2022 Garden

[Compost]

It took me a few years to get brave enough to eat marigold petals since the plant itself smells so ugh but that are actually interesting. No real flavor or smell but they have a weird silky texture that is interesting on the tongue. Almost a faux-creaminess.

I know what you mean! Faux-creaminess is a great description.

 

[Disir]

They aren't dead and that's pretty freaking awesome. The ones in dome thing are the Mexican sunflowers AND the plants in the exquisite glassware from the dollar store are strawberries. The directions said put them into cups with 4 holes on the bottom. So I did.

 

[Stryder50]

Is Gardening Really Cheaper Than Buying Fruits and Vegetables?​

One reason people start gardens is sticker shock at the grocery store. But can you really save buckets of cash by growing your own foods?​

...
With food costs rising, many people are contemplating starting a garden. This makes sense, since human beings have been growing their own food for thousands of years. The stuff just comes out of the ground and literally grows on trees. Gardening offers a lot of benefits: It can be spiritually and emotionally fulfilling, improves the look of your property, and provides delicious sustenance. The potential to save money doesn’t hurt, either.

At first blush, this might seem like an obvious win: Once you get a tomato plant going, for example, you get free tomatoes as opposed to having to buy them all the time like a sucker. But gardens have hidden costs, and not all crops are the same in terms of cost-effectiveness. Can you really save money by growing your own food? The answer is yes, but you have to be thoughtful about it.
...
The other consideration is what you plant. Some plants are more cost-effective than others, but there’s no point in planting a high-return plant if you’re not going to eat it. When planning your garden, choose fruits and vegetables that you enjoy and will actually eat, because to get a big budget impact from your garden you’ll need to eat a lot of what it produces.

These are the most cost-effective crops​

So you’re going to conquer economic anxiety by planting a home garden and living off your own crops. What are the best plants to invest in? Here are some of the most cost-effective crops you can plant.
...

Is Gardening Really Cheaper Than Buying Fruits and Vegetables?

One reason people start gardens is sticker shock at the grocery store. But can you really save buckets of cash by growing your own food?

lifehacker.com

 

[Dekster]

Is Gardening Really Cheaper Than Buying Fruits and Vegetables?​

One reason people start gardens is sticker shock at the grocery store. But can you really save buckets of cash by growing your own foods?​

...
With food costs rising, many people are contemplating starting a garden. This makes sense, since human beings have been growing their own food for thousands of years. The stuff just comes out of the ground and literally grows on trees. Gardening offers a lot of benefits: It can be spiritually and emotionally fulfilling, improves the look of your property, and provides delicious sustenance. The potential to save money doesn’t hurt, either.

At first blush, this might seem like an obvious win: Once you get a tomato plant going, for example, you get free tomatoes as opposed to having to buy them all the time like a sucker. But gardens have hidden costs, and not all crops are the same in terms of cost-effectiveness. Can you really save money by growing your own food? The answer is yes, but you have to be thoughtful about it.
...
The other consideration is what you plant. Some plants are more cost-effective than others, but there’s no point in planting a high-return plant if you’re not going to eat it. When planning your garden, choose fruits and vegetables that you enjoy and will actually eat, because to get a big budget impact from your garden you’ll need to eat a lot of what it produces.

These are the most cost-effective crops​

So you’re going to conquer economic anxiety by planting a home garden and living off your own crops. What are the best plants to invest in? Here are some of the most cost-effective crops you can plant.
...

Is Gardening Really Cheaper Than Buying Fruits and Vegetables?

One reason people start gardens is sticker shock at the grocery store. But can you really save buckets of cash by growing your own food?

lifehacker.com

In my area the last several years you might as will forget planting squash. The vine borers have taken up residence and will kill them. Zukes sometime do okay, but yellow squash you can forget about.

I would add hot peppers to the list of things that are very good investments if you eat those sorts of things.

 

[Muhammed]

Thought I'd put up a thread for this year gardening.

We have already started sweet potatoes, did first hilling on those today.
We have tomatoes already on the plants ,mint doing good along with bell peppers,banana plant I managed to save already producing [ babies for a better word],etc..

Here in NW Ohio we still got a couple of weeks before we can plant crops outdoors, but I still get a head start by planting in the sun room. It faces almost directly south.

 

[Stryder50]

Or maybe don't cut ...

4 Reasons to Let Your Lawn Grow Wild​

A beautiful lawn doesn’t have to be plain.

4 Reasons to Let Your Lawn Grow Wild

A beautiful lawn doesn’t have to be plain.

getpocket.com

 

[Muhammed]

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They aren't dead and that's pretty freaking awesome. The ones in dome thing are the Mexican sunflowers AND the plants in the exquisite glassware from the dollar store are strawberries. The directions said put them into cups with 4 holes on the bottom. So I did.

In my experience, you have to be really careful then you transplant veggies outdoors.

What I usually do is take them from my warm indoor sunroom to the enclosed front porch for a few hours a day before I finally transplant them outside. That way it doesn't shock the plants so much.

 

[Sunsettommy]

I have my lemon tree.

I'm going to get my eggplant.....plant. I'm not doing anything major foodwise. I don't have the room.

I am on a quest to grow some other things though.

You can grow a pot of chives in a bright window.

 

[Sunsettommy]

In my experience, you have to be really careful then you transplant veggies outdoors.

What I usually do is take them from my warm indoor sunroom to the enclosed front porch for a few hours a day before I finally transplant them outside. That way it doesn't shock the plants so much.

It is the same with nursery veggies too since they are commonly grown in humid warm and with lots of CO2 in Greenhouse.

I use the large milk jugs to shield my tomatoes when planted in the outdoors.
from the wind and keep warmer at night.

Another way for people who don't have enclosed front porches is to build a transportable mini greenhouse that is 3'X3' to 4'X4' in wide and around 18" tall in the back to around 12" in the front with a large single lid on two hinges at the back end that slopes towards the front there you can use that as a temporary location for plants that needs to be "hardened" off in the transition phase.

 

[Dekster]

Supposed to be in 30's tonight but frost chance low due to wind. set out some texas sweet onion starts in a couple places--some in a raised bed and some in the ground in the field. Never grown them before so it is something I am experimenting with for next year depending on how well they fair. Think they are medium day onion but I forget now.

Hit up some of the big box spring dirt sales this week to do my container/buckets with. I am always playing with those for when I get too old and crooked to plant out in the field. So far I have found that cherry tomatoes do better in them than globe tomatoes and despite what the youtube gardeners swear, potatoes do better in the ground than in buckets.

New leeks are up and doing okay so far inside. They take forever to get from seed to ground planting. I had success with an experiment with them a few years ago but ended up planting them in the middle of a bed where they became a chore to work around. This time I am going to create a dedicated bed for just leeks so they can do their thing 24/7/365

 

[Dekster]

Planted 3 pear trees today--bartlet kieffer and ayers

 

[petro]

Way too early in my neck of the woods.
We may see snowflakes the next couple of days.
About a month yet.

 

[Disir]

I was gifted plants from a plant killa like myself. She half killed 2 tomato plants and wants me to finish the job. I am trying.I got some jalapeño plants and Anaheim chili plants.
But, I'm super stoked because some of my plants that are already started came in. This weekend at some point I will put them in pots. I have my damn marigolds, Dianthus Super Trouper Orange, Sunset Blvd Primrose and an Angel Trumpet plant.

And if I have time I will start some seeds. I have some bulbs coming in May that I got for free. I have never worked with bulbs before.

 

[Dekster]

A cordless drill plus a bulb auger is the greatest pairing since mashed potatoes and gravy. Bought one last year, never tried it until today. Boy, my worldview just changed. That thing is going to make planting just about everything easier.

 

[Disir]

I had to go look up bulb augur. That looks really cool.

 

[Dekster]

I had to go look up bulb augur. That looks really cool.

$15 at lowes. Just a word to the wise, it will overheat your cordless drill if you try to mass dig a ton of holes at once. A corded drill is probably better in that scenario.

 

[Shawnee_b]

Anyone starting seeds or doing any garden preps yet?

Oh yes. Seeds and starts in the greenhouse, starts go in this week, and corn. Soil fertilized and tilled several times, about 30 x 60'. My garlic is over 2 feet high already.

 

[Stryder50]

Here's a thread that interweaves with this one;
Don't Dismiss Soil

 

[Dekster]

Did some piddling today. Most everything is in the ground that is going to get planted for spring. Threw some container starts in the dirt. Have a few tomatoes and hot peppers to still plant that I sowed from seed later for a later harvest. My mind is a little more landscaping oriented this year for whatever reason.

 

[Dekster]

Planted a row of 25 hollies that will eventually grow into a hedge. Not even noon and I am already plumb tuckered.