Post by tampaspicer on Apr 5, 2024 14:29:07 GMT -5
How many of ya'll have a vegetable garden and or fruit trees?
What zone are you in?
What do you plant and when do you plant?
Interested in what works for you and what hasn't worked.
I just started at my house in Clearwater(Zone 10A) end of last summer with raised beds and converted the front flower garden to a vegetable garden. I planted a banana tree two Septembers ago (now have 5 total from that one) that has its first crop on it currently. I planted a lychee tree in the front yard a couple months ago I started from seed last year. Have about 20 pineapple plants on the sunny side of the house that produced 3 pineapples last year and only have one this year. Those three were planted and are doing good. Looks like I'm going to get 5 pineapples next year (fingers crossed).
I've had some really good success with my 2 cherry tomatoes plants I transplanted from seeds I started over the summer. Probably picked between 1000-1200 off those two plants so far with a bunch still growing.
Bell peppers, mustard greens, and collard greens have done great in the front garden (morning sun only) this past fall. Got a few collard plants left that have at least another pot on them and hoping for another after that. Pulled the mustard greens up a few weeks ago and planted okra and a couple more pepper plants(jalapeno and sweet pepper) in their place. I'm going to plant a few more bell pepper and jalapeno plants I've got started from seed to replace the collards in a month or two.
In the back yard which gets the most sun I have the tomatoes. I have ten 27 gallon totes so far back there. I had a good crop of bush beans in the fall in 3 bins that were replanted with 3 varieties in February that are doing extremely well. Tried some bell peppers in one bin next to the beans that didn't do as well but I left them alone and planted some onion bulbs in that bin. That bin has the biggest of the 30-40 onions I planted and the bell peppers are doing better but not convinced they will do a whole lot. I planted the rest of the onions in several locations in the front and back. I have some bins on the screen porch that obviously don't get full sun but had ok success with carrots, spinach, and broccoli. I have a couple big tomatoes and a couple of cherry tomatoes in the screen porch but this will be the last time I plant them inside the porch. I have cucumbers, Seminole pumpkins, and luffa planted in bags along the back hedge and so far they are growing good. Got some 5 gallon buckets with big tomatoes that I will move to a more shaded drier spot when the summer rains get here. Hoping they will good to go once the humid rainy season ends. I started them from seed over the fall/winter but they just wouldn't take off but are growing a little better currently. Planted some chard a few weeks ago to see how that does. Never grew it before so who knows but its been a pain to get it going but a few of them seem to be growing pretty decent now.
My plan is to continue to expand on my raised bed space in the backyard and be ready to rock and roll come September. I hand water everything and currently collect rain water from the porch roof in a couple bins. Use the house water when those bins are used up. My plan in the future is to build a 300 gallon collection system to eliminate/cutback on the house watering. I have a compost bin that I'm going to start using compost from in the fall.
What zone are you in?
What do you plant and when do you plant?
Interested in what works for you and what hasn't worked.
I just started at my house in Clearwater(Zone 10A) end of last summer with raised beds and converted the front flower garden to a vegetable garden. I planted a banana tree two Septembers ago (now have 5 total from that one) that has its first crop on it currently. I planted a lychee tree in the front yard a couple months ago I started from seed last year. Have about 20 pineapple plants on the sunny side of the house that produced 3 pineapples last year and only have one this year. Those three were planted and are doing good. Looks like I'm going to get 5 pineapples next year (fingers crossed).
I've had some really good success with my 2 cherry tomatoes plants I transplanted from seeds I started over the summer. Probably picked between 1000-1200 off those two plants so far with a bunch still growing.
Bell peppers, mustard greens, and collard greens have done great in the front garden (morning sun only) this past fall. Got a few collard plants left that have at least another pot on them and hoping for another after that. Pulled the mustard greens up a few weeks ago and planted okra and a couple more pepper plants(jalapeno and sweet pepper) in their place. I'm going to plant a few more bell pepper and jalapeno plants I've got started from seed to replace the collards in a month or two.
In the back yard which gets the most sun I have the tomatoes. I have ten 27 gallon totes so far back there. I had a good crop of bush beans in the fall in 3 bins that were replanted with 3 varieties in February that are doing extremely well. Tried some bell peppers in one bin next to the beans that didn't do as well but I left them alone and planted some onion bulbs in that bin. That bin has the biggest of the 30-40 onions I planted and the bell peppers are doing better but not convinced they will do a whole lot. I planted the rest of the onions in several locations in the front and back. I have some bins on the screen porch that obviously don't get full sun but had ok success with carrots, spinach, and broccoli. I have a couple big tomatoes and a couple of cherry tomatoes in the screen porch but this will be the last time I plant them inside the porch. I have cucumbers, Seminole pumpkins, and luffa planted in bags along the back hedge and so far they are growing good. Got some 5 gallon buckets with big tomatoes that I will move to a more shaded drier spot when the summer rains get here. Hoping they will good to go once the humid rainy season ends. I started them from seed over the fall/winter but they just wouldn't take off but are growing a little better currently. Planted some chard a few weeks ago to see how that does. Never grew it before so who knows but its been a pain to get it going but a few of them seem to be growing pretty decent now.
My plan is to continue to expand on my raised bed space in the backyard and be ready to rock and roll come September. I hand water everything and currently collect rain water from the porch roof in a couple bins. Use the house water when those bins are used up. My plan in the future is to build a 300 gallon collection system to eliminate/cutback on the house watering. I have a compost bin that I'm going to start using compost from in the fall.