The vegetable patch

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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OK JLM, I'd better get started, haven't done anything, very
late start this year, so, tomorrow morning, I will turn
some sod, and will report back when I have something,
anything to brag about.
Oh, I have some nice strawberries that are growing
nicely, and some old carrots still in the ground from
last year, 'yuk'.
Your garden sounds very inviting, I'm jealous, but I did
redo my bathroom floor with new ceramic tiles, so I have
been busy, and needed a break after, and I have my new
kitten to have fun with, and another one coming in two
weeks, see, I have lots of excuses, and might think up
some more.

lol

No panic Talloola, I'd even wait another week for things like carrots and beets but the hardier stuff can be safely planted now - peas can even go in in March.
 

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
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No panic Talloola, I'd even wait another week for things like carrots and beets but the hardier stuff can be safely planted now - peas can even go in in March.

I started the corn 'indoors' this morning, and began
turning soil in the garden, such a beautiful day.

I have another excuse, we both have had very bad colds, picked them up at easter
dinner, surrounded by sneezing and nose blowing grandchildren. It's funny how
the cold thing works. A couple of those grandchildren lived with us for 2 years not
long ago, had many colds, and flu, and we didn't pick those up, once, but all of
a sudden we both got colds, (well he got it first, then a few days later I started)
guess it was a new strain we hadn't had before.
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
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Vernon, B.C.
I started the corn 'indoors' this morning, and began
turning soil in the garden, such a beautiful day.

I have another excuse, we both have had very bad colds, picked them up at easter
dinner, surrounded by sneezing and nose blowing grandchildren. It's funny how
the cold thing works. A couple of those grandchildren lived with us for 2 years not
long ago, had many colds, and flu, and we didn't pick those up, once, but all of
a sudden we both got colds, (well he got it first, then a few days later I started)
guess it was a new strain we hadn't had before.

Looks like you are making progress, I've also had a bad cold for about 10 days, thought I'd gotten rid of it a week ago and then on the weekend it came back on me. real bugger Beautiful weather here today too, spent part of it driving out to Lumby to see the doc about a skin allergy.........anyway could be worse, at my age it could be Alzheimers.
 

talloola

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Nov 14, 2006
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Looks like you are making progress, I've also had a bad cold for about 10 days, thought I'd gotten rid of it a week ago and then on the weekend it came back on me. real bugger Beautiful weather here today too, spent part of it driving out to Lumby to see the doc about a skin allergy.........anyway could be worse, at my age it could be Alzheimers.

I've felt great for about a week, but the cough won't stop,
can't figure out why we keep producing that awful stuff, then have to cough it up, don't want to take anything to
stop the cough, cause that's how we clear out our passages,
so on it goes, but slowly improving.

We were in Lumby once for a hockey tournament, for the kids.
What a neat little place, we always said it would be a
nice place to live, can't remember just how far it is from
Vernon, and when one keeps going the other way where does
it go then.

Good luck with allergies, and I think we are both too nosy
to get alzeimers, as I'm always looking into something to
find out how it works, or why it happens, and who is who,
and the garden keeps us young, (playing in the dirt).
Just don't start building sand castles and buying toy
cars for out there.

lol
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
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Anyone done any planting lately? I've got the majority of my stuff in the ground and most of it is up, but we've hit a cold snap, so will lay off a while longer before planting cukes, beans or tomatoes.
 

Darlene_O

New Member
So this past weekend we put in parsnips, carrots, beets, and onions and shallots.. In the next few days we have to do, cucs, beans, peas and the greens bed. Cannot wait for the swiss chard this year. We bought rainbow. It is so pretty! :) And the beet greens are fantastic while waiting for the beets to mature. In fact we plant the beets mostly for the tops. Beets are pretty cheap to purchase. Tomatoes I buy as plants and will start later this month . They tend to be sensitive here.
 

Mowich

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Dec 25, 2005
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Still too darn cold to do anything but turn the soil over here, JLM. It went down to 0' last night and the weatherman is calling for -2 for next two days and -4 on Thurs. Still having to cover up some of the more delicate plants.

I usually put in peas, beans, carrots, and Yukon Jack spuds. My garden plot is pretty small but the soil is fertile and I top it up with compost from my pile every year.

Also have some strawberry plants, red currants and some really fabulous Saskatoon bushes that bear well year after year.
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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Anyone done any planting lately? I've got the majority of my stuff in the ground and most of it is up, but we've hit a cold snap, so will lay off a while longer before planting cukes, beans or tomatoes.

I am happily avoiding travelling today because of the blizzard that started this morning. No planting here yet. lol.
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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I guess I haven't actually answered the question posed, so, I will now.

In the past we have gardened almost exclusively in flower beds around the yard. Only last year did we put in a traditional garden plot, and that didn't really increase our yield much other than to give us more carrots. The potatoes were almost inedible, the radishes were revolting, and the onions were mush. So, this year, I'm going to stick with what I know from my flower beds in the past.

In my three flower beds I usually plant....

10 tomatoe plants, this year I have sweet millions and yellow pear tomatoes going from seed and I'll add some larger tomatoes from the nursery. Romas are out as they've all gotten end rot for the last three years, as have all my friends' romas. That's enough wasting time and energy on that. lol. In front of the tomatoe plants I do a border of swiss chard, which is mostly eaten in salads when young and tender.

In my next flower bed, I plant a 10 foot section of snap peas, to be eaten in salads, as well as a border of mixed lettuce which we pick use as mixed baby greens all summer. between the two I will plant a row of dill, also for salads.

The third flower bed is herbs... thyme, basil, chives, parsley.

Then I have currently 6 zucchini plants started, and 4 pumpkin plants just for fun. They will take the place of what was our potatoe patch last year.

Carrots will go back in, perhaps a couple onions just to see if I can do better this year... and that should do us for the summer.

For the most part we buy very little veggies in the summer and live off salad. When we do buy veggies it's stuff we can marinade in my garden herbs to be grilled on the BBQ.
 

ironsides

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Feb 13, 2009
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Have any of you tried growing banana's and other tropical plants in pots, then bring them into the house or a greenhouse for the winter? I used to do it when I lived in NY with pretty good success.

Now I just do tomatoes and strawberry's in Florida. Soon it will be to hot for anything like veggies.
 

#juan

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Aug 30, 2005
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A couple weeks ago my wife planted snow peas around the outside few inches of a big half barrel. Each snow pea has its own eight foot bamboo rod to grow up and all the rods are tied together at the top like a teepee. Snow peas grow like crazy. They are already halfway up the bamboo rods. No flowers yet but there are a few buds. We'll be harvesting a few of them in another month
 

AnnaG

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Jul 5, 2009
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A couple weeks ago my wife planted snow peas around the outside few inches of a big half barrel. Each snow pea has its own eight foot bamboo rod to grow up and all the rods are tied together at the top like a teepee. Snow peas grow like crazy. They are already halfway up the bamboo rods. No flowers yet but there are a few buds. We'll be harvesting a few of them in another month
We have them + the beans climbing the 6' chicken wire around the rest of the veggies. with the dogs around we do not have many deer looking for freebies. Nifty idea, though.
We pounded a couple posts in the ground about 8 or 10 feet apart and stretched chicken wire between them. Our cukes climb the rig. No stooping to pick cukes that way. Strawberries are swinging in baskets from our old swingset frame.
I've been thinking about collecting old tubs, preferably colored ones to grow other stuff in. Lots easier to pick from and get ready for planting. Maybe next year.
 

talloola

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Nov 14, 2006
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My strawberries are looking big, bushy and healthy, should
yield lots of berries this year, and I have a few blueberry
bushes, look forward to the berries for our breakfasts.

Just started planting green beans today.

Corn is coming up nicely indoors to transplant later.

I'll buy tomatoe plants soon, just small patio type.

Not doing potatoes this year, just got tired of them,
as we have a huge vancouver island potatoe farm, right
here in the comox valley, which
supplies all the supermarkets, so i will buy them, they
look much nicer than anything I have grown, and I don't
have to dig them up, and can use the space for something else.

I'm very late planting all of the salad 'stuffs', but I
will get them planted this week, in an area that has some
shade during the hot part of the day, and I'll cut them
often to avoid bolting.

We'll do beets, love the greens.

I planted two zuchinni plants and 2 pumpkin plants last
year and they practically took over the whole yard, not
doing them again.

It's still rather cool in the morning, but the soil is
warming up nicely, during the day.
 
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JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
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Vernon, B.C.
My vegetable patch is starting to show signs of life now, installed a 2nd planting of lettuce, thinned the cabbages and turnips (they grow fast), installed 8 tomato plants on Friday and planted cukes on Saturday. I built a "bean tower"- made a tripod out of 2 X 4 and place lath rungs horizontally ready for green beans and Scarlet Runners. I'll likely plant some beans today. Carrots and beets are awful slow- had pretty well given up on them until yesterday. Anyway keeps me out of mischief. LOL
 

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
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My vegetable patch is starting to show signs of life now, installed a 2nd planting of lettuce, thinned the cabbages and turnips (they grow fast), installed 8 tomato plants on Friday and planted cukes on Saturday. I built a "bean tower"- made a tripod out of 2 X 4 and place lath rungs horizontally ready for green beans and Scarlet Runners. I'll likely plant some beans today. Carrots and beets are awful slow- had pretty well given up on them until yesterday. Anyway keeps me out of mischief. LOL

just going out to water the veggies and see what has appeared in the last two days.
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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This coming weekend is our 'safe planting' weekend. So, this week I'm going to start on my flower beds, and when hubby gets home, we'll work the main garden together and plant that. The zuccinis, pumpkins, tomatoes, and herbs, are all plenty ready to go into the ground.
 

darkbeaver

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Jan 26, 2006
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I've got eggplant lettuce, parsnips,cauliflower,kale,swiss chard, brocilli, tomatoes, melons all started in the green house, it got up to fifty c once last week and I baked a few little plants. The vents weren't working. I have to remember to get snow-peas Juan.
 

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
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corn has transplanted nicely, put in two pepper plants,

growing onions, both green and other, kale coming up
along with mixed salad greens, no sight of carrots yet, but
only planted them 6 days ago, no sign of beets yet, beans
are sprouting like mad, (pole type), and I put in two tomatoe plants.

Everything else is ornamental, bushes, flowers, trees, most rhodos are all out in full bloom, I have about 30 of them,
one allready finished, put in some annuals, and will get
a few more, just to keep gardens in color in the summer when
other plants have stopped blooming, right in the front I
have a very small display, and daffs are finished so I
put in some large marigolds, they will bloom till frost,
also have a nice dogwood tree and dwarf alberta spruce
in that area.

The huge honeysuckle that climbs over the front arbour will
bloom soon, and the scent is breathtaking, love it.

Have to scrub the nails everyday now before I leave the
house, gardeners hands, there are many in this area.
Lots of vineyards in and around the comox valley now, it
is becoming very popular and successful, we went to a
wine concert last summer, everyone sat around the property
with lunches, wine and cheese, and my daughter's small
group, her on flute, other lady on cello, and a lady with
the most beautiful classical voice entertained us, it was
wonderful, hope they do it again this year.

Enjoy your day I know I will as soon as I scrub my nails.