Good thread topic, Atoka. This year I am putting in grapevines, blackberries and adding more fruit trees. I just brought home two more apple trees. They are grafted on disease resistant stock so I am eager to see how well they do. The cabbage and irish potatoes I planted are not looking so fab yet. I will be planting a variety of hot peppers I started from seed and hope to bring home some heirloom tomatoes from the swap. Every year I try to add to my flower beds. The veg garden will also have sweet potatoes, beans, squash,onions and cukes. Basically I go in circles and stay in the dirt.

I'm planning a small raised bed this year, only 3'x6'.

I'm going to have Blue Lake bush beans, cukes, cantaloupe, supersweet 100 cherry tomatoes, Big Boy tomatoes, Jalapeno pepper, cayenne pepper, Anaheim chili pepper, hot banana pepper, broccoli, and russet potatoes. (not in a raised bed)

My wife also bought me a "Topsy Turvy" hanging tomato planter, so I'm going to give that a whirl. We'll see how that works out.

Here is a link that might be useful: TennesseeGardenGuy.com

This is a great thread and very helpful to me. I am just starting a big veggie garden this year. I moved into my parent's old house last year. My parents moved next door to me in a house that is better for their needs. They had a garden for many years in the same spot that I have mine at now. I had a man use a rototiller plow last monday on it and it the soil looks really good. I have not had it tested though. Should I have it tested? I am planning on alot of different Veggies and also some herbs. I also have a nice Apple tree and grapes to make some jams and jellies.

This is my first year and I think I went crazy. I've got about 10 heirloom tomato varieties, spinach, lettuce, swiss chard, herbs, brocoli, kohlrabi, 4 blueberry bushes, 2 cherry trees, 1 plum tree....

Everything is looking great and I can't wait until the weather warms up.

I am limited to an apartment porch & still plating a lot:

Cherry Tomatoes
Early Girl Hybrid Tomatoes
San Marzano Tomatoes
Southport White Globe Onions
Garlic Chives (2nd year)
Jalapeno Early Organic Peppers
Serrano Peppers
California Wonder Bell Peppers
Indian Princess Nasturtiums
Morning Glory's
Mammoth Dill Weed
Dwarf Lemmons
Dwarf Strawberries
...and last, but certainly not least! ---> Veggie Tales Cactus Assortment

Three are for my daughter, can you guess which ones? =) Check out Steve's Garden for the soon to come 2009 Garden!

Peace - Steve

Last year I had a few tomato plants this year I plan on expanding a little and plant some peppers and cow peas. It will be an experiment for me,but hopefully I will have some fresh veggies!!!

Mary

I've had some health issues that have slowed me down this spring, but I'm still itching to garden. I have little veggie and flower starts ready. I won't be doing new beds this year but hope to redo one that has gotten overgrown with weeds.
Why is it that grass grows in flower beds with no trouble but won't grow in the lawn??

Jennifer, I hate to hear you haven't been yourself....hope you are feeling much better. You said it, you can get the grass to grow anywhere but where you want it. Look forward to seeing you!

Mary

I'll be having just a small garden this year. Mostly tomatoes and peppers, and a few herbs. But the 'main attraction' will be the new raised bed my husband built for me. This will be for asparagus. I'm so excited about adding them this year - excited and hopeful they will do well. Have plants ordered that should be here by this weekend. By fall I hope to add some berry vines, blackberry and raspberry :-)

Frances

My final plant of the year will be my favorite of them all. I ordered it just a few minutes ago at an online nursery. One of the more complicated things to grow that i've always wanted to try. Please let me know if your comments and suggestions, as this may be a hard one for me to pull off.

Peace - Steve

APRIL FOOLS! hahaha...i'm soooo funny =)

I have big plans for this year, just hope I succeed.

I've ordered several varieties of each: blueberries, thornless blackberries & raspberries.

I'll be expanding my water garden & have joined a water plant exchange here on GW, hope to get some great stuff.

I had great success with Yukon Gold potatoes last year & have planted 15 lbs of seed potatoes. Those will be FUN to dig up, LOL.

I do lots of veggies: Roma II bush beans, Tam jalapeno & regular jalapeno, serrano, poblano, bell peppers, delicata squash, grape tomato, sugar snap peas, watermelon. Tomatoes are Opalka & a family heirloom our family has grown for umpteen years, huge, red/yellow, possibly rainbow or Mr. Stripey, but the best I've ever tasted. I'm trying some new heirloom tomatoes this year: Jerry's German Giant, German pink, orange banana. I will also be planting lots & lots of cucumbers - last year I made a batch of spicy hot sweet pickles that were great - DH can eat a pint at one sitting while watching TV. It was one of my many "secret" recipes... they are so secret I don't even know what they are. I am bad about just throwing stuff together that sounds good to me & may or may not be able to duplicate it.

Anyway, I'm really excited about this year. Good luck to all of you.

Spring so far has been all about building for me. I added two raised beds (connected to our backyard deck) - one is 4'x 8', the other is 4' x 6'. Those will be getting the tomatoes (Better Boy's and cherries), eggplants, and peppers. On a diagonal between them is a small triangle bed that we put some ornamental perrenials in. I completely removed the front stone retaining wall / flower garden and replaced it with lanscaping timbers (which, even now that it's a big mess, looks 100x better than it did). In that same front area, since it was so unworkable due to size (and completely taken over by Bermuda grass - OMG, that stuff is nasty!!), I built a 8' x 12' deck, so there is now a uniform 42" planting area all the way around the front of the house. That will most likely get evergreen shrubs of some type - there were these anemic looking azaleas there before the remodel. We have two 4' x 8' raised beds (one for peas, one for beans), and those are already starting to sprout. WAAAYYYY out in the back, we have a 6' x 12' raised bed of strawberries - this will be their second year, so hopefully we'll get to eat some, and a 2' x 12' raised bed with some berry (unsure of type) bushes that we planted last year. Also back there we have four 4' x 8' raised beds - two will be for sweet corn, the other two will be hodge podge - cucumbers, zucchini, okra, watermelon, cantelope, broccoli, cauliflower, giant sunflowers, squash whatever we can get to grow. :) We got some REALLY juicy cantelopes last year - I'm hoping I got the same seeds again this year. Oh yeah, also giant pumpkins (from last year's pumpkin - weighed close to 80 pounds).

Other than that, I want to get some trees planted in back - probably pear, peach and apple (our cherry tree did not make it last year). And some dogwood bushes around the pool.

Tomorrow we hit the nursery for a few flats of veggies, and hopefully will find a place that will drop a load of soil in our driveway. :) Can't wait 'til all the work is done and we can just sit back and watch it grow. :)

Transplanted: Sounds like an awesome variety. =) I'm doing a few fruits this year also and excited to watch them grow.

Being a "Dirt Lover" I have started from seeds Feb. 22, just get ready, LOL : Tomatoes (Super Steak, Whopper, Goliath, Box Car Willie, Rampo, Arkansas Traveler, Rutgers, Early Big Red, Roma, Giant Paste, Amish Paste, Beef Maestro). March 23: Peppers (Jimmy Nardello, Poblano, Chile Relleno, Anaheim, Jalapeno, Cayenne, California Wonder, Ornamental). In the garden already planted onions, spinach, and beets, onions are up 5", beets up 1" and spinach 1/2". Now the weather channels are saying our temps could get down to below 32. I am not worried for our zone, what we have planted they will be OK ! Would have to be a "Hard Freeze" to kill them. Of course that could happen, making me a very unhappy gardener ! !

New veggie garden this year. Doing the square foot idea but mine is more of a square yard with paths for easy access. I'll rotate the crops next year.
heirloom tomatoes, several varieties. Might have a few leftovers for the swap
Heirloom squash,sweet peppers,mini-eggplants
yucan gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, bush beans,white and red onions,basil
permantant locations for rosemary, parsley, cilantro, lavendar and merigolds.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden tips, birding, plant and art articles

Yes, I love your thread topics!

Oooo, I cannot WAIT!! I am off this Friday, through April 20. It is going to be ALL about the gardening!

I have two major things planned this year:

1) A white garden. I'm on a kick to have an all-white garden after seeing some photos online. I've been collecting shrubs and plants the past week or two. I have a Vanhouette Spirea, Little Henry Sweetspire, White Profusion Buddleia, some unidentified white double Rose of Sharon, a friend brought me in some Lambs Ear today. I still need White Phlox (tall and sublata), and I'll be digging some white Iris from the old house.

Has anyone ever done Snow in Summer?

2) I am going to work on making some beds in the backyard and juggling some things around. I ordered some grasses last fall and put them in. I'm waiting for them to come up to see if they all made it, and then I'm going to incorporate them into a bed. I have never had a lot of sun, so I'm super-excited to be able to do tall grasses!

My favorite plant of the year is definitely my dubbed "Monster Cherry Tomato" plants...at only 4 weeks and a day old...

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