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Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

It's almost May goons. April has come and gone and planting for summer is right around the corner (already here for you southern goons). So let's talk about gardening!

This is the place to talk about what you grow, how you grow it, and also a place to ask questions and get a bunch of contrasting opinions because goons can't agree on poo poo. I'll use the OP to just go over some organic gardening basics and some dire warnings about being a lazy person and not getting your plants into the ground on time.

Organic Gardening: An extremely dumb and gay pursuit

The name kind of says it all. It's gardening without using chemical fertilizers. There are sixteen million ways to organic garden, stuff like french intensive, hügelkultur, and the stuff I personally get down on which is just crop rotation and old school farming. They are all good for different spaces and different climates and at the end of the day put delicious produce on your plate for literal pennies per pound without BIG AGRO getting their grubby hands all over it.

Why would I rotate crops that sounds tedious and dumb?

Each type of crop (leaf, root, flower/legume, fruit) uses certain nutrients in your soil. Some even put goodies back in. By planting in sucession year after year or season after season you can keep your soil healthy and fertile with very little outside additives. If you are a soil dork you love watching your soil become richer and more bio-diverse. Basically it makes your garden run on near nothing which in the end makes your investment go further.

There is also the whole environmental aspect as well. Good soil is in incredibly short supply and places that have soil that is well rated for agriculture also happen to be the kinds of places that are being bought up for housing developments. Making fertile soil is a cool guy's pursuit and the more we make the more we support a thriving ecosystem both above the ground and beneath it.

Okay, I'm naked in my yard. What am I getting out of this?

Isn't the nudity enough, dude? :mad: But really, you can have access to foods that most people will never even have the chance to try. You will be able to choose from near limitless varieties of each crop and you can totally show off with your fancy purple tomatoes and know you paid $0.16 to grow them.

It's beautiful. I mean who doesn't love to be surrounded by plants and flowers and fruits. There is smells and colors and tastes. It's pretty sweet in that aspect. It's easy to get lost inspecting each leaf and stem. Quite zen.

Lastly, it is a dying skill. Fewer and fewer people as time go on have the ability to raise a vegetable to fruition. I know it sounds silly but it's true. If we let these kinds of skills die then we basically are just giving away the right to really know what is in our food. I mean, whether you're a conspiracy theorist thinking Monsanto is creeping outside your window gassing you secretly in your sleep to test their new potato mind control powder or just someone who thinks each person should have access to food that hasn't been covered in wax, sprayed in pesticide, or generally rogered about.

A couple reminders

If you're in the Northwest U.S. May 15th is when you want to start getting summer fruit into the ground. If you are planning on starting plants indoors you are pretty late.

Need seeds? There are all kinds of regional seed houses but when it comes to heirloom and rares the best I have found is right here in Oregon: Victory Seeds. Goons, please feel free to suggest seed houses and I'll add them to the OP.

Mulch the poo poo out of your garden. I cannot stress this enough. Wonder why some people have beautiful gardens and it seems like they never have to deal with weeds. It is because they use mulch. Good mulch can be nearly anything including grass clippings, hay, bark chip, and even some fabrics.

An easy fertilizer for your indoor starts:

Fill a five gallon bucket halfway with tightly packed grass clippings from your yard. Fill to the top with water. Let sit covered for 48 hours. Strain and dilute 1:1 with water. 5-10 squirts with a spray bottle after watering.

Literally A Person fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Apr 28, 2018

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I. M. Gei
Jun 26, 2005

CHIEFS

BITCH



I got some San Marzano tomato and okra seeds a couple weeks ago that I still need to plant.

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:

I got some San Marzano tomato and okra seeds a couple weeks ago that I still need to plant.

Starting indoors or straight into the ground?

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

or the thread moved faster than I thought it would.

Literally A Person fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Apr 29, 2018

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost
I transplanted a gently caress loude of rasp berries

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

Pick posted:

I transplanted a gently caress loude of rasp berries

We were thinking about using some to compete against a patch of Himalayan blackberry we have rockin' out back.

Pick
Jul 19, 2009
Nap Ghost

Literally A Person posted:

We were thinking about using some to compete against a patch of Himalayan blackberry we have rockin' out back.

if you want some golden raspberries there are a lot you can come get, some red too i think also

some real good peonies if thats ur thing

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

Pick posted:

if you want some golden raspberries there are a lot you can come get, some red too i think also

some real good peonies if thats ur thing

I'll send you an e-mail. Short answer: yes.

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

So...what are you people planting/spring harvesting?

I got some fava beans that are almost ready to pick!!! Pretty jazzed.

EorayMel
May 30, 2015

WE GET IT. YOU LOVE GUN JESUS. Toujours des fusils Bullpup Français.
One day I hope my garden will be like this:

Only registered members can see post attachments!

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

EorayMel posted:

One day I hope my garden will be like this:



Printing this now to hang on my fridge. Thank you.

Hardawn
Mar 15, 2004

Don't look at the sun, but rather what it illuminates
College Slice
I have green toes, cause I like to mow my grass in flip-flops

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

Hardawn posted:

I have green toes, cause I like to mow my grass in flip-flops

Sure, that's why...:rolleyes:

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

Speaking of the fava beans, I know few people in the states grow these bad boys so I'll show you guys what they look like:



Check out this extremely pretty flower it makes:

CAN NOT PUKE
Nov 26, 2017

by FactsAreUseless
I put some grass seed and the rain washed it away. Next move?

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

cannot pake posted:

I put some grass seed and the rain washed it away. Next move?

Look at the lowest point in you yard. It will have lots of grass. Everywhere else? ...

I. M. Gei
Jun 26, 2005

CHIEFS

BITCH



Literally A Person posted:

Starting indoors or straight into the ground?

Indoors. So I can start them off right and make sure they don’t get destroyed by pests.

Also I’m probably going to grow them in some (big) plastic cat litter containers so I can move them around.

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:

Indoors. So I can start them off right and make sure they don’t get destroyed by pests.

:hfive:

We finally invested in a light set up this year. It's fab.

An easy fertilizer for your indoor starts:

Fill a five gallon bucket halfway with tightly packed grass clippings from your yard. Fill to the top with water. Let sit covered for 48 hours. Strain and dilute 1:1 with water. 5-10 squirts with a spray bottle after watering.

I. M. Gei
Jun 26, 2005

CHIEFS

BITCH



I also still need to get some Scotch bonnet pepper seeds. I can’t find Scotch bonnets in my area and I wanna make Jamaican jerk stuff.

Sophy Wackles
Dec 17, 2000

> access main security grid
access: PERMISSION DENIED.





Growing your own food and/or herbs owns.

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

Pawn 17 posted:

Growing your own food and/or herbs owns.

Learning how to put them all in the same garden is a godly pursuit. I usually grow herbs from clones though so I wait to get them into the ground until later in the season.

Lacey
Jul 10, 2001

Guess where this lollipop's going?
Check your local community listings for gardening events where you can browse, ask questions, etc. In Canada they have Seedy Saturdays https://seeds.ca/Seedy-Saturday

And get your soil tested if you have Doubts

Lacey
Jul 10, 2001

Guess where this lollipop's going?

cannot pake posted:

I put some grass seed and the rain washed it away. Next move?
What's your soil like?

You can re-seed and cover in a thin layer of straw. Not too thick that it smothers your seedlings when they come up. Or I think you can get grass seed that comes with pre-mixed with mulch. Use the hose to gently water after sowing.

Check your forecast and try not to plant before any scheduled heavy rains.

Hell Yeah
Dec 25, 2012

I have 4 cucumber plants started as well as 10 lacinato kale, 20 red leaf lettuces, 5 parsleys, 2 jalapeno and 2 anaheim peppers. The leaf lettuces and kales are getting too big for the cells i have them in so i think i'm going to plant them this week. I'm in michigan zone 6 and it's cold here right now so i'm probably going to harden my peppers and cucumbers off in a cold frame next week then plant them.

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

What kind of stuff do you grow Lacey?

Hell Yeah
Dec 25, 2012

also i think i'm gonna start some radishes from seed in the dirt and just kimchi the whole plants including the greens and the roots.

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

Hell Yeah posted:

I have 4 cucumber plants started as well as 10 lacinato kale, 20 red leaf lettuces, 5 parsleys, 2 jalapeno and 2 anaheim peppers. The leaf lettuces and kales are getting too big for the cells i have them in so i think i'm going to plant them this week. I'm in michigan zone 6 and it's cold here right now so i'm probably going to harden my peppers and cucumbers off in a cold frame next week then plant them.

Not sure why a skeleton needs veg...

But, noice. My lettuce all keeled over this year but my spinach planted in February is starting to take off.

Hell Yeah
Dec 25, 2012

no gardening thread would be complete without a video from john kohler of growingyourgreens.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0X3BaifKO4

Tony quidprano
Jan 19, 2014



I don't garden but I have a little rubber tree I bought last year that's shot up pretty quick. The soil seems to have small outbreaks of fruit flies. Anything to stop that OP?

Dely Apple
Apr 22, 2006

Sing me Spanish Techno


I planted my garden here in the South Sound during that heat wave of sorts. I tried a month earlier but it was still so cool that the seeds just rotted away. Didn't hurt to try I guess! Except to those seeds which will haunt my soul for killing them!

I want these pickling cucumbers and dill to get going already. :yum:

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

1500quidporsche posted:

I don't garden but I have a little rubber tree I bought last year that's shot up pretty quick. The soil seems to have small outbreaks of fruit flies. Anything to stop that OP?

Is it usually a day or two after watering?

Tony quidprano
Jan 19, 2014



Literally A Person posted:

Is it usually a day or two after watering?

I water it every three days so tough to track. I'm assuming it's moisture related though

Hell Yeah
Dec 25, 2012

try watering less?

Hell Yeah
Dec 25, 2012

i dunno is it ok to let a rubber tree dry out a little? i've never grown one.

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

1500quidporsche posted:

I water it every three days so tough to track. I'm assuming it's moisture related though

It totally is. They get in there because it is wet. You could try a layer of mulch over the soil. It might solve your problem.


Hey look, it's spinach:



gotta thin them out before they get much bigger.

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer
This sound cool as gently caress and I want to try it now. Where do I start?

Lacey
Jul 10, 2001

Guess where this lollipop's going?

Literally A Person posted:

What kind of stuff do you grow Lacey?
Just herbs in indoor containers right now and I'm growing pumpkin seedlings from last Halloween's biggest pumpkin

I moved so I'm waiting to see what all this stuff coming up outside is before I cull. I think I have tulips, bleeding hearts, tiger lilies and chives. Some reddish bushes with hard little seedpods at the ends? And a million cedar sprouts.

edit: indoor herbs: thyme, basil, rosemary, oregano, lavender and cat grass

Lacey fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Apr 28, 2018

Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

Jon Joe posted:

This sound cool as gently caress and I want to try it now. Where do I start?

Well what kind of space do you have?

Emmideer
Oct 20, 2011

Lovely night, no?
Grimey Drawer

Literally A Person posted:

Well what kind of space do you have?

A porch outdoors; no growing area but this works with planters, right? I'd need to buy some but the porch is otherwise unused except for a grill.

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Literally A Person
Jan 1, 1970

Jon Joe posted:

A porch outdoors; no growing area but this works with planters, right? I'd need to buy some but the porch is otherwise unused except for a grill.

Starting in pots is a great way to start. Well, first you'll need containers. Craigslist is a great place to get free five gallon buckets and the like. You'll need seeds or starts. You could try the seed house in the OP or you can go to a local nursery. For a first timer I would recommend trying from starts as it tends to be a bit easier. Find a store that sells organic soil (which is always cheaper in bulk than in a bag) and go to work. Follow directions and after some time you'll be eating home grown veg.

Alternatively, build a box and create a raised bed. Look at the "french intensive" link in the OP to get an idea of how to make box planting successful.

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