Gardening: 2002-2009 Seasons

[hummingbirdkiss]

what about hot peppers in a pot and basil? my mother has great success in that area with those? I am jealouse of folks that can grow tomatoes mine always get that black rot! and peppers are iffy I try every year but no luck ...

I live in a very temperate part of the Puget Sound area and can literally grow all year something! I am so lucky that way!!!!

toss a seed in and jump the heck back!!!

but the rain is relentless this year!!! relentless!!!

Edited March 28, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[annecros]

what about hot peppers in a pot and basil? my mother has great success in that area with those? I am jealouse of folks that can grow tomatoes mine always get that black rot! and peppers are iffy I try every year but no luck ...

I live in a very temperate part of the Puget Sound area and can literally grow all year something! I am so lucky that way!!!!

toss a seed in and jump the heck back!!!

but the rain is relentless this year!!! relentless!!!

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Oh, peppers and basil are no problem at all. I keep them in the ground, and the silly basil needs pruning with shears! I have soil that is already loaded with lime, though. This whole part of the state is just a thin layer of dirt on top of coral rock.

That blossom end rot is due to a calcium deficiency in the soil.

click here for more information

The soil has to be ammended well before planting, because there is no quick fix. You are liming your beds, which help, but I would consider growing tomatoes in a container where you can really control whats going on. And using a blanced slow release fertilizer (Osmocote type) with micronutrients.

Relentless rain - yeah we sound like two farmers! I am whining and complaining about the water restrictions they just put us under. Send it south and east!

Edited March 28, 2007 by annecros (log)

[sparrowgrass]

Crouching Tyler, when your asparagus starts to grow, the sprouts will look like tiny asparagus stalks--no mistaking them for anything else. As they grow, they will get feathery.

Let them grow this year, so the roots get strong. Next year, you can eat just a little--don't cut any spears that are smaller than a pencil.

Year after that--go to town.

I have two rows--one I planted 5 years ago when I first moved here, and one that is on its 3rd spring. I picked enough out of that row last night to satisfy even me, and I will continue to pick until it gets hot enough that the spears get bitter.

The old row was planted too close to a young maple tree, and has not done well--too much shade and not enough moisture.

[crouching tyler]

Crouching Tyler, when your asparagus starts to grow, the sprouts will look like tiny asparagus stalks--no mistaking them for anything else.  As they grow, they will get feathery. 

Let them grow this year, so the roots get strong.  Next year, you can eat just a little--don't cut any spears that are smaller than a pencil.

Year after that--go to town. 

I have two rows--one I planted 5 years ago when I first moved here, and one that is on its 3rd spring.  I picked enough out of that row last night to satisfy even me, and I will continue to pick until it gets hot enough that the spears get bitter.

The old row was planted too close to a young maple tree, and has not done well--too much shade and not enough moisture.

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Thanks for the information. One more question - do they just die back to the roots in the winter or am I supposed to prune them at the end of the growing season ? I don't know anyone that grows asparagus here in the Pacific NW and I don't know whether that is because it doesn't do well in our soggy climate, or just because it is a "permanent" aka intimidating crop.

[azurite]

Thanks for the information. One more question - do they just die back to the roots in the winter or am I supposed to prune them at the end of the growing season ? I don't know anyone that grows asparagus here in the Pacific NW and I don't know whether that is because it doesn't do well in our soggy climate, or just because it is a "permanent" aka intimidating crop.

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[BarbaraY]

I would think that some kind of mulch like straw would deter the weeds.

Not speaking from experience because I've yet to grow asparagus but it works for other crops.

[hummingbirdkiss]

it took me five years to nurture 6 asparagus stalks ...I have since moved the plant to my son's yard and he seems to be having better luck just by ignoring it completely!

the yard is bursting all over!!!

I have an entire hill of rhubarb and is coming fast!!!!

my raised beds are a disaster I need to turn them all plant a cover crop and give them a break so I can plant some garlic this fall

the strawberries need cleaning up and they are coming to life..

I just adore this time of year!!!!

Edited March 31, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[azurite]

I would think that some kind of mulch like straw would deter the weeds.

Not speaking from experience because I've yet to grow asparagus but it works for other crops.

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In some places (I think straw's used in the UK), straw works well. But you have to pay for it usually, and here in giant slug land, it might be shelter for slugs (almost everything else seems to be). The carpeting was free.

azurite

[Sony]

I'm experiencing my first growing season in upstate NY....being from the South, it's so strange to me that it's April and seedlings aren't being sold yet, so I've decided to start my own for the 1st time .

Since I'm still an apartment dweller, everything is in containers and will stay that way since I'll be moving this summer within town.

This afternoon, I started seedlings for:

Purple basil

Spicy globe basil

Chives

Thyme

Sage

Italian parsley

Lavender

Spearmint

Cilantro

Beets

Turnips

Supersweet 100 tomatoes

Radishes aren't planted yet- I need to get some more soil to prepare pots for them!

(And just for fun, a mix of wildflowers is planted too).

I can't wait for my babies to sprout!

[sazji]

I'm mostly an ornamental gardener but I always grow sugar snap peas, rainbow chard (beautiful and good to eat), and winter squash. This year I planted Turk's turban (brought from the US ironically), and butternut. There is a very good local one, "Adapazarı," which looks like a big deep-channeled gray pumpkin, but they are huge, and cutting into one is like slaughtering a calf! I end up distributing it to all the neighbors. This year I'm trying some sweet potatoes (brought from a farm in Virginia) also because they are completely unknown here. I always have parsley out there as well as cilantro (another thing I can't find here).

I'm planting three kinds of Indian basil (tulsi) - Krishna, Rama and Vana. I've never used them in cooking but they smell *so* good!

Oh - also have planted seeds of American persimmon, but it will be quite a while before I get any fruit from those!

[sparrowgrass]

Tyler, I don't know if I can really advise you on asparagus culture away up there.

But your Washington State Extension office can. Here is a site that will help you locate your county office.

Washington State Extension guide to asparagus.

Here in Missouri, it dies off after a hard freeze, and then you mow the old stalks off.

(Excuse me if I am telling you things you already know.) After you are finished cutting asparagus, the plant will send up stalks that will leaf out, with loads of pretty filmy foliage. Let these grow all summer.

I tried a straw mulch, with mixed results. I had some growth way too early, into the straw, and then the sprouts froze off.

[helenjp]

Hee hee, my strawberries are flowering, my Japanese ume are about the size of an olive pit, my spring-sown peas are starting to climb up their net, AND my basil seeds are finally showing tiny green heads.

So why was the raised bed a failure? Too dry? Weeds? I'm curious!

I didn't grow many vegetables in my garden because I have such limited sun, so this year I got some big, deep containers which can be used in sunny but soil-less areas. The zucchini currently spends the morning on one end of the balcony, and the afternoon on the other end .

Sazji, please keep us posted on the sweet potatoes. I grew some in an area that was a bit too damp and shady - wonderful vines for making Christmas wreaths with, but a bit disappointing underground!

[jess mebane]

We've had two strawberries thus far, and lots of lettuce. Is anyone else sick of rushing baby tomato plants in and out of shelter against the infernal weather fluctuation? Must be April.............

[annecros]

It's finally raining! No getting up at 4 AM to start the soaker hoses!

I've got a good dozen and a half little green tomatoes set, the first cucumbers are set, nice stand of purple hull peas budding and will bloom this week, lost the Fordhook Limas to seed rot but have a nice stand of Jackson Wonders putting on second leaves - as well as crowders and zipper cream peas at about the same stage. Sweet Georgia (don't call them Vidalia) onion sets in and perky, and broke down and put in summer squash (ronde de nice, crookneck, zuchinni, and patty pan) with third leaves and threatening to take over the bottom of the garden.

I love spring.

[jess mebane]

Happy Sunday, and praise the skies for such a wet spring! My lanky, teenaged tomatoes have just now set fruit, and the strawberries grow slightly faster than the snails can find them. I think I will have to google for pix of male and female squash parts, as the blossoms come and go without much ever coming of it. Sort of a freshman mixer in that corner of the garden.

[sparrowgrass]

My garden is growing so fast, so luxuriously, that I am almost afraid to go out there.

Never mind spiders, never mind copperheads--there could be wild boars or bears or Sasquatches out there.

[heidih]

My garden is growing so fast, so luxuriously, that I am almost afraid to go out there.

So beautiful! My Southern California garden is a joke this year. Must be the erratic weather. Even the zucchini I grow mostly for the flowers looks anemic. The best looking thing out there today were some mushrooms that popped up. The tortoises ate them with no ill effect, but I don't know enough to be able to eat them! Keep posting those gorgeous pictures!

[sparrowgrass]

Don't encourage me, heidi--I just got a new camera.

[NikaBoyce]

Ok all.. I am starting to harvest my homegrown organic kohlrabi (yeah!) and am looking for recipes.

My issues is this: I see over and over instructions to peel the kohlrabi. Is this necessary if it is grown pure?

I would like to not have to peel it because it seems to hardly have any peel at all and there might be good things there.

Does the peel have a negative impact on the eating experience? (ie: bitter?)

Thanks all!

BTW my garden blog is at Humble Garden , come on by and sit a spell.

Edited August 3, 2007 by NikaBoyce (log)

[hummingbirdkiss]

blackberries are ripening faster than I can pick them

and for the first time since I have lived her I have full tomato vines...I am so worried I will see black spots and loose everything that I check them daily and water them by hand

my fig trees limbs are touching the ground they are so full of figs ...

herbs are insane and I am just letting them go now ..no one will take anymore from me!!!

rhubarb is still producing and tastes wonderful still

cardoon has huge purple blooms...dahlias...second bloom of the honeysuckle...hollyhocks.....(anyone want some seeds???)

I am starting to think about what types of garlic I am going to plant this year....

it is so hard to leave and go to work this time of year ..I just want to stay home and enjoy this!!!

Edited August 3, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[NikaBoyce]

herbs are insane and I am just letting them go now ..no one will take anymore from me!!!

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Why dont you dry the herbs at least?

[hummingbirdkiss]

herbs are insane and I am just letting them go now ..no one will take anymore from me!!!

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Why dont you dry the herbs at least?

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I have filled up most places in my house with bunches hanging to dry! thanks though!!!

[NikaBoyce]

I have filled up most places in my house with bunches hanging to dry! thanks though!!!

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Jeepers, that seems like a LOT of herbs.

Ya know, I could stop by and ... just kidding :-)

[hummingbirdkiss]

I have filled up most places in my house with bunches hanging to dry! thanks though!!!

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Jeepers, that seems like a LOT of herbs.

Ya know, I could stop by and ... just kidding :-)

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bring hedge clippers I am not kidding I have gone so far as to turn rosemary stems into skewers and my friends are not buying it anymore

[NikaBoyce]

bring hedge clippers I am not kidding I have gone so far as to turn rosemary stems into skewers and my friends are not buying it anymore

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Rosemary skewers should never be questioned! I planted my first rosemary patch this year so we pick sparingly. Our spearmint is unruly as expected .. think I will add some to my tea right now.