Come on, now ...

It takes incentive to get that garden started! What's yours?

Steve シ

The best for me would be having success with the things that have not done as well the last few years. Tomatoes seem to be an ongoing struggle with disease though I do have a couple varieties which do okay. The first year I grew okra it did wildly crazy and since I can barely get them to produce. I might try starting them in a tunnel this year. Peas have also been a challenge mostly due to late hard freezes. This year I have them going in a low tunnel and so far so good. Another issue is a strawberry bed that is going into year three. Not sure what the problem is but they have not thrived compared to another strawberry bed close by. I top dressed with a good layer of compost recently and plan on using a regular dose of organic fertilizer. If I can't get it going this year it might be time to change that bed.

Also getting the new cold frame design in place before November would be a feather in my cap. I have the lid built which was fairly easy. After the current frames are out of the way the plan is to build a low stone/rock wall to serve as the north wall.

Greg

I’m really, reallyrealllyreally hoping the Eremurus, foxtail
lily/desert candle I planted in October grow and THRIVE! I’ve wanted these ever since I saw the first
one blooming—probably close to 20 years ago by now! This is my THIRD try!!! Have been buying them at the Van Engelen fall
sale, and the first two times they never came up—probably because of me! I’m virtually certain I waited too long to
put them in the ground! This year (last
fall!) they only had the white ones left and I got three of them. Planted them as soon as I got them! ONE has come up so far, so it’s already a
success, but I have my fingers crossed the other two come up too! I know they can! I know they can! But for now I’m happily staring at the one
that’s growing every day—just to help
it along! ;-) If the other two don’t make it—or maybe even
if they do—I’ll be looking for some of the orange ones this coming fall!

Skybird

So, it's -

... a stonewall for the coldframe, peas, okra, tomatoes, foxtail lilies!

strawberries, and an angel's kiss for spring ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♫ .

And, grraass ... green grass!

ッ Steve

Well, it's no secret my hopes and dreams for this year, though, my BIGGEST hopes is that the iris I relocated last summer will actually bloom this year. Iris was grandma's favorite flower (well, that and roses, but I don't much care for those) so, if I could get these guys to give me any flowers at all, even just one, I'd be thrilled.

I'm in quite the opposite boat as Montana. I'm chipping away at the amount of grass in my yard bit by bit. You can come down and take ALLLLLL the sod you want to patch holes with, though, I'd prefer if you started with the "plugs" that keep showing up in the one walkways border I have. That's another big hope and dream for this year, get rid of the God forsaken grass that keeps creeping (more like full blown Mongol invasion actually) into the ONE bed I don't have to build from scratch this year.

I'm hoping for good winter squash. Last year was a disaster, and I found I just can't buy anything close. I dunno if its the soil, aridity, or what, but the flavor I get here is just phenomenal.

Zach, I definitely hear you on the Mongol invasion of grass in all the wrong places! Fortunately it's been pretty easy digging and pulling recently.

The best for me would be germination on the scarlet oak acorns I planted last fall, followed closely by success with 3 pecan trees coming mail order soon. I'll also dare to hope for recovery of my conifers after that temp swing we had in the fall. There's way too much browning to suit me.

The best may be the spring we're actually having on the Front Range. Precip wise this is awful, but it's sure made working outside a pleasure!

Barb

Well, the good news is, it seem to have got the Grass Hoard reigned in pretty well! Well, at least for now. I also installed some metal edging to at least stymie the incursion a little bit, so, that's a major plus. Now, I just need about 100 more feet of it for the new planting areas, and, its on a downhill, so installation is going to be a b!@#$. Maybe I should just buy an edger with the money instead....

It was easy in some spots to pull up, but other spots it was pretty well dug in, and I could only get leaves to come up leaving the roots behind to sprout anew. Ins't gardening fun!?! Well, at least I get a nice tan out of the deal!

Pecan trees...in Colorado?! I didn't know that was possible, heck, I may have to give up my dislike of trees (no offence Barb, I just hate the constant cleanup) in that's the case. My mom's step-mother is from Oklahoma, and when we would go down there I remember we would get the most amazing local pecans, and they also happen to be just about the only tree nut I like.

The "Best" for me this year would be to have lush perimeter beds without dirt showing. That would mean exuberant growth from the perennials I've planted and have the rest filled in with annuals - most likely from seeds (since budget is always a factor). My garden is only 3 years only and still has swathes of dirt in the border beds. I used to think of the dirt as an opportunity....now I'm just ready for green and color!

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♫ .

ッ Steve

For me, I want to grow pickling cucumbers, mild peppers, and tomatoes. I want to can lots of dill pickles without having to buy the cucumbers. I haven't made salsa in a while either, if you can call it that. My wife likes it really, really mild. I'm trying some new varieties of tomato this year too, Ruby Monster Hybrid, from Gurneys, is one. I'm also trying Brandywine for the first time. BEST would be to get good results from all that stuff.

And I've got a Goji plant in a pot that I will be planting outside soon.

Digit, you're way ahead of me. I just put my seeds in this past week (indoors), although I did plant about 60 yellow onion sets outside yesterday. They probably could have gone in a few weeks ago too.

Grant

Fruita, CO

I'm going to try tomatoes again this year. I've not had success with them in the past and swore I was done. But I love a good homegrown tomato so much, I'll try again. I think I'll grow some lettuces as well.

I can't wait to start moving some of my hibiscus and geraniums back outside. I'm also hoping for good success with the cannas I over-wintered. I experimented with two different ways this year and look forward to see which method, if any, works best.

I might have posted this picture on the South Window thread but, there's nothing in the South Window beside me, except an empty table! These babies and all the rest are in the greenhouse, except for a few teeny tots which will make it out of the kitchen as soon as there's sunlight here on the table.

These were the last from the first sowing of tomato seeds and I left them a little longer in their cookie boxes because of their uneven start. Gary O Sena is nearest the camera (... basil off on the left). Did I get Gary O from Jaliranchr? So much of my tomato inspiration has come from her!

Steve

Digit,

I've seen your posts for years and know you are a wealth of tomato knowledge. Which variety would you recommend as the "Tomato for Dummies"? I can start a new thread if that makes sense.

Oh, don't call it that, Popmama!

"No fail," if you want to be quintessentially optimistic!

"Your Best Tomatoes," if you want to put us on the spot.

"Tough Boy or Girl," those names already taken by the seed outfits?

I'm not a wealth of knowledge. It wasn't very many years ago that I thought tomatoes should all be red & round and I had 2 varieties in my garden: big & little.

Steve

No offense taken, Zach! One of my favorite things about this site is it's diversity, we're all in to something a little different.

I'm totally pushing it with pecans. During the dreary winter I found a couple of sites with lists of champion trees in Colorado. 3 Pecan trees made the list. 1 in Otero county, 1 in Delta county and one in Weld. I thought it was worth trying. It seems like once I started with fruit trees, the natural progression was on to nut trees. I'll be pretty old when they start dropping nuts, but it gives me something to aim for, lol! I'm doing it backwards as I often do, I should have started with nut trees first since it can take 10 - 15 years to get a crop!

They get huge, the biggest one in Colorado is 91 feet tall and 63 feet wide, not for your average city lot. But I have the space, away from the house and walkways, so why not?

Steve, it sure looks like you're having a good year! I'm loving this thread.

Popmama, there is one tomato thats worked for me consistently, year in, year out, called Thessaloniki It seems to be fairly resistant to what ever crud rolls around in mid-July - be it curly top virus or something else, I might lose a plant or two, but the vast majority make it and produce well until frost, and the green ones ripen up nicely when picked. The seeds are widely available via the innernets, or, I think Steve set me up with seeds originally, I'd be happy to pass some along if you shoot me an email with your mailing address.

Thanks david52! That's a great tip. I feel entirely intimidated by the idea of trying to start from seed on top of just hoping to get more than 1 or 2 tomatoes. I'll send you my mailing address though and maybe next year I'll be less terrified. I will look for that variety around here. It looks like a beautiful tomato.

I'm Houzz-hampered. I can't figure out how to send you a message. *sigh*

Houzz-hampered. Ha!

Marj found this for us: "You can message any other user on Houzz that has enabled messaging for their profile.

There are three settings available for messaging on your Houzz profile.

Click Edit Profile, then Advanced Settings to select one of the following options.

• Do not allow users to message me
• Allow my followers to message me
• Allow anyone to message me"

Steve

Houzz-hampered! LOL! I love it!

Luckily we're not nearly as Houzz-hampered as we were those first few days! But unfortunately I'm still Houzz-hampered in the posting-pics department! Still hoping they'll "fix" that one for me!

My "Best" seems to be working out for me so far! The second of my Eremurus is coming up now! Still waiting on the third one--but will be quite happy with the two if that's all I get! Interesting to see how we all have different Dreams!

Skybird

I'm devoting much of my attention this season to bell and hot peppers, and hope that I can pull off enough production of the latter to hang dry some chili "ristra" garlands in the sun.

.99each for green bell at the grocery is just obscene, hopefully I can avoid it all summer.

Also thrilled to see how warm I can keep this new greenhouse this winter. I have 6 more months to worry about sealing it up, though.

I also promised my wife I would populate the yard with flowers for her but I haven't seen any signs of life yet on the zinnia and cosmo seeds I tried to start...

Supposedly, I'm open for any members to PM. Altho' the webpage doesn't quite look like what the Houzz answer suggests ...

I'm hoping that Popmama starts a tomato thread and that we can all jump in there with ideas. Heirlooms are great, I continue to have Thessaloniki every year, for example. However, there are more commonly available plants in the nurseries. I have hybrids every year but I'm reluctant to use the name "Early Girl" on a what's best thread.

Steve

whose greenhouse is cookin', today!

According to those instructions, I should be able to receive messages. But I don't.

David,

When I go to Digit's Page, in the top right corner next to the "follow box" there's another "message box" I can click on and then I get a place to put in the message and send it.

When I go to Your Page there's only the "follow box" and no "message box."

When I go to My Page I don't have either "box," so I guess I need to be Somebody Else to be able to see what's there!!!

In Advanced Settings do you have "Who can message me" set to "Allow anyone to message me?"

The only other thing I have "enabled" in Advanced Settings is that I have "Send me an email when: someone messages me" set to "every time." But I don't think that would make any difference in someone being able to PM you--only in whether you'd get an email to know when there was a message in your "inbox."

Can you see the "message box" when you go to My Page???

Skybird

Thanks, Skybird. I just changed my settings to Anyone can Message Me. When I click david52's name, there is no "message" under "follow" so I guess that's why. I don't know! Do you think if I can't figure this out, I'll be able to grow a tomato? Hahah.

I think you can do both, Mama! Figure this out AND grow a tomato! LOL!

But either David needs to change something, or else there’s something wrong with his account and he
needs to contact the admins to get it straightened out.

I'm just really glad we're figuring it out now, far enough before the swap to be able to tell people how to do it then!

Skybird

I'm hoping that I can get something to last in a bed that I've been amending for two years. One of those places that just resists your best efforts, so I just keep amending in the spring and fall. Hopefully, this year ...

I see the message tab on others profile thingies, but it isn't there on mine. I allowed it in the advanced settings. I'll figure it out after a bit.

I am hoping the rabbits will find something more delightful to eat than my flowers! The veggies are in raised beds and thwarted by wire surrounds.

I'd be delighted if the rabbits wouldn't eat my broccoli! Shoot, they sure like broccoli.

I have, or will have, 3 protected growing "structures." Two are just temporary.

What I've learned is that each has different abilities regarding heat. GoldenDavid will only know with use. My sunshed is particularly good at gathering daytime heat. It can be a blast furnace! None of them do a good job holding heat, overnight. The hoop house running north/south is cooler in the daytime than the east/west hoop house.

Wintertime, I'm inspired to grow things in low tunnels in the sunshed. Just need to plan on fall transplants for it!

Steve

Steve,

I'm hearing you on the blast furnace aspect these days.