It was fun to see a big green clump in the middle of my raised bed. I had no idea what it was until I ate a leaf and sure enough, it was the peppermint I planted last spring. Besides being a perennial, because I had taken up the remnants of the other plants, it had lots more space. So the leaves got much bigger and I didn't recognize it as the same plant. Very cool.

The thing that irks me is that the carrots I planted in late fall had long leaves but still very teeny carrots when I pulled a few. I guess there's not enough nutrients to make them grow or I planted too many seeds. I don't get it.

I guess parsley must be a perennial because it came up in the place it was planted last year!

I have to sign a new contract for the garden this weekend. There are rules attached and one of them is regarding Miracle-Gro. It's BANNED! Not natural, apparently.

maybe get a soil tester .. they are relatively cheap (under 20 ive found) All tops with no roots or small roots is a condition usually caused by planting too close or by not thinning plants. Excessive nitrogen fertilization can also contribute to extensive top growth at the expense of root growth

in otherwords too much of a good thing

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2012 03:28PM by Jgunn.

That is interesting, Jodi. I think you are right about too many competing plants. I just basically planted the whole packet of carrot seeds, which was silly. The instructions said to make a mound of seeds and I figured that each seed created one carrot and not a bunch of them so why not put them together? Oh well, live and learn. I think my soil needs more nitrogen. Too many tomatoes planted last year! So I am gonna grow beans to fix the soil.

miracle grow is made from petroleum!!!! YUCK! EVIL!

RAWLION Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> miracle grow is made from petroleum!!!! YUCK!
> EVIL!


No wonder they won't let it used in our garden! I am wondering if I should try and get some horse manure from a stable? I am looking for CHEAP natural fertilizing. Funny--I saw a Starbuck's sign touting their coffee grounds...I am assuming they just give them away. That might not be too bad...

My grandmother had a serious green thumb. I can remember her tossing her coffee grounds in her flower bed just outside of her kitchen door. (That was 50 years ago! But I still remember how lush everything she planted grew.)


My favorite raw vegan

bananawho .. not sure how far your garden is from your home but for small seeds like carrots i make my own seed tapes

essentially u take strips of paper and dot something sticky on it .. and drop a seed on the sticky spot at perfect spacing

it takes time to make the stickies ..but i hate thinning out plants it seems like sucha waste

somepeople use glue .. ive use toilet paper strips and dots of honey (i dont want commercial glue in my garden) but the toiletpaper tears too easy .. papertowel seems to work better some people use newspaper ..heres a decent recipe using flour and water

[site.cleanairgardening.com]

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Hi

OK 1. I plant my small carrot seeds with radish seeds. The radish comes up first. When harvesting them, it aerates the soil allowing nutrients to be available for the carrots and allows for space for the carrots to grow.

2. Did you plant your carrots in the fall, they need enough light for them to get big, start them earlier. I always start carrots in the spring and sometimes overwinter them in the ground with straw ontop so that I can harvest throughout the year.

3. Parsley is a bienniel. I do not eat it once it starts to bolt (make a flower head.)

and lastly 4. aged manure of all sorts is good. I like manure that is at least 3 years old. Some would plant a tomato with fish scrap in the bottom of the hole. As far as I am concerned I like to use dried kelp for fertilizer or composted seaweeds, manures, green manures (comfrey, buckwheat, table scraps), anything but again I like it aged so that it is broken down and available for the plants.

Very interesting, Vermont! I wish I could pick your brain all day long.

I planted radishes first and they didn't do anything. I think there were too many other plants competing for space and nutrients (it's a raised bed). Yes, the carrots were planted in fall because it said so on the packet. I wonder if I can thin out the current crop and leave a few for the summer and beyond...

About the parsley: I didn't plant it myself but it's in a communal area where we all can partake of it. What I was blown away by is that it lasted from last summer thru the winter and is back to its bushy self. I will have to Google 'bianuual' to figure out exactly how long it will last.

Thanks!

banana who-
carrots are biennial too so you can thin them and eat the root until it sends up its seeds stalk. Try radishes again now. Most radishes are spring radishes, the only fall radish I know of is the Daikon.

When I garden I think about if I were that plant, where and how would I like to be planted (the seed) how much space, where would I be most happy and when.

I have been growing gardens for many years. It all comes in time. Feel free to contact me, I love to talk. The best gardening book I have is Ed Smith's 'The Vegetable Gardeners Bible'.

Thanks for the book tip. I am always looking for those. I am learning stuff little by little. Today I bought one of those upside down planters for tomatoes and strawberries. I have read mixed reviews but it was on sale and I have some tomato seeds left. I would like to see if it works out.

Update: Bought some compost and headed over to my plot this morning.
I pulled out all the weeds and the remaining carrots and planted lemon cukes and some basil seeds, as well as a yellow heirloom tomato.

I've been thinking about one of those hanging strawberry things too, seems like a good space saver.
We put some babies into the ground today too, it was hot, sweaty, dirty work and I still feel filthy even after a shower, lol. Awesome to think we'll be grocery shopping in the back yard this summer though, I do love that .
Thanks for the book recommendation Vermontnl, there are just too many to choose from without a nod from a seasoned gardener.

I think I'll have better luck this year, given the fact that I won't be planting so much stuff. What is very cool is that one of the tomato plants I bought came in its own container (big enough to grow into) along with a mini cage. It already had a bunch of mini cherry tomatoes on it, including some which were ripe and which I ate

At the community garden they have strawberry plants in a common area and I had a few of those. They were red and supposedly ripe but not super sweet. It may be the way home-grown strawberries are, compared to those monster ones from CA.

I have one of those upside down jobs. I am not sure whether to plant yet another crop of tomatoes, or to go with strawberries...I am having a bit of trouble figuring out how it all works, even with the instructions!