What have you planted so far?

[Deleted]

I think we've had our last frost here (back on April 16th), but I keep waiting... I got brave finally and went ahead and planted one bed out in my garden. I put parsley and radishes in one third, spinach in another third, and cabbage and celery in the last third. I have good radish seedlings (the parsley will take 3 weeks to sprout, so I have another 2 weeks to wait), and a few spinach babies have come up, but so far no cabbage or celery. Any day now... The spinach that I planted is seeds from my plants last year that bolted in the heat.

This year we finally seem to be having a "Spring." Last year, the last frost was on May 3, then by the following week it was in the 80's and it didn't rain much. This year, it's been spring-like since the middle of March, actually (with a few nights dropping to below freezing) and everything is SO GREEN! I might even be able to have a decent crop of lettuce this year.

I finally gave up on peas, even though I absolutely love them, because they'd sprout, then a week later they'd die in the heat. This year it's perfect for them - 40's at night, 60's to 70's during the day, and plenty of rain, and of course, I didn't plant peas this year.

In fact, I want to go out and finish planting the cool-weather stuff, but the garden's a mucky mess right now. The next few days are supposed to be sunny and dry, so maybe I can have everything in by the end of the week. I'm going to put my tomatoes out by next weekend, too. I'll start hardening them off today. Those things are taking over my house! I can't believe how big they're getting!

So, how 'bout all youse guys that live in warmer areas? How's your garden doing and what's up and growing now?

~Lannie

[kyosa]

<< I finally gave up on peas, even though I absolutely love them, because they'd sprout, then a week later they'd die in the heat. >>

Don't give up on peas yet, Lannie. Before you put them aside for good, try them as a FALL crop. A lot of Spring veggies do better in the Fall than in the Spring. The reason is that they're maturing as the weather gets cooler rather than hotter like when transitioning from Spring to Summer. The fly in the ointment is that you have to somehow nurse these cool-loving plants through the last of the late-Summer heat when they're starting out. But after that, things usually go very well. This works with just about any 'Spring' vegetable you can bring through that above-mentioned residual heat.

I only have tomatoes, peppers, a couple of cilantro and basil plants out. I made the classic mistake of tilling when the ground was still a bit too wet and it got 'cloddy' rather than making a good seedbed. It's now rained on the clods so when they're 'right' I'll till again and try to get some seeds into the ground.

[Deleted]

I've thought about doing fall plantings of things (lettuce, spinach, other cool weather greens) before, but I always seem to run out of time. By the time I realize it's getting a bit cooler out, first frost is only a week away. Or first blizzard, sometimes.

This year, my only fall crop is going to be a calf. My heifer is due to calve around the middle to the end of September, and I'm planning on being mighty busy after that. I hope I can get some stuff canned before the blessed event.

I'll be rebreeding her from now on to calve in late spring, so maybe next year I'll try some late summer plantings and see how things go. That would be cool, actually, if I could get TWO batches of peas! The couple of times I have gotten some pods before they died, I ate them out in the garden. Nary a pea has seen the inside of my house yet! LOL!

~Lannie

[mogrrrl]

We had a really bad freeze at the end of April that killed most everything in the ground. Luckily the seedlings in trays could hang in the kitchen for a week. But I think we lost all our beets, peas and spinach.

Right now we've got lettuce, radishes, kale, red mustard and carrots. In the seed trays we've got tomatillos, eggplant, assorted peppers, cukes, zucchini, butternut, acorn squash and kabocha squash. I just went out at lunch and bought some brandywine, Arkansas Traveler and Lemon tomatoes and some yellow bell peppers. They were out of the lipstick peppers I wanted - may have to search those out.

[Deleted]

That's weird. And up here in the Frozen North, we haven't had a freeze since mid-April. We should have had at least one more bout of snow and freezing temps.

Well! I'm going against ALL common sense and am headed out to the garden to transplant my tomatoes. They're too big to live in the house anymore anyway, and the weather for the next week is calling for highs around 80 and lows around 50, so it's now or never. They're in danger of falling over and killing themselves if they stay in the house any longer, so even though I haven't spent too much time hardening them off, I committing them to the soil today. I put them out in the garden at 7:00 this morning, where they'd get full sun, and figured if they could handle it by now (I've been putting them out in dappled shade for the last 3 days), I'd plant them, and they actually look BETTER than before. The sunshine is doing them some good.

So off to the garden I go! Wish my 'maters luck! LOL!

Oh, and I planted green beans today as well. That's something I don't usually do until the end of May, but I'm feeling adventurous!

And speaking of adventurous, those pesky flea beetles have already showed up. My radishes are just sprouts and already I'm seeing flea beetles on them. Although I hate to do it, I think I'm going to spray that bed right now before they get out of hand.

~Lannie

[Kathy]

Today, I planted 320 onion sets, split a root bound row of multiplier onions into multiple rows so they can, well multiply.

I was doing so good today but after mowing the lawn, raking out the clods & clumps in the garden and getting those onions in, I almost passed out from the heat. I was beet red and shaky so I decided to come back in and sit in front of a fan with a glass of tea.

I was still sweating which is a good thing but I think I may need to quit gardening in the middle of the day due to the sun intensity & my propensity for getting heat exhaustion.

I still have all of those potatoes to get planted but they may have to wait until I return from KY.

[Deleted]

320?? You plannin' on makin' salsa, or what? LOL! Do you WEED? I can't even imagine the space that 96 tomato plants, 68 pepper plants, 320 onions and godonlyknows how many potato plants would take up, and how many weeds would be in there with them! I can't keep up with my 50x75 garden. What is yours up to now, just out of curiosity? In case I ever decide to plant 96 tomato plants, for instance.

Speaking of tomatoes, my transplants did fine overnight, but we had a bit of a breeze today and some of them were tipping over. I had already topped those things once while they were in the house, transplanted them to quart yogurt containers about 2 weeks ago, and then yesterday I buried them deep. I got probably 1/3 to 1/2 the stem length in the ground, and still they were too tall! Actually, I measured them before I put them in the ground, and from the soil line up (still in the yogurt containers), they were just over 2 feet tall. AFTER having been topped.

But man, I am going to have LOVELY tomatoes this summer. Rich pruned all the hangy-over-bits off the plum trees on the one side of the garden so we can put mesh fencing all the way up to the top of the 8' poles. I hope that's enough to keep the deer out this time. Our original fence was 3' lined with chicken wire to keep the rabbits out, then last summer Rich put up 8' poles all around and strung 3 strands of barbed wire between the top of the 3' fence and the top of the poles to keep the deer out, but they just jumped between the strands, it didn't even slow them down. This year so far it's a lot wetter than last, so maybe the deer won't be starving as much, either. Last summer, the last of the green grass was gone by the first of June, and the alfalfa only lasted until mid-July. The deer really didn't have anything to eat except my tomatoes and peppers. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway. Poor deer.

Speaking of deer, and completely off the subject, I was out in the fenced dog area today and saw fresh deer tracks. The NERVE on those deer! LOL! OK, obviously they're coming in at night and the dogs are asleep in the house, but still! Can you believe that? That seems pretty bold to me. They come in our front yard all the time, but I've never seen them inside the dog fence!

I was supposed to go out today and plant a bunch of seeds, but it was SO hot! I decided after my exertions yesterday, I'd just putter around today, and if I got something planted, great, and if not, I'll do it tomorrow. Now it looks like I'll be planting tomorrow. I'm taking the rest of the day off today. I did a bunch of spring cleaning today, and now I'm pooped out.

I think I'll make myself a nice tall glass of lemonade and go sit outside and enjoy the beautiful park Rich made yesterday when he mowed. Maybe it's cooled off out there a little by now. I hope!

Uh-oh. I rambled again.

~Lannie

[Kathy]

The landlord says he thinks there's close to 2 acres total between the 3 gardens-he actually wanted to know if I needed more areas plowed up.

[Deleted]

Corn, pototoes, squash,cucumbers,okra,tomatoes,onions.

[Deleted]

Yesterday I planted some basil, butterhead lettuce, romaine lettuce, carrots, and dill (but not next to each other!). My tomatoes have quite a few broken stems from the downpour we had the other night, and then the last two days we've had wind from the east, and that's the one direction that's not blocked off with windbreak. Usually the wind is from the south, west, or north, hardly ever from the east, but wouldn't you know it? They have good new growth on them now, so even though they might look a little sad, they'll be okay in a week or so.

We got the rest of the deer fence up today finally. I just hope it's enough. If they jump over THIS one, I give up. We can't make it any taller.

~Lannie

[bergere]

I want your gardens!!!

Lets see,, weeds don't count. Ah... Yukon gold potatoes in a giant pot. <VBG>

[Deleted]

What do I have planted? ........ NADA.

hafta wait till at least Memorial Weekend here

Kaza

[Deleted]

OK, OK... I broke down and planted corn, squash, 'maters, peppers and onions... I know I should wait, as we'll prolly get another hard frost... but it's SOOOO hard to wait!

Kaza[/size]

[Deleted]

I just now (as in ten mins ago) finally got all of mine planted. It's been way too wet to do anything and crazy weather. Lessee, lettuce, cabbage, onions, carrots, beans, corn, spinach, greens, pumpkins, okra, cukes, squash (crookneck, zuchini, and spaghetti), eggplant, cantalope, gourds, watermelon, peppers (green/red/yellow/ bell, jalepeno, cayenne, mild banana, hot banana, and habenero), potatoes, beets, celery, and tomatoes (beefmaster, roma, and yellow pear). I was about to plant some peas but swore them off this year.

[bbird]

Two tomato plants, lol. Was just planning to put them on the deck, but thinking after Memorial day I will grab a couple more and some cucumber plants. Well, since I am there I might as well buy some pumpkin plants and see how they do. I've tried for years to grow them from seed but just don't have enough sun before the first frost for them to get big, but maybe with some bigger plants I'll succeed. Next year I will do the whole big garden thing, but not as big as Kathy's! She makes me tired reading her posts, but I bet your gardens are going to be gorgeous. (hint...pictures!)

[Deleted]

Nothing yet, too much rain. But today I went and bought seed for corn, beans, squash, purple hull peas, marigolds, zinnias, and other guardian flowers. Also bought a couple of beefmaster tomato starts and four sweet basil starts. I'm planting tomorrow if I have to get wet to do it! Time's a-wastin'!!!

[Deleted]

Wow, we've been getting the rain, too! Lots and lots of it! Last year by June, everything was dry and brown, except if I was watering it daily, and this year, everything is green and lush and poor Rich is having to mow every chance he can. I haven't watered my garden in a week, which is kind of nice.

Last week, I got cucumbers and three kinds of squash planted, but I haven't seen any sprouts yet. Everything else I planted is up, though. And when we went shopping a couple of days ago, I picked up two blueberry shrubs that I'm trying to plant in between rainstorms. Sheesh! I have a pile of mud in my wheelbarrow and a muddy hole in the ground now. Later this afternoon, if it doesn't rain, I'll go out and finish that and hopefully get the other hole dug and the second one planted, too.

I guess it was OK that I got delayed because I've been finding out that blueberries need very specific things, and I would have planted them wrong. As it is, I think I have to go out and re-fill the one hole I dug with half dirt and half composty stuff, then plant the blueberry right in the middle of that in pure peat moss. I was going to just stick them in the ground. LOL! They would have croaked for sure.

The weeds are getting ahead of me again this year, too. I HAVE to get out there and pull weeds from a couple of the beds I planted earlier. The weeds are bigger than my veggie seedlings. Oh, well, it won't take long, I just have to block out some time to go sit out there and DO it. My aunt and uncle are coming for a visit in a couple of days, so I've been trying to do massive spring cleaning (can't have them see a dirty house, now, CAN I?) and I've been neglecting my weeding. I need an assistant!

Oh, and I lost my Brandywine tomato plant AGAIN! What the heck is it with them, anyway? If you look at them crosswise, they fall over in a dead faint. The ones I planted this year were fine, but one died right after I transplanted them, and the other, bigger one, was flagging miserably, but then started to recover. Just yesterday, I had decided that it was going to make it after all, because there was good new growth at the top, and then we had a heavy rain last evening and this morning it's dead. Just bowed down and put its face in the dirt and died. It was tied up, so of course it bowed from the waist. All the other tomatoes are fine, and only a couple of them were so tall that I had to tie them. One of these days, I really would like to taste a Brandywine - I hear they're very good, but I wouldn't know because every time I plant one, it croaks. I guess I'll just have to settle for my others. They're good, too!

~Lannie

[kyosa]

Hi Lannie! If your other tomato plants are doing OK the only thing I can think of is that the Brandywines are an old heirloom variety and haven't been hybridized to resist things like nematodes, fusarium wilt, etc. They ARE great tasting tomatoes, though. Maybe you could try your next one(s) in a different spot in case it's something soil-borne or a drainage issue. Hope you can get one to perform, they're good.

[Deleted]

Nah, the drainage is fine, and I don't THINK it's a fungal issue because I move them every year. The stem was bent right where it was tied, so it was either the hard rain that beat it down, or a bad gust of wind. It just wasn't as sturdy as the rest.

I'd really like to taste one! I guess I'll try again next year, but I'll start several seeds and just plan on losing a few. Maybe I'll get lucky and one will make it.

Some of the other maters have blossoms starting on them already, so if the deer don't outsmart us again this year, I should have tomatoes soon. ;D

~Lannie

[kyosa]

Something you might try in order to avoid the 'kinking' of the stem is to make a tubular 'cage' out of woven wire to go around the plant. Mine are about four feet tall, 16 - 18" diameter, and tied to a driven T-post. As the plant grows it fills the cage with foliage and wind can't hurt it. It might help.