April Food Growing Mamas

[ms.shell]

I wondered why no one has started a new thread; but then I saw that Cathy is busy with her wedding right now! I hope everything is great with her; I hope no one minds me starting the thread.

So what have ya'll been doing?

We have been eating salad this week. I needed to clear out the spot where lots of lettuces were growing thickly. I transplanted some nice ones to the other garden, where they look beautiful all neatly spaced growing along and between the tomatoes and sweet peppers and cilantro going to seed.
But I harvested 2 huge bowls of salad mix that taste very nice. I also harvested a long thin red onion to put in the salad, and made dressing with garlic shoots. It looks like we will be able to have lettuce and tomatoes together, which has been hard for me to do. Like i said, most of the lettuce is done and only one of the tomatoes is starting to set fruit. We also have a couple cubanelle sweet pepper fruits ripening, so salads might be nicer in a couple weeks- that is, if the lettuce lasts. I might see what happens if i plant a couple more packets now....maybe we can have baby lettuce with tomatoes soon enough...

i also made cobbler with the first of the strawberries, mixed with some blueberries from the freezer.

I am LATE on planting beans and need to get them in this weekend.

What are ya'll up to?

[Minxie]

Well, we're in the NE so our lettuce and tomatoes are just starting to come up and we planted our peas today (around a bamboo "tee-pee"). Nothing is fruiting yet but there are new leaves EVERYWHERE!!! :-)

[lmonter]

Um, a whole lot of nothing around here. I finally got some seeds in my 4" pots in flats, but need to water and stick them under lights. *sigh* I may be buying a bunch of starts whether I want to or not.

The garden is overtaken by weeds. The crazy @$$ wind this last week tore 3+ holes in the plastic I'd had on cattle panels as my "greenhouse." Hubby got out the little tiller today and it started right up. He may or may not till for me this weekend.

Today Cathy's gettin' hitched, so yay!!! Plus I'm excited that I finally get to meet her and the new hubby in a week and a half or so if their plans don't change. They get to help me weed the strawberry, asparagus and blueberry beds, depending on how long they decide to hang out here. I can use all the help I can get.

[Ruthiegirl]

Congratulations to Cathy!!!!!

Our garden is really starting to shape up. Most of the beds have been turned with compost and are ready.

Put up the tomato trellises yesterday and seeded more chard.

We have been eating the last of the kale from last Fall and should be starting on the chard soon.

The potatoes are in and starting to come up.

I planted onion sets and those are starting to poke through as well.

Spinach seeds are popping and I'll start some lettuces over the next week.


A couple more weeks and I'll put out the tomatoes and then the eggplants when I am positive that the night temps won't dip too low.



A question for you all -- I made a terrible mistake and forgot to bring in one tray of tomatoes last night. Well, the temperature dropped to the low 40's! They didn't freeze, but I suppose they are a bit cold shocked. Think these will still set fruit? I have been so careful with them and I feel like a doofus for forgetting them.

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by ms.shell

It looks like we will be able to have lettuce and tomatoes together, which has been hard for me to do.

I have never had tomatoes and lettuce simultaneously ripen. I am in the mid-Atlantic and if it is hot enough to grow tomatoes it is too hot for anything but the most horrible, bitter lettuces.

[ms.shell]

A question for you all -- I made a terrible mistake and forgot to bring in one tray of tomatoes last night. Well, the temperature dropped to the low 40's! They didn't freeze, but I suppose they are a bit cold shocked. Think these will still set fruit? I have been so careful with them and I feel like a doofus for forgetting them.

I think they should be fine. If they werent tiny seedlings I would say for certain they will be fine, but i am not sure about "babies."
I know we kinda jumped the gun on our LFD and put purchased tomato and pepper starts in our garden early. Luckily, we did not have another freeze, but we had several nights in the mid 30s and they did just fine; some are starting to fruit already. Also, in the fall our tomatoes do fine and we still harvest in the cold until it actually freezes.

I am going to the garden center today. We focus primarily on herbs and veggies, but i do have a nice brick flower bed along the front of my house. I have been working to have it perennial so that i dont have to buy annuals for it; there is a lot of echinacea and a big lantana and other things. I hadn't weeded it since summer, so it was a mess. When dp cut and cleaned the yard on friday, he decided to do something nice for me and weed that awful mess. But he didnt ask me to show him what was what and he ripped out nice large patches of bee balm that i rooted and that had made themselves very happy in that bed. I had just been looking at how nice they were looking (and planning to weed that bed soon). It looks like he also pulled out an angelonia and 2 awesome mums that flowered so well for me and a geranium i had rooted and i think there must have been more....
so now i have this nicely weeded bed with huge bare spots and so i am hoping to find some bee balm at the garden center and figure out what else to put in there. My veggie beds are about to be quite full, so i am wondering in my head what i can plant to eat in the front bed that will be pretty as well....maybe i could put rainbow chard between flowers or something...any thoughts?

[flapjill]

Originally Posted by Ruthiegirl

I have never had tomatoes and lettuce simultaneously ripen. I am in the mid-Atlantic and if it is hot enough to grow tomatoes it is too hot for anything but the most horrible, bitter lettuces.

I am trying my first lettuce this year so am NOT speaking from experience, but I read that if it's hot when you pick lettuce and it's bitter, if you put it in the fridge for a few days it loses the bitterness.

[ms.shell]

I read that if it's hot when you pick lettuce and it's bitter, if you put it in the fridge for a few days it loses the bitterness.

i have never heard this before; that is GREAT to know! thanks for sharing.

[Ruthiegirl]

Well, my poor chilled tomatoes seem to be just fine. They are healthy and growing well. Hopefully, they will set fruit this summer. Fingers crossed.

I just planted my first fruit tree!!!! A gorgeous, braeburn apple tree. A am beyond thrilled. My neighbor has an apple that flowers when mine does and I am hoping they pollinate one another. I am planning on planting another apple tree anyway, but the more the merrier.

[desertgirl01]

ms. shell, maybe you could plant an artichoke in one of the bare spots. They look kind of creepy to me, but the slivery foliage might look great among flowers! Last year, my DH "helped" out in the garden by throwing out grass seeds in the garden aisles...Bermuda grass. Sweet gesture, but I've spent this spring desperately trying to get rid of it.

I finally finished getting everything seeded a few weeks ago. A bit late in the season, but everything looks great. DH moved an interior fence (a TRULY helpful move on his part) and now my garden space is doubled! Gonna be a lot of work before I can actually use it, but I'm so excited about all the space!!!

[Green_Ma_4]

Greetings All
I haev only posted here A few times, but being that I currently on my computer sitting by my garden I thought I would post *glee*
We are Organic Farmers in Ontario Canada, so were just coming out of winter and into spring, but the garlic is up, about 5 inches high as of today. We planted about 300 cloves of garlic in the fall and seeing them sprout up is truly gratifying. We have planted quite a few peas, but still have a whack to put into the grond. We also have put in some onions, shallots and multipliers. Inside the green house we have about 50 totmato plants started, 50 peppers, 30 brocc., some basils and I think thats it. This afternoon were putting about 100 more tomatoe plants into the green house, and a whack more peppers, and may start some box lettuces and spinach. I love spring! It seems that we have things to plant inside every week untill the chance of frost is gone and we can plant outside! The time will go quick.
Anyway thats where were doing in this neck of the woods.

cheers
Sarah

[Owen'nZoe]

It is still really early here, but I have lettuce seedlings with a first set of real leaves, and the garlic is at least 6 inches tall. The only things we've been able to use out of the garden so far have been over-wintered parsnips and perennials (sorrel, walking onions, and herbs). I'm hoping my seen order will be here by next weekend, so I can start my peas, radishes and carrots. Our community garden opens next weekend, too, so I can go out and see my plot then.

[KristyDi]

This is the first year I've done more than 2 or 3 tomato and pepper plants.

Today I built raised beds and filled them w/ soil, compost, and peat moss. Tomorrow I plant! I have 9 tomato plants (hoping to can a fair # of quarts) 2 jalapenos, a bell pepper and one other hot pepper plant (can't remember it's name right now). In the future I plan to add more variety, potatoes, onions, melons, lettuces, spinach, sweet potatoes. But figured I'd mostly stick to what I know this year.

I've also planted several berry plants this year. I transplanted a few blackberry canes and I have a fair sized blueberry bush to put in. I also built a 2x2 bed for strawberries that I'll plant tomorrow.

I'm so excited!

ETA I forgot to mention my herbs! I have thyme, parsley, mint and basil.

[mattemma04]

Still have some cold days here in Ohio,but I planted some arugula,chard,and spinach seeds. I have chives coming up all over which my dd loves.Will put out some lettuce and radish seeds soon.Once the early stuff is harvested I will replant the same,or add some warm loving things.I want to get my ground cherry and tomatillos seeds in soon.

Who knows though we may have snow again.Mainly I am weeding beds and moving shurbs.Need to find a better spot for my nanking cherry bushes.Currant bushes are budding.Strawberry doing well.Wild strawberries are weed choked. Found some turnips from last year growing.

Will plant some corn and sorghum soon.I like tall varieties that give some privacy along with food.

[ms.shell]

I have a fair sized blueberry bush to put in

Do you have blueberries already? I am pretty sure you need at least 2 blueberry bushes for pollination; although maybe some varieties don't?
I have never heard of "ground cherries;" sounds interesting - is that actually like a cherry?

[choosewisdom]

I hope it is ok if I join your thread...

I am really excited about our garden this year! In years past I have grown a few tomatoes, cucumbers, and a bit of squash, but this year I am expanding and doing raised beds for the first time. I have four kinds of lettuce, spinach, sugar snap peas, pak choy, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower in and hoping that I didn't put them in too late for my zone (6B). I recently put my warm crops in (tomatoes, bell peppers, jalepenos, cucumbers, and two kinds of summer squash). I put in two strawberry beds, and have been taking off the blooms and berries hoping for strong root systems.

I am really excited to learn this year, and I think my daughter has me talked into growing a watermelon vine... Now, I just need to find more things to use to build my raised beds. Two of them are made of cinder blocks (4'X23') and my strawberry beds are made from untreated lumber (2'X6'). I look forward to learning this year, and sharing some produce and fresh eggs when we get our coop built!

[KristyDi]

Originally Posted by ms.shell

Do you have blueberries already? I am pretty sure you need at least 2 blueberry bushes for pollination; although maybe some varieties don't?

After a little research I'm confused. The variety I have a a Chippewa Blueberry. It said it's a self pollinator, but does that mean it pollinates itself on just one bush or do I need another bush of the same (or different variety) One site I found suggested that the Chippewa would "benefit" from a St. Cloud variety as a pollinator. Would any variety work and St. Cloud is just the best, or is St Cloud the only one that would work?

hmmm This is more complex than I thought.

[Minxie]

Originally Posted by KristyDi

After a little research I'm confused. The variety I have a a Chippewa Blueberry. It said it's a self pollinator, but does that mean it pollinates itself on just one bush or do I need another bush of the same (or different variety) One site I found suggested that the Chippewa would "benefit" from a St. Cloud variety as a pollinator. Would any variety work and St. Cloud is just the best, or is St Cloud the only one that would work?

hmmm This is more complex than I thought.

A self-pollinator will pollinate itself from that same bush but it will benefit from a friend of a different variety that blooms at the same time. Benefit means it will produce more fruit than if just self-pollinated. You don't need another bush but another bush would help you get the maximum yield from each bush.

[dannic]

Can I join the fun? I was all set to have a smallish garden this yr (being due with baby 4 in AUg) but it's not. It anything, it'll be larger, lol.

We're zone 8 and garden in an unsheltered, windy 100x45' area on our land. Last yr, the wind (a hot dry wind) sucked the life out of my tomatoes-- all thirty of them that I'd grown from seed. this year, I am trenching them (planting 18" below ground level) and providing some wind screen. Have also planted cukes and pole beans on either side in hopes that they'll grow really fast and add more protection.

What plants/varieties are you growing this yr? I am hoping to can and freeze from the garden this time around.

So far, we've got:
beets
parsnips
carrots
chard
cukes
pole and bush beans
green bell and sweet chocolate bell
golden marconi sweet pepper
anaheim
(ought to have seeded some serrano peppers as well)
tomatoes-cherokee purple, kransodor titans, winterkeeper (doesn't ripen on the vine--you harvest and they ripen in storage), san marzano, and orange fleshed purple smudge--just for fun.
planning on planting soon:
melons
okra
pumpkins
sweet potatoes in May

I'm not a great gardener, just in love with the earth and really love gardening! I'd love to hear what you are planning on planting/ have planted! ( get so much inspiration for next season)

[PiesandAbrosmama]

In CO this year. Started prep of soil this week, planted seeds, anxious for the frost phase to leave the region . Excited to get dirty again