Do something everyday (2013 Gardens)

With everything we have heard, read and seen on topics such as weather, health and nutrition, it has never been more important to expand or start your gardens for this years crops.

Whether you are growing to enhance your physical well being, preparing for food shortages or just taking time to reconnect with nature and keep that balanced feeling of having your feet firmly planted in the ground amidst a world in change, the time to begin gardening is always now.



It really matters little if you are growing for a family of one or for your extended group, family, neighbors and friends, gardening can be a pleasurable experience and if the age old adage of work smarter not harder is right, then there are things you can be doing 365 days a year to make that possible.



Elderly, disabled, even the physically handicapped can benefit from the pure satisfaction of doing something extraordinary that reaps amazing results in a short period of time. One thing for certain is that everyone has to eat and the pride felt when you use your hands to do God/Nature's work cannot be underestimated.

Gardening is something every age group can do together to form strong bonds, create good memories and lay the foundation for a lifetime of healthy habits and rewarding work ethics.

It is something that never goes without reward whether by eating the delicious food straight off the vine, preparing that first meal together at harvest, or even by learning from our mistakes which in the garden are only opportunities to grow and learn.

Although it can seem a bit overwhelming at the beginning, the first thing to do is to decide what motivates you to grow your own foods and supplements apart from what you buy at the grocery stores.

You can pick up a notebook from the store and make it your first project to write down all the reasons to grow a garden, if you have small children, teenagers, elderly or disabled in the family, sit down together and make it fun!

If you have some old gardening catalogs laying around or if you are like me getting at least one a week in the mail right now, have the family work together on a collage of ideas, cut out the things that are part of your ideal garden, the things that would be important to you to have in your garden be it vegetable, fruit or flower.

This would be a good time to remind your fellow companion gardeners about the importance of bee's, butterflies and beneficial insects such as the ladybug.

Taking into consideration how much space you will have for your gardens and the amount of time you will have to dedicate to the gardens will be your next step.

Be honest and realistic, and you wont be setting yourself up for failures that could have been avoided. Gardening is a forgiving art if you stick with the basics and plan accordingly.

As you venture into the reality of growing your own, KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Doing something every day towards your goal will not only insure your success, but help you to establish responsible stewardship and garden discipline.

Oops there went that dreaded word, discipline...

True enough, it does take responsibility and dedication to grow a garden. However the plan starts and begins within you and that is a first step towards personal garden responsibility.

Back to the list!

This is an important part of taking those first steps, write down why you have decided to garden, what positive benefits you hope to attain by gardening and you will find you have already witnessed the first growth in the garden, you!



OK so that is it for this segment as I have help right now and need to get some shelves built in my dinning room/grow room.

To recap what has been discussed here so far we need to first make a list of why we chose to grow and then create a garden note book to jot down those ideas and plans for either improving what we already have established or to make new plans for Garden 2013.

(*I will try to snap off some pictures later of my inside seed starter grow room as well as the snow covered outside gardens already in the works*)

Like I said in the OP, I have help today and will be building some simple seed starter tray shelves. I never turn down help when I can get it!

So off I go to get some shelving material (on the cheap) more on that at some other point.

Feel free to add to this thread and discussion with your plans and ideas for this years gardens and your personal approach to planning for this years gardens either just starting out or as an established experienced Master Gardener.

My chicken pen is almost done, I am about to order superworms to start breeding, I actually just finished like 10min ago lol starting my roma/pineapple tomatos, jalapeno, cali super pepper and sunflower seeds

MORE TO COME!!!

This is the perfect time of year to get started!

We are working on ours too. I am starting my onions so that they have time to grow from seed to good sized onions by the end of our short season.

Every year my existing shelves get cleaned off and rearranged to the best sun exposure possible, my husband keeps offering to put up lights, but somehow everything works out that I don't need them.Rotate flats and try to keep them from getting leggy. Try to time the starting of seed to when they will get to move outdoors. Make sure to pay attention to timing, or you will end up with a jungle of overgrown babies before they can move into their homes outside. Some things need to be started sooner than others. Depending on where you live, you may only need to start a few tender plants indoors, and start the rest in the garden by direct seeding.

Planning is essential, you don't want to end up with beautiful baby starts that have no home come time to move everyone outside. Different plants have different needs, check for water and light requirements, as well as days to harvest each plant. Some will need to be planted early indoors, and some may produce 2 or even 3 crops a year depending on your climate. Make sure you plant what you like as well, you don't want to have 20 lbs of beets that nobody will eat and crave a nice salad instead. Storage requirements at the end of each season should play a role in your planning too. Do you have a root cellar or cool crawlspace to store unprocessed produce, or will you have to can or freeze everything? Do you have enough shelf space or freezer space to accommodate your harvest. You may want to also make sure that you have enough of each crop to enjoy straight from the garden all summer as well as having enough to store up for the next winter.

Compost is an easy cheap way to feed your gardens, you use your own scraps and trash materials such as grass clippings and spent plants and fall leaves. Then you know that what you are putting in your gardens and eventually your stomach is as clean of chemical residue as possible.

Happy Gardening!

Even though we're still under couple of feet of snow, I still put on my bigger boots and trudge out to my compost bin.
I also grow indoors. Not much, I need bigger southern windows in this house - I'll get there eventually.

I have a 20 year old Bay tree that I keep trimmed at 5 feet tall, a rosemary tree in its third or fourth year, a sage, and a lemon verbena. Basically, I grow flavourings.

I really want a sunroom when we can afford to renovate.

It's hard to wait so long to get at the garden each year....

You can mark me up as a beginner! I've had gardens before but they have always succumbed to heat or bugs or disease. I've spent the last few weeks doing some research and I'm going to give it another try this year with square foot gardening.

I do have some questions about seed starting if someone can help me out.

Thank you so much for this thread Antar!!!

OK I am back, just overseeing my new shelves made of some extra lumber I had laying around and a few new cedar boards that will be used until time to build the chicken house.

I will get some pictures up right now even though it is under construction because even on a cloudy day it is so bright and the rainbows from the window crystals gives great energy to budding sprouts.

What a difference a day makes, now that I have more room for plants, I have spent the day doing transplants, mainly tomatoes, Leeks, Chinese cabbages.

Will get those pictures I promised up hopefully tonight, need some teck help from my middle son, I will give him the option to either do that or the dishes which are piling up...

See you all later and we can continue this great discussion.

reply to post by OneisOne


I am going to share some tips about just those problems! Believe me, I have made more mistakes than had successes over the years so I can help you without a doubt!

I love what I do and taking it one day at a time, one step after the other it is such a rewarding journey.

reply to post by snowspirit


Not sure how you are doing on money, but you have a million dollars worth of potential in your own backyard my friend. We can discuss that in private sometime if you would like.

reply to post by antar


Unfortunately, it takes a lot of money to make more money.
Plus the growing zone here is 2, might be able to fake it up to a 3 with artificial warm zones.
I plan on trying to get some brick and stone areas set up for warm spots.

I've thought about a greenhouse, or two. I have the space. It won't be anytime soon though. $$$$$
It has to be really strong. We get heavy wind, and often have moose wandering through.

We're saving up for a tractor too.

We moved here last June so still getting used to the area. It has a lot of possibilities.

antar
I put a garden in every year i love getting my hands into the cool earth and planting my starts and seeds..

Then water the garden and watch everything sprout up and the starts grow so fast its a sense of accomplishment to me its something i do well plus its fun..

Then when everything ready to pull up i can show off my vegetables to the family and friends..I love inviting friend over to help can and dehydrate the food and for there help they get to keep many of the things they canned for there family's i can only eat just so much I'm single ..

In this day in age when everything is so expensive everyone should try growing a garden get the kids out there they will love it also and learn something form pitching in and helping to water and pick the vegetables..

You would be surprised at what you can grow with a little time, patience and love..peace,sugarcookie1

Great thread!

I have always enjoyed gardening and esp growing my own veggies and herbs. I had a pretty decent garden on my porch at the last place I lived until the roofing company not once but twice destroyed it by tossing branches and big pieces of wood on top of it. They could have knocked on my door and asked me to move the stuff and i would have, gladly! I was so upset since my fiancee started my little porch garden when he was home from overseas. I am now at a new place and I am slowly making my garden. I have a few plants out there now and next will be getting shelving for my herb garden. I am limited with what I can have but I will definitely have the basics of an herb garden and then some! I love fresh herbs and use them daily.

My next project in the garden is turning one of my broken vases into a zen garden. It's something I saw online, Pinterest I believe and it was such a cute idea. You use small doll house pieces or make the "furniture" or "houses" yourself with pieces of wood and tree branches. They have a few other designs like a fairy garden in a broken pot, that one was really pretty!

I would love to have a full on garden in my back yard one day when we have our own home.

reply to post by antar


I'll keep a close eye on this thread. I love to garden, there's just something satisfying starting from scratch with seeds and dirt and basically next minute having massive vegies and fruit coming out the proverbial.

It is pretty simple too, it all comes down to planting at particular times, and knowing when to water and fertilise. I originally went into growing veggies because as someone who has worked in retail for a long time, I know what processes are done to the fruits and veg you buy off the supermarket shelves. When you grow your own garden, it lasts much much longer, and the taste is vastly different.

At the moment I'm in the process of dismantling my summer/spring vegies and getting ready to plant the winter seeds into pots in readiness for planting in a month or so. By spring I'll have cauliflower and broccoli, pumpkin and a few different herbs.

About the only thing I've ever had trouble with here is banana plants. They grow, but rarely sprout fruit, even with the warmer climate here. That and pineapples, which is strange, because there is a pineapple plantation about 10kms down the road from me. Other than that, everything goes nuts here. We've harvested tomatoes and corn, capsicum (you guys call them Bell Peppers), strawberries, cucumbers, watermelon and various lettuce varieties. Potatoes are also dead easy to grow, just bury some peelings about 12 inches or so deep, and generally fertilise them once or twice, and water. When you see the green sprouts start to come up, you have potatoes in the ground.

I'll be keen to see what other gardeners have to share here, I'm always up for some greenthumbing.

reply to post by antar

Looking forward to the tips and pics!

I just looked into my seed tray and ECK!! I see two starting to push through.

This weekend my husband and I are going to take measurements and try to come up with the layout for our little garden.

I've been encouraged by a gentleman in London that grew $1,000 worth of food in his small space, a 9-by-6-foot balcony and five south-facing window boxes. I know growing in my area will be different, but I'll take some inspiration where ever I can get it! If anyone would like to read the article: www.motherearthnews.com

Eastern NM gardening is different from Southern NM gardening in several ways including timing, cold-hardiness, & local availability of seeds/supplies. In Southern NM I could start seed on protected porch in mid Feb. In Eastern NM I've got no space inside & no natiral inclination, anyway, to fuss over indoor seed starts. The small patch of dirt space I've got to plant in has been 'ready' for a couple weeks now. I like growing flowers & have not grown veg. before, but the space is so small I'm thinking of doing veg. in bed, & flowers in pots. But my particular enjoyment in gardrning comes from growing native plants which then return year after year with minimum upkeep. Given the practicality of growing vegetables, though, especially while on a tight income & w/poor produce avaiability in local stores, it seems I should use this time over onthis side of the state to get some vegetable-gardening experience. It's good time for some types of greens, & roots to be soeed. Nice thread, gardening is a good thing to have in common w/one another.