Here's what I have to work with:
It faces the south and east and gets full sun. When the sun shows up around here, that is. It's the location of the previous owners' big garden (took up that entire dirt area when we were house hunting) and it's pretty much the only location I have.
This is what I want to plant: zucchinis, tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. I'm starting off small, since I'll be hugely pregnant come summertime, so it needs to be low-key this year.
My questions: When do I start planting? Those plants I listed will do well in a sunny environment, right? Will they survive planted in the regular ground (soil doesn't appear to be high quality), or do I need to build some raised beds and put in some good soil? Can I plant from seeds (I'm thinking not for the tomatoes) or do I need to buy already sprouted seedlings? Where would be a good not-too-expensive place to buy my seeds? I kept hearing about people having trouble with certain types of tomato plants last year. I don't have a sunny windowsills indoors I can sprout seeds that would be safe from children.
Thanks, fellow gardeners for helping me out. I really appreciate the advice.
4 comments:
You can plant tomatoes, they like to be fertilized. We did ours in raised beds, or you could do a large pot, or you could enrich your existing soil. I'd have to ask Chris, but they go in after the last danger of frost has passed. Make sure that you have a lot to help hold them up in the way of cages. My personal favorite place for getting gardening help is Johnson Brothers -- its a good ways out in the country (fun for the whole family!) but they know what they're doing and ahve a really great variety of plants that do well in this climate. Getting seeds at grocery stores does not mean that store got varieties that do well in your area. Local stores like Grey's or Johnson's have people who know our weather and soil and can really help. Don't worry about tomatoes until may at the very least. I'll ask Chris if you want more detail.
we bought seedlings.
I'm planning to start some seeds in the house in April and then plant outside in May around Memorial day. I started everything from seed last year, an also had one tomato start. The tomato start did MUCH better than the tomato seeds did, but everything else (cucumber, carrots, lettuce) did fine just from the seeds.
Last year I had to keep my starts away from the cat (I'm assuming this is similar to hiding them from toddlers) and I just shut them up in a room that the cat wasn't allowed in. It didn't have a ton of sun, but was warm and was next to the window. It seemed to work. =)
I also use raised garden beds that I filled with a mix of soil and horse manure. My plants LOVED it! lol And I tried not to think about what my food was growing in. ;)
It will be so fun to have a garden in a few years! By the time I have my own space for gardening, you will be an expert and I can come to you with all of my questions! I know nothing. Excpet that food is delicious, especially food hand-picked from the garden costing next to nothing. :) Good luck with your gardening adventures!
I had excessively successful tomatoes from small starts bought at Jerry's. In simple raised beds filled with my yard dirt mixed with alittle good nitro rich from Lane Forest Products. Lettuce is fine from seeds but you should do starts for zucchini and cucumbers. Neither of those survived last year because of snails, they kept eating my tiny starts :(
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