the garden.
sunchokes! LOTS!
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1161.snc4/150349_754633811839_120813142_46265644_7446396_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs993.snc4/76607_754633761939_120813142_46265641_6552746_n.jpg
the last little carrots
http://l17.sphotos.l3.fbcdn.net/hphotos-l3-ash2/hs616.ash2/156812_760228405229_120813142_46408623_6498706_n.jpg
lots of rosemary
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs616.ash2/156878_760228450139_120813142_46408624_7709351_n.jpg
black kale, nice & sweet after the frost
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs609.ash2/156177_760228315409_120813142_46408618_6664786_n.jpg
wow, tino...that all looks amazing.
So far from our garden we have had an insane amount of spinach, some oregano, basil, chives, as much mint as we could ever need in a lifetime and coriander (cilantro).
I accidentally pulled up a carrot and an onion the other day and they seem to be coming along nicely. And we also have a flower on our aubergine plant, which surprised me as I didn't expect it to do anything.
Sunchokes and carrots and kale....oh my! I wish I could grow root veggies here, but my "soil" is sand so I have to grow everything in containers.
I jumped the gun a bit and already started seeding my spring crop (indoors). I got over zealous after the last cold front, which took out my edamame and my mature pepper plants (they were too big to more indoors). I lost 3 serranos, a bhut jolokia, a jalapeno, a hinklehatz, and an aji limon. Sucks big time.
Ugh, all those vegetable pictures has me hungry. There's a spot by my apartments where I could plant some things; but the thing is, i'm a little paranoid about the dirt. How can you tell if you have dirty or bad dirt, especially after always seeing cats do the nasty everywhere?
MM, alot of people living in cities use vacant lots to grow food, but you're right about the soil...if you're in an urban centre alot of the soil can be contaminated with chemicals or heavy metals. You can have a sample taken and tested (for a fee) but if you don't want to do that, or if the soil comes back as not safe to grow food in, you can always create raised beds.
I've seen people build them out of planks, or get old dressers and other furniture to use. You'd have to find an outside source of soil to use for these. There are tons of resources about this/city gardening in general online too :)
A raised bed! I should of thought of that! I don't want to pay for any tests, cause I'm cheap; but buying wood planks and making a good sized container for gardening could be fun and easy to do. I could even put like a wire covering over the bed to shield off the cats.
Seems like the simplest of answers are the hardest to find sometimes, jeez. Thanks, Tino! ;)b
Soil tests are much cheaper than building a raised bed. Usually they run $10 - $50 depending on what you want done. A few raised beds can easily run into few hundred dollars.
Hey MonkeyMan, if you decide to go with raised beds, you can sometimes get scrap wood from construction sites. I did this many years ago. I just asked the guys on site if I could take some of the refuse from their scrap pile and they let me. It's less stuff they have to dispose of and reduces their disposal fee. I scored cinder block and wood.
As well, the old furniture thing can work out if you can find some curbside or at recycle depot/thrift stores. I've seen people use old bath tubs, dresser drawers, etc for containers too.
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