We have planted, but I'm not sure that it was a good move! We have had two frosts, and the plants are looking pretty weak, the basil is dead, and the peppers, tomatoes, and squash are pale and spindley looking. I'm anxious to read about others experiences.

I put in tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, lettuce, and cabbage the weekend of April 9 (yes, I was overanxious and excited!). And a rhubarb division from my MIL a couple weeks before that. The cabbage & lettuce look great -- where they haven't been nibbled by bunnies. But the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant are a bit spindley and pale, like Baxter's. They just aren't growing like I'd expect, especially the peppers and eggplant. We've not had a true frost, but it's been close several times. The eggplants also have been hit hard by what looks like flea beetles. The rhubarb is thriving, and I brought my basil inside a while back. I do have other herbs and blueberries in the ground that wintered over well, and are doing fine. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that it starts to warm up at night! Never thought I'd be hoping it was hotter, here! :) I'm interested as well to find out what others have experienced.

I planted all my veggies in March but I had covers on them. I have cherry tomatoes and basil, that I started from seed, in pot's that were covered with plastic wrap but are now out in the open and doing great. Well, the tomatos are great the basil is okay, they have a few brown leaves from the cold temps the last couple of weeks. I think they'll be okay though, they already look like they're recovering. I also have, cucumbers (from seed), Rutgers tomatoes, red, green, and yellow peppers (transplants) snow peas and pole beans (from seed) that I planted in the ground in March. The tomatoes had milk carton covers on them until April and the cucumbers had water bottle covers on them until this week. The cucs are still pretty small, probably waiting for the warm weather. The tomatos and peppers are doing great they're about a foot and a half high. The snow peas are 2 ft high and the pole beans about 3.

I was anxious to get started this year because I didn't move into my house until the end of May last year and didn't get to plant anything until June. When I did plant, I didn't have time to prepare the beds and was ony able to put in a couple tomatos, peppers, and cucs which all did pitiful. I think I ate all of three tomatos 2 peppers and one cucumber from my garden last year.

I'm hoping things go better this year but after I planted I realized that my stupid chimney on my house is situated just perfect to throw a shadow on my bed from 2:30pm onward. I'm already planning my new garden for next year. A 3ft x 20ft raised square foot garden, made from cinderblocks and painted a beautiful terra cotta, filled with gorgeous soil that I'm going to make from compost, with a trellis on the north side for my vining crops, and a buried soaker hose, which will get sun from 9am until sunset, and may be made into a cold frame in the winter. It's all in my head right now so it may never come to fruition but a girl can dream can't she?

This was our first garden ever. We planted everything in trays in the middle of February and everything came up and looked great.

Then we transplanted everything we could into cups when they got about 2 inches high. It was mostly sunflowers, gladiolis and tomatoes that were transplanted into cups. The flowers were all transplanted into beds or the garden and are all doing well. Sunflowers are about 6-8 inches high and look a little spindly but surviving. The glads are over a foot high and look spectacular.

Nothing else I planted in February is doing well at all. We planted two different kind of climbing green beans and they are just now recovering from bugs eating on them and the cold snaps we've had. The peas just haven't grown at all. All the squash (yellow crookneck, yellow straightneck, white scalloped and striped zucchini) are barely hanging on. Only 1 watermelon plant made it out of about 24. Okra and cucumbers -- just a handful of each. But for some reason, the Big Max pumpkins are doing very well. All of the garlic and Vidalia onions are doing very well as well as the corn -- all of these were planted directly into the garden about 1 month ago.

The marigolds that my granddaughter and I planted all around the garden look pitiful. I think it must be the light frosts and cold nights we have had. It seems like ever morning I check the temperature for the last 2 weeks, it has been like 36 or 39. I thought marigolds would grow like weeds.

So yesterday, I planted everything over that I still had seed for. I think we should definitely be past any frosts here, but it sure doesn't seem to be raining as much as it should for spring. I'm hoping we can enjoy a few vegetables this summer from this planting. If not, we'll try again next year.

I'll keep everyone posted on how this second planting goes.

DirtDiggingLady Katie

The frosts have kinda made havoc out of my garden, too. But my DH says the buds of the tomatoes and winter squash are still good, and when it warms up they will come out of it. I hope he's right. The cabbage, collards, and cauliflower all look good, though. The corn's coming up, but I haven't seen any beets or okra up yet...maybe just as well. We've been eating spinach, though. But I think the heat has just about finished it. I have come climbing spinach(first time) that is about ready to go into the ground as are some yellow squash and 3 artichokes...the tomatoes, the cabbage, collards, cauliflower, yellow squash, artichokes and climbing spinach were winter sown.

I feel a little better that I am not the only one whose early vegetable and seed attempts this year did not go as planned. All my tomatoes are still in peat pots, and still tiny - some are barely hanging on. The tomatoes I received from another member here are still in their pots as well since the day after I got them was when the cold came. the eggplants and peppers are still in peat pots, too, but look a bit better than the tomatoes. Sigh. It's going to be a late garden this year. Jenica, I, too, dream of a cold frame. Actually, your dream bed might work made into a hoop house in the winter. I think you would just bend long, thin PVC pipe by tucking one end into a cinder block at the edge of the bed, then pushing the other end toward it and tucking that end into the opposite block. Do the same down the row, cover with 4 mil clear plastic sheet, use a few rip ties to fasten the plastic to the PVC, and secure the plastic at the ends of the row down with stones. Puncture the plastic here and there for airflow.

Have I planted out yet? I have picked three ripe tomatoes
got the first one April 27. It's a Silver Fir Tree planted
in a pot. Seed started in January with a lot of loving care.
The main crop is a long way off.
Norm

I have some tomatos that I ws out in pots. They are growing really well. I have some canteloupe, peas, eggplant, radishes,lettuce, these were all from seeds.. so far so good. Just started some squash from seeds, got little sprouts.. bought some peppers, one cuke, one eggplant from hd, so far so good. We'll see. This year I am growing all veggies in pots. I made several rasied beds last year for veggies, but they just don't get quite enough sun, plus my dogs forget their boundaries sometimes, and birds are everywhere. So for me I feel more in control with pots.. and I can't wait to eat some veggies! My lettuce and rashishes are so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my first year planting so late, but I just planted my tomatoes, squash, and cukes yesterday. My onions and leeks and strawberries that I planted earlier are doing well. I'm so jealous of Norm. I can't wait to have home-grown tomatoes. Those things in the store are so very bland.

TJ