Playing in the dirt

[MissGuided]

Thanks for the advice.

I've been reading up lately on how to create / use compost properly. My mom is a Master Gardener / Landscaper and has a wealth of knowledge - I try to listen as much as I can. I have a very tiny space, but found a small, tumbling composter that might work for me.

Not sure if I will have enough time to affect the Fall planting, but definitely feel like I could get a real head start on next Spring.

 

[ladyforsaken]

I do all container gardening on my deck since I only have an apartment. I am a huge enthusiast! Right now I have tomatoes, peppers, basil, mint, and many flowers and other plants. I'd have more inside if I could fit them : )

I used to have the same plants and I did container gardening as well. But I had to stop all that when my mother got rid of them. :\

 

[MissGuided]

Right now I have tomatoes, peppers, basil, mint, and many flowers and other plants.

Oh, that sounds lovely! Do you grow the Sweet Basil or Lemon? What sorts of flowers? Hot or sweet peppers?

I used to have the same plants and I did container gardening as well. But I had to stop all that when my mother got rid of them. :\

This does not please me, LadyF. You are to go grab a pot and plant anything beautiful immediately.


In other news, my zinnias are starting to bloom and some other veggies seem to like whatever the hell it is that I'm doing. :


First corn silks!

Cayenne - still need to ripen.

Lots of sweet bells!

Lots more tomatoes, hurry up and ripen!

First zinnias

 

[theraab]

I planted a small container garden in front of my condo this year - the basil and lettuce (bibb and red leaf) are doing well - the radish plants grew like crazy, but didn't bulb out at the roots so I got only two edible radishes. Everything else is either dead or very sick looking.

However, I noticed three plants that I weren't sure what were in three different pots, that I just let grow - I wasn't sure if they were weeds or something I just didn't recognize, but I let them be. One is now nearly four feet tall (I measured), with a woody stalk. I did some investigation this week and found out that they are birch trees - I think the squirrels in my complex burried the seed pods in there, and they started to grow. Go figure, squirrels are better gardeners by accident than I am on purpose.

 

[MissGuided]

I planted a small container garden in front of my condo this year - the basil and lettuce (bibb and red leaf) are doing well - the radish plants grew like crazy, but didn't bulb out at the roots so I got only two edible radishes. Everything else is either dead or very sick looking.

However, I noticed three plants that I weren't sure what were in three different pots, that I just let grow - I wasn't sure if they were weeds or something I just didn't recognize, but I let them be. One is now nearly four feet tall (I measured), with a woody stalk. I did some investigation this week and found out that they are birch trees - I think the squirrels in my complex burried the seed pods in there, and they started to grow. Go figure, squirrels are better gardeners by accident than I am on purpose.

Oh, how funny about those trees? And, the squirrels had the foresight to plant each one in a separate container? That is ******* awesome! Are you going to keep them? Those are gorgeous trees, but I hear the require special 'love' when they are young.

I'm envious of your lettuce - I am going to make my first attempt at that and spinach this Fall. Have you gotten to use any yet? What else did you plant that is 'sick looking'? Maybe there is something that can be done to fix it.

If you or anyone else has pics of their veggies / flowers / whatever, please post them. I would love to see them.

 

[theraab]

Oh, how funny about those trees? And, the squirrels had the foresight to plant each one in a separate container? That is ******* awesome! Are you going to keep them? Those are gorgeous trees, but I hear the require special 'love' when they are young.

I'm envious of your lettuce - I am going to make my first attempt at that and spinach this Fall. Have you gotten to use any yet? What else did you plant that is 'sick looking'? Maybe there is something that can be done to fix it.

If you or anyone else has pics of their veggies / flowers / whatever, please post them. I would love to see them.

I don't know what to do with the trees - I don't have any space to plant them, but I sure don't want to just uproot them (all three have taken over their pots, including one that took the pot away from a stevia plant I have been growing since last year, which I had to bring inside to keep it from the New Jersey winter). I don't know if they need special love - they seem to be doing fine on their own.

I have had some of the lettuce - actually, the heat wave over the last two week affected their quality, and both are really bitter now.

The sick carrots I just pulled - I think they were the victims of the heat - the peppers I planted didn't grow at all - the stevia looks like it is either a victim of heat or birch encroachment.

I'll see if I can get some pictures.

 

[MissGuided]

I don't know what to do with the trees - I don't have any space to plant them, but I sure don't want to just uproot them (all three have taken over their pots, including one that took the pot away from a stevia plant I have been growing since last year, which I had to bring inside to keep it from the New Jersey winter). I don't know if they need special love - they seem to be doing fine on their own.

Perhaps a relative with more yard would take one or all? They are so beautiful when fully grown. I thought I had heard somewhere that you had to plant the saplings in the ground a certain way to prevent adult disease. But, I could be thinking of another tree.

I have had some of the lettuce - actually, the heat wave over the last two week affected their quality, and both are really bitter now. The sick carrots I just pulled - I think they were the victims of the heat

I will be trying both of those this coming Fall, as well as broccoli, arugula and pumpkin (if I have the space). It is far too hot in my world to try them as summer crops. Will you be replanting them again later in the year or do you have other things you would like to try instead?

....the peppers I planted didn't grow at all - the stevia looks like it is either a victim of heat or birch encroachment.

Do you know what zone you are in? Peppers typically thrive in *really* hot weather and hate being waterlogged. I have never tried stevia - did you get a chance to use any of it before it took a turn? If so, how did use it - dried or fresh?

 

[Shipster0958]

I'm totally jelly of everyone in this thread. A green thumb is something I don't have.

Everyone's pics look great!

 

[ladyforsaken]

Looking at those tomatoes, I wanna grow my own!!! Sooooon. Very soon.

 

[MissGuided]

A green thumb is something I don't have.

Thanks, Shipster. I don't have one either, I assure you. I've been lucky and learned some lessons the hard way, lol. I take all the advice offered like a sponge. I saw the pics in your DIY thread, woman - I have every confidence you would excel at gardening as well, if you wanted to.

If you ever wanted to look into it, I frequent this forum. It has a ton of resources, advice and just about anything else you could ever possibly want to know about gardening. They even have state specific threads.

Looking at those tomatoes, I wanna grow my own!!! Sooooon. Very soon.

You better hurry up, Lady. Not sure where you are, but tomato season will be over soon!

 

[ladyforsaken]

If you ever wanted to look into it, I frequent this forum. It has a ton of resources, advice and just about anything else you could ever possibly want to know about gardening. They even have state specific threads.

Looking at those tomatoes, I wanna grow my own!!! Sooooon. Very soon.

You better hurry up, Lady. Not sure where you are, but tomato season will be over soon!

That's a very cool resource, thanks for sharing that MissG.

Also, well by soon, I kinda meant when I get to move out and have my own place (which will be in a few years I'm hoping) because it will only start stupid arguments if I do it now lol.

 

[MissGuided]

San Marzanos are starting to fruit - first time I have seen them. Never knew they were elongated like that!

 

[Garbageman]

I sprout things, and grow small greens. I sprout clover, broccoli, lentils, garbonzo beans(for hummus), buckwheat, peas, Kamut, rye, spelt, wheat, and quiona. And I grow greens from buckwheat, sunflowers, peas, popcorn, really my clover and broccoli I grow big enough to be considered greens, amaranth, and random wild edibles I collect seeds from.
I also try to harvest and eat wild plants from around the yard and woods around my house. I love Jerusalem Artichoke, and was so excited the tubers I had transplanted grew this year, and I discovered a patch just down the road. They taste so good, some people call them ground apples. I am working at encouraging wild edibles to grow around, its not exactly gardening. And I picked a ton of black raspberries this year, the blackberries did't turn out so good this year. I guess I am kind of a lazy and cheap gardener, although sprouting can be a bit of work. I try to keep my food budget under $30 a month.

If anyone is interested in sprouting, www.sproutpeople.org is the best site for any and all information. If you buy seed from them it is of the highest quality, but some of it is very pricy. Sometimes I justify spending the extra money because of all the time and energy they have put into the information on their website, and other times I opt for saving a buck.

 

[MissGuided]

I sprout things, and grow small greens. I sprout clover, broccoli, lentils, garbonzo beans(for hummus), buckwheat, peas, Kamut, rye, spelt, wheat, and quiona. And I grow greens from buckwheat, sunflowers, peas, popcorn, really my clover and broccoli I grow big enough to be considered greens, amaranth, and random wild edibles I collect seeds from.

Wow, that is quite a garden - good for you. I'm envious, lol.

And I picked a ton of black raspberries this year, the blackberries did't turn out so good this year.

What are 'black' raspberries? I am only familiar with red ones.

 

[Garbageman]

I have found black raspberries to be more common growing in the wild than red. They have a richer flavor than the red variety. Most of the red cultivated berries are a hybrid between an american red and european red. There are wild red raspberries, but at least here in Ohio I seem to find the black much more frequently than red. There is some cultivation of Black Rasp. typically you will only find frozen blacks, or jelly's and Jams. Not sure if they grow where you are but definitely worth looking into for next year if you like berries.

 

[Sterling]

Plants die by the sight of me.

 

[GraceBlossom]

How cool are you being able to grow things like that, I miss having a garden . I help out in my Parent's though .