Nature and Gardening
All things green, outdoors, and nature-y. Whether it's animals in their natural habitat, hiking trails and mountains, or planting a little garden for yourself (and everything in between), you can talk about it here.
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Starting a new garden after moving from an apartment to a house last fall. Planning to do two 8'x4' raised beds with some scrap wood and put a squash tunnel between them. I've started 32 onion seedlings indoors and will be starting the brassicas this weekend!
Also thinking about getting apple trees - any suggestions for good varieties to grow in zone 6b (New England)? It's tempting to get a honey crisp but I hear they're pretty hard to grow.
Hey congrats! Here's hoping your thriftiness with the scrap wood has enabled you to do even more with the space.
I haven't had issues with getting our honey crisp to grow, but for a few years now it's been the cultivar to which the Japanese beetles seem most attracted where we are in Maine. Our neighbor has I think 8 varieties and his experience has been very similar. It's worth noting that last year our Wolf River apple had maybe a dozen leaves attacked by the beetles. The folks at FedCo have a really good selection for New England. The website doesn't go into quite as much detail as their apple catalogue does but it's still got plenty of commentary about how they perform.
Someone else recommended fedco to me and I'll definitely be ordering from them, I love everything they've got going on.
I've read elsewhere too that honey crisps seem more prone to diseases and pests. What other varieties do you have?
I, too, am a huge fan of theirs (organizationally, selection-wise, and acknowledgements wise). We currently just have the Wolf River and the Honeycrisp, but our next door neighbor also has a granny smith, Ashmead's Kernel, Pippin, Cox, and something else. I spent last season collecting the fallen crabs from our three old crabs and will hopefully have some rootstocks to practice my grafting on and build our collection this year and next. The past few years most of my garden fund has been spent on more readily multiplied plants (full disclosure: I sell plants) instead of cultivar trees.
I'm getting back into gardening after a 15 year hiatus. Zone 6b. I started 3 raised beds in the fall. Sowed 2 with winter rye and covered one with leaves. I'm going to work some soil conditioner in that one and start some lettuce, kale, radishes, carrots, and turnips soon. My mini soil blocker arrived today, so I'll start peppers indoors soon. I'll plant those and tomatoes in the other 2 beds - trying to do no till from here on out.
If I have room, I'll put in some zucchini and winter squash and a melon.
I'm also trying my hand at doing some containers with dwarf peas and herbs.
Finally, I've never really done flowers, but I'm having a go at nasturtiums, calendula, marigolds, and sunflowers.
I really need to get some fencing up because we have a lot of deer!
Welcome back to it! If you're not familiar with Farmer Jesse yet I'd highly recommend the No-Till Growers podcast or youtube channel depending on your preference. And flowers are great mixed in with the vegetables! It might be worth adding in some small flowered plants you enjoy, like Allysum or just about anything from Apiaceae, for parasitic wasps to feed on while defending your garden.
Thanks, I'll check out the podcast and those plants!
Balcony gardener here. Had a death in the family so my garden was neglected unfortunately, but it's bouncing back (as am I). My cabbages aren't as big as they were last year, likely because I used slightly smaller pots and let them wilt too often, but wife should be able to turn them into kraut for sausage dogs. We did that last year and ended up with a pretty decent jar-full, which was pretty cool.
This year I over-wintered my peppers for the first time, and they're starting to bounce back so I'll probably transfer them to larger pots soon. I'm already looking forward to watching them come in :) they're my favorite plants to grow. I have shishito peppers, snack peppers, cayenne, jalapeno, and dragon roll peppers. I like my peps!
Mint is looking okay, it's coming back after being neglected, but it's basically a weed so I'm not really worried. I'll have to buy more basil starters, I didn't prune it well and it didn't survive being over-wintered.
This is all on top of the usual annuals and ivy and ferns and such. It's basically impossible for me to go to the grocery store without bringing home whatever discount plant I find, lol. I don't have too much room to work with, but I'm doing some vertical gardening as well by mounting shelves to put smaller pots on. It looks good from the street too. I get compliments when I'm out there, and it always makes my day :D
I'm sorry for your loss, and truly hope that getting back into your garden supports your healing.
It’s basically impossible for me to go to the grocery store without bringing home whatever discount plant I find, lol
My wife and I made a deal that I have to bring the dog when I go anywhere that sells plants, just so I can't carry as many to the register. Usually I respect the spirit of the deal but sometimes it's too much and I use a cart 🤫
Thank you Lally, I really do appreciate that. It has helped me heal greatly. As odd as this sounds, I feel lucky that it occurred during the end of winter. So as the world begins to show a return to life and color, my own little world is doing the same :) I actually have some plants of hers that I'm tending to now. So many snake plants to propagate!
My wife and I made a deal that I have to bring the dog when I go anywhere that sells plants, just so I can’t carry as many to the register.
Now I'm just imagining a dog in a cart covered in grocery store ferns 😄 but that's a great compromise!
💕 after my grandmother passed away a few years ago several of the cousins and I all took cuttings from a number of the plants she had grown around her house, and now every spring she's still making my world more beautiful. I'm overjoyed that your loved one will do the same for you.
Not sure if the first part of my question counts, since it's about indoor plants, but I have an aloe plant and haworthia (I think is what it's called) and while the haworthia is doing well, the aloe plant started to have it's stalks in the center turn brown. I've tried giving it more sun like someone recommended to me, but it doesn't seem to be improving. However, it does seem to still be growing.
I have one outside plant, a hyacinth, and it's already started to come up, which is exciting even though it started kind of early(?) but I had a question. When it initially bloomed, it was super top heavy and flopped over. I couldn't get it to right itself no matter what I did. Anyone got any tips?
I might be able to plant some more flowers this fall, but I'm not sure what to go with. I would love to do roses in memory of my grandparents, but I don't think they would do well in my area.
Indoor gardening is still gardening so it certainly counts! How long has your aloe been in the same pot? For indoor plants I like to either up-size the pot or prune roots and repot periodically. It helps to keep them from becoming root bound and strangling themselves - not saying that's the problem but it could be a factor. If it were water stress I think you'd probably be seeing signs on more than just the center.
For your hyacinths, try top dressing them with additional soil or mulch to start. Sometimes it's the planting depth that is impacting whether they fall over. If you're feeling froggy, you could consider testing your soil, particularly for potassium and calcium. Calcium is used in building the cell walls and the potassium helps to regulate how firm/turgid the plants are. Boron plays a role too but it's a trace element and not a home test I've seen much.
I actually had some issues with root rot previously, but those cleared up. however, because of that, I moved it into a smaller pot (a friend actually told me to, and advocated for a cut in half water bottle when I said I didn't have anything else smaller) and while it did okay for a bit, now it has the browning center. I tried giving it some more sun like someone said I should, but that didn't help.
I can certainly try to repot it, I have some soil leftover from when I went to a greenhouse, same place I got my haworthia. and thank you for the tip on the hyacinth!
I've got about three months before thinking of planting
We will try and start to work on our garden this year. Bought it together with our house nearly 3 y ago and only did some cleaning to not let it completely overgrow.
We will start extremely basic with seeding a little bit of lawn and a wide stripe of wildflowers on the sides as we don't have a lot of time this year as new parents.
There is a walnut growing that we had trimmed last fall and some old Raspberrie plants that reproduce via the root. guess ill try and gently push it to the parts of the garden id like it to grow over the next few years.
Ultimately id like to swap the lawn with an ecological and easy to maintain alternative that my kid can play on and go full eco with wildflowers, bee hotels, cairn and what not at the edges of the garden.
Do some of you have a recommendation for a grass alternative that fits middle European weather that will not need loads of water to survive a harsh summer?
Hey congrats! Your plan sounds awesome, and the little one is sure to enjoy the natural beauty you're looking to foster.
Another way you could easily push the raspberry out to more spaces is by taking cuttings; when you remove canes during pruning, cut them into 20-30cm (8-12 inches) pieces and poke those into the ground where you'd like more. Keep one or two buds above ground, with one at the top of each cutting. Blackberries, currants, elderberry, and willow (Rubus, Ribes, Sambucus, and Salix) are other plants that can be easily propagated by this method.
Got some daffodils planted late, so I'll see if they bloom! Also planted some potatoes. I've got some hostas and colombine ready to go, but I am waiting to plant them after the last of the frost next month in a USDA region 9b. My maidenhairs got wrecked by hard frosts but are starting to unfurl new fronds :)
Getting the last set of pots this weekend, got large terracotta ones that I am going to be having ollas in with some container style tomatoes and peppers. Maximizing space without necessarily building more raised beds as I don't have the stuff for that, right now. Waiting on one of the local stores to get plants started for selling so that I can transplant them into my garden beds. Going to try okra this year! Determined to see how it works!
I think ollas are a great addition to the peppers in particular because of how sensitive they are to sporadic watering, great call!
Yep! they are also good because they are a deep root watering too! I used the ollas last years for my dynamite peppers and banana peppers, and they were wonderful honestly.
Made the silly mistake of trying to disabuse myself of the fantasy of rewilding a bit of land with some interlaced permaculture, as am barely functional & very clueless, but wanted to avoid group projects as very introverted & would want to camp overnight at times then perhaps graduate to an extra-basic one-person cob structure.
Found something ideal-seeming isn't nearly as costly as I'd imagined, so the fantasies I'd been trying to shed have gone... stratospheric.
Don't really know anyone, so can't even get together a group to buy it as a trust, but may give a collective I'm aware of a head's up as they're likely to know of other collectives who have yet to find suitable land.
Good options for vegetables or herbs to start from seed in zone 7a? I've only had success with marigolds and thai basil from seed, and I'm working on a more limited budget this year, so I'm trying to do more seeds rather than starter plants. Also considering trying peas this year.
Peas and beans should be great for you, and they're also some of the easiest plants to get started saving seeds for future seasons. They can make your garden beautiful to look at too - dragon langerie is a variety we grew last year and it's stunning.
Warm season crops like peppers or tomatoes, squash family plants like cucumbers and melons might be good for you too. 7a has (to me, a zone 5 gardener) sort of a Goldilocks season where you get generally good temps and a long growing season, without having the sort of heat that just kills things like in zones 9 and 10.
Beans for sure. When it is a wet year I pickled beans because I had so many that I couldn't use lol.
I have never once had peas work in 3 years of trying. Here in Belgium we had a year with sun, year with not much and a lot of rain, then a year of half full sun and half full rain.
The peas have never made it more than 8cm tall and refused to grab onto nets, string, bamboo, anything u put near them.
Moved to a new house and might try again though.
Peas and beans! Great recommendation. Did a little looking and they can grow in five gallon buckets, which should be perfect. Wish I could do more viney plants like melons but my space is extremely tight. I'm going to start my lettuce and carrots earlier this year so they have a chance to do something before it gets real hot out. Temps here are generally pretty nice, though I did lose an entire batch of black swallowtail caterpillars to the heat two years ago. Those little buggers can't take much above 85F.
I'm still not 100% sure we won't get another frost so I've planted some spring onions knowing that there's a chance they will not make it. I plan to put some marigolds with them this year, and then to put some decorative plants behind them in the harder to reach area of the plot.
I pretty much expect a late frost every year - planting guides around us say not to plant outside before mothers day. I'll still sow early season brassicas so we start getting delicious greens as early as possible though. And I love putting marigolds in with our veg, great choice!
There are styles of gardening? Are any of them suitable for a lazy beginner?
Honestly, one thing to look at would be using ollas, or terracotta pots that irrigate the plants for you. It is an easy way to once to twice a week water your plants. I use it almost exclusively in my gardens because my work schedule is too hectic sometimes for daily watering, plus it is much more effective in deep-root watering.
This sounds like something that will work! Thank you!
Of course! If you have any questions feel free to post around here too! There are a few different places to get seeds or plants from that are container friendly, which can help for something easy to work with.
Oh sure! Just to add to what @Butterbee said, there's also "square foot gardening" (not for lazy gardeners), Ruth Stout/straw bale gardening (lazy adjacent), and lots of approaches to tweak any style you choose.
I think container gardening is readily approachable, especially if you use larger pots to grow several plants with similar needs together. If your preference is more towards "set and forget" then roughing up a patch of soil, sowing wildflower seeds, and covering with a light mulch like straw or hay is a good way to start dabbling. Just avoid the "wildflower mix" bags at the big box stores, because they're probably not designed for your region. A mom & pop nursery is more likely to have species for your area.
idk about styles but there are certainly different ways of gardening. There's hydroponic gardening, gardening in containers, having plots out in the yard...
Lazy beginner options could be to go for succulents in containers next to a window, or maybe picking up some herbs that you can grow in pots from the garden store.
I received a small (6-ish spaces) hydroponics kit two Christmases ago, and grew a few strawberry plants in it last year following the instructions that came with it. We never really got any strawberries off of them, but the plants themselves did wonderfully until the cats got to them.
This year I'd like to try something more "useful", like fresh herbs or micro greens (both of which are rather expensive to buy where I live). Does anybody have tips for how to start these, and places (in the US or that ship to it) that might carry seeds for the micro greens? I'm also concerned about running out of the "fertilizer" that came with the kit.
AFAIK, micro greens are just regular greens that you plant really close together and then harvest before they get mature.
Please someone correct me if this isn't technically microgreens but what I've done in the past to get mini salad greens is you just get one of those larger seedlings trays (or you can use old milk cartons cut in half), put some soil in it, and plant seeds in really dense rows (like >10 seeds an inch). Then you just harvest them when they get to be an inch tall or something similar. I just use regular collard, kale, mustard, and lettuce seeds from the garden shop.
You can also grow stuff from the grocery store. One of my favorites to grow is pea shoots. You literally buy a bag of dried peas from the grocery store and plant them like I described above. Then harvest them when they get about 3-4 inches tall. They go great in spring salads. Mung beans are another grocery store staple that I love sprouting on my own instead of buying the sprouts.
Not sure what your kit looks like but you can definitely grow micro greens in potting soil as well if you run out of whatever the kit has! Just make sure you're keeping an eye on moisture so they don't stay too wet or get too dry. Because micro greens are basically seedlings, you don't actually need to fertilize them at all and they can actually grow in pretty spare soil.
I haven't really played around with hydroponics but another veggie grower near me is almost exclusively on them. He gets the bulk of his supplies from growerssupply.com and from what I can tell he's been pretty happy with them. Fingers crossed we get some folks who can speak more to this part of your question for you!
For herb seeds, I've been really happy with what we've received from FedCo and Strictly Medicinal Seeds. FedCo has a nice selection particularly for the New England region of the US but Strictly Medicinal has absolute tons of awesome stuff that won't like it near me (but also bunches that will)