Jason from NH here.

[jasonvivier]

I come from an engineering background and that stuff is easy compared to understanding the design & ecology of a living system. I'm a year round gardener in a cold climate. I expect to sell my garden with attached house in a few years to move to a place where I can garden year round outside.

Most of my plant systems are designed to 1st.) work together, 2nd) meet all of there own needs as in; A Fruit tree, surrounded by edible Lupine (Nitrogen Fixer,) surrounded by Comfrey (Nutrient accumulator), with a Rhubarb uphill (mulch), perennial walking onions (pest control), black eyed Susan (insectory/pest control), Blueberry (attracts birds or phosphorous) and so on.

I have never used any chemicals in my garden, and honestly don't even use organic chemicals or fertilizers. I don't have any need to use sprays, pesticides, herbicides or anything like that. I generally allow the garden or 'system' to manage all of that for me. I am a lazy gardener, I look for problems and plan accordingly. So far that has worked for me.

I am lacking in other areas though with the main issue being plant propagation.

Any how, I look forward to sharing information

Take care,

 

[ninnymary]

Welcome Jasonvivier! Sounds like I can learn a lot from you. What do you grow as far as edibles? Do you grow in a greenhouse?

Mary

 

[jasonvivier]

@ninnymary Thanks.

American Hazelnut, Apples, Stanley Plums, Gooseberry, Black Current, Blueberry, Hardy Kiwi, Jerusalem Artichoke, Sun flowers,Roman chamomile, Walking Onions, Grapes, Strawberries, Pears, Mint, Beans, Lupine, Kale, Chard, Peas, Tomato, Potato, Blackberries, Cucumber, Summer and Winter Squash, Sweet and Popping Corn, Orach, Lettuce, Mache, Kajari Melon, Black Diamond water melon, Peach, Apricot, Various herbs.

I use a small shelved hot house haven 3, only for seedlings; but mostly I bring my growing indoors with a couple grow lights and a spare bedroom. Winter is mostly for experimentation though and propagation.

 

[journey11]

Welcome, Jasonvivier! What a fascinating intro. You grow a lot of uncommon veggies, which would would lead me to believe you must also love to cook.

I'd like to hear more of what you've learned about pest control and companion planting. I have a patch of walking onions that are a family heirloom. What kind of pests do they repel?

 

[Nyboy]

Welcome tell us more about your fruit trees, a few of us will be planting them this spring.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

again!

I like your setup and the ideology surrounding it. I'm working towards something similar, but it's hard to get all of that set up well with rented land. In 2014 the vegetable garden was only weeded once or twice. Sure some plants got crowded out and died, but what did survive thrived. I got about 4x as much from one cucumber plant last year than I got from one in seasons before, using the same varieties. I planted a huge mix of beans and got more than I could keep track of. I did have huge "infestations" of all kinds of "pests" in the garden, but they didn't harm a thing, either they were busy eating the weeds or the ecology in the garden was healthy enough to keep the pests down. I did have a lot of camomile growing in there, they reseed like crazy.

How are the Kajari Melons? I was considering buying them from the Explorer Series section of Baker Creek not too long ago, but decided that I was spending too much money on vegetable seeds.

Can't wait to hear more from you!

 

[digitS']

Hi Jasonvivier,

Welcome to TEG !

I enjoyed reading your posts on the perennial kale thread.

Steve

 

[baymule]

Welcome from northeast Texas! Just moved to 8 acres and will be planting much of what you listed. Have gardened year around in front yard garden in southeast Texas, can't wait to get started here. Where do you want to move to?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

welcome! i'm down in the seacoast/Maine border here. been gardening for long time and just past few years learned to graft fruit trees with some decent success. some plants are easier than others to propagate but there are plenty of other members on here that can answer specific plant questions if you have them!

 

[jasonvivier]

Welcome, Jasonvivier! What a fascinating intro. You grow a lot of uncommon veggies, which would would lead me to believe you must also love to cook.

I'd like to hear more of what you've learned about pest control and companion planting. I have a patch of walking onions that are a family heirloom. What kind of pests do they repel?

From a valid perspective any companion planting is a type of pest control. Whenever plant diversity interferes with a pests ability to easily move from food source to food source the population of that pest declines. But in the case of walking onions they are widely considered to be a aromatic pest confuser; which is really difficult to test in a diverse garden because it could be anything.

The following is totally anecdotal but the neighbors cat and jumpy the squirrel both avoid the walking onions as well.