I'm new from west central Illinois

[SmallTownIL]

Hi everyone I live near Carthage Illinois I am starting my very first garden in the spring and hoping it will turn out.. I am full of questions and not quite sure where to post all of them yet according to category. I am on BYC quite often and know a lot more about Animals than plants. I am a Vet tech by day. We just recently bought an empty lot right next to our property and my fianc an I intend to start a garden there along with our 3 year old Daughter who enjoys being outside as much as we do.

Thanks for Reading

 

[Smart Red]

Welcome, SmallTownIL! Glad to have you growing with us here on The Easy Garden! Although it's been over 40 years since my first garden, I remember the nervous excitement of getting those first things planted and my pride at my first harvest.

Are you able to do some preparing yet this fall for your garden? It would make next spring's work so much easier if you could. My grandbabies enjoyed having a small space that they could call their own garden (mixed with veggies and flowers they chose themselves). I'm not all that far away and our growing zone should be much the same.

 

[SmallTownIL]

We were going to try and till up the area before the ground gets hard hoping that it will make it easier for spring, is there something else I should do to prepare, this isn't his first garden he had one growing up so he has some knowledge and as for me I am clueless! I'm pretty excited! my fianc is a pretty picky eater so we already have in mind what we want to plant..

 

[NwMtGardener]

Welcome! Glad you joined us, dont stress too much about what category to post in, there's lots of crossover. And a little rambling here and there!

I used to be a vet tech! Now i take human xrays. Let us know what questions you have about gardening and what you're thinking of planting.

 

[SmallTownIL]

Well we are going for: Acorn Squash, Pumpkins, watermelon, Cherry Tomatoes, Potatoes, Cabbage, Lettuce, zucchini, Green Beans, Peas, Corn that's probably about it I also thought about Strawberries

I think that's probably about it,


I guess one question right off the bat is can I preserve Acorn Squash seeds, we are going to be eating some tomorrow so I figured if I could save the seeds I would and If so how should I go about saving them.

 

[seedcorn]

What no tomatoes or peppers? J

Search button can be your friend. To me, hardest thing you want to grow are the strawberries as they are a pain to pick and grass loves to grow in them...... Ought to be a law against them!

 

[SmallTownIL]

No we are not tomato or pepper eaters here.. Cherry tomatoes are the only ones I eat he doesn't like them and my daughter loves cherry tomatoes too

 

[digitS']

SmallTownIL, welcome to TEG !

I used to have a garden in a vacant lot beside my home. A vegetable garden is a wonderful use for a vacant piece of land. You may change your plans for the lot later but it isn't as tho' you've messed up any future uses with veggies .

Acorn squash seeds? Quite a few acorn squash are hybrids. They may not turn out quite as you'd hoped. Also, acorn squash are Cucurbita pepo and squash crosses easily. That species includes jack o'lantern pumpkins and zucchini!

If you have the room, you might have fun finding out what comes up. Non-hybrid seed from farm fields are probably safe bets. I mean, the bees are likely to have thousands of blossoms to play in without bothering to go look for a different variety, perhaps miles away.

If you want to be a seed-saver, you can avoid some of the risks of unplanned squash/pumpkin crosses by growing 1 variety from each species. My understanding is that they very rarely cross-pollinate if they are separate species. I hope this information helps.

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined us!

Like Heather said, dont stress about getting things just right on your posts. Were a pretty casual group about things like that. Youll find that we are all over the place.

 

[thistlebloom]

Welcome! Looking forward to chatting with you about your garden!