Garden..FINALLY

[Lostinoz]

Hooeee I am tired! :D We managed to get the ground tilled up for the garden and planted 4 rows today. We planted broccoli, brussel sprouts and cabbage. We also worked up an area and planted 21 strawberry plants. Next weekend we are planning to plant the carrots, spinach and turnip greens. I think that is all we are planting before Good Friday, I am too tired to remember right now. :)

My mom and I went to Walmart today to see if they had more strawberry plants as the coop is closed on Sunday. I was absolutely AMAZED at the number of people in the garden center and how many of them walked up to us, asking questions about varieties and when to plant crops. One fella even took notes. :) Even when we walked into the store people were stopping us and asking questions.

We talked to several people who had been laid off from their jobs and are very worried about the future. They were concerned about losing their homes and subsequently losing their gardens. I suggested that they "share" a garden with someone whose land is paid for, if they trusted them. I did not have any other advice for them. :(

BTW, our "garden" is about an acre and a half. :) I wish we had a tractor, but that is not in the budget right now. We are sharing a garden with my parents as they are not able to put one in anymore due to health reasons. I am thinking about going back to the coop this week and purchasing some raspberry bushes to put out. None of us are fond of blueberries, so I doubt I will put out any of those.

Anyway, I am excited about actually getting started and wanted to share with everyone! :D How is your garden coming along?

BTW...can you believe the INCREASE in the cost of plants and canning stuff this year? I almost had a stroke! :mad:

Oz

[Zombie Axe]

Cool deal Oz :)

I gotta get mine up and growing... figure I will do that middle of April!

Got the building materials for the chicken coop today so that will be my big project that will be keeping me off the web as I get it built! Will be my big blog project for now!

Can't wait to get my fingers in the dirt :)

[Dracos]

Way to go Lostinoz. Always glad to meet a fellow gardener. Here in Montana most of the snow is melted but the ground is still frozen.

[herbalpagan]

Here in the mountains of northwestern Mass, we will not have reliable frost free dates until near the end of May. I am able to at least see my garden beds now, and once they are unfrozen and the ground is a wee bit dryer I will start doing some work and will plant my peas and spinach and an early round of kale. I can't wait, I'm so jealous of all you who can garden now, but then I remember that you will have unbearably hot weather later on...while I swing in my hammock with a cool breeze! lol

[Omegaman]

My garden area is still under 2 feet of snow and what is not under snow still has a foot + of frost. With today high temp of 27 I dont think I will be breaking ground any time soon. I am so jealous:D

[Lostinoz]

Zombie,

I know what you mean! I think it was Spring Fever for us, just itching to get out there and work in the dirt! I'll have to check out your blog to see how your chicken coop project is progressing.

To my fellow Xcolony friends who live in the tundra... :D,

Yep, it will be about 150° this summer (:D) or at least it will feel like it while working in the garden. It was 83° yesterday, however it is supposed to be raining with a high around 50° for the remainder of the week. :(

My dad is in extremely bad health. It felt good yesterday starting the garden at their house because it brought tears to his eyes. He was so pleased with having a big garden again. He always grew a beautiful garden until the past couple of years. I wish I could explain it better, but I think it will do him good to be able to look out and see everything growing. He was in a good, joking mood yesterday and we had a lot of fun together.

[teach]

Good for you and your Dad! One year I cut out red construction paper tomatoes and hung them from my plants , telling him I got the first crop. It will mean a lot to both of you. Good daughter. We have planted carrots, cabbage, peas, onions and potatoes. You might consider growing blueberries since they are easy and you could sell or trade them.

[Lostinoz]

Good for you and your Dad! One year I cut out red construction paper tomatoes and hung them from my plants , telling him I got the first crop. It will mean a lot to both of you. Good daughter. We have planted carrots, cabbage, peas, onions and potatoes. You might consider growing blueberries since they are easy and you could sell or trade them.

LOL Teach, I JUST got off the phone with my mom and we had the same conversation regarding the blueberries. We have designated a corner to plant blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. Do you know if the raspberry and blackberries will cross in any way?

So, I guess I will head to the co-op and purchase the bushes. How many years does it take to start producing a good crop?

[herbalpagan]

I planted raspberries last year and was able to pick a couple off them, but this year I should have a real crop and it should just get bigger from there. Raspberries grow in new growth from the year before.
The blackberries I planted should give me some this year with a big harvest next year.

[Lostinoz]

HP, how many bushes of each did you plant? My first thought is 3 each. We have a family of at least 10.

[herbalpagan]

The suggestion that I got for small berry bushes (rasp, black, straw) was no less than 25 for a family of 4. I have a small family at home, but I have kids with their family and I like to give gifts of jam. I also got a juicer this year and want to try doing some of that...
We have 100 Raspberry plants, 30 blackberry (because we have a good reliable wild patch on our land), 50 strawberries (cause they multiply so rapidly), and also, so far 4 apple trees. This year we are hoping to put in 2 more apples, 2 cherry, 2 pear and 12 blueberry bushes. Many people are happy with less, but I figure between jam, pies, fruit roll ups (dried), muffins, shortcakes, eating fresh and juicing; we need a bit more.

[Lostinoz]

The suggestion that I got for small berry bushes (rasp, black, straw) was no less than 25 for a family of 4. I have a small family at home, but I have kids with their family and I like to give gifts of jam. I also got a juicer this year and want to try doing some of that...
We have 100 Raspberry plants, 30 blackberry (because we have a good reliable wild patch on our land), 50 strawberries (cause they multiply so rapidly), and also, so far 4 apple trees. This year we are hoping to put in 2 more apples, 2 cherry, 2 pear and 12 blueberry bushes. Many people are happy with less, but I figure between jam, pies, fruit roll ups (dried), muffins, shortcakes, eating fresh and juicing; we need a bit more.

Wow, that is a LOT more than I expected. I will probably do 5 of each as I can't afford more at the moment. Do the bushes spread via volunteers? I plan to plant more strawberries, but need to prepare another bed for them.

[teach]

We have 4 blueberry bushes and get loads of fruit. Here they seem to ripen in stages, so I just wash and fill bags as they become ready. Grape vines are good and so are figs.

[herbalpagan]

new raspberries come up from the roots, so you will have more...but remember that they only bare fruit on the canes that grew up the year before and you will need to cut out the canes that bore the year before...easy to tell since they turn a different color. Of course, that's if you get regular raspberry plants...they have what is called "everbearing" types now, but I had no luck with them up north and I'm leery to try them again here.