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:

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