Our Garden!

[JennaBoBenna]

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[michigan roman]

if ya didnt know marigolds are planted right next to tomatos by alot of gardeners because its said they detract the type insects that damage tomato plants .

[Regen]

Take pictures every week - so much will happen and you'll learn loads from the experience.:)

[jerseygirl1969]

Your garden is going to be fantastic and so much fun. For good garden stuff, go to www.leevalley.com They have great stuff like drip hoses and cool hoes and other cool gadgets (I like this part of gardening, all the stuff). Recently I bought two books, Carrots love tomatoes and Roses love Garlic. The books tell you what to plant next to one another for natural defenses. They are inexpensive and can be found at lee valley. I just ordered my indoor "greenhouse" and some self-watering trays to start my container garden. Once it gets going, I'll send some picks. Good Luck with the Green Thumb. JG

[hypnocmt]

OMG .You guys are so inspiring. I am itching to hit the gardening store now!

PS- my dad used chrysanthemums on the border of his garden for natural pest control. Geraniums in the window boxes for mosquitos. I think maybe mint too. we had mint, roses, and honeysuckle planted under our bedroom windows when I was growing up. It was heaven.

That site will get my late night money tonight, I think. Thanks for the link!!

[JennaBoBenna]

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[JennaBoBenna]

I never thought I'd get this excited about sprouts but...

The lettuces have sprouted!!!! :D

The Pak Choi, spinach, and green lettuce are teeeeny tiny little sprouts poking up out of the dirt! I got sooo excited! It made my day! Haha!

I also just planted 6 baby kale plants and a bunch of romaine seeds.

The trees are planted and are looking beautiful!

I think this weekend we're doing flowers!

More pictures soon! :)

[konmai]

looking GOOD! :D

hm... now to start on mine this weekend. I wonder if I can get my baby doggies to loosen the soil for me. :p

[JennaBoBenna]

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[PATH301]

JennaBoBenna,
Your garden is looking good so far.
I can't get my garden going yet because of all crazy weather that we are having here. It's going to snow this weekend again:mad: I'm tired of the snow.
I've been tossing all food scrapes into the compost so I can mix it into the dirt and get some good looking dirt like I see in your garden:D
keep up the good work:)

[puffysmom]

Did u know that nasturtiums r a great flower to grow? They r very easy to grow and u can eat the whole plant. I never knew that until this year so my yard with have some.

I just found a web site that gives all the information on what flowers can be eaten. What a great idea. Now i can have beauty and eat it also. To think all these years I threw out flowers when done. Shame on me.

[Regen]

Jenna - Have you heard of Square-foot gardening?



http://www.squarefootgardening.com/


Your garden looks perfect to use these techniques - it revolutionised the way I treat my small garden and I can't eat everything it produces in the summer.

My square-foot boxes ( I have five) are very low maintenance and need much less water than a normal garden.:)

[danened]

I have to say that for any of you anal types (like me-:p ) Square Foot Gardening is great. I love having my garden organized so that I can see what is growing in each spot. I also keep a log of where everything was so that the next year I can make sure I rotate the crop to different areas.

The Costco here in Washington had the new square foot gardening book in stock, but a lot of info is on the website. You may also try the library, but I used mine so much that I bought a copy.

I have stuff growing in little trays in my living room. I have been "hardening them off" but putting them outside during the day and bringing them in at night. some of the plants are large enough that I will transplant them to bigger containers and put them in my "greenhouse" outside until it is consistently warm enough to plant.

ENJOY your garden! It's so fun to what stuff that you planted grow and even more fun to actually eat it!!!:D

[Veganforlife]

Gardens are so therapeutic! Have fun and enjoy and eat!!! YAY you!

[Fuzzypeach]

Oh I want a garden so badly!! I am on the waiting list right now in my apartment complex to rent a garden plot. I hope I get one! I hope I get one!!

Your garden looks great!

[JennaBoBenna]

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[Mary]

I saw this thread and had to jump in! I just planted my "square foot garden" yesterday, after having rototilled and worked in compost into an area of my backyard that I've wanted to convert to a garden for some time now!

What's really great about this gardening method is that you can grow more veggies in a smaller space and it is much easier to maintain than most regular garden layouts!

Here's a picture of my garden layout right after laying out the squares, without the plant labels and bean supports I put in yesterday:

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q194/msgodzilla/veggiegarden29april2007.jpg

I planted strawberries, purple, green and striped pole beans, lemon cucumbers, artichokes, wild cardoon, agretti (an Italian green), muscari (wild Italian edible hyacinth), Sicilian basil (because I'm half Sicilian and had to try this one!), three kinds of melons, pumpkins, broccoli rabe, purple Sicilian cauliflower, tomatoes, peppers - I think that's it!

My herb garden is also done in square foot gardening:

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q194/msgodzilla/herbgardenapril2007.jpg

I would encourage anyone to try this technique - I am eagerly awaiting a bountiful harvest!

Blessings,

Mary

[JennaBoBenna]

Mary,

Wow! What a beautiful yard!!!

I can't wait to see your garden when it grows up :)

[Mary]

I appreciate your kind words, Jenna! Thanks - from a former San Josean! (I was born and raised in San Jose... I keep moving further north!)

We moved up here because we could actually afford a house with a little bit of land here! The only drawback is the summers are extremely hot and I miss driving to Santa Cruz! :(

We are very fortunate to have a huge yard, so I've been landscaping in bits and pieces - we could have never afforded a house with a big yard in San Jose. We have been here 5 years, and the previous owners had nothing but lawn! I've been slowly putting in plants and trees... my goal is to make the garden full of native California plants to harbor local wildlife, with the exception of the veggie garden, herb garden, and small orchard (those I want the wildlife to leave alone, especially my fruit trees and almond trees! :mad: Last year, the jays ate EVERY SINGLE ALMOND on both trees before I could pick them! ARRRGGGGHHH!).

I planted the fruit trees the first spring we were here, the herb garden two years ago, and now this year the veggie garden. Next year, my project will be to create a water garden and meditation area. That will be after I clear out the overgrown ivy and tame the blackberries (I like some blackberries, but they are taking over the yard!). It's a lot of work, but it's a real sense of accomplishment too.... nothing beats picking your own fresh fruit and veggies - they taste so great and you know they are organic!

Your garden looks great too! I like how you used the bricks... that's what I wanted to do, but lumber was cheaper. I eventually want to do brick as well, but needed to just get started with something!

I'll certainly share pics of my garden along the way and hope you'll do the same!

Take care,

Mary