What are your plans for gardening in 2014?

[Gardener123]

My wife and kids bought me about a dozen packs of heirloom seeds.... well, I guess I need to learn about growing carrots, and lettuces.... and I also received a package of the walking onion sets with 10 sets.... According to what I have read, NOW is the best time to plant as long as I can get them in the soil.

Also, I have started a new hobby to help me with my gardening hobby..... I have bought some tools for woodworking. I plan to make garden benches, planters, better raised beds, and other garden projects.

[rainbowgardener]

It's amazing how a gardening hobby rapidly proliferates to become a lifestyle! If you grow veggies, then you want to cook them, so you need to get in to cooking and then of course you need to preserve the left overs so you get in to canning, freezing, drying.... And of course if you have beautiful flowers and veggies, you want to take nice pictures of them, so photography becomes important. For you, gardening starts to include carpentry. For me, it includes herbalism, making essential oils and products with the oils, tea blends, herbal jellies, etc. Also learning about edible weeds, medicinal values, how to use everything in my garden. And your garden needs birds and pollinators, so you have to learn about bird feeding, growing flowers to attract beneficial insects. None of this was part of my life before I was a gardener!

[imafan26]

You are so right Rainbow, one passion often begets another.

[digitS']

I don't remember when I wasn't a gardener . . .

Still, the begets and and begottens just keep on keepin' on!

I enjoy this gardening forum ; besides gardening forums - I belong to no others! Pictures? Yes. I now carry a camera every day thru the growing season . Cooking? Once again, I can't remember a "before" but it is more important than ever.

Carpentry? I like "hardscaping" but just haven't gotten into the doing of it. With so much time taken up gardening, I'd need a heated winter workshop! Oh no . . .

Steve

[Ohio Tiller]

It's amazing how a gardening hobby rapidly proliferates to become a lifestyle! If you grow veggies, then you want to cook them, so you need to get in to cooking and then of course you need to preserve the left overs so you get in to canning, freezing, drying.... And of course if you have beautiful flowers and veggies, you want to take nice pictures of them, so photography becomes important. For you, gardening starts to include carpentry. For me, it includes herbalism, making essential oils and products with the oils, tea blends, herbal jellies, etc. Also learning about edible weeds, medicinal values, how to use everything in my garden. And your garden needs birds and pollinators, so you have to learn about bird feeding, growing flowers to attract beneficial insects. None of this was part of my life before I was a gardener!

I also became a beekeeper because of the gardening.

[Gardener123]

Well, I have been a really good cook since I was 16..... 51 now, and now I consider myself an excellent cook.... And of course, NOW, I feel like I must do canning this season. I thought about it last season... read a book on it, but didn't follow through.

[DoubleDogFarm]

It's amazing how a gardening hobby rapidly proliferates to become a lifestyle! If you grow veggies, then you want to cook them, so you need to get in to cooking and then of course you need to preserve the left overs so you get in to canning, freezing, drying.... And of course if you have beautiful flowers and veggies, you want to take nice pictures of them, so photography becomes important. For you, gardening starts to include carpentry. For me, it includes herbalism, making essential oils and products with the oils, tea blends, herbal jellies, etc. Also learning about edible weeds, medicinal values, how to use everything in my garden. And your garden needs birds and pollinators, so you have to learn about bird feeding, growing flowers to attract beneficial insects. None of this was part of my life before I was a gardener!

Throw in Animal husbandry, out buildings and equipment and you have Homesteading. I know your a veggie.

Eric

[rainbowgardener]

If I could find some people and land to do homesteading with, I wouldn't mind having some chickens for eggs and a milch cow and/or goat for milk and cheese.

[digitS']

I have been thinking about that sort of thing for . .

. over half a century, RainbowG'.

When i was closest to that reality, I was fairly lonely. Maybe the operant plan is "find some people."

Steve

[Juliuskitty]

I got a 23 quart pressure canner for Christmas, and I need to start using it now, and probably well into April 2024. This is harvest from yesterday and today, and I already made a huge pot of sauce yesterdsy.

[Happy Days]

Lots of onions, leeks, garlic, greens of various kinds, sunchokes, cardoon, peas, carrots, banana peppers, Giant Marconi peppers, parsley, amaranth and celosia, mints, other herbs.

[Happy Days]

Nice tomato harvest!

[Juliuskitty]

Thank you!

(Meant to say 2014, too late to edit.)

[gardeningwithe]

We have been sorting through seeds and have decided to expand our little gardening area. My son is big into gardening and has designed a circle garden with the center being three sisters, then potted plants a bit out from that and the edges with carrots and lettuce. I don't know how well it will work once the three sisters really gets going (which is why I convinced him we needed potted flowers not planted), but it's a very cool idea for an (almost- just a few days!) 9 yr. old. He has wanted to do the three sisters for awhile, and also decided he wanted to be able to walk in a circle and see different things- flowers, root crops. For his sake a I hope it works out. Also we will be trying heirlooms, winter sowing and saving seeds. Happy planning everyone!

[rainbowgardener]

You certainly must have been doing things right to have a 9 yr old boy who is "big in to gardening" and coming up with creative ideas like that. Just give everything plenty of room and it will be beautiful.

You might also want to check out applestar's tomato spiral garden:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 80&t=52230

[gardeningwithe]

Rainbow gardener - I don't know about "right" we've had our share of things that did not do well, but we pick what to plant together and just enjoy the process. We've only been doing it maybe four years and the first three were in a small area with too much shade, but he was hooked after the first cucumber. He took the first one- let it grow big, picked it and named it (no joke) Roy E. Boy and carried it around until it was rotten. It was cute, but once he saw what happens he decided he should eat the food. Really last year was the only year several things grew alright (we expanded a lil), but it made he super excited for this yr. I just really want his circle garden to work. Thanks for showing me the spiral tomato garden- E loved it and it certainly gave us ideas. Thanks for the compliment though- I really just got lucky- for the most part he's a pretty happy, thoughtful and creative boy. haha I guess if I have another it will be a demon

[ReptileAddiction]

Now that I am further along in the planning stages I have decided to expand the garden this year. I just finished planting 100 bare root onions. I am to that from growing no onions last year . I am also doing more edible landscaping. My onions are all around my meyer lemon in one of my front flower beds.

[gardeningwithe]

I love how so many have plans for expansion or growing new things. Gardening is an evolution I believe Good luck everyone!

[digitS']

I have felt that it takes me about 3 years to get a new piece of ground in real good shape for gardening. I'm not quite "marking time" on the ground for those seasons - it depends on what I grow there. Green beans seem to do okay, even corn . . . I can remember a couple of new gardens years ago when I had not only a new garden but was a new gardener. I grew turnips in those two places . . !

I don't mean that was ALL I was trying to grow but . . . those turnips sure grew good! Luckily, I had livestock then and they appreciated all those huge turnips.

Steve

[jal_ut]

Still snowing. The only thing growing is ice. Temperature this morning is 30 degrees F.

[rainbowgardener]

Heat wave! Temperature this morning was 16. Yesterday morning it was minus 4 (wind chill about minus 20). Not too often in winter that we are colder than you are in your mile high garden!

[ReptileAddiction]

Today is 72 out by us .

[countrykat]

I'm going to plant a asparagus bed this spring. I ordered 2 or 3 packs of Jersey Knight. Going to plant a couple kinds of pickling cukes, 3 types of tomatos. celery, cabbage, radishes and some green onions. Can't wait, cabin fever has set in.

[LA47]

I'm going to take part of our garden and plant 25 Jersey Knight asparagus plants. I'm planting 6 different heirloom tomatoes. We are cutting back on the amount of seeds we plant as, last year we gave away bushels of green beans, onions, carrots, zucchini, beets and tomatoes to our local senior citizens. Plus I canned and froze way more than we can use in a year. It's taken 2 gardening seasons for me to realize that, since we moved, we don't have family around to share with.
I am also planting smaller easy care shrubs instead of so many annual flowers and even removing some of the higher care perennial flowers. This old back can only stand so much bending over, but I'm not ready for the rocking chair yet.

[PunkRotten]

4-5 variety of tomatoes, 4-5 variety of peppers, already got garlic, and Candy and Red Bottle onions in the ground, ginger, turmeric, kra chai dum, cukes, squash, melons, maybe some sugar snap peas, kale and chinese broccoli, dill, 3 kinds of basil, sunflowers, marigolds, maybe some impatiens, culantro, chamomile, maybe some leeks, and that is about it.

[bwhite829]

I posted my plans in a standalone thread.

Yesterday I moved the raised beds and decided to wait until my wife approved of the location this time. Last year when I put them in and filled them up when she was away she decided she really hated it so she put her stamp of approval. It'll be easier to water, organize, trellis, mow the yard, AND it'll have about 2x the sun in some areas of the garden.

I've started tomatoes last saturday and they are sprouting good. I'm also trying to get peppers started...I don't have a warming mat so I'm using a heating pad that has an auto shut off so I'm turning it back on any time I can....last year I wasn't able to start any peppers so we'll see how it goes O_O. I've got 4 sweet potatoes from last year's harvest that I have under lights and in mason jars like I've seen on youtube that will hopefully give me plenty of slips to get a good start....

I've just picked up some bush beans that I'm going to give a go before it gets too hot for them...I'll be doing squash and cukes as well as some okra.

[gardeningwithe]

LA47- It's better to know when to slow down so you can enjoy having a manageable garden instead of doing too much! (and growing too much ) And rearranging garden plans can be so fun- It's like having a brand new outdoor space. Hope all goes well everyone.

Lots of asparagus beds going down this year- yummy

bwhite829 Glad you like the new rearrangement of beds- hate that you had to move them all, but if it works better that is good. Also whoohoo getting a start on the tomatoes- feels good doesn't it.

[Gardener123]

The thought of moving my raised beds makes me cringe.... But if I am being honest, I didn't place them as well as I could have. I dread the possibility.

[LA47]

Last year we were able to get some wonderful aged manure and soil. I'm going to check and see how much we can get this year and start making raised vegetable beds. Our soil has a lot of clay and rocks in it so even 6 inch raised beds would help the plants and my back.
Has any one tried the pallet planter? I'm thinking of planting strawberries in one to see how it works.