normally the safe-date for planting stuff in my region is the first week of may, but the long-range forecast shows no freeze, so I transplanted and planted lots of stuff!:
Tomatoes:
Ponderosa
Peron
Royal HillBilly
Roma
German Strawberry
Mexican Giants
Bush Cherry
also
dark zucchini
golden zucchini
yellow squash
Egg Plant
pickling cukes
english cukes
danvers carrots
red potatoes
fingerling potatoes
Green onions
white onions
red onions
Peppers:
Jalapenos
Serranos
Cayennes
Anaheims
Peter Pepe
Cajun Bells
Green Bells
Beans:
Bush beans
String Beans
Pinto Beans
Black Beans
Melons:
Watermelons
Cantalope
Honey Dew
Already out for the season we had lettuce, brussel sprouts, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, mustard greens and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting... (and a full herb garden)
--- We have all this crammed into about 2000sq ft on the SW side of my property. - Fed with three 275 gallon rain barrels and chicken poop.
This is nowhere near enough to be self-sufficient but it does take a load off the grocery bill... during the summer we pretty much only buy junk-food and meat/dairy. (and some of the chicken/eggs we trade veggies for).... and I have hot sauce and tomato sauce year-round.
I'm thinking about putting in a berry patch this year, but would have to take out a tree if I want to keep it near the rest of the garden... or would have to set up another rain barrel at a different downspout to water it.
Any other big time gardeners here? I've seen some posts from real-deal farmers... any more hobby gardeners in the mix here?
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[–] Warnos44 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I want to be a big time gardener, give me a couple years I might be able to claim that hobby title.
I need to set up rain barrels. I'm absolutely certain the plants would appreciate rain water instead of nasty, chemically treated city water.
Look forward to your photos!
[–] nosejobsforequality [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Get to work! You can definitely still get all kinds of good stuff done this year!
as for rain-collection I've run into trouble twice with my rain barrels... once with some sort of bacteria growing in my tanks which really slowed the growth of almost everything a couple seasons back, and then last year I had major algae growth in 2 of mine - For the algae you just need to block the sun and that will prevent it.. for the other stuff which can grow in water all I've come up with is cleaning out the barrels each year along with the gutters which drain into them. I'm sure there are kits one can buy to test the water but I've never checked into it. The city chemical water will still work on your plants though, so even without a barrel you can start growing today!
[–] Warnos44 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Thanks for the insight on the rain barrels. I've actually always wondered about that, figured it was a necessity to use a bleach or chlorine tablet. I knew about needing to block out the sun. Guess if I ever get a barrel I'll be making sure I can easily clean it out!
I am planting a lot! More than I ever have before. We just moved into a foreclosure so it's been a lot of work in every direction as we're trying to do a lot all at once. But I have no experience gardening, so I consider myself a wannabe gardener right now. If I have any success this year I'll consider myself entry level gardener 😂.
So far in my humble garden I have seven varieties of tomato, garlic, chives, green beans, cow peas, Lima beans, corn, yellow neck squash, zucchini, red squash, three kinds of watermelon, two cantaloupe, two carrot, three cucumber, lettuce, spinach, kale, newly planted asparagus (not expecting anything for a couple years), okra, jalapeno, Asian hot peppers, red and green seedless grapes along the fences, borage, wormwood, comfrey, cilantro, parsley, sunflowers, millet for the birds, sage, mint, oregano, thyme, Rosemary, nasturtium, goldenseal, bird house gourd, peanuts, etc. Pumpkins, I need to figure out when to start them for Halloween!