Hi Azura,

Congratulation on getting your veggie garden ready for its trial run! Or should I say fun run!

A few days ago I finally got my cold weather stuff inÂtho itÂs not very cold around here anymore! I planted peas, spinach, lettuce, swisschard, carrots, beets, parsnips, and kohlrabis. Also got my sweetpeas planted. Tomatoes and eggplants are started and getting their first true leaves, and will go in along with the cukes and summer squash in a few more weeks.

Why is it that winter always seems so long when youÂre in the middle of it, but when you can start planting again and everything starts growing again it seems like it really wasnÂt that long after all?

What are you going to plant this year?

Happy vegging,
Skybird

So far I have spinach in a container on the deck and I have turnips, eggplants and tomatoes started under the lights. I also have peppers that are getting huge in the kitchen but they are covered in aphids despite my best organic attempts at killing them so I'm not sure they will make it. I am hoping to start some cukes soon.
Is it too late to start eggplants? I bought some Asian eggplant seeds on the recommendations I read here.
I don't think I have enough room in this tiny garden for all of that!!

If you get your Asian eggplants started right away, I think itÂs worth a try. Mine are still really, really tiny. You might speed them up a little bit by soaking the seed for 24 hours before you actually stick it in soil.

With your peppers, fill a bowl or pot or bucketÂdepending on just how big they areÂwith tepid water, put a couple big squeezes of dishwashing liquid in it (I recommend Palmolive or some very basic oneÂhave heard that Dawn has "extra" stuff in it, but have no idea if thatÂs true), and then put plastic or something over the top of the pot to keep the soil from falling out, invert the plant/pot, immerse the whole plant in the water, slosh it around a little bit, pull it back out and let it dryÂnot in the sun. You might need to repeat it a few days later, but that usually works for aphids and mites, and if that doesnÂt solve the problem you might need to start overÂbut I betcha itÂll work!

In terms of space, couldnÂt you plant a couple eggplants or something back in the area where the three pots are sitting? Bet next year youÂre gonna want more room!

:-)
Skybird

Azura, last year was my first real veggie garden, and I learned a lot. There were successes and failures, but I enjoyed it so much. Skybird is right about you wanting to make it bigger next year. I created a separate bed for the herbs this year, just so I could plant more veggies in veggie garden.

So far, I planted onion sets and peas (twice). I also have five kinds of lettuce, and broccoli sprouts that were wintersown, that I might plant out as soon as the crazy winds die down. Plus there are tomatoes and peppers in my kitchen windowsill, and tomatoes that were wintersown but haven't germinated yet. I'm also direct sowing carrots maybe this week, but the cucumbers, canteloupes, and beans won't get planted for another month or so. My goal is for as much variety as possible, even if it means just one or two plants of each - 5 kinds of beans, 4 kinds of canteloupe, 5 kinds of carrots, 4 kinds of cukes, 7 kinds of peppers, and as many different tomatoes as I can cram into the space that's left, and the Earthbox I just bought. I'd rather have too many plants and have to give some away, than to realize I have empty space in the garden, and not enough time to start something else before the end of the season.

The bed and soil look great, and I wish you a bountiful harvest.

Bonnie

Your lasagne garden looks nice Azura!! I did one last year, but I'm a bit worried that I didn't get it quite right... maybe not enough layers. When I went to plant some daylilies I saw that the grass underneath still had some green to it. :(

But in my vegetable garden things are going great. I bought some floating row covers this year and have 2 plantings of lettuce, 1 planting of spinach and 1 planting of turnips already sprouted. That is just so satisfying!

Good luck with your veggies!

Alice

Aphids indoors can be a problem, Azura. They certainly are in my greenhouse - if'n they once get started.

Insecticidal soap will kill 'em. Skybird's technique should kill 'em, too. I've used 3 tablespoons of Palmolive Green dish soap for every gallon of water as an aphid spray. It worked very well in the garden and didn't cause damage to the leaves. That amount should kill 'em whether used as a spray or a "dunk," of course.

The problem with using soap in the greenhouse is that it kills thru dehydration. However, it is very, very humid in there unless it's a warm day and there's ventilation. It's still pretty humid. I've sprayed aphids indoors with, seemingly, no effect.

So I began carrying the infected plants outdoors on a warm afternoon and setting them on a table in the shade. It may be important to spray immediately because the aphids will "hide" from the cool air. Don't let the sun hit the plants while they are outdoors and after several hours take them back inside.

Worked for me . . .

digitS'

azura - your garden bed sure brings back memories. When I was a teen (yes, I was an only, lonely child) I had my first true garden which was probably 15'x3' aganist the east side of my parents house in Tucson. East side because of the increadible heat. Went to a few garden club sales and bought 4 tomato plants, 2 cucs, some peppers and one or two other things. I will tell you that really was my best garden. I did not get a whole lot of produce, but the experiance was worth it. Now I over-plan everything and over-extend myself. Oh well, it is all fun.
By the way, in that garden I had a Pineapple top growing. I wonder if it ever produced anything. I had it for two years, then we had to move, so I don't know.

Billie