Zone 3-5 Gardeners Early 2010 - Page 11

[HeatherAtHome]

Originally Posted by zavierchick

Hope you don't mind, I followed your blog, I adore home remodeling blogs, it is so much fun to see what other folks are doing with their places! We have been in our place for just over two years, it is a 1947 farm house and needs so much work, but we're loving it anyway

No problem, the more the merrier! And if you love seeing houses being torn apart, just wait until next week. DH goes on vacation and we're gutting the addition. Actually, he couldn't wait and starting ripping out some stuff today.

So far he's found 4 layers of flooring in the old bathroom... and it's only been there since the 60's.

[zavierchick]

Oooo, I'll definitely be watching for that! We found 5 layers in our kitchen/dining room before conceding defeat and just laying new subfloor over the whole mess to lay new wood floors

I'm a bit annoyed this morning - my chickens are dust bathing in a strawberry whiskey barrel out there. I knew the berry plants looked kind of pathetic, but figured they were still recovering from the hail last year - nope, the darn chicken is sitting in there, fluffing dust all over herself and then leaning over to nibble the leaves as she suns.

[HeatherAtHome]

Updated garden pics.

What can I do to help my peppers grow? They're all so puny! I have a Bell mix, something called Calcom A (similar to Bell I believe but supposed to be 'hardier' for colder climates) and Jalapeño. Of them all, the jalapeños are growing best and I don't even like them!

[zavierchick]

Isn't that always the way it goes? I never have luck with peppers, mine are pathetic looking this year, too - hopefully someone with better luck will chime in for us

[kathymuggle]

I have never had luck with peppers - maybe it is genuinely beyond our zones capabilities?

[HeatherAtHome]

Well the Calcom A bell peppers were bought locally (seed) and marketed specifically as great for colder climates. They were puny when I put them out, but honestly, so where the tomatoes and tomatillos and those all took off. Next year I won't give them so much garden space.

[springmum]

No luck with my pepper sprouts that I started indoors. Once I put them outside they stopped growing, even with a little sprinkle of bone meal. I was so disappointed, b/c they looked so good as sprouts.

I'm about to have beans & zucc's coming out the wazoo any day now

My peas are done for the season (they were great). I'm going to take them out....what can I plant in their place? (zone 4b)

When do you start planting the stuff that likes the fall frost? ( How many weeks before it's due)

Love the garden pics, I should take more this week to post.

[heavensearth]

heatherathome, I love the pictures!
Peppers are slow growing, just give them time. They should start getting flowers on them any time now, if they don't already. You could always give them some Sea Magic Kelp fertilizer... we use it occasionally outside and always on our indoor plants. One package makes a could L's, so you get a lot of bang for your buck!

Springmum, we already have our fall plants in, but we're zone 3a. Maybe someone else knows?

This week we still have tons and tons of lettuce and herbs. Pea's will be ready soon, collards are ready now.

pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/creativemusings/

[HeatherAtHome]

heavensearth: Your garden looks great!

Mine is a little bit behind compared to some on here and irl but I have faith it will all come in good time. The thing about the peppers, they're only like 8-12" tall. Very squat looking! I do have some liquid seaweed fertilizer and have been meaning to put more on but I read that you shouldn't do it in direct sunlight as it could burn leaves etc. It's looking pretty overcast, so maybe I'll put some on today.

I found a little tomato yesterday!

[Hibou]

heavensearth, I'm pretty sure the mystery plant on your flicker page is borage. Those little buds will bloom into pretty blue flowers. It is a hardy self-seeder, just FYI, so you might want to keep it in check.

[HeatherAtHome]

So I feel like I won't get enough peas this summer to satisfy me. Can I plant more now? I picked up a packet that says it needs 64 growing days and if I plant them soon, I should be able to squeeze it in... but will it be too hot for them? Will they grow very well?

The peas I have now are just starting to blossom (after 40 days, different variety).

[kathymuggle]

I harvested my first tomato today! Small, perfect and deep, deep orange. Yum!

I have also harvested all my garlic - they are curing in the shed - they are huge! I have bravely planted a row of mesclun and carrots in the spot the garlic used to occupy. We will see how that does.

My squash are infiltrating the basil and older mesclun row. Next year they are getting their own garden bed.

Kathy

[wemoon]

There haven't been any posts in here for awhile! How did your garden go this year? What do you do in the winter time? Any indoor plants? When do you start planning for next year? Any things you know you need to change for next year?

My garden was not great this year. First year in this house and when I planned the garden, there weren't many leaves on the trees yet. After the trees filled in, there was way too much shade for the garden to ripen. So I spent the last part of the season trying to figure out where the best place to move the garden would be. I think I have it figured out. Is there anything I can do now to start getting the ground ready? Or do I need to wait till spring? I was wondering if I could stake it and then lay down plastic to prevent the grass from growing next spring... good idea or not?

[HeatherAtHome]

I haven't been in the gardening section here in ages. I'm mourning the loss of my garden and green growing things. I decided to get a bunch of indoor plants. :)

My garden grew amazingly well, especially considering it was my first. I have pics here. 

Right now, we're eating a lot of homemade pasta sauce. It's been a big help/money saver. 

Potatoes are another thing that we're really using. Very easy to grow too, easy to harvest, easy to store. 

We're relying on some veggies in the freezer but they're more "sides": green and yellow beens, chopped zucchini...

Next year i would grow more greens. Didn't really have enough chard etc. 

I also bought apples when they were on sale last fall. Also bags of carrots, turnip and onion to make up for what I didn't plant and/or didn't grow so well.

Some veggies I only had enough to eat during the summer: corn, peas, carrots, green peppers. 

Some veggies I NEED to get going sooner so I'm not harvesting at frost: tomatoes, green peppers. 

I'm looking forward to planning next years garden but won't let myself get into it until mid/end January. Otherwise the wait will be too long. 

[lovermont]

We're moving to the family farm this spring so already prepped 1/4 acre or so for our garden next year. We're REALLY nervous that it won't be enough. We figured out where we wanted rows and did a cover crop for the rows and left grass walk paths between.

We placed our seed order last night with Fedco. We plan to get a shelf unit built with lights at the end of Feb and start some seeds then too (when we'll  be up at the farm visiting) and then start the rest whenever we get back up there (possibly having my mil start the rest if we can't get up before we move).

That's the plan. Excited to find this thread.

Oh, we're in zone 3 possibly 4 - very very northern VT.