Greetings all, green-thumbers, apprentice blight druids, and everyone in between. I know there are a couple gardeners here on the Paizo boards, and wondered if any of you were interested in sharing your successes and not-so-successes and plans for the coming growing season?
I'm in Southwest Florida (USA), zone 9-10ish, so I'm rather fortunate to get a rather favorable winter and spring climate for growing. I stick primarily to growing veggies, mostly tomatoes and a few peppers... and no, most of those things you find in supermarkets are poor imitations of what homegrown, vine-ripened tomatoes and peppers can be.
So far: Three-ish weeks ago, I started the seeds in a standard storebought "greenhouse" tray kit with 50 peat pots, filling each with storebought finely shredded starter potting mix (primarily shredded coconut husk fibers). I make due with an overhead full-spectrum florescent light (even with them in a window, they don't get much natural sunlight this time of year) and a small inexpensive heating pad (like you'd use on your sore back or joints) underneath for those nights that still get cold. Last week, I was able to move several of the larger seedings into taller containers (reused styrofoam McD's coffee cups and cut-down 16oz-20oz plastic soda bottles) placed in my own makeshift indoor mini-greenhouse. Today, I transplanted and moved the second wave over into mini-greenhouse #2, with the remainder probably moving over to a third mini-greenhouse next weekend.
Sorry for the lack of pics so far; I hope to get a new camera battery soon. If anyone is interested in specific products, tomato/pepper varieties, DIY mini-greenhouse construction, or general tips/questions, please just ask.
I'm sorry to hear that you have been dealing with depression of late Ambrosia. However, gardening really does help some people, and I'm glad to hear that is the case with you.
When I was younger I had a green thumb, but it's turned pretty black over the years. I don't exactly kill plants, but I think it's something about living on the 9th floor of an apartment building that does something to them- the air up here is kinda meh and certainly cold.
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This year I will have a garden again! It's a community plot in the Pacific Northwest. I'll also be moving in a few months so this should be interesting.
I could try to start seeds indoors, but I've never had any problem with them growing outside. :) And I like weeding--it's like killing evil plants! Do I get xp for that?
I hope to grow some herbs like basil and chives this year, maybe some butternut squash, and I'm sure I'll think of about a zillion other things to plant. This will help keep my mind off of other, less pleasant recent events.
Yeah, I'll be moving my tomato and pepper seedings outdoors once they are hardier and I'm certain they last chance of frost is gone. Winters are usually pretty mild down here, but we usually get 3-4 nights every winter where the temps drop near or below freezing. I'll sow my first batch of basil, garlic chives, and mixed lettuces. The tomatoes and peppers will be growing in recycled 5-gallon paint buckets (free to $1 apiece on Craigslist) and 40lb. kitty litter containers with a few drain holes drilled about 2" up from the bottom.
Freehold, I'd still recommend trying to grow a few plants in your apartment/condo. Anything that requires pollination will be out, but why not a few plants to clean the air you breath? It isn't just hype; they do actually work. Most herbs tend to grow like weeds, and freshly cut and chopped are notice improvements when cooking over storebought dried. Even a lack of a window with sunlight isn't really a problem, as most DIY stores and Amazon.com sell full-spectrum bulbs that screw into standard sockets or snap into standard florescent fixtures.
If you have access to a farmers' market or decent produce shop, you probably won't believe what your tastebuds been missing. Yeah, big classic red heirloom tomatoes like Brandywine, Caspian Pink, San Marzano, and Marizol Red (German!) are delicious, but wait till you try some of the zesty green tomatoes (they don't turn red when ripe) like Lime Green Salad and Green Zebra. Or black tomatoes like Carbon, Black Krim, and Cherokee Purple with their deep complex, almost smoky flavors.
I'm lucky - I live on a hill and have a (more or less) south facing garden, which I spent last weekend digging up and removing all of the appalling ornaments, dead ornamental grasses (etc.) that the previous inhabitants left. I'm planning to grow potatoes, onions, leeks, chilis, various herbs and salad plants and I've got an on-going sunflower growing contest with my Grandad and uncle; there's also a bramble growing that I'm going to try and cultivate so I get blackberries, but I've got no idea how to set about doing so.
Nothing grew last year except the sunflower and the spuds - it was incredibly damp and most things completely failed to get off the starting block at all.
Black tomatoes sound interesting.
I so would very love to have a garden and it's one thing I hate about having an apartment.
My apartment is crap for light and the one good window for light is near the radiator which parches plants in winter. I also don't seem to tend plants in pots as well as in the ground, although I am trying to do more potted plants since that's my only option now.
I also tell my friends I am always happy to weed in their gardens. Oddly, the offer is taken up less often than I'd expect. But it's normally because they're just like, "Sure, come over any time?" And my ADD brain needs more structure... if I'm not invited for a specific day and time, I won't think of it and then never do it. But I understand they don't want the onus of having to set up the plans.
I've started looking up some community garden opportunities.
I so would very love to have a garden and it's one thing I hate about having an apartment.
My apartment is crap for light and the one good window for light is near the radiator which parches plants in winter. I also don't seem to tend plants in pots as well as in the ground, although I am trying to do more potted plants since that's my only option now.
I also tell my friends I am always happy to weed in their gardens. Oddly, the offer is taken up less often than I'd expect. But it's normally because they're just like, "Sure, come over any time?" And my ADD brain needs more structure... if I'm not invited for a specific day and time, I won't think of it and then never do it. But I understand they don't want the onus of having to set up the plans.
I've started looking up some community garden opportunities.
Maybe some bamboo would help? It grows great even with meh sunlight.
Can you have potted bamboo? That might actually brighten up the place quite nicely...
Can you have potted bamboo? That might actually brighten up the place quite nicely...
Indeed. It is how I have a green office. My mom has two huge vases with bamboo in her living room.