So, what does everyone have planned for their 2007 gardens? I built a couple of raised beds last week... right now I have planned to plant some: Early Girl Tomatoes Jalapeno and Sweet Bell Peppers Acorn Squash Okra Cucumbers Onions MAYBE watermelon or cantelope and of course I'm looking forward to plenty of figs from my GIGANTIC fig tree
sounds yummy! i built some raised beds this year too and i plan to plant all sorts of things, permaculture style. i have two long skinny beds we built years ago but havnt used in forever. im not going to till and sift because that would take way too long, but ill rake the top several inches up, mix with manure, mound, and plant the traditional guild of squash, beans and corn (or in my case, amaranth and quinoa). for my new raised beds, ill plant and interplant the following: tomatoes, lettuce, kale, broccoli, cucumber, onion, peppers and whatever else i can find and mooch to put in there. im super stoked to be eating my own food.
Ebene, We have big plans too. So far we have lettuce, broccoli, peas, planted outside. Some in cold frames, some not. Inside, tomatos, peppers. Others soon, and many many flowers starting up. AAAAAAAHHHHHH, summer! Peace to you all.... Farmout
We have broadbeans, beetroot, peas (just sprouting) and two varieties of potato, leeks, shalots, spring onion (scallion), onions, garlic that went in in November, a herb called Good King Henry which can be cooked like spinach or the young shoots like asparagus. GKH is a perennial. We also have fennel which is a perennial also and works not only as a food/herb source but also we harvest the seed. It is also a wonderful companion plant as it attracts hoverflies which are aphid praeditors. The raspberries and strawberries are beginning to come away again after the winter...later we will put in slsad leaves carrots and radishes - but those will go in Rees garden.
beefsteak tomato's Tiny tim tomato's Habenero peppers Cayanne peppers green pepper mini mixed red/yellow/orange peppers carrots early hybrid sweet corn some kind of bean, i forget
I tend to mix my veggies in with my ornamentals. I have a few tomatos, peppers, squash, bush beans and cucs. Herbs are already well established mixed in with my perennials. I even have five fairly large tomatos already on one of my plants.
Wish I could say things are coming up here, but we still have over 2 feet on snow still on the ground. In fact it snowed off and on all day yesterday. This has been a long tough winter. Our heated green house is just about full with starters, last count was 105 flats. Hope our wintered over perennials did Ok in the raised beds and under mulch on the hillside,but it going to be a while befor we will know. The first day of spring was 25 days ago, you sure wouldn't know it here.
grew a few spaghetti squash last year as an experiment....will plant WAY more this year I love that stuff. Also had alot of yellow brandywine tomatoes come in last year but I really like the pink brandywine alot better so more of them this year.(these are heirloom) The german johnson tomatoes(heirloom also) got HUGE last year so more of them again..so much flavor. Will be moving the asparugus bed (shucks its 4 years old) due to the old garden being turned into a yard area since it is fenced and jackeddy can get crazy in there. The new bigger area has alot more sun since taking down a couple of trees that needed to come down anyway (heavy leaners). Bought 50 lbs of red seed potatoes to put in on good friday but the weather keeps teasing here and now I am so glad i did not...they are still in a bag in the store room. I can hear the sprouts getting longer late at night through the wall. I write that and I look above and see Alaskans post....and feel for him.
WARNING...to those who do not know me..I tend to be long winded. Don't say you were not warned..lol. Awww I missed you so much. Had some crazy time but things have settled a bit. I will probably be hanging here in the gardening forum quite a bit as other parts are a bit scratchy it seems. Had a herd of deer outside my bedroom window yesterday, jackeddy was at attention in my arms checking them out..I call them "big doggies" he seems to understand that. Also had a chicken pass through...he must have come from 1/2 mile down the road. The wild cat is no longer around so the moles and rabbits are having run of the place..must ask for a cat, thats what I did last time and she showed up. Have run across no snakes wintering over in the wood pile, under the garden beds and no more in the ceiling(YAY!!!) but had a lizard in here last week, one of those little ones that the tail will come off...Larry managed to grab him in the bathroom and he kept his tail on...took him out and he just sat there for minute, probably wondering what the hell all that was. Had a bird slam into the window a few weeks ago a little titmouse. Larry brought him in and he was dazed for about 5 minutes. Took him out to the work table and he sat for awhile then took off. I was so happy as I hate to see one not make it. 2007 will be a year of changes for this piece of land. Clearing out more of it, some trees have come down, garden will be all moved. We are also rebuilding the greenhouse this year, its coming off the house and will be freestanding with a patio area in front....next year maybe we will heat it. I still have my dream of going all wind and solar, it will be a celebration when I call that co-op up and tell them to come get this damn umbilical cord off our place. They slapped a 29.00 a month "line service fee" on everyone out here. Our electric itself only costs 22.00-27.00 a month so we are paying more to actually have it than what we are actually using. They did not raise the per kwh charge, they will save that for this coming winter. Thank God for woodstoves, sharp axes,chainsaws and healthy backs.... Well our little cabin that started as a 16x20 one room has grown into a 1085 sq ft split level house. with a recording studio,vocal booth, living,kitchen,dining,bath,bedroom,storage room,and screened in porch. Yes kids we have no house payment. For a small down payment,167.36 a month..and loads of grunt work you too can have a place in the woods, build a house and say screw the rest of 'em. I figure this place has now cost us about 7-8000 to build. I have started my own business, I am brokering artwork. I am still painting but having a ball putting people and businesses in touch with artists and the artwork they are seeking. Also doing some life coaching, and sign language interpretting. AACCKK!! Have I hijacked the thread enough with "the life and times of teepi?" Good to be back and looking forward to gardening with you. Hugs to you POD and Wonka...xxxooo
fig trees rock! my grandpa used to have some and he had peach trees too! i plan on helping my older brother take care of my grandpas garden this summer. and i plan to keep everything that was in there
Well, I guess I finally got this thing working .....anyhow.... Hi, Sure hope everyone else's year has been going better than mine, because my year has been really bad. The year started with health scares & problems for me and family members. Then when it came time to get the gardening going, the weather forgot how to rain. Here at my farm, from March 1st to May 21st, I measured just under 3/4 inch of rain. Many of my neighbors, before the end of May, had plowed their gardens under and given up for the year. That has ment that the folks I use to barter with for a lot of my food have none. Fortunatly I added blackberries to my cash crops a few years ago and I have gotten drip irrigation going on them. Started harvesting in late April and ended late June. They were fantastic beyond discription, but during all that time is when the things like tomatoes & peppers should have been developing and ready for me to start harvesting (and selling) as the berries ended - but the lack of early season rain; then some rain but very high temperatures; then almost no rain and even higher temps ment that the tomatoes/peppers (over 50% of the yearly income) were almost a complete loss. Basil, sage, thyme, rosemary & oregano have done & are doing very well, but they are minor income producers. It'll be another few months before the shitake start producing. So most of what I had to use for barter, don't have most of it either. Plus some but not enough money to make it through the year. Plus gas prices... shit.... Then while making one of my last blackberry deliveries, someone came in and stole most of what little I had. They took most of the computer equipment(which had years of farm data), weather station, TV, stereo system, kitchen stuff, and other things from the house, plus my hand tools & all my electric power tools from the barn(but not the chain saw, TroyBilt tiller or weed eater). They also took lots of little things like a cup holding spare pens & pencils, things like that too. They also went through my music collection and took a lot, a lot of my oldest & most favorite music. Albums, casette tapes, cds, even some old 7 inch reel to reel jazz tapes. Beatles, Rolling Stones, Who, and Cream albums from the 60s - all gone. Most of the Jazz & Blues, a lot of the Rthym&Blues and Soul - James Brown at the Apollo from 1962, etc. Strangly they just took what they wanted & left the rest. Here's the kicker - I called the cops to report the robbery & they sent the county litter patrol officer to make out the report. It doesn't pay to be a hippie in redneck, pro-Bush central Alabama. As a result of all this, after many, many years, I am no longer a self-supporting farmer. I've had to take a job working in the shipping & recieving area of a small bakery in a town about 15 miles away. So like I said, hope everyone else's year is going better than mine. But I'm still here, seem to be back on-line, working on re-building etc. No danger of "losing the farm", it's been paid for for years, but getting back into the year round rhythm of farming.... HMMmmm, haven't figured that out yet. Peace, poor_old_dad
i missed this thread but my garden this year: tomatoes(cherry, early girl, big boy)(3 plants) cucumbers(3 plants) eggplant(1 plant) bell pepper(1 plant) swiss chard(red, green)(about 20 plants) watermelon(1 plant) blackberries(1 huge bush) blueberries(1 plant) strawberries(6 plants) raspberries(1 large plant) ... and bush beans but they all came out... odd.... they must of been a bad bunch.
Poor Old Dad, Man, I am really sorry things have been so bad for you, especially the theft. People who do things like that don't need to be living among us, I hope they're caught and locked away forever.
Thanks for the kind words, as to who ever took my stuff.... there's not much hope he/she/they will be caught & I'll get some stuff back. The cops didn't take photos, fingerprints.... nothing. Like I said, central Alabama isn't the easiest place for a hippie to live. The main thing I've got to do is try to keep my spirits up & find the strength to not give up the lifestyle I worked sooooo hard to get going. I'm getting some stuff replaced (example,this computer), but that main thing - not doing very well on that. Peace, poor_old_dad
Glenn - Man, I'm so sorry about your losses. That sounds rough... Let me know if there's ever anything I can do. Hate to bring this up, but is there any chance you could know the thief? From what they took it sounds a little like they knew what they were looking for/going to find. You helped me a lot this year, and taught me a lot of what I needed to get into gardening. Being my first year, not everything worked out as planned, but every time I eat from the garden I think of you! Again, let me know if there's anything I can contribute to helping your place get running again.
hiya pod, was wonderin where ya been at,,,, sounds like ya have had a rough go of things as of late,,,, sending you much energy n light brother,,, iffin theres anything we can help ya out with give us a holler... even if it just a few veggies n such we have put back,,,, ... as to gardens here this year ... ugh!!! They truly have been lots of work between lack of rain, rian for two weeks n then none again... Most things here are done n spent now and gardens tilled for fall stuff but dunno if it is worth it if we continue this pattern of no rain. Potatoes were a complete flop in the end , beans werent great nor peppers...Tomatoes n squashes did well for a while but then shriveled n died.... when yer water sources begin dryin up ya hafta choose whats important... house n animals or gardens,,,,,:| even the animals be suffering and may have to do something with this fall and winter... hay prices are goin insanely high ... any who brother,,, whilst yer on yer garden hiatus,, shuold head on over n visit a weekend before yer gumption to garden comes back ... much luv n lite
