60
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
60 points (100.0% liked)
Nature and Gardening
6656 readers
1 users here now
All things green, outdoors, and nature-y. Whether it's animals in their natural habitat, hiking trails and mountains, or planting a little garden for yourself (and everything in between), you can talk about it here.
See also our Environment community, which is focused on weather, climate, climate change, and stuff like that.
(It's not mandatory, but we also encourage providing a description of your image(s) for accessibility purposes! See here for a more detailed explanation and advice on how best to do this.)
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
This is my first year growing more than a few peppers and tomatoes on a patio, since family gardens as a kid, as I finally have a yard. It's also my first year back in the north after decades in the US SW and SE, and quite a bit farther north than I've previously been. I grew up in USDA zone 5, and I'm in a microclimate of 3b, that's probably more like 3a, now.
First timing, it's a very short season, so I need to really do better at seeding some stuff like cauliflower, tomatoes, and cucumbers earlier for an early crop. I'm going to grow early tomatoes in a pot, so I can bring them in for our early frosts, and chase the sun a bit. My cauliflower is doing well during this late summer, but I really need to get it producing earlier when all I'm likely to get is peas and greens, otherwise.
Tomatoes are going to be a challenge here, it's hard to get them ripened before late July. But I'm going to start some short season varieties super early, like late January/early February, to see what I can do. I'm also going to try to stretch the season after our early late frost that usually comes late Auguest/early September, with those same varieties in pots again.
I'm right on a river, so mildew on squashes is going to be an issue. I don't know what to do about that yet, but it's going to be a point of research this winter.
Berries without cages are merely a tribute to the deer and chipmunks. That said, everbearing strawberries do seem to do a good job of keeping the critters away from other things in my garden, so I'll keep maintaining them. Once I buy a place, I'll need to build some five sided cages to grow various bramble berries, blueberries, currants, and strawberries.
But most of all, two concurrent cucumber plants for a single person is way too much. I think next year I'll just grow two pickling cucumbers, one early and replace it once it's production is down. I'm getting big into fermenting, so I think I'll want them all, just not all at once. I'm also finding I'm not a huge fan of slicers due to water content, when I eat them in salads, so a good pickling variety should keep me covered.