I'm in beautiful central Nebraska. I farm raiseing cattle and sheep, hay, forages and a little corn. I've always had a garden but am planting a lot more and plan on perserveing more. Tough to make a living on the farm so maybe less spent in the grocery store. The big saveings is in not going to town for a beer a 8pm but working in the garden. Wishing a bountiful harvest to all.

At the age of 54, my wife and I just started gardening for the first time last year. Now in our second year, we're learning a lot and even enjoying our mistakes.

A few years ago, we had a stroke of good fortune to move from crowded Las Vegas to some acreage out in the Mohave Desert near Death Valley. There were already fruit trees and irrigation lines installed on the property when we bought it, so we learned a lot just from maintaining what was there.

We're trying to stick almost exclusively with heirloom vegetables, and trying the mixed herb/vegetable beds as an alternative to pesticides. Not much of a bug problem, but turns out the basil, marigolds, and sweet annie grow so thick that it's a struggle trying to keep the leaf and root veggies clear.

We had our first zucchini this weekend, and the yellow squash are not far behind. We're having mixed results with beans and melons, and the lemon cucumbers that grew in such profusion last year don't want to grow where we planted them this year, but they're doing great as feral opportunists in other spots!

I'll be asking questions from time to time, but between the various experiments, success and failures, we're having the time of our lives!

Peace and Blessings !

Hi, my name is Jake.... and I am plant-a-holic. My last gardening binge was today, lasted several hours..I should have been power washing the house, changing the oil in my wife's car, or doing the dishes, but when I felt that warm sun on my bare back, saw the tiny bindweed shoots starting up my scallions, and noticed just enough room to squeeze in ONE MORE row of beans, I indulged, and couldn't control myself... chopping, hoeing, raking, and then a last bit of planting ...it felt good..and I hope to repeat it a couple thousand more times...
My wife an I live in Wichita, KS. We have 7 kids, and God willing we'll have 7 more. We are both life long Okies, moving out of state (barely) to work for Hormel Foods.
My wife homeschools our younger children. We are Traditonal Latin Mass attending Catholics.
I have been playing in the dirt all my life and am especially fond of growing, chilies, herbs, and roses.
yours,
jake

Hi. I'm Kay. I live in NE Michigan and make my living working in quality control at an aerospace repair station. We have ten acres, most of it wooded, out in the boonies. My preferred method of gardening is a French/bio-intensive, inter-planting sq-foot sort of thing. And containers.

Hi, I'm Joyce and I live on a half-acre, heavily shaded lot on Western NC. I have been gardening since I was a tot following my dad as he plowed his huge gardens. He "truck-farmed" and worked in a factory.

I'm a factory worker, writer, grand and great-grand mother. I am caring for my husband who is totally disabled, which cuts down on my out-door time, but still have a plot dedicated to veggies and multible flower beds with veggies stuck in just about all of them along with the flowers.

I'm growing tomatoes, potatoes, yellow wax beans, peas, eggplant, peppers, and squash. Soon will be planting some watermelon and okra just to see how they will do.

My gardening style is a bybrid organic and chemical when absolutely nessary style. I will use a bit of fertilizer or some sevin dust if I have to, but really prefer organic methods.

I might as well join the club. My name is Ray and I live in Columbia, SC. I recently retired from my tax accounting
/financial planning practice, but still handle a few clients. I've taught accounting and finance at the University here for over 25 years and still teach part time as an adjunct. Being a city boy, I've never really had the opportunity to garden like most of the people here.
I started growing roses in 1995, ended up with over 200 different varieties, and got hooked exhibiting at rose shows. Just moved to a new house, after a divorce, and am starting over again from scratch. I've got two rose gardens established, and last year planted my first attempt at growing fruit trees. I've got apples, plums, pears, and figs. I've always wanted to grow watermelons, since I was a little kid, and finally got my chance last year. Made a lot of mistakes, in a learning process,and thanks to Farmerdilla, am growing 19 different varieites this year along with cantelope and squash. If I have half of the success that he has, I'll be tickled pink. Hope to post some pics, later this season, of the harvest. This city boy has learned a tremendous amount from you guys, and I'll always be greatful for letting me share from your experiences and your knowledge.
Ray

What a great idea,Im doug a transplanted illinois farmboy.family has farmed since the 1840s,college educated in animal science and agronomy,with a master gardner distinction thrown in.amazing how so many farming/gardening concepts overlap.semi organic with some sevin thrown in when needed,raised bed veggies now in yard in small town.have capabilities for a large garden when i inherit family farm,so im trial and erroring concepts right now for future.farm has small orchard and wild raspberries n blackberries.want to garden,hunt,fish and provide nearly all things from the land.interested in solar/wind power and go net metering for my electric use some day.want to grow my own food for my needs give rest to local food bank.im a laborer in a small feed mill,wife is a rn in labor and delivery.have 3 sons 14,11,10.relly interested in lasagna gardening and canning/food storage,read all i can on subjects.really enjoy this site lots of quality info.

Greetings everyone!

I'm Alys, a 40+ Missourian. I'm married with one just-turned-14-year-old boy. I'm an attorney, working as a hearing officer for our state's department of social services. In my limited free time my husband and belong to a medieval reinactment group, which we drag the kid to, since it's the farthest thing from "cool" he can imagine. LOL

I have a teeny 4x8 garden that is the envy of my neighbors for veggies, along with a number of containers to suppliment the growing space. I just got started with the gardening, especially the veggies, a few years ago and I really enjoy trying new stuff all the time. We don't get enough to really put any aside for the winter, but it's just a joy to pick fresh veggies in the spring and summer right out of the backyard.

I live in the Capital closest to Antarctica... Wellinton, New Zealand.
Not as dramatic as it sounds, but being upside-down and round the wrong way, we're heading into a long, cold (yeah I know, it does,nt even snow where I live) winter.
So reading posts about tomatoes and cucumbers is an odd mix of depressing and inspiring.
In the meantime, viva la brassica!
While the climatic/geographic/seasonal etc etc differences mean it's generally impractical for me to 'get involved'in discussions, there's an enormous amount of great info provided by many really knowledgeable and generous and sometimes very funny people.
Thank you all

I think an intro is always a good idea. I learned that in team building seminars. Forming, storming, norming, and performing. Some forums have a special thread or area just for that.

Located in New Haven County CT. I am mostly a veggie gardener who prefers the SqFt Method. While in transition from row garden to SqFT, I sold my Toro tiller, realizing I hadn't used it that summer. Hurt my neck & back when I used it anyway.

I lurked here for a couple years before joining and have seen the experienced gardener posters displaced by the bloggers. If you want me to see something - put it here, not a link but right in the forum post.

My first garden was in Goldsboro, NC in late 70's. I have taken some gardening courses thru the years and can only say - there is NO shake'n'bake recipe - just basic principles - many of which can be violated which makes my garden one huge experiment. It seems some gardeners have big egos to boot and think there is ONLY one way to do things.

On a diff note - I wish the powers to be here would make this forum so you can get notified when posts occur in threads you can subscribe to. Ya know like some forums have? I miss many topics cuz I can't remember where I posted last.

Did I forget to tell you?

...that I have a memory problem!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Gumby's Profile

Hi, I'm Edie and I'm in north central Ohio, about 60 miles due north from Columbus. My DH, Mike, is retired. We keep extending our garden(s). We moved here from Columbus 6 years ago. We started with a couple of small gardens that were big busts. We kinda figured out what we did wrong and every year try to remember what we did the year before that worked and repeat it -- and what didn't work so we don't do it any more (we hope!) I work for a small bank, in the accounting department. One son, 28. A horse (English Shire), a dog, an indoor cat, 3 barn cats, 16 hens and a rooster keep us entertained when we aren't in the garden. Forget TV - watching the critters' antics is much more fun!!

Great idea, Cassie. We sure are a mixed bag, aren't we?!

Happy gardening,
Edie

Hello to all,,my name is bob and I'd guess I'm one of the few from Northern Cali in beautiful Lake County with a truck garden.??
Well I have been visiting the website for many,many year's but I just signed up today, couldn't pass up the free opportunity to thank all of you for the great info and thought provoking growing ideas !!thanks .love'em ...
So I've been a part time home gardener for over 30 years ,just sort of picked up the bug a little way's back in 79, started out with some summer squash and corn seedlings ,Really was nice with a dab of hot butter ,been bitten every since ,Any ways know I'm trying to learn the french intensive /square ft methods at currant time .Seems like sound advice with a sour economy every time you turn around.So it look's like
I had a good deal of time on my hand's this last year and thought I would give it the best that I could .
With this area being on a 8a to 7b zone though I might be pushing my luck a bit ?Hot summers and snow in winter.
So I've a 6000 sq ft garden with
(hopefully they'll grow)
4 kind of Blueberry, 3 types of the raspberry canes,2 types of boysenberry,kiwi vines,11 kinds of table grapes,8 little cherry bushes.2 cherry tree's ,a five in one cherry and a five in one apple ,a Fiji apple or some call it a pear ,also huckleberry bush,dewberry vines,elderberry bush,5 kinds of fig's ,pomegranate tree's.200 strawberry's and 2 almond tree's,8 acre of walnut trees .So as you might be guessing that's enough to keep one pretty busy but there's more ,that's not even in the garden but just outside of the fence from the garden .It's my first year for having Bee's and I have the hope that they come around for the pollination.Also Have to say I went all out on the veg's too ,I am going this year with corn,watermelons,cucumbers,okra,summer and winter squash,onion,cabbage,giant pumpkin,5 kinds of beans,18 types of heirloom tomatoes,hot peppers,eggplants,kale,spinach,broccoli,cantaloupe,artichoke,carrots and radish plants,lettuce and beet's ,SO anyways I'm keeping busy so to speak .always tend to get some over to the local food bank for the needy .
well I'll be letting all you good old folks get back to your doings and thanks for the great website ..BOB
kelseyville CALI

I am Kim or as my friends call me, Kimmi.
I am in southern NH, Manchester to be exact. We just bought a 240 year old money pit, I mean fixer upper!! I live in it with my disabled husband and my 15 year old twins. We all spend way too much time trying to make the house livable, which is a feat since it was pretty much just lived in and never maintained for the last 30 years.
I work as a medical biller and customer support rep. I love my work but there isnt enough money in it to maintain a family so I am in nursing school. This takes up most of my life. So gardening with my family is our relaxation and money saver.
Since we had put so much money into the house we were left with little to go into gardens. I have three small raised beds 2x6 to be exact and we are going to plant tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas. Then i have this weird space that was all mulched and composted soil that i have planted 4 types of squash, cukes, pumpkins and watermelon in.
For flowers I have a hodge podge that was left here by the previous owners. There is a huge Rhododendron that i am nursing back to its glory. It was very choked out by some weird kind of vine thing that i think i finally have under control. There was an established blueberry bush to which i have added another. A hugely overgrown lilac which we working to train and a couple of other bushes i have yet to ID. There are also many bulb type over grown flowers which i will need to find time to dig up and seperate. To this I have added said aforementioned blueberry bush, an asparagus patch, some garlic, herbs, 5 roses, two more small lilacs, a grape vine rhubarb patch and some irises. I am having fun and probably making a ton of mistakes but what the hell, if it helps keep me sane while I am in nursing school.. that is all i need.
I am here looking to learn and to get questions answered and to get support for this hobby.

Hello, my name is Dale M. and I'm a suburban redneck. For my area, my garden is frickin huge (about 1500 sqft of beds) and I've been developing an "edible landscape" - so far we have apples, pears, serviceberry, cherries, gooseberry, blueberry, raspberry, and grapes.

We live on an acre in an area that was on the edge of the city 10 years ago but we're now completely submerged in the burbs. I have 1 of 2 gravel drives left on my road loaded with homes ranging from 2000 sqft (mine) to 20,000. (many of the rest)

I've learned to no longer tell tell my neighbors I activate my compost with my pee or that one of it's ingredients is the poo from my pack of White German Shepherds and the pups we breed.

I have a wife who doesn't garden but is OK with selectively eating some of the produce and prepares it wonderfully for me. I'm gradually converting her to admit she likes vegetables. And thank GOD for the Food Network!!!

I have 2 daughters, 7 & 10. The little one wants to be like mommy so insists she doesn't like anything mommy doesn't like, plus leaves of any kind. At least she likes melons and sugar snap peas. The older one is a daddy's girl, loves dirt and bugs, and is willing to eat most anything.

I'm almost organic with respect to insecticides, but I'm a big fan of Roundup and 2-4D everywhere but the veggy beds.

I'm also a bit of a Rosarian, though I don't have the patience for any rose that requires a spray regimen.

Other lessons:
- ____ is cheaper by the dumptruck load.
- If you use lots of compost and mulch, you don't need a tiller.
- Plan your garden layout with a 3 or 4 year rotation in mind so there should be 3-4 equally sized sections.
- If there is a way to fit pumpkins and melons into a rotation plan, I don't know it.
- NOTHING keeps deer away better than a pack of big dogs - period.
- Garden forum members are friendly and will usually correct the clueless with wonderful tact.

Can you bring the big pack of dogs out here?

Hi All. Robin from Northern Cal here... Just moved to the Central Valley from the Bay Area and am finding that Garden here is totaly different than in Sonoma and San Mateo Counties.... so I am in a New Learning phase..

Soil here takes much more ammending and Full Sun there will fry plants here.

I First Joined Gardenweb about 10 years ago, have done seed round robins and plant trades. I rejoined last year after not visiting for several years to find that Ivillage took over and the Site Forums had grown by leaps and bounds.

I've been gardening since I was a child, I'm an avid seed saver and collecter. I don't use any chemicals period, and my Son (21) has become an avid gardener as well...(we fight for space in our currently limited garden area! LOL

I prefere a Mostly Edible Landscape and do both flower and veggies. THere are just certain flowers I can't do with out, Roses, Peonies and dahlias to name a few

Anyway, as Rebecca Coles says......Get those hands dirty!

My name is Ann, and we live 5 miles from where I was raised in lovely Chester County, PA, west of Philly. We did live for several years in NH, but gardening here offers a longer season. I advise undeclared students at our local university, and I started a doctoral program this past fall, and we have 3 teens with the oldest headed to PSU in the fall.
In my spare time? I garden obsessively. We have a 30x40 garden of raised beds where I grow mostly veggies and herbs. It keeps us fed between may and October. I can't plant corn anymore because it makes the deer jump the fence, but they leave the garden alone in the absence of corn. Somethings been eating most of the things I direct seed just as they come up, but I haven't given up yet. We are going to grow sweet potatoes for the first time this year, and I appreciate all the tips. I've gardened on this 1 1/2acre property for 16 years, and although I just rejoined the forum a couple of years ago, I was a member way back when we were trying to think of a name for the Harvest forum - 12 or 13 years ago?

I posted this and never mentioned what Im growing!!!!!!!
Im growing zucchini, squash, 12 different tomatoes (only one will be red, I can think of th enames off hand!) Some Kentucky green beans in pole and bush style (I LOVE BEANS!) Snap peas, red cabbage (I luv sauerkraut), all different types of lettuce, tons of chard, shallotts, cippolini onions, some other onions, beets, cukes (bush and lemons ones)brussel sprouts.
Im also growing all types of herbs and glads, and also a cutting garden!!!!! -cassie

I'm Laura, an artist in Chicago. I am new to gardening since we bought our home 2 years ago. Last summer was just a few tomatoes, peppers and basil. This year we have two 4' x 13' raised beds with cedar sides, 2 rain barrels and a composter. I am using organic seeds, seedlings, and methods as much as humanly possible. (Today I purchased Neem concentrate!) I have a good variety of veggies, heavy on the tomatoes, but lots of other things, just to see how they go. Also, watermelons, strawberries, blueberries and 3 asian pear trees. It's exhausting, but satisfying and great fun so far. Since I'm new at this, I'll probably be asking a lot of stupid questions. Please bear with me! Thanks!

I am a new "big" (2700 sq ft) gardener this year but only because this is the first home that we have had the space! I am married with 4 kids (1 left at home) and 1 grandbaby who helped pick her first radish this weekend but threw it down when the prickly leaves poked her!!!! My childhood memories are of summers spent on my grandparents farm. My grandpa's specialty were green peppers and strawberries. It seems to have taken many years for the bug to bite but when it did oh boy! We moved into this house a little over a year ago and discovered an apple tree, strawberry patch and grape vines. We have since added 2 apple, peach, pear and 2 blueberry bushes. When my husband said he would till a garden for me I just pointed to the location and away he went. I then spent the winter at this computer choosing varieties and reading everything I could get my hands on. Also learned TONS from this forum and I am very greatful to you all.

ok ill bite..my name is matt duarte im 24 and from riverside california. i have a wonderful wife that puts up with all my nonsence and we have a special lil 3 year old that has us wrapped around his finger haha.. this is my first year gardening or trying to anyway... i have a small spot that houses 3 types of tomatos, a thai chili, habernaro, and a bell pepper.. as well as 3 jalapeno pepper plants and a artachoke plant.. my newest pepper is the chinese 5 color pepper givin to me by rdback (there all growing awesome i might add 98% of seeds sprouted)
and have 8 other types of peppers that need to be planted that are from ottawapepper...this is a awesome site wite awesome people!

Hi everyone, I am Jing and I am from Gilbertsville PA,me and my husband transplanted ourself to this wonderful countryside from New York City. We just bought our home late last year so this is the first year in our life that have a backyard, and we are loving every minute of it. I was a garment importer in New York and now I am in school for nursing and working full time for a heart monitoring company.

I must agre with Matt, this is a awesome website with awesome people, I learned so much from here as a newbie. you guys are not cheap with advices for sure!

I currently have some peppers and tomatos planted with my flowers and few new roses, and I have some snow pea shoots along the fence. I also have some Chinese baby choy and strawberries growing .

Hello Everyone!

I'm Becky. I've been on the Gardenweb for a few years now. I have learned a LOT from this site and asking questions. Lots of great helpful people here.

I'm an environmental consultant. My husband & I own and operate an environmental consulting firm and training center. I've been gardening for 8 years now. I think it's in my blood. My parents gardened and my grandfather gardened.

I love, love, love, tomatoes, peppers, beans and squashes. I just finished planting out the bulk of my garden this past weekend. The garden is 30' x 45.' Now I have to figure out where to put all my extra seedlings!

Happy Gardening!

Cassie, you sure you havent taken a hit off that hemp?? :-D LOL

To not even share your garden w. us in YOUR thread that's now 60 posts deep is pretty funny :-)

Hi all - I'm Lisa, and I'm from a little city just over the line from Boston called Chelsea. I just say I'm from Boston tho - it's easier and since we're practically part of the city, it's not a real stretch! Anyway, I'm married with 2 kids, a 21 year old son in college and a 19 year old daughter who doesn't know what she wants to do yet! We have 4 cats - all strays we "acquired" as they were either born in or roamed thru our back yard. I'm just about out of room in my small, urban backyard, altho I can add pots to my deck. I could happily garden all day long and be perfectly happy. Unfortunately, I have to work! I started out life as an operating room technician, but have been a legal secretary/paralegal for a long time now.

I've been a gardener for about 25 years, altho mainly perennials with the exception of tomatoes and a zucchini now and then. This year I added a dwarf apple tree, Apache blackberry bushes, some dwarf blueberries, and some alpine strawberries. I've also greatly expanded my vegetable growing capabilities by taking over an area that was formerly perennials and making an asparagus bed (which still hasn't sprouted!!), and hubby built me two raised beds with trellis' attached for cucumbers and pole beans. My various lettuces are already in the ground and growing along with a few small rows of spinach. I have 10 tomatoes, 2 mini eggplants, and 4 hot peppers waiting to get in the ground - my son is home right now stripping the sod off the final area of yard I'm devoting to veggies. I also have parsley, cilantro, chives, Thai basil, Italian basil, lemon thyme, silver thyme, and oregano. Lastly I have a fig I grow in a pot on my deck that I've had for 4 years now. Next year I plan on adding beets, rhubarb, Brussels sprouts, peas, and sweet bell peppers to my repetoir - I hope! I'm growing a lot of new things this year and hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew, altho at times I think I already have!

Lisa

Another Lisa here. I live in Connecticut and work at a large (for the Northeast anyway) University. Although we have quite a bit of land, our vegetable garden is tiny - mainly due to several failed in-ground growing attempts. I now grow veggies exclusively in containers and tend several large and thriving perennial beds. Go figure.

My husband and I seem to have reversed the traditional roles when it comes to the garden. I enjoy being the farmer and he prefers being the harvester! :)

This year we're growing strawberries, several different basils, dill, tomatoes, greenbeans, eight ball zuke, patty pan squash, red zeppelin onion, copra onion, horseradish, brussel sprouts, red norland potatoes, yukon gold potatoes, all blue potatoes, sweet potatoes and sugar baby watermelon. Most of which is grown in a 10 x 15 area - whew!

Hi, Everyone. Nice "meeting" all of you and hearing about your gardens.

I'm Rosemary, living in Hickory, NC now but grew up in So FL. Have gardened organically for over 20 years, but now on a much larger scale. Have a couple of acres, mostly pines and bamboo, that once belonged to my great-aunt. I have been slowly clearing brush and making lasagna beds over the last 6 years (on weekends since I work M-F), in the area where my great-aunt once had her extensive vegetable garden.

This year my veggies include Borlotto & Dragon Tongue beans, potatoes, 6 kinds of tomatoes, squash (yellow zucchini & butternut), cucumbers, okra and carrots. Had an earlier harvest of spinach and lettuces; now the sugar snap peas are coming in (I never seem to plant enough and end up eating most of them right off the vines).

Also have numerous perennials, mostly from gifts or trades, and an ever-growing herb collection. I love irises, and am thrilled to be able to grow them here. Have started lots of things via winter-sowing, and have learned much from this and other forums here on GW.

I am a transplanted Floridian married to a transplanted Chicagoan and when we retired, we bought a place in the country with just enough acreage to keep folks from building within eyesite of us. I got enough of "development" living in Florida.
We love to garden and spend a lot of time outside doing just that. I learned one thing. Retirement is not for sissies !! There are never enough hours in the day anymore.
We both love to cook also and so we spend lots of time entertaining our friends here at home rather than going out.
That's about it.

Helen

I don't post often, but I read daily. My name is Larry and I'm retired from a manufacturing plant. I live in east Tennessee about 40 mi sw of Knoxville. Been gardening on and off my whole life and seriously for the past 20 years. I'm a certified master gardener and my garden is about 35' x 100.' I grow for my own use and a little for the farmers market and neighbors. Grow a little of about everything, but mostly tomatoes (for canning) and peppers (dry to make my own BBQ rub & chili powder).

Loving this thread and "getting to know" everyone.
I'm Deanna. I live in the Willamette Valley of beautiful Oregon on 12 rural acres. Married to the greatest guy on earth, 4 grown kids.
I work full time M-F and weekends are spent at home.
We raise cows, pygmy goats, chickens, couple of cats and whatever wildlife wanders through.
My garden is a 40' x 50' area with 8' deer fence around it. I have "raised beds" in any number of things. Old swimming pools, lumber, concrete blocks, buckets, large planters, rubbermaid totes, etc. Yep! trashy as all get out!! But no one can see it from the road and I love the 'frugal-ness' of it! The veggies don't seem to mind. LOL!

I grow lettuces, chard, beets, bok choy, onions, garlic, peas, radish, pepper, tomato, basil, carrots, beans, potatoes, strawberries, blueberries, dill, thyme, sage, oregano, mint, lavender.
We planted 2 apple trees and a fig this year and we're kicking ourselves for not doing it sooner! We've been here 10 years.
This area is an awesome growing area. Mild temps (rarely over 90 in summer and rarely below 28 or so in winter).
I'm zone 8, but live in a bowl between hills so often it's a few degrees cooler. We has a tiny amount of frost on top of the car Monday morning!! Grrr....

Love this site and have lurked off and on for several years. I frequent the cooking and harvest forums regularly!

Hi All,
My name is Scott and I joined GW back in '03. I don't post much,but check in here almost every day. There's always something new, informative, or just flat out funny ,and that makes my day! ;^)

I'm a US Navy Veteran (VF-143), a retired Ironworker (Local #75), and have been gardening off and on for most of my 59 years, here on Space Ship Earth.

My DW and I have a little 3.3 acre mini-farm located about 32 miles south of Phoenix Az, where we raise a few farm critters,fruit and nut trees, and our garden is about .25 acres.

Here we have two gardening seasons and grow a very wide variety of veggies from Arugula to Zucchini.

I love gardening. It gives me great food,plenty of exercise,and keeps me sane in these " Interesting Times"

Happy Gardening ~ Scott ~

LOL! Bomber, I didnt think about it that way LOL!!!!!!

I'm Alan8 from South Alabama. Been vegetabe gardening over 30 years since I was a teen with my Dad. Learn something new every year and enjoy this forum, especially when I have a question. I'm a magazine publisher and love the outdoors.

Hi everyone! I was excited to see a few of you are from Baltimore! I started gardening because I like to cook and wanted better quality ingredients. I also like being self sufficient and being responsible for less food shipping than before. Then I got addicted to the awesome variety of produce I never knew existed. My passion is tomatoes and I love unexpected colors. I am amazed by the diversity of heirloom veggies! I live in a little place with a shared yard (and, luckily, understanding neighbors and, so far, a non-tomato killing neighbor yorkie). This year I am experimenting with growing a bunch of stuff in containers on my deck. I can't WAIT to have my first ripe tomato.

I live in the Pacific NW where there is little sun except for maybe the months of May-July. Plants produce meagerly here so I do a combination of indoor and outdoor plantings.

I consider myself new to gardening. Appreciate the kind folks here who patiently answer questions.Maybe someday, I'll be able to give back more! :)

Im danielle, full time mother of three, part time makeup artist. I live in MA, 5 minutes from Boston. This is my first year gardening, and for someone who hates bugs and getting dirt under my nails i seemed to be obsessed!!!! Im doing both a veggie garden as well as sunflowers. And thank you to everyone who has answered my idiot questions thus far!!!

Great thread and so many interesting people!

My name is, depending who talks to me, Kate or Kasia. I am 38 and live with a husband and a 22-month son just south of Houston. I'm a molecular biologist and plant geneticist by training, but I make my living these days as a computer programmer at a genome sequencing center. It's a job that allows my brain to grow and I'm surrounded by many smart people, so my ego never grows too big.

I have always liked to tend to things that photosynthesize and I've been growing vegetables in my backyard for the last six years. I have devoted about 500 square feet to vegetables this year, which is enough to have our family supplied with produce year round and put some food by for leaner periods. I'm experimenting with many squashes this year but I am also growing tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, herbs, cucumbers, yard-long beans, melons and watermelons. In the colder season I switch to lettuce, radishes, cauliflowers, broccoli, bok choy, broccoli rabe, and carrots.

I also run a local meetup group for people interested in vegetable gardening. Most of our members are in our 20s and new to vegetables, or to gardening in general. We are talking about starting a community garden and having a stand at a farmers market. I am amazed at how many younger people are now taking up the cause of fresh local produce.

My name is Gloria. I live in central cali in the sierra foothills. Just moved to a little gold rush town (Ione Ca) from a 2 bedroom upstairs apt in el dorado Hills with a suare foot garden on our balcony. Now we are renting a 3 bedroom 2 bath house on 1-1/2 acre house. We moved April 20. When we moved from the apt, I had brocoli, brussel srouts and califlower and my tomato plant from last summer and had to rip them up :(, oh well now I have lots of room to garden. The inside of our house is still boxed up, been to busy getting my new garden planted! the house can wait LOL. I have corn planted and growing (Mirai) green bean some are tri-colored (yellow, green and purple), blackeyed peas, orka, all kinds of tomatoes, yellow and zucini squash, armeanian cukes, tiger melons and orange and red watermelon. Oh yeah me and my boyfriend and our cat, Alli (Turkish Angora) she is a indoor cat :)

Hi everyone,

I'm Chris, and I live in Boston as well. I've been living in the same house I moved into right after college, first as a renter, now as an owner. When we first moved in I managed to rescue what little yard space there is from its totally unmaintained nasty overgrown jungle status, and started gardening in it about 10 or 11 years ago. Every year I learn new stuff - this year especially, as I just found GardenWeb recently. It's a pretty rockin' place.

I grow mostly tomatoes and peppers (several varieties of each) as well as some cukes, herbs, and whatever else seems like a good idea at the time. Every year for the past nine years or so I've been hosting a great big giant harvest party, whereby I make homemade sauce galore and have about 35 people over for a night of feasting. It's a great way to celebrate being able to grow so much good stuff out of one little patch of ground in the middle of the city.

Good times.

- Chris

I'm in zone 9, central Cali foothills and it gets pretty hot during the day. Is it better to water in the evening or in the morning? It's hard for me to water in the morning b-4 I go to work. Is it better to water in the evening? (I hope so)

Ancfan, evening watering is always better, IMO. This allows for the water to do it's thing during the cooling of the night and not evaporate w. the heat of the day

Ok another New Englander. I live just east of Worcester. I am pretty new to gardening. This year (3rd full season) I tried to scale up a bit. It is still a pretty small garden but I have a 24' x 3' bed, a 12' x 3' bed, a 2' x 12' bed, and (2) small 6' x 3 ' beds.

Right now I am growing:

In the Garden Now:
Peas (a small Italian Variety)
Broccoli Calabrese
Cima di Rapa (40 day)
Tropea Rossa Onions
Italian Parsley
Green Beans
4-season Butter Lettuce
Maraville di Verona Canasta Lettuce (French Crisp)
Mesclun
Cukes
A small Italian zucchini
1 escarole that somehow made it through the winter

In the House:
St. Pierre Tomatoes
Friariello Peppers
Basil
Thyme
Mint
Oregano (I got a late start on the herbs)

Waiting in the seed bag for Fall (early summer transplants)
Raddichio Treviso
Escarole
4-season lettuce
Cavolo Nero

Im Mike. I Live @ the foot of the Olympic Mountains in WA. Across the Sound from Seattle.

I grew up in Harford County, Maryland. I cannot remember when my Parents and Grand Parents were not gardening. I was born with a spade and a finger to poke the ground to plant my seed with. (no pun intended)

I suffered through the city slicker style life (college kid etc) and hated every minute of it. 6 years ago i finally relaxed and settled down, got my House with the white picket fence (ok mines barbed wire), plenty of land, 2.2 kids. 4 dogs, 8 cats, hehe. Ive never been happier.

I luv living in the mountains, only down fall for veggies is late frosts and early winters. We only get 3 1/2 sure growing months, which we make the best of. However ive become a proficient container gardiner. After my 10 year Hiatus form gardening, you guys reminded me of what i had forgotten from my early life. Ive Lurked here for years, only recently registered. I also enjoy the Frugal Gardening Forum. My wife and I can Pickles, Tomatoes, Relishes, Salsa's, Jelly's. Have a yard of Apples, Plums, Cherry's, Pears, Blueberries, Blackberries, Rasberries, and im sure im forgetting some.

Feel free to email me

I'm Tracey and I'm on the other side of the world to most of you guys - Melbourne, Australia, but I find that doesn't matter much because the fundamental principles of gardening are the same everywhere.

The Australian forum isn't very active, I guess we just don't have the huge population of the USA. I learn a lot from people on this site, and because our seasons are reversed, I find I have time to incorporate the new ideas I get here into my plan for the following season.

Plus at the moment I'm especially interested in posts about gardening in Kansas because my brother-in-law in Wichita KS is wanting to start a veggie garden. Never having gardened there (I lived in Colorado) I'm not attuned to the particular pest and climate issues.

I guess you don't, it's 20mil vs 300mil I reckon.

Hi all!
I am Sherri from Idaho and new to gardening this year.
I planted lots so I could get the hang of growing things. If some veggies don't grow then it will be a great hands on learning experience. My garden plot is 25'x 60'. I have over 20 veggies planted. Lots of room to expand, even the potatoes went outside of the garden b/c I ran out of room. My compost pile is huge and growing, I wished I had started it last year so I could have used it when I planted. We had the plot of weeds tilled then it sat for a month. The tilling was not deep enough so I had to dig it up with a shovel/muscle combination then I chopped all the clods(I will rent a tiller for myself to use if I ever have to start from scratch again!!). I didn't know what to do with all the dirt piled up so I made wide raised rows. Since we have cool nights I think that was a good idea. My garden is looking great. I am learning new things everyday. My new addiction is adding collectibles to the compost pile (you know what I mean?). We have a 2 acre property with forest behind it so I have a lifetime to collect...whew!
I found out how wonderful mulch is just today, I am using straw this year. I want to really get more into gardening next year by finding great varieties of veggies to plant and adding berries and asparagus...
I love to try to figure things out and plan everything.
Happy gardening to all!

Hey, I'm Adam. First year I've grown a garden, I absolutly love it, the garden is filled with veggies and herbs. I'm a 22 year old full time student and server.

Hi, I am Shawn Ann from just outside Louisville, ky. I am the mother of twins, boy and girl, Daisy and Jacob with another due in November.
I am totally obsessed with gardening and this is only my second year in our home, and with a garden. When I am not in the garden, or with my kids I am reading books and searching online anything and everything I want to know about gardening. Flower gardening, Veg gardening, composting, bugs, etc.

Last year I had a traditional row garden, this year I have 5 raised beds. My family has had gardens every since I can remember but I don't ever remember helping with them. I always lived in the country in the middle of farmland in MI and in TN. So it is just kinda something ya know even if you don't do it. The garden was the first project I started as soon as we moved in to our house last May. It was kinda makeshift.

I would like to say we save money with gardening, but there always seems to be some big garden project I want dh to help me do to improve the garden. Maybe next year.

Nice to read everyones intro, even though I haven't quite made it all the way to the bottom yet.

Happy gardening!
My Garden Blog

Cabrita means little goat, but my real name is Rosa. My dear partner and I live in the foothills of the San Gabriel valley in Southern California. This is only our second year with this garden, but we both had gardens in the past. It is only 1/4 acre but we manage to grow pretty much all out fruits and veggies, well, except for bananas, mushrooms, some berries. We do 4 season gardening, lot of companion and succession planting.

Some of the existing fruit trees are very large, so we have learned to can, pickle, dry, and ferment, just to not waste food and keep the harvest. The vegetable gardens are all in the spaces between the trees.

I also have about 55 rose bushes that came with the place, stunningly beautiful, but that is a lot of rose bushes for someone interested mostly in EDIBLES. I compromised and grow herbs and alliums in between the roses, and a kale or cauliflower here and there. The roses also attract lots of pollinators and lady bugs. They are edible too in the sense the hips can be used in a syrup, and the petals used in salads.

I'm Ania from Southern CA. I live with my boyfriend and 2 of our own little terrier dogs (also known as terrors) and a third foster terrier.

We just purchased a house a year ago so this is my second year gardening. Until we bought the house, I was one of those people that would kill every plant that was in my care. I'm trying to change that and I have several houseplants that have lived a year for me now. For me, that's good. I did some landscaping on the property last year and well, let's just say I did it again this year with plants that would actually work for the area. They are working so far. I grew a few things in pots last year with limited success. I started really late a got a just a few tomatos from 3 plants that got attacked by hornworms, some Jalapeno's and Cubanelles and some Okra. My herbs did well and I had a lot of basil and still have pineapple sage and mint from last year. I tried, unsuccessfully to grow eggplant as well.

This year, I decided to actually learn how to garden and here I am. This year I'm growing 8 varieties of tomatoes, several varieties of peppers, a couple of eggplants, tomatillos, several squash and zucchini, green onions, lima beans, and a few other things all in containers. I am also just now sprouting chard and amaranth. I also have a lot of herbs growing. I made some big mistakes to start with and got a late start on some things but all is going fairly well.

I'm really glad to have found this place so I can learn and maybe I can know what I'm doing with this gardening stuff one day.

Ania