2023 Gardening Thread

The seed catalogs have started to arrive. I'm not going to go nuts with ordering this year. I don't have good luck starting from seed, so I'm thinking I'll buy plants from the community garden and local nurseries this year. Except for radishes and lettuce, and other greens, which seem to do okay if I can get them in at the right time in early spring. Hoping nature cooperates and we have just the right amount of rain.

Yes! I’m excited to get my herbs in and I’m going to try again with the potatoes, peas and strawberries. Of course this is months away still although it’s 51 degrees out and sunny rjght no which makes me want to get started. Lol. Not happening yet!

The problem I had with the potatoes and the peas was a lack of water when we were on vacation. That week was so hot and they just dried up. I was able to salvage a few peas which pulled through but that was it. Haha. A friend shared an Amazon link for some tube type things you fill with water and sink into the earth and it dispenses the water as needed so if you go away it’ll water itself. I will order those when we get a bit closer to planting time.

Dd loved the mint I grew for her (she loves tea) and this year I’m adding chamomile and researching some others I could grow for her.

Hikr, we bought an automatic timer for the garden. It attaches to the tap. We can set it to water for a certain time, daily, weekly, etc as needed. It has helped so much. We have found that the more expensive ones (~$30) are much better than the cheap ones, which tend to break in less than a year.

CH where did you get the automatic timer? That sounds pretty neat. We have a friend come in and check in on Ginger every couple of days and she did water them but it was just so hot and so dry it just wasn’t enough. It really needs daily attention.

Hikr, we had one of these for a few years, and then we got a similar style from ACE hardware:

DH suggests you do not attach it directly to the house tap, but make a short length of adapter hose. Otherwise it leaks from the pressure of the timer pulling down on the tap.

Also we take it off at the end of the season, keep it inside during winter, and get fresh batteries in the spring.

We set ours to go off early in the morning, at or before sunrise. That gives the water a chance to soak in. Sprinklers need to run an hour or more in order for 1" of water to soak in. Tomatoes need 6" of water per week, so pretty much daily watering.

Thanks CH. I put it in my Amazon cart. Since I’m not in a rush I’m giving my Amazon shipments a rest. Lolol.

we're watching the garlic for now...don't want it to sprout.

No plans for gardening this year. I've tried container gardening and I get nothing. Not going to waste money on it this year. I may throw some pumpkin seeds behind the shed and see if they grow. That's it.

jettsmom: I'm not doing the garden plot at the community garden anymore. It ended up being too much for me. I will, hopefully, focus on the herb plot at the garden, though. I always put more effort into that anyway.

Jetts, it can be tough to get good results from containers without a lot of expense and effort. The large pots or barrels you need cost a lot, and the high quality dirt you need costs a lot, and they take daily maintenance. IMO, pots dry up too fast, miss watering on a summer day and stuff dies.

Considering the cost of seed these days, I think I'm better off buying plants this year.

The first seed catalog of the season arrived today! I’m going to pore over that tonight.

I’m in! Ordered seeds New Year’s Day. They’re on their way!

Not sure what we're doing about gardening this yr. We want to plant at least one ornamental apple tree in town and get it or them started ASAP since it will take so long for them to mature.

We will probably do the usual container stuff like cucumbers and potatoes, maybe put some tomatoes in the big containers outside and see what happens vs growing them in the greenhouse. Same for peppers, or at least set them outside when the weather is warm enough.

We darn well better get some pea pods and string beans planted this year! We didn't last year and regretted it.

The seeds arrived! Only one mistake. I accidentally ordered two packets of jalapeño instead of one and a packet of leek seeds. Oh well. I’ll be working off last year’s leek seeds.

We have a deck garden and a raised bed garden. There are actually four raised beds - Two larger and newer ones, and two smaller ones. The deck is raised high enough the deer can’t reach it. Because it’s off the kitchen I normally plant herbs there. But this year I am putting beans up there. The deer cleared me out of beans last year. We’ll put the herbs down in the raised beds.

Also in the plans is some kind of netting/protection from the deer. We had simple garden netting last spring and that helped. This year we’re looking at something more permanent. Maybe hoops or something. We’ll see. We’re exploring options the next two months.

We fenced our raised bed using 6' welded wire fencing and T posts. It's not pretty but it's effective. The plan was to build a nicer fence someday, but obviously that won't be happening now.

Usually I buy my herbs already grown and just plant them in my garden. Historically I do not have great luck with seeds. But I picked up some seeds today and am going to give it another shot. Crossing my fingers!

Hikr, I think of the old farmer's rhyme when I plant seeds:

One for the worm, one for the crow,
One to die, and one to grow."

And then plant 4 seeds for every plant I hope to have. (But not in the same pot, you don't want them competing for nutrients)

I bought a bunch of garden decor from auction site estate sale ..you can tell she loved to garden.. I got one set. There is another estate auction near me ..must be probate because they are even selling the doormats. They have half barrels only $3 now but you have to take the soil too..so heavy. Dh doesn't have a hitch for the trailer on his car that he got a few months ago. why they are cheap but so tempted.

So far it is just more cleaning up the garden and finishing things like the stream/pond.. I want I think some hedge roses too that would survive the heat.

I have a packet of mixed herb seeds to sow in pots in March. Parsley would be really nice to have, I ate it as salad a lot when I rented a garden plot. It has a strong taste but very healthy and lasted well into the cold weather. I was eating parsley salad in December one year.....