stitchinwitch

DH and I took a little drive and someone was selling cantaloup and tomatoes - and they SMELLED like they were suppose to! Yum Yum!

cjomomma

My DM and DF just got home(DF is a truck driver) they brought fresh peaches home. They smell so yummy, they gave me some to take home.

Honey

I can't wait for my garden to start producing. Here, in Wisconsin, we don't plant until Memeorial weekend so it will be a while yet, but we will see corn, tomatos, cucumbers and more from the truck farms in the southern part of the state in another 3 or 4 weeks. I can't wait. Give me these things from the garden and I am in heaven. Don't need anything else.

martha jo

I grow herbs in wash tubs. They do great.

lab fairy

Wow, our "first garden" of the year is just about played out. We'll be planting our fall garden at the beginning of August. My herbs in the flower bed actually froze for the first time in two years (We actually saw enough snow to make a snowman. I know to some this sounds dumb, but for those of us in the south, its a big deal.) Every so often we have to make what I call our "hillbilly hot house" (to tease my husband) which is basically covering the plants with a clear plastic and using rocks to hold down the edges. Our plants are cooking in the heat right now, I envy those of you in cooler climates. It was 100 degrees on my back porch (in the shade) today.

stitchinwitch

This year is the first year my friend has planted in straw bales! WOW - the plants grew about 6 inches in 1 week! No weeds, neat and gorgeous. On the other hand my garden looks like a forest. Weeds - not veggies! On the way home this afternoon we stopped at this one country house that we have been admiring his garden for about 3 years every spring. I just HAD to ask him his secret - he always has an EARLY garden - vegetables are about 3 feet tall by March! Heck, we aren't suppose to plant until Mid May - HA! Anyway, he says he uses cow manure - every fall, he adds it and tills it in. soooooooooooo "wait until NEXT year" HA!

Honey

Stitch, one thing about using manure is you will get more weeds. We put down newspaper then mulch on top of that. Keeps the weeds at bay. We also water one time a year with a mixture of water, regular cocacola and amonia. You only use it once otherwise you get all leaves and no veggies. But if you use it once, the stuff just about jumps out of the ground! It is one regular bottle of coke, 1/2 cup amonia and 5 gallons of water. Water everything really good. We also swear by miricle grow. We water with that about once a month. Between it all, we end up with a pretty good garden.

lab fairy

We used to mulch all our gardens with wheat straw (I don't live close enough to get easy access anymore). We don't use ammonia down here, our house is on limestone which is already so basic (alkaline). If you use organic gardening practices in my area, you'd use apple cider vinegar. Some people will use black strap molasses, etc.

My brother-in-law is a horticulturist (degree and all). He says to test your soil. Talk to your county extension agency, a lot of people don't know they even have one. I sure didn't until I married into a farmboy's family. Some soils are low in nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium (NPK). Those three things are listed on commercial fertilizers in that order like 34-0-0, etc.

Jingle

I don't know where you found food like that, I sure have never came across any like that. All the fruits and veggies I buy taste as good as ever and that is real good. My tastebuds must not be as acute as yours, I use to grow my own tomatoes and couldn't tell the difference. I will continue to buy them and enjoy them.

stitchinwitch

Honey - you have some good ideas. We were laying down sheets of newspaper in our garden and that darn wind would lift it up and blow them across the road - until we forgot about it.(It felt like an "I Love Lucy" scene---this was doing only ONE sheet at a time!
Coke and ammonia?? Could I use the sudsy ammonia? I will definitely have to try that. Do I do that in the spring or fall? Thanks
Thanks everyone for sharing tips and experiences - Maybe one day, we will ALL NEED TO grow our own and to have all of this information is priceless.