My very first veggie bed is composed of my first batch of compost and my first attempt at lasagna gardening. I cant wait to fill it with veggies.
What veggies have you all been busy planting?

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 in—tho it’s 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 you’re in the middle of it, but when you can start planting again and everything starts growing again it seems like it really wasn’t that long after all?

What are you going to plant this year?

Happy vegging,
Skybird

With your peppers, fill a bowl or pot or bucket—depending on just how big they are—with tepid water, put a couple big squeezes of dishwashing liquid in it (I recommend Palmolive or some very basic one—have heard that Dawn has "extra" stuff in it, but have no idea if that’s 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 dry—not in the sun. You might need to repeat it a few days later, but that usually works for aphids and mites, and if that doesn’t solve the problem you might need to start over—but I betcha it’ll work!

In terms of space, couldn’t you plant a couple eggplants or something back in the area where the three pots are sitting? Bet next year you’re gonna want more room!

:-)
Skybird

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

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

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'

Billie