Might be a bit early ... but planted a few things

[Dan Purgert]

With the weather being warm enough that the weeds are starting to come in (and some onion-looking things that were planted by the previous owner), decided to take the past weekend and dig out the first two of this year's planned three experimental vegetable beds, and plant some onion sets, garlic, and potatoes; which should all be hardy enough to survive any of this year's remaining frosts (SHOULD).

Also planted a few containers with beans and peas, because I can move those inside at night, and let everything stay warm. Not sure how bad of an idea it is; but they're container varieties, so we'll see.

Then it's just waiting about 2 weeks (maybe 2 and a half) to pass the

50% light frost date so I can comfortably start planting the less hardy things I wanted to try. Not all that concerned that it's 50% chance, since I have more than enough seed packets to kill off a row or two of the leafy things I grabbed.

It's not quite "edible", but I've also got plans for a few flower gardens around the property to make things look ever so slightly better.

[songbird]

garlic is up and growing here along with many of the onion species.

all pretty much what i would do here, but i don't do too much container gardening.

i won't be putting any peas in for another week or two and some potentially sacrificial beans (because i have several gallons of seeds of those so if i lose a row or two it isn't a huge problem).

:)

early spring flowers are nice to have in, some daffodils and hyacinths are out, the earliest irises are up and mostly gone and some of the other earliest flowers.

songbird

[Dan Purgert]

Yeah, the couple of onions / garlic bulbs that already had shoots coming out seem to have taken a liking to the dirt, and I have 2 or 3 popping up through the mulch.

I wasn't too keen on the idea, but I already had the containers from a try last year at making the back deck look a little less barren. Didn't work out, as the pots ended up looking a bit like islands out there ...

Yeah, soon as I get the seed, I'm gonna be sowing the flowers in a rather dilapidated-looking bed on the side of the house. Found a local company that sells a mix of shade-tolerant (thriving?) annuals and perennials that're supposed to attract butterflies and other pollinators, so hopefully it works out well.

[Thomas]

Horseradish in on April 2 with 4 inch leaves now. I planted it opposite a deep old foundation wall so I don't need to worry about creep. Zone 5 PA. Planted some flower seeds yesterday, no idea what they will be other than I was told they will be purple lol.

[Michael Trew]

I really need to get moving on turning over the soil; I've been too distracted. I've never done onion/potato sets, but this is as good a time to start as any. Suppose I ought to head out and figure out where to buy them.

[songbird]

Michael Trew wrote: ...

local big box store garden centers, local greenhouses.

songbird

[songbird]

oh, and also there might be local grain elevators or other agricultural supply type places to check.

songbird

[Dan Purgert]

I got mine from the local Home Depot or Lowes garden section.

As of yesterday, many of the onions (about 1/3 to 1/2 or so) have sprouted.

[songbird]

Dan Purgert wrote: ...

i've been growing mine from seeds the past several years. learning by doing, plus it is a good way to weed out the kinds that will not survive our winters.

both garlic and onions are well worth learning how to grow as once you find varieties you like for eating and cooking you'd like to keep using them.

songbird

[Dan Purgert]

I just bought a "mixed" bag of onion sets. IIRC it's a mix of your "standard(tm) red/white/yellow generic kitchen onion" (or at least the bag doesn't talk about what varieties are actually in there). Also picked up a seed packet for walla walla because why not try starting in trays (and it sounded interesting).

I'd expand that to "Alliums in general" ; though I have to also be space-conscious (in all I have ~75 sqft of beds, and a few things want

18" rows, so ... )

[songbird]

...

the larger sets will sometimes flower. i love onion flowers so i leave those alone so the bees can get at them. :)

yes, that would put a damper on what could be grown. large onions do need more space, so those Walla Walla seedlings may not get very big if they are planted in close quarters.

songbird

[Michael Trew]

That's what I'm thinking. I've never grown them before (aside from green/spring onions), but my neighbor gave me several home grown red potatoes and white onions last year, and they were really good.

[songbird]

...

if you have enough room it's fun, but for sure it can also get out of hand if you let those seeds fly all over the place. in that way it reminds of me of dill that once you let it go to seed someplace it can be hard to remove it.

i try to get the seed heads snipped off and in a tray for drying before the seed capsules start breaking open.

if there's anything lacking in my linked descriptions and pictures let me know. :)

songbird

[Michael Trew]

My yard isn't pretty. I don't use any fertilizer, weed spray, etc. Even if potatoes/onions took over, I'd sure rather have those growing wild (yum!) instead of weeds.

Thanks!

[songbird]

Michael Trew wrote: ...

ha! yes, i'm getting further along each time i get a chance on removing what is left of the grass/lawn and replacing it by gardens. i'd much rather garden than mow any time.

songbird