It's probably obvious that I'm new here, so I decided to say Hello.
I live in zone 8 and my garden season has already begun. My main theme is edible landscaping. I want everything to be pretty, and I also want to eat as much as I can of the stuff that grows. I am not new to gardening; companion planting, edible landscaping, organic gardening. Thanks to the internet I have learned a lot that I apply to my gardening.
Unfortunately, many years of hard work was lost because I had to move. I was gardening for about 20 years in zone 5. Now I am in zone 8 - a very big difference. I'm excited but a bit scared of the challenge as I am now disabled and not able to do as much as I used to. Fortunately, God provides, and I have a roommate that is able to do much of the hard work. Although I consider planning and researching to be very hard work. I don't remember things as well as I used to, which means I look up stuff multiple times. What I don't write down/type to my computer is quickly forgotten. I do remember bits and pieces from years ago, most importantly the TASTE of fresh goodies from the garden.
Before I moved, I was very passionate about herbs and berries. I grew elderberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and mulberries. Although I never got to taste the mulberries because they fruited when I became ill and had to move shortly after. I made tonic with the elderberries every year and froze it. Every other month or so, I ate chunks of frozen tonic and it kept me healthy - I used to get colds and pneumonia frequently until I started consuming the tonic. A little bit goes a long way.
I can't even begin to list all the different herbs I have grown over the years. Many of them I grew in containers because I liked to move them around. I also found the containers more relaxing because of their higher height. In my current location, I have several little beds to work with. This year, I have already planted snow peas, lima beans, pole beans, tomatoes, onions, and spaghetti squash. I planted the spaghetti squash just yesterday as the seeds were growing in the squash. It was quite a shock to cut the squash for eating and discover it was full of sprouts. I don't know how well they will grow, but I planted them right away. Today, I will plant spaghetti squash seeds saved from last year.
I kept a compost pile previously. Last year, my roommate built a 4' long compost bin. Yahoo! We filled the bin by Nov and let it sit undisturbed until March and now have beautiful compost. I've been adding it to the garden as I plant. We bought compost and manure to add to the garden plots both last year and this year. This house has never had a garden and was covered with weed guard topped with rocks and rocks and rocks. It is also a corner lot that gets a lot of sun. Much more sun than I've previously had for gardening. Along with the constant wind storms with dirt flying everywhere and the intense heat with no rain, it will definitely be a challenge.
I ordered a bunch of herbs from Richters. They aren't in the U.S. but they had the best germination rates of any place I've ordered from. Believe me, I've ordered from a lot of places over the years. What else is there to do in the winter than peruse gardening magazines and catalogs, and plan and shop? I received a beautiful fig tree from them that grew nearly all the way to the ceiling. But when I got sick and moved, a friend kept it for me, and promptly killed it. I will hopefully get another soon. I will also be getting some passionfruit. I bought some gojo berries with my last order from Richters. I can't wait to plant those seeds indoors and outdoors. I hope to have nearly all the seeds planted and my starts planted by the end of the weekend. Many of my starts died when I was hardening them from lack of water, but at least I have plenty of tomatoes, watermelon, and cantaloupes that survived. Of course, I also have a lot of seeds to plant. I had so many Roma tomatoes that I gave some to my neighbors.
I have some indoor plants, aloe vera, stevia and basil. Also a planter of mixed herbs - I recognize the parsley and basil so far. They will have to go in a bigger pot. My aloe vera has overgrown the large pot it is in, so that pot will go to the garden. It is the large pot my fig tree was in. I also have a big outdoor pot with basil, parsley and chives. The parsley and chives managed to keep growing over the winter when I moved it under the covered porch. The parsley will get moved to the garden this year, as it is now two years old and I want to keep fresh plants on the porch.
Um, I'm not sure what else to say, so I'll go poke around in the forums. I've already been reading through most of the forums and look forward to joining in. I'm not usually a big talker, preferring to spend more time lurking. However, most people know that when it comes to gardening, I am not so quiet. I've practically had to sit on my hands to keep myself from posting before now. I like to get a feel of the forums by just reading when I am new.
