veggie garden

[*Celeste*]

we are doing a veggie garden this year for the first time. anyone else veggie garden? is it too late to plant some seeds or am i going to have to buy plants? we live in the northeast. i think the kids would have fun planting the seeds.

[heathergw]

UGH... I was hoping to do this this year... but then we decided to spend our tax return on remodeling the inside and leaving the yard for another year... but I would LOVE to have a garden so I don't have to go to the farmer's market every week... I also wanted to start a compost bin and we were planning on getting a rain barrel too... but now we'll be waiting for next year... thinking I might do herbs though... we have our basil plant... but it would be nice to have some other ones too like cilantro for fresh salsa and guacamole.

[*Celeste*]

we are definitely going to do herbs. dh loves to cook so basil, cilantro, sage, rosemary, thyme for sure. i'd like to do some lettuce and tomatoes. sam wants to do carrots. dh wants hot peppers and maybe some regular peppers. we are starting small. maybe a 10x10 patch.

we have a compost bin - dh made it out of pallets - it is such an eyesore. i'd love to get something a little more. a rain barrel sounds like a great idea!

[MamaBee]

We only have a few planters on our deck that we will plant a tomato plant or two so that J can see things grow. We did a strawberry plant last year - but then went on vacation and on one watered it and that wasn't very successful... going to try again this year.

My mom plants a garden - this year they put a three tier one in their backyard. She does a mix of plant and seeds... pepper plants and tomatoes, she will get the plants for... and then for squash, peas, beans, etc - then she will do seeds. Growing up - I know that her goal was to get the garden planted by Mother's Day, but that is in our region.

[Darcy Baldwin]

Lettuce and chives and radishes are super easy from seed, grow quickly, and are great. It's too late to do tomatoes from seeds, so you'll definitely have to go to a plant there.

[mariewilcox]

Celeste - I'm up in Maine and your growing season is probably about the same - mid October is pretty much the latest things grow for me before heavy frosts. I do leave parsnips and brussel sprouts until after the first heavy frost though because they taste better

The things I plant from seed are: Sugarsnap peas, lettuces, spinach, chard, herbs, green beans, carrots, beets, corn, broccoli, and cabbage.

The things I buy from the nursery nearby are: Cukes, summer squash, winter squash, pumpkins, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, peppers (these just take way to long from seed and the veggies are never ready in time for harvest before heavy frosts).

All year long I grow scallions and some herbs inside (parsley, basil, rosemary, and oregano).

ETA: I don't put plants in the ground up here until late May. You probably can go a bit earlier down there, but sometimes we get killing frosts up until the first of May, and then the ground needs to warm up a bit. I start turning the soil and adding compost mid April if the ground is dry enough (like this year). Some things love the cooler weather though and I'll start my peas, lettuces, spinach, and chard the first week of May if the ground is warm enough.

[Kara]

My DH is really big into gardening. We just started seeds inside, and we'll move them outside when the chance of frost is over. We're in Minnesota and while we've had an incredibly mild winter, it's still possible that things could freeze.

We typically do tomatoes, corn, zucchini, peas, peppers, lettuce, basil and cilantro. We're adding spearmint this year, as well as broccoli. We use a lot of compost in our gardens and that really seems to help!

When we lived in a townhouse, we did container gardening on our deck. It was on a smaller-scale, but it was still fun. Might be a good way to start if you don't want to go all out this year.

[Jengerbread88]

We're doing a container garden this year, and starting things from plants (not seeds). We usually do some tomatoes, and this year, as part of our homeschooling, we've decided to expand our garden and start composting, as well.

Beneath my window, we're putting a section of rain guttering cut to the size of my window width, and planting some chocolate mint. My parents are also doing mint outside of their windows using guttering.

For Jeffrey's school work, we've selected tomatoes (his typical plant each year- we used the variety he usually takes care of, and then added two varieties as well that we enjoy), peppers, and strawberries.

We're planting basil because it's said to keep mosquitoes and flies away, and because I make homemade pasta sauces and some basil would be tasty in that.

We are still hoping to get some blackberries, blueberries, and cilantro, but we need to look for that (as well as the mint and chocolate mint).

If this year goes well, we will probably add more plants next year. Also, my mom has promised that if we can get the trees in the backyard cut down (we have a whole row of trees that are just awful, and they need to go) then I can plant some fruit trees next year.

[scrapmommaof3]

We do a large vegetable garden here in Colorado, but we can't plant until the end of May. We are still freezing at night until then. I usually buy tomato and pepper plants and do everything else from seed (green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin, etc). good luck with your garden. I love having a garden and eating fresh veggies.

[Freckles]

There's still a lot of things you can grow from seeds, if you do it inside or behind glass. Then you can plant it when it won't freeze anymore. We live in a new house since September with a huge veggie garden and my husband is obsessed by it. He's spent every single free minute in his garden our glass house since the beginning of March already. I'm sure we're going to have way to much veggies but I enjoy seeing him being so passionate about it the best thing you can do is to buy a good book because each vegetable requires different 'rules' for planting and treatment (against diseases).
Yesterday we already ate our own homegrown lettice and it was so yummy! Definitely beats the one you can buy in the stores!! Good luck!