Any gardeners (vegetable) here?

[live4christp1]

I am thinking I would like to start a small garden this year......as it's almost the end of January I guess I need to gear up and start doing any of the prep work that needs to happen now.

I have an area to plant and the use of a tiller. I don't want to do anything huge as it will be me and the kids maintaining it this year, maybe increase the size next year when DH will be home.

Here are the types of vegetables/fruits I'd like to plant: squash (yellow & zuccinni), broccoli, onions (red/purple & vadilia), tomato, bell pepper (couple of different varieties), cucumbers, green beans & snap peas (edible pods), strawberries, blueberries, cantelope, watermelon, & pumpkins (carvable).

That list doesn't look so small typed out.

I want to do the strawberries in a strawberry jar (may do two jars). I think I want to do the pepper plants in a pot but I have no idea about doing this.....I'd like to do one pot each a green bell pepper plant, red bell pepper plant & yellow bell pepper plant......I may add in a hot pepper as well but undecided on the variety. Undecided on the blueberries but maybe just a couple of plants if I do them (leaning toward a variety that can also be an ornamental plant). Would like to do one hill of beans and one hill of peas (yes I know these need poles), one hill of each squash variety. One hill of cucumbers though I'm sure that will make more than I'll use. One mixed hill of pumpkins and watermelons. Just a few tomato plants. I have absolutely no idea on how broccoli or cantelope grow. Some onions thrown in there somewhere....lol.

My parents used to plant a big garden every year. I helped some as a kid but not really enough to know what I'm doing. This will be my first try at anything other than flowers.

I'm in planting zone 7. I have no idea where to start.

I'm thinking the local co-op will be my best bet in being able to by a smaller amount for planting of the plants.......not sure if they sale seeds in anything other than a pack though.

I'd also like to start a little windowsill herb garden as well.

Any tips, advice, etc. I dont' really even know when or where to start.

Tired of paying for produce that looks like crap at the grocery store because it's been bruised and banged up from the point of origin to the actual store. We aren't big fresh tomato eaters but I'd like to grow some and then run them through the food processor and freeze them for future use in soups, stews, sauces, etc.

Thanks!
Cristy

 

[BuzzBiteyear]

I'm interest in this as well.

One piece of advice is you may need to fence in your garden. DS6 was very excited about his garden last year. We used garden boxes, but did not put up any fencing. We had planted lettuce, green peppers, cucumbers, onions, carrots, green beans, and tomatoes. Many of each of these. All we got out of it was enough lettuce for one salad, 1 piddly serving of green beans, and 4 or 5 tomatoes. The rest went to the groundhogs and deer (I wanted to watch the end of Bambi after what they did to the pepper and tomato plants).


Oops, forgot, we also did a couple pumpkins. Those were going until our trip to WDW and a terrible dry/heat spell at home killed those off.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Look at this link, as it will give you planting times. I really cannot answer you because I am zone 5.

You really need to note the difference between cool season crops that need to be planted early and warm season crops. Not all veggies are planted at the same time.

http://www.veggieharvest.com/Vegetable-Planting-Calendar/zone-7-vegetable-planting-calendar/

Here is a informative site about strawberries. Note the "strawberry jars".
http://www.bonnieplants.com/LearnGr...abid/128/ID/154/How-to-Grow-Strawberries.aspx

 

[Sorsha]

Well, let's see if I can help a little... NOTE: some of my advice will be a little different from things you will need to do in your area because my zone is VASTLY different from yours. I am not sure what zone Montana is *scratches head* 4, I think... but I know we can't even usually put plants in the ground till the first of June or we lose them to frost. Our Growing Season is UBER short, therefore we have to do most of our growing VERY creatively.

So. First of all, you need to figure out how long your in-the-ground growing season is. Basically how long you have between your last frost of the spring, and your first frost of the fall. In Montana, that's somewhere between 70-90 days. If we are lucky.. really. It sucks. Now look at all the things you want to grow... either the seed packages, or the description of the plants in the catalogs. Somewhere on there, should be a description of how long it takes those things to produce food. See if you have a long enough growing season for them. If not, subtract your growing season from how long they will need, and that's how early you will need to start them in your house. Don't start them too early, or they will be too big before its time to put them outside. In Montana, we have to start just about EVERYTHING in the house. Most people, in *normal* climates, can get away with only starting things that need really long growing seasons like pumpkins and melons. Some things, like strawberries and tomatoes and peppers, its easier to just go to a local plant nursery in the spring and just buy little baby plants that have already been started for you.

If you need, or want, to start seeds in your house, you will need to invest in some supplies. Its kind of fun, and makes the end of winter pass by a little faster. You will need some seed starting soil (I recommend the kind that has plant food already mixed in - makes the seeds germinate better) and some sort of pots to put them in. Now you can use whatever sort of pots you like - my sister in law cuts the bottom off of old milk cartons and old cool whip containers - she's the ultimate recycler and maybe a wee bit cheap - but I like the pots made out of the brown peat material. When its time to plant the seeds you can just plant pot-and-all and it dissolves into the soil. make sure you buy big enough pots so that as your seedlings grow they don't get root-bound before its warm enough outside to transplant them. You will also need a large tray to set the pots in so you can water them and a warm and sunny spot in your house to put them. You can get these and many other fun supplies at your local garden supply store.

When its time to put the seedlings outside, till your soil up well, and then till a couple of bags of garden fertilizer (here in Montana, we buy sterilized steer manure, I kid you not) into the soil as well. Use a rake to make raised hills/rows so you can walk between them, and do some internet research as to which crops like to grow next to eachother. String some ropes or fence out for your beans and peas to grow on - they need support.

Have fun, water well, enjoy the weeding (I hate that part LOL), and enjoy those wonderful yummy veggies!!

ETA: Go to your local plant nursery in the spring for broccoli and cauliflower. I bet you can find plants that have already been started for you... but I know you can grow them from seed as well. Be very careful with them, they attract pests (wormies) in the florets when not sprayed. Be sure you wash them very well before eating. *SHUDDERS*

 

[monorailsilver]

I would start small this year with a few plants to see what grows.

The first few gardens we had were just tomatos, all varieties.

We have since expanded that garden to tomatos, cukes, green beans, zucchini, squash, jalepeno peppers, green/yellow/red/orange peppers (which ever ones we find), melon & corn. OH & pumpkin.

So far we know we can't grow corn so we don't bother with that. We have seeds for the melon so it only cost us 50 cents or $1 & while the melon have grown, they just don't mature so we are learning on that one.

We know with the jalepeno's they grow like weeds here so this year my dh finally said he won't plan as many. I have so many frozen & I finished my 2009 stash of them as I was freezing the 2010 stash.

Tomatos, ours didn't grow well last year. I think because my dh planted from seed & planted them too late. I told him he should plant them now so they are ready for spring to go in the ground. But usually we have an abundance of them.

Cukes, I love them & I must pick about 4 a day & I could pick more but I don't.

Squash & zucchini didn't grow so well for me last year but normally they do & I have so much I shred & freeze it to make bread all winter but no suck luck last summer.

Pumpkins grew & even the pumpkin seeds I threw out in our old garden grew.

We know we need more green beans for this year too. The sweet peppers also did pretty good but we needed a few more plants.

We did lettuce last year & it didn't grow as nice as it did the year before. We put them in the Earth Boxes on the deck.

We also put down the black garden paper, not sure what it is called but it helps to fight the weeds. We reuse it every year.

We also have a raspberry garden. It is huge & we keep transplanting shoots from the dropping from the birds to different areas in our yard. My dh needs to trim it a bit because I can't reach some of the berry's & it drives me crazy to not get that big huge perfect one. My neighbor even comes over to pick them. We tried blueberry's but they didn't grow for us. And my dh doesn't want to deal with Strawberry's yet because they require their own garden.

I'd say trial & error this year to see what grows the best.

I have gone to our local gardens & bought plants from there with success.

 

[live4christp1]

Thanks for the wonderful tips and ideas! It will definately be small this year. Probably more of an experiment than anything to see what does well. I know my mom & dad tried lettuce one year and didn't have much luck with that.

If anyone has anything else to add please do.

Wish I could find a site were I could put in all the things I want to grow and it would tell me where they needed to be in the garden.

OH and it lists our growing season from April 15 through late October.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Thanks for the wonderful tips and ideas! It will definately be small this year. Probably more of an experiment than anything to see what does well. I know my mom & dad tried lettuce one year and didn't have much luck with that.

If anyone has anything else to add please do.

Wish I could find a site were I could put in all the things I want to grow and it would tell me where they needed to be in the garden.

OH and it lists our growing season from April 15 through late October.

You really need to look at the link I posted. That is not right even for zone 5.

Your cool season plants need to be in the ground sooner than that, esp. if you want to plant onions & broccoli.

I think you can plant them now. Check with your local nurseries.

 

[Sorsha]

Wish I could find a site were I could put in all the things I want to grow and it would tell me where they needed to be in the garden.

Here's one and here's another that show "companion plants" and "enemy plants".

I found this information very interesting:

Many old-fashioned vegetable gardens, also called kitchen gardens, mixed vegetables, herbs and flowers together. Not only does this type of garden look beautiful, but it also harnesses the power of nature to create an organic garden that naturally repels pests.Consider the following plant combinations and what they do for one another:

Marigolds: Marigolds planted near anything repel many insects. You can plant marigolds around tomatoes to repel the ugly green hornworms. These big insects can devour an entire tomato plant in one night. Plant marigolds around your entire vegetable garden to add bright color and repel insects.
Herbs: Herbs add flavor to foods, and they can also repel insects. Nasturtium and rosemary deter beetles that attack beans. Thyme repels the cabbage worm. Chives and garlic deter aphids. Oregano, like marigolds, is a good all-purpose plant for the organic gardener to repel most insect pests. Plant herbs freely among vegetables, tucking basil, oregano, rosemary and chives in among the tomato and pepper plants. You can pretty much harvest the whole thing and make one great tasting dinner!

 

[momof1princess]

DH plants a HUGE vegetable garden each year.
one good tip is not to plant certain vegetables next to each other, or neither will grow well. for example, do not plant corn and tomatoes in adjacent rows-they should be separated by a couple of rows.

pumpkins aren't difficult to grow at all-we usually throw our halloween pumpkin in the compost pile each fall, and will have at least one pumpkin grow there each year, lol.

we grow blueberries, and they are NOT easy to grow-you plant the plants, then tend them diligently for the first couple of years. they should not be allowed to bloom at all; if you see a bloom, snip it off. blueberries need to spend all their energy the first couple of years establishing their root systems, not producing blooms and berries. also, your first year berries may not be very sweet-ours were VERY sour, but the following year, they were wonderful and everyone raved about them.

if you have a dog, beware: our dog LOVES fresh vegetables and raids the garden whenever he feels like it, lol. cucumbers are his favorite, and we've found many of them laying in the garden with gnaw marks on them.

ETA: the PP is right about marigolds-DH plants them around our tomatoes each year.

 

[Sorsha]

You really need to look at the link I posted. That is not right even for zone 5.

Your cool season plants need to be in the ground sooner than that, esp. if you want to plant onions & broccoli.

I think you can plant them now. Check with your local nurseries.

No, according to the graph at the link you posted, she should put things in the ground by about the first/middle of April (sounds about right to me), and her outdoor growing season is indeed April 15-end of October. I don't know of anywhere save the very southernmost states that could be planting things in the ground now.

Looks like her earliest indoor seedlings should start about the middle of February.

 

[live4christp1]

You really need to look at the link I posted. That is not right even for zone 5.

Your cool season plants need to be in the ground sooner than that, esp. if you want to plant onions & broccoli.

I think you can plant them now. Check with your local nurseries.

That's what I read too....that I could go ahead and plant those items but the date for planting without to much danger of freeze/frost is after April 15th.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Great advice so far.

Don't do what I always do -- put too much in a small space -- use the spacing guidelines on the plants!

I've tried several times to start from seeds, but it never works for me -- I get them already started as plants.

There are lots of gardening websites -- I'd start doing some research. There's also an online planning tool at http://www.bhg.com/gardening/design/nature-lovers/welcome-to-plan-a-garden/

Have fun!!!

 

[Kirby]

I don't know what state you are in but we are in zone 7 also and I recently purchased a book that I really like, Month to Month Gardening in Texas by Dan Gill and Dale Groom. I know that they make them for other states also.

 

[live4christp1]

I don't know what state you are in but we are in zone 7 also and I recently purchased a book that I really like, Month to Month Gardening in Texas by Dan Gill and Dale Groom. I know that they make them for other states also.

Thanks!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

That's what I read too....that I could go ahead and plant those items but the date for planting without to much danger of freeze/frost is after April 15th.

No, according to the graph at the link you posted, she should put things in the ground by about the first/middle of April (sounds about right to me), and her outdoor growing season is indeed April 15-end of October. I don't know of anywhere save the very southernmost states that could be planting things in the ground now.

Looks like her earliest indoor seedlings should start about the middle of February.

Yes, but it is different for "cool season" crops. For example with broccoli and onions they need to be in the ground long before April, I would think.

I know that onions are the first thing you do no matter where you live. They can withstand freezing.

That is why you need to check with your local nursery or extension agency. I am not sure of exact timing.

 

[Sorsha]

Yes, but it is different for "cool season" crops. For example with broccoli and onions they need to be in the ground long before April, I would think.

I know that onions are the first thing you do no matter where you live. They can withstand freezing.

That is why you need to check with your local nursery or extension agency. I am not sure of exact timing.

Yes, I am not sure either. Again, it's different in MT. It gets so cold here, for so long, that nothing can stand being out too early. We don't just get "a freeze", we get A FREEZE. Three years ago, we had 6 inches of snow in the 2nd week of June. It was ugly. Farmers lost their entire season's worth of crops, etc.

Anyhow, we all live with our entire kitchens full of seed starts until early/mid June, and then when we do get brave enough to put things in the garden, we spend the first few weeks going out every night and dragging sheets of plastic across the whole garden to cover everything up and going out every morning and dragging them off again.

Or some of us (yeah, me) have just said the heck with it, and given up. I do everything in containers now. I just pick it up and move it to the garage at night if its forecasted to be too cold. And if its a crop that can't be grown in a container, I buy it at the Farmer's Market. After many years, Montana has defeated me.

 

[shortbun]

My husband started building our raised bed containers last weekend. We also ordered our seeds and got out the grow lights, cleared the tables and cleaned the growning pots. Last year, we grew only tomatoes and herbs because we moved into a new house 3 days before Christmas and never got organized. This year we are going small because we also have three pear trees, 10 bluberry bushes and two apple trees to care for. We brought in a professional, organic gardener late last fall to prune and teach us what to do for these new (to us) plants. We like raised beds because my knees are a mess and I can not get up and down for weeding, pruning and cultivating our plants. I'll have a chair that I move and work from spot to spot. We are growing basil, rosemary, parsley, oregano and thyme indoors right now. OP-I think you have selected a lot of plants. If I were going to start from the very beginning, I might consider the amount of land you will need to till. You are talking lots and lots of space for some of your chosen crops with little yield. All that squash and pumpkins-lots of space; blueberries grow on bushes that grow perennially and take up some space as well as being really labor intensive all at one time. Anyway, enjoy your foray into gardening. If your husband is gone, you might have more time but less labor available. How about some tomatoes, green beans, zuchini, pumpkins and cucumbers along with a couple of pepper plants? That will keep you very busy. My sister and her husband have a huge garden and their busiest time is freezing, canning, pickling and all the things that come with harvest time at the end of the summer. She's always a crazy woman in early September!! I don't EVEN try to talk to her. lol! My dad used to do nothing but onions and potatoes-lots of varieties of each.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

If I may recommend 2 books:

http://www.amazon.com/McGee-Stuckey...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296002811&sr=1-1

and

http://www.amazon.com/All-New-Squar...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296002883&sr=1-1

 

[emer95]

Oh, how I love my veggie garden!! There is nothing better than going in my backyard, barefoot, and looking at my garden saying, "What's for dinner?" I already bought heirloom tomato seeds. I had really good luck growing them from seed last year and I had the most mouth-watering heirloom tomatoes. The year before that I tried and I lost every last one to some horrible tomato virus.

I'm very un-scientific with my garden. My hubby rototills and I plop plants (or seeds) in. We use the black garden paper a PP mentioned because weeding is my least favorite thing to do, and that stuff works like magic. The fresh salsa I make from my garden is out-of-this world!!

Ah, I miss summer.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

I know here (wisconsin) we started all our seed inside. This year were trying growing boxes for our herbs (so we can do them year-round in my bedroom). We have a huge garden for veggies and so such out in the yard. We considered a greenhouse this year but its just not in the budget. I know here we can usally get our plants out of the basement (and my bedroom) by May. We start ours under some cheap grow lights that we bought at walmart ($10). We also built a cool box to hang one from so I can grow some of my favorite herbs and plants in my room (since I have no windows with sills)