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Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
+7
Goosegirl
sanderson
Aschelonthebeach
puffmama
titans01
new2this
quiltbea
11 posters
Page 1 of 1
Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
- Its only May 1st here in southwestern Maine and already I have crops in my plots. I'm so thrilled, this being only my 2nd year.
With the use of an A-frame I built and heavy row cover on the nites that drop down to the low and mid 30s, I have made inroads with an early garden.
This is a view of my brassicas so far. I have cabbages, Super Red 80s in the first one, then Broccoli and the furthest one is cauliflower.
This is my little plot of Alpine strawberries, mulched and happy to blossom in the bright sunshine we had today, reaching a very unusual 80 with 55 expected tonite.
A closeup of one of my Broccoli, doing well.
A closeup of one of my Super Red 80 cabbages. We've had such high gusty winds yesterday and last nite, that some of those lovely large leaves have been broken by the winds. I hope they don't suffer much. setbackrl=https://servimg.com/view/15016226/66][/url]
The sugar snap peas are doing well in the 1st square. Two other squares are planted with some just germinating and the last block not pushing up yet.
url=https://servimg.com/view/15016226/67][/url]
My buttercrunch lettuces are doing well with the younger Crispino lettuce beside it.
A closeup of the Bright Lights Swiss chard that is doing very well.
Here's a closeup of one of the Quinalt strawberries I planted last year. Its already blossoming along with several others. These are the mother plants this year. I chose the matted row system so next year I'll remove the mothers and the strong runners will take their place. These are in a mounded bed since I had lots of garden loam left over when I started my beds last spring.
url=https://servimg.com/view/15016226/70][/url]
In this bed are some spinach on the left and the lettuces in the middle. The cans are an experiment. I poked holes in the bottoms and buried them close to the rim, filled them with composted manure and water. I hope that every time it rains these cans will feed my crops. They are in the center of spinach seeds I planted.
url=https://servimg.com/view/15016226/71][/url]
This is a long view of most of the garden with my A-frame in the background and my strawberry bed composted and mulched and lined with solar lights. Some of my beds are just mounded, and not protected by lumber. They are working fine for now.
Here's my garden under row cover a couple of evenings ago when we were having nites in the low to mid 30s. It protects to 28 degrees so I was safe. I just rolled the row cover out of the way during the day.
I made hoops out of wire coat hangers and clothespins to hold the shade cover when I first planted my tomatoes, and heavy row cover for the cold nites. It worked like a charm. I also put hoops over the lettuces when they were first planted and they came thru just fine.- This Square Foot Gardening is the best thing I've done in years. I keep experimenting and learning all the time. I hope to have lots of early crops this year and then put in fall crops for a bonanza of food for my family. Then I will try learning to save seed for next year and freezing produce to eat during the winter months. I'm really happy about my raised bed garden.
- I have tomatoes still under my grow lights now in 4" air-pruning pots I made from 2-liter soda bottles. This is a first time for me starting my own seeds and I've enjoyed it. I now have 2 shop lights that are 4 feet long and my original grow light system that is only 2 feet long. Plenty of lights for what I'm attempting.
- Here are my other mounded beds for cucumbers, squash and a couple of melons. I'll be covering them with brown plastic mulch soon to heat up the soil for planting those crops.
- I have, to date, planted Mesclun mix, lettuce, radishes (of which I've already been harvesting), chives, parsnips, Oregon Spring tomatoes which are ultra early and can take the cold, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, marigold and nasturtiums to repel bugs, scallions, carrots, parsley, basil, rosemary, lemon balm, and sugar snap peas.
- For those of you just starting out, I was brand new to this last spring and got a late start. Its been a learning experience but a wonderful one, and at my retired age, its been a feasible method for me.
- Try it, you'll like it!
quiltbea- Posts : 4712
Join date : 2010-03-21
Age : 82
Location : Southwestern Maine Zone 5A
Re: Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
What great pictures! Thanks so much for sharing; it's like you said in a previous post....gardeners who are willing to share photos and secrets really do help others out. I can't believe hwo much I've learned from teh members here - it really has been great!
I can't believe how well you're plants are doing!!
(Rockin')
I can't believe how well you're plants are doing!!
(Rockin')
new2this- Posts : 215
Join date : 2010-03-05
Age : 49
Location : southeast MN, zone 4a
Re: Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
Very nice pictures. It's nice to see where someone in 5a is at this time of the year. I should be harvesting radishes sometime this week as well. Keep us updated as the season goes along.
o wow thats nice
I can only hope my garden looks as nice! I am just starting. I like to do edible landscaping/city farming so my garden will have a very fancy feel. I am still building boxes and stuff but it is already turning traffic. I will try to post pics later. The weather here in SD is crazy. We had late spring for 3 weeks and now it like Oct. out there. I put in cabbages, broccoli, brussel sprouts and strawberries and tried some peppers but alas my peppers died. I also have 4 grape vines which I planted last yr. in my row garden that I thought had died. Jokes on be because they are budding up just nice now. Comments on transfering them to a box anyone?
puffmama- Posts : 5
Join date : 2010-05-01
Location : south dakota
im in southern maine too!
Hi! I am just starting a sfg in my sunny coastal front yard and I have no idea what plants will thrive! I have a few, but my step dad insisted I put in two 8x4s and I am so overwhelmed by 64sqft! Any advice? Nothing is in the ground yet, but I want to get a plan and then stick to it as that is what I seem to find least stressful.
Aschelonthebeach- Posts : 2
Join date : 2015-05-26
Location : 04017
Re: Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
What would you like to eat? More info, and folks will be giving you all kinds of suggestions. Do you have a trellis on the north end?
Re: Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
+1 to Sanderson's advice. Grow what you like to eat, and if you like flowers, grow what you like to look at, sniff, or add to bouquets. Do you like herbs? No problem with planting them in between veggies and flowers.
Goosegirl- Posts : 3435
Join date : 2011-02-16
Age : 59
Location : Zone 4A - NE SD
Re: Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
Hi Aschelonthebeach. Welcome from Atlanta, GA.
+2 on what you've been told so far. This is a good time to experiment & see what you actually like & don't like.
+2 on what you've been told so far. This is a good time to experiment & see what you actually like & don't like.
Re: Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
Thanks for sharing. This is my first year square foor gardening. I also did lots of my own seedlings from seeds. Mine looked a little spindley compared to the store-bought ones, but have produced great plants. Planting my own seeds has also given me great variety (like purple tomatoes that my kids love, rainbow carrots, deiferent kinds of Kale, etc), and has allowed me to do some succession planning.
Mimi2- Posts : 252
Join date : 2015-09-10
Age : 51
Location : Ottawa, Ontario
Re: Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
Mimi2, Welcome to the Forum from California! Thank you for sharing. Your Canadian Regional Host, Kelejan, should be along soon to welcome you, also.
Re: Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
Welcome, Aschelonthebeach and Mimi2!
Scorpio Rising- Posts : 8712
Join date : 2015-06-12
Age : 62
Location : Ada, Ohio
Re: Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
mimi2 from Ontario
from Kelejan
come on over to the Canadian Region where you can meet other Canadians. This does not stop you from reading or posting in any other post what-so-ever that takes your fancy.
from Kelejan
come on over to the Canadian Region where you can meet other Canadians. This does not stop you from reading or posting in any other post what-so-ever that takes your fancy.
Re: Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
Kelejan wrote: mimi2 from Ontario
from Kelejan
come on over to the Canadian Region where you can meet other Canadians. This does not stop you from reading or posting in any other post what-so-ever that takes your fancy.
Yeah, we are very cross regional, many issues we all deal with, but certainly planting schedules, certain varietals, etc are specific to a growing clime. Chime in where ever you want!
Scorpio Rising- Posts : 8712
Join date : 2015-06-12
Age : 62
Location : Ada, Ohio
Re: Its May 1st in Maine and I'm growing....
Hi Mimi2. Welcome from Atlanta, GA!
Glad you've joined us...!
Glad you've joined us...!
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