Has Anyone Ever Started A Garden? (Vegetables Mostly)

I started a Beer Garden. Built my own badass Kegerator and fully stocked fridge with frosted mug in the freezer.

 

There is nothing wrong with a man growing vegetables. I'm thinking about doing that in the spring here in Maryland. A lot of my family in Florida grow and have grown vegetables down there. Some things I know they've grown well are okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, various peppers, and squash. Granted this is north Florida but I wouldn't think there would be a huge difference.

 

We do this all of the time A44, usually your local county govt has a webpage or the state dept of ag has guide for whatever area you are in.

Herbs are very easy to grow, and you can use them in oil to make an herb infused oil.

SFlorida should support just about anything, from Strawberries to Asparagus, my one caution is you are probably better off growing more expensive veggies rather than stuff like potatoes or what have you. Watch out for insects especially down there.

IMO it's a lot of fun and a good excuse to drink a couple of beers and hang out in the sunshine.

 

^^^^nothing wrong with this. It's a cheap alternative to expensive produce.

Good starter plants are tomato plants. Grow them in 5 gallon buckets on your deck/porch. Fill the buckets with potting soil, plant your seeds and fertilize as necessary. To keep critters out, put chicken wire or something similar in the opening of the bucket and have it extend vertically a foot or so.

If you find that managing those are easy, then step up. Start a small garden in the ground, but be ready to work it daily.

 

an added note. in many places in Florida, the soil is total crap (too sandy). You're much better off building a raised bed. very easy to do. buy some cheap topsoil and you'll get much better vegies out of it. also consider some cheap tarp to keep some of the moisture in since it gets so hot down there.

if you've got some extra money, I used to use those earthboxes - reservoir systems - when I lived in Atlanta. I had trouble growing in the ground because of the heat. the earthboxes grew so many veggies I had to throw many of them out. Had a tomato bush that grew about 4 feet high and 5 feet across.

 

Back in high school I had a small garden in my closet...

 

That Asian boy's name was Garden?

 

FinD has a cucumber garden.... but he never eats 'em.

 

This is an important point.
Don't start any garden if you think you might not have enough time to give it all the attention it needs considering you won't be working with an established root system.

Herbs are easy. I'm a fan of basil, rosemary, and oregano, but basil & oregano require some extra attention to grow 'em up well and keep 'em growing, so you'll have to study up on those two. It's significantly more cost effective to pay a few bucks for a basil plant, grow it up, and pick off it whenever needed.

Actually, I found most of it to be easy provided you follow the care instructions (how much watering & sun exposure needed, etc) and can stay consistent with it. If you can successfully follow a recipe for baking a cake, you should be ok with growing a small garden. IMO, being a successful gardener goes a long way when you feel a sense of pride in doing it, as well as treating the plants as if they're living creatures whose lives you're responsible for. Just make sure it's something you'd enjoy doing rather than treating it as though it's a chore.

 

works a lot better when you have your own basement and move to a state that doesn't care

 

.... or own a second home in Mexico and are on a first name basis with the custom's agent.

 

Oddly enough I have a Greek Oregano plant that is nearly impossible to kill.

Quick tip though, water at night, not in the morning, especially in a hot climate.

As for excess veggies, those can be pickled, or traded off, or turned into soups etc.

 

Regarding the oregano, I meant the maintenance stuff like ensuring they're cut back to keep them bushy and better tasting, as well as pinching off the flowers to keep the leaves growing abundantly.

I water at night when it's hot out as well. That's a good tip.

 

If you have the space, make your own compost. My parents live in the country and that's what they do. They have gotten some giant vegetables as a result.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

How do u confse Gao with Garden?

 

Eh, potting soil, even the generic stuff and you just mix in organic waste from your home:

-Coffee grinds
-egg shells
-veggie left overs

And then just work them into the soil, the rain will break that stuff down and enrich your soil, a good tip is buy some fishing worms and add those and banana peels to your raised bed, that makes for a very very rich soil in a small space.

If your into it check out how the French use potagers:

http://www.frenchgardening.com/aupotager.html?pid=3104884985285027

worms in your soil:

http://www.gardenstew.com/blog/e3-17-earthworms-in-the-garden--earthworm-facts.html

 

I'd recommend pooping on the tomato plants once/week give or take a day depending on the size of your last meal.

 

[video=youtube;IaXrQNYGN4Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaXrQNYGN4Q[/video]

 

Exactly, my grandmother turned sandy soil into great soil by years of burying organic waste. But, if you have a dog, they may dig it up, which is why I don't do it

 

The importance of PH will depend on what you're growing. Some plants have a broader range of tolerances than others. Just search online with the name of what you're growing and PH and you should find out if it'll be an issue for you. I live in a different area, but the only time it mattered for me was when I had pine trees, whose needles raise the ph. I just looked for high ph loving produce for that area. I'm late to this thread, but my main point would have echoed Padre's. You find out what grows best in your area and your odds of success go up exponentially.

 

Farmers almanac is a good source for many things including when to plant. Very handy little yellow book.

 

Poor ph leads to plants that are stunted in Fl this can be a problem, great climate but poor soils sometimes

I container garden, this summer had those aphids all over my tomato plants and did not want to use insecticide

So, found the local wasp nest and put the containers underneath it..about a week the aphids were strangely missing.

 

Personally I don't put meat products in my pots as they just are not worth it to me

Egg shells, the leftovers from seafood like crab leg husks, coffee grinds, veggie peels (even if you make stock with them).

I've heard great great things about adding worms into the mix tho, have not tried it, use them up when I fresh water fish..

 

wasn't referring to meat. my three dogs will eat anything that smells like food and is buried.
as far as worms, I've definitely found the best soils I've grown in have the most worms. land I have up here in Mass is the best I've ever seen.

 

True, midwest is probably great as well

BUT the South has 3-4 growing season, if one is into it you can literally plant in February and harvest up until Nov/December

As for the doggies..bad dog! bad!



Sidelight is my Grandmother retired to Florida in the late 60's to an old citrus grove, so we always had that available, hated grapefruit then but enjoy it now

 

mods can we move this thread to the women's work forum. K thanks.

 

Lucky did you have to look in your manpurse to find your smartphone to post that?

 

are you calling smart phones feminine?

 

When stored in Murse..yep

 

It's a satchel............
With sequence or in my case menquence.

 

It's sequins Lucky..sequins..