What are you planting this spring?

flo · March 2009

Was so excited this weekend to see our garlic (planted in November) up at about six inches already and am looking forward to planting peas, lettuce, spinach etc this weekend. Am wondering what everyone else is getting ready to plant this spring. Indoors or outdoors, in the ground or in pots on the porch or rooftop..what are you planting?

sweet tea · March 2009

i've got seeds in the ground for peas, lettuce, arugula, scallions, and something else i'm forgetting, plus some poppies for prettiness/alternate income plan.... in the window box, i've planted sweet peas for flowers and parsley, with more things to come when we're a bit further from possible frost.

yay spring!

[Deleted User] · March 2009

some hostas and daylillies that i put in as bulbs a bit back are starting to sprout! we'll see how they hold up.

french bread · March 2009

We just moved into a place that has a south facing balcony. Yay! I'm a first time fruit/veggie grower but I think I will be ambitious - herbs galore, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, maybe some strawberry and raspberries? Perhaps lavender and peonies to break it up visually. Any tips? Any websites that you know of that can help the cause? Besides here of course!

pitu · March 2009

My sage wintered over in a pot. More herbs to come - I guess it's time...

french bread, peonies need to go in the ground, and stay there for years - not great for the balcony. Check out a container gardening book.
The legendary BBG.org plant sale is coming up in a month...and the seeds are in at the Co-op, at the corner of mango and potato/onion.

whatchuwant · March 2009

I've got my rosemary already. Going to go again this year with the cherry tomatoes and basil. Going to attempt some kind of bean, or cucumber...

Any suggestions on fire escape farming?

sweet tea · March 2009

WYW, you could try one of those hanging upside-down tomato deals. they're supposed to do well that way, and since they hang, you maximize your space.

french bread: i think peonies, raspberries, and strawberries are a bit ambitious for a balcony, though you may be able to get away with the strawberries in a big container. i'll think on peony substitutes, and you might also check out greenbridge, which is associated with the BBG and does various window box programs, to see what sorts of flowers they recommend.

arches · March 2009

Strawberries might work if you took advantage of vertical height with one of these pots. Maybe?

http://westwoodgardensnursery.com/news/6/16/strawberry.jpg

Raspberries def seem a little ambitious (and thorny) for a fire escape.

I just ordered way too many seeds...if anyone is looking for seeds, there's an excellent chance I'll have extras.

ETA: these are all en route

Korean Perilla (Shiso)
Mibuna, Early Mibuna
Arugula
Shishito Pepper, Green Pepper
Asian Greens Mix
Heirloom Lettuce Mix
Cucumber Mix
Sugar Snap Pea
Alderman Pole Pea, Shelling
Bush Bean Mix
Chard, Rainbow Mix
Eggplant Mix

Most of the "mixes" are 3-4 heirloom varieties of each vegetable.

whatchuwant · March 2009

sweet tea wrote: WYW, you could try one of those hanging upside-down tomato deals. they're supposed to do well that way, and since they hang, you maximize your space.

Actually, my cherry tomatoes crawled up the fire escape (also had them tied to it)- it looked awesome from the street.

Those hanging things aren't very large and kind of expensive for their size. I wouldn't be able to grow the MASSIVE amount of tomatoes I need to survive a whole summer.*

* I eat tomatoes like CRAZY. :bounce:

Arches- mebbeh I could have some of those arugula seeds???? Pretteh pleeze?

arches · March 2009

Sure thing...they should arrive early next week...i'll let you know.

You should take some Mibuna too...it's the spikey shaped leaf in most mesclun salad mix...peppery taste like arugula and (supposedly) easy to grow.

sweet tea · April 2009

french bread, how about dahlias (maybe a dwarf variety) in place of peonies? they have big, showy flowers. i think they'd work better in a pot than peonies, and they flower for more of the summer, too.

flo · April 2009

My sister-in-law grows some flowers (marigolds, zinnias,etc) in flower boxes hanging from the rails and herbs (basil, rosemary) in pots on the landing of her fireescape. She isn't in a large apartment building though where that might be tricky. (I could see where you might run into trouble with that in a large well-managed building--the fire escapes are safety features right?)

But a balcony--hey, you could do a lot with it. Depending, of course, on the size.

We ended up planting arugula, spinach and radishes (in the ground) yesterday. (Perfect day!!) Potatoes too. We have seedlings growing inside too for later spring plantings.

Arches' seed list sounds awesome. Hope everyone has a successful season.

arches · April 2009

Flo wrote: We ended up planting arugula, spinach and radishes (in the ground) yesterday. (Perfect day!!) Potatoes too.

Potatoes...cool. Did you plant real seed potatoes? Or just plain-old sprouted supermarket potatoes?

french bread · April 2009

Thanks for your input everyone. Sweet tea, I'll definitely look into dahlias. I'll let you know what I end up planting.

flo · April 2009

Arches- So far, we planted some potatoes that came out of the batch we grew last year. That batch came from seeds that we ordered from an organic family farm in Maine (http://www.woodprairie.com). I would recommend them. Last year, we planted Buttes from them and we planted 5 small seeds(less than 1lb) and we yielded well over 20 lbs of potatoes. They aren't cheap, but they are certified organic and they are certified disease-free. We have three other kinds of seeds from Woodprairie that we will be planting within the next two weeks.

I can tell you though (I happen to be writing an article on potatoes for our garden newsletter, so I just interviewed a few fellow gardeners) that other people (lots of oldtimers) in our garden have planted organic potatoes from Pathmark or vegetable stands.

dawnc · April 2009

I have a whole ( small ) garden to play with this Spring! I was a keen gardener in my homeland, England, but now I have to work out if the same plants are available or grow here in the States or if I should persue other options. My favorites are flowering shrubs like Lavetera and Penstemon, Fuchias, and Bleeding Heart. I also want to grow daisies , buttercups and clover in the lawn but have no idea if any of these are available here. Any thoughts?

sweet tea · April 2009

the penstemons i know i'm not sure i'd call shrubs, but pm me if you want to meet the biggest penstamon nut ever, one of the master gardeners at our community garden. she'll happily talk your ear off about them, and she may have some to sell at our garden sale (usually in early june). at any rate, i'm sure she'll have opinions about which nurseries have what, etc.

daisies, clover, and buttercups are certainly all over the place here, though i've never tried to buy any of them as such.

the BBG has a huge (if a bit spendy) plant sale in May with lots of everything.

saturdaysmama · April 2009

I'm completely overwhelmed with trying to figure out what to plant where. Can somebody just come over and tell me what to do? <whine>

on another note, I think I am going to have a bunch of extra gladioli bulbs. Anybody interested?

dawnc · April 2009

When is this garden sale? Is it the Boerum Hill one? I joined the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens today. My local nursery on Flatbush does a 10% for members! Hoorah!
Dawn

sweet tea · April 2009

the sale at our garden -- the prospect heights community farm, on st marks btwn vandy and underhill -- is usually late may or early june. the bbg sale is early may.

i was at the bbg today and thought you might like to know that they have bleeding heart plants for sale now, at the garden shop.

where's your nursery on flatbush?

flo · April 2009

http://www.bbg.org/abo/pressroom/special/2009/2009-03plantsale.html

Info on BBG's plant sale above.

On the off chance people don't know this-- some of the farmers at Greenmarkets or farmers markets also offer herbs and vegetable plants for sale in the spring. We got some great Brandywine tomatoes last year which did not disappoint.

dawnc · April 2009

The Flatbush nursery is yards from Target.

Midtown Nursery & Greenhouse

115, FLATBUSH Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 636-0020
(718) 858-0641 Fax

sando · April 2009

Ok, people, what should I plant this weekend? I seriously need a chaperone when it comes to gardening....i buy a whole bunch of inappropriate shit.

opossumqueen · April 2009

Impatiens are great for spots that don't get much sun. That's what I'm planting and I'll add some ferns to them once I can find what I want.

nlkarczewski · April 2009

I planted some impatiens last year and they did nice. I have some very sunny spots, some partially sunny and some shady.

i bought a few tomatoes plants at lowe's - early girl, yellow, beefsteak, heirloom....i did very well with tomatoes last year.

bought some other plants....don't know what they are called.....

opossumqueen · April 2009

I have some squash/zucchini baby plants if you want them, pm me.

Partial sun might support petunias as well as the impatiens and you can pick them for vases.

I love marigolds for full sun b/c they are also great for little vases and bright and hardy.

opossumqueen · April 2009

Oh, but you need some space for the squash b/c it spreads!

contact1 · April 2009

Thanks, Oppossum, but I don't actually like squash or zucchini......I do appreciate the offer.

I made window boxes of raspberry and white dianthuns (?) and marigolds (is it just me, or do marigolds smell like pot?)

I also planted all of my tomato plants and some lilies. Still more to do tomorrow.

khuntiennang · April 2009

my parsley last year couldnt survive through winter. i want to retry again, but any advice on how to keep it alive through winter?

i want to plant something that i can harvest. i already have chilli pepper plant at home. i sow some wild flower, and other seeds on pots that i put on the fire escape. but pigeons keeps poking in to the pots! what should i do?

pitu · April 2009

KhuntienNang wrote: my parsley last year couldnt survive through winter. i want to retry again, but any advice on how to keep it alive through winter?

i want to plant something that i can harvest. i already have chilli pepper plant at home. i sow some wild flower, and other seeds on pots that i put on the fire escape. but pigeons keeps poking in to the pots! what should i do?

Parsley doesn't survive all winter -- you're lucky when you can brush the snow aside to get your last harvest. Just sprinkle a new package of seeds down every year and keep the dirt moist until they sprout. And parsley feels like FOREVER to sprout -- about three weeks.

I grow all kinds of herbs and chiles in pots/window boxes - and usually one cherry tomato plant on the fire escape**, for that sun ripe vine ripe August experience. Also nasturiums since they are super low maintenance (except when you get an investation of bugs that like to latch on to their tender vineyness) - you can eat nasturiums in salad.

I don't have to deal with pigeons so much, but how about netting? I use aluminum gutter guard against squirrels digging. Spraying chile pepper in water also works against squirrels, although you may have to repeat the process after it rains if the squirrels figure out the chile is gone.

** not legal, easier to get away with if 1. fire escape is in the back 2. nobody needs the fire escape to escape a fire

brittan · April 2009

i also got a big pot of salvia. pretty purple plant

What are you planting this spring?

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