My Teeny Urban Garden (updated; even more photos post 43/page 5)

[897tgigvib]

I have grown Noir des Carmes melons too. Mine grow small, but a friend has grown some good sized. Conflicting stories about their size here too. It may have something to do with several versions out there. They have a ton of flavor, but not as sweet as modern melons. Still, they are good!

 

[AllyRodrigues]

Beautiful garden! It's so well organized!

 

[joz]

I'm thinking of pulling all the marigolds out and installing some Charentais melons along the front edges of one of the tomato beds.

The beds are pretty clearly defined, and the tomato/pepper beds are fairly regimented (except for the basil and borage stuck in here/there). Everything is square. I don't know about "organized", tho. I suppose I did rather take the best views/photos. You don't see the stack of old plastic pots in the corner (chewed by dogs), or the ratty herbs in pots, or the 17 different types of plants jammed willy-nilly into the cucumber bed. Or all the sad struggling Okra seedlings fighting for light among the sunflowers.

Another thing I'm wanting to do is to take the bottoms off of about 8 big square plastic planters (~18x18x18), and plant potatoes in 'em, on the ground. So, the first roots can go down, but the hilling (mixed compost, sand, and straw) would all take place in the planter. Or planters.... How high does one typically hill potatoes? Until they stop growing? How high do fingerlings typically get?

 

[vfem]

Everything looks wonderful to me! With that fence you should be able to trellis a lot of your vining plants and have good airflow. Watch out when the humidity jumps and watch out for mildew, but it all looks good to me.

 

[ducks4you]

Really pretty, thanks for sharing!! I especially like your compost pile. =b
LUCKY YOU--you can garden all year around!

 

[desertlady]

Very nice ! was surprised that you got your garden going already compared to Arizona !!!

 

[joz]

Very nice ! was surprised that you got your garden going already compared to Arizona !!!

Thank you!

Winter never came this year. At all. We had two nights of frost. Period. I wore a coat to work maybe 5 days.

I started the tomatoes and peppers (and other stuff) on Feb 4, outside in trays, no greenhouse, no protection, no lights. I transplanted everything into the garden on March 16, and direct sowed my melons and cukes and squash.

It's been reliably above 55 with very few dips, and daytime lows in the 70's, since Feb 1. It's crazy. I very nearly started the air conditioner up on Sunday.

As a result, we have a HUGE insect problem this year. I'm not noticing much in the garden (flea beetles for the first time ever, thrips, aphids), but the fleas have been terrible, and the termites seem to be out earlier than usual.

I'm worried that summer is going to hit us early, and I started my tomatoes way too late. I've got quite a few set, so I'll have SOME..... I blame the heat on my consistently poor results with tomatoes (except that one year, when it was mites). Next winter, I'm *definitely* starting the toms on Christmas Day. My neighbor had a ripe one last week, but borers of some variety had gotten to it and eaten the whole backside.
My borage bloomed yesterday, and today I counted 8 baby bell peppers.

 

[desertlady]

Weather is really crazy this year ! we had a winter storm two weeks ago and in like two days temps went up to 95! we rarely snow where we live but can really cold at night in the 30s.(two weeks ago) I did some seeds inside , but they seems so slow !! But the rest has already planted outside like cucumbers squash beans, carrots etc. Some are sprouting from lasts years crops like tomatoes sunflowers canteloupe! I cant wait to eat them soon !:tools

 

[jomoncon]

Hello from a fellow New Orleanian!! I live in the Gentilly area, and in February closed on "The Lot Next Door" program. Well, actually 1/2 of the lot - the neighbor on the other side also got 1/2. So I've got a 20'x100' area. For New Orleans, that's HUGE!! So far, I've put in 4 raised beds, 4'x8', 3 beds along the fence, 2'x12', and a lemon, lime, and kumquat tree. Since the beds weren't ready until 2 weeks ago, I'm really late in planting. But I did get a couple of summer squash, cucumber & watermelon transplants.

Here's what my new garden area looks like:

The bed along the back fence will be for blackberries. One of the beds along the sides will be for onions/garlic/shallots and the other for herbs.

For the past couple of years, I've been planting tomatoes & peppers in earthboxes on my front porch, since that was the only place that got fuull sun. Now, they have their own place in the new garden. And I even have tomatoes coming!!

 

[digitS']

Wow, Jomoncon!

Already fenced . . . and producing tomatoes! Congratulations.

NOLA gardeners have brought pleasant gardening experiences to my windy, rainy and cold days!

Steve