Home Garden 2024 / 2025

[Bzwrthy]

Let me know if you would like me to mail some seeds.

Would love some.


Last week I ordered a rose I've been looking at for over 20 years - never had the yard for it. They call it the "butterfly rose" and I'm going to use it to hide an ugly portion of fence and a view into the neighbor's yard

 

[Rambeezi]

My current winter bed. Various onions and leeks, carrots, bok choi. Just planted the cilantro and celeries. In process of building another bed designated for peppers and tomatoes but waiting for warmer weather (for planting) so the soil mix gets to cook a bit longer.

The smaller bed is my wife's herb bed... various mints, basils and other various herbs.

 

[GAJ]

My current winter bed. Various onions and leeks, carrots, bok choi. Just planted the cilantro and celeries. In process of building another bed designated for peppers and tomatoes but waiting for warmer weather (for planting) so the soil mix gets to cook a bit longer.

The smaller bed is my wife's herb bed... various mints, basils and other various herbs.

Someone has a very green thumb!

Mine is a very light brown.

 

[900ss]

I live in a condo in San Jose that gets pretty much zero sunlight on the deck or front porch. At work in Campbell I have a 4 foot square concrete thing filled with soil in which I have planted tomatoes, peppers, basil, spuds and other things. Due to the configuration of the building nowhere gets a stay 6 hours of sunlight.

In another soil patch I have "the artichoke that will not die"; It's probably 6 years old and keeps coming back. I don't use any pesticides, and if you don't already know, earwigs FUCKING LOVE ARTICHOKES!!!!! In another small spot I planted corn a few years back, but some critters would burrow under the driveway and wall and absconded with lots of the plants, the whole thing!. Bastids! Oh well, critters need to eat as well, bless their little mangy flea-ridden souls.

Last year some tyke was chomping on my tomatoes. I never did figure out what manner of beast it was.

I did have one awesome tomato worm last year; I tossed it on the driveway and he was probably a crow's lunch. I still lose sleep over that, the moth they turn into is beautiful. Weird looking fucker as a caterpillar though.

TIME TO PLANT!

 

[auntiebling]

i have chickens and they LOVE tomato worms. saddly in the last ~6 years i've only found 2 of the things.

 

[Bubba_s]

My current winter bed. Various onions and leeks, carrots, bok choi. Just planted the cilantro and celeries. In process of building another bed designated for peppers and tomatoes but waiting for warmer weather (for planting) so the soil mix gets to cook a bit longer.

The smaller bed is my wife's herb bed... various mints, basils and other various herbs.

Looks great, I don't do much over winter but I think I will change that this time around.

I just planted a bunch of seeds in my seed starter this weekend. Jalapenos and Anaheim peppers, and Black Krim and San Marzano (OG Romas) tomatoes. 18 of each. Once these get going I'll put them in bigger pots and throw another batch of something different in. I'm over the chilly weather and ready for soil temps to go up!!

 

[mean dad]

My garden gets inundated with those giant green guys. They get tossed over the back fence into the no-man's land along the walking trail.

 

[Rambeezi]

Someone has a very green thumb!

Mine is a very light brown.

Thank you!

Looks great, I don't do much over winter but I think I will change that this time around.

I just planted a bunch of seeds in my seed starter this weekend. Jalapenos and Anaheim peppers, and Black Krim and San Marzano (OG Romas) tomatoes. 18 of each. Once these get going I'll put them in bigger pots and throw another batch of something different in. I'm over the chilly weather and ready for soil temps to go up!!

This is my first winter garden. Usually after the summer season I amend the soil and let it cook during the fall and winter months. Wife wanted to keep the summer gardening momentum going so we researched what we can grow during the cold season in zone 9. Looks like vegetable gardening will now be a continuous thing for me... not that I mind.

 

[auntiebling]

the only problems with vegetable gardens is you now have vegetables. i wish cheeseburger gardens were a thing

 

[Bubba_s]

the only problems with vegetable gardens is you now have vegetables. i wish cheeseburger gardens were a thing

The magic cheeseburger gardens are most likely to be found in food deserts, oddly enough...

See what I did there

 

[Bubba_s]

Update on the tomatoes and peppers I am sprouting:

I have them in a sprouting tray thingy with a heat mat under them. Almost all of the tomatoes have come up and none of the peppers yet. Not too worried about the peppers, they've only been planted for a week or so. The tomatoes look pretty scrawny, I moved them to a window with a lot more light.

Other stuff:

Radishes are doing the best (No surprise there). Carrots are taking a while to show up, there are a couple. Maybe they won't make it in this round because I planted too soon. Not sure. The potato I put in the compost bin is looking very happy. Not sure why I haven't grown them more. I'll probably put the squash type plants in the fron t yard this year. Full sun and plenty of room to grow. Maybe I'll plant pumpkins for Halloween this year.

How's about you guys??

 

[mean dad]

Not a damn thing yet.

My garden is in wine barrel halves and they're chock full of rain water that needs to be drained. Adding to the headache is the fact that they're on sand colored hardpack and I don't want brown water staining it so it's turned into a small project to get that part done, then I need to get rid of the soil itself and replace it with the magic Antioch loamy clay soil.
It'll be a few hours of drudgery so I've been avoiding it to be honest.

But I'm living vicariously through your radish exploits so keep the updates coming. In fact after reading your posts I decided I need radishes in my life to eat and grow.

 

[Bubba_s]

Not a damn thing yet.

My garden is in wine barrel halves and they're chock full of rain water that needs to be drained. Adding to the headache is the fact that they're on sand colored hardpack and I don't want brown water staining it so it's turned into a small project to get that part done, then I need to get rid of the soil itself and replace it with the magic Antioch loamy clay soil.
It'll be a few hours of drudgery so I've been avoiding it to be honest.

But I'm living vicariously through your radish exploits so keep the updates coming. In fact after reading your posts I decided I need radishes in my life to eat and grow.

Do the radishes! I think I said it earlier but they are very gratifying veggies to grow. They pop up quick and are ripe faster than just about anything.

 

[900ss]

My 4 foot square planter at work has been fallow for a couple of months. It doesn't get 6 hours of sunlight but generally things work out. I turned the soil over today and pissed off a whole bunch of earthworms and a few interesting looking grubs. Live and let live!

IMHO this means the soil is healthy. I will buy a bag of shit next week and work it in, let it sit for a few weeks. I planted an artichoke a few years back in a different patch that refuses to die and has massive leaf growth. I expect 'chokes to start appearing in a few weeks. I have stated before how earwigs love these things.

I will toss some of my fish pepper seeds from last season in there shortly and see if they sprout. I don't go for the sprouting with heat pads malarkey; when did good old Mother Nature use heat pads? Paging Charles Darwin, survival of the fittest.....

Hey, I'm just a poor dumb immigrant so what do I know?

 

[Bubba_s]

My 4 foot square planter at work has been fallow for a couple of months. It doesn't get 6 hours of sunlight but generally things work out. I turned the soil over today and pissed off a whole bunch of earthworms and a few interesting looking grubs. Live and let live!

IMHO this means the soil is healthy. I will buy a bag of shit next week and work it in, let it sit for a few weeks. I planted an artichoke a few years back in a different patch that refuses to die and has massive leaf growth. I expect 'chokes to start appearing in a few weeks. I have stated before how earwigs love these things.

I will toss some of my fish pepper seeds from last season in there shortly and see if they sprout. I don't go for the sprouting with heat pads malarkey; when did good old Mother Nature use heat pads? Paging Charles Darwin, survival of the fittest.....

Hey, I'm just a poor dumb immigrant so what do I know?

I do almost everything from seeds in the ground but I usually buy peepers and tomatoes as starts. I'm trying to get my starts going early so I can use my own. I was planning to offer some here but now that I know about the prejudice against heating pads, I'll just throw the extras away.

How about some things I don't grow:

Pattay pan squash: Very cool looking, taste like shit (to me anyway)
Zucchini: I stopped growing these because they get so big, produce WAY more than I can use, and I much prefer the texture of yellow straight/crook neck when cooked.
Sunflowers: I used to love growing these in several varieties, then I found a rodent nest under a piece of would, filled with sunflower seeds/shells...No thanks!
Super hot peppers: Neat, fun, but my butthole wants nothing to do with them. Jalapenos, anaheims, bells and soranos.
Artichokes: Like you mention, bugs all up in them that are hard to get to. I don't use pesticides.

 

[FLH03RIDER]

DEATH TO THE WHITE GRUBS !!!
Feed 'em to your chickens, they LOVE them, or toss them in an old aluminium pie pan and let the birds have them.
They feast on the roots of your garden veggies and other plants.

Probably around here it's the Japanese Beetle or the Masked Chafer.
.

 

[900ss]

DEATH TO THE WHITE GRUBS !!!
Feed 'em to your chickens, they LOVE them, or toss them in an old aluminium pie pan and let the birds have them.
They feast on the roots of your garden veggies and other plants.

Probably around here it's the Japanese Beetle or the Masked Chafer.
.

I found a few when I turned over the soil in my planter. Soft-ass that I am I put them back under soil. I think on Monday I will dig them up and take them to the geese that are getting horny at work. I bet they would scarf them.

Are there any beneficial grubs that should be left alone?

I could not believe the incredible number of earthworms in the planter. I was going to offer them to a workmate for fishing but........ I'm a soft-ass and didn't. Live and let live and all that.

 

[Abacinator]

Republic Services is doing a compost giveaway for Martinez residents on March 30. Up to 40 gallons per residence.

 

[Bubba_s]

Garden update bumperooo...

Something ate most of my beet seedlings. Not cool!! I planted another bed, more lettuces radishes and beets. My three year old jalapeno plant is coming back to life after making it through another winter, it's scraggly but I think this year it will get much stronger. My asparagus patch may not have made it through the winter. Nothing is happening where I should be seeing some growth. More established patches are producing spears now. My tomato and pepper seedlings will be getting planted soon, they're pretty stringy now, we'll see how this experiment ends up... And the dog took a stroll through one of my raised beds. I left off the protection grates to let the plants get more light. It's not too bad but I thought my other dog (RIP Annie) was the biggest culprit. Otto just wanted to have a look I guess.

Edit: The peas are coming along, I expect them to kick into high gear soon!

 

[mean dad]

A few years ago our pot plants kept getting eaten by something and we couldn't figure out what was doing it. We'd cover them up at night and open them during the day but it was still happening.
Then one day we were out in the yard and watched Mickey (RIP) walk up to one of them and start nibbling on the leaves.

The call was coming from inside the house the whole time.