How is your garden growing?

Ruth Ann Reyes
Ruth Ann Reyes Posts: 577 admin
edited October 2020 in Vegetables

How is your gardening growing this year? Make sure to leave your zone!!!

Comments

  • chimboodle04
    chimboodle04 Posts: 286 ✭✭✭

    Zone 5 Ohio here :) I will say that this years garden has been one of our best (knock on wood!). I am sure that this is partly due to the fact that we are home a lot more due to covid and really tending to it every day... That being said, they just released our July weather outlook and I am cringing... lower that average moisture (hello high water bill....) and very VERY hot (for us at least...). I am looking at at least a five day stretch starting Friday that will be 90 or above, and this will be the norm they are telling us...

  • karen
    karen Posts: 80 ✭✭

    zone 11 or 12? Living in the Southern Andes and sometimes gardening is a challenge. But I seem to have cracked a few things. E,G. growing/ at least starting peppers in the rainy season. Since they like humidity and not so bright sun this has been working for me this year. pole beans the same. finishing off now in the dry season and impatiently waiting for some big pods to dry up. tomatoes, as I recently read. are NOT easy to grow and I have been proving that You need exactly right conditions and understanding how the darn plants 'work'. yeah, they like sun and heat but the sun here is intense!. I know people living in northern climes whose mid-summer temps are worse than here but the sunshine is different. they rarely have problems with tomatos. so I seeded again during the rainy season in a few individual 4 inch pots; waited until seedlings were really crowded; teased them apart at about 4 inches in height; potted on and waited, again until I had a few 2 fters that were doing well and pot bound. i planted near the end of the rainy season in two places. first in a raised bed against a north wall. and then again in buckets on a concrete pad against a west wall. they are all growing but the west wall buckets are producing earlier and are huge! they get enough lower intensity sun during the day but just enough from the concrete that I think the roots stay warm in these cooler nights.. so, experiment! dont give up. I just transplanted three black sesame that will be getting full sun reflected heat from concrete and that west wall. Keeping fingers crossed.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Zone 3 Canadian prairies. Ours went in late. Our potato & onion order was "lost" by the company, but we finally got the potatoes in. They were the first go pop up. We have lettuce, about 5 peas, and 2 bean plants. I don't think that my tomatoes will amount to anything. I dud find 5 volunteer borage plants from years ago. Nothing else purposely planted has come up. It was way too dry & cold here this spring.

    My garden is growing great weeds, grass & thistles, however. 🙄 Somehow, dry & cold didn't affect them one bit.

  • mcarryon
    mcarryon Posts: 32 ✭✭✭

    I am in zone 7b. We have been very lucky this year. We had a mild winter, so we could plant a little earlier. Since April, we have had lots of rain with sunny days in between. My tomatoes, peppers, herbs, radishes, and carrots could not be happier. I also got lots of blueberries and blackberries.

  • optidiva
    optidiva Posts: 2 ✭✭✭
    edited July 2020

    Zone 4. My garden is AMAZING!! I am so excited this year as I have been able to grow more food than I ever have. It’s been a great distraction from what’s going on in the world. I sometime just walk out there and stare at my plants & talk to them. It’s my happy place.

  • KimWilson
    KimWilson Posts: 197 ✭✭✭

    So far everything looks pretty good for the growing season in zone 6. We have harvested radishes, peas, a few tomatoes, kale, spinach, st John's wort, chamomile, sage, onions, garlic, and a yellow crookneck squash so far. There are also green peppers and zucchini that will be done in just a few days now.

  • Grounded
    Grounded Posts: 153 ✭✭✭

    Zone 5b. While we had a mild winter, we had a wet spring and weather has been all over the board, leading me into getting things in the ground a little late. What has been growing well are cabbage transplants, onion transplants and pole beans from seed. What has been doing so-so are seedling tomato plants (just turning the corner), mounded seed starts like zucchini and squash. What has not done well are herbs from seed, carrots, some lettuces from seed and peas. We are still hopeful that due to the late start and the warm, wet weather we have continued to have that other plants will come around and take-off. Right now we are experiencing a warm spell where it is as hot as mid-Florida during the day, with not quite as much humidity and no rain in the forecast for most to the next week.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Welcome here, @optidiva! I am glad to hear that your garden is doing well. I wish ours was, but I have been hearing how gardens are slow here this year...for whatever reason. Ours isn't really an exception.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    Welcome to TGN @optidiva Unfortunately, my garden is not a happy place this year.

    Our garden is very slow. Zone 3b/4a. It was a late spring, although we had a warm spell in March that got the tree buds excited and then had a very cold snap in April. So fruit trees are not going to produce well. We have yet to have a salad out of the garden. This is the latest it has ever been. We got things planted early enough in most cases but some seeds din't germinate well, others were just slow at coming up. We have had to replant a whole bed of beets as they were so sporadic. One bed of carrots is similar. My broccoli and most of my cauliflower are a write-off. The cauli plants are still at the same stage of development as when we put them in 6 weeks ago. I replanted 6 new ones so maybe they will be OK. One broccoli plant has a mature head smaller than a golf ball. Another just sent up a straight stalk with a couple of yellow flowers on it. No sign of any other heads. That is out of 20 plants. Peas and Zucchini have come up but aren't growing. No really warm weather in the forecast, just more rain.

    I think I am going to be relying on Farmers Markets a lot more this year.

  • moreyshadypines
    moreyshadypines Posts: 72 ✭✭✭

    Zone 8b ~ which in my world means it was 103 degrees, like yesterday. Our season starts early - planting in Feb. and getting most things harvested by mid July or the heat will wilt them. We have had a pretty good spring - lots of rain. Always the good and bad go hand in had. Lots of rain means, minimal watering, however we also have a high percentage of mold and mildew issues with the plants and trees, then of course the bugs.

    Produce however has been exceptional. Lots of blackberries, tomatoes - excellent year for eggplant. Currently our cantaloupes and cucumbers are done for the year, watermelon in full swing still. Herbs did fantastic! Yeah!

    Already have started canning, syrups, soups and dehydrating produce for later. It is a lot of work, but could not be more rewarding than to see a full pantry of wholesome food. I had added 5 new raised beds this year, and for a first year they did very well ~ next year will be even better now that they have settled in. Work in progress. :)

  • Momma Mo
    Momma Mo Posts: 138 ✭✭✭

    Best garden in years! It is keeping us very busy.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning "Ours went in late. Our potato & onion order was 'lost' by the company."

    You too, Laurie?

    My own onion transplants were shipped on time with a tracking number, so I thought all was well.

    On the day they were supposed to arrive, the tracking showed them in Hawaii (!) I'm at a loss to figure out anything shipped from the Great Plains to Vermont could end up in Hawaii.

    The seller was the very helpful and sent a new shipment immediately, arriving about a week later than planned. It wasn't a big deal, but really... Hawaii?

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @VermontCathy 🤦‍♀️ I do understand that they were busy. My seeds from them got here in good time. Those perishables, however... I waited for the call to pick them up until long after we should have been planting them. We almost bought others from the store. I think we should have, but didn't want to end up with double the amount. Next year, I think I will just get those in store & forget about ordering from them. I don't order much from that place anymore anyway.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    This might actually have been a good year to end up with double the amount, assuming you can find the space somewhere.

  • KimWilson
    KimWilson Posts: 197 ✭✭✭

    Here in zone 6 our green beans now have blooms starting. I also noticed that the pole beans have grown to the top of their 6' trellis.

  • MissPatricia
    MissPatricia Posts: 318 ✭✭✭

    I am in zone 7b, north Alabama. Spring seemed cooler than usual with lots of rain since last fall. Things are growing well, for the most part. I have been putting down cardboard and pulling spearmint out of my garden. The rain helps soften the ground so that I can pull tall weeds fairly easily. I feel that I am way behind as I have been pretty tired since I fought off something that was trying to make me sick back in January.

  • John
    John Posts: 163 ✭✭✭

    Zone 4A in Wisconsin. Late season freeze took out a lot of plants, but covered them and some recovered. Replanted and most things on track- i.e. tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, etc. Sure warm here with heavy intermittent rainfall has led to a super weed year and weeding is taking a ton of my time even in long used and cared for plots and raised beds.

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,933 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I am loving my garden this year, I am actually able to eat some of what I am growing especially Romaine lettuce and today I am planning on making some soup with my Nettles which have gone crazy! 😀

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    "Zone 4A in Wisconsin. Late season freeze took out a lot of plants, but covered them and some recovered."

    I've been impressed at how well many plants can handle a sudden freeze if they are just covered with a tarp. I've even even had tomatoes survive an early fall light frost under a tarp.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @KimWilson Kim, are you starting to get beans yet? I picked our first bush beans today here in zone 4B. The pole beans aren't quite ready yet.

  • smik123
    smik123 Posts: 60 ✭✭✭
    edited July 2020

    I am in zone 8, southeast Alabama. I am pleased as it is my very first garden and since I tend to want to really analyze things before I do them I keep not doing it because I don't get around to the planning. With the virus and staying home more I decided to just buy stuff and ask questions if I get stuck. I know as I gather experience I will be much more productive. I am loving it.

  • KimWilson
    KimWilson Posts: 197 ✭✭✭

    @smik so what are you actually growing this year? Are things going well?

  • Helen South Australia
    Helen South Australia Posts: 42 ✭✭✭

    I'm in the Adelaide Hills, so it is the middle of winter. However, I am growing snow peas, faba beans, asparagus, leek, spring onion, garlic, lettuce, kale and spinach. I have carrots, cabbages, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, Chinese cabbage, Pak choi and daikon growing well. (These were planted and had a good start before the really cold weather hit.) I've just planted rhubarb and transplanted strawberry runners. Most days around half of our vegetables are still coming from the garden - I'm having to buy potatoes, capsicums, cucumbers, tomatoes etc.

    It's interesting to read what others are growing right now in a different hemisphere. Thank you for sharing.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    We've been having many hot summer days, with temperature 80 degrees or higher (27 Celsius). That's hot for Vermont.

    I am surprised that the peas kept going into the hot weather, but they are about done now. The Lincolns have been and are drying in the garage for next year's seed. I picked a few Tall Telephone yesterday, but the few remaining will probably be allowed to go to seed too. For fall, I seeded Oregon Sugar Pod II yesterday after chitting them for three days to make sure they'd sprout despite the heat.

    Green stringbeans suddenly kicked into high gear about a week ago. We've eaten them fresh a couple of time, and frozen others. This is my first year growing Maxibel French-style beans, but they've been very productive and I'll certainly grow them again. They seem to be a little earlier than Provider, and just as productive. Dragon Tongue beans have also started producing.

    The Jacobs Cattle and Vermont Cranberry beans are also doing well, but I'm leaving those pods on the plant for shellies.

    We just picked our first Sungold tomatoes yesterday, and now they are ripening fast. The larger tomatoes are a little bit behind them, but not much. August is usually the big tomato month here, and depending on frost, we can often stretch them through the end of September into early October. (First frost averages about Sept 23.)

    I've pulled all of the multiplier onions (potato onions and shallots), and will be pulling the regular bulbing onions soon.

    The potatoes all look strong and healthy. I expect we'll get a large crop of potatoes this year, which is good as I've decided to save some for seed "just in case". The Reddale and All Blue flowered, but the Yukon Gold and Caribe didn't.

    It's nearly time to get the fall lettuce, spinach, and other cool-weather green seeds planted again.

  • MelissaLynne
    MelissaLynne Posts: 205 ✭✭✭

    Zone 5- It has been a late start here, finally started harvesting sugar snap peas a week ago!

    My first poppy opened up today and my calendula has started blooming. Picked my first green beans yesterday.