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Ozark Lady
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Location: NW Arkansas, USA zone 7A elevation 1561 feet

2010 has Kicked off for me...

I now have direct sown: onion bulbs, lettuce, home grown garlic resown, radishes and swiss chard.

My problem bed is still a mystery. And that is the one that got planted today.

Last year, tomato plants did lousy in that bed, poor growth and and few blooms or fruit, maybe 1 per plant? Anyhow, the peppers in that same bed, were crazy, so loaded they almost couldn't stay upright. And sweet potatoes did nothing, but stay alive, no growth, no vining, they did grow roots though. But, nothing to eat.

This bed is under the canopy of a black walnut tree... I know issue already. It grew mushrooms last year, only under the pepper plants, very specific about where they grew. I pulled the plants, and the tomatoes basically had less roots than is normal for a transplant, and this was after all summer there. But, the peppers had roots that went all over the bed, the sweet potatoes also had roots that were everywhere.

I decided to try it one more season, see what is up with it... but no nightshade at all. If it fails again... double dig, amendment solarize, etc.

So, I took my above mentioned items and began to plant... my goodness, I couldn't plant anything without killing earthworms... lots of them there.
And I only found one grub, and one critter that sort of looked like a cutworm, no mold, no powdery stuff... no indicators of why the tomatoes failed so badly last year in that bed.

It is now planted and heading into 2010. What would you folks say was likely the tomato issue? They were purchased plants, not home started ones. But, so were the peppers.

So, do I have a failing bed, in need of help, or were those simply tomatoes with a personal problem? What would anyone guess? Since a good guess is all any of us can do, at this point.

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gixxerific
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there may be something there but I don't see it. But last year was just a bad tomato year for everyone. Do what you are doing and try again.

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rainbowgardener
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My first actual yard work day (as opposed to walking around looking at things). I turned the compost pile over. I usually say to take the top part off to be the bottom of a new pile, down to where the earthworms are. I was thinking this time there would be no earthworms, they'd be still buried deep and cozy. But sure enough took all the raw stuff off (including chunks of ice!) and there were a bunch of earthworms in the part broken down layer. So now that layer is free of ice, exposed to sun and air and can finish up composting. And as soon as I turned the pile, a honeybee showed up to crawl around on the wet stuff! Honeybees are alive and well in my garden! As my beekeeper friend says "juBEElation!"

Besides that I turned leaf mulch under in one raised bed (soil can be worked! Planting soon!). Cut down dead stalks in a couple flower beds.

But I had one bed that ended up with all the snow from the driveway piled up around it on three sides and over it. That bed unsurprisingly is still frozen solid. So I shoveled snow and ice away from it and off it.

Tomorrow: plant some seeds outdoors. Put up plastic tunnels over a couple raised beds (including the frozen one!), make the mini greenhouse and bring things out to put in it--lupine, dill, borage, thyme. That's almost enough to fill it up already, so the cabbage and broccoli will just have to stay out in the cold. They've been spending their days on the deck all this week, so are pretty toughened up.

I'm now half way through my second 55 qt bag of potting soil and have used all my 250 nice new-ish matchy-matchy black 3" pots. So now I have to start bringing out the motley collection of orange green white pots along with some black ones of varying sizes and shapes, flutings, etc.

IT IS SPRING!! (I know the calendar doesn't say so, but I figure if I'm doing yard work and planting things outdoors, it's spring!)

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gixxerific
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RBG the excitement in your "voice" makes me happy not just for you but me as well. If only you knew what I did today, but that is another thread.

garden5
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I have 8 in. of snow on my garden :(. But.....give it another few weeks and I bet it will be ready for some root crops and chard :D!

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Ozark Lady
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Give me a week or two and I will likely have snow! ha

That is why I am pretty cautious planting early. But, it was thawed, and dry enough... so I went for it.

I have many times transplanted cole crops, as the snow moved in... and covered my plants.

They survive.

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stanhorst
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Location: Virginia

Snow is still covering everything at my house in Virginia too. Can't wait to see the ground! Most snow we've had since moving here in '89.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Give me a week or two and I will likely have snow! ha
:lol: DH won't let me put away the snow shovels. He says it's going to snow one more time before the end of the month. :o

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Ozark Lady
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The blackberries have not bloomed, it isn't over yet...

Always we have a cold miserable Easter, and when the blackberries bloom it is cold and dreary...

Just the way it always goes.

As soon as, my peach tree blooms, there will be the weather... ha ha

malkore
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Location: Lincoln, Nebraska

We decided it had thawed out enough here to tear up the grass so we can put in our very first garden. I know its not the wisest to till it up in spring and plant right away, but that's my problem :)

So two 3.5' by 10' beds had the sod removed today. Bought 4 bags of compost and a bale of straw to put down tomorrow. Still quite a ways off before we can plant or sow anything, but next week I'll start my peppers and tomatoes and cantalop.

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Ozark Lady
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Hi Malkore,

Hey, we all have to do what we have to do, whether the timing is perfect of not.

I am not sure that I would use the straw at this point. It will keep the ground from warming up.

Don't expect the garden to do all that it can do in later years.
The major thing is... don't over plant it, give the plants some room to grow large roots and get the best out of the garden that they can.

My garden is always: A work in progress. I work on it, all season long, not just in the fall, or very early spring.

And I often dig new hills, in raw soil, or start new beds and use them right away... without even the compost you are using.

Just don't judge them too harshly, when they need some time to get richer.

Good luck!

malkore
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Thanks I wasn't sure if the straw was a good idea yet or not.

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runfox
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Location: Central Florida

Well reading through everyones posts I am sure glad I live in central florida. I wish I had the rich soil you all have up north, but I sure am glad I can garden year round, and don't have to do all that seed transplanting. I just planted my first garden march 5.Planted the seeds right in the garden , no seed starting and all that. I amended my soil pretty good, and I'm excited about the prospects of enjoying home grown veggitables.These past few days have been beautiful sunny, have to get outside and enjoy the day type weather.

My wife and I usually go to the local farmers market and buy our produce, the prices are so cheap, it's sort of hard to justify the work and expense of a home garden.

However with this record cold winter and all the freezes we have had even in florida, the strawberries and tomatoes and other produce was more expensive than grocery store prices. I am looking forward to home gown tomatoes, that are not just pink or almost ripe, but nice and red ,juicy ripe.

I have a question too. I bought all my seed packets and planted what I needed. Then I had a whole buch of corn and bean seeds left in the packets. I thought of sealing them up and saving them, but I figured once opened, would they last ? And they were only like $1.45 a packet so I went and planted the rest of the seeds around my 5 acres, some outside my fence for maybe the deer or wild critters, and some where my chickens will be. If they grow ok, if not no loss. Outside my garden the soil is poor sandy dirt, but they might grow anyway.

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rainbowgardener
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With 5 acres why not!? If they do grow, having some outside the fence and away from your garden for the deer and other critters isn't a bad idea (though deer are pretty insatiable!). The only why not would be if once planted you get attached to the idea that you have to take care of all that, keep 5 acres of stuff scattered around watered, weeded, mulched, fed, etc. Then suddenly you are a farmer and it's a full time job and maybe takes some of the fun out of it!

In the mean time had you wanted to save the seeds, all you would have needed to do is throw them all in a paper mailing envelope (no plastic!) and put them in the freezer. They would be fine for next year.

malkore
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Location: Lincoln, Nebraska

The soil here is very much full of clay. So ammending the soil here and building it up over the years is very much required. That's part of the reason the mud was so stuck to the grass roots.

But yes you are lucky to be so far south and not have to pre-start and transplant half your goods. I've toyed with indoor hydroponics for seed starting as well as some full/mature growth. But now that we moved to a house with a real yard and space to growth I've pretty much decommissioned that stuff, except the 400w metal halide.

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Ozark Lady
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Most years, I can just almost do year round gardening, but it takes some tunnels for frost protection.

A greenhouse is on my wish list. But, I do know that greenhouse growing will be a whole new artform! With all kinds of new problems.

My strawberries are already gearing up to be ready for warm weather.

I am still simply awestruck, they are even alive... and this is years later... wow. I think I killed all the June bearers, but the everbearers seem to be doing fine.

I was harvesting my garden the day after Thanksgiving, and in February starting seeds. So, only a couple months to dream.

Those green tomatoes made it into December... and that was on the kitchen counter.

I would love to year-round garden, but perhaps with nothing to look forward to and dream about, and plan for... it would get old?

How do you stay ahead of garden maintenance and keep your soil fertile with the year round growing? Rotating?

Folks here, grow alot of tomatoes in pots, and bring them inside for winter, then back out in spring. With year round, they could grow in place for years? Wow, that would be another style to learn!

And I do start seedlings, and I also do direct sow tomatoes and peppers. The direct sown ones, just are always stronger and better.

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rainbowgardener
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It's 47 degrees and sunny out, most of the snow has melted and there is one brilliant yellow crocus blooming in my front yard!

SPRING!!

:-() :-() :-()

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Duh_Vinci
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Location: Virginia

It sure feels like a and smells like
rainbowgardener wrote:
SPRING!!

:-() :-() :-()
So many people are planting, growing, seeding - finally, spring is coming!!!

Snow is almost melted at my neck of the woods, sunny and in the upper 50's, actually took few larger tomato plants outside for the first round of hardening - soooooo nice outside!

Happy gardening to all!

Regards,
D

joeleitz
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Location: Florida

Yes, Ozark Lady has a good tip too -not to over-plant your garden. I seem to make this mistake repeatedly and then I have to cull a lot of my seedlings so that my plants aren't too crowded. That's good advice. I've had to be more careful with my selection of plants this year so that I don't pick ones that like cool weather because they just don't do well at all in my garden.

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Ozark Lady
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What a greeting! First day of spring, and the ground is covered with this odd white stuff. And it is still falling, visibility is limited, with the rate it is falling!

It surely must be feathers?

I told ya, snow would hit again! Well it is almost an inch deep and not slowing at all!



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