I love hearing about someone putting in a new garden or adding on to their existing one or adding another big feature in their gardens. Are any of you doing something new and exciting in your gardens this year? I would love to hear about your projects!
For me, I’ve bitten off a lot. Between putting in a new greenhouse and adding on a huge new section, I have my hands full. And I forget I’m not 30 yrs old anymore (tell that to my brain) and my body let’s me know it too after a hard day building, hauling, shoveling, digging-you get the picture. Today I dropped a 2 x 6 on my nose while 8 feet on a ladder while working on the greenhouse. Luckily, I didn’t break it! I should own stock in Advil…
giantveggiegardener 
Hi Janine, I went to the Home Grown Pot luck tonight and thought I might see you. Great news on the greenhouse – hope to come see it when it’s done. BTW, I thought you were 30.
I’m planning on doing lots of vertical growing this season. I had great luck last year with muskmelons ( no netting!), winter squash and tomatoes. I love the plants reaching for the sky. Diane
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Yes I missed it but will be going to the next one where we will have a seed swap. I’ll be giving away lots! How did you grow your melons vertical?
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Hello Jannine,
With regard to garden planning this year. The soil amending starts today in the greenhouse. I shall be rotating the soil, since the soil test from A&L said not to add any more amendments, I won’t. I shall be starting the inner raised beds this early and be raising claytonia,early wonder beets,
Oregon sugar pod II peas, bloomsdale spinach,white icicle radishes, tyee spinach, norli peas, champion radishes,’tyee spinach, black seeded simpson lettuce and ford hook chard; each in their own section of the two main beds. I will plant 1/2 of these sections soon and then the other half a month from now.
After I have turned the soil, the drip system will be turned on just these beds. One of the beds, under the hinged covers with FRC, has received moisture all winter long as I tried raising salad vegetables. I shall be planting between these plants in this bed. I am still amazed that the limited amount of seeds I planted on November 14th after reading the “Four Seasons” book by Coleman managed to germinate in a GH with no external heat. Needless to say I look forward to planting in September and October this fall rather than November regarding next winter’s crops.
I do have a new project area. Since most of my gardening is done in a former corral with a nine degree slope to the east,just outside the corral I used a Bobcat to remove the soil about ten feet wide and sixty long to make this area level. At the far end we are down to bedrock, so I have added some loamy soil from a neighbor who lives nearer the dry creek bed and will be adding some horse manure atop this soil. This is where the pumpkins and squash will be growing this year. I shall run a drip line down the center of this area and water just the seeds I shall be planting. How far apart should I be planting the pumkins and squash in this area? Last year when I raised them on the 10 x 60 garden they ran all over the place so I plan to just plant them in a line down the center of of this space and it should not turn into such a jungle.
It will be pleasure to have a full season this year, where I won’t be running from Minneapolis to Seattle during the growing season.
Good gardening to you, and continued success with your green house construction, without the accidents.
Gene Solyntjes
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Hi Gene-
I forgot. How big is your greenhouse? That’s a lot of food!
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Hi Jannine,
You might remember me from a previous post where I’d mentioned that my husband and I want to move to the Santa Fe area in a few years when we retire and I’d asked you about watering gardens. Thank you for all of the wonderful info you gave about the water in the area. That’ll help when we go to find a house ou there.
For now though, we’re still working in Texas. But I couldn’t wait until we retire to have a garden! So, I just started a garden with leafy greens: collards, kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, red leaf lettuce, and buttercrunch lettuce. But, it gets down to 23 degrees tonight, YIKES! And some of my lettuce already has 6″ leaves… It’ll probably be the last really super serious freeze here this year, and I’ve created a massive fortress with many 5 gallon buckets, 22″ pots, 3 queen size sheets and many bricks to protect my garden. It looks like a tent project gone haywire, and I got it erected around 30 minutes before dark this evening. My mom loved the picture I sent her of it. Oh! Speaking of pictures, I also sent my mom a picture today of my largest rosemary plant which also happens to be blooming right now. It’s so large that I just had to measure it today, drumroll……. 8′ x 10′ x 4′ high! :o).
Thank you for having so much useful information on your web site. It’s super cool, and an inspiration!
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Wow-what a big rosemary! You should check your nurseries to see if they have any rowcover. If you can find medium or heavy rowcover it can give you up to 4-5 degrees protection when it freezes. Sounds like you have a great garden!
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