To follow up on what DiGs said, I haven't heard of any peas that don't vine. You'll need something for them to climb if you grow them inside. I don't know how tall DiGs's peas have gotten, but mine get up to four feet tall or so and I'm in a pretty hot dry area.

ETA: I did some research, bush peas do exist! I have no idea if you can get ahold of bush peas De_De, but you're going to plant them inside, that's what I'd go for!

Today my sister Aravanna came over and we finished planting my peppers and tomatoes, as well as the eggplant. I hope to get my watermelon started today as well.

And I will be done planting seeds until it gets warm enough outside to plant in the ground.

Hey DiGs (or anybody else this may apply to), have you ever grown Brussel Spouts before? This is my first year doing them, but the packaging is a bit confusing on when to start them. It looks like.... maybe around the same time as potatoes? It says they're frost resistant.

In the meantime, I'm putting my greenhouse to good use. Here's everything that's planted so far hanging out in there.

The past couple days it's gotten so hot in there (98F!!!!) that I've had to open windows. The cardboard thing and heat lamp is for the three grown pepper plants so they can stay out overnight.

De_De, we grew peas for years. They grow almost without care, except they do need water once in awhile. And they never made it into a pot on the stove because we love 'em so much raw from the pod! I have never tried to grow them indoors.

fantasia, I love your greenhouse! You lucky duck! It's like a new gardening adventure.

I grew brussel sprouts for a couple of years, but we basically can't plant anything in the ground here until the end of May, so our harvest didn't come to fruition until mid-autumn. Again, they were never cooked: they were so scrumptious raw! They didn't grow to the size of market sprouts, but were still yummy and well-formed.

I never liked raw brussel sprouts. We planted four brussel sprout plants last year, but we had the exact opposite problem. They seemed to go from tiny little pea-sized fruits to giant, bitter, cabbage explosions. We didn't end up getting any of them because they grew too quickly

It's fun to read about gardens when there are still big piles of snow outside. Maybe in about 6 weeks or 2 months it may be warm enough to actually work the soil outside.

On peas: we've grown both bush and vine peas in the past. Our success varied a great deal, depending largely on the weather. Peas are a cool-weather crop, so they do well relatively early in the season. But around here it's not uncommon to go from snow to 80F or even 90F (27-32C) in a matter of days or a week or two, and that sudden change to hot weather proved really hard on the peas. So enjoy 'em early! (Like jo, we ate many of them right off the vine).

Never really got into Brussels sprouts. Broccoli and spinach, on the other hand, are so much better out of the garden than from a store.

What an interesting thread. I must be growing more mature to call a thread on gardening interesting, but it really is. I hate actual gardening, I just like harvesting what dad's planted, haha. But I am inspired to have a herb tray, I think I could manage that, rather then having to put boots on and watch for spiders every time I go outside to grab some fresh parsley, rocket or mint.

Lately we've been planting aloe vera and aloe arborescens. Their leaves are so medicinal it's like having a cure-all in the backyard. (We follow a traditional Brazilian recipe that calls for 300grams of arborescens leaves, some 500g of pure honey and about 40ml of whiskey as a distillate. It is clearing up my sister's acne, among other more serious health concerns in my family!).

I am wondering if anyone here has any experience or tips on how to grow vegetables hydroponically. It seems ideal for a number of reasons, but I especially like the space saving idea. Any tips on how to get started?

I would love to have an herb tray too!

Yeah, I am not a big gardener, mostly because I don't want to deal with the bugs and pests.

Does having an Aloe Vera plant in a pot in my room count as gardening? No? Oh......

I don't claim to have a green thumb, but I've got permission to start a couple of tomato plants starting this weekend.

Question: So I don't have to buy separate starters, can I start like 3 seeds in the same 6in pot and just pull two if all three sprout? Also, any recommendations on types of tomatoes? I'm leaning towards druzba or maybe Early Girl or Heatwave II. Getting the tomato names from burpee.com

Question: So I don't have to buy separate starters, can I start like 3 seeds in the same 6in pot and just pull two if all three sprout? Also, any recommendations on types of tomatoes? I'm leaning towards druzba or maybe Early Girl or Heatwave II. Getting the tomato names from burpee.com

Planting multiple seeds in one flat sounds like a fine idea. If more than one of them sprouts, I'd let each of them grow for a week or so, and then pull the smaller ones.

Early Girls are good all-around tomatoes, but I've never had much luck with them due to the fact that your growing season starts earlier than ours. I'm a big fan of Roma's, Beefsteak, and Brandywine tomatoes.

I am wondering if anyone here has any experience or tips on how to grow vegetables hydroponically.

I do not, and it's on my to-do list to learn in the very near future. I've been saving my cat litter containers because they are the PERFECT size and shape for hydroponic growing. But I need to figure out a pumping system as well as what kind of nutrients to buy and where to buy them at.

Yeah, I am not a big gardener, mostly because I don't want to deal with the bugs and pests.

A gardener's best friend (seriously). I have spoilered the pic for the squeamish.

Spoiler

And yes, that is my hand next to her for scale reference.

So I don't have to buy separate starters, can I start like 3 seeds in the same 6in pot and just pull two if all three sprout?

Absolutely. This is referred to as 'thinning' in gardening terms.

Also, any recommendations on types of tomatoes?

Early Girls are good all-around tomatoes, but I've never had much luck with them due to the fact that your growing season starts earlier than ours. I'm a big fan of Roma's, Beefsteak, and Brandywine tomatoes.

As I've talked with you outside of NarniaWeb, I think I know a little more specifically what you want.
Make sure you look to see that the tomato says "indeterminate". I don't think Early Girls are, but I'll need to check to make sure.
Romas are an excellent sauce tomato and medium sized. I'm not sure what all you want to do with the tomatoes you grow, but if you're interested in making sauce, go with Romas.
Beefsteak and Brandywine tomatoes are huge. I think you said you want a medium sized tomato? so probably steer away from those two (though they are both quite tasty).
I have no experience with either Druzba or Heatwave so I can't say anything there but they both look good.
Since you're checking out Burpee's site, take a look at the Fourth of July tomatoes. I've never purchased this one either, but every year in their magazines, these are one of their top-rated customer favorites. That one may be on the small side though.

So, I think I've finally got everything planted. Every time I think I'm done, another one of my husband's co-workers sends me a list of plants they want. So I planted another four peppers and 11 tomatoes on Sunday... yeah, think I'm done now.
None of my second round of peppers/tomatoes/eggplants have started to come up yet, but it's only been a week and a half, so I should start to see something soon.
I'm also running into the issue of my greenhouse getting waaay too hot during the day. My sister pointed out to me that my cold weather plants (broccoli and cauliflower) probably won't like that very much, so I may need to repot those already and keep them inside, because she's right, they're looking a little sick. Oops!

Thanks guys. I think I've about decided on Roma and Druzba. I may take on cherry tomatoes too. I tend to like to munch on those like they are grapes. I'm going to go after the pots and potting soil this weekend. After I get the total, I'm going to order the seeds and them started. I'm hoping by starting them in large enough pots, that the root system and the plants themselves will be strong enough to handle the heat by the time it's time to put them in the ground. I think that was part of my problem last year. I started late and it wasn't mature enough of a plant to handle the extreme heat.

If the Roma plant makes it, I may experiment with making sauce. I'll have to find the right recipe though. Would definitely be interesting if that comes off.

I started late and it wasn't mature enough of a plant to handle the extreme heat.

Last summer was a very hot dry summer, and a lot of gardens suffered. However, tomatoes need a lot of water. I would water my twelve tomato plants about twice a day if I could. It's hard to overwater a tomato plant .

Roma's make excellent sauces. We like to make homemade salsa with ours.

My tomatoes are coming up fast and furious this morning. When I first counted there were about seven up and a couple hours later I noticed a couple more peeking through. The vast majority are Honeybunch, but there are a lot of others as well. I'm excited.

I'm also really excited about the peppers I started last month. They're looking excellent. Probably the best I've ever had peppers look at the beginning. I hate to say this but I'm probably going to have to start thinking about repotting soon. Eeep!

Well, lesson learned. Never, ever, ever plant broccoli and cauliflower in the same starting tray as peppers. The first two like it cool, the latter likes it hot. I think I'm going to be doing some repotting today which is a bit annoying because I'd like my peppers to be bigger before I move them, but oh well.

In the meantime, everything is coming along nicely. Except for the watermelons. Those haven't come up yet which is a bit worrisome as they should have by now.

I ordered my tomato seeds! I've ordered druzba, roma, and honeybunch cherry seeds. I'm hoping to plant them as soon as they come in. I'm guessing I can fit 4 in one pot until they come up. Then I'll cull three if all 4 come up. I haven't made up my mind about going to a bigger pot or figuring out where to plant them in the ground when they outgrow the pots. Let's see if they survive this time.