Are you getting ready yet?

I finally got seeds ordered. I didn't need much but it's good to have them on their way.

I plan to start the tomatoes & peppers the first week of February and hopefully get them into the greenhouse around Easter. I plan to try a couple of new tomato varieties.

Northern Lights: a friend has grown these large slicer heirlooms successfully at 8800 ft so I thought I'd try them too this year.

Alaskan Fancy: I've grown Alaska (aka Alasja) before and it was pretty good. But I think this one is different.

Buckbees: New to me, but Tomatofest says it's good for cooler climates so we shall see.

I'll also grow Stupice and at least one cherry tomato of some type (we'll see what Steve Bailey has to offer this coming season).

Most of my other garden plans are repeats of what has grown well in the past.

But I think I will also try ground cherries this year. I was inspired by someone posting on Pinecam who grew them last year (or maybe it was the year before).

So what are your garden plans??
Will you start any seeds soon?
Plan to grow something you've never tried before?
Inquiring minds want to know!

I don't plan to have quite as big a vegetable garden this year. Last year, I canned enough sugar pea pods and green/wax beans for 3 years.

But I'll definitely have potatoes, lettuces, spinach, tomatoes, and herbs as well as a short row of Oregon sugar pod peas and pole beans.

I have so many rabbits that I gave up on my rock gardens last year. There is just no way to protect those gardens. So this year, I'll have mostly rocks there.

But I'll have more flowers on my deck this year where the deer and rabbits cannot get to them. I got another 2 three foot troughs to put pots in. I do have about 20 geranium cuttings rooting already as well as 3 or 4 ivy geraniums rooting. I saved seed from my lemon gem marigolds as they grow really well in pots.

I am so ready for warmer weather and gardening season to start!

Got some seeds in the mail yesterday! Sakura Tomatoes (always get great yield out of these little guys and they're addictive!), Astro Arugula, Golden Acre Cabbage, and have Yukon Gold potato seeds coming later in the spring. I still need to get some carrot seeds and I saved pepper and squash from last year. Have some patio corn from last year - they don't produce many ears, but it's good stuff! The garlic was planted in the fall. I tried starting onions from seed last year instead of starts and had much better luck - we just ate the last of our onions in our dinner last night.

Has anyone had any luck with eggplant? I've planted a variety that is supposed to be good in containers for the past two years, one year in containers and one year in a raised bed. I get big, beautiful, lush plants with beautiful flowers, but they don't produce any eggplants. I've tried hand-pollination as well as just leaving them alone with no luck.

Yay!

I have had my seeds for about 3 weeks now! Plan on starting them the second weekend February (Would do the first but will be out of town). I will start the tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower in the house. I tried a new company, Natural Gardening Company, this year. They are a smaller company, but had a good variety of organic and didn't ask for any arm and leg, for you to get free shipping! In the past I have ordered from Johnny's Seeds and from Territorial Seeds.

I ordered all new varieties of tomatoes -- Black Krim, Black Cherry, Mountain Magic, Oxheart, Esterina and Stupice (went way over board, as our greenhouse is not that big). I am excited about the Stupice, as CooknThyme is a huge fan of them!

I also start tomatoes for our neighbor and a few of our Denver friends.

The rest of my plants/seeds are the usual suspect: Beets (although I got Golden Beets this year, instead of a mix). Various lettuces, roquette, mizuna, shiso, snow peas, Swiss chard, Russian kale, spinach, cucumber, and carrots.

I have the garlic planted, and I am trying onions from seed this year. I usually get the little onion starters, so this will be interesting to see how it goes from seeds. Purple and golden potatoes will be sent later, for Johnny Seeds.

I usually plant everything, except tomatoes and cucumbers, at the end of April or early May and then cover with Argbon. Plus we have hail covering over the entire garden. I will put the tomatoes and start the cukes in the greenhouse, first of May, with a heater.

I tired eggplant last year and got three eggplants! But the aphids drove me nuts and I kept getting blossom die off. I think I supplied of all Pine Junction with a yearly supply of Lady bugs! I was buying them every couple of weeks, putting them in greenhouse and they would all fly away through the roof vents. The eggplant was too much of pain for me. My one neighbor/friend can grow them, but also gets a ton of aphids. My other neighbor/friend gave up, as she would get tons of blossoms, but no fruit.

I also gave up on beans. Too much space (I bought Pole Bean Seeds) and they all seemed to come to fruition at once and I was out of town, and when I got back they were too big. I also tried Edamame last year with no luck. So I will just stick with what I know will produce for us. But every year is different, right!

Happy, happy gardening!

Yippee! The conversation begins!

Eggplant is a tough one. Some years I get a few small ones but most years they are just not worth the space. And yeah they are aphid magnets. I think I should give up on them.

Nice selection of tomatoes, kmsunday! I can't wait to see how they all do for you.

this is how winter gardening is done

Wow!!

Is your tower hydroponic or dirt?

Hydroponic

Juice place tower

Safeway has their Burpee Seeds out, I will sit down this week and order seeds.
I want to find a tomato that is similar to a strawberry tomato that is a small grape like tomato - very sweet. Burpee has one called a “sweetheart tomato” I had Stupice last year, they did well, but were very small.
I will do Cherokee, Sweetheart and may go back to the basics with Big Boy, Beefsteak or Early girl.
Delicata squash did ok last year, but they never got very big. I also had good luck with spaghetti squash
I had a small strawberry patch last year. We will see if they come up this year.
Had a good asparagus patch and will fill in with additional roots this year-
Celery was fun last year. Direct sowed from seed in the outside raised beds
Broccoli- will start seeds inside on mats with lights, and set them out early.i think they got too hot last year.
Same with cauliflower
Really liked the Butter Crunch lettuce, small heads of lettuce.
Maybe will put out some decorative gourds
Had a few acorn squash last year, don’t think it was worth it. Same with the other winter squash
Did great with turnips in the outside raised beds. We direct sowed it and didn’t worry about crowding, they figured it out.

Al my seeds are here now as well, and I have some new verities. I had every intention of living here one more year, and having my fabulous garden. But sometimes things change, and I have decided to sell this house and move.
I love this house and the greenhouse is my life, so many good memories of the life I once had. I have thought about this decision and when I would move for sometime now, and I think that leaving this place is the next step to move on with my life.... there are bad memories here as well, and they creep up and drop me to my knees sometimes.
My life since Kim’s death has been all about change, and finding my way through to whatever is ahead of me. I will not be leaving the state, but I have been looking out east around Elizabeth, Kiowa, Franktown.
So with great sadness, Hermits Greenhouse will not be operational this year, the many flowers will still come up and I will care for them until I move. With any luck, a avid gardener will love them too.
I am sorry to all that have relied on the quality starters that Kim and I produced.
If what I find doesn’t already have a greenhouse, I will build one again. It’s a must have for me, I will garden till the day I die.
My house will go on the market next week sometime, it’s an nice home and comes with a large greenhouse as many of you have seen.
Thank you pinecam for all you have done for me, I will continue to watch the topics on pinecam always.
Mr. Hermit

Mr. Hermit-
Go surrounded by peace and Love.
Have the future you need and want.
And know Pinecamland is a better
place for you having been here.
Mrs. BGR