How does your garden grow?

While I was out in the garden I was thinking about all of you. I figured that I must not be the only gardening enthusiast here and tis the season.

Who else here likes to get down and dirty?

Whatcha growin' in your garden?

We have a serious clay issue with out soil. It used to be a lake bed so 4 inches under topsoil is clay. Last year I built a raised garden and it went stunningly, so I'm expanding this year but experimenting with those bags as well.
Yesterday and today I finished all the mulching and even tilled some compost into the raised bed (with help from my awesometastic son!) so when my seedlings finally grow into plugs, I will be able to pop them in and watch them grow!

As for what I'm growing...everything. Almost. lol
So many kinds of fruits, veggies and herbs it kind-of scares my husband. That's okay, it's good to keep him on his toes.

I simply can not wait to get cookin' with my yummies this year!
What do you do with with your haul?

I heart gardening too. We also have a problem with clay. My hubby was kind enough to build me a few raised bed gardens. I love this type of gardening. at the moment I've planted spiniach, yellow squash, lettuce, and cucumbers. I'm waiting for it to get slightly warmer then I will do, yellow tomatos and peppers. My kids love the yellow varieties. I've tried the topsy turvey stuff and didn't do to well. Not sure if i will try it again this year. I did however tryi a patio tomato in a large flower pot that did fantabulous! Happy Gardening!

Clay here also!!! We just moved into this house in Oct, so since we're renting they said if we till we just have to reseed b4 we move out. ARGH!
Anyhooo--I love gardening, and although I'd like to go full tilt with a garden this year, I've started green, jalepeno and red peppers, and tomatoes. They're all in plastic cups and doing pretty well. I need to till soon so I can get the soil full of manure and peat moss. Just short on money to get it all going right now. But I'll have peas, lettuce, carrots, okra, and what I've started. I'm really big into flowers too, but this clay soil is SO bad, i've jsut done containers of impatiens and one rose bush, which surprisingly has done well! Miracle grow is my best friend!

No clay here, but SAND! shew! I started my garden in February and have been enjoying lettuce and snow peas for months. It's starting to get to hot for them now and they're dying back. But that just means that now it's tomato picking time! (I have to enjoy them while I can- soon they will scorch as well) The cucumbers and peppers are growing a bit slower, but I'm sure they'll be along in a few weeks. I have cinnimon basil comming up everywhere from last years scattered seeds. The two things that I've planted that are NOt doing well are my green beans and radishes. Radishes were demolished by termites! and the beans are spindly and bare as well. Oh well. I guess all-in-all it's not that big a sacrifice to the gardening Gods.

I'm still waiting for the snow to melt.

But my apple tree is budding and looks like it may be starting to leaf out. My clematis are about three feet high in the front south facing beds against the house. And the Rhubarb has already leafed up.

I used to have a magnificent garden when we lived on the coast but here it is Zone 2... and while we have tried to get a garden going we aren't having much luck with the soil - hard pack clay/silt.

We were planning to get raised beds going but mom had her stroke so it has cut down on the labour force by 50% and I can't manage it on my own.

I'm going to try to get some short season tomatoes going and maybe green onions and salad greens. But it isn't the best climate for getting a great garden unless you start inside/have a heated greenhouse, etc.

We can't plant outside until after the May longweekend and even then there is a frost risk.

We're enjoying 4 different apples off our tree's at the moment. We've also had peaches off our 2 peach tree's which have finished now. I'm still picking spinach.
Things that have finished in my garden now cause the weather is getting cold, (there's even been snow on the mountain) are strawberry's, lettuce heaps of different varieties, brocoli & we have a hot house for our tomatoes which was HUGHLEY abundant this year, which we ate most of gave away to friends & I make my own tomato base for pasta's sauce etc. We've really cut back on what we have in the garden since the boys arrived with less time on our hands & hubby working all the time.

We also have our own chooks so get lovely fresh eggs. There's nothing like "home grown flavour".

For those of you who have a problem with clay have you tried garden lime is great for breaking down clay.

the only thing growing in our garden is weed .

I loooooooooooove flowers and plants , but they don't love me back.
Everything dies here

So we have everything paved here ( i don't know if paved is the correct word but the online translator says so )

no veggies or fruit..it's a small garden..but flowers..so which one's?? guess..

Tulips and hyacynths... and something white at the end...

yup..tulips in the netherlands..I just love them..the white is some kind of weed i think..I'm just not too fast on taking things out! it has cute little white flowers..

the weather has been great for quit a while and now the tulips are gone and the roses are beginning to bloom!

I love colourfull flowers but don't have "green" fingers.... So we keep it green with flowers here and there.



And this is the home of our turtles...




The floor isn't vacumed....sorry

So jealous of your apples and peaches- None of my fruit trees have ever produced! I actually have an awful lot of space in my back yard for gardening, but the only thing there is weeds! I tried putting my garden back there a few years in a row, but it was too easy to forget about when the weather started getting hot. I learned that if I keep all of my planting in the front yard- where I have to walk past it every day, and all the neighbors can see it- It gets much better care!

Geekophile wrote: I learned that if I keep all of my planting in the front yard- where I have to walk past it every day, and all the neighbors can see it- It gets much better care!

That is so funny! Whatever works for you! lol

I planted fruit trees last year (plum, nectarine, golden apple espalier, kiwi and tart cherries). As soon as any fruit comes up the deer and birds strike. GAH! I learned too late that hanging a bar of Irish Spring soap in a stocking from the tree keeps the deer away.
I also have an issue with our squirrels helping themselves to the garden. We were forever finding half eaten tomatoes, peppers and pea pods last year.

So many lovely photos and yummy sounding gardens! I admit I don't do much with flowers unless they are edible or herbal in some way. I'm a pretty "functional" gardener however we moved into our house in the fall 5 years ago. In the spring I was beyond delighted to see a rainbow of tulips come up the side. I've kept them since and just love them.

Yesterday I planted rhubarb and asparagus for the first time. Every year I add and expand a little. We've finally had nice days for the past couple after about two weeks of rain. Looks like we're heading back into two weeks of rain too. Ugh. This summer it looks like rain is going to be a huge issue.

Shannon, we've been known to get snow storms as late as Mother's Day and as early as mid-October. Luckily I have a sunporch where I can start things otherwise I think I'd be sharing in your frustration.

Yup..I'm a gardener too. I prefer home and organic grown veggies and fruit to store bought for many reasons. I have a 30' x 50' garden with space for flowers, strawberry and raspberries,Saskatoons, gooseberry, plum, pear, cherry and crabapple trees and bushes as well as veggies. I need the peace I feel from working in the garden but thanks to all the moisture I mostly have gigantic thistle and quackgrass overtaking everything. I have a ton of work cut out for me this year, that's for sure.

Me too Gr8tful. I can only work on the beds when the rain stops so they are no where near done. I've been doing a battle against Creeping Charlies which have been running far more than creeping.

LOL! Here the thistle and quackgrass is higher than my Saskatoon trees. I am not sure how I will get rid of it all as the rototiller will just get plugged around the tines if I try to rototill. It's gotta be hand pulled by "arm strong" technology. LOL

This makes me happy, and I sing it all the time when I'm pulling weeds and picking stones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FkaN0HQgs

I'm not sure which I love more, that you know that song or that you put up the Muppet Show version...which I just rewatched two weeks ago (Jim Henson is my personal god, btw).

I'm with Lynnie! I have bookmarked it and I thank you very much for the link! BTW, I love your avatar. That is really nice. I have been thinking about painting some Dreamcatcher designs and your avatar gives me inspiration and the reminder to get it right.

Think of Sam Kinison(SP)... "It's Sand... Sand... Nothing can grow here!" Yup, that's FL or at least my area. You have to cart in all good soil, dig out the sand & replace it. I had a beautiful garden when I lived in Navy housing in SC, but that was 15 yrs ago. Some day I'll have a nice garden in FL....