Comments on: Are You Ready To Garden?? Let’s Do This Thing, Twenty-Sixteen!

By: veronika

veronika — Fri, 20 May 2016 03:29:00 +0000

I just heard “Homegrown tomatoes” by Guy Clark (thanks, KEXP!), and thought of you (save for the mentions of bacon, of course!).

By: LIndsey at TheGreenPenn

LIndsey at TheGreenPenn — Thu, 19 May 2016 21:42:00 +0000

I’m still trying to convince the hubs that growing cucumbers and tomatoes in the front yard isn’t a crazy proposition, but in the meantime, I’m making do with what space I already have. We started seeds inside in February and last month, put out 25 heirloom tomato plants (yes, 25), plus purple cauliflower, eggplant, and some cool little babies called “wonderberries” that we’re pretty stoked about. Once those were planted, we started seeds for melons, zucchini, and cucumbers… LOTS of cucumbers. Yum! I hope to plant those burgeoning beauties this weekend. I’ve also got spinach, lettuce, and herbs going like crazy in a raised bed. Charlotte has loved helping this year, which makes me really happy. At 3, she’s already showing immense interest in such things, and I hope she’ll be a little homesteader someday. We picked our first strawberries a few days ago, too. That was exciting! I think I’m most looking forward to the “muncher” cukes so I can make pickles using your fermentation recipe again. Last year’s were amazing!
Can’t wait to see what you do with the new place. I see lots of wine boxes in your future, right? I mean, with the wine bar and all. ;-)

By: Rebecca Carnes

Rebecca Carnes — Mon, 16 May 2016 18:47:00 +0000

Yes! Thank you for all of the links!! Last year was out first attempt at a garden, which did not turn out so well…but I’ll take it as a learning experience LOL
This year we are starting smaller with some sun flowers and a little herb garden. Our sun flowers are already growing so strong!! I even saved some apple seeds from an apple we ate and tossed them into the ground…I mean, you never know right??
Oh and a pollinator garden hoping to bring more butterflies and bees back to our yard:) I can’t wait to see pictures of all your projects!

By: Bianca Phillips

Bianca Phillips — Wed, 11 May 2016 20:18:00 +0000

Gosh, I wish I had your enthusiasm for gardening. Sadly, I really kind of hate it. :-( I do it every year because I do find it rewarding when things begin to sprout and bear fruit. But the planting, the weeding, the watering — all of that is no fun for me. My partner loves it, so he’s responsible for a lot of the work. But I wish I loved it more. We planted some hot peppers, and the strawberries I planted last season are making berries now (which is awesome!). I’ll be potting some herbs this weekend because I love cooking with fresh herbs. But gardening is just one of those things — like hot tea and bitter greens and licorice (ha!) — that I wished I loved but just don’t.

By: Sayward Rebhal

Sayward Rebhal — Wed, 11 May 2016 19:49:00 +0000

It is literally my version of meditation. Like meditation and therapy all rolled into one. It’s the happiest place!

By: Sayward Rebhal

Sayward Rebhal — Wed, 11 May 2016 19:48:00 +0000

Well that’s actually not so bad at all, seems like a decent growing season. And I know what you mean about learning more each year. It always strikes me how I can recognize seedlings when I walk through the garden store or through someones home garden. Like, I can totally distinguish the species just be looking at a 3 week old seedling. It’s so cool! No one taught me that, I just learned to identify by growing those seeds! I dont know why but I just love that. =)

Good luck with the first in-ground garden this year! I’m growing directly in-ground instead of in beds for the first time as well, and I am SUPER excited about it!

By: Sammie

Sammie — Wed, 11 May 2016 19:02:00 +0000

Ah, thanks for the tip!! It’s actually looking pretty healthy now that we’re finally getting some sun and warmer weather, so I have high hopes. I am SO thrilled to have actual ground to work, it’s so therapeutic!

By: Elle

Elle — Wed, 11 May 2016 18:52:00 +0000

You’re right, it is SUPER extreme! This is the first year I’ve had a garden bed instead of containers, and I really struggled for a long time to find things that would happily produce both in a container and in the cold (read: almost frozen!) Spring AND in the sweltering summer! Last year I was harvesting kale in late May and putting the tomatoes to bed in late September– I probably could have done another round of cool weather crops in the fall but we were moving and it was just too much of a hassle. I love that gardening is all about learning, so hopefully I’ll perfect my methods a little more this year.

By: Sayward Rebhal

Sayward Rebhal — Wed, 11 May 2016 18:51:00 +0000

Oh yay, congrats on the new place!! That’s sooo exciting, you must be over the moon! And I am with you man — if I could just garden and putter and preserve food and harvest and plant, all day every day, I would be the happiest lady in the land. =)

So at my last place I had a seriously scraggly old rose bush that was mostly dead when I moved in, and I managed to nurse it back to health and it was one of the most beautiful and productive roses I’ve ever seen! So I think you can do it. The key for me was cutting it waaaaaay back. It loved to be chopped down to almost nothing each year. Then it would come back fierce and fabulous.

Man, I miss that rose bush!

By: Sayward Rebhal

Sayward Rebhal — Wed, 11 May 2016 18:46:00 +0000

Aw, thank you Elle, I love hearing that! And you are not alone — the vast majority of my readers are not vegan. And I love that! It means so much to me that I can create a space here where non-vegans feel dafe and un-judged. I think it’s so valuable! So thank you for being a part of that.

When does the garden season in Chicago begin?? All I know about Chicago is EXTREME weather. I imagine that it goes from freeing cold to sweltering hot with very little in-between, but that may just be my imagination. How long is the growing season there?