So I haven't posted much this year, but that's because I've been busy.

I started some greek pepperocini from seeds. Got 12 seeds, and only 2 have survived to the "one inch sprout" stage. Did the same with some a blend of sweet bell peppers, but got 5/12 to survive. We'll see how they do.

To ensure that I get SOME sort of pepper crop, I've got three yellow bells and three green bells growing in some pots. I've never grown potted peppers before. . . We'll see how that goes.

Tomatoes: I have a hillbilly in a really big pot. Three romas in smaller pots. Two of the romas and the hillbilly are doing REALLY well. One of the romas just isn't thriving. Just gonna keep watering that last one and hope that hope for the best.

It was recommended to me that I try growing bush beans in a pot. . . I took it a step further and bought one of those kiddy-swimming pools. . . And the beans are growing FANTASTICALLY! It was awesome, because I was able to get them started before frost was finished, because I could drag the plants into the garage on cold nights. I'll probably get my first bean crop near July 4th. . .

Herbs are growing like weeds (mainly because. . . let's face it. . . in their native parts of the world, they basically are )

That 'bean pool' idea is so cool! You should patent this, DiGs. I'd really like to see a photo.

My beans are really coming along (they're not in a pool ), although there is not row where only half came up. Odd. I wonder if I ran out of seeds and then forgot to plant the other half. Will purchase more and plant 'em there.

The peas I planted earlier are doing nicely, 'though small still. The ones I planted last Saturday have yet to poke above the soil, of course.

The pretty feathery carrot tops are all visible, just.

My cucumbers don't look healthy at all, so I may buy a couple more small plants and replace them.

All the tomatoes seem to be flourishingl, as does the pepper plant.

Some of the sunflowers have begun to sprout above the earth; the chives did nothing, so I planted more seeds. The parsley is healthy and growing.

I am hoping we're going to get some good rain tomorrow after a hot, dry, very windy spell in recent days.

I started some greek pepperocini from seeds. Got 12 seeds, and only 2 have survived to the "one inch sprout" stage. Did the same with some a blend of sweet bell peppers, but got 5/12 to survive. We'll see how they do.

First time I read that I saw 5 1/2. Rather odd picture

Hmmmm. . . . I wonder how half a plant would look Maybe just roots?

I took some pictures today...... Here are some pictures of the "bean pool"

I do love your bean pool DiGs. How's your crazy weather treating your garden?

I've encountered an unusual gardening issue this year. In the past, I've kept my dog out of my garden. This year, I didn't bother because our backyard has a rodent problem (mice, voles, and rabbits), so I wanted to give her the opportunity to chase them out of there. (They already destroyed a couple peppers and sweet potatoes and ALL of the beets and carrots.) The problem is Fiona has trampled all of the onions and potatoes in the process, AND, when she knows we're not looking, she'll dig up and eat the potatoes. It's been a no-win situation this year for root vegetables.
But, the tomatoes and remaining peppers look good, as do the pumpkins and couple sweet potatoes.
I may need to take a year off next year to get the rodent issue under control so I can once again fence up the garden.

In other news, over the winter, I paid my sister to design a fun little plant garden behind my house that was a complete waste of space. I don't feel I can afford to do the full landscape project in one year, so I'm starting with the plants I feel will take the longest to grow, and add on each year.
I've just finished up this afternoon with Year 1 progress. I bought a Nandina and an Abelia, trained the strawberries back there as ground cover, and laid down a ton of newspaper to start mulching out the weeds and grass.
Ideally, I'd love to do some creative/artsy fairy gardening to go in there. I've always loved the broken pot look...

... but I also prefer the more natural look as opposed to brightly colored ceramic houses. I'll just have to decide the direction I want to go.

That bean pool is so cool, DiGs! Are you getting a good yield?

So, it is definitely a no-go for your root vegetables this year, fantasia? No recovery?
That broken pot/fairy look is adorable!

This summer has been so rainy that much is flourishing, but some plants do not like this much precipitation. It seems cucumbers fall into that category. The plants started out really well, but as the rain continued to fall, almost daily at times, they must have become oversaturated, so . Other folk in our area have had the same problem.

My carrots are still quite small, but so tasty. However, I'm not digging them up yet, as I'd like them a bit longer than 3". Boy, are they good, though! Really earthy and carrot-y.

My tomatoes are taking their sweet time. I see the Brandywines are full and ripening, hurrah! My grape tomato plant became overgrown, amongst other issues. I don't think I'm going to get much from it. The Romas are tasty, but not plentiful.

I picked a very large bowl of yellow and green beans in the cool of last evening. Mmmm! They're a bit overripe, but it's been too wet and too mosquito-y to even venture out there lately.

This is our first year having the garden, so we're still experimenting as to where is best, and if we are leaving it where it is, we need to further clear out around it for more air movement and sunlight. We have a few ideas to implement next year, and will think on these more.

I may have had a bad year with gardening this year, but my mother-in-law didn't. She had baskets (literally) of extra Juliet tomatoes. Yesterday my parents and I canned 7 quarts and 5 pints of tomatoes. It's great to have all of those taken care of and for use over the winter.

I still have a few additional tomatoes and peppers to deal with before the cold gets here.

It seems so weird to be talking about that in early September, but boy has Fall arrived early this year.

This year was a bad year for gardening, it took so long for all the snow and rain to stop, and then it heated up fast and we had a bad fire season this year(terribly smoky air for weeks). Only good news is that our asparagus is still alive. I thought it was dead, but it isn't. And I got a pay raise this year, so the plants/seeds I've wanted for years I can finally buy for next spring. Can't wait!

January is a good month for looking through seed catalogs and planning the garden, which right now is covered with a blanket of snow. I used to try to plant something new each year, but I must confess my strategy now is how can I make gardening easier each year! My age is catching up with me.

*waves hi to Grandmama* Gazer has mentioned in this thread what avid gardners your family is. I hope you continue to post here and share all Your tips.

My seeds are arriving fast and furious. I'm sure I overdid it big time as I have the past several years, but the thought is that as I don't have any newborn babies this year (just a 9 month old right now), it should be easier to manage gardening....maybe.

I don't plan to put much in my backyard in terms of vegetables this year. Last year, as I posted, I had a lot of trouble with my veggies, so I plan to do the vast majority of the gardening at my in-law's farm. I'll still have a couple tomatoes, onions, and a pepper here because that's what I use the most. Oh, and a green bean or two because my son wanted to plant that But everything else will be an hour away. I hope to head that way at least once a week and spend at least an hour or two pulling weeds and watering, and I think that will be good enough. I guess we'll see.

I can't remember if I mentioned this here or not, and I'm too lazy to go back and look, but my sister sold me a landscaping plan for an unused area behind my house. Last year I put in two of the bushes, a Gulf Stream Nandina and a Rose Creek Abelia, and I expanded my strawberry patch.
This year I ordered 5 Bonfire Euphorbia, 3 Arkansas Bluestar, 3 All Gold Japanese Forest Grass, and 2 Honeyberry bushes.
The idea was to make this a Fairy Garden, and I plan to expand on it every year until the area is filled up. Of course, I can't afford everything she put in all at once unfortunately, but some of the plants are rather exotic and I really hope to finish it someday.
Part of the plan included hiding the ugly utility boxes. Originally I was going to put a couple bushes there, but that's not going to work because the lines run right underneath the ground so I can't plant anything there. I had the idea of putting in a large chunk of hedge tree and putting decorative birdhouses all over it. Maybe even including some stair steps? Definitely less cool than Lothlorien in LotR, but loosely inspired by that.

*Waves back to Fantasia Kitty*
Do you start plants under lights in the house? I like to for tomatoes and peppers and, since I grow a lot of both, it does save money. Of course, you do have to have space and lights. My tomatoes always look more leggy than the ones from a nursery, but once they're out in the garden, it doesn't seem to matter. I have been scouring Pinterest for ways to get all the plants I start indoors outdoors sooner so that they are getting sunlight and so that they don't take so much space in the house.

I would love to see pictures of your Fairy Garden. I'm much more proficient at vegetable gardening than I am at landscaping.

No, I started them in our basement window well. But now that it's so nice outside I've been taking them out to our greenhouse.

The first couple years I started seeds, I must have been really lucky by doing everything right by chance. The past few years I've had trouble with my seedlings sprouting and immediately becoming very long and gangly, particularly the tomatoes. I finally was smart enough to google the other day and it said that happens when there's a lack of light. That makes sense because our world was iced over last week and I couldn't have them outside. Hopefully it's not too late for them already. I think the tomatoes that came up a few days later and will do well. The peppers should be ok too.

My flowers and celery have also sprouted and look healthy.

As a side note, my husband and I went on an adventure through his tree rows at the farm and found this nice, very large, gnarly tree branch for the backyard. I may need to cut it back though because I don't see how I'm going to get it to stand up safely as I'm unable to put it down into the ground at all.

I'm jealous of your greenhouse! And that you're farther south so that Spring comes quicker. Most of the time, I like Minnesota just fine, but I grew up in Iowa and still think Spring should arrive in March, not the end of April!

I'm glad you posted about your tomatoes, because, even though I don't start them until March, it is almost March and I haven't ordered seeds yet. Too busy watching the Winter Olympics and sewing. Time to switch gears and think about gardening.

I've never grown celery--is it fairly easy to grow?

The first time I grew celery, it wasn't too difficult to grow, but it certainly didn't grow to the size of what you'd get in the grocery store. It was maybe 1/4" - 1/2" across? But the flavor was unbelievable so I thought I'd give it another go this year.

Other than letting my tomatoes get way, way too long when they first sprouted, I think everything is looking good this year so far. They're all green and happy. I think I've mentioned before that peppers like to be dryer and tomatoes like to be wet, so since I have figured that out, I've kept everything in different trays to help control moisture and that seems to have helped.