Anyone into gardening?

Hyperion

Hyperion

New Member
Location
Baltimore, MD USA
Hope this is the right place to post this. I looked and didn't see a gardening specific section. So anyway, anyone into that?

I can't do too much of it right now because I'm living in an apartment and although I have a large deck, we live in the middle of old growth forest. It's shady at all times of the day. It's to such an extent that even though the south side of our apartment is a wall of glass and patio doors all the way across, it's dark in the house all of the time and we have to turn on lights in the middle of the day in parts just to see. I'm really starting to hate it.

I do my hydroponics though. I have 2 units, one smaller one and one larger one and have all the parts necessary to build some bigger ones, but I'm holding off because of lack of space here. This is only one of the reasons we are looking to buy a home. People might say 'What, buying a home in your 60s, you must be crazy!'. No, I don't see it that way, I'm still alive and want all the things I wanted when I was younger. One of my wife's co-workers who is in her 40s, ask my wife, why don't you guys just move into a nice senior community? I won't write my reply to that, but my wife said 'You can't say that to her!'. And I said, well she'd better not say that to me, or that is the reply she will get!

I started getting into gardening when I was 5. My grandmother would always take me to their garden, they always had a big garden and I was totally into it then and now 57 years later, still at it! I'm a little sad I can't plant anything else now, I only have a couple of tomato plants left growing and that's it until we move in just a few short months. Then I plan on having a garden, a greenhouse, and a room for my hydroponics.
 

when still working, school had a greenhouse elective kids could take. they got some great hydroponic towers. kids planted lettuce and cukes in them. when produce was ready to pick/eat, i asked teacher and found that there were NO plans for the stuff? (so why grow it, i said) kids looked at me like i had 2 heads as i filled a bag with lettuce and another bag with several nice seedless cukes. i made a big batch of refrigerator pickles that i took back in to school. way to many jaws dropped when they found out where pickles came from!? sad/scary... and these were HS kids!

i'm in an apartment. small patio on ground level. being in NJ means it's kinda mandatory to grow tomatoes... so went with containers. have one of those rosemary "trees" that survived being outside last winter. a nice pot of sage and thyme. a bay laurel tree. a Meyer lemon tree... grown from seed. and an orchid that i got for my 50th birthday... almost 25 years ago!

just about everything goes outside once warm weather returns in spring.
 

Hyperion: Don't let the NAY SAYERS get you down. Gardening is great uplifting exercise.

22 years ago I dug up my front lawn and planted periennel flower beds. So much easier to maintain (gave away my lawnmower) and get many compliments from passerbys about the "bee friendly" garden. I noticed in the last few years, more and more home owners are digging up their front lawn and planting flowers and edibles, some incorporated a bench for walkers to "rest".
 
Love gardening...as long as its tailored to the climate you live ine - for us that means usually growing northern summer plants & veggies in the winter and sticking to tomatoes, peppers and herbs for the hot summer months here in the gulf coast of Texas...to have banana trees, though that bear occasionally! You can get 3 crops a year if you
do it right, usually.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Love my garden. It's not the prettiest, but love growing our own fruit & veges - and some flowers for colour. When we moved here, it was just like a small paddock, but we now have fruit trees, a polytunnel and vegetable beds.

The garden in our first year. Note our view over farmland.
View attachment 257400

A more up to date view of the garden...

View attachment 257401
Click to expand...

I think it's beautiful! I'm so jealous!
 
We were big into gardening until almost 2 year ago. Now that I’m single not so much anymore. We grew blackberries, asparagus (Purple Knights), cucumbers, jalapenos, peppers, squash, yellow beans, okra, figs and tomatoes. It was always a challenge with the weather, bugs and varmints.

I’m thinking about doing the jalapenos and peppers this season because they’re pretty easy and the bugs don’t bother them too much.

Garden.jpg
 
Sorry, I wish I could get excited about gardening but outside tonight it will be - 41 C, the wind is blowing and it's just too bloody cold.

Plus, tonight it's pretty hard to get excited about global warming. Sort of wish some of that global warming would come my way. If your wondering where in the world I am, the answer is: The Middle of Canada. Yes, I wish I was someplace else. Someplace where the palm trees sway, the ocean breezes blow and people sit around and enjoy mojitos or whatever you call those white rum drinks?
 
1955 said:
We were big into gardening until almost 2 year ago. Now that I’m single not so much anymore. We grew blackberries, asparagus (Purple Knights), cucumbers, jalapenos, peppers, squash, yellow beans, okra, figs and tomatoes. It was always a challenge with the weather, bugs and varmints.

I’m thinking about doing the jalapenos and peppers this season because they’re pretty easy and the bugs don’t bother them too much.

View attachment 257457
Click to expand...
Nice. Again, you guys are making me jealous!
 
Packerjohn said:
Sorry, I wish I could get excited about gardening but outside tonight it will be - 41 C, the wind is blowing and it's just too bloody cold.

Plus, tonight it's pretty hard to get excited about global warming. Sort of wish some of that global warming would come my way. If your wondering where in the world I am, the answer is: The Middle of Canada. Yes, I wish I was someplace else. Someplace where the palm trees sway, the ocean breezes blow and people sit around and enjoy mojitos or whatever you call those white rum drinks?
Click to expand...

You can do like me and just ignore the climate hysteria. We don't have a thermostat for the big nuclear furnace in the sky, yet, anyway.

You should try hydroponics. Downside is that it's going to be very difficult to get the yield you can outside without a lot of room and equipment. Upside is that you can do it year round and no insects, plus you don't even have to wash the produce.
 
When you seriously think about it gardening is a great hobby. It can also be a source of food for your table. Getting outside is good for you. Getting your hands a little dirt from soil is also very good for you. Gardeners are pretty happy people. They feel positive that they are doing a good thing for the environment. It's nice going out to your garden and watch things grow. Gardeners are happy people.

You might get a sore back sometimes but getting out in the garden really relaxes your mind. It's a 100 times better than sitting all day and watching commercials on TV. Also, in the fall time, your tomatoes, peas, carrots, lettuce and anything else will always taste a lot better than any thing you might buy in the grocery store that comes all the way from California or Mexico.

Take my word for it. I used to love gardening in another life. Yes, I do miss it. No, the weeds did not bother me. It was all part of the "gardening game."
 

Attachments

  • Garden 1.jpg
    Garden 1.jpg
    94 KB · Views: 0
  • Garden 2.jpg
    Garden 2.jpg
    112.2 KB · Views: 0
Hyperion said:
Anyone into gardening?
Click to expand...
Yes, always have been. Like you I got started at a very early age, probably 5 or younger.

Here I have a few large pots (~100 gallon+) that I grow some veggies in. My wife does the flower garden. We also have a small peach orchard 104 trees, right now we have a farmer who takes care of it, and sells the peaches. Problem is he's about to turn 91, says he will retire in 5 years, but that might be optimistic. So I am trying to figure out what to do with the peaches when he moves on.

And we just bought the adjoining acre, same farmer works it last year was tomatoes and squash. Next year will be the same, but we have the same problem of what to do after that. I bought the acre to keep someone from building a house on it rather than to increase my holdings...

I have learned enough from the farmer to appreciate how hard it is, not just the work but the know how. How to irrigate, spray, prune, thin and maybe the hardest how to sell... So my "gardening" may have to step up soon, a big step.
 
Packerjohn said:
Sorry, I wish I could get excited about gardening but outside tonight it will be - 41 C, the wind is blowing and it's just too bloody cold.

Plus, tonight it's pretty hard to get excited about global warming. Sort of wish some of that global warming would come my way. If your wondering where in the world I am, the answer is: The Middle of Canada. Yes, I wish I was someplace else. Someplace where the palm trees sway, the ocean breezes blow and people sit around and enjoy mojitos or whatever you call those white rum drinks?
Click to expand...
I to wish I could be someplace else this week.
 
I love to garden, it has been such a blessing through covid and vegetables are the bonus. We once had a house but the garden was in shade for most of the day so we got an allotment. Now I have a TH also an allotment, best of both worlds. Here on the island there are quite a few communities that have allotments and one of the new builds I notice have raised beds. Gardening is good for the soul, and very good exercise.
 
RobinWren said:
I love to garden, it has been such a blessing through covid and vegetables are the bonus. We once had a house but the garden was in shade for most of the day so we got an allotment. Now I have a TH also an allotment, best of both worlds. Here on the island there are quite a few communities that have allotments and one of the new builds I notice have raised beds. Gardening is good for the soul, and very good exercise.
Click to expand...
What is a TH?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top