Garden in May

[DianaB]

I can't believe how much your garden has grown!!! Soon you'll be enjoying the "fruits of your labor"!!!

Glen's been putting in a garden and the kids have been helping him. So far they've planted tomatoes (about 25-30!! Way too much!!), spinach (which hasn't come up), potatoes, green peppers, onions, and we have a lot more to go in. He planted some sweet corn in one of our fields and we've been having asparagus (it comes up every year once you get it started). So it looks like we're going to have a big garden anyway! The kids are all worried about the economy and are offering to help in the garden so it's going to be a family project!!

[gja1000]

Diana! That is just GREAT! There's nothing like growing your own food! Your garden sounds like the ones we had when I was growing up on our farm! So wonderful!

Judy, I definitely would not want to have fresh vegetables on my deck with all that wildlife. I think vegetables would definitely draw in critters I would not want out there. In our town, we have a community garden - individuals have their own little plot and plant whatever they want. That sounds like something that would suit you.

[Marilyn]

Gayle, your garden looks great. My pot plants don't look nearly as well. I'll take pics and post as soon as my computer is back. Right now, I don't have a computer that will download from my camera or accept and SD card, so hopefully sometime this week. I'm going to have to put in a garden like yours to serously have some vegetables.

[gja1000]

Originally Posted by Marilyn

Gayle, your garden looks great. My pot plants don't look nearly as well. I'll take pics and post as soon as my computer is back. Right now, I don't have a computer that will download from my camera or accept and SD card, so hopefully sometime this week. I'm going to have to put in a garden like yours to serously have some vegetables.

Marilyn, I was wondering how your potted garden was coming along. You were way behind me - so I wouldn't expect yours to be nearly as big by now. By all means, do put in a raised bed garden like I did. They are so nice! NO WEEDS! Just have your hubby (or contractor) build it with landscape timbers (or whatever). Then buy some good garden soil at a nursery - we had the workers haul it to our backyard in a wheelbarrow and shovel it in. It really needs to be about 9-10 inches deep, tomatoes have long roots! Don't make it over 4 feet wide and then make it as long as you want it. That way you can reach to the middle without straining your back. If you make it any wider than 4 feet - then it is not as comfortable reaching to the middle. Also, the higher you make it, the less stooping over you have to do. I sit on my "tractor" (as my hubby calls it), but higher is better! The time to plant for fall is July - so it's not too late to get that raised bed garden done!

[Marilyn]

Gayle, I looked at my garden again last night. I've been making sure the moisture is right, and it has plenty of sun. Been watering and spritzing with the liquid seaweed. I think I may have given it too much fertilizer. Using a 50/50 mix of compost and potting soil may have been too much. It looks like my plants are burning up. The squash plants especially. My eggplant is about a foot tall and has a tiny purple eggplant already. The squash are blooming but the leaves are almost burned up. The leaves on the tomato plants are turning yellow at the bottom and dying. The tomato plants haven't grown very much at all. My basil was doing good, but it's beginning to turn yellow, too. The only thing that looks good is the rosemary. Not sure what to do now.

[gja1000]

I'm thinking that the soil may have been too rich. Have you been using seaweed only once per week? That's all that is needed. Also, I heard on the gardening show that the rain we have had, while wonderful for gardens, causes some temporary problems, such as yellowing leaves and the like. All my little squash turned brown and fell off - the blooms fell off too and that is the result (or so the gardening guru said) of being too wet for too long. He said it would reverse as the rain stopped and we went back to a wet to dry watering pattern.

Indeed, my squash have set on and I have little yellow buggers getting bigger every day.

One more thing, the things you have planted need a wet to dry watering cycle. Water, let them dry out and water again only when the soil is completely dry - but do not let the vegetation droop. Do not keep them wet all the time. For me, that is about every other day, so far. In the heat of the summer, I will probably need to water every morning, because by evening it will be completely dried out.

I would use potting soil only - and use a good organic potting soil. Most potting soil has stuff in it to promote growth, so if you added more compost, then that is likely why the leaves look burned.

Good luck, gardening is an art, I think.

[Lindsey]

Gayle, your garden is beautiful! We can't start planting anything here yet. Gardens usually go in at the end of May or start of June. I think I will be putting tomatoes in my planters in the next couple of weeks and bringing them inside overnight.

[gja1000]

Originally Posted by Marilyn

Gayle, I looked at my garden again last night. I've been making sure the moisture is right, and it has plenty of sun. Been watering and spritzing with the liquid seaweed. I think I may have given it too much fertilizer. Using a 50/50 mix of compost and potting soil may have been too much. It looks like my plants are burning up. The squash plants especially. My eggplant is about a foot tall and has a tiny purple eggplant already. The squash are blooming but the leaves are almost burned up. The leaves on the tomato plants are turning yellow at the bottom and dying. The tomato plants haven't grown very much at all. My basil was doing good, but it's beginning to turn yellow, too. The only thing that looks good is the rosemary. Not sure what to do now.

I should add to my reply above, that I tried to grow tomatoes in containers a few years ago. I bought great organic potting soil, didn't add anything to it - but didn't use seaweed either (didn't know about it back then) and nothing grew very much. The tomatoes just did not grow, didn't bloom and eventually turned yellow and died. Don't know why............

[Gina]

Gayle your veggies are growing beautifully. I don't have a green thumb at all. I have plenty of dirt but no ambitions.. In Bklyn I had a 2x4 garden and my husband use to plant.. Here nada go figure.. lol

Diana , Marilyn you girls to have green thumbs... Judy, I wouldnt dare put any veggies outside on your deck. Bears now thats scarey..