Quarantine Vegetable Gardens

[Gardenista]

WOW, thanks for the link. I just ordered some. I always wanted a garden and now I will have one. I am so excited. I love potatoes. I hope I can grow tomatoes , squash.
I am also in the Southeast.

Just make sure you keep on top of them. You will probably need to water plants like tomatoes and squash twice a day in the heat of the summer. Do some googling about using grow bags for tips on how to have success with them.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

8 Easiest Vegetables to Grow (Even If Don't Know Gardening)

10 Easy Vegetables to Grow From Seed

The Easiest Vegetables to Grow for Beginner Gardeners

5 Easiest Vegetables To Grow For Beginners | The Tiny Life

The Easiest Vegetables to Grow in Garden Beds and Containers

Plan Your Garden With These Free Online Planning Tools

 

[lucidtx]

A big tip for new gardeners in the US: look up your local extension service. Every state has one; they're cooperatives run by universities that offer local expertise on agriculture and gardening and many of their services are free. Ours has a nice website with hundreds of pages of informational sheets covering everything from pests to composting, all tailored to our state.

Cooperative Extension Services

 

[Kavya01]

I am waay overdoing it this year but looks like we cannot travel to see my fam in Europe this summer anyway. I usually hate leaving my garden for those three weeks but this year I'll be here for once when everything will start coming in.
Lettuce transplants are outside in raised beds, taking off well, direct-seeded lettuce is sprouting. Endive transplants also taking off. Peas went in 9 days ago and are up, about 1 1/2 inch. Seed potatoes outside, seeded in 18 grow bags. Have started my saved polebean seeds (Fortex, an open-pollinated variety and not a hybrid so seed could be saved) from last season indoors, about 80% germ rate I think. I recommend indoor seed starting, you guys, and transplant out when temps reach the required recommended temps for your specific crops. Use grow lights that hang an inch or two above your seedlings. Pepper plants and leeks are in front room by south facing windows and growing well. The gardening is balm for my soul. It gives peace. Whatever we have too much of this summer after freezing and canning will get donated to neighbours and relatives and the food bank. Stay safe and healthy!

Edited to add that I am in central Jersey.

 

[Kavya01]

anyone know what the best potting soil is for potatoes, tomatoes, onions, peppers, squash, spinach, cucumber, kale, zucchini, carrots?

Try to find raised bed gardening vegetable soil. Also get peatmoss and vermiculite to get an light and aerated soil mix with the correct Ph level. Spagnum Peatmoss will add some acidity to your soil for the crops that like to grow in ph levels of 5.0 to 6.2. You can google what Ph level your specific crops like the best. For crops that like more alkaline soil (a Ph number of 6.2- 7.5) don't add too much peatmoss, instead amend with some lime, just sprinkling a few handfuls and mixing it in.
Always best to get your soil ready a few weeks before you are going to plant in it, so best to start soil prep now asap.

This sta-green soil from Lowe's has worked fine for me : https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sta-Green-2-cu-ft-Garden-Soil/3353740

 

[Kavya01]

Oh one more thing before I hit the hay:
I have 70 tomato seedlings under the growlights, I only have room for about 30 in the garden, so I give the leftover plants to friends and neighbours and colleagues who might like to try their hand at gardening too

My growlights are
SunBlaster LED 6400K Full Spectrum High Output Strip Light (48")lights, btw.

 

[watergirl62]

Try to find raised bed gardening vegetable soil. Also get peatmoss and vermiculite to get an light and aerated soil mix with the correct Ph level. Spagnum Peatmoss will add some acidity to your soil for the crops that like to grow in ph levels of 5.0 to 6.2. You can google what Ph level your specific crops like the best. For crops that like more alkaline soil (a Ph number of 6.2- 7.5) don't add too much peatmoss, instead amend with some lime, just sprinkling a few handfuls and mixing it in.
Always best to get your soil ready a few weeks before you are going to plant in it, so best to start soil prep now asap.

This sta-green soil from Lowe's has worked fine for me : https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sta-Green-2-cu-ft-Garden-Soil/3353740

I like the sta-green bagged soil for my landscaping projects and for pots. I have tried so many.

I really want to try my hand at potatoes now. Those grow bags look very interesting but we also left expansion room in the garden. Just need 2-3 cubic yards of soil and more drip hose. Hmmm.

eta: I think I will wait until fall, since it gets so hot and dry in Austin in the summer. We typically have many days over 100 F.

 

[CeeCeeCat]

I spent hours in the garden today. It was lovely. I moved the tomatoes to their permanent home, in the sunniest and brightest part of the garden. Planted chilli, (yet more) coriander and peppers, and put them in the greenhouse. Put sunflower seeds along the borders of the fence, watered everything, played hide-&-seek with the cats. The basil and the first cucumber seedlings have suddenly sprung up, the strawberries have taken well to their new pots and they look so vibrant and green, and I am taking the time to notice the smallest of changes - for example, the colour of the purple lavender flowers and how it changes through the day.
Next week, I think the potatoes and garlic will be ready to dig up and I can start to think about planning where the summer veggies will go when they’re strong enough to move from windowsill/greenhouse.

I have been so hacked off and depressed about the unrelentingly grim news in the world beyond my garden fence - who’d have thought gardening would be so good for the heart and spirits?

 

[mickey2942]

6 inches of snow outside. No rush on the container gardening here. It looks like Costco is anticipating a lot of people gardening, they had huge pallets of soil bags in the front of the store.

 

[watergirl62]

6 inches of snow outside. No rush on the container gardening here. It looks like Costco is anticipating a lot of people gardening, they had huge pallets of soil bags in the front of the store.

That sounds nice. I am originally from the mid west and I do miss having well-defined seasons. (It's funny how people romanticize things they don't have to deal with day-to-day). I am now doing a snow angel in my head and wondering what happened to our old wood and metal Flex Flyer.

...

I finally pulled up my snap peas yesterday and harvested a bread bag full of peas. I planted them in October, and it took them a while to get going, but once they did they kept producing, so I just left them in. Crazy! I think I had to pull the frost blankets out twice, it was a pretty mild winter followed by a rainy spring.

I like that this is a diverse group discussing gardening from many different parts of the world. Very cool!

 

[Deleted member 158085]

Saw this on the news so I googled it. Growing vegetables from scraps
How To Grow Vegetables From Kitchen Scraps [DETAILED GUIDE]

I don’t know if this has been posted here.

 

[Bravo]

Thanks Jane for posting for me. I got delayed here with a call.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Greater Lansing Food Bank postpones opening 19 community gardens due to coronavirus concerns

Allotments usually open in April or May will remain closed temporarily

LANSING, Mich. – A Lansing-area food bank has postponed opening 19 community gardens because of concerns that residents using them or sharing gardening tools could spread or contract the coronavirus.

The Greater Lansing Food Bank mission for the Garden Project provides home and community gardens for low- and moderate-income residents.

The organization says the allotments, which usually open in April or May, will remain closed until further notice...

 

[Gardener1850]

Greater Lansing Food Bank postpones opening 19 community gardens due to coronavirus concerns

Allotments usually open in April or May will remain closed temporarily

LANSING, Mich. – A Lansing-area food bank has postponed opening 19 community gardens because of concerns that residents using them or sharing gardening tools could spread or contract the coronavirus.

The Greater Lansing Food Bank mission for the Garden Project provides home and community gardens for low- and moderate-income residents.

The organization says the allotments, which usually open in April or May, will remain closed until further notice...

That's sad... Surely they could work out a way to sanitize the tools or simply ask everyone to wear gardening gloves that are washable. Or better yet, ask everyone to bring their own tools from home or assign each tool/task to one person/one household. And all they have to do to keep social distancing is to have people sign up for timeslots to work the garden so they don't have tons of people there at once.

JMO.

 

[Kavya01]

That's sad... Surely they could work out a way to sanitize the tools or simply ask everyone to wear gardening gloves that are washable. Or better yet, ask everyone to bring their own tools from home or assign each tool/task to one person/one household. And all they have to do to keep social distancing is to have people sign up for timeslots to work the garden so they don't have tons of people there at once.

JMO.

Gardener1850, those are great suggestions, you should mail those to them! they may reverse their stance!

 

[imstilla.grandma]

For the average American in World War II, the Victory Garden was a practical way to contribute to the war effort. Some 20 million Victory Gardens were planted (US population in 1940 was 132 million), and by 1943, these little plots produced 40 percent of all vegetables consumed in the US. It’s estimated that 9-10 million tons of vegetables were grown.

The Need for Victory Gardens
Wartime needs stretched agricultural production. The United States not only had to feed its own civilian and military population, but many of the Allies relied on America’s bread basket. In addition, U-boats sank hundreds of food-laden ships bound for Britain. While the need expanded, the number of farm workers decreased due to the draft and – ironically – due to the internment of Japanese-Americans.

Victory Gardens in World War II

Community gardener starts seed-sharing bank, encourages urban gardeners to start their own

 

[CeeCeeCat]

Last autumn and in a temper because they.just.wouldn't.grow., I dumped a pack of bee-friendly seeds into a pot that already contained late-planted salad leaves (the aforementioned non-growers).
As of this morning, I have poppies flowering! And other pink and purple flowers. Also, the salad leaves decided it was time to put in an appearance. A little jungle is thriving in that pot and I’m going to leave it as it is, in the hope the butterflies and bees will return again this year.

I was chatting to a friend over the weekend and she told me of her recent meltdown after leaving a packed supermarket (she’d forgotten both masks and gloves, hence the stress). As she’s only a ten minute drive from me and can collect it contact-free, I added an extra fruit and vegetable box to my regular weekly order - now at least she’ll be fed without running the risk of coming into contact with the virus by going out shopping. I mention this as, when she collected her box yesterday she left me a little gift. Three small, healthy courgette plants ready for the garden - I am so happy!

 

[watergirl62]

That was really thoughtful of you to order extra fruit and veggies for your neighbor.

I had to google courgette to learn it is another name for zucchini.

 

[CeeCeeCat]

I am excited that my peas are beginning to show small signs of life! Also the peppers, the newest cucumber seeds and the tomatillos I planted a couple of weeks ago, there are teeny-tiny signs of green shoots in my mini propagator.
Aaannnd, a bee just stopped by to gather nectar from the broad bean flowers. I sat and watched entranced (well, with one eye on the cats in case they chose today to prove themselves Mighty Hunters) as it worked.
Truly my escape from the real world

 

[Midwestmom2019]

I like the sta-green bagged soil for my landscaping projects and for pots. I have tried so many.

I really want to try my hand at potatoes now. Those grow bags look very interesting but we also left expansion room in the garden. Just need 2-3 cubic yards of soil and more drip hose. Hmmm.

eta: I think I will wait until fall, since it gets so hot and dry in Austin in the summer. We typically have many days over 100 F.

Maybe try shading the rows or however you’re set up, with shade cloth. The stuff garden centers pull over the tops of the department that is open to the weather. And add soaker hoses. Contrary to what I read, I water at night. Plants drink it up over several hours. Sun doesn't magnify and burn droplets. Sun doesn't evaporate it before it hits the ground. Preferably when there is some light wind to dry the leaves so they do not grow a fungus. That white stuff that covers crepe myrtles every so often.

Any herbs? Rosemary and thyme prefer dry conditions. I can’t think of more dry liking veggies but I bet WS desert dwellers would know. Cactus comes to mind. Tomatillos?