Re: [Gardening] Introductions and growing potatoes

Hi All, I've really been enjoying hearing from all the gardeners over the past few days, and am definitely interested in all the dialogue about tours and cooperative gardens. I moved into my house on Brighton Rd. almost 3 years ago and started a vegetable garden in my front yard 2 years ago. I started with two raised beds and just keep adding onto it. Since the tornado took out a tree in my front yard, I'll likely keep expanding. I love growing in the cooler seasons and have grown kale and parsnips over the winter, and now am finishing my peas and broccoli, and waiting on my carrots. I try to maintain a lot of variety and focus on things I'll actually eat or have a hard time finding in the stores. I don't use any pesticides or chemicals and try to water with rain water when possible. In response to the message about growing potatoes, I started last year from a package from Lowe's, and had really great blue potatoes with very little effort. I planted them directly in a bed dug into my lawn and amended with some compost, and then threw some straw on top occasionally. Waited until after the vines died and started harvesting. This year, I have six different varieties, Caribe, yukon gold, a couple reds and a blue variety. I planted them in February and March and the new potatoes are ready now. I think the hardest thing is finding decent seed potatoes. I ordered mine from Irish Eyes Garden Seeds last winter. They also have a few varieties at Logan's. I don't think its a good idea to use potatoes from the grocery stores as they are prone to disease. Also, if you mound dirt or mulch around the plants as they grow, you'll get a better yield. If anyone has had success with a fall or winter crop of potatoes, or saving seed potatoes, I'd love to hear about it. Ann Marie 632 Brighton On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 7:30 PM, &lt;gardening-request(a)eastraleigh.org&gt; wrote: Send Gardening mailing list submissions to gardening(a)eastraleigh.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.eastraleigh.org/mailman/listinfo/gardening or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to gardening-request(a)eastraleigh.org You can reach the person managing the list at gardening-owner(a)eastraleigh.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Gardening digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Organic at home? (Jennifer Woody) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 15 May 2011 19:30:03 -0400 From: Jennifer Woody &lt;jennifer.e.woody(a)gmail.com&gt; Subject: [Gardening] Organic at home? To: gardening(a)eastraleigh.org Message-ID: &lt;BANLkTimcDue8xwGfkhJFOdO2+AvPyJOjHA(a)mail.gmail.com&gt; Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hi everyone, I have a question: what constitutes an organic home garden? There are many rules for commercial growers to become "certified organic." I predominately use seeds that are labeled organic, and I don't use any pesticides or any other types of garden chemicals and only organic fertilizers...is that all there is to having an organic garden? Thanks, Jennifer 704 Penn Rd On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 6:36 PM, &lt;gardening-request(a)eastraleigh.org&gt; wrote: > Send Gardening mailing list submissions to > gardening(a)eastraleigh.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://www.eastraleigh.org/mailman/listinfo/gardening > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > gardening-request(a)eastraleigh.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > gardening-owner(a)eastraleigh.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Gardening digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Introductions? (Ginger Deason) > 2. Growing taters (Vanessa Van Horn) > 3. Re: Gardening Digest, Vol 1, Issue 11 (Timberley Valentine) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 15 May 2011 12:56:02 -0400 > From: Ginger Deason &lt;gdeason(a)gmail.com&gt; > Subject: Re: [Gardening] Introductions? > To: Gardening &lt;gardening(a)eastraleigh.org&gt; > Message-ID: &lt;BANLkTinwYt88SJyU38wgAtkDsCxaPF-zEg(a)mail.gmail.com&gt; > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Hey Everyone! > > I agree, this is a great thread! And a great listserv! > > My name is Ginger Deason and my husband and I have lived in East Raleigh > for > almost two years (but were gone for 1.5 yr in the middle - we just came > back!). I have had a backyard garden of some form for about five years, but > gardened a LOT with my dad when I was growing up in rural Alabama. For > years > I have worked in some form or fashion in outreach and education associated > with sustainable agriculture or forestry and community gardening, so I have > a lot of "book knowledge" and courses behind me, although I often still > feel > like a novice! There's always something to learn! > > I am a perpetual student of John Jeavons' Biointensive > Gardening<http://www.growbiointensive.org/>and still have quite a way > to go since we were gone last year, which would > have been the third year into my garden. I kinda had to start all over this > year, but it's not been too hard. My focus right now is on diversified > veggies, mainly ones that I know we will eat all of. I plan on getting some > fruit trees, but that might be a year or so down the road. The tornado has > given us a lot more sun in the back yard so I also plan on expanding my > garden, also down the road. And adding some chickens (also down the road!). > > The bike tour idea is a great one! I'd be into that! And I was the one who > suggested an East Raleigh Urban Garden tour and a couple of people have > emailed me (gdeason(a)gmail.com) to say they were interested in helping > plan. > If you are interested and haven't emailed me yet, please do! > > Have a great day! > Ginger > 2319 Stevens > > PS: I LOVE birds too and am trying my best to make my yard as bird friendly > as possible. We have a nest of baby bluebirds in a box that's close enough > to the deck to hear! They're awesome and will probably fledge around > Memorial Day weekend, so come on over if you want to see some babies blues! > > PPS: The Center for Environmental Farming Systems > (CEFS<http://www.cefs.ncsu.edu/>) > has many courses on gardening/farming/animal husbandry throughout the year. > They're located in Goldsboro, so it's a hike, but check out their calendar > if you're interested and maybe if people ever want to attend a course we > could carpool. Most courses are cheap to free and there's one on On-Farm > Habitat for Ecosystem Services (May 25) which may or may not be appropriate > for smaller-scale urban gardens, but I might look into it. And it's free! > > > > On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 9:41 AM, Ryan Parker &lt;kennethryanparker(a)gmail.com > >wrote: > > > Fellow garden geeks, > > > > I live on Drew St., which is in the area commonly referred to as "the > other > > side of Mordecai" in local CAC meetings. I have lived in this house for > 7 > > years and have planted many shrubs and flowers around on our one tenth of > an > > acre. I also have a dedicated vegetable garden that is subdivided into > five > > semi-raised beds and a compost bin. Three of the beds are 4'x4', two are > > 4'x6' and the compost bin is also 4'x4'. This year's crop features the > > following: > > > > (4) Jalapeno Peppers > > (4) Sweet Banana Peppers > > (4) Better Boy Tomatoes > > (4) Sweet Basil > > (10) Bush Bean > > (4) Cantaloupe > > (4) Burpless Cucumber > > > > All plants came from the farmer's market in either 4 or 6 packs and were > > planted the weekend of Earth Day (as per tradition) except for 6 bush > bean > > plants which I planted this week. All beds are separated with a rock > path > > made of small smooth river jack gravel. This area of the yard I refer to > as > > the "South Garden." The perimeter of this section has ligustrum > japonicum > > shrubs for a privette (non-native) and an abelia. The edge of our patio > is > > home to three varities of knock out roses (red, pink and yellow) that are > in > > their second year and now in full bloom. > > > > The front facade of the house (or the "North Garden") has a Kleim's > Hearty > > gardenia, Pink Snowball azalea, a shrubby yew pine, and a leland cypress > > (which I am considering up rooting and replacing with a japanese maple, > so > > *free leland cypress with a one year in-ground rooting system is up for > > grabs*. > > > > Although I try to keep the garden organic, I can see when the plants are > > nutrient poor and I can readily correct their shortcomings with Miracle > > Grow's 10-35-10 or fish emulsion 5-1-1. When plants are in the final > stages > > of their fruit producing cycle I use only fish emulsion. The only time I > > use 7 dust or a pesticide is when I see the evil horned tomato worms > > devouring my plants. I also use a supplement that prevents blossom rot. > > > > I keep a garden journal so I can see the progress of certain plants and > get > > a handle on watering cyles. Plus it's also great to see how the garden > has > > evolved. > > > > I hope that we can plan a floating party sometime during the summer that > > would allow us to tour each other's garden's and show off our hard work. > > > > Thanks > > Ryan > > > > > > On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 8:30 AM, Hope Rollins &lt;hrollins1(a)gmail.com&gt; > wrote: > > > >> Hi Sarah Jessica and others, > >> > >> Good to see you on the list serve. Sounds like you have some great > ideas. > >> > >> I live in Oakwood. I have several raised beds. Had poor luck with even > >> tomatoes last year. Frequently, something got to them before I was able > to > >> bring them in. > >> > >> However, I am having great luck with lavender, herbs, knockout roses, > and > >> perennials. Also, I have pond with 2 koi, 2 gold fish and recent > >> purchased > >> 3 bullfrog fish. I am looking forward to hearing about everyone's > >> successes > >> and frustrations in the garden. > >> > >> Hope Rollins > >> 326 Oakwood Ave. > >> > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: gardening-bounces(a)eastraleigh.org > >> [mailto:gardening-bounces@eastraleigh.org] On Behalf Of SJF > >> Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2011 12:09 AM > >> To: Gardening > >> Subject: Re: [Gardening] Introductions? > >> > >> Hey gang! > >> > >> I am new to North Carolina gardening. I had a big garden in my > >> parents' backyard about 15 years ago where I grew lilacs, roses, > >> lilies (Asiatic type and hemerocallis) and penstemon and Jacob's > >> ladder, among other things. I'm really surprised I can remember > >> everything I had growing back there! Well, here I am, still a renter > >> 15 years later and I can't put off gardening until I buy a home. > >> > >> This year I'm working on creating some front perennial beds. I am > >> also thinking about starting a veggie garden out back using straw > >> bales to create a raised bed (and to give the baby vegetables a bit of > >> a buffer from my three rowdy dogs). I'm late to that particular game > >> so I'll probably head to the farmer's market for some starter plants. > >> > >> I prefer to use organic gardening methods, I'm beginning to think even > >> a nuclear-type toxin could not eliminate the poison ivy that is > >> winding its way around the pine tree in my backyard. I didn't have > >> many problems in NJ with pests or disease -- there is a reason they > >> call that place the garden state - and I am keeping my fingers crossed > >> that the dirt here is also kind to me. I try to swap plants when I > >> can (I might have some spare irises soon) and to choose species that > >> spread rather than specimens that are higher maintenance. I have a > >> baby compost pile that I hope to get some good use out of this summer, > >> so your composting tips are most welcome. I have lots to learn and > >> hope to soon have lots to share as well! > >> > >> Sarah Jessica ("SJ") > >> 213 Dennis > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Gardening mailing list > >> Gardening(a)eastraleigh.org > >> http://www.eastraleigh.org/mailman/listinfo/gardening > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Gardening mailing list > >> Gardening(a)eastraleigh.org > >> http://www.eastraleigh.org/mailman/listinfo/gardening > >> > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Gardening mailing list > > Gardening(a)eastraleigh.org > > http://www.eastraleigh.org/mailman/listinfo/gardening > > > > > > > -- > Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and > the last fish has been caught, will we realize that we cannot eat money. > ~ 19th century Cree saying > > Hasta que el ?ltimo ?rbol sea cortado, hasta que el ?ltimo r?o sea > contaminado, hasta que el ?ltimo pescado sea atrapado; solo entonces nos > daremos cuenta que el dinero no se puede comer. > ~ profecia Indios Cree >