Gardening season is coming up! [emoji271]

I love snakes but another thing I love is gardening.

Any gardeners on here?

I'm getting ready for indoor seed starting.

I got my grow lights ready and pots prepped and now just waiting for the weekend to start planting seedlings. Transplant for my area is last of April first of May.

Getting ready to start broccolini, tomatos, peppers, and some herbs. More to do later.
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I have done horticulture for over 30yrs.
I work at big garden centre in UK
Can't wait for summer

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Originally Posted by richardhind1972

I have done horticulture for over 30yrs.
I work at big garden centre in UK
Can't wait for summer

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That's awesome! This is just my 3rd year doing vegetables and I'm still learning a lot. But it's fun and rewarding to be able to eat what you grow.

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I'm so ready for spring too! :sunny: I've cut back on growing anything other than tomatoes (my favorite) these days though. But what I lack in variety, I make up for in quantity! You just can't have too many home-grown tomatoes! :hungry:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I'm so ready for spring too! :sunny: I've cut back on growing anything other than tomatoes (my favorite) these days though. But what I lack in variety, I make up for in quantity! You just can't have too many home-grown tomatoes! :hungry:

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I got 4 new varieties to try! I can't wait.
The white with no picture is a striped tomato.
I have a couple of others from last year also.
Thinking about 8-10 plants total.
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Ha I actually am not doing tomatoes this year because everyone else does and gives them away, along with cucumbers. I'm planting spinach and kale along the northeast side of my house so hopefully it'll stay cool enough during the summer afternoons, when it's shaded, that it won't bolt early. Otherwise I'll be planting bush green beans and Mexican sunflowers again, and I'm adding two blueberry bushes.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Ha I actually am not doing tomatoes this year because everyone else does and gives them away, along with cucumbers. I'm planting spinach and kale along the northeast side of my house so hopefully it'll stay cool enough during the summer afternoons, when it's shaded, that it won't bolt early. Otherwise I'll be planting bush green beans and Mexican sunflowers again, and I'm adding two blueberry bushes.

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I remember doing green beans with my grandmother every year. She would have a big garden and we would string and break and clean bushels every year for her to can. She did bunch beans and half runners mainly. Sometimes she would do some pink tips for soup beans.

I'm not a big fan of beans myself so I'm not doing any but I am planting a nice little salad garden with different types of lettuce spinach and greens. The Creasy greens that are wild around here are just getting to the side to harvest also.

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Oooh, I've grown green beans before- they're awfully good- I even like them raw when they're fresh. You won't catch me "canning" though- too much work & it's too hot in summer for that.

I've grown wonderful (& huge) cucumbers before too, but as it was pointed out, you can only eat so many- I ended up selling most of them to my local health food store- I only grow organic, & they carry both certified organic & "local" produce.

I've had no luck with blueberries, but I miss the raspberries I grew for several years- incredibly sweet when freshly picked. Sadly, mine died out. I used to grow strawberries too, & a few blackberries- the birds got most of those, but they mostly served as a diversion from my raspberries anyway, lol. I've grown bell peppers before too, also melons (watermelons & cantaloupe).

I'm often guilty of "over-doing it" on tomatoes- I've raised as many as 37 plants one year- but I like having extras- yes, some to share & some to freeze & cook with too. So many good kinds of tomatoes- STOP! You're making me hungry!

That brocollini is great, isn't it? Freezes well, too.

I grow that, and tomatoes (Brandywine and either San Marzano or Amish Paste -- sauce making and dehydrating for weeks in the fall -- and sometimes a cherry variety of some sort), and butternut squash, and cantaloupe. I used to love to grow Swiss chard, but between the slugs and Japanese beetles I gave it up. Strawberries too, though I need to work on the weeds better -- they're getting overrun by wild violets. My wife and daughter have their own half of the garden (good idea, but some days we need a fence between the sides, too ;)) and grow a lot of other veggies.

We start seeds early April, and plant about the end of May. All our food crops are entirely organic, just to make it a little more challenging. We raise our own meat, too (lamb, chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl), but not organically unfortunately.

We also have a little orchard with about 6 apple varieties, and sour cherries, and plums, and I'm thinking of planting a couple pears (I don't think any are self-fertile, so need two).

I have endless pests in my area and I don't like to use chemicals so my gardening efforts have shifted towards flowers--mainly perennials.

During a short break last year I divided 350 different types of irises into a little over 3000 plants and put them in part of my front yard.
If all goes well this year: next year I will consider building an outdoor time lapse rig to watch them grow/bloom. :)

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Something to look forward to...

I've got a few hundred irises in my front yard- a few years back a few ppl I knew thinned their irises out & "forced these upon me"- :D Same thing with orange daylilies- I have 8 groups of them in various places in my yard, both front & back- I love their tropical color- plus all the blooming things help to ensure that bees find my yard too. I see I'm not the only fan of perennials. :cool:

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Originally Posted by Lord Sorril

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If all goes well this year: next year I will consider building an outdoor time lapse rig to watch them grow/bloom. :) ....

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:gj: And you can always work them into your photos too. :snake:

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Originally Posted by Lord Sorril

I have endless pests in my area and I don't like to use chemicals so my gardening efforts have shifted towards flowers--mainly perennials.

During a short break last year I divided 350 different types of irises into a little over 3000 plants and put them in part of my front yard.
If all goes well this year: next year I will consider building an outdoor time lapse rig to watch them grow/bloom. :)

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ris_c1ofwi.jpg
Something to look forward to...

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That will be awesome. I'd love to see that.

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Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum

That brocollini is great, isn't it? Freezes well, too.

I grow that, and tomatoes (Brandywine and either San Marzano or Amish Paste -- sauce making and dehydrating for weeks in the fall -- and sometimes a cherry variety of some sort), and butternut squash, and cantaloupe. I used to love to grow Swiss chard, but between the slugs and Japanese beetles I gave it up. Strawberries too, though I need to work on the weeds better -- they're getting overrun by wild violets. My wife and daughter have their own half of the garden (good idea, but some days we need a fence between the sides, too ;)) and grow a lot of other veggies.

We start seeds early April, and plant about the end of May. All our food crops are entirely organic, just to make it a little more challenging. We raise our own meat, too (lamb, chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl), but not organically unfortunately.

We also have a little orchard with about 6 apple varieties, and sour cherries, and plums, and I'm thinking of planting a couple pears (I don't think any are self-fertile, so need two).

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It is and grows better than standard broccoli for me.
I have thought about growing Swiss chard this year but I had not made up my mind yet. We do have a lot of slugs and Japanese beetles though. The Japanese beetles try to strip all the leaves off my plum and peach trees every year before I can get them off. I usually use a light soapy water mix to spray my trees with. It does decent but if it rains it washes most of it away.

I tried growing brussel sprouts last year but I never got any brussel sprouts off them. I might have started them too late or something.

I also raised some animals though I mainly down to just chickens now. I have two types of large breed and some small breed chickens. Speckled Sussex, Bielefelders, and D'Uccle. Though I used to raise a lot of quail. Mainly coturnix quail.

I love fruit and I have peach and plum trees but I grew up with my grandfather having a large Apple orchard. I used to help him tend the orchard when I was little and I have a lot of fond memories of it.

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There’s a apple tree in my front yard. I guess the previous owners planted it. It seems the apples are rather small and don’t really look edible. The pigeons here in Virginia and wild bluebirds make their nests in the tree also. Wifey loves flowers so we will have upcoming projects soon to decorate the front of the house. We sometimes get the occasional woodpecker making him/ herself known.

B.t. galleriae works great against beetles ('Beetlegone' is the brand name). Expensive, though.

My wife grows brussels sprouts. Wish she didn't -- not my favorite.

We have Sussex currently -- great breed -- and Ameraucana. I've always loved the look of the D'Uccle -- how are they to keep? Do they lay much?

We're getting a batch of Brahma and Silkies in a few weeks, so long as bird flu stays away until then (one county in WI is closed to poultry movement so far; not sure how this will pan out). Odd mix, but I'm still searching for the perfect breed for us, and hopefully want to get some that will sit so we don't have to buy chicks every few years.

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Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum

B.t. galleriae works great against beetles ('Beetlegone' is the brand name). Expensive, though.

My wife grows brussels sprouts. Wish she didn't -- not my favorite.

We have Sussex currently -- great breed -- and Ameraucana. I've always loved the look of the D'Uccle -- how are they to keep? Do they lay much?

We're getting a batch of Brahma and Silkies in a few weeks, so long as bird flu stays away until then (one county in WI is closed to poultry movement so far; not sure how this will pan out). Odd mix, but I'm still searching for the perfect breed for us, and hopefully want to get some that will sit so we don't have to buy chicks every few years.

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They are very easy birds and the roosters don't even seem to mind each other. I don't know if they will raise their own young or not but the do lay a lot of cream colored eggs once they start. They seem to take longer than most breeds I have dellt with but once they do you will have a lot of small eggs. I say 1/3 of a large chicken egg. They are my favorite and I have tree different color patterns. My fave is the black molted.
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42 starter pots planted. Now the waiting game to see green. [emoji172]

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Looks like most of the plants have sprouted and growing. But they are a little yellow and I'm wondering what they are missing. Hmm. Could be the shop lights I'm using. They are 5000k daylight LED shop lights. But maybe I'm missing a little bit into the Red spectrum in these.

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I've repotted my 3 varieties of tomato plants into deep 6" diameter pots (18 plants in all), & now I keep hauling them in & out of my sunroom, according to the weather; the temperatures are not reliable enough yet to put in ground, but they need all the sun they can get. I hope you get your plants figured out, Daniel. We slave over them, the least they could do is thrive for us, eh? :) I have no idea how LED lights compare to typical full-spectrum grow-lights, but I suspect you're right- something is missing.

My mother's been having an early garden growing inside for the past month or so, and today I assisted her set up a homemade strawberry barrel. Well, it's actually a plastic laundry hamper since we tried an actual barrel a few years ago and it didn't do well so we'll see how this goes.

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Originally Posted by Snagrio

My mother's been having an early garden growing inside for the past month or so, and today I assisted her set up a homemade strawberry barrel. Well, it's actually a plastic laundry hamper since we tried an actual barrel a few years ago and it didn't do well so we'll see how this goes.

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I hope it goes well- strawberries are YUM!

i love gardening and i have 2 projects for the summer and the fall which is a) i would really like to get a good outdoor flower garden started, thinking a mix of African wild flowers or something like that and b) i want to rebuild the bonsai forest that i had several years ago before my former roommates cats destroyed/ate them all - have also considered getting into chili peppers

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Originally Posted by YungRasputin

b) i want to rebuild the bonsai forest that i had several years ago before my former roommates cats destroyed/ate them all - have also considered getting into chili peppers

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A very cat-safe option.:D

After getting sick of dealing with drought conditions and water restrictions in my region, I ripped out my entire front and back yard, killed my lawn including the areas where I used to garden, and did 'water wise' landscaping instead. I'm SO glad I did it - I find it so much more beautiful than boring lawns; it's been glorious with color and texture in every season and I planted to attract pollinators so have been enjoying my bee, butterfly and moth friends.

I still do some container gardening on my back deck, though - and have strawberries, summer squash, lettuce, arugula, cherry and roma tomatoes, and a dwarf peach tree. I won't lie - I have been enjoying having a smaller 'garden' to deal with and find container gardening simpler overall in a lot of ways.

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Originally Posted by Caitlin

After getting sick of dealing with drought conditions and water restrictions in my region, I ripped out my entire front and back yard, killed my lawn including the areas where I used to garden, and did 'water wise' landscaping instead. I'm SO glad I did it - I find it so much more beautiful than boring lawns; it's been glorious with color and texture in every season and I planted to attract pollinators so have been enjoying my bee, butterfly and moth friends.

I still do some container gardening on my back deck, though - and have strawberries, summer squash, lettuce, arugula, cherry and roma tomatoes, and a dwarf peach tree. I won't lie - I have been enjoying having a smaller 'garden' to deal with and find container gardening simpler overall in a lot of ways.

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Sounds to me like you made all the right changes. :gj: Way to go!