[heatherdeg]

Wow... it's been a very rough couple of months in my home and I haven't been here for a bit! Glad to see someone kept this group going!

So here's a question I have... How many of us garden ANYthing at all that our family can eat? Even if it's just a windowsill pot of herbs? SHARE!

This is where I am particularly crispy. I have a 40' x 40' garden. In addition to veggies, I have planted blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, lingonberries (that have yet to produce a single berry!), strawberries, currants and just last year I added grapes. We also have one, lonely fig that we don't take care of--so it dies off to cold every year.

This year, I didn't do so great with the veggies. I lost most of what I planted so far. The year I got pregnant was my last, good veggie year. I had 32 tomato plants, 3 zucchinis, several potatoes and peppers. This year, I'm limping!

 

[Mrs Otago]

Oh I WISH I could grow my own veges! We have a tiny section - just big enough for ds's to play, but not big enough to put in a vege garden as well. Besides, its a rental, so I would have to have permission I guess. I suppose my main issue is that I'd prefer to eat organic veges, but I can't afford to buy them.

I was thinking about going to see the elderly, housebound lady up the road and asking if I could start a vege garden in her yard, and then share the produce with her. However, I have to make sure I am well and truly committed to it first! I might find its too much work for me!

 

[Belleweather]

I have high hopes for this year. DH and I have been slowly rehabilitating the mound of dug up earth that was the 'garden' when we moved into our condo (We rent too, but have a very hands-off landlord). Our soil is really poor since we live on an isthmus, so we tried to cobbel together some boxes for raised beds last year. We got a TON of tomatoes, but by the time we got everything together it was too late in the season, so nearly all of them were green and ripened in November in paper bags.

This year, we're going to do it right! DH is building a full-frame for the raised beds, and we're filling them with finished compost from the county compost site. I'm planting herbs in the smaller side, and tomatoes, peppers and zucchini in the bigger side. I'm not a praticularly good gardener, so I'm cheating and putting down the black water-permeable plastic so I don't have to weed... and we'll see how it goes! I'm obviously a little TOO excited about this.

 

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

the only edible things we have this year are tomatos and strawberries- but mil has got some cukes and peppers in addition to her tomatoes that hopefully will do well enough that she can share some, and my sil's mom has a huge grapefruit tree in her back yard that does well every year

 

[tinaq]

We had high hopes for a great garden, then just never got the motivation for it. We live in military housing, so we can't really dig a large area. Also, we live in El Paso & container gardening is probably more efficient. We have a great pumpkin sprout going in the window & I think we'll take it to my Mom's where it will be better loved. I can do the indoor thing, just the heat & wind make it hard here in in TX.

Tina

 

[Jennifer3141]

It's a violation of our condo by-laws to plant any "food"

but we keep a few pots of Roma tomatoes on our deck and the family behind us has a HUGE garden so we help care for and eat out of that one.

Jen

 

[~*max*~]

Great thread idea heatherdeg! I love gardening.

(Although I must disclaim, I don't really know what I am doing, just learning as I go.) This year we planted two kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, 2 kinds of lettuce, basil, and we have perennial rhubarb, rosemary & lavendar. I'd like to try my hand at infusing olive oil w/the rosemary and the lavendar (separately of course, the lavendar OO for skin care). Any one ever done this? Care to share the how to?

My Dad had a big garden when I was growing up. My fondest memories are working in the garden w/him. I loved when he'd pull a carrot out of the earth, wash it w/the garden hose, and I'd eat it right there. I am hoping I can share this w/my kids too. So far, the only thing ready for them to eat is the rhubarb, and amazingly they like it!

 

[Mrs Otago]

Oooo Max....can you give me a tip on lavendar? Its winter here now, and my lavendar is looking pretty gross. I have given it a good cut back, so should that be enough for it to look fabulous in summer?

We grew some carrots in a planter box, but its was more of a "visual" thing for the boys to see the whole process from seed to vegetable. I didn't thin the seedlings out, so they didn't come to much, but we salvaged a few that made it into a stew, and the caterpillars enjoyed the rest

So, two nature lessons for the price of one, lol!!!

 

[~*max*~]

Donna, I wish I could be helpful w/the lavendar - but it is just luck w/me. I bought a nice seedling last year, planted it, then did practically nothing to it, and this year it is growing up beautifully.

Your carrots experiment sounds like fun. My kids love things like that too. I am really hoping they can be more involved w/the garden this year. It's such a great way to learn about nature.

 

[mommy2girlies]

hey ladies~

im new to the site and have loved looking around and finding all these great threads....funny that i'd come across this one. my husband and i were just talking about trying to be alot more enviromentally conscious. we want to start a compost pile in our backyard (very large) and also i would like to start a little garden for veggies and herbs and such...i DON'T have a green thumb and need some pointers..ok, i really don't know where to start! anyone have some suggestions?

kelly, 30 sahm to 2 girls, kya 2 1/2 and carson 1yr. married to dh, jasn and have one doggie, stanley

 

[~*max*~]

Hi Kelly and welcome to MDC! The "Digging in the Earth" forum is a great place to get gardening info. There are a lot of very experienced gardening mamas there. I'm a big book person, so I have checked out a lot of books to get me on my way.

We compost too. I find it very rewarding. In fact, I got most of my info from a "sticky" (one of the posts at the top of the forum page) on the Digging in the Earth forum. With gardening, my suggestion is to start small - maybe choose a few of your favorite veggies to grow and focus on that. Then each year you can add a little more, and learn a little more. And most importantly, have fun!

 

[Love my 2]

The children and I planted soem jalapenos, sunflowers and pumpkins this year. It's MIL's garden so we borrowed a corner. MIL and my son have planted corn, radishes, cilantro, carrots and bell peppers along with raspberries and a grape vine that we thought we lost last year but is growing wild this year after all the rain we had. My son and I planterd pumkins last year ad had a wonderful crop, made pumpkin zuccini cookies, he was so proud!!

 

[rebeccalizzie]

I'm really big into organic veggies, and I can't afford to buy them that often, so I garden as much as I can! Right now we are eating lettuce and snow peas and green onions out of the garden, and I have tomatoes, banana peppers, bell peppers, eggplant and spinach coming up. This week I plan to plant green beans, *one* cuke vine (everyone in my family hates cukes except me, and I love them!) more spinach, and maybe some more tomatoes. I also grow basil, cilantro, sage, lavender, thyme and rosemary, and I've got some marjoram seeds planted that I have my fingers crossed on!

I square foot garden, so my bed is about three-four feet wide and maybe 15 feet long? It runs along the side of my house, which helps keep the deer away from it. I have a few small paths every few feet so I can reach either side.

I also have blueberry bushes and strawberry plants, but they just went in this year so they won't produce yet. And I have a peach and a nectarine tree, but the deer get all the fruit, and they may kill the trees if they keep pulling off the branches. Sigh.

Debating on broccoli...I never have good luck with keeping the bugs off it, and organic broccoli isn't much more than the regular stuff...is it worth the time and effort?

 

[heatherdeg]

Well, if organic doesn't cost much more than regular, I wouldn't bother with trying to grow the broccoli. Mine always bolts--so I don't even try anymore!

Did I tell you guys that I took on sweet potatoes this year? Ambitious in NJ!

I also scored about 100 bricks from a patio we replaced. I'm hoping it will be enough to lay at least two paths (intersecting like a plus sign) in my garden. I'm dedicated to a good fall cleanup and sowing a cover crop to make way for spring. This year, I'm really going to take my time in October to lay out the beds and paths, etc.

But with our new patio, I'm also totally looking into CONTAINER GARDENING! I have one pot with herbs in it (basil, oregano, parsley, sage, and rosemary) and another two pots--one with peppermint, the other spearmint. It works out well because they're SO invasive in the garden.

I found these bags that let you grow stuff upside down and am thinking of trying out a tomato or two in them. They're kind of expensive, though. I'm looking for those strawberry bags... anyone know where I can get them? (yes, I'll ask the DITE forum!)

 

[aran]

Hi crispy mamas

:

I am new to the crispy thread, but happy to be here because I do not qualify as crunchy. To introduce myself, here's the extent of my crisp: I bf, co-sleep, sling, AP, will GD (have been reading lots on this), and I am considering HS, but I don't CD, I do vax, I did circ but really regret it

, I buy most of DS' baby food, but it's organic. I also work P/T from home while DS is cared for a by a nanny.

On gardening - we'd need a major fence because of the group of nine deer that roam our yard every few days. We plan to start one up (and build that major fence) in the next year or two. I grew up with a huge veggie garden and can't wait! Until then I'll live vicariously through you mamas.

 

[OnlyLovePrevails]

Hi mama's,
Just checkin' in. Glad to get to know you and hope you are all well.

 

[Jennifer3141]

Welcome Jennifer!

We're pretty quiet as a tribe this month. So either few of us "garden" or we're all out gardening.

But you're not alone here!

Jen

 

[Belleweather]

Well, I can't be out gardening today, it's too screamin' hot! I've already lost a couple of my new herbs to the heat, and I'm afraid to put the tomatoes out for fear they'll melt! I did get very crunchy with my tomatoes this year, though... I got all heirloom seeds from the farmers market, so I've got some Romas, and a couple of heavy fruit tomatoes, and a black russian variety that I'm super excited to try!

The rest of my veggies are boring and we bought at home despot, so we're not all that crunchy this summer.

 

[OnlyLovePrevails]

i also love to garden. i love my yard, it's my release. i have 4-5 different sages, salvias, mints, rosemary,... i love Flowering Herbs, easier to care for than other Flowering plants. especially where i live, it's a tough climate, intense sun. My hollihocks areso tall and Just now Blooming, it's a jungle in here! i have a space on the side yard where i am trying to convince hubby to allow me to start a garden. He's planning on adding on to the house, i figure... while it's empty it could be Beautiful and Alive.

 

[damirati]

Quote:

Originally Posted by heatherdeg Wow... it's been a very rough couple of months in my home and I haven't been here for a bit! Glad to see someone kept this group going! So here's a question I have... How many of us garden ANYthing at all that our family can eat? Even if it's just a windowsill pot of herbs? SHARE! This is where I am particularly crispy. I have a 40' x 40' garden. In addition to veggies, I have planted blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, lingonberries (that have yet to produce a single berry!), strawberries, currants and just last year I added grapes. We also have one, lonely fig that we don't take care of--so it dies off to cold every year.

i am so so late for this thread...

in anycase, i'm new to this forum ...hope no one minds my chiming in...i have a small patio roughly 8X6 feet maybe...I SFG (square foot garden) and did a small 3X3 garden on my patio, in it we have peppers, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, gourds and lettuce. Usually it does well...this year not so much because i'm working outside the home now and keep up with the watering and such hasn't been good. We are getting tomatoes off the tomatoe plants, but our peppers seem stunted in growth. ~shrug~ oh well the munchkins are enjoying it and thats what counts
Love & Light