Woah. Three days ago ordered a ton of seeds for sundry goodies for the garden, including things inspired by my chatting here with y'all (red amaranth, the "three sisters"). Then today ordered 3 kinds of sunflowers. Just talking/thinking about it here helped me realize I really wanted them, so why the heck not?
Then, inspired (3 days ago), I drafted a little list of yard work I could do this week to help prep for it.
Then (2 days ago) it snowed. And snowed again.
Hmph.
So, all things I might dig, etc., are covered in snow and DRENCHED, so I should probably wait.
In the meantime, what are your garden plans?
Have you ordered seeds already? If so, what? If not, will you?
What are you most excited about?
What do you dread?
What works, what does not, and do you know why? Esp. re: the climate/soil conditions near you.
What works here:
Tomatillos. They are so happy here, they're weeds. They grow and sprawl and bloom and draw bumblebees like mad. I get volunteers every year. They must love hot, dry days and at least tolerate cool evenings, of which we have many.What doesn't work here:
Raising tomatoes and peppers from seed. Since I have cats, cannot raise things in the house, which is required to get and keep soil at 70+ degrees. It gets cool here every night, and I will NOT spend $50 for a mat to heat the seed tray for the green house. Just won't. So, buy plants from local nursery in May.
I'd love to hear about your gardening experiences and plans. How do the ecological conditions where you live play into it all?
biobabbler
Want to plant three sisters with daughter and tomatoes that will like our zone 15/17 climate. plus am a little late, but want rhubarb and potatoes in garden. Only problem is limited room in yard for all. Two raised beds and a handful of oak barrels for tomatoes. We also had great success growing tomatillos, but lousy success harvesting and eating them. Maybe gathering recipes should be done prior to ordering seeds/plants. Have been spending some time researching where to buy plants/seeds that have been proven performers in our area. Fun stuff! Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to have a vegetable garden and feel my back yard is the perfect location for it BUT...I live on a canyon and the lovely squirells have created their condo living in my back yard...as soon as I plant something it is eaten. It's so sad. My front yard is not ideal for vegetables because there isn't enough sun. Any ideas on sharing my property with the furry natural friends?
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous--the roasted tomatillo salsa recipe in Joy of Cooking is really good. Get great feedback re: tastiness (don't forget to rinse the chopped onions), but yeah, those plants crank out the produce, so, of course, the reason I have volunteers is that I miss many, too, which languish on the ground. Deer love them, if you're feeling generous.
ReplyDelete@ K-M Two words: Mechanical Exclusion. You could build an exclosure that you can walk into (via board framed, chicken wire door) and squirrels cannot. Small (1x1 or 2x2) boards and chicken wire--I'd also look on the web for ideas, but, of course, I would ignore any trapping/poisoning advice. Bad for environment and won't work, anyhow, hence mechanical exclusion advice. =) xo