It seems that I couldn’t find the gardening board anymore, it would be nice if we can have it back!
Now I’m starting to think of planning of the potager this year. The first thing I will sow this year will be fava beans… meanwhile the tomatoes will be sowed indoors. I still have a last summer red chilli (still alive now!) If it still stay alive the end of winter, I will move it to a more sunny spot, poor plant, last year it survived under the shadow of a big zucchini that grown out of control.
So this year, I will be doing black tomatoes, red cherry ones, maybe some yellow cherries too. I am tempted to try the blue tomatoes. I will still do a zucchini… and some nasturtium too. Fruit wise, I will try to get some more citrus plant, the combawa, Menton lemon and caviar lemon is on my list, I will plant again the purple Shinso, which is a very beautiful plant as a decoration, big purple leaves, and good as in salad too.
I would like to know what will you plant to do? Maybe I can get some new inspirations.
Interesting timing on this new thread. Just this morning I pulled out all of the dying basil, sticks from the jalapeno plants, and some dead thyme. I still have chard, kale, and a giant parsley plant going strong (SoCal) so I left those alone. Last year my tomatoes were terrible at producing. With so many tomatoes available at our local FM’s I’m thinking of abandoning them in favor of some green peas, squash, and several types of hot peppers…or maybe I’ll just go pepper crazy and use all my space for peppers since the bugs seem to leave them alone. Then I could work on homemade hot sauce for gifts.
The mild but wet winter has meant that we are a bit ahead of ourselves this year; Autumn sown broad beans and garlic doing well, and an over -wintered chilli plant starting to sprout. The potato bed is ready. Planning to have more beetroot this year, as it went well last year. Apart from that, I haven’t sat down with a glass of wine and the seed catalogues to get inspiration!
I pulled the last of the tomato plants New Year’s weekend to start prepping beds for Spring planting. I started my pepper plants on Dec. 13th, I started tomato seeds the following week. I will start planting out in about 2 weeks and another batch of peppers and tomatoes will be started. Another round of snow peas will be started tomorrow (direct sown in the garden.) Cucumbers, beans, potatoes, zucchini and various squash, melons, etc. I’m debating if there is still enough time for another round of beets, carrots and radishes.
I’m a pretty serious pepper grower- I will have over 200 pepper plants this year.
Wow. That’s impressive. I would love to tear up our large side yard and fill it with raised beds. For now, I would be happy with and have room for about 12 plants. What, may I ask, do you do with the harvest?
Eat 'em! And share them, and can them, and pickle them, and grind them into spices, etc.
Many of them this year are to grind into powder/ flake and fill spice jars to last the year and for Christmas gifts (Aleppo, Urfa Biber, Maras, Szegedi 80 paprika, and several others. It takes a lot of peppers to fill a jar.
You should absolutely do hot sauce for Christmas! People love it! I would like to do Bloody Mary kits for Christmas gifts one of these years- home canned tomato juice, spice mix, pickled garden veggies for garnishes and hot sauce with a nice bottle of vodka and some cool glasses. Getting the stars to align and make it happen is a whole 'nother story (good tomato year and a good pepper year, us not eating them all, etc.)
Our autumn was so ridiculously warm I skipped the usual October planting. (yes, here in Florida, we start our gardens as the rest of you are tearing yours up…) So my big raised bed has lain fallow since late last summer.
As soon as this latest very chilly front lets go of us (it was just 38F/3C this morning) I’ve got a good selection of tomatoes, cukes, lettuce, and other favorites ready to plant directly.
My collards, mustard greens, raab, favas, sugar snaps, shallots, and garlic carry on, in spite of the unusual cold. I’ve got “broccolini” for the first time.
I am overwintering my chinenses peppers. I only have six.
I seem to have failed once again, in getting a decent batch of onion seedlings. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but I’m going to try again.
Naf, I’m sorry, but I forgot where in the Paris region you are (don’t take it personally - I don’t remember what I had for lunch most days…)
If you’re anywhere to the east, this place http://www.cueillettedelagrange.com/ is HUGE and grows hoop houses full of peppers – I could find them hot enough to make salsa.
They also have an excellent small store with all kinds of lovely small-producer goodies – from their own jus de pomme to a small butchery and fresh cheese and dairy.
I am planning on making a smaller garden this year . Maybe a coupe of 3x6 raised beds . Sick of the weed thing . !0 x 16 will be delegated to more bee plants . I have had pretty much 0 pests after I introduced bees and wasps a couple years ago .
Broad beans are now about 10 cms. And what’s better than last year, is that it’s almost 100% germination. Perhaps the mice are less hungry this year (we are growing on an allotment and wildlife are an occasional problem as well as delight)
In relation to growing peppers and chilies (other conversation here) we grow chili peppers very successfully in London which surely doesn’t have that much different climate to Paris (as we have often found out when leaving rainy London for rainy Paris!). The secret is to get as long a growing season as possible, so i always start seeds on a light/sunny windowsill indoors on 1st February.
Thanks for the link. I don’t think I actually talk about it, but I live at the north, 9km from the centre of Paris. The climate is warmer than let’s say the east of Parisienne region, which is the countryside. But on the whole, it’s more or less the same.
Anyone else in the warm areas getting ready to plant? These peppers are just about done hardening off, I may start planting this weekend. The next batch will go from under the lights to the porch in these bins and then another batch of seeds will be started (I’m doing some grow outs of old seeds from the USDA seed bank and a private collection so they may or may not grow…but it’s a really fun project when they do!)
What’s going on in your garden or with your garden planning right now?
Planting is a ways off for us but I’ve all ready order Maxibel green bean seeds which I really liked last year. Lots of black heirloom tomatoes. DH wants a lot of peppers–there will be a mix of hot and hopefully I can find the really sweet Chervena Chuska that we adore. It’s great eaten as-is and also outstanding roasted, peeled and popped into the freezer for use throughout the year. Green onions (scallions) and probably Walla Walla will be direct sown in succession. The standard rainbow chard, beets, carrots, lots of basil. Maybe I’ll do some romaine lettuce early. I’ll leave the zucchini, cabbage and other large but not expensive to buy vegetables at the store.
Too early for anything but dreaming here, but I did snag a couple of packets of local homegrown seeds at our annual Seed Swap here on Long Island. Nothing exciting, just Butternut Squash, Buttercup Squash, Cayenne peppers and Basil. Slim pickings! There were others too, including esoteric pumpkin seeds like our infamous local “Cheese” pumpkins, but the price had quadrupled from last year, and with my luck lately I would just be throwing the money away.
Won’t be planting indoors until at least April, and not outside til late May; but I did snag a 4 foot greenhouse at Big Lots for $15, to harden them off more efficiently, and a friend offered to lend his tiller which will be a first for me. Hope springs eternal
I’m in the Southern Hemisphere and we’re still experiencing warm/mild weather. I’ve just sowed radish, carrot, golden beetroot, spinach and fennel.
I’ve never tried growing spinach before so will be interested to see how that goes - also I’ve not been successful with fennel in the past. Is there a trick to getting the bulb to form?
