Gardening

[veejer]

Recently there were several posts about gardening in the "good news" thread. That got me to searching for a gardening thread and since I couldn't find one, I decided to start one.

So Forters, contrary or not, how does your garden grow?

Whether you are into flowers, vegetables, cacti, window boxes, or simply a green lawn, please share here.

[Gutmutter]

I'm the world's best gardener in the spring. I like to dig by hand, plant, etc. but I hate to weed. And here in MA we get these horrid things called black flies that make it miserable to be outside in the month of May, and the summer is too hot to go digging around. I usually have to treasure hunt for tomatoes. I do get good beans and peas. Rhubarb is wonderful. Not much work required there. I get a good grape and blackberry harvest with little to no work investment. I do love to go dig in the dirt in the spring, though.

[Lucy]

I'd actually thought on occasion that a gardening thread would be popular here.
That said, I'm an apartment-dweller who doesn't garden. But it's nice to think there are experts here to ask for advice whenever I get a notion to buy a houseplant and then wonder why it dies.

[waywyrd]

I love gardening, both veggies and flowers. I have about an acre that I keep up...I'm in the middle of adding two more huge flower beds and redoing a small pond I have next to my back patio. Right now I have about 200 little seedlings growing out, from flowers to tomato plants...I like to grow everything from seed if I can.

Lucy, I used to live in an upstairs apartment...I still grew stuff in pots up there. It looked like a jungle on my little outdoors balcony.

[Rattus]

I'm hoping that someone, anyone, could pass along the names of some plant life, preferably ground cover, that will do well in dry, rocky soil, in the shade, zone 5-6. I'm starting a new yard from scratch (the previous owners had an above ground pool that essentially destroyed everything), and I tried a couple of things in that area last summer,but nothing seems to survive. Also, I'm trying to xeriscape as much as possible, so anything that will survive without being watered regularly would be ideal. HELP!

[applesauce]

I love to garden! We recently sold our home and I am so sad I can't plant my large vegetable garden this year. Until we find a new home, we're renting. The yard here is rather small but very nicely landscaped. In lieu of the large vegetable garden I usually have, I'm going to do a container garden on the patio. That way, we can take it with us to our new house.

I'll plant Roma and cherry tomatoes. A larger variety as well, but I haven't decided which. Some bell peppers, lettuce, basil, mint, rosemary.

I would love to do some beets, carrots or crook neck squash but don't know if they will fare well in a container. Any ideas would be appreciated!

[CantGetNuf]

We planted crook neck squash in containers at work and they did really well.

[Mariner]

I love to garden! We recently sold our home and I am so sad I can't plant my large vegetable garden this year. Until we find a new home, we're renting. The yard here is rather small but very nicely landscaped. In lieu of the large vegetable garden I usually have, I'm going to do a container garden on the patio. That way, we can take it with us to our new house.

I'll plant Roma and cherry tomatoes. A larger variety as well, but I haven't decided which. Some bell peppers, lettuce, basil, mint, rosemary.

I would love to do some beets, carrots or crook neck squash but don't know if they will fare well in a container. Any ideas would be appreciated!

You know applesauce, other than the slug issue, tomatoes grow really well in Portland.

[Yardgnome]

Last year I had my first garden. I had a small vegetable garden and a herb garden, I absolutely loved it. It was really relaxing to spend time out there working. My vegetable plants did not do great except for my hot peppers but my herbs did awesome. By the end of the summer I had 4 basil plants that were the size of small trees, I could not give the basil away fast enough, it just kept coming back.

I was actually out in my garden yesterday thinking about getting the soil ready for this year and I noticed some of my chives were already starting to come up. My peppermint and oregano were also starting to show some signs of life as well. I loved having an herb garden, it was such a money saver to be able to just go outside and pick whatever I needed. I am already looking forward to getting my garden together for this year. All I need now is much nicer weather and a little time to spare.

[Newfherder]

I stick with cool-weather vegetables for the most part. Peas and radishes seem to do well for me, and I've had good luck with potatoes the last couple of years. In ten years of trying, I have yet to harvest a single edible ear of sweet corn. Any more, I just plant it to provide some shade and windbreak for my pumpkin patch. Brussel sprouts and carrots are kind of a departure for me this year, but I'm feeling optimistic.

Rhubarb is wonderful.

I'm with you on that, Gutmutter! It's another plant with which I've had no luck, but I have very fond memories of Mom's rhubarb pie--I've never found anything as good at the store (least of all those abominations that mix rhubarb and strawberries!)