Gardens vegetable, flower or other?

[Baron Kurtz]

RBH: You're very lucky to be able to plant out so early. I'll be putting my courgettes into the ground this evening after work. There should be no risk of frost now, and they're pretty big in their transplant trays, but who knows? Cloches it is for now!

Got around to cutting back some bushes at the weekend, and almost destroyed a blackbird nest, 5 eggs and all. :eusa_doh: Noticed it just in time and managed to get my electric hedge trimmer out of the way. Retained the camouflage for the nest, the eggs are fine, and the birds have not abandoned it, so should be fine.:eusa_clap Now to await the screeching little devils waking me up at all hours of the morning. Dawn chorus is bad enough, but chicks!

bk

 

[Puzzicato]

It's a good thing it rained the other weekend! My plans to get the plants out of the conservatory and into the garden were scuttled. And a good thing, as we then had 2 nights of frost!

But this weekend for sure.

 

[Paisley]

Last night, I planted the tomatoes I grew from seed. I'm fairly certain it's stopped snowing for the season.

 

[LocktownDog]

Don't be so sure. We're supposed to get freezing temps and snow showers this weekend. Which means it hits you Coloradans a day or two later.

Seems to be a very short growing season this year. I'm on my second set of seedlings, as the first fell to the stress brought on by two recent snows.

 

[Paisley]

Could be, but I don't live in the mountains, where they get a lot more snow. But just in case, I'm keeping some plastic pots handy to protect the tomatoes.

 

[jamespowers]

Could be, but I don't live in the mountains, where they get a lot more snow. But just in case, I'm keeping some plastic pots handy to protect the tomatoes.

The pots are a good idea. It will insulate them from the snow and the snow itself is sort of insulating around the pot.
I had my house reroofed last week and it was fairly devastating to some of my rose bushes. They go crushed and two even kicked the bucket---so to speak. :eusa_doh:
Good thing I held off planting the extra 10 ten that i kept in reserve for just such an occasion. I knew it was going to happen. There was just too much coming off that roof. Good thing it has lifetime warranty---I don't need to go through that again.
The tomatoes are at the very back of the property and they were fine. My son's preschool grew seedlings of MORE tomatoes, radishes and I think lima beans. I'll plant them and see how that goes. I have never grown limas before. My grandfather used to have good luck with them so I'll give it a try. [huh]
Good luck to all who are putting in their gardens. May all the work pay in plenty of produce. :eusa_clap

 

[Foofoogal]

I save the plastic gallon milk jugs. cut the bottom out. when cooler weather I can pop these off and on over the plants quickly as they have handles.

 

[Paisley]

I had my house reroofed last week and it was fairly devastating to some of my rose bushes. They go crushed and two even kicked the bucket---so to speak. :eusa_doh:

Sorry to hear about your rose bushes. Maybe some peony cages would work well for someone whose roses need protection from wreckless roofers.

 

[dnjan]

Has anyone used a cold frame? Is it worth the work to build one?

My mother used one when I was a kid. Started all of her "transplant" plants there from seeds - tomatoes, peppers, etc. Way cheaper than buying plants. She would also plant early-season radishes, green onions and lettuce.

Good way to recycle old window sashes when you upgrade the windows on your house!

 

[jamespowers]

Sorry to hear about your rose bushes. Maybe some peony cages would work well for someone whose roses need protection from wreckless roofers.

I put tomato cages around them to no avail. [huh]
Good thing I bought those extras when vintage gardens had their sale.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Courgettes in the ground about a week ago. Man those things need a lot of water! At the first sign of even slightly reduced water they wilt like nothing else i've seen.

bk

 

[Puzzicato]

I was thinking just that about my pumpkins yesterday!

The tomatoes are loving all this sunshine.

 

[KittyT]

As I live in the middle of the city, I'm doing container gardening. First summer in this new apartment with a big porch, so I'm pretty excited to have the space. I have thyme, basil, sage, rosemary and mint going, and also have mesclun greens/spinach, garlic scapes, nasturtiums and French breakfast radishes going in self-watering containers. I decided to use self-waterers based on a great book I read (http://www.amazon.com/Incredible-Ve...sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274794403&sr=1-1). Constant moisture is apparently better for the plants, as they can take just what they need, and limiting the amount of time necessary for watering works better with my schedule - nevermind the fact that I don't have an outdoor spigot and would have to haul gallons of water every day to water.

Unfortunately, the radishes and the greens just don't seem to be growing as quickly as they should be - the radishes should be ready already, but they are still just one set of leaves :-( The garlic has taken off though, and I've never had scapes so I'm really looking forward to trying them!

I am also in the middle of making large self-waterers for tomatoes and beans. I really wanted to do zucchini and peas, but missed the planting time for peas and decided to cut out the zucchini. It's my first attempt at vegetable gardening and I decided I might want to take it easy. My planters will be done pretty soon, but I'm definitely worried about not having enough sun on my porch - I'm not sure if any part of my space gets the solid 6-8 hours of sun per day that the tomatoes are likely to need. I hope my attempts are fruitful - I really want tons of tomatoes!

 

[KittyT]

Courgettes in the ground about a week ago. Man those things need a lot of water! At the first sign of even slightly reduced water they wilt like nothing else i've seen.

Self-watering containers are the answer The strain of not enough water will compromise their flavor too.

We're also using growbags this year, rather than doing them directly into the beds!

Yes, this will really help prevent soil-borne illness.

 

[Mrs. Merl]

We are working towards better self sufficiency - so I seeded a whole bunch of plants this year...

Well, today is May 25...yep, May 25. It was 31 when we woke up today. Yeah. Anyway, my plants are starting to take over my house. Hopefully, the odd spring will finally give way to some warmer temperatures. I know we live in a difficult growing area, but I have lived here my whole life and I will say this year is not the rule.

 

[Mrs. Merl]

Out of curiosity, do zucchini do well at all in containers? I would think they would not, but I obviously don't know.

 

[LocktownDog]

Out of curiosity, do zucchini do well at all in containers? I would think they would not, but I obviously don't know.

Zukes do fine, as long as the container is large enough to handle the root system. You want something that can hold at least a cubic foot of soil. As always, feed and water a bit more often than ground plantings.

 

[LocktownDog]

Three nights in a row of below freezing temps, high winds, and some snow flurries. All the extra protection I've given my seedlings and starter veggies have done no good. They've all suffered greatly and may not survive. Only 3 months left in our growing season now. If I restart, it will have to be full-grown plants from the nursery.

I really should invest in a small greenhouse. These erratic high-desert springs are yet another reason I miss Oregon.

 

[Mrs. Merl]

LocktownDog - Thanks very much! I am surprised, but I might try putting them in a container this year! Sorry about your seedlings. I completely understand where you are coming from, it is tough here too.

 

[jamespowers]

Three nights in a row of below freezing temps, high winds, and some snow flurries. All the extra protection I've given my seedlings and starter veggies have done no good. They've all suffered greatly and may not survive. Only 3 months left in our growing season now. If I restart, it will have to be full-grown plants from the nursery.

I really should invest in a small greenhouse. These erratic high-desert springs are yet another reason I miss Oregon.

I often wonder where my global warming is and how I can get it started.
It has been the coldest May in California recorded history! So you are both not alone. The tomatoes have set flower and some fruit but this is very late. The white flies are like locusts because of the cool and wet weather as well. The good thing is that I can spray horticultural oil without worrying about burning the plants in this cold.
Locktown, just go get nursery stock to replace the seedlings. You just can catch up any other way. I had the same problem here. :eusa_doh: You nursery stock will likely have adapted to the cool temperatures better than seedlings as well. They have hardened off and can take it better. You let them lose the weak ones and not you.