Diary of a Gardening Newb

[Liska]

Edit: just figured I'd use my previous thread to post new pics in. Everything is really starting to grow and get bigger. It looks as though I may potentially have a strawberry soon, too!

I guess this goes to show that even us newbs can plant a garden that will grow! I went out and looked around this morning, and was happy to see everything is still growing and healthy looking!

Thought I'd share some pics, any feedback for next year welcome (since I don't want to pull up any plants now and move them around) and any advice you can give that would be helpful would be good too!

[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4040/4655765079_a555edf6b9_b.jpg[/img]

^^ my five potted Brussels Sprouts plants, taken out of my garden box because I overcrowded them a bit. They seem to be growing, so I guess all I can do is wait and see how they do!

[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4655765835_bf13e1ed4c_b.jpg[/img]

^ just a close up of one. They're growing slowly, but they do seem to be sprouting new leaves every day or so!

[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4656385550_e1d786ce7a_b.jpg[/img]

^^ my two pepper plants, one orange bell and one jalapeno, which also seem to be getting taller; the one on the left came totally drooped over, and now seems to be straightening up a little bit so it grows up instead. I'm hopefull!

[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4655766473_584fa225fe_b.jpg[/img]

^^onto the garden boxes. I've got the rest of my Brussels sprouts, my red bell peppers and my tomatoes in this one.

[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4656386106_c60619a4c9_b.jpg[/img]

^ A view of the strawberries my roommate found at Home Depot while we were shopping. They're definitely getting bigger and sprouting new leaves. Hooray! If I can get anywhere from 1-3 strawberries this year, I'll be absolutely ecstatic.


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[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4656386562_a6e455e2af_b.jpg[/img]

^^my lettuces. Green Towers and Buttercrunch. When I planted them they were only two small leaves and roots. They got a whole heck of a ton bigger and now are starting to resemble regular lettuces. I have no idea what I'm doing to do with all of them when they're ready to pick!

The tiny one in the second photo, all the way closest to the bottom of the pic actually died a few days after I planted it- but I left it and didn't want to pull it out. I noticed this morning that it seems to be re sprouting and is managing alright

[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4656386704_0bb1be2184_b.jpg[/img]

A Broccoli plant. They all seem to be growing taller than the tomatoes!

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^^ my two Cantaloupes. They were two tiny plants when I planted them, and now they've spawned into three! Planted into the ground about 10 minutes before the first major thunderstorm of the year. Survived 40mph gusts of wind that took down power lines and knocked out power to the area for several days!

[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4656387938_e8b70ba3ce_b.jpg[/img]

^ one of my three zucchini. All seem to be doing alright. I'm a little worried about this one though:
[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4656388512_4dc6b68825_b.jpg[/img]
As it's a bit droopy. Does anyone know what I could do to maybe help it out, or should I just leave it??

And finally, my first HOORAY moment of the year, one of my tomato plants has flowers on it. I'm surprised it's doing something this early (just put it in the ground 2 weeks ago) as I thought they were supposed to grow a lot taller before they started producing blossoms of any kind...

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that's all. I'm just so happy everything's doing well, and just wanted to show that sometimes even us beginners get lucky too!

[Urban_Garden]

Oh wow! That garden is beautiful! ^^
I especially like your lettuce! =D

[tomf]

Not fancy? Those garden boxes are real nice.

[pepper4]

Liska, my advice to you is keep doing what your doing. It all looks great

[Liska]

Oh wow! That garden is beautiful! ^^
I especially like your lettuce! =D

Liska, my advice to you is keep doing what your doing. It all looks great

=^.^= Thank you so much! My grandpa's would be so happy/proud I think. I just love to wake up in the morning and look them over to see what happened overnight! I do wish the heat would go away though, it makes it scary to see everything getting a bit droopy in the afternoon!

Not fancy? Those garden boxes are real nice.

Thanks But, really, they're just garden box kits I bought from home depot, since I'm not builder-savvy enough to build my own. Just fill them with soil, and plant!

[farmerlon]

... any advice you can give that would be helpful would be good too!

Everything looks really nice!

I did notice a lot of shade in those photos... maybe it was just the time of day? To really thrive, those Cantaloupes and Tomatoes (etc...) are going to want a good amount of direct sunlight.

Keep up the good work!

[Liska]

... any advice you can give that would be helpful would be good too!

Everything looks really nice!

I did notice a lot of shade in those photos... maybe it was just the time of day? To really thrive, those Cantaloupes and Tomatoes (etc...) are going to want a good amount of direct sunlight.

Keep up the good work!

Hi Thank you for the little nudge- I know about the shade, it's actually about 8am in these pics, and the sun doesn't roll around that side of the house until about 11/12noon. Then they get 4-6 hours of sun after that Looking back, it's mid day heat which isn't the best, but there was no other place to put the boxes :/

[Joyfirst]

I guess, then it will be an experiment, if tomatoes will do well or not. Early blooms can mean, that the plant is stressed, but on the other hand I had my cucumbers bloom very small, but now they grew taller and I already see a few cucumbers geting ready to be picked. Sometimes plants get yellowish or stressed, when transplanted, but then they adjust and grow nicely.

[Liska]

I guess, then it will be an experiment, if tomatoes will do well or not. Early blooms can mean, that the plant is stressed, but on the other hand I had my cucumbers bloom very small, but now they grew taller and I already see a few cucumbers geting ready to be picked. Sometimes plants get yellowish or stressed, when transplanted, but then they adjust and grow nicely.

I guess for now I'll just have to see! They are definitely getting taller as well, but even way back when when I planted with my grandpa, our tomato plants never really got that large. One that gets 5+ feet high is brand new to me, so I'm just trying to feel my way along! If I can get even just 2 tomatoes from each plant this season, I'll be happy! This one plant is the only one that's blooming at the moment, and the others have little green buds on them, but no flowers yet.

[Liska]

Things are coming along a lot faster than I thought they would and so far, so good. Started harvesting the lettuce leaves today, and enjoyed a few of them before dinner. I just need some tomatoes and other veggies to go with it! No tomatoes yet, but strangely enough I'm ending up with a Strawberry instead. It's already put out a couple of blossoms, so hopefully they'll bear fruit and stay untouched by birds!

I do have a chipmunk issue tho -_- I have fencing for the permiter, but the ground around it is so rocky I can't even get the posts into the ground. They are hanging out around my cantaloupe plants and the strawberrys and digging shallow little holes. I'm thinking about getting one of those fake owls to help scare them away- anyone have any experiences with them?

The crowding issues I thought I was going to have haven't reared their ugly head yet. Every plant seems to be doing well and healthy (knock on wood)

Either way, onto pics:

This is the crooked pepper I pictured above; it's definitely doing something and seems to be happier than the peppers I've got in the ground.

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[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4670702910_a065378635_b.jpg[/img]

One of my patio Brussels sprouts. It doesn't seem to really be getting any taller, but it seems to be healthy. Definitely not doing as well as my in ground Brussels sprouts, so I guess this is an experiment and a learning experience.

[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/4670703158_d75334caec_b.jpg[/img]

The lettuces are growing like there's no tomorrow, even with all the rain. I started harvesting leaves from them this evening.
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Two of my Six happy camper strawberries:
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My Zucchini's are getting bigger too! this is the one that was previously droopy and worrying me. Looking much better!
[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4022/4670078025_c6ec3fcd19_b.jpg[/img]

The others are growing too:
[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4670077659_8af85e7d04_b.jpg[/img]
[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/4670077413_d9040a27cf_b.jpg[/img]

The two Cantaloupes, still trucking along.
[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4670077829_983757f3b1_b.jpg[/img]
[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4670704582_c31fbb6780_b.jpg[/img]

I didnt' really picture these before, but all my Broccoli seem to be really happy too:

[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4670704828_505ed6c882_b.jpg[/img]
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[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4670705280_1223b8855e_b.jpg[/img]

and, finally, my tomatoes. No fruit yet, but they are growing, that's for sure!
[img]https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4670078831_fbdd9bc3f8_b.jpg[/img]

I ran out of pictures before I could get to my four bell pepper plants, which is also managing along aside from some chewed leaves that was going on before. They all look so tiny and spindly, that I don't know how they're going to do once they start to grow tiny peppers. They might fall right over if they don't get any thicker. Hmm!

[rainbowgardener]

It is all very pretty and well organized and well maintained... I agree re the shade. If you are ever going to expand, if you can build some farther away from the house that would help.

My other little tip for next year would be to start all the lettuce, broccoli, brussels sprouts earlier in spring. They are very cold hardy, but don't like hot weather very much. They can be in the ground about a month before your average last frost date. You will get a longer season of harvest from them that way.

[Liska]

It is all very pretty and well organized and well maintained... I agree re the shade. If you are ever going to expand, if you can build some farther away from the house that would help.

My other little tip for next year would be to start all the lettuce, broccoli, brussels sprouts earlier in spring. They are very cold hardy, but don't like hot weather very much. They can be in the ground about a month before your average last frost date. You will get a longer season of harvest from them that way.

hi! I guess I really need to take a photo of my garden earlier in the day. It actually gets 6 hours of sunlight a day, but it happens when I'm away at work. by time I get home, the suns almost down again so they're shady! I unfortunately can't move any further down the yard, as the rest of it is a very steep/sloped hill. I couldn't get any boxes to stay straight if my life depended on it.

And point well taken on the lettuce, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. For next year, I will have to remember to start them earlier. I was a bit clueless on planting times this year! Everything's a learning experience

[SP8]

Looks really good, well done!

[Liska]

Looks really good, well done!

Thank you so much!

I have five tiny tomatoes on one of my plants now. So exciting!

[lakngulf]

Great pictures. Hope you have a good harvest.

[mansgirl]

Yay! Another gardening newb! Me too! Last year was my first year. I just wanted to say that our yard is very shaded. Our sunniest spot only sees about 4-5 hours of late afternoon sunlight. This of course, was where we put our garden and our tomatoes did great last year. They were HUGE! They dwarfed my brother-in-law's plants who's garden gets full sun.

Even our peppers do really well there. We grow jalepenos, habenero, red chili, bells, and a bunch more that normally like alot of heat and sun and they do just fine. I have 12 jalepeno plants this year and they're all already producing their first peppers!

[Liska]

Great pictures. Hope you have a good harvest.

Thank you, you as well! Your garden and backyard is so lovely and beautiful!

Yay! Another gardening newb! Me too! Last year was my first year. I just wanted to say that our yard is very shaded. Our sunniest spot only sees about 4-5 hours of late afternoon sunlight. This of course, was where we put our garden and our tomatoes did great last year. They were HUGE! They dwarfed my brother-in-law's plants who's garden gets full sun.

Even our peppers do really well there. We grow jalepenos, habenero, red chili, bells, and a bunch more that normally like alot of heat and sun and they do just fine. I have 12 jalepeno plants this year and they're all already producing their first peppers!

YAY! Glad to hear I'm not alone. You'd be surprised at how good of an idea it was to put the garden there. They've basically got protection from all the storms and nasty winds that come through. We had several horrible windy storms with not one bit of wind damage. YAY for unintentional cooless

It does get sunlight, but it's at least 5-6 h ours of late afternoon sunlight. The temps are also starting to go down into the mid 70s, so I'm thankful they no longer have to deal with the horrible 100 degree weater.

It's happy to hear that your jalepenos are doing well! If you ever get a chance, I'd love to see some pics of yours too You're near grand rapids, right? I was born there- my grandparents had a farm in Wayland, and that's where My grandpa helped me plant my first garden a while ago!

[mansgirl]

Yeah, we had all of that heat a week or two ago. Been pretty wet and rainy here. My poor cucumber and squashes are sick of it. I'll have to take pictures tomorrow.. hopefully the sun will come out!

I know where Wayland is.. I have friends in Dorr which isn't too far from there, right? I'm in Allendale, so its a bit of a ride from Wayland, but I have been there. Its a cute town. We've been contemplating about taking the boat out on Gun Lake but hear its pretty shallow. Yay for Michigan gardeners! Is Massachusettes weather similar to Michigans?

[Liska]

Yeah, we had all of that heat a week or two ago. Been pretty wet and rainy here. My poor cucumber and squashes are sick of it. I'll have to take pictures tomorrow.. hopefully the sun will come out!

I know where Wayland is.. I have friends in Dorr which isn't too far from there, right? I'm in Allendale, so its a bit of a ride from Wayland, but I have been there. Its a cute town. We've been contemplating about taking the boat out on Gun Lake but hear its pretty shallow. Yay for Michigan gardeners! Is Massachusettes weather similar to Michigans?

The weather is somewhat similar, but the weather here is just extremely strange. You can have a thunderstorm while the sun is out, and most times the weather changes every 45 minutes or so. I can never figure it out, really.

We're just kind of hanging out in the 60's and 70's lately, and I'm hoping it's going to stay that way! All my plants are going to love love the weather, especially if the sun comes out for a couple of days in a row.

Something's eating my strawberries new growth though I just noticed this morning they had holes in them.

And Gun lake is lovely for recreational boating. We've actually chartered a boat to take us around before, and it was fun!

[mansgirl]

I hope you figure out whats going on with your strawberries! I haven't tried those yet, so I am no help at all with that.

We finally had a beautiful sunny day here, I can tell my veggies are looking much happier. I saw lots of little baby tomatoes tonight and my poor squash don't look nearly as sad as they did yesterday in the cold and rain. That seems weird about MA weather, and here I thought MI weather was tempermental.

We'll have to take the boat down to Gun Lake this summer. We've wanted to, but don't know the lake and neither do any of our boating buddies. Oh well, a slow putzing tour isn't bad either.

[Liska]

I hope you figure out whats going on with your strawberries! I haven't tried those yet, so I am no help at all with that.

We finally had a beautiful sunny day here, I can tell my veggies are looking much happier. I saw lots of little baby tomatoes tonight and my poor squash don't look nearly as sad as they did yesterday in the cold and rain. That seems weird about MA weather, and here I thought MI weather was tempermental.

We'll have to take the boat down to Gun Lake this summer. We've wanted to, but don't know the lake and neither do any of our boating buddies. Oh well, a slow putzing tour isn't bad either.

If I can manage strawberries, so can you. All I did was find some at home depot and put them in the soil. They're growing on their own Whatever was hanging out on the strawberries probably got flooded out this afternoon, it's been raining like crazy! Thankfully most of my plants seem to like the rainy weather. They're all still growing. I've got three sugar pumpkin plants on the patio (yes, I know they climb around) I just put in-dirt 2 days ago, and they're already perky and going nuts!

Have fun on the lake. It's llovely! There are a couple good restaurants around too.

[mansgirl]

Sounds like you're getting all of that rain that we had yesterday. It poured buckets! I was out all day today and only just got home from work, so I'll have to take pictures of the garden tomorrow to show you (and everyone else). : ) Isn't it funny how proud you feel of a garden? : )

I'll have to give strawberries a try, but don't they come back every year?

[Liska]

My first mini update in a while ! Slowly but surely things are growing. I haven't really been able to harvest anything yet aside from the lettuce (which everyone sees bolting from the extreme heat), but I'm getting fairly close. I have several mini vegetables growing on my plants. Woo!

Thanks to the people on this forum, I've learned a lot and gotten several bouts of good advice of which I will take advantage of next year! Thanks everyone!

My newest editions: I saw them at the nursery, and just couldn't resist. Probably a bad thing toget into temptation, but they can take up the entire porch if they'd like! The only problem I'm encountering, is that they're growing up, instead of spilling over the edge of the pot like I want them to. Yes, those are sprouts from birdseed growing in the bottom, I've been fighting with them for a while. Damn birds!

[img]https://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c25/Liskarialeman/Garden.jpg[/img]

A view from overhead; yes, that is my end day sunshine, in between storms!

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View from the side, with my fence that keeps everything out by chipmunks!

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My Zucchini, all male flowers unfortunately. I'm sure there will be females coming!

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Cantaloupe untouched by chipmunk:
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Cantaloupe attached by chipmunk; the third branch near the bottom of the screen was completely ripped off. I just planted it back in the ground since it had roots
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Broccoli, broccoli, broccoli!
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My lettuce, which I'm getting ready to pull, it could be considered a semi-failure for this year, Consider it a lesson learned
[img]https://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c25/Liskarialeman/Garden-9.jpg[/img]

By some strange fate of the heavens, I have strawberries my first year! Should I put foil or plates under them so they aren't sitting on the soil?
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My first tomatoes of the year. I can't wait to eat them! My tom plants just hit 5 feet
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There;s something eating one of my Brussels sprouts; I hope they go away! My others seem to be doing ok in ground, the ones in pots are growing a lot slower.
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[img]https://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c25/Liskarialeman/Garden-19.jpg[/img]


Peppers
[img]https://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c25/Liskarialeman/Garden-24.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c25/Liskarialeman/Garden-25.jpg[/img]

Or, at least., the beginnings of ones