Quarantine Vegetable Gardens

[Midwestmom2019]

I saw that some parts of the Midwest and North East are going to get snow!
Record-breaking cold prompts freeze warning | TribLIVE.com
Freeze Warning covers half of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula

I hope your potatoes and beans outside make it. I'm using a combination of plastic bins and glass jars to cover my outside plants. In years past I used blankets and plastic sheeting and that works most of the time but the bins and jars really seem to work well. I got the idea from the Rusted Gardener's videos:

Better hurry up and cover everything. It’s getting dark.

 

[CeeCeeCat]

Yesterday, I bee-watched for ages. Bees fascinate me, there seem so many different types. My favourite is the bumble bee (how do they stay up? How?) and one stopped by yesterday morning, to gather pollen from the lavender. Beautiful. William (baby-cat) is fascinated by them but seems to realise bees are not to be trifled with. He is also entranced by butterflies and yesterday we had a very special visitor - a Red Admiral. I haven’t seen one in years. Those colours!
Suddenly, everything in the garden is blooming. Up bright and early today, perched on the back step with my coffee and keeping a watchful eye on the cats, I realised that overnight one pot of strawberry plants is alive with flowers. So excited to see them

 

[Kavya01]

My pole beans took a beating last night, specially the lower leaves are a bit frost bitten, but I think there's still enough healthy emerging foliage higher up their stems to where they should make it and recover. Hoping so anyway! The potatoes withstood the frost better than I had dared to hope. Leeks, lettuces and peas and strawberries all survived unscathed.
Crossing fingers for tonight now, last frost I would hope for this spring! And temps not as low as last night, -1 rather than -4 Celsius we had this morning, brrrrr.

 

[hotsytotsy]

Hello all! I am so thrilled to find this thread. I’ve just finished planting what my DH calls my “victory garden”, consisting primarily of Romaine and Basil grown from kitchen scraps. We live in the desert, so it’s a container of course. Happy to see all of you here

 

[acutename]

Better hurry up and cover everything. It’s getting dark.

32F here very early in the a.m.at least briefly yesterday and today....feels very cold in May... potted plants all back in the house. winter coat last evening. shorts.... no. felt good to wear a cloth face cover!

 

[Gardener1850]

All my plants survived the freeze! On the coldest night it dipped down to 29 degrees here. We covered everything with jars and plastic bins and then for an extra layer of protection we put heavy moving blankets over the bins and weighted them down with bricks so the wind couldn't remove them. We have a couple more nights of upper 30's predicted this week but once we get through those it should be smooth sailing and no more covering required. All my potatoes and container plants are growing like crazy since we increased their night night temps by putting them in the garage. I have them on a utility trailer and roll them outside during the day to get sun, then back into the garage at night. The garage stayed in the 60's while the temps outside dropped to the 30's. The potatoes must think it's summer already. Only my sweet potatoes have not sprouted yet. I already topped most of the potato bags off with dirt once last week and I will be adding more dirt this week to cover the green stems. Supposedly doing this will produce more potatoes and prevent the potatoes from turning green. It's my first time growing potatoes and I really like growing them so far. They grow quickly and are so easy.

 

[CeeCeeCat]

Hello all! I am so thrilled to find this thread. I’ve just finished planting what my DH calls my “victory garden”, consisting primarily of Romaine and Basil grown from kitchen scraps. We live in the desert, so it’s a container of course. Happy to see all of you here

I would love to learn how to grow basil from scraps! My favourite herb.

I cut the grass again at the weekend, moved things around - the Brussels Sprout plant was almost dead and I was at the point of ditching it when I thought about moving it to a shady spot, rather than full sun. What a difference! My sprout is, well, sprouting. Yay!
The strawberry plants are full of flowers and I have a good feeling about the raspberry bush, which is suddenly huge.
As are the frogs. I was watering the borders at lunchtime and a massive froggie jumped under the watering can. This of course bought the cats running, which in turn had me racing around scooping them up and popping them back indoors - despite William’s earnest protests that, ‘we only wanted to talk to him, Mamma’ I am not sure the frogs would last too long under the cats fervent attention...

 

[Gardener1850]

I would love to learn how to grow basil from scraps! My favourite herb.

I'm not the one you were asking, but I've been growing many of my herbs from scraps this year because my herb seeds didn't germinate very well. It's super easy to do with most fresh herbs. All you do is put a stem with a few leaves attached into a glass of water as if it's a flower arrangement, with the leaves out of the water and the tip of the stem in the water. Change out the water every few days. Place in a sunny window. The stem will start to grow roots into the water. Once the roots have grown a bit you can plant the herb stem in a pot of soil just as you would a new seedling. Some people use rooting hormone and stick the cutting right into the soil but I've never tried that method. The water trick works for me.

ETA: Here's a short video of someone showing how to do basil:

 

[oviedo]

I'm not the one you were asking, but I've been growing many of my herbs from scraps this year because my herb seeds didn't germinate very well. It's super easy to do with most fresh herbs. All you do is put a stem with a few leaves attached into a glass of water as if it's a flower arrangement, with the leaves out of the water and the tip of the stem in the water. Change out the water every few days. Place in a sunny window. The stem will start to grow roots into the water. Once the roots have grown a bit you can plant the herb stem in a pot of soil just as you would a new seedling. Some people use rooting hormone and stick the cutting right into the soil but I've never tried that method. The water trick works for me.

ETA: Here's a short video of someone showing how to do basil:

I’m trying this now with basil and rosemary I do already have both in my container herb garden but I love pesto - will see if it works for me - my seeds for zucchini and yellow squash aren’t doing anything yet and the spinach and arugula seeds started peeking through the dirt but not much more Green beans haven’t done anything yet but it’s just two weeks ... I container garden here - our heavy rains wash everything out

 

[CeeCeeCat]

I'm not the one you were asking, but I've been growing many of my herbs from scraps this year because my herb seeds didn't germinate very well. It's super easy to do with most fresh herbs. All you do is put a stem with a few leaves attached into a glass of water as if it's a flower arrangement, with the leaves out of the water and the tip of the stem in the water. Change out the water every few days. Place in a sunny window. The stem will start to grow roots into the water. Once the roots have grown a bit you can plant the herb stem in a pot of soil just as you would a new seedling. Some people use rooting hormone and stick the cutting right into the soil but I've never tried that method. The water trick works for me.

ETA: Here's a short video of someone showing how to do basil:

Thank you so much for this. Had no idea you could grow basil like this. I actually learned more than you’d think - now I know why my propagated mint died when I planted it (roots waaay too small) and I know to leave my propagated rosemary in place for a LOT longer than I’d planned.

Meanwhile, the garden is a sea of green shoots and flowers. The only casualties are the freesias, planted back in February. Their sad appearance is not down to nature, rather it’s down to George, who has taken to sitting on them in the manner of a mother hen sitting on her eggs. He is Most Surprised they are not blooming

 

[LadyL]

I received all my gardening supplies but have not attempted to plant anything yet. I was going to and then I heard about frost and then my Dad died. However, this weekend is supposed to get nice and hot and my husband's off work so maybe I can coerce him into helping me. I've never been a fan of gardening but I really want to learn how to grow my own food!

 

[PayrollNerd]

I received all my gardening supplies but have not attempted to plant anything yet. I was going to and then I heard about frost and then my Dad died. However, this weekend is supposed to get nice and hot and my husband's off work so maybe I can coerce him into helping me. I've never been a fan of gardening but I really want to learn how to grow my own food!

I’m so sorry to hear your Dad passed. Plant something in his memory so you go sit by it, talk to him, heal and feed your soul. Maybe an iron seat near a tree or nice statue.

 

[weepingangel]

I’m sure I’m not the only non-gardener lurking here
Anyway this caught my attention this morning (easy way to ~build~ a raised bed tool-free)
This may be old news to most of you lol.

7 Tips to Starting Your First Vegetable Garden - Tower Hill Botanic Garden

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Oldcastle-...VmIzICh0iJQNDEAQYAiABEgJnnPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[watergirl62]

Sorry about your dad, LadyL.
Maybe gardening will help, like PayrollNerd said.
You don't have to do it all at once, baby steps count.

What are you going to plant?

 

[LadyL]

I’m so sorry to hear your Dad passed. Plant something in his memory so you go sit by it, talk to him, heal and feed your soul. Maybe an iron seat near a tree or nice statue.

that's a good idea ... might even mention it to my Mom - she still has lots of flowers and plants and trees around her house that Dad helped with - maybe I'll get her a special garden rock or something

 

[LadyL]

I’m sure I’m not the only non-gardener lurking here
Anyway this caught my attention this morning (easy way to ~build~ a raised bed tool-free)
This may be old news to most of you lol.

7 Tips to Starting Your First Vegetable Garden - Tower Hill Botanic Garden

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Oldcastle-...VmIzICh0iJQNDEAQYAiABEgJnnPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

someone in my town is selling handmade ones - I'm definitely interested in them

 

[LadyL]

Sorry about your dad, LadyL.
Maybe gardening will help, like PayrollNerd said.
You don't have to do it all at once, baby steps count.

What are you going to plant?

I almost forget what all I ordered - the seeds are still in the Amazon package in the garage. I know tomatoes, onions, zucchini and I forget what else. I ordered a bunch - probably way overeager for my (lack of a) skill level.

 

[PayrollNerd]

I’m sure I’m not the only non-gardener lurking here
Anyway this caught my attention this morning (easy way to ~build~ a raised bed tool-free)
This may be old news to most of you lol.

7 Tips to Starting Your First Vegetable Garden - Tower Hill Botanic Garden

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Oldcastle-...VmIzICh0iJQNDEAQYAiABEgJnnPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I was looking at these but I can't lift them or afford them for that matter. I do think they could be made out of 2" x 6" boards screwed together if you need them to be interchangeable.

 

[PayrollNerd]

that's a good idea ... might even mention it to my Mom - she still has lots of flowers and plants and trees around her house that Dad helped with - maybe I'll get her a special garden rock or something

I didn't think of a memorial rock but they have some nice ideas online.

https://www.amazon.com/GiftsForYouN...s_browse-bin:4489324011&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-20

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I've had little luck growing herbs outdoors: Insects tend to eat them or chew the leaves so they are inedible. I would like to grow herbs indoors in Mason jars. I know that I will have to line the bottoms with stones before planting the herbs in potting soil. Has anyone had success with this method? Any tips for successful growing? I'd like to grow fresh basil, rosemary, and thyme as those are the herbs that I use most often.