Gardening: preparing now for next Spring
October 21, 2017 4:39 PM Subscribe
I bought a house this summer and this was included. It is a 15' by 30' garden with sprinklers on each end. I'm looking for advice about preparing for next year AND suggestions about what to plant.
I think we are about a 5b zone. We have a giant pile of compost, inherited their rototiller, and I'd guess it has sun for about 6 hours.
I'd like to know what I should do now to prepare for next year?
Sadly no one in my family likes vegetables but me. I will plant some things for me, but what are some fun things to grow that aren't the traditional garden veggies.
Any advice welcome since I am an inexperienced gardener.
I think we are about a 5b zone. We have a giant pile of compost, inherited their rototiller, and I'd guess it has sun for about 6 hours.
I'd like to know what I should do now to prepare for next year?
Sadly no one in my family likes vegetables but me. I will plant some things for me, but what are some fun things to grow that aren't the traditional garden veggies.
Any advice welcome since I am an inexperienced gardener.
Number one piece of advice: Your county extension office is your new best friend. They often offer free/cheap soil testing and master gardener classes. Plus, they can likely hook you up with other local gardeners- and boy do gardeners like to talk about gardening! Have fun and congrats on the house!
Oh, and square foot gardening is awesome- look into it.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 4:59 PM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
Oh, and square foot gardening is awesome- look into it.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 4:59 PM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
Fedco and Johnny's are good seed companies, both in Maine so particularly useful for New England gardeners. Their print catalogs have lots of useful growing information so get them if you can.
In addition to vegetables you could try some herbs for cooking or tea. My chamomile reseeds and 3' x 3' patch yields a few cups of dried flowers if you have the patience to pick and dry them. Sage, thyme and oregano are perennials that winter over in Rhode Island, lavender does sometimes and rosemary rarely. Mints have a bad reputation as garden thugs but they are actually pretty easy to pull up as their runners are shallow and spearmint is delicious alone or with iced tea. And pollinators love the herb flowers.
posted by Botanizer at 5:25 PM on October 21, 2017
In addition to vegetables you could try some herbs for cooking or tea. My chamomile reseeds and 3' x 3' patch yields a few cups of dried flowers if you have the patience to pick and dry them. Sage, thyme and oregano are perennials that winter over in Rhode Island, lavender does sometimes and rosemary rarely. Mints have a bad reputation as garden thugs but they are actually pretty easy to pull up as their runners are shallow and spearmint is delicious alone or with iced tea. And pollinators love the herb flowers.
posted by Botanizer at 5:25 PM on October 21, 2017
Since it's already protected from deer, I would put in some berry bushes (raspberries, blueberries). You won't have to do much work to them, and you can share the fruits with the birds (or lay mesh over the top to keep birds out).
For flowers, zinnias are big and bright and you can use them for cut flowers in the house.
As for what to do now, you could lay down cardboard or black plastic to smother weeds so you won't have to weed come spring.
posted by xo at 5:25 PM on October 21, 2017
For flowers, zinnias are big and bright and you can use them for cut flowers in the house.
As for what to do now, you could lay down cardboard or black plastic to smother weeds so you won't have to weed come spring.
posted by xo at 5:25 PM on October 21, 2017
Your county extension office is your new best friend
Yes it is! Visit their website, and see whether they have recommendations specifically for your zone/state. Ask them about native plants, and see whether your extension (or another group in your area) offers a native plant sale.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:28 PM on October 21, 2017
Yes it is! Visit their website, and see whether they have recommendations specifically for your zone/state. Ask them about native plants, and see whether your extension (or another group in your area) offers a native plant sale.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:28 PM on October 21, 2017
Response by poster: Thanks so far and sorry to threadsit.
We do already have blueberries and raspberries and LOTS of flowers all over on other parts of the property. There are some other areas I am going to add more good pollinator plants and a some milkweed.
posted by beccaj at 5:32 PM on October 21, 2017
We do already have blueberries and raspberries and LOTS of flowers all over on other parts of the property. There are some other areas I am going to add more good pollinator plants and a some milkweed.
posted by beccaj at 5:32 PM on October 21, 2017
Get a good ever bearing strawberry variety started and propagate that in pots of the soil you have and you will be ready to insert that resource into the main space once you decide on a final layout. Those plants will be ready to increase fast and give you fruit forever. Then the rest is tending to those new runners and making the bed[s] you want. Also take a package of cheap shower metal curtain rings and cut into U shapes and insert to hold down your berry runners, gives you position control and really helps them root fast, then you recover the rings and reuse.
posted by Freedomboy at 5:56 PM on October 21, 2017
posted by Freedomboy at 5:56 PM on October 21, 2017
Grow the veggies anyway! Donate them to a food bank or shelter. At my kids' elemetary school we have school gardeners who grow vegetables and they get sent home with the free/ reduced lunch families once a week. Plenty of people would love your fresh produce.
posted by ChristineSings at 6:10 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by ChristineSings at 6:10 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
The ground cherry is an unusual fruit that's sort of like a tomatillo crossed with a jelly bean. I started seedlings last year and gave them to my neighbor when I didn't get my beds up in time. They were a big hit.
Does your family like corn on the cob? Home fries? Tomato sauce? Pesto?
posted by hydrophonic at 6:39 PM on October 21, 2017
Does your family like corn on the cob? Home fries? Tomato sauce? Pesto?
posted by hydrophonic at 6:39 PM on October 21, 2017
One of the best soil-preparation books I have come across is this one. The gist of it is that soil is healthiest when replenished from the top (think layers of leaves falling and accumulating in a forest) rather than having organic material dug into it. It's much less labor intensive to spread layers of organic stuff on top of the soil than to try to dig it in. Two cycles of straw in the fall and manure topped with wood chip mulch in the spring have made a big difference for my garden.
The layers of organic stuff should be about 2" thick. And, all those thick layers of stuff suppress weeds quite well.
For seeds you might want to check out Seed Savers Exchange for rare and heirloom varieties.
posted by Lycaste at 6:41 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
The layers of organic stuff should be about 2" thick. And, all those thick layers of stuff suppress weeds quite well.
For seeds you might want to check out Seed Savers Exchange for rare and heirloom varieties.
posted by Lycaste at 6:41 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I guess my question is what do you want? Herbs? Veggies? It's your house and veggie plot, and the weather and etc. depends on it, but do you want parsley? Squash? Cucumbers?
For me, I'd love to walk outside and have a lot of herbs, like parsley. Because I cook a lot of things that require parsley.
For you, you might want sage or lavender or squash or cucumbers or tomatoes or any number of things. It's not so much what I can tell you it's so much what do you like to eat? Can you grow it there?
Maybe some radishes, then some lettuces, then some longer growing things like leeks. That's what I would grow, but it has to be what do you like to eat? Because that's the point of a garden.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 7:02 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
For me, I'd love to walk outside and have a lot of herbs, like parsley. Because I cook a lot of things that require parsley.
For you, you might want sage or lavender or squash or cucumbers or tomatoes or any number of things. It's not so much what I can tell you it's so much what do you like to eat? Can you grow it there?
Maybe some radishes, then some lettuces, then some longer growing things like leeks. That's what I would grow, but it has to be what do you like to eat? Because that's the point of a garden.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 7:02 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Lycaste has a good point about soil, and your extension can help you get your ground tested to see what its composition is.
Sadly no one in my family likes vegetables but me.
That's a shame, but grow them anyway. You have friends and neighbors who do like vegetables, and it's lovely to arrive for a visit bearing fresh produce. Donating them to a food bank/shelter, as ChristineSings suggests, is also a good idea!
When you plant tomatoes (cherry for salads, Romas for sauce), plant basil around them; companion planting helps some plants grow a little better. Link includes a number of non-veggie garden beneficials. Where I am, it's time to put in garlic for next July's harvest--you could plant a handful of cloves now, and cover them with straw for the winter. Having your own garlic on hand is wonderful!
Listen to Marie Mon Dieu--for a first garden, keep it small and grow what you want to eat. Keep notes on planting. (You think you'll remember. You will not remember.) I just found a copy of Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook and it's perfect, because it lays out your to-do-list based on your local frost dates, there's good information, and there's a bit of room for notes. It covers herbs as well.
I'm veggie-biased when it comes to gardens--it's too much work just for pretty's sake, but the right amount for something useful and edible. Good luck with your new garden!
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:29 AM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Sadly no one in my family likes vegetables but me.
That's a shame, but grow them anyway. You have friends and neighbors who do like vegetables, and it's lovely to arrive for a visit bearing fresh produce. Donating them to a food bank/shelter, as ChristineSings suggests, is also a good idea!
When you plant tomatoes (cherry for salads, Romas for sauce), plant basil around them; companion planting helps some plants grow a little better. Link includes a number of non-veggie garden beneficials. Where I am, it's time to put in garlic for next July's harvest--you could plant a handful of cloves now, and cover them with straw for the winter. Having your own garlic on hand is wonderful!
Listen to Marie Mon Dieu--for a first garden, keep it small and grow what you want to eat. Keep notes on planting. (You think you'll remember. You will not remember.) I just found a copy of Week-by-Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook and it's perfect, because it lays out your to-do-list based on your local frost dates, there's good information, and there's a bit of room for notes. It covers herbs as well.
I'm veggie-biased when it comes to gardens--it's too much work just for pretty's sake, but the right amount for something useful and edible. Good luck with your new garden!
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:29 AM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Congrats on your new garden plot! Zone 5b is a great place to be. This fall I would rip up the ground cover and plant a cover crop to hold the soil in place and increase fertility. A few weeks before planting in the spring, mow it down and rototill it and your compost pile into the soil. Good soil is the key to great growing!
If you want to get something in the ground now for harvest next year, plant garlic! Ask around a local farmers market for seed garlic or order some from a supplier such as High Mowing Seeds.
Speaking of suppliers - Fedco was already mentioned and I encourage you to sign up for their seed catalog. It’s pretty funky, has fun art, and very useful for learning about gardening.
I love growing weird stuff, so here are a few ideas that you might be able to get behind:
- Drying Beans (Pick fun colors, cook for burritos or chilis or whatever. Easy to grow!)
- Gourds (Loofah gourds for your own sponges, birdhouse gourds for fun art projects, weird ornamental gourds to decorate your living area next fall. Plant them at the base of the fence, train them up the fence)
- Nasturtiums (spicy edible flowers, decorate baked goods with them or feed them to guests. Also attracts pollinators, important for getting good fruit sets on gourds and other plants)
- Lemon Verbena (The lemoniest of all lemony plants. Great for lemon water, tea, vinegar, or petting as your go through the garden for your own enjoyment. Also has some mosquito repellent properties)
- Lemon Grass (another mosquito repellent! Make uplifting room sprays at the end of the season, add to soups, make teas)
- Catnip (Cut down when starting to flower, dry in a warm dark area with good air circulation. Make friends with neighborhood cats)
- Goji Berry (they taste horrible but are a trendy superfood. Give to health nuts that praise their antioxidant benefits and enjoy their face as they taste it fresh. Sneak into family meals)
- Sweet Annie ( Smells like fall and makes a fun wreath or flower crown base . Obscene amount of pollen, skip if your family is prone to allergies )
- Popcorn (grows just like normal corn)
-Giant Pumpkins (Try to grow a bigger one each year! Enter them in state fairs. Once you learn to grow them big enough, turn into a pumpkin boat and paddle around your local lake. Or master the art of giant jack o lanterns.)
- Giant sunflowers (save sunflower seeds for yourself or for the birds)
- Tomatillos (salsa verde 4lyfe)
- Peanuts
- Lovage (traditional pot herb. Great alternative for celery in soups. Stems are hollow and used for bloody mary straws)
- Stevia (grows as an annual in zone 5b. Dry and use as a sweetener)
- Hot peppers (make your own hot sauce)
Many of these can be bought at your local nursery in the spring, which is the easiest way to go for a new gardener. If you can go on a weekday when they aren't busy you can bombard them with questions and they will happily spread the plant love, they want you to succeed as much as you do! Good luck!
posted by Stapelia at 6:30 AM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
If you want to get something in the ground now for harvest next year, plant garlic! Ask around a local farmers market for seed garlic or order some from a supplier such as High Mowing Seeds.
Speaking of suppliers - Fedco was already mentioned and I encourage you to sign up for their seed catalog. It’s pretty funky, has fun art, and very useful for learning about gardening.
I love growing weird stuff, so here are a few ideas that you might be able to get behind:
- Drying Beans (Pick fun colors, cook for burritos or chilis or whatever. Easy to grow!)
- Gourds (Loofah gourds for your own sponges, birdhouse gourds for fun art projects, weird ornamental gourds to decorate your living area next fall. Plant them at the base of the fence, train them up the fence)
- Nasturtiums (spicy edible flowers, decorate baked goods with them or feed them to guests. Also attracts pollinators, important for getting good fruit sets on gourds and other plants)
- Lemon Verbena (The lemoniest of all lemony plants. Great for lemon water, tea, vinegar, or petting as your go through the garden for your own enjoyment. Also has some mosquito repellent properties)
- Lemon Grass (another mosquito repellent! Make uplifting room sprays at the end of the season, add to soups, make teas)
- Catnip (Cut down when starting to flower, dry in a warm dark area with good air circulation. Make friends with neighborhood cats)
- Goji Berry (they taste horrible but are a trendy superfood. Give to health nuts that praise their antioxidant benefits and enjoy their face as they taste it fresh. Sneak into family meals)
- Sweet Annie ( Smells like fall and makes a fun wreath or flower crown base . Obscene amount of pollen, skip if your family is prone to allergies )
- Popcorn (grows just like normal corn)
-Giant Pumpkins (Try to grow a bigger one each year! Enter them in state fairs. Once you learn to grow them big enough, turn into a pumpkin boat and paddle around your local lake. Or master the art of giant jack o lanterns.)
- Giant sunflowers (save sunflower seeds for yourself or for the birds)
- Tomatillos (salsa verde 4lyfe)
- Peanuts
- Lovage (traditional pot herb. Great alternative for celery in soups. Stems are hollow and used for bloody mary straws)
- Stevia (grows as an annual in zone 5b. Dry and use as a sweetener)
- Hot peppers (make your own hot sauce)
Many of these can be bought at your local nursery in the spring, which is the easiest way to go for a new gardener. If you can go on a weekday when they aren't busy you can bombard them with questions and they will happily spread the plant love, they want you to succeed as much as you do! Good luck!
posted by Stapelia at 6:30 AM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
The big thing now is just to test your soil and amend it! Spend some time looking at seed catalogues and decide what appeals to you. Since you're new, I wouldn't overdo it.
Ideas:
Do you drink tea? I got a dehydrator and that helped but you can dry most herbs in paper bags. Most herbs are very pollinator friendly. I like growing pineapple sage and chamomile. The more I garden the more I appreciate herbs because they're expensive in the store, but if I don't use them nothing's rotting in my garden.
If you have kids or are generally crafty, my experiment for next year is going to be birdhouse gourds. Christmas sorted! Everyone gets a gourd!
My favorite patch of garden this year was "salsa corner". Peppers, tomatoes, garlic and cilantro right next to my kitchen. I can't recommend it enough. I know your family isn't in to vegetables, but there's something about having veggies near you that could change that.
Another idea is to just commit the whole thing to pollinator gardening. My state (PA) will let you certify that you have a pollinator garden if you fit some criteria. If you plan it well, you shouldnt have to touch it except to divide plants as they get overgrown every few years.
posted by Bistyfrass at 9:46 AM on October 22, 2017
Ideas:
Do you drink tea? I got a dehydrator and that helped but you can dry most herbs in paper bags. Most herbs are very pollinator friendly. I like growing pineapple sage and chamomile. The more I garden the more I appreciate herbs because they're expensive in the store, but if I don't use them nothing's rotting in my garden.
If you have kids or are generally crafty, my experiment for next year is going to be birdhouse gourds. Christmas sorted! Everyone gets a gourd!
My favorite patch of garden this year was "salsa corner". Peppers, tomatoes, garlic and cilantro right next to my kitchen. I can't recommend it enough. I know your family isn't in to vegetables, but there's something about having veggies near you that could change that.
Another idea is to just commit the whole thing to pollinator gardening. My state (PA) will let you certify that you have a pollinator garden if you fit some criteria. If you plan it well, you shouldnt have to touch it except to divide plants as they get overgrown every few years.
posted by Bistyfrass at 9:46 AM on October 22, 2017
I was going to recommend growing peppers, too. I go for several varieties, ranging from eating/cooking peppers (e.g. Korean hot peppers, Shishito, Banana Peppers) to peppers I mostly grow for making hot sauce (e.g. Lemon Drop, Carolina Reaper). Personally I haven't found bell peppers or jalapenos to be worth the effort. Each year I'll try to grow some varieties I haven't before, and of late I've been focusing on Peruvian / Andean varieties, such as Aji Panca or Aji Amarillo.
I've found peppers to be very forgiving and not needing much attention, except for the Carolina Reaper which I started from seed. From what I've read online the superhot peppers are a bit more temperamental to grow.
posted by research monkey at 10:00 AM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I've found peppers to be very forgiving and not needing much attention, except for the Carolina Reaper which I started from seed. From what I've read online the superhot peppers are a bit more temperamental to grow.
posted by research monkey at 10:00 AM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
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Part of gardening is that you just have to do it. Put some stuff in dirt, see how it goes, screw up and have some successes, and once you start to get a feel for the basic rhythms it becomes easier to learn from the various sources. If you enjoy consuming instruction media that is mostly completely baffling but will start making more sense eventually, my three favorite youtube channels are MIGardener (much closer to your zone), CaliKim, and California Gardening. The latter two are a little warm-zone-oriented but they do a really good job of clearly explaining basic concepts. Dig around in their videos for their general prep/build topics to get a feel for where to start.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:58 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]