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2023 Gardening Thread

13K views 266 replies 20 participants last post by  sham1406 
#1 ·
New Year, new thread...

Any plans started yet?
 
#28 ·
Hungry deer will jump a 6-10 ft fence anyway. I'd suggest looking up plants that they don't like, and ones that are deterrents, try a mix in your garden.

Unless you want a guard dog.
 
#32 ·
We used netting last year, but had to take it off mid-summer. The plants didn’t have enough room to grow! Netting too small. Plus Hubby staple gunned it to the sides of the raised beds.

We’re thinking of sewing canvas along the edge of the netting this year, putting in grommets, and hooking them on big hooks. That way we can unhook the sides to harvest, and hook it back when we’re done. Just not sure how to get grommets into camvas. I think that requires a special tool.

Plus we still need a sturdier support for the netting than we had last year. Just had little yard long stakes last year!
 
#33 ·
I have been determinedly avoiding this post! I am soooooo far behind with all things garden this year! Every time I have time off, the weather doesn't cooperate. This time last year I had sooo many little sprouts in every spot I could find... I'm not claiming that they ever actually SURVIVED to PRODUCE much... but at least I made the effort!!!

And now, true to pattern, I am off for a couple of days and there is an 80% chance of rain today... lingering pretty much ALlllll day... but things look hopeful for Sat/Sun, so maybe, just maybe...

Meanwhile, I do have one little set of tomato sproutlings leeching light from DD19's aerogarden, so I will try to get them to survive... maybe with fewer babies, I'll do a better job? All I know is I can't justify the kind of seedling prices I saw at HD last year! And this year they'll probably be even WORSE!!

So my garden goals this year are similar to last year...

1- start every seed I have laying around and see what happens
2- try to keep the derned things alive long enough to actually GET something out of it...

What I have:
(2022) Green beans, yellow beans, chard, eggplant, yellow squash, 4' sunflowers, jack o'lantern pumpkins, radish, parsnips and mesclun (salad blend), mostly of the dollar-tree variety

(2021) microgreens I will let grow to macro and if I don't like them, DD15's bunnies can eat them... mustard, giant sunflowers, cantaloupe,

(2019) kale

I think I have some more tomato seeds somewhere, too, and will start those if I find them. The first set were started on 1 February, so this group will be a month behind, but oh well...

And I'll check Dollar tree tomorrow for cucumber seeds and maybe more beans and zuchini... I think if I want giant pumpkins, I'll have to look at Home Depot or the like...

I'm not ready for this... :sleep:
 
#34 ·
I finally took the plunge and bought an Aerogarden. Well, I ordered it and hope it gets here soon. I’m excited to start.

I also decided tomorrow I’m going to plant the seeds that I have in the little greenhouse planter thing I have so they’ll have time to grow before I put them outside once spring arrives. I picked up two bags of garden soil at Sam’s Club today so once the snow is gone I’ll swap out the soil in the deck railing planters and start fresh.

I am so ready for spring!
 
#35 ·
Our community garden opened on the first. I'll get over there sometime this month. I want to put onions in again this year. Thinking about starting peppers and tomatoes indoors soon. Have a lot of seed left from last year.
 
#36 ·
Hubby and I sat down to plan out what to do to deer proof the raised bed garden this spring. After we decided on a basic plan I spent this afternoon figuring out everything we’d need and the cost of it. It will be about $500 CAD, if we buy everything new. We’ll try to use stuff we have first, and see what we can scrounge. This will end up turning our raised beds into a three season garden, instead of one season. We have the money to do this. Just waiting for Hubby to think on it a while. Then we’ll have to start gathering supplies.
 
#38 ·
We're not out of the cold yet, but these are in my front flower bed.

Flower Plant Petal Purple snow crocus
 
#39 ·
Hikr- Yup, we're supposed to get a snowy March this year, too. ::sigh::
CH- I love crocus. So pretty..

I ordered tomato seeds, onion starters and fingerling potatoes from Holland Bulb farms. I'm still waiting to get the potato/onions.
I ordered fertilizer for the lemon/blueberry/raspberry/peach orchard. LOL. I'll use it for tomatoes as well.
I'll be patio planting tomatoes/herbs/carrots/potatoes. I'll try to find space for onions and more raspberries.
 
#40 ·
CH I love crocuses. They are so beautiful and they always put a smile on my face.

Rujerro I planted potatoes, peas and strawberries last summer on our deck in fabric planter bags and the peas and potatoes did well. The strawberries did nothing. They never grew at all. The deck / patio planting worked really well. I have my herbs out there too in planters that are attached to the deck rail. Id love to plant raspberries.
 
#47 ·
The deck / patio planting worked really well.
I am jealous! Our deck is south facing with zero shade... anything we put out there just roasts to death in the summer.

RedSpruce, are you recycling trellising from somewhere else in your yard? I see it in your picture, but not in your price workup. (Nice drawing, btw, I can't draw for crud...) :)
 
#41 ·
@hikr00 we planted a raspberry and a blackberry cane last year. The deer browsed the buds off. 😔. I’ll have to talk to Hubby about protecting them this year too.

We’re under a foot of snow here rightnow. I want to get on the deck and into the deck box for the netting for the garden, and for supplies to start seeds.

Here’s our current plan for the raised bed garden…complete with pricing it out. Hubby thinks we only need 2x2 supports, but I think we’ll need 2x4s. Still I appeased him and planned for 2x2s.

Handwriting Rectangle Font Wood Material property
 
#45 ·
Deer are welcome to eat the cedars here, they are invasive and suck water away from native species.

It was 74 today, DH and I pruned out 1/3 of the overgrown Burning Bush in our front yard. DH was also able to use the saw on some pesky trash trees in my wildflower bed on the side of the garage. It's supposed to get cold and wet later this week, with temps in the 30's by next Sunday, so it's good we could do this now.

I'm looking through my box of seed from last year. I have:

2 kinds of tomatoes
bok choy*
sage
coriander
a giant pepper I did not try last year (was a freebie)
beets*
snap peas*
3 zucchini/squash (dated 2021, may not grow)
2 radish*
chive
another tomato
chamomile
spinach*
lettuce*

* denotes seeds I can plant after March 15

I can go tomorrow, get my membership card with the community garden, and see if they have onion sets. Those can go in soon, too.
 
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#46 ·
I forgot the seeds I had in the kitchen. Some of these did not get planted last year.

pickling cucumber
bush beans
giant snow peas*
swiss chard*
shishito pepper
cucumber
rainbow beets*
mesclun (lettuce mix)*
thai basil
 
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#49 ·
@Zhoen well darn it all. Can’t do much about location of the deck in conjunction with the sun. Our deck gets sun most of the day but towards mid afternoon the sun changes and it gets shady- best of both worlds. Do you have an elevated garden on wheels that you could move around the yard? I almost got one last year so I could follow the sun. But I decided to try the deck first and since that worked I didn’t pursue the elevated planter. Might be an idea?
 
#50 ·
Got my garden membership today. It comes with 10 free packs of seed, but they did not have the lettuce yet, and that is all I need right now. I bought enough onion sets to do one row. I got my free bag of chicken poo fertilizer. Also took two free buckets from the big pile that had been donated.

We have several days of rain coming, so I reminded DH to weed-and-feed the grass, but I'm sure he'll "forget".
 
#52 ·
It may be a couple of weeks. I can go in anytime during the growing year, they give us a punch card and just mark off when we use our benefits. Next month I'll be able to buy a certain number of seedlings for reduced prices. Considering how expensive plants got at local nurseries that is a big help.
 
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