Hello Kesflower, I'm about 30 miles from Winchester. I'm over by Harper's Ferry on the Maryland side of the Potomac. In fact I was at Weber's on rte 11 near Winchester yesterday. It's a great nursery and everything was 25% off.

The recommended planting date for me is May 10 but it's generally safe to plant most vegetables around May 1. For eggplant, beans and peppers it's best to wait another week. Most flower seeds can be planted about the same time, some even earlier.

It'll be great fun having your own place. So what will you be planting?

I not far up the road from peggy. Up 81 just over the PA line.

I usually shoot for mothers day to plant summer veggies. Most off of our flowers are perennials. I dont like messing with them. Although I jumped the gun this year and we got a heavy frost last night. I guess I will see what survived tonight when I get home.

I'll probably be planting way too much! I started lots of tomatoes and peppers from seed, not realizing that when they said 50% germination, what they really meant was "we'll tell you 50% but its really closer to 100%"

After this cold snap, though, I'm glad I waited till Mother's day, it was so cold in my yard this week I had frost right where my garden is supposed to be! Thanks for the tips about waiting to put things in.

So, what am I planting:
6 types of tomatoes
3 types of peppers
eggplant (much to my poor husband's dismay)
pole beans (for eating)
bush beans (for canning, then eating)
shell beans (also canning)
summer squash
zuchini (but I think I'll take my MIL's advice and only plant one for the 2 of us)
ruby chard, beets, spinach (these three are very happy in pots on my back deck, growing away)
herbs of all shapes and sizes
onions
and any number of flowers to act as companion plants for all of these

Probably growing way too much. What do you grow? What does really well around here?

I'm in Middleburg and don't grow a whole lot of veggies, but I've always got some garlic and tomatoes. My tomatoes tend to get stinkbug damage and I got really tired of it last year and pulled the plants out. Threw them on the ground next to the compost pile - where the green tomatoes ripened perfectly without ANY damage. Go figure.

Had some jalapenos last year but this year am trying regular bell peppers (they're so expensive in the store!)

Blueberries do well for me and I have several bushes.

Bush beans also did well last year, but might have done better if it hadn't been so dry.

Basil by the boatload.

Rosemary overwinters pretty reliably. Thyme, sage, oregano, marjoram, winter savory and french tarragon do, too.

My neighbor does the squash and zucchini growing and obviously they do well 'cause the neighbor is always leaving them on my porch!

Basil by the boatload, that's great! I love pesto.

last year I tried so hard to keep my tomatoes in a container (we moved, so I needed a mobile garden) and the squirrels had a field day stealing them from me, but someone took a tomato slice off their sandwich while we were moving, and those little seeds grew into the healthiest little plants, I had better tomatoes next to my trash can than I did in the special self-watering container!