How is your garden doing so far?

[Greenthumb18]

He's harmless Green.... we have a VERY large pond... he stays a couple hours and is gone. Those fish repopulate like crazy, enough for the ducks and him. (He's the only one... only saw a female with him once and she never returned.)

If only he ate the over population of turtles we have! JEEZ!!!

oh ok in that case you should enjoy him he does look pretty i must say. That would be very cool to have a heron on your property, enjoy!!
Amazing bird and thats a nice picture of him

 

[Hattie the Hen]

My garden has suddenly gone CRAZY with growth -- due to two days of heavy showers and the warmth of Spring (at long last).

It always amazes me just how fast it happens; a yearly miracle! My peas have almost outgrown their sticks. I shall have to remember that for next year. In fact now I have this laptop I think I should start making more notes & reminders of things that I need to pay heed to. I have a garden notebook which I take outside with me but don't use much because my hands are usually mucky!

I set out one of my zucchini plants (sown April 12th), just as an experiment as I don't usually dare to put them out till the first week in June. It's covered with a huge plastic bag over sticks as I'm still covering delicate stuff at night. It was also to protect it from my two Dorking roos who wanted to scratch around in the lovely old, wormy compost I had mounded up. If it looks OK tomorrow I'll plant more & then make sure the chickens can't get to them, I'm growing them along a solid fence where they will get protection from cold & wind & I can use to help to support them. It is also in the sun most of the day. It is a really nice compact, sturdy plant -- just right for setting out; not too big or leggy. We will see how it looks in the morning -- probably eaten by slugs or snails......!

The broad beans are flowering but no sign of pods yet. My raspberries are also flowering & you can just see some fruit setting. My Morello cherries have fruit this year -- last year we lost all the blossom in high winds & frost. I love to preserve these in Brandy, then cover the cherries in chocolate as Christmas gifts.

I got two more raised beds info position, now I have to fill them.....!! My poor old back is going to suffer tomorrow -- I know it! I try to do short periods of that kind of heavy back-crunching work between doing other jobs that exercise other parts of my body. It takes longer but....! In most of the houses around me it is the men who do the vegetable gardening & heavy work & their wives give the orders -- they occasionally will put a few flowers in a decorative pot....!! So they are shocked by me, hauling things around & building chicken coops etc. I've always done it & I love it.

Now it's late here so I had better get some sleep! So good night & HAPPY GARDENING :tools :tools :tools

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[momofdrew]

Hattie I too have been the gardener in my family... DH does cut the grass because he likes the manicured lawn look where I like it scruffy and natural...he still cant tell the difference between weeds and veggies so I try to keep him away from the gardens...

My strawberries have flowers!!! I am still picking asparagas and have started freezing my rhubarb... Peas have started to vine...have been hilling potatoes they really have shot up after a slow start...still keeping everything under row covers over night still have a month before last frost...

 

[Purple Strawberry]

Here is the garden as of this morning...

This bed has carrots, 4 cucumber plants and 4 brussell sprout plants.

This bed has lettuce and radishes. Sometime this week I am going to take harvest the back half of the lettuce and plant some type of melon.

In my last bed is 5 tomatoes (which by the way I LOVE the way my hands smell after touching the tomato plants and I think I might have planted them to close), 2 pumpkins and 4 potatoes plants.

So what is your garden looking like toady?

Angie :tools

 

[digitS']

Everyone has seen too much of my "dirt" already, Angie. But, I have a question. Are the fittings on the outside of the boards for plastic pipes and film or fabric to cover the raised beds??

And now to some advice to a "first time gardener" - - I'd have a big strong guy with a sledge hammer put some tall posts wherever those tomato cages intersect and then tie the cages to the posts. Then get him to put some posts beside your cages for the cukes, also. I use the term "posts" deliberately rather than something like "stakes" to try to emphasize the strength they should have.

. . . just a ? and my 2 worth of advice.

Steve

 

[vfem]

Here is the garden as of this morning...

This bed has carrots, 4 cucumber plants and 4 brussell sprout plants.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/uploads/6152_may_17_2009_2.jpg

This bed has lettuce and radishes. Sometime this week I am going to take harvest the back half of the lettuce and plant some type of melon.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/uploads/6152_may_17_2009_3.jpg

In my last bed is 5 tomatoes (which by the way I LOVE the way my hands smell after touching the tomato plants and I think I might have planted them to close), 2 pumpkins and 4 potatoes plants.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/uploads/6152_may_17_2009_4.jpg

So what is your garden looking like toady?

Angie :tools

Not to be a... you know what... but I thought you were not supposed to plant potatoes near tomatoes?!

Your plants look gorgeous and healthy btw!

 

[Reinbeau]

Angie, your plants look great but you're right, those tomatoes are way too close. 2' minimum between plants is how I always plant them. They get so big, toppling into one another, it can get to be quite a mess!

 

[Purple Strawberry]

digitS'- the pvc on the outside of the beds is to hold 1/2" pvc pipe and then I cover it with plastic and secure it. I did this once when it dipped down in the 30's. Also, thanks for the 2 I will have to see what I can get done. I had to put roost in the coop today for the chickens so I might end up being the big stong guy.

vfem - I never knew about not planting tomatoes and potatoes by each other. There is about a 4' gap between them. Thanks for letting me know, I will write this down in my gardening journal for next year. I don't want to bother them now.

Reinbeau - They are to close but I don't want to bother them now and have to replant them. I told my husband Friday "Oops, I think they are a little close". At least I realized my error.

Happy Gardening and Thank You for the question and 2. :rainbow-sun

 

[beth1966]

Here's a good link for all of us interested in 'companion planting' in our gardens.

http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/complant.html#chart

Great idea, Purple, to take notes this year to help you plan in the future!!

 

[Purple Strawberry]

Here's a good link for all of us interested in 'companion planting' in our gardens.

http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/complant.html#chart

Great idea, Purple, to take notes this year to help you plan in the future!!

Yikes you shouldn't have listed this link. In that one bed I have potatoes then pumpkins and then tomatoes. Which the last two are listed as incompatible with the Irish Potato. So what is a Irish Potato? Mine are red if that makes a difference.