Not warm enough here to plan anything 0:(
BUT...my chives have come up from last year so I guess that's a start.

Linda

My [backyard] garden provides a lot of the food we eat. About 20 pepper plants this year, also garlic, beans, cukes, herbs, squash, lettuce types, greens, and etc. My main crop is heirloom open pollinated tomatoes. About 30 different types this year of pinks, reds, blacks, yellows, golds, greens, bi-colors including 6 different colors of cherry types that really jazzle-dazzle up a salad. Here's my list of tomatoes.

EarlÂs Faux
Aunt GertieÂs Gold
Gary OÂSena
Noir de Crimee
Green Giant
Polish
BurrackerÂs Favorite
Mararini
Yellow Red Butt
Granny Cantrell
Mountaineer Mystery
Cherokee Purple
Yellow Brandywine
Liz Birt
Dora
Spudatula
Cherokee Chocolate
Lescana
Picardy
M.P. Stoner
cherries
Green Grape
Black Cherry
Dr. Carolyn
GalinaÂs Yellow Cherry
SunGold
MattÂs Wild Cherry
Mexico Midget
Sweet Thing Grape
Sweet Pea Currant

Autumn here, but I'm currently very excited. My interstate friend who looks after my herb-only garden for me is coming up to visit next week.

And he's bringing with him a tea plant! Real Camellia sinensis, which I've been hankering for for ages.

And Cseim, you are so right. There is no comparison between dried herbs and fresh ones. Even though I can no longer cook for myself, I still get the pleasure of having a garden full of herbs - and it smells wonderful! Pretty, too. I'm lucky to live in a climate where they grow all year round.

My young friend, now Master 17, who's been doing odd-jobs for me since he was 8, has just started an apprenticeship as a chef. He's now looking at my garden with fresh eyes, and was delighted to impress Chef with some fresh turmeric for this week's culinary exercise. He comes and raids my garden frequently - which is a joy to my heart! Along with the sample-sized mini-meals he brings me from time to time, of course. He's just beginning to realise how much I've taught him about herbs over the years, and what a benefit it will be to him.

I only have onions, potatoes and radishes in so far. Still chilly at times here. Don't plant green beans or tomatoes for a few weeks yet. We plant sweet potatoes at my daughter's. Here the rabbits eat them, because my garden is not close to the house. I don't know what else will be planted. I have plenty of room. My garden right now is tilled to a 25 foot by 100 foot. It could be made much bigger.

Sue

I have a tiny backyard, but the herb garden includes 2 kinds of basil (italian and thai), chives, 2 types of sage, as well as oregano and thyme. Oh, also a huge parsley. My veggie garden (very small compared to the daylilies) includes green beans, cukes, sweet bell peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes, and tomatillas. I'm excited because everything is looking good!

I'm excited too! Planted peas, lettuce and onions on St Paddys day. The lettuce is already up. First time I've ever done peas, planted regular and edible pod.

Earl, thats a bunch of tomatoes! My garden is small so I usually only have 2-3 grape tomato plants love them on the grill or sauted with basil in olive oil.

Do you have a preference for a canning tomato? Think I might need to do that this year, usually only can to make Annie's salsa.

Di

ME, ME, ME. My garlic is coming up and it is still going to -10 some nights. It's giving me the fix I need so it's a keeper for next year. Last week I started some tomatoes by seed - yellow pear, green zebra, beefsteak some habaneros and jalapeno peppers. It's my third year for my herb garden so it should be nice and full this year. Ahh, that felt good.

Here's what I'm thinking about putting in:

Himalayan farkleberries

"Radiators" (a cross between a radish and a potato)

Red, white and blue corn

Shoestring potatoes with long laces

Time (I have to,; I've run out)

Elvis Parsley ("peace, love and vegetables")

garlic to keep the tigers away (true! it worked last year)

basil, Rathbone

the new French epazote, "Non Toot"

Beets me

Runner beans (I'm going to try again this year; last year's crop ran away)

Coeliac's Celeriac (no stomach problems with this one)

Mustard and mayonnaise greens

Quail Eggplant (REALLY tiny fruits)

Joe

Ooo! I forgot about the citrus! My satsuma mandarins and meyer lemon are all profusely blooming right now, so I'm hoping for a good crop later this year!

Earl, I'm really jealous of all of your tomatoes. I think with our summer heat they'd be more work than they're worth here. Then again, maybe it's worth a shot. When I was a young kid, we lived in the midwest and could grow almost anything. My mom would give entire grocery sacks of home-grown tomatoes away to the neighbors, and I was so embarrassed because I thought they were disgusting! Now that I'm all grown up I've learned to appreciate them. For some reason, the ones from the grocery store don't have that wonderful fresh smell that home-grown ones do.

Great list Joe! I'd love to try one of your Himalayan farkleberries!

Chrissy

Me, too! My garlic is up (new for me this year). The grow lights are on in the basement, and so far I have five varieties of peppers, two kinds of eggplant and seventeen different tomatoes, as well as broccoli and brussel sprouts. The lettuce came up yesterday, too!

With the garlic in the garden, I am growing all the ingredients (except the onions) for Annie's Salsa.

I LOVE spring!

I'll be excited after the 8-10-inches of snow thaws and I get a chance to replant what I planted already..... Although I'm grateful for the moisture - it's been horribly dry this winter.

I would have been picking spinach in another week. I was wearing capri pants and short sleeves just a few days ago. But alas, alas, Mother Nature has such an odd sense of humor. Global warming, indeed!!! There goes all the budding and flowering trees/bushes and spring flowers! Don't expect a fruit crop, either.

-Grainlady

Ah yes,
Excitement is definitely in the air in my area. Although being in Zone 5, I have a few more weeks before I even think about putting anything into the ground, but I keep a garden journal and I am considering my configuration of plants. I like to rotate the positions to give my soil "time to rest" and/or deal differently and for the past 5 years, that methodology has helped w/some very nice yields.

I'm unsure if I will try anything "new" for this season since my usual producers (several herbs, tomatoes, several peppers, zuc, cuc and eggplant) have done very well. I may just play around with new varieties of the usual suspects. Hmmm...

Oh Yes!! My favorite time of year.
I've got lettuce, chard, scallions and radishes growing in the house (couldn't wait).
Tomatoes and peppers started and more to plant today. These won't go outside for another 6-8 weeks.
Peas are up, garlic is up and I have some Joi Choi (small Bok Choi) we're eating from the garden. Cabbage and broccoli that overwintered...we'll see how that goes.
I've been reading Ruth Stout's books from the library, what a hoot!

Deanna

Chrissy,
you need to check out this website:

http://www.settfest.com/

"SETTFest 2009 Announced!
The 3rd annual South East Texas Tomato Festival (SETTFest 2009) will return to the historic Washington on the Brazos state park on June 13th, 2009.

Located 20 minutes from scenic Brenham, TX, this state park has authentic recreations of crafts and farming of the time of the founding of the Republic of Texas. The excellent facilities available to us at this location should draw a great crowd! Last year we had over 150 tomato varieties represented."

Di,
since your garden area is small I'd suggest one of the Roma types since they're short [determinate] plants that ripen fruit all at once. For someone with plenty of room who wants to experience the fantastic flavor of heirlooms check out the tomatoes at TGS [Tomato Growers Supply com.] They have a huge selection of every conceivable type, shape, color in determinate and indeterminate types. Plus a large section of peppers and eggplants.

One canner type that I prefer is an old French heirloom [dates back to the 1880's] called Picardy. A google search would bring up sources for it. It's a semi-determinate plant that's about 4-5 feet high, and the great tasting fruit are suitable for both fresh eating and canning.

For you garlic lovers. Try some "green garlic." Get a few heads of garlic that are starting to sprout from you local grocery. Break the heads into cloves or leave the heads whole and plant them 3-4 inches deep in garden or tuck them into a flower bed or pot/container. By late May-June you will have shoots that look like green onions. Dig them anytime before they start to bulb and use just as you would garlic, same taste but milder/smoother than garlic cloves.

If you love tomatoes and just want to drool for awhile go check out the link below. It's pictures of heirloom tomatoes from yearly gatherings at the CHOPTAG Tomato Test Fest in Cincinnati, OH. More than 100 different heirloom tomatoes each year.

Here is a link that might be useful: CHOPTAG Tomato Test Fest

Thanks for the link, Earl. It sure is full of good information.

Chrissy

I have a garden all year long in CA. In the winter it is green leafy and root veggies like lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, carrots, rutabagas, parsnips, kohlrabi, beets, Brussel sprouts, and onions. In the spring/summer it is peas, winter & summer squash, tomatoes, sweet peppers, green beans, herbs, and potatoes.

I planted several tomato varieties from seed this year: Mortgage Lifter, Anna Maria Heart, Brandywine, Kellogg Breakfast, Tiger Stripe, Yellow Pear, & Costoluto. Also bought small plants, Moskvich & Debaro, a couple of months ago that I put in my green house. They are huge now and already have green tomatoes on them. I will put them in the garden around mid April.
Clare

Earl is being being modest and not bragging that he is the father of Earl's Faux which is probably the best tomato in the world. Nice to see you here Earl.

Good topic. We have had a veggie garden now for 5 years. Last year the deer decided they would eat every thing in the the garden, even the tomatoes.

Today we were out trying to put the post in for a fence. To bad it started snowing so hard we could barely see with the snow melting in our eyes. Maybe we can get it finished next week. Of course it is way to cold to get much in the garden now.

Snow Peas are in. We will also have,
asparagus
tomatoes 3-4 different varieties, Roma's for sure
carrots
mesclun mix
beets
garlic
potatoes- Yukon and red of some kind
green beans
cilantro
basil
flat parsely
onions
raspberries
musk melon- few volunteers come up from year before
May try some celery, my sister got some small plants from the Amish that tasted very good last year.

We take hostas to a local farmers market every week, so anything else fresh we can get at the market.

Happy veggie gardening to all!

I don't get excited about spring because I generally can't tell when it is here - that is until late April, early May when my orchid cactus start to bloom. I have citrus fruit all year - Valencia oranges, Meyer lemons, and limes (don't know the variety, but they are very good!) plus Manila mangoes, as well as a few herbs, such as oregano and thyme. I used to have more, but I just didn't use them that much. I plant basil a bit later in the year, and I can generally get some started in September that will last through part of January. I used to have a huge artichoke plant in the back yard, but it really took up more space than it was worth. I also used to have a wonderful dwarf avocado, but it was terrible about getting white flies, and so we took it out. Now I get free avocados from friends with trees and trade limes for them. I get tons of figs in August. If I want rosemary, I generally clip some the grows wild in parking lots here. I probably won't plant tomatoes this year because I hope we will be moving. I'll be sad to leave my trees :(.

Lars

I was just cleaning up my herb garden and was happily surprised. everything that looked dead is qite alive and growing. There is almost enough sorrel for soup. The bay is even going to need a little pruning. Rosemary,marjoram,savory and oregano are ready to use. Thyme runing all over the place. Not surprisingly the teragon and sweet basil didn't make it, Pretty soon I'll replant. I think we might actually be going to have spring.

Lars, I hope you move some place where you can have wonderful trees. I would be sad to leave those trees too.

Good growing to everyone Tache

I have some lettuce, spinach, cilantro, and flat leaved parsley seedlings popping up indoors. This past weekend I put some more lettuce and spinach seeds right in the garden. It was the first time the ground wasn't frozen! They don't mind the cold so they'll be fine. Everything else has to wait a few weeks to start indoors, or even longer to go straight in the ground. We can't really start planting warm weather crops until early June where I am. My chives are poking up already, however, and my oregano made it thru the winter. Not sure about my lemon thyme, however. I have three blueberry bushes I just ordered to go in the ground and I planted my three thornless, bare root blackberries in pots to get them started. Once I have the ground ready, in they'll go!

My new vegetable bed is still lawn so I have a lot of work to do this year getting that area ready to plant! I'll make do with my small existing plot, using it as a nursery bed until the new area is ready.

This is what I'm planning on growing this year - we'll see if I'm succesful!! Spring greens lettuce, Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, spinach, cilantro, parsley, Italian sweet basil, Thai basil, hot Thai peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini, flat Italian pole beans, and tomatoes. As I said, I have chives, oregano, and thyme, if it comes back. If not, I'll plant more. I love lemon thyme. For tomatoes, I have "Julia Child", "Cherokee Chocolate", a couple of plum variaties, and a cherry that I can't think of the name right now. When I get the new area prepared, I want to add asparagus, rhubarb, beets, and musk melons. I'd like to get some sweet red bell peppers as well as the hot varieties I grow, but sofar I haven't been successful with bell peppers.

Lisa

Not truly excited over a 'spring' garden necessarily, but I live for the summer garden! I have tomatoes, peppers and eggplant growing under lights in the basement. I did start a tray of lettuce and basil in the greenhouse. I planted some peas and carrots in pots outside and the garlic is coming up! I carved out about 1/4 of my garden space for 75 garlic starts. Fresh garlic from the garden is almost as good as homegrown heirloom tomatoes!

Duane

I'm VERY excited this year, because I finally have a yard with room for a veggie garden! And, the huge acacia tree that was blocking most of the sun blew down in a storm, so now I have the sun for a veggie garden too!!

I think I'm going to use the mound the acacia was growing on for my cukes, zucchs, and strawberries. I've got a long patch by the side of the house that will keep the mint and rosemary contained, as they have a tendency to take everything over. Lettuces, spinach and cilantro will go here and there, some in the morning sun only side, some under the partial protection of the broad-leaf trees...the Summer heat is so fierce around here, they just wizzle up in full sunlight. Parsley, tomatoes and basil will go in the area where there are a couple of roses...I figure if there's enough sun for the roses, there will be enough for tomatoes. Green beans will go back by the fence. More herbs will go in pots scattered around, as will carrots. Radishes will be here, there and everywhere. I won't put in any corn...the local corn around here is so good and so cheap it isn't worth the space. I might do some Swiss chard and eggplant though.

It's going to be so nice to be able to walk outside and pick my salad again!

Today though, is pre-planting snail death day...there are about a gazillion of them out there!

Oh yeah, I'm ready. Like Duane, there isn't really a spring garden here in North/Western Michigan, but I found my chives last week, coming up from last year. The garlic is up so I'll have green garlic and garlic scapes and I'm hoping the rosemary survived the winter, we had 72+ inches of snow by the end of December, then I quit counting. I'm hoping that was enough to really help insultate the rosemary. Now I'll have to check tonight to see if the chives survived yesterday's snow.

In my house I have some cilantro, parsley, and basil just starting nicely.

Other than that, it'll be at least 2 months before I start planting outdoors, I still have snow left from the winter and it snowed yesterday. Right now it's about 33F.

Annie

Daisy,
Just wanted to say you have planted a CHEF. Your story made my heart sing.

Theresa

Planted some chard, radishes, storage onions, re-planted my shelling peas (??? don't know what happened there)outside. Also finally got around to putting in some fruit trees (Gala and Fuji apple and a Brown Turkey Fig). We've only lived here 10 years.....I could have been EATING them by now if I'd gotten my act together. Oh well. Better now than never!
It was 53 here on Saturday, woke up to a cold (for us)slushy Sunday morning and about 28 degrees.

Come on Spring!!!

Deanna

For some of us, spring in March is only a theoretical concept. My yard is still under plenty of snow, with more forecast for tonight. I suppose it is just as well that my seed order got lost and won't be shipped until later this week or next. All my veggies will be grown in tubs on my new deck, including 5 varieties of open-pollinated short season tomatoes, plus cukes, zukes, salad greens, and herbs. I hope to get my seeds started as soon as they arrive.

I absolutely adore spring and marvel at the way nature brings forth new growth after a cold and bitter winter! My problem is we have a big male dog; irrigation water (which I really don't like on my fresh vegetables); extreme heat/sun and my attempts at above ground gardening have failed. In this altitude and heat, I would have to water in pots at least two, probably three times a day; and we are away much of the time! If I could garden small, I would do herbs and salad greens, tomatoes (even one little one!), enough beans to can and beets!!
Oh yes, I would love to have a garden (a little contained one!)
Annie71

Oh dear, Lars, I do hope you get a lime tree and a fig tree at your new place, it's a shame to have to give up your established trees.

Even when the time comes, this year's garden is going to be smaller. Amanda wants to "share" a garden with me because she was basically planting a food plot for the deer. With Dad gone stepmom doesn't want to can anything so my garden is going to be:

Corn (just a little, because Amanda can't eat it, she has diverticulitis, and Elery doesn't like it)

Potatoes (again, just a few, because Amanda wants them. They are way too cheap in the fall to spend my time growing very many)

Onions (again, far fewer than ever before, just enough to actually use them instead of giving away buckets full)

Butternut squash (Dad always insisted on acorn, but ate the butternut, LOL. So, this year it's just butternut)

After that it's the staples:

Beets
Leeks
Eggplant
Brussels Sprouts
Beans
Cabbage
Greens, probably collards
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Mixed lettuce for salads
Peppers

Plus, Makayla wants sunflowers and pumpkins, so we'll find room for those.

Annie

I'm getting out of control! I just ordered another, bigger, blueberry bush - Semi-Dwarf Northland, a Pixie Crunch dwarf apple tree, and some Purple Passion asparagus starts! I wanted to hold off on the asparagus since I don't even have the ground ready yet and since it lasts 20+ years, I need to put it in the right spot from the get-go, but I couldn't resist. I almost bought some strawberry plants but I don't have room for what I already have yet so I told myself, stop!!

Deanna - I have a marseilles fig and I love it. I grow mine in a pot and put it in the garage every winter and the next spring it leafs out and grows fine. The buds on mine just broke this past week as a matter of fact. It's now on my back, 3-season porch waiting for the temps to warm a little bit more before I move it out onto the deck. My grandfather used to bury his fig every year and my brother does that with his, but I'd rather keep it in the pot and just take it in. Altho it's getting a little big now. I'm going to have to keep it at the size it's at now if I want to still be able to take it in every year!

My back is going to be killing me by the time I get all that lawn dug up and the veggie bed in order!

I always bite off more than I can chew every spring and you'd think I'd learn by now, but I never do!! The next spring I'm doing the same thing again!

Lisa

Someone is impersonating my tomato growing pal Dukerdog! Else why did he skip over my post like it wasn't even there? Even calling himself Duane. I've got to get to the bottom of this.

After some considerable thought, maybe he's ashamed to let people know he knows me. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Earl's Garden Photos--click image

Earl, how in the heck do you get 53 off of one Earl's Faux??? It is one of my favs, and I grow it every year, but never will I get that many! Outstanding! Congrats!

DonnaMarieNJ