h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'll be noting what seeds/plants/whatever I've planted where, as well as what exact variety. I might post yields, too--I've plenty of times to decide that!

Planted strawberry plants in hanging pots on the ex-fireworks shed, south side. Sequoia variety, iirc. 3/12 or 3/13. (Discovered that the plants planted last year came back by the west fence just now. Didn't get any strawberries last year, except for what was already on the plants when I bought them. Need to make a decision when we prep that bed).

In greenhouse, in seed starter mix in tiny pots, 3/15 (5 each) Staying in greenhouse unless otherwise noted:

Roma tomato. Seed packet bought last year.

Black Beauty eggplant. Seed packet bought last year.

Ferry's Round Dutch cabbage. To be transplanted outside.

Mild Jalapeno pepper.

California Wonder bell pepper.

Serrano pepper.

Lemon cucumber. To be transplanted outside, since the plant I bought last year did well. May keep one inside, to compare yields.

Gardener's Delight cherry tomato.

Juliet Hybrid grape tomato.

Catskill brussel sprouts. Mostly planted because all the other seed packets say to plant directly outside and I had 1 row of pots left... To be transplanted outside.

Waiting for outside beds (will post exact varieties when planted):

Potatoes
Asparagus
Carrots
Broccoli
Spinach
Peas
Beans

Lemon cucumber?! not heard of that... sounds interesting though

William's got a veg plot, but the last couple years we never got very good produce due to teh weather But before that, we had some gorgeous, homegrown cucumbers, a lot smaller than shop-bought, and an aweful lot more tastier (I lived off cucumber and lettuce that year!)

Looks like you can get them there--either for William to grow, or to have out on your balcony. The one I had last year was in a pot with an old tomato cage I found, and, once it started producing, I got 1-2 cucumbers a day for about a month even with other critters going after them. http://www.amazon.co.uk/CUCUMBER-Lemon-SEEDS-easy-grow/dp/B001TO8BI4

I also have zucchini and yellow squash waiting to be planted.

OO! those cucumbers look really intesting, and also really useful; I often never manage to eat a whole cucumber in time, before its getting overly past it and soft, but those look like they're harvested when really* tiny; I could just put a whole one, sliced up into a salad, for one meal... Which would save waste if nothing else... I could even plant them out on my balcony I've got some unused pots and compost even, already, sitting out there (though at the moment the balcony is hiding behind the scaffolding still! )

Two packets of the cucumber seeds ordered William's going to germinate/start them off (I've really not got anywhere suitable here for that), and he'll have half to plant there, and I'll have the other half here, and get pots or just grow bags, sorted out for the balcony... and maybe some spring onions too, and a few other nice little salad things for the summer

Does Spring come earlier in your area than in mine, Amy? We still get temps in the teens or even single digits here, and there's still a snow covering on the ground, which is still quite frozen.

Paul

Yes...

Winter on this side of the Atlantic is much milder due to the gulf stream, As a result we warm up a lot quicker in spring.
Today in London it has reached 20C (68F) with it being sunny even in cloud daytime temperatures are above 10C (50F).


The downside of course is we don't get much snow, none here this year.

Sorry Paul

Missed that your post was to Amy...

This year has just been weird. Actually the last 2-3 years have... In general, yes, normally our spring comes earlier than yours Paul--I'm a bit farther south than you are, and the Pacific Ocean is less than a mile that-a-way (maybe less than 1/2 mile, as the crow flies--there're really tall trees in the way, and since we're surrounded by dead-end streets, getting anywhere can be convoluted). This year, we had warm enough daytime temperatures that my tulip grew (if a bit stunted due to nighttime temps), bloomed, and died back over a month ago

The really annoying thing is that we don't get cold enough long enough for most fruit trees, and we don't get hot enough period for the others.

We're USDA zone 9, Sunset zone 17 (the Sunset zone is more useful, since Sunset magazine takes into account summers as well as just the lowest average winter temperature).

Well, it's good that you've started posting about gardening, Amy. This reminds me to look up the kinds of seeds I will want to use when Spring finally comes to Boston. If I have to order them online, there will be time for them to arrive before I need to plant them.

My biggest concern is pumpkins and squashes, which have become hard to grow here lately. The soil is probably the biggest problem. I put Miracle grow on the pumpkins in my father's garden last summer, and nothing grew big enough to use. The female blossoms would bloom, the little pumpkins behind them would start to grow, and then, all too soon, they would grow yellow and fall off before they had gotten any bigger than a tomato. Some years ago, I grew a pumpkin on my lawn in the city, and the pumpkin that I ended up with started to rot almost as soon as it was ripe. That was fertilized with Miracle Grow as well.

Do pumpkins require a different blend of nutrients than other plants?

[I had good luck with green beans and carrots, though.]

Just don't get the bright idea to use sunflowers for the beans to climb up--none of my beans even sprouted

I don't know about pumpkins, except that I remember from when I was a kid that they take up a lot of room--more than I want to spare for them. Which is too bad--they're supposed to help prevent worms in chickens.

My scheme is to lean a ladder up against the overhang that keeps rain off the front porch. The pumpkin vines will climb the ladder and roam across the overhang. If they end up on the roof, I can pull the vines to get to the pumpkins. This may be a bad idea, though. I have plenty of time in which to reconsider. A former neighbor [who still lives not far away] says that his lush green lawn is a result of Miracle Grow in its powder form. I may get some of the stuff and mix it into the soil before I plant the pumpkins. I have plenty of liquid Miracle grow, which can be applied directly to the leaves.

Stay tuned for more of my nutty ideas.

High winds (well, not really high, as in storm-level, but don't-bother-trying-to-fly-a-kite high) shook the (well anchored) portable greenhouse enough earlier this week to knock down shelves--including the one with the seeds. So, today, I replanted everything I planted last week, with the exception of 2 pots each of serrano and bell peppers (those being the only ones that didn't lose the seed-bearing level of soil *and* the plant identifying sticks). I only had 2 grape tomato seeds, as well, so the extra 3 spots were taken by broccoli. I then placed the tray on the ground *under* the shelves.

This is our greenhouse: http://www.amazon.com/Outsunny-Portable-Shelf-Hexagonal-Greenhouse/dp/B00HDZ8CW8

We will also be setting up one of these (modified as seen here): http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-and-Improving-the-Harbor-Freight-6x8-Gree/ The box is currently sitting in our van.

Maybe lay some sandbags over the bottom rung.

The bottom is fully staked (Tom and I together can't budge it)--I think it was the plastic flapping or just vibration of the top. I'm just glad the rods didn't pop out of the sockets (though I did have to push some joints closer together to get the shelves to rest on them again). I think, once I actually have heavy things on the shelves, the whole thing will be more stable, since the only shelves that didn't tumble were the ones with bags of potting soil on them.

Hi Amy, I hope you don't mind me putting in my two pennorth.

I took over an allotment last year to supplement the small veg patch I have in the back garden and I'm just now getting around to digging it over for this year. It's really, really late I know, but only because the weather here has been atrocious since before Christmas with the heaviest rainfall since records began. Couple that with a very clay soil and it's pretty much impossible to turn over when saturated. I've had to leave it until now to let it dry out some.

The plot came with an already made up Asparagus bed which I did quite well with last year, although I fear the plants might have drowned over the winter months.

But, I've started seeds for: Corn, Runner Beans, Butternut Squash, Courgette, Sunflower, and Pumpkin. The last two are for the seeds really which I use in bread making a lot, and the price of the seed is astronomical, so I'm hoping to get some to use. Last year I had some good results with Giant Pumpkins, the first time I've ever grown them, but the seed was too big, hard and unusable. I.m trying a smaller variety this year.

I've got several other packets of Dwarf French Bean, Beetroot, Celariac and Onion sets that are going in as soon as I've got enough space dug over. And it's a beautiful morning here so I'm just about to take a bunch of chitted Potatoes up there and get them in.
Deke

I've considered growing potatoes. Do you take potatoes and cut them up and plant the pieces?