# Spring Garden



## Davarm

Ive been getting ready to get my garden growing for the year and because of the mild winter this year I have a lot of broccoli and collards that are thriving now. I went out today and cut a full garden cart of broccoli tops, I still have to trim them but it looks like I will get quite a bit after the clean up. The parts that are tender but not really suited to store will be boiled and made into a broth and canned - good for cream of broccoli soup. I am going to start tending it again in the hopes of getting a good spring crop from last years plants.

The collards are thriving, leaves almost as long as your arm. I am going to dehydrate and powder them and store them in 1/2 gallon jars. Good for soups and sauces.

My volunteer romaine lettuce is starting to head and is mild and sweet, had a salad yesterday. The chard is back up about ankle high and is pretty good(mild and sweet) and had it in the salad too. I left the bed intact for the winter with the intent to let it go to seed this year and store them for next year. Same story with my beet bed, will see if the variety that I have been growing will seed true.

Am going to plant potatoes, spinach, beets and dill this weekend and get my cabbage, tomatoes, "Ghost Peppers", jalapenos and serano peppers started in planters. I have enough fennel that survived the winter to transplant into a good bed without planting any new seeds.

With the rain that we have been getting, I think I just may have a good spring garden this year.


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## UncleJoe

Yeah...well... I've got 2 months yet till I can think of food production.


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## Davarm

UncleJoe said:


> Yeah...well... I've got 2 months yet till I can think of food production.


In two months here it may be up to 90 or 100 if it is anything like last year. Last year where I am at in Texas, we had almost a week of near 0 degree weather and snow the middle of Feb(very unusual) and 3 days later it was up to 80 degrees:nuts: and only go hotter until about the middle of October.

We had 3 months of 110 degree + weather in the summer. The spring winds and thunderstorms have already arrived here(had a tornado watch a few hours ago) so I think the garden season has arrived.

Im going to get an early start on it this year and if it freezes anything out I will just replant. I want to get my spring stuff going and producing before it gets hot and kills it all out this year.:2thumb:


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## Davarm

Well, I scratched the planting this weekend, the weather went from almost 80 degrees to down in the high 30's -low 40's. I do think that the garden season has started here, but, I like to "enjoy" my work in the dirt. 

I don't much like the cold so I will wait another day or two and I'm sure that the temperature will be back up in my "comfort zone".


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## Davarm

Davarm said:


> The collards are thriving, leaves almost as long as your arm. I am going to dehydrate and powder them and store them in 1/2 gallon jars. Good for soups and sauces.


I picked a couple bags of the greens, cut the large center vein out, chopped them and dehydrated them, took about 3 hours on low heat. They were deep dark green and had a fair amount of substance to them so just out of curiosity I popped some into my mouth to check the flavor and I was quite surprised.

If they had been salted, they would be do-able as a munchy snack straight off the tray. I decided to cook them up and see how they would be, Put the dried chopped leaves in a large bowl and poured boiling water on them and set them set for about 15 minutes. I put a few pats of butter and some salt on them and was amazed how good they were - a definite keeper.

I have a 60 foot row of big, healthy bushy plants with leaves almost as long as your arm and about 10 inches wide. They are mild and sweet with no bitterness at all. Am going to pick them all and dehydrate them and pack them into 5 gallon buckets to prepare like fresh chopped greens.

I guess I dont need to plant collards this year, after get all the greens I want I am going to let them go to seed and see what grows. I dont remember if the original seed were hybrid or heirloom but I guess I will find out next year.


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## *Andi

I'll start my cool weather crops around the mid to the end of the month ... I need to get started on my new herb beds. I'll be starting 10 new herbs this year.


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## UncleJoe

St. Patty's Day for our cool weather stuff.


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## timmie

dh got the tractor in our garden spot[i just love the sight and smell of fresh turned earth] will be getting our taters in the ground in a day or so. also am getting tomato and pepper seeds started today.also will get onions and garlic planted. most everthing else can be planted directly in the ground.


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## lilmissy0740

Davarm, what kinds of greens did you dehydrate? I have made kale chips beofre in the oven, never thought of dehy. them.

I am putting a fence around my garden and hopefully keep some critters out. Making the garden that is close to the house bigger. The garden that is at the end of the yard, well lets say my weed eater and sometimes mower helps me weed! So I am hoping I will tend to it more if it is closer. 
If the weather keeps it up here and I get my fence done this week, I am going to plant kale and such outside. I am still picking beets to juice each day. The weather is crazy.


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## AlabamaGal

I was a weird fall for us. Fall crops that overwinter didn't get a chance to put on enough growth before "winter" arrived (such as it has been), but we've had enough warm days that my broccoli went straight from "look it's starting to head!" to bolting. The cabbage is getting big, though, and the spinach is finally growing up. I still have carrots and kale in the garden but the few remaining turnips I didn't eat at baby size didn't make it through our coldest spell and neither did the mustard or the peas. 

So now spring is pretty much here. I've been watching the soil temp and it says I should have planted the earliest spring crops weeks ago, but I've been chicken. The birds and such certainly have declared spring has arrived. President's Day is only two weeks away so I think I'll get a few things in the ground and hope they don't rot in the non-stop rain. I was just reviewing my maps for this years' rotation and deciding on a planting schedule.

lilmissy, I think you will be happy with the fence. I suggest getting saome 36" chicken wire and making an "L" down the fence and going outward for half the width. It confuses most diggers that aren't too bright, like rabbits. Rats are not fooled, but they can climb over anyway and don't cause nearly the same damage.

I tried dehydrated kale chips. Major ick for me, even the ones with hot sauce or vinegar. But if you really, really like kale you will love them. They taste like kale x10.

Timmie -- after years of transplanting most everything, I experimented last year with direct seeding everything and the tomatoes and peppers did the best by far, except the few that got munched by early hornworms. Curiously, the directed seeded bell peppers slept all summer and then went crazy productive in the late summer and fall. Can I ask why you start those and not other things? We're close enough that your experience might be relevant to my garden, too.


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## Davarm

lilmissy0740 said:


> Davarm, what kinds of greens did you dehydrate? I have made kale chips beofre in the oven, never thought of dehy. them.
> 
> I am putting a fence around my garden and hopefully keep some critters out. Making the garden that is close to the house bigger. The garden that is at the end of the yard, well lets say my weed eater and sometimes mower helps me weed! So I am hoping I will tend to it more if it is closer.
> If the weather keeps it up here and I get my fence done this week, I am going to plant kale and such outside. I am still picking beets to juice each day. The weather is crazy.


Collard greens, my oldest daughter told me about Kale Chips but she has never tried them. Most of the greens I dehydrate, get ground up(after drying), sifted and get set aside for soups and the such. The dried powdered spinach is very good on baked potatoes when mixed with sour cream.

For the critter problem, I put several light fixtures in my garden with motion sensors on them and put a radio playing night talk shows next to them and that seems to have solved my deer and bunny problem. They get close enough to trip a sensor and get rewarded with bight lights a a talk show host yelling at them.

For help with those weeds, Monsanto can help with a little Round-Up.


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## Davarm

AlabamaGal said:


> Curiously, the directed seeded bell peppers slept all summer and then went crazy productive in the late summer and fall.


If I dont get my peppers started early enough, thats what they do. If I get them producing well before the weather gets hot they will produce through the heat of summer, otherwise I have to wait til the fall.


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## mpguy18

All.
Would like some advice please. Am planting the first garden at our new house. the rolling land is a challenge, but will use 2x6x24' boards this year for boxes until we can get it terraced (don't have a tractor yet)

Have picked up 30 yds of compost and will start to till it in shortly. 

Question, what would be the best crops to start in a new garden that is coming from scratch ground? 

Thanks for the help.


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## timmie

dh and i had trouble with deer eating our peas for about 3 years. i don't mind feeding the wildlife some but not all. far the last couple of years we have put electric fencing around the garden[white fiberglass?] anyway we have not had deer since, but when we get through with the peas we take it down and they come right back in.this works much better for us ,a little extra work but at least we get peas.


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## Davarm

If you have 30 yards of "good" compost to work with, unless you are planting a absolutely huge garden you should have enough to build the soil to the point that it wouldn't be thought of as "scratch".

Anyhu, some soil builders are your legumes - peas, beans, peanuts..., they are always good for the soil as nitrogen fixers. Things like corn deplete the soil but the chopped stalks, shucks and cobbs will add valuable material to loosen it up when tilled back in.

Summer squash are not real demanding and produce alot of compost to till back in. Many herbs grown in marginal or poor soil will have more of the volatile oils that contain the herbs flavor.

Potatoes are always good, will grow in poor soil and the tops add the soil lightening material when tilled back in. If you are going to do potatoes, better get started with them soon.

Thats my input, sure that others will chime in with more.


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## AlabamaGal

MPGuy, are you trying to eat out of your garden this year, or want crops to build soil and tilth? If you want to eat out of your garden, plant the stuff you want to eat and see what works for you. Other than dealing with weeds on a new property, the first year tends to be great if the soil is decent. (3rd year... another story.) Eventually you can improve your soil to it's best potential, but some things are just not going to do well for you and others will do great. You find these out by making lots of mistakes and there's no time like the present to start. 

Davearm, thanks for the pepper input. I've never been able to get them going before summer heat -- our springs are very short -- but maybe I'll try it both ways this year and compare.


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## Davarm

lilmissy0740 said:


> Davarm, what kinds of greens did you dehydrate? I have made kale chips beofre in the oven, never thought of dehy. them.


Do you have a recipe for the kale chips? Am game to try it when I get some kale coming in.


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## partdeux

my fall planted carrots are still growing. I'm assuming the parsnips are still growing, but haven't looked lately. I would have never thought that carrots would continue to grow over the winter, but learn something everyday


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## Davarm

partdeux said:


> my fall planted carrots are still growing. I'm assuming the parsnips are still growing, but haven't looked lately. I would have never thought that carrots would continue to grow over the winter, but learn something everyday


I was out getting some of my plots ready to plant and I found a lot of Fennel, Cilantro, Dill, Lettuce, and even some Spinach popping up. I am going to have to rethink some of the things I am going to plant in my fall garden.

According to the new zone map we went from zone 7 to 8a, guess I can thank Al Gore for that.


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## Davarm

While I was out tilling, I just couldn't bring myself to turn under all the volunteer goodies I found so out came the 5 gallon buckets. I loaded 4 up with small heads of romaine and butter crunch lettuce heads, mustard greens, collard greens, chard, fennel, dill, cilantro and onions. 

We have a large wash basin that perfectly fits on a shelf in the fridge, am going to make a big salad in the basin, put it in the fridge and give the rest away. Giving garden "stuff" away is one way we try to maintain good relations with our neighbors.

The basin of salad MAY last to the weekend, with 4 of us eating it.


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## ngawoman

I started wintersowing several yrs ago and it is so sucessful that I don't have to ever buy the plants in the spring.I have 65 containers sowed so far and plan on close to 200 more in the next week.I do alot of seed swaps and get to try alot of differnt seeds of veggies and flowers by doing this.If anyone is interested in learning this method go to gardenweb.com and then to the wintersowing forum.I am moonphase on that forum..hope to see you there.Also we have so many great members that will send seeds for the asking of newbies..


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## timmie

we finally got our potatoes in the ground today,it has rained so much and stayed wet. hopeing to get some more onions and garlic in the next couple of days and maybe some more green beans.


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## lilmissy0740

Davarm, to make the kale chips, pull leaves off of stem, use your favorite oil drizzled or if you have one of those spray cans you add your oil too, spray on some, sprinkle with either sea salt or mineral salt. Bake at 350 for about 10 mins. If they are not crunchy, not like a potato chip, when you pop em in your mouth they kind crunch but yet dissolve:nuts: they are done. If not let em a few minutes more. 
Also, my old neighbor when I was younger always had a radio playing in his garden. I just thought of that when I read your post. Might give that a try. 

I do remember reading a tip, take an old VHS tape and pull the tape out. Place this around your garden to keep critters out. I think I am going to try this also. They said it moves with the least amount of wind and makes a noise.

I am checking out that garden forum to plant in the winter. I took a class at Mother Earth News Fair about planting by the moons phases. Trying that this year also. Gee with all this stuff I am trying, I hope I have time to eat...


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## Davarm

lilmissy0740 said:


> Davarm, to make the kale chips, pull leaves off of stem, use your favorite oil drizzled or if you have one of those spray cans you add your oil too, spray on some, sprinkle with either sea salt or mineral salt. Bake at 350 for about 10 mins. If they are not crunchy, not like a potato chip, when you pop em in your mouth they kind crunch but yet dissolve:nuts: they are done. If not let em a few minutes more.
> Also, my old neighbor when I was younger always had a radio playing in his garden. I just thought of that when I read your post. Might give that a try.
> 
> I do remember reading a tip, take an old VHS tape and pull the tape out. Place this around your garden to keep critters out. I think I am going to try this also. They said it moves with the least amount of wind and makes a noise.
> 
> I am checking out that garden forum to plant in the winter. I took a class at Mother Earth News Fair about planting by the moons phases. Trying that this year also. Gee with all this stuff I am trying, I hope I have time to eat...


Thanks for the directions, when my kale comes in this year will give it a try, will beat potato chips and will be good for the grandson, that boy is thin and wiry and eats like a hoover vacuum cleaner.

I will try the video tape, a few days ago when I planted spinich and beets, no sooner than I turned my back the flocks of sparrows and finches hit the plots. Had to cover them with a light cover of mulch to keep them from being bird food. The radio just doesn't work on birds.

For a while I subscribed to "The Mother Earth News", in the 70's and 80's they were pretty interesting and they had some kind of shake up in the management and I kinda lost interest. Is that planting by moon phase the "Bio Dynamic" method or just the way they used to do it?


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## lilmissy0740

At the fair they have different speakers and workshops you can do. Not sure who the lady was but she had a nice slide show presentation about planting with the moon as they did way back when. I thought it would be a bunch of hocus pocus and I would get up in the middle of it. But it really was interesting. She even said there is a time to cut wood. She was selling a calendar that I did purchase, so I pretty much just go by that. This week was the week to rest, or wait maybe that was last week and I am still resting.....


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## *Andi

lilmissy0740 said:


> At the fair they have different speakers and workshops you can do. Not sure who the lady was but she had a nice slide show presentation about planting with the moon as they did way back when. I thought it would be a bunch of hocus pocus and I would get up in the middle of it. But it really was interesting. She even said there is a time to cut wood. She was selling a calendar that I did purchase, so I pretty much just go by that. This week was the week to rest, or wait maybe that was last week and I am still resting.....


No hocus pocus and planting by the moon does work. My Grams worked by the signs all her life. When to plant this and when to plant that. Cutting your hair ... need to check the signs.  wean a baby ... the list goes on and on.

:2thumb:


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## Davarm

lilmissy0740 said:


> Davarm, to make the kale chips, pull leaves off of stem, use your favorite oil drizzled or if you have one of those spray cans you add your oil too, spray on some, sprinkle with either sea salt or mineral salt. Bake at 350 for about 10 mins. If they are not crunchy, not like a potato chip, when you pop em in your mouth they kind crunch but yet dissolve they are done. If not let em a few minutes more.
> Also, my old neighbor when I was younger always had a radio playing in his garden. I just thought of that when I read your post. Might give that a try.


I decided to give those chips a try with the collard greens I am working on now.They are great, love them, and am going to keep on making them. I put the greens in a large bag and poured a little olive oil in, shook em up and got them all coated sprinkled in a little Serendipity gave it another shake and baked them.

Thanks.


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## *Andi

:crossfinger:

The plan is to start on my spring garden come Monday.


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## AlabamaGal

My radishes and peas are up. The other spring crops haven't come up yet, and they really should have -- turnips, mustard, bok choi, spinach and lettuce. I can never grow lettuce... *sigh* I'm adding a big planter on the deck this spring with perfect lettuce soil, so we'll see how that goes.

I still have parsley, carrots, cabbage, kale and spinach in the garden from last season. Oh, and I started peppers and tomatoes from seeds. The tomatoes are getting their first true leaves and the peppers are just sprouting. I'm going to try -- erm, was it Davearm's? -- pepper method and see if I can get any before fall this year.


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## sailaway

The last 2 seasons I have started a garden and it has abruptly ended due to divorce and other head aches. This year I have decided to plant some portable 5 gal pales with tomatoes, peppers and maybe onions. I can't wait until I'm in a permanent living situation.


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## testhop

i may be in the wrong place BUTi have a qestion .
my garden is 8 by 15 foot i plant tomotos and peppers only.
last year the tomotos got late blight i was told to move them to another spot 
but i dont have much room to move to .
so i have 2 qestions .
1 is there a peoduct that will kill off the blight ?
2 if i have to move the plants how far is good enought. 
any and all ideas will be welcome


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## Davarm

I have two possibilities for you, the one you may want to try is a light dusting of sulfur, a light dusting on the ground before planting and a light dusting on the plant if/when the blight appears. Tomato blight is a fungal attack on plant and sulfur will work wonders to treat just about any fungus problem in a garden. "BUT" dont over do it, sulfur can burn the plants.

The next one is an old remedy that may not be advisable, I dont use it but have heard of it successfully being used to treat fungal issues on pecan trees. It is diluted urine(Pee-Pee). When TSHTF, if I am desperate I may try this one but not at this time.


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## AlabamaGal

testhop said:


> last year the tomotos got late blight i was told to move them to another spot
> but i dont have much room to move to .
> so i have 2 qestions .
> 1 is there a peoduct that will kill off the blight ?
> 2 if i have to move the plants how far is good enought.
> any and all ideas will be welcome


There are 3 different kinds of blight and all are fungal. You should let the soil grow something else (not Solanacea) for 3-4 years -- your plot is not large enough to get away from it. Your best bet is to grow tomatoes in pots for the next few years. You can try sterilizing the soil this summer, but I have my doubts that it will do anything at all against fungal spores.

If you want to try growing in your plot again this year anyway (which is what I would probably do), there are a few things you can do. 

Grow blight resistant varieties.
Space your plants wide enough apart that they can get plenty of air circulation
Trellis or stake your plants -- get them off the ground
Remove all leaves and branches within about a foot of the ground (as soon as the tomato is big enough to handle it)
Water only from below, not above, and don't let the wet soil splash up on the plants
Prune your tomatoes to a single stem -- ruthlessly remove suckers
Quickly remove any foliage with signs of blight and burn it. Do not compost your tomato vines and clean up thoroughly at the end of the season -- burn them.
Start a spray program with a fungicide like copper fungicide and spray every 7-10 days or spray after each rain if it rains frequently. Start spraying as soon as the plants are about 12" tall.

A lot of the above is just good tomato sanitation and practice. If your area is prone to blight, you are probably going to want to get in the habit of keeping an ultra-clean tomato garden anyway. That and resistant varieties may be enough control without spraying.


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## mdprepper

*Andi said:


> No hocus pocus and planting by the moon does work. My Grams worked by the signs all her life. When to plant this and when to plant that. Cutting your hair ... need to check the signs.  wean a baby ... the list goes on and on.
> 
> :2thumb:


I am starting my tomato and pepper seeds tonight based on planting by the Moon!


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## *Andi

mdprepper said:


> I am starting my tomato and pepper seeds tonight based on planting by the Moon!


I did the same thing. :wave:

Started some flats and then worked in the garden. Peas, lettuce, kale and few other things are in the ground. (and the garden season is on! )


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## Davarm

AlabamaGal said:


> There are 3 different kinds of blight and all are fungal. You should let the soil grow something else (not Solanacea) for 3-4 years -- your plot is not large enough to get away from it. Your best bet is to grow tomatoes in pots for the next few years. You can try sterilizing the soil this summer, but I have my doubts that it will do anything at all against fungal spores.
> 
> If you want to try growing in your plot again this year anyway (which is what I would probably do), there are a few things you can do.
> 
> Grow blight resistant varieties.
> Space your plants wide enough apart that they can get plenty of air circulation
> Trellis or stake your plants -- get them off the ground
> Remove all leaves and branches within about a foot of the ground (as soon as the tomato is big enough to handle it)
> Water only from below, not above, and don't let the wet soil splash up on the plants
> Prune your tomatoes to a single stem -- ruthlessly remove suckers
> Quickly remove any foliage with signs of blight and burn it. Do not compost your tomato vines and clean up thoroughly at the end of the season -- burn them.
> Start a spray program with a fungicide like copper fungicide and spray every 7-10 days or spray after each rain if it rains frequently. Start spraying as soon as the plants are about 12" tall.
> 
> A lot of the above is just good tomato sanitation and practice. If your area is prone to blight, you are probably going to want to get in the habit of keeping an ultra-clean tomato garden anyway. That and resistant varieties may be enough control without spraying.


I think AlabamaGal, has given you better advice than I did.


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## 1969cj-5

I got around to burning last years garden off on Saturday. I need to stir up the Compost pile again and get ready to start spreading it.


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## md1911

I started my seeds in egg crates. I allready have shoots starting.


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## ContinualHarvest

Too early here in MD. Need to turn the compost pile. Lettuces that I let go to seed are starting to return. Some of the herbs too. Ready for spring!


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## timmie

i just got through planting tomato,pepper,squash,cucumber and eggplant seed in my "el cheapo greenhouse". it will do until we get a permanent one built.it will also allow the plants to keep growing in the event we do get more frosty nights. tommorrow iam going to plant watermelon,canteloupe and gourds ; maybe some birdhouse,loofa, bushel and dipper. gosh,i just love this time of year.


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## timmie

hubby just let me know he is going to plant some early corn and green beans and black crowder peas.:wave:


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## UncleJoe

With the weather the way it's been I am so tempted to get started but I know it will come back to bite me if I do. Been there. Done that.


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## Davarm

timmie said:


> hubby just let me know he is going to plant some early corn and green beans and black crowder peas.:wave:


I've been working in my garden for several weeks now, so far I have gotten most of my cool weather spring "stuff" in the ground and a lot of it is up already.

Got most of my herbs planted, basil, summer savory, dill, cilantro/coriander....., tomorrow I too am going to plant my green beans, purple hull and crowder peas. I am planting 10 - 60 foot rows of green beans(Roma). I have a new 60 x 80 foot plot I am going to plant the peas in to help the soil a little before I go with anything else.

In the coming week I am going to get my squash(summer and winter), cantaloupe, cucumbers, okra and potatoes done. I am late on the potatoes but better late than never.

In about a week or two I will get my tomatoes and peppers in the ground. I can taste them already.

As much work as this 3/4 acre garden is for me doing it full time, I just cant imagine how the rest of you keep up with yours while holding down your present day jobs/careers. I had almost forgotten(from my childhood) how much work it was.


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## Davarm

*Andi said:


> I'll start my cool weather crops around the mid to the end of the month ... I need to get started on my new herb beds. I'll be starting 10 new herbs this year.


What kind of herbs do you grow up your way? I dont grow a large variety but I do plant enough of each one I grow to last all year of heavy use.

Dill
Basil
Cumin
Fennel
Summer Savory
Cilantro/Coriander
Mints(orangemint, applemint, spearmint, peppermint)

Those are the major ones, we have a number of perennials that we tend year round. Have never gotten parsley to grow here so as a substitute, we use carrot tops instead, they are a bit intense but not at all a bad replacement.

We have tons of Horsemint(BeeBalm or wild Peppermint) growing wild and use and store alot of it, it is good for indigestion and aids in digestion.

We have not been able to get a decent crop of garlic or chives despite a lot of time and effort put toward it. I hope the Ghost Peppers I am growing this year will make up for some of the things we cant get going here.


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## *Andi

I will be adding ...

Alfalfa 
Marshmallow
Calendula (pot marigold)
White Sage
A new Cayenne
Ol time Roses
Borage ...

Plus some awesome herbs a forum friend sent. :flower:


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