What's going in your garden in '11?

You bad Mr. Green Jeans. :smile: Just make sure Leolady that the manure is well rotted and not fresh. If it's fresh it will burn anything that you try to plant in it.
 
Leni raises a good point. The breakdown if fresh manure releases ammonia which will burn tender plants plus it is very high in soluable salts. Best to let it compost off your garden if that is the case.
 
So I was making the usual Saturday am run to provision at Freddies. I made a pass through the garden department and spied 6 packs of veggies on sale. What really peaked my interest is the broccoli and cauliflower packets had 3+ plants in each cell. After surgically dividing my packs they yielded 24 (with a couple of casualties) broccoli and cauliflower plants in the MGJ raised beds.
 
i'm getting some prices on the retaining wall, anywhere from $3k to $6k. some of these guys are smoking better stuff than me for 6 grand.

but, in hopes of having a garden in by the end of april, i bought 2 blueberry bushes, jersey variety (what else?).
 
Well, it looks like I'll have to move my veggie garden from the community garden to my home. The yearly fee for a 10 X 20 plot is going from $25 to $120. Then they are limiting the number of plots per house hold to three. I have four that I wanted to keep and give up the other three. The killer is that they have decided that you can only have a garden plot for three years and then you have to give it up. I can put my name on the wait list for another plot but why would I want to do that? After all of the time, effort, and money, that each gardener puts into their plot and no guarantee that you'd be able to keep the same plot? We can't have fences over 36" high. I use my 6' fence to grow beans, peas, and other things that need support and also to prevent theft.

We have raised a lot of protests and have had meetings with Recreation and Parks but they are totally ignoring what we've said. I have no doubt that the commission will adopt the above recommendations. I feel for those that live in condo's or apartments. I've been there 35 years and others have been there longer than that. Many seniors and low income people supplement their income with the produce they grow. We have the option to go nonprofit but who knows what the City's contractual requirements would be. I do know that for a garden that is our size we'd have to pay the city $1,000 a year. There are 807 plots and over 400 gardeners so it would not be that much money from each person.

It really hurts to think how this willl impact so many people. There are several community gardens in Los Angeles. I think that they are making a big mistake but by the time they figure it out a lot of damage will have been done.

Sorry about the rant but I am really upset. :angry::angry::angry::twak::twak::twak:
 
Awwwww, Leni, that bites!

What will your garden look like, now that you are moving it to your home?

I've happily done container gardening in my yard at my townhouse for over 20 years - vegetables, flowers and herbs.

Will you plant in-ground, raised beds, containers ... what?

Lee
 
thanks for the info, mr. gj. i will try that.

that sucketh, leni.
but am i reading it right? you had 7 ten by twenty plots?

that's not a garden, that's a farm!

good luck with it in any case.
 
it has been tough but I am trying to do nothing. my "garden" goes to auction next month and I don't think I will be able to save it from the evil developers who have suddenly pounced on my neighborhood. I am trying to enjoy what will probably be the last bloom for the ancient cherry tree and figure out what to do with everything else I am going to have to dig up. This is depressing me and I am thinking I will just need to rent my house out and move if these dirtbags build one of their hideous spec rental "luxury" jobs on "my" yard. Sorry, this is upsetting me. My friends garden just got a pallet of 2x4s dropped on it and I can see the little remaining green space on the blocks around me will be gone by the end of summer. ARGH needed to vent.
 
Pancho, I'm lost.

Do you not own the property where you plant your garden?

Lee
 
QSis said:
Pancho, I'm lost.

Do you not own the property where you plant your garden?

Lee
Click to expand...

no, i live in an 18th century rowhouse/industrial neighborhood that suffered great devastation starting in the 60s when the mills started closing and began gentrifying several years ago (i am part of this I am not a 'local') there were many vacant lots that had been greened and planted as part of the renewal effort. The city also used to have a program to help homeowners acquire adjacent lots as gardens for low cost (my realtor lied to me as they cancelled this program shortly before I bought) Unlike many cities philly does not automatically take possession of abandoned tax-delinquent property it must be sent to auction by an interested party. Since I bought my house I have been trying to figure out the best way to buy this lot but kept hitting dead ends. I was not overly worried because it is only '13 wide by 65' deep and that is very narrow and there are many many wider lots in the area. Pressure was mounting though as a few boutique developers started building high $ modern green homes At the time I forced the auction I was pretty sure these developers would not touch this lot as it is too narrow. In the months since a new breed of developer has blown into the area who are building speculative homes for cash investors to rent. They don't care about the narrow lots as they are not marketing to owner-occupants and they have been willing to pay double what was considered market value until very recently. they will happily throw a 13' wide 35' tall four bedroom home on the lot without a stitch of green and rent it out for 2K a month to yuppies excited about living in a newly trendy area. There is only so much I can afford to pay for this and only so much I can justify on what is ultimately a tomato patch and dog run. At some point it makes sense to just move and get a house with a bigger yard.
 
pancho, aren't there regulations for minimum lot sizes, especially including setbacks and such?

if so, the builders would have to get a variance, and you can fight that when it goes to the council.
 
I am so sorry Pancho, that's what they do everywhere.

Take a look at this building, was build by Colliers on a 15' wide sidewalk. The building site is only 32 feet deep. Shows how much you can build in the tightest spaces, engulfed a parking garage (the red wings on either side are the stairways to the garage)... and you will be surprised to know there are two huge vacant lots next door.
http://www.colliersboise.com/properties/the-aspen-office
 
Thanks for the explanation, Panch.

Good luck - I sure hope things work out for you!

Lee
 
Pancho -

oops, you missed the boat! (g) back a few years ago Phila was into "homesteading" and would _give you free title_ to those vacant lot in exchange for your guarantee to clean it up and keep it "maintained."

one couple bought two adjoining (abandoned) row homes where the end two houses (on the block) had been demolished by the city as 'unsafe.' rehabbed the two into one house, gained title to the two empty lots, and wound up with a very nice "side yard"
 
Pancho we ought to get together and lift a few and drown our sorrows. Yours is worse because fertile land is going to be covered with concrete. Mine? I get to see someone else in my plot.

Yes BT I had 7 ten by twenty plots. I worked them as a family project. Now Tom is not able to 'farm' as much as he used to and the kids have grown up so I was planing on giving up three of them. Actually at one time I had 11 plots. We were taking care of a friends plots for him but he decided to give them up.
 
Qsis, I'll be doing a combination of raised beds and in the ground. A lot of veggies are very pretty and I'll mix those in with flowers. In one sense this may be better for me. I won't have to drive 6 miles to the garden and I can just step outside the door if I want something to eat instead of planning ahead. I will have to cut back how much I grow which sucks.
 
Leni said:
Pancho we ought to get together and lift a few and drown our sorrows. Yours is worse because fertile land is going to be covered with concrete. Mine? I get to see someone else in my plot.

Yes BT I had 7 ten by twenty plots. I worked them as a family project. Now Tom is not able to 'farm' as much as he used to and the kids have grown up so I was planing on giving up three of them. Actually at one time I had 11 plots. We were taking care of a friends plots for him but he decided to give them up.
Click to expand...

thats too bad I hope that the new gardeners appreciate them. Do you garden in a community farm? 10x20 is big for here. Sadly many of our community gardens are under threat as well

ChowderMan said:
Pancho -

oops, you missed the boat! (g) back a few years ago Phila was into "homesteading" and would _give you free title_ to those vacant lot in exchange for your guarantee to clean it up and keep it "maintained."

one couple bought two adjoining (abandoned) row homes where the end two houses (on the block) had been demolished by the city as 'unsafe.' rehabbed the two into one house, gained title to the two empty lots, and wound up with a very nice "side yard"
Click to expand...
yep they cancelled that program right when I bought even though they still advertised it and touted its successes. Unfortunatley for many the paperwork was "lost" and the deeds never got transferred so they are not facing the work of years getting buldozed. the whole thing would upset me less if we were getting good development but it is low quality spec rental stuff. Also alot of my neighbors are more than eager now to sell off their gardens because 50k buys alot of crack.
 
buckytom said:
pancho, aren't there regulations for minimum lot sizes, especially including setbacks and such?

if so, the builders would have to get a variance, and you can fight that when it goes to the council.
Click to expand...

yeah and im on the zoning committee too but the city will give them variances otherwise they would be declaring a lot of the city unbuildable.
 
oh man, that really sucks. you can't fight progress, i guess.

there's a very small strip of land between the two houses directly across the street in front of my house. it's owned by the house on the next block over; it sort of sticks straight out from their backyard dissecting the two houses on my street.

the house that this property belongs to was recently sold and i saw mark outs for the property line right after that.

i really hope the new owners don't think they can subdivide that little bit of land to try to sell it to build a house. i will go straight to the council to fight any variance stating that another house on the block would make already difficult parking worse.

i heard a rumour that they may try to put in a curb cut and pave the plot for a parking lot. i'll fight that as well because it also takes away street parking in favour of private parking.

fun fun fun.
 
I'm going to put a few different things in my garden, than I have in the past (there are only so many tomatoes and eggplants and basil one person can eat!)

My neighbors love yellow beans, so I'll do a couple of pots of those. I love brussels sprouts - it's been a couple of decades since I've grown those! Maybe an ancho pepper plant for a change.

And flowers! I FINALLY got a couple of hummingbirds in my yard last year, after trying to attract them for over 20 years! I've started nasturtiums and four o'clocks, and will buy lots of impatience, and some sort of vine with trumpet-shaped flowers. I like varigated coleus, so I may do some of those again.

Can't wait!

Lee
 
About a month ago, I built a greenhouse out of PVC, Duct Tape and plastic. It doesn't hold heat at night light I hoped it would, but it heats up well during the day and, at the very least, is a dry place to work when it rains (almost every day!).

Here's what I have in starts this year. I have tomatoes, bell peppers, thyme, sage, parsley, oregano, marjoram, marigolds, snapdragons, nasturtium, echinacea. I have a grow lamp in the pantry where I'm trying to grow cuttings of rosemary and lavender, basil and another flat of marigolds.

5607075663_94d287ed22.jpg


5607660460_78a6583345.jpg
 
vyapti said:
About a month ago, I built a greenhouse out of PVC, Duct Tape and plastic. It doesn't hold heat at night light I hoped it would, but it heats up well during the day and, at the very least, is a dry place to work when it rains (almost every day!).

Here's what I have in starts this year. I have tomatoes, bell peppers, thyme, sage, parsley, oregano, marjoram, marigolds, snapdragons, nasturtium, echinacea. I have a grow lamp in the pantry where I'm trying to grow cuttings of rosemary and lavender, basil and another flat of marigolds.
Click to expand...

WOW nice job. I would love to have a greenhouse in the future.
Yours looks great and the plants are looking great too.

Good luck.
 
Vyapti, you can significantly increased the heat holding properties of your greenhouse if you use a double layer of plastic and install a squirrel cage fan to inflate the poly envelope. Goal is .5 -1# positive pressure. Kits are available like this: http://www.amleo.com/air-inflation-kit/p/AIK/. Another solution is to fill a number of 5 gallon buckets with water (hopefully they have lids) to act as a heat sink (water heats and cools slowly). It certainly has been challenging to grow plants here in western Orygun this spring.
 
Mr. Green Jeans said:
Vyapti, you can significantly increased the heat holding properties of your greenhouse if you use a double layer of plastic and install a squirrel cage fan to inflate the poly envelope. Goal is .5 -1# positive pressure. Kits are available like this: http://www.amleo.com/air-inflation-kit/p/AIK/. Another solution is to fill a number of 5 gallon buckets with water (hopefully they have lids) to act as a heat sink (water heats and cools slowly). It certainly has been challenging to grow plants here in western Orygun this spring.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link. I've got water tubs in it now. I want to end up with something modular that I can take down during the summer. This fall, I think I'll add a 2x4 wall against the back, insulate it, and line it with 2 liter pop bottles, maybe add some short, insulated walls all the way around.
 
Qsis, humming birds love red. They are always around my bottle brush tree and the red roses. Talk to your local nursery people and see what they recommend.
 
vyapti said:
About a month ago, I built a greenhouse out of PVC, Duct Tape and plastic. .....

5607660460_78a6583345.jpg
Click to expand...


Looks good.

...

Catnip, Chamomile, oregano, chives and strawberries made it through the winter.

Found out you don't want to plant chamomile above anyplace you don't want it to spread.

I need to transplant the strawberries, and am going to try to in line for future 'trellising'.

Have to move the oregano.

This will be my second year gardening, funny how much you learn in the first garden.

1 cherry tomato, 1 or 2 roma, and 1 other type of tomato. (learned these are staked when planted.)

Two or three types of leaf lettuce.

One or two types of sweet pepper.

Thyme and sweet basal (NOT boxwood),

Hmmm ... Time to think about it a bit more.
 
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