My garden for 2013.

[socaljoe]

Hi everyone.

I wanted to share some pictures of what will be my garden. At the moment everything is still pretty small, but all plants are healthy and growing quickly. Not a ton of variety right now, just a few herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers.

First up is my new Apple Mint plant. Looking forward to making cocktails with it this summer.

Next up is a Satsuki Madori cucumber. A Japanese varietal known for vigorous growth and sweet, never bitter fruits.

This is one of my bigger tomato seedlings, it's a San Marzano. Great sauce tomato, meaty without a ton of juice and low seed count. Great flavor too.

Finally to round out my seedlings, I have a Yellow Pear tomato. These have been a long time favorite to pick and eat right in the garden.

Thanks for looking everyone, and sorry for the not so great pics, was using my phone right in the sun...couldn't see anything.

I hope to update here with some more pictures and progress reports as my garden grows.

What are you all growing in your gardens?

Joe

 

[purpz]

apple mint sounds dank. I'm trying the lemon balm mint this year You're really getting a head start with the tomatoes this year huh?

 

[socaljoe]

I don't usually do tomatoes from seed, so I just figured I'd start them as soon as we started getting warmer days. They're all happy so far, though I probably should've held off for a couple weeks as they did get off to a slow start germinating.

Lemon balm mint...I think I saw that at the nursery today.

Apple Mint is awesome, great fragrance and flavor for anything that calls for mint.

 

[Toolage 87]

I have about 5 different kinds of mint I wanna grow this year.

One if the best mints imo is the Chocolate mint.

 

[socaljoe]

Chocolate mint sounds good. I'll have to see if they have it at the nursery next time I'm down there. I really want to get a lime tree too...just add rum, sugar and ice and I've got a mojito.

 

[Toolage 87]

It makes some awsome tea imo. I would recommend it. The smell is kinda like those chocolate peppermint patty things.

 

[UncleBuck]

there is also a strain of mint specifically for mojitos. but be careful, like all mint plants, it grows and spreads like a motherfucker.

 

[Toolage 87]

and that's why you say fu and grow them in pots to stop them from doing that

 

[socaljoe]

there is also a strain of mint specifically for mojitos. but be careful, like all mint plants, it grows and spreads like a motherfucker.

What is it called? I'm always looking for that one little edge to take my mojitos to the next level.

Yep, that's why I don't mess around with mint...into a pot it goes, and I'll usually put the pot on a brick so the roots don't get into the ground and spread.

 

[UncleBuck]

What is it called? I'm always looking for that one little edge to take my mojitos to the next level.

Yep, that's why I don't mess around with mint...into a pot it goes, and I'll usually put the pot on a brick so the roots don't get into the ground and spread.

i lost the tag with the exact name on it, but i looked online and mojito mint does sell in many places. apparently it's just a variety of mint that is native to cuba. i got mine from sungold farm here in portland but i'm not sure if they ship. they do have a website though, sungoldfarm.com.

and yeah, i have to lay my containers down on the soil, and mint goes crazy when it inevitably roots in. i pull it up every year and root prune it.

 

[socaljoe]

Very cool. I'll be hitting the nursery again pretty soon, so I'll see what else they have...like I need an excuse to go buy more plants.

 

[Toolage 87]

i lost the tag with the exact name on it, but i looked online and mojito mint does sell in many places. apparently it's just a variety of mint that is native to cuba. i got mine from sungold farm here in portland but i'm not sure if they ship. they do have a website though, sungoldfarm.com.

and yeah, i have to lay my containers down on the soil, and mint goes crazy when it inevitably roots in. i pull it up every year and root prune it.

Its not recommended to do that because the roots could regrow and you could end up with mint growing in that spot and once they take hold in the soil it can survive the winter and grow.

Very cool. I'll be hitting the nursery again pretty soon, so I'll see what else they have...like I need an excuse to go buy more plants.

Another thing that can be good to grow is lemon grass.

 

[UncleBuck]

Its not recommended to do that because the roots could regrow and you could end up with mint growing in that spot and once they take hold in the soil it can survive the winter and grow.

oh, i know! i have to till every year to rip those roots up, and i'm sure they can even show up a year or two later somehow. those things are impressive in their will to live.

 

[Toolage 87]

oh, i know! i have to till every year to rip those roots up, and i'm sure they can even show up a year or two later somehow. those things are impressive in their will to live.

Yea. I grow all the herbs in my AeroGarden and in DIY DWC system to make sure they can't grow into the soil and they tend to throw off alot of shoots. I had a Herb kit that came with my AeroGarden 6 pod system and when it started throwing off under the ground runners it threw off around 12 to 13 of them maybe even up to 15.

 

[UncleBuck]

just found the tag for the mint plant lying in the mud, it's name is mentha villosa.

 

[socaljoe]

just found the tag for the mint plant lying in the mud, it's name is mentha villosa.

Cool. I did a wiki check on mint varieties last night, and that's the one I came across. I'm going to be on the lookout for that one.

 

[Toolage 87]

I can get my hands on around 13 to 15 different kinds of mint plants at my local garden center.

 

[kinetic]

there is also a strain of mint specifically for mojitos. but be careful, like all mint plants, it grows and spreads like a motherfucker.

Which is why I'm taking mint and oregano to my local park and planting it secretly.

 

[socaljoe]

A little update.

Everything has been growing really well. My cucumbers especially are loving the sun and not slowed down much at all by the cooler night temps. The tomatoes are looking healthy and happy as well.

I had a pest infestation on my mint plant. I'd noticed a lot of leaves were getting nibbled but didn't see any likely culprits. So today I gave the plant a good spray with some soapy water...when I checked a few hours later I found no less than 20 little caterpillars crawling around, needless to say they didn't survive

Will be transplanting into the ground within the next couple weeks, can't wait to see them take off once that's done.

 

[purpz]

I always go out @ night during a good rain, snail/slug massacre. I've also noticed pincher bugs nibbling on some of my radish, didn't know they were pests in the garden.