Home grown gardens.

[NW Admin]

I didn't really want to start this category out with this topic, but I feel like talking about it now so...

With all the chemicals, bacteria, and who knows what else gets into our produce...plus the outrageous expense... I have decided to start growing my own fruits and vegetables at home. It really just makes more sense these days. Not only that, but with the economy the way it is, you never know when either:

A. You can't get fuel to go to the store.

B. Produce becomes too expenses to afford at all.

C. Produce farming comes to a halt because of economic hardship, lack of fuel, or environmental changes.

And if those things happen, you can be sure that the first thing to be gone will be all the fruits/veggie seeds and plants. You will be so happy that you decided to stock up on those things. I have decided to keep packets of seeds just in case. You never know these days.

I created a small sized garden in my back yard with a variety of stuff in it. I also am growing some indoors all year round in my kitchen. I heard that you can freeze fruits/veggies and they will still be good when you thaw them out in winter time. That way you can have them all year round. I am going to try it this year. Never done it before. Anyone else try that?

[NW Admin]

Just wanted to update everyone on my gardening efforts. It is doing fantastic!

My blackberry bush did really well. I just planted it last year and it only had 3 berries the whole season. This year I have already harvested several cups of berries and there are plenty more still ripening and more flowers which will turn into berries. They are kind of sour by themselves, but my neighbor turned me on to mixing some milk and sugar and eating them dipped in that. They are really good like that. And really good for you too.

My cucumbers are growing like crazy. Harvested two of them and have several growing on the vine and more flowering.

My watermelon has two softball sized melons, several smaller ones, and is still flowering.

I also have some baby squash growing. They seem to be a lot more sensitive to the heat and lack of water. I try to water every other day or two. Every other plant does fine, but that one wilts quickly.

I also have several green bell peppers growing right now. I have a yellow and an orange bell pepper plant flowering so it should fruit soon.

My grape vine did insanely well. It was so weighted down with grapes that I had to put stakes around it and tie it because it kept pulling my metal lattice thing down. I had an issue with black rot and white mildew. That was more my fault though. I didn't know how to take care of a grape vine. It was really thick and bushy. Turns out you are supposed to thin out the canopy by snipping off some of the leaves. They hold in moisture and promote mold. I guess you are also supposed to spray them with oil/sulfer prior to it fruiting to prevent those issues. I thinned it out and sprayed it (took me 3 hours), but it's doing great now. I will have to take some pictures soon.

I also started several other plants from seeds, but they are still small and fragile.

I have to say, it's really exciting growing your own stuff. And there is nothing like KNOWING where your food has been, what has touched it, and if any chemicals were used on it. With all the e-coli and what not, I am happy to have my own stuff here. I do find that I am eating much more veggies/fruit now then I did before, just because it's right in my backyard.

[NW Admin]

Well, my garden had a rough time this year. My dog raided it several times. Haha. I got a lot of onions, watermenlon, green bell peppers, and cucumbers out of it though. I still have some bell peppers growing out there, but most everything else has died due to the change in weather.

I have some plants inside, but I think that they somehow know it's time to go dormant. They aren't doing too well. Maybe it's the change in sunlight? They are still hanging in there, but nothing too exciting. I have some cucumbers growing in here, but they are growing much slower then the ones that were outside. Hmmm.

I was excited about growing in my home. Maybe I should invest in a sun lamp? Does anyone know if it's expensive to run a small sun lamp? And would it make the room really hot?

[NW Admin]

Okay, so we are definately into Fall season now. All the plants I brought inside (cucumber, watermelon, cantelope, etc) died already. They just seemed to know it was time to die I guess. Had them in the windows and watered them as usual, but they just didn't like it. However, I dug up my green bell pepper plant from outside, potted it, and brought it in. It seems to be hardier then the others and is sprouting some new leaves. It has about 20 peppers growing on it. I hope it makes it. I guess I need to do some research on what plants will continue to grow indoors during the winter. I miss having onions. What I really want to grow is spinach. Especially with all the ecoli break outs. Hmmm.

[avorrgorrus]

I am so glad to hear about your gardens everyone.

I love gardening, used to have one, will have one again someday, but this time I am going to build a greenhouse.