What's going in your garden in '11?

vyapti

New member
Looks good.

...

Catnip, Chamomile, oregano, chives and strawberries made it through the winter.

Found out you don't want to plant chamomile above anyplace you don't want it to spread.

I need to transplant the strawberries, and am going to try to in line for future 'trellising'.

Have to move the oregano.

This will be my second year gardening, funny how much you learn in the first garden.

1 cherry tomato, 1 or 2 roma, and 1 other type of tomato. (learned these are staked when planted.)

Two or three types of leaf lettuce.

One or two types of sweet pepper.

Thyme and sweet basal (NOT boxwood),

Hmmm ... Time to think about it a bit more.

This year, I'm planting my peppers in pots. They don't grow huge like tomatoes and, at the end of the year, you can move them indoors (at least at night) to extend the season. Last year, I had a ton of tiny peppers that could have spend another couple weeks growing.

I'm pretty new to gardening too. I'm really enjoying it as well.
 

Wart

Banned
I need to transplant the strawberries, and am going to try to in line for future 'trellising'.


Oops,

That should be : I need to transplant the strawberries, and am going to try to
move some black raspberries into a line for future 'trellising'.

Don't know how that got left out.

:whistle:
 

Leni

New member
They were supposed to make a decision on the whole package last Wednesday. None so far. It's very interesting that they never mentioned the three year limit at any of the meetings we had with them. Obviously they knew that would set off a firestorm of protest. In the meantime I'm planting my garden as usual. If those proposals go through I'll deal with it then. At this rate it could the end of the year before anything is decided.

Since the land is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers, the City has to have their approval for any changes regarding my community garden.
 

Mr. Green Jeans

New member
I'm on my second planting of peas (mice and stellar jays). There's a good deal more critter pressure here than I figured. I may have to resort to germinating most of my plants inside then transplant to the garden beds.
 

buckytom

Grill Master
nice work, vy!


i finally got out and took a look around the yard today now that it's warmed up. my raspberries took a beating from a fence being installed last year and the harsh winter. i lost about half.

i'm on vacation next week, so i hope to get a lot of work done around the house, including finishing the mini stone wall around my herb box and raspberries.

and finally get the retaining wall done so i can start lettuces, radishes, carrots, and spinaches.
 

SilverSage

Resident Crone
All I put in this year is tomatoes, lettuce, and a lot of herbs. It's getting too late here for much else. Once the heat and the rains come in the summer, it's all over.
 

Leni

New member
Parks and Rec finally voted on what to do about the community gardens. It turns out that only two of them are totally run by the city. The others have incorporated as nonprofit organizations that run themselves. The Dept wants to get out of the garden business and is encouraging us to incorporate.

So far they have dropped the idea of a three plot limit and a three year limit. They did vote to charge $120 a year per plot. So I guess we'd better get back in touch with the man that has incorporated the other gardens.

I've got to get over there today. The weeds are taking over and I've got more tomatoes to plant. For the first time in a couple of weeks it is cool today and partially overcast. Perfect gardening weather.
 

Leni

New member
The gardens are on the Los Angeles River flood plain. The Army Corps of Engineers came in years ago and built a flood control system. In those times the river wandered all over the place taking out houses, farms, and businesses.

The soil is basically clay but after 45 years of gardening it is much improved. The problem is that Parks and Rec no longer have funding from the cities general fund. So they are trying to make up the difference any way they can. Plots are only 10 X 20 feet and there is no way I can grow that much in veggies even though we do winter gardening here.

If we do not incorporate and go nonprofit many gardens will be empty next year. There is a wait list of around 200 but that will melt away once news of the new fee reaches them. There are 807 plots and close to 450 gardeners. Many of the gardeners are seniors or low income. They will not be able to afford that much. Others live in apartments or condos and this is the only way they can garden. I have 7 plots but had planed to give up three of them before all of this happened. My husband can no longer garden the way he used to and it's more than I can handle.

I'm going ahead and planting but if things stay the way they are this will be my last year there after over 35 years of gardening. I'll move what I can to my home. This house was built in 1952 so it has a bigger yard than most.
 
Redoing my backyard this year, so my raised bed veggie garden is non existent at the moment. Hopefully everything will be complete in 2 - 3 weeks. Until then, I have started tomatoes indoors, and have about 20 5 gallon buckets outside with various plants.
 

Mr. Green Jeans

New member
Larry, my usual planting time for 'maters, peppers, squash, and melons in the Midwest was Memorial weekend. Most years any earlier and the ground was too darned cold. IMHO you are on track for a great garden.

Mike
 
Im hoping so. Each year I try to sneak a few more weeks into my growing season, but mother nature usually has her own ideas on how many weeks i should have. My only problem this year, is when the landscapers will finish things up. but im doing what i can to keep things on track.
 

vyapti

New member
I did about 2/3 of my planting today: Tomatoes, Zucchini, Squash, Corn, Beans and tons of parsley & basil. I think its still a little cold for the basil, so I kept about half in the greenhouse. The Cucumbers, Melons, Carrots, Lettuce & herbs will go in next weekend. I started everything from seed this year. I brought in 9 flats of excess starts to work for my employees and the community garden at one of the apartment complexes.

I took 40 cuttings from a giant Rosemary bush and most of them took. Soon, my property line will be all rosemary.
 
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luvs

'lil Chef
Gold Site Supporter
windowbox. i'm makin my windowbox. basil & other plants i see as fit.
 

Leni

New member
The nice thing about where I live is that I can garden all year. I started planting tomatoes towards the end of March. I'm behind in planting other things but I do have beets, chard, beans and limas in the ground.

In the winter I plant root crops and all of the cabbage family along with fava beans, carrots, beets radishes.
 

High Cheese

Saucier
My garden didn't do too well this year. I tried a few varieties of heirlooms and only got maybe 10 tomatoes total. But theose tomatoes were great. I even added some supports for that dumb hurricane to save the plants. haha

Here's a Gold Medal variety.

Tomato.jpg
 

Leni

New member
My garden didn't do well either. My friend that I thought was going to water for me while I ws on vacation thought another friend was going to do it. The heat and lack of water really damaged the plants. They never fully recovered. So now it is clear the area and get ready for fall planting.

The cherry tomatoes that I planted at home did very well until the spider mite showed up. I grew a new one this year, Michael Pollard. It's a sport of Green Zebra and is delicious. I'll definitely grow it again next year and more than just one.
 
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