The Garden Is In!!!

[Gregg]

FINALLY we have some warmer weather. I started building our raised beds on Friday. No planting then because Saturday night was down to 27*!!! Are you @%&$ kidding me??? Anyway, Sunday was 75*, today was 86* and tomorrow is supposed to be 95*. Nothing even close to freezing in the extended forecast so I think we're out of the woods for this year. The plants went in yesterday and today. DW is happy because the chair is back in the south window of our bedroom (no more folding tables with dozens of tiny little plants sitting on an electric blanket). I'm happy because we have a garden again. I especially love it that for now the plants look good and none of the weeds have had a chance to pop up yet! How about everyone else? Here's the chance for you Ozark, TX and SoCal folks to make us insanely jealous.

[Tussiemussies]

Glad you got your garden started. It is supposted to be 33 here tonight with a frost advisory. What type of soil do you put in your raised beds?

[goldensmom]

My garden is in........the greenhouse. It was 24F and frost yesterday morning so my transferable plants are growing nicely in my greenhouse. I will plant and transplant on Memorial Day. Because of the really warm weather recently, I've seen a lot of people around here planting their gardens but I won't trust a no freeze night until June first-ish.

[Blackdog Lin]

Yay Gregg! Feels great, doesn't it? What all do you have planted in your raised beds?

We just got ours basically all finished last night. Whew. We have a largish conventional garden, and what between the freezes and the rain - it's been a long haul trying to get it all done. We had broccoli, Brussels sprouts and romaine in early, and scrambled 3 weeks in a row to get everything covered against the cold weather. It was a pretty big hassle.

It feels so good to have everything in the ground. I've got my fancy new weeding hoe all sharpened and ready for action, and my big floppy straw hat all dusted off and hanging on the back porch. Looking forward to my ongoing garden tending.

[artist]

Had a frost last night so it will be awhile. I have a small raised bed herb garden I'm putting in this year. Very simple due to lack of time.

[Gregg]

Glad you got your garden started. It is supposted to be 33 here tonight with a frost advisory. What type of soil do you put in your raised beds?

Our lot is mostly clay so I amended it with 7 cubic yards of compost from our landfill. At some point I think a previous owner had a large sand box in the back yard because I found a pocket of sand. That also got tilled in to help break up the clay. I think it will be a pretty good mix.


Yay Gregg! Feels great, doesn't it? What all do you have planted in your raised beds?

It feels wonderful Lin! Now the hardest part of all...waiting for everything to take off! We did a reasonable variety of things this year. Eight different varieties of tomatoes (4 heirloom), eggplant, green beans, cucumbers, 6 different peppers, 4 kinds of winter squash, pumpkins, cantaloupe, watermelon, zucchini, kohlrabi, okra, a dozen or so different herbs, horseradish, peas and sunflowers for seeds for us and the birds. We also did a salad bed that has no less than 12 types of lettuce and greens, turnips, parsnips, radishes, carrots, onions, beets, Swiss chard and a few things I'm forgetting. In that bed we just dumped all the seed packets into a baggie, mixed them up then broadcast them over the bed. We did that once before and it worked great. All we did was go out daily and cut enough greens for a salad and pulled baby veggies for dinner. That bed is near a big oak tree so it gets shade starting about 2:00. I'm hoping that will keep it a little cooler so we have greens all summer.

[Float On]

Ozarks report: My garden was late getting in this year because of all the late cold weather. I even had to turn on the heat for a bit Saturday night. I will be picking spinach tonight for my salad. Everything is up and growing well. Should have peas soon. I love my raised beds because there is very little weeding. I noticed an armidillo in the back yard this morning and two bunnies in the front yard (where the veggie garden is) yesterday evening. I really need to add a fence around the garden....I'm selfish that way.

[Gregg]

We've never put the effort into building a fence that is actually bunny proof. I just broadcast merigold seeds all over the garden, especially in and around lettuce patches. The smell seems to keep most critters at bay and it makes the whole garden look festive.

[Float On]

Good tip Gregg, I might try that. I'm more worried about the armidillo than the bunnies. But I also have chickens and they are tired of being locked up since I can't keep them out of the garden.

A neighbor had the most beautiful and productive garden and never seemed to have bunny or deer problems. He leased it to a young man who put up a big fence to 'keep the deer out'. Every morning after that fence went in I saw deer inside the fence. It was almost like the deer never considered it worth tasting until that barrier was there.:laff:

[Gardenarian]

Good for you for getting the garden in! I hear it's been an endless winter in much of the world - while we've been having a heat wave and drought in Northern CA.

[dado potato]

The rhubarb surfaced today, as well as some parsley. I have a few plants started in peat pots on the sun porch. Their day in the sun will be soon.

[Rosemary]

Our rhubarb leaves are showing as well, but not the parsley, yet. My raspberries are still leafless, but the currants and gooseberries have leafed out. My native plums look like they will bloom abundantly in a couple of weeks. Peas, kale, spinach, etc are all in the garden and I'll plant the warm-weather stuff in another week or two. My daffodils are blooming. Oh, it is so nice to finally see flowers after such a long winter!

[KayLR]

We have harvested our Chinese cabbage, are picking snow peas, getting ready to harvest broccoli probably next weekend. Turnips, carrots and beets are coming up nicely. Tomatoes and peppers are healthy-looking and have a couple blossoms. Beans and cukes are just emerging. Going to plant winter squash and successions of root vegetables this weekend.

[CathyA]

Its a great feeling to get the garden in, isn't it?
I've been fairly nervous about the weather.......either too cold or too wet to get into it. Finally.......a few dry days and its now 82. I went out yesterday and dug all the holes for the tomatoes and peppers, so that the soil would have time to dry even more. Today I planted the whole thing. Whewww.....the weather says rain for the next week, so I had to strike while the iron was hot. There's still alot of left-over weeds from last Fall, but DH will take care of those. Believe it or not, he LOVES to weed! I research the plants, make the trellises, buy the plants, plant the plants, tend the plants, pick the veggies, cook them or preserve them. And I feel like I'm still getting the better bargain! I absolutely detest weeding. And we grow weeds big enough to be used for firewood!

Anyhow.....I hope the weather doesn't go and do something funky now. I cover the tomatoes and peppers with milk jugs for a few weeks to protect them.
Now I'm dreaming of marinated cucumber and tomato salad.

[KayLR]

"And we grow weeds big enough to be used for firewood!"

:D LOL!!