The Garden

[wuapinmon]

I've got a satsuma orange tree that has survived two Winters now.....I'm hoping for some fruit this year if the damned squirrels don't eat all the blossoms.

I'm going to Charlotte tomorrow and I'm buying the stuff to put in a big asparagus bed.

[venkman]

We planted a garden last year - four 4x8 raised bed garden boxes. This year I'm adding raspberries and strawberries along out back fence. I also picked up 800 s.f. in additional backyard property last year and I'm planning on planting a few fruit trees and possibly corn and potatoes there. Not sure if all get to all of that this year, but I'll try.

[SteelBlue]

I tore out my back lawn last year. The heat in summer here is brutal and our backyard has the worst exposure to it. My kids have no desire to be back there most of the year and basically I was paying to water a lawn that had been on its deathbead several times. Anyway, I put in a huge garden last year and had mixed results. We had massive wildfires and much of our summer was spent in thick smoke. Many plants did not do well. I had nine tomato plants that were 4 feet high but bore no fruit. I got like 4 tomatoes total. Squash, eggplant, cucumbers were plentiful. Corn was a major fail especially considering how much water I put into it.

This year I tilled up the same area and we are heavy on tomatoes, eggplant, squash, cucumbers, cantaloupe, peppers (4 varieties), sweet peas, bush beans, and new this year, two long rows of strawberries. We actually got our garden in the ground a month ago now and it's thriving. I already have more tomatoes on the vine than than I got all last summer. Strawberries are coming in nicely. Squash and cukes are getting nice and leafy. I didn't do corn this year. It was too disappointing. I may try again next year.

[bluegoose]

We've got 2 - 8'x12' garden spots in our backyard. I got one of them dug up last weekend, so we are hoping to get it planted soon. We've always been really heavy on tomatoes and will probably do 3 or 4 varieties this year (Roma, Beefsteak, cherry, grape).

We've also had good luck with red peppers in the past and will probably plant 2 or 3 plants.

Cucumbers also do very well where we live, so I'm sure we'll put in a few of those.

My wife already has an herb garden going with, I believe, mint, basil, oregano and parsley. She has them in an uppright wrought iron plant holder that she has outside of our dining room window. Its a nice change from the redwood fence we usually stare at. She also has some climbing pea plants in there that have gone nuts the last few weeks.

No luck with corn or strawberries in the past, so we're scrapping them this year.

[Katy Lied]

We planted a garden last year - four 4x8 raised bed garden boxes. This year I'm adding raspberries and strawberries along out back fence. I also picked up 800 s.f. in additional backyard property last year and I'm planning on planting a few fruit trees and possibly corn and potatoes there. Not sure if all get to all of that this year, but I'll try.

How high are your raised beds? Mine are 18" I pretty much let one entire bed go to tomatoes. I added way too much nitrogen to the soil about 3 years ago, and I'm still gettting too much greenery, so I have to mercilessly cut back on the water to force fruit. My tomatoes grow over 6' high--not a good thing except I get to pick tomatoes in the shade.

Is your back fence vinyl? Do you live in Utah? How close will you be planting your canes and strawberries?

[ERCougar]

I've avoided bell peppers because you don't get very many off a plant. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. It just seems sad to go out and pluck the only big juicy looking pepper off the bell pepper plant. Who gets to eat it?

This is how I feel about herb gardens. Way too much hassle for too little output when they're pretty cheap at the grocery store anyway.

[woot]

Disappointed this thread isn't about Michael McLean. Of all his terrible music, that is one that I remember not hating (although I'm sure it's terrible and that I'd hate it were I to listen to it now).

Anybody go to one of his concerts? Yikes I've never seen anything so ham-fisted. Forcing the audience to stand up and hold hands while singing "we can be together forever some day?" Cripes. At least I got some "action" from it, as I recall.

Anyway, carry on with the non-McLean talk.

[YOhio]

This is how I feel about herb gardens. Way too much hassle for too little output when they're pretty cheap at the grocery store anyway.

Seriously? What kind of herbs have you been growing? Herb gardens are incredibly resilient and easy to maintain and I've had huge output with them. The best thing about an herb garden is the convenience of being able to put together a huge variety of dishes with a just a few stable ingredients, all while avoiding the grocery store.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Seriously? What kind of herbs have you been growing? Herb gardens are incredibly resilient and easy to maintain and I've had huge output with them. The best thing about an herb garden is the convenience of being able to put together a huge variety of dishes with a just a few stable ingredients, all while avoiding the grocery store.

What herbs do you grow?

I would love to have mint, thai basil, and cilantro handy at a moment's notice.

[YOhio]

What herbs do you grow?

I would love to have mint, thai basil, and cilantro handy at a moment's notice.

Just go to Lowes or the nearest nursery and pick up some starts. Super easy.

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showpo...34&postcount=6

[Jeff Lebowski]

Just go to Lowes or the nearest nursery and pick up some starts. Super easy.

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showpo...34&postcount=6

Do you grow them in pots or just drop them in your garden?

Our garden space is kind of limited. I suppose we could mix them in with the flowers around our house.

[YOhio]

Do you grow them in pots or just drop them in your garden?

Our garden space is kind of limited. I suppose we could mix them in with the flowers around our house.

I just have a small space in the corner of my garden, but you could easily use pots.

http://bloggingherbman.typepad.com/t...o-start-a.html

[ERCougar]

Seriously? What kind of herbs have you been growing? Herb gardens are incredibly resilient and easy to maintain and I've had huge output with them. The best thing about an herb garden is the convenience of being able to put together a huge variety of dishes with a just a few stable ingredients, all while avoiding the grocery store.

Well, the only ones that we use a lot of are basil and cilantro. Both of these are dirt cheap. I think we tried growing both of these and in the end, just decided to buy them once a week because it was so much easier. It's been a while though, so maybe it's worth a shot again.

[venkman]

How high are your raised beds? Mine are 18" I pretty much let one entire bed go to tomatoes. I added way too much nitrogen to the soil about 3 years ago, and I'm still gettting too much greenery, so I have to mercilessly cut back on the water to force fruit. My tomatoes grow over 6' high--not a good thing except I get to pick tomatoes in the shade.

Is your back fence vinyl? Do you live in Utah? How close will you be planting your canes and strawberries?

My raised beds are only 12". I'm thinking that may be too low because my garden blew last year. Nothing grew very well - but it was my first year. I'm doing some things different this year so hopefully I'll have better luck. We'll see how it goes this year - I may end up having to dig out below ground level and add some more good dirt.

As far as the raspberries and strawberries, I've got about 4 feet between the grass and the fence - I figured that would be enough room, that's how my parents did it. What's this about the vinyl fence? I have one and I'm in Utah. Is there something I'm missing? I'm a definite newbie flying somewhat blind here so...

[FMCoug]

We plan on making our first foray into gardening as soon as we get moved. We're going to go with this method ... they have classes at Thanksgiving Point and it is supposed to make gardening much easier with higher yields, fewer weeds, less space taken up.

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/