Got my garden in yesterday! Yay!

[Lyric]

I've never really had the space or opportunity to do it before, but now I do. Right now I have a 7.5 ft by 4 ft raised bed planted with lettuces, cabbages, cucumbers, bell peppers, yellow squash, and zucchini. I also have eight 5-gallon bucket containers (modified to be planting containers), full of lovely organic potting soil and compost, all of which contain tomato plants. My garden plot itself only gets about 7 hours of direct sun and tomatoes need more than that to really produce, so we're doing the 'maters in containers. I got them as 6-inch starter transplants, and when I potted them yesterday, they were ALL at least a foot high. Yay!

I also have three long containers on the porch full of herbs, one bucket planter with a special extra-sweet red bell pepper, and we're putting in the pumpkins this week. I also have flowers growing--three different kinds of morning glories, plus marigolds to help keep bugs away from my veggies, a Rose of Sharon cutting that I'm nursing along until it has roots enough to plant, and Deb's getting me a rose bush next week. She also got me two ENORMOUS Boston Ferns in hanging containers for the porch.

My friend Jessi works at a CSA organic farm in the southern part of the state, and she's bringing me up a hanging container with an heirloom organic cherry tomato plant, some more herbs, and a bunch of this stuff they use as a fertilizer called "worm juice". I'll be using that instead of any chemicals. I wish I had more space, but since we live right in the middle of the city, I am extremely limited. Still, I think we'll get enough to have some really wonderful veggies this summer.

I'm so excited!!! I've been sitting outside for hours every day with a dreamy, happy grin plastered on my face. I'll be taking pictures as the plants being grown from seeds start to sprout. I've got emergency plastic to cover everything with if it happens to get really cold again, and we're carrying the tomato containers inside every time it drops below 50 degrees, so I think I'm set! Wish me luck. I'm sure I'll make some stoopid n00b mistakes and learn from them, but I'll definitely get SOMETHING out of this garden. I want the tomatoes so bad I can hardly stand it, lol.

[beac]

1. Sounds like you've done a great job getting a lot out of a little space!

I'm dying to get my tomatoes and veggies in, but it's still much too early here, so I've had to content myself with planting spring bulbs and general tidying up of perennials I planted last year. Almost everything made it through the terrible winter, even the azalea that lost half its branches.

I did almost all my veggies/tomatoes in pots last year and they did great. And I did bring them inside early in the season when we had some late frosts (end of May!).

I'm a big believer in worm castings (what I am guessing your "worm juice" is made from.) It's like a magic potion for plants. My neighbors kept asking of I was using Miracle Grow-- "Nope, just worm poop!" ;)

Marigolds can attract slugs, so keep an eye out for their slimy trails.

I'm basically a noonb too, but having the internet accelerated my learning curve like mad. Don't think I would have made it through last season without "The Google."

Good luck! :hi:

[noamnety]

2. Sounds good.

be careful with the plastic if you live in the north, it doesn't have the same thermal properties as glass, and it can make a difference.
I posted about that once before in more detail: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x7862#7873

[Lyric]

3. Well it is now Day 9!

My tomato plants are growing very, very well. I have an unbelievable number of sprouts from the lettuces, cabbage, cucumbers, chives, basil, and spearmint. Everything was planted in a mixture of organic garden soil, peat moss, and composted cow manure. I used an organic fertilizer on the tomatoes when I transplanted them (worm juice), and some Scotts Rose and Bloom slow-release fertilizer on the soil around my roses, but nothing else. Here are a few pictures, for those who are interested:

My green leaf and gourmet blend lettuce sprouts:





Cabbage sprouts:



Cucumber sprouts:



Chives:



Basil:



Spearmint:



Tomatoes on Day 1:



Tomatoes on Day 5:



Tomatoes on Day 9:



Tomato plant closeup on Day 9:



John F. Kennedy White Rose Bush:



Arizona Rose Bush (these will be pink and apricot):



One of my Boston Ferns:



My pretty little French Dwarf Marigolds:



The whole thing from the front:



:woohoo:

:hi:

[elleng]

4. VERY NICE, Lyric!

Are you in Mo'town?

[Lyric]

5. Ellen--yep!

Right in the heart of Sunnyside, where the other students look at me like I'm a little crazy for bothering to garden when there's SO MUCH partying to do, lol.