Gardeners: how's it looking?

[Puget]

My dream is to clear out part of the back yard and put in a huge fenced in veggie garden. For now, I'll have to content myself with gardening on campus.

How about starting small with something like this? https://www.gardeners.com/buy/raised-garden-bed-with-frame-and-covers/8610966.html?VariationId=P_5637161785

Raised bed and fence all in one. I have 2 placed to form an L (plus some additional in ground beds, but you can fit a lot just in the raised bed).

[Harlow2]

I'm confined to a 12 x 12 plot and find Earthboxes invaluable. They are food safe and last; the ones I got 13 years ago still look brand new.  You can get casters for mobility, I add tall stakes and fence wire or plastic netting as necessary.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

My dream is to clear out part of the back yard and put in a huge fenced in veggie garden. For now, I'll have to content myself with gardening on campus.

How about starting small with something like this? https://www.gardeners.com/buy/raised-garden-bed-with-frame-and-covers/8610966.html?VariationId=P_5637161785

Raised bed and fence all in one. I have 2 placed to form an L (plus some additional in ground beds, but you can fit a lot just in the raised bed).

Nice, but a little pricey. We have 20+ raised beds at work, so lots of fun for me. I'm also going through our seed inventory and it's a little overwhelming. My floor is covered with seed packs.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I started 7.5 dozen chili pepper plants (several varieties) the other day and I started 2.5 dozen sweet peppers today. My marigolds are sprouting, but I'm still waiting on sweet peas (and I soaked them). Favas are currently soaking.

[Harlow2]

Will start sweet peppers next week, and tomatoes, one new to me, next week. Have already started kale.  I grow micros indoors, sits going to get a bit crowded....

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

The porch is covered with seed pots and seeds are sprouting!

It's a beautiful, sunny day. Birds are singing, cats are howling (skip that) and I actually want to take a walk to the park.

And then, I'll come home and start more seeds. Maybe herbs today? Marjoram, Thai basil, tarragon, parsley, cilantro, dill ....

I think I'll also start some milkweed, calendula and more veg (cherry tomatoes [various types], sweet peppers, eggplant, peas...

What is everyone else starting?

[Puget]

The home improvement thread somehow turned into a discussion of home grown tomatoes and basil, a topic I never tire of, but which is more appropriate here--

How's everyone's garden coming along?
So far I've planted the little bare-root blueberry, cherry and plum starts that arrived (still little sticks, but mostly showing signs of budding), and started my peas (snap and snow). I need to plant lettuce and kale seeds this week, and start everything else in pots in enclosed porch aka greenhouse, as we are about 6 weeks out from our last frost date.

Meanwhile crocuses are blooming, daffodils and tulips are poking up, the lilacs are leafing out, and as evidenced by my allergies all the trees have started blooming this week.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Today I started:

lettuce
kale
broccoli
Moonflower
celery
jalapeno

I also transplanted tomatoes, marigolds and fava beans.

[Parasaurolophus]

My empress tree seeds have yet to germinate. I'm gonna have to plant the veggies soon, though. Can't be as late as last year!

[Aster]

I'm performing a slow replacement of all of my wood-based, raised beds with more durable materials (e.g., concrete, that fake wood stuff).

I've painfully discovered that my raised beds made from treated cedar wood will still quickly start rotting away after a few years. I have some 7-year old beds that are literally hollowed out from rot.

Meanwhile, I've got a cinder block bed dated from the mid-1990's that hasn't measurably suffered any long-term damage.

[Harlow2]

Lunchbox peppers have true leaves, kale and some lettuce starts moved outside, and 2 kinds of tomatoes now seeded. Also basil, zinnias, and marigolds on this gorgeous warm day.

[Aster]

Can anyone recommend a good leaf blower that also vacuums? I am tired of picking up leaves and would rather have something suck them up. I'm leaning on a corded Black and Decker model with a metal mulching blade, but I have zero experience with vacuums and would welcome any advice.

[mamselle]

Check your local ordinances for the legality of their use, and times permitted.

But, for the sake of your neighbors' sanity, air quality, and noise pollution levels, maybe just think of raking as good, healthy exercise and stick with that?

M.

[AmLitHist]

We took out three garden beds a few years ago because I was tired of doing armed battle with the squirrels to get a few tomatoes.  They were wood and needed replacing, so they went back to lawn (well, clover and chickweed that got mowed).

I got a wild hair a few weeks ago, after the landlady finally got the sweet gum tree trimmed (i.e., back to a trunk with a few sprouting twigs), to take advantage of the lack of squirrel bleacher-seating to garden again.  (Yes, I know they'll still be around; I might have to set the GSD grand-dog on squirrel duty to earn his keep.)

So, 4, 8x3x1 galvanized steel raised beds are in transit from their warehouse, soil will be booked for delivery today, and I've already started buying some seeds.  A potato tower will also be established, maybe this weekend. 

I just like to watch stuff grow.  The veggies and some additional time and replacement/new plants in my flower beds (all thanks to an out-of-the-blue bonus at work) is my frivolous spending for the year. I'm looking forward to it.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

We took out three garden beds a few years ago because I was tired of doing armed battle with the squirrels to get a few tomatoes.  They were wood and needed replacing, so they went back to lawn (well, clover and chickweed that got mowed).

I got a wild hair a few weeks ago, after the landlady finally got the sweet gum tree trimmed (i.e., back to a trunk with a few sprouting twigs), to take advantage of the lack of squirrel bleacher-seating to garden again.  (Yes, I know they'll still be around; I might have to set the GSD grand-dog on squirrel duty to earn his keep.)

So, 4, 8x3x1 galvanized steel raised beds are in transit from their warehouse, soil will be booked for delivery today, and I've already started buying some seeds.  A potato tower will also be established, maybe this weekend. 

I just like to watch stuff grow.  The veggies and some additional time and replacement/new plants in my flower beds (all thanks to an out-of-the-blue bonus at work) is my frivolous spending for the year. I'm looking forward to it.

Exciting! I've been lusting after the galvanized steel beds for awhile. Can you fence in the area to keep the squirrels out? Bird netting? A car battery or two wired up to an electric fence?