I am in Fairfax County, near Burke. I grow lots of fruit, artichokes, garlic, tomatoes, etc. Her are some pictures. This is my fuyu persimmon tree and my raised bed where I am growing gojiberry bushes and artichokes. In the raised bed photo you can also see my hardy kiwi vines that are full of blooms this year. I also have asian pears, a plum tree, an apricot tree, a cherry tree, 2 blackberry bushes and two raspberry bushes. I have two strawberry patches and two bush cherry plants.

Charlieboring:

Thank you for your note.

You have beautiful garden and fruit trees. If you were close to my place, then I would have loved to see your garden in person as long as it was fine with you. But Burke is pretty far away. My temple is in Fairfax Station and that is the closest I have come to Burke.

I have always been told that fruits are hard to grow and they should be left to professional farmers. If you are growing so many fruits in VA area which is famous for clay soil, that means you have a BIG green thumb:-). How long it takes you to see the fruit on trees. I have been told that pollination is very different for growing fruit and veggies. So how do handle pollination?

Unfortunately I have a big brown thumb. I only grow tomatoes, peppers, some hers and cucumbers. I want to grow some fruit trees, but I need lots of hand holding for that:-).

Sahai6 - Fairfax Station is only about 2 miles from me. This past growing season my persimmon produced over 200 persimmons. I have 3 peach trees, but so far the squirrels are getting most of my peaches, apricots and plums. I hope to do better this year. Also, my chrries and berries are attacked by birds. For varieties that require pollination from other tree varieties, I have two trees. I also have two paw paw trees that will require hand pollination next year. Now they are too small. Some day when you are going to your Temple, if you want to stop buy and see my garden, that will be fine. Send me an email.

charlieboring

It is very nice of you to let me see your garden and fruit trees. I really appreciate that. Whenever I come to Fairfax Station area, I may show at your place one day. Needless to say, my husband (perhaps my son also) may be with me at that time. When I plan to come, I will ask you for your address at that time.

I live in Sterling, so not too far. We're growing some of the same things as charlieboring - blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, garlic, and tomatoes. We also have onions, jalapenos, spinach, bell peppers, and a decent-sized herb garden. This year we're trying out a potted olive for the first time too!

gingersnap1231

Where do you live in Sterling? I live in Potomac Falls in Cascades area in Lowes Island subdivision. My house is pretty close to the country club.

I have been doing gardening in the ground for the last 15 years. Tomatoes usually turn out very good, Jalepenos are good also. I am never happy with the quality of bell peppers. My eggplants usually die in a week. Cucumbers usually turn out yellow. I can go on and on. I am sure you can see that I have a BIG brown thumb:-)

This year I have bought raised beds and I am doing planting on this weekend to plant in my new beds. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the outcome:-)

I will love to learn from someone to improve my gardening. I also want to try to grow fruits. I never know that so many gardeners do fruit growing. I always thought you need to be a professional farmer to do fruit growing.

Sahai6 - I'm closer to Sugarland Run. I tend to find my bell peppers annoyingly fussy too, but my husband loves them so we keep trying. Even if you have a "brown thumb" you can definitely still grow fruit! There are HOAs in the area that don't allow you to grow bramble berries (blackberries, raspberries, etc) because they grow so enthusiastically and tend to take over the neighborhood if you don't keep them staked and trimmed. I'm sure you could grow those fine! Garlic obviously isn't a fruit, but it grows really easily around here too - you pretty much put it in the ground in the fall and then don't touch it again until June.

Getting raised beds should make growing easier too. We've been adding loads of compost to our in-ground beds each year, and are only just starting to get to the point where we can grow a decent crop of anything. The previous owners of our house were clearly NOT gardeners!

Gingersnap:

What kind of compost (brand name) you add to your soil? Is the compost different for in ground veggie gardening and different for raised beds?

Hey yall! I live in Reston. I rent a plot from the RA. Glad to see other gardeners in the area. :)

Sahai:

I make my own compost. We have some trees on the property, so I mulch the leaves and mix them with kitchen scraps and occasionally grass clippings or ash from the fire pit. I haven't heard of people using different compost for different things, but I suppose it's possible. I tend to play a little fast and loose with gardening "rules".

Gingersnap:

How long it takes you to make the compost? Do you need a bin to make the compost? I have heard form many people that making compost in the yard creates an intense odor from the kitchen scraps and keeping it in the bin for a long time. My HOA is pretty strict. I am sure if I make compost in my yard, someone from my neighborhood will complain to HOA for bad odor. Due to this reason, I just do not even think about creating my own compost.

Sahai:

Good compost is mostly leaves and other "browns" - it doesn't smell noticeably different than a pile of leaves does in the fall. It shouldn't attract pests either. I absolutely do believe that there are HOAs in this area that won't be swayed by facts when it comes to compost though! My "bin" is a few stakes and a roll of plastic mesh. Compost does take a few months, and if you have lots of oak leaves like I do it can take a bit longer than with some other kinds of leaves. I usually get two batches a year- one in the spring from last fall's leaves, and one in the fall with everything that fell over the winter.

gingersnap:

Thanks for a quick reply. Can only leaves be used as compost? I do not have any oak tree in my yard. If I tell my lawn mowing guy to save the leaves from fall season, can they be used as a compost for veggie gardening in spring 2016? I will rather not add kitchen scraps due to fear of bad odor and complains from my neighbors? Will compost made from leaves only be useful for gardening purposes? Also do the leaves need to be shredded? I do not have a shredder.

sahai:

Leaf-only compost is called leaf mold (what a gross name, right?) and is possible, but I've never tried it. This link seems to have a pretty good how-to though. Making Leaf Mold

I have been composting for over 30 years…I use all kitchen scrap, dig a hole, put it in and cover with dirt. It neither smells nor does it take long to convert to good soil. Very easy and it brings a lot of earth worms, and it has helped change my very hard clay into good dig gable earth.

Soozi,

Do you mind telling me where do you live in No VA area? I love In Potomac Falls and my HOA is Cascades community. They are very strict. I can't imagine myself putting kitchen scraps in my yard and covering it with dirt and then expecting not hearing complaints from my neighbors and HOA. This is the reason I just do not make my own compost. I wish my HOA was not that strict, but the reality it is quite strict.

Welcome. I'm in Western Fairfax in the Greenbriar neighborhood. I've been gardening here for 3 years, and made real progress last year with some Winter Rye Grass and some Hairy Vetch to dig deep into the clay as a cover crop of sorts. We have no HOA :)

Hi all-

I live in Reston, too. Have lived here for 28 years and am lucky to have a very productive garden.

When I need a large quantity of compost I usually order it from Virginia Ground Covers and get a mix of compost and sand, with a three to one ratio, more if it being compost. I've been very happy with it for many years.

Cindy

http://www.vagroundcovers.com/contact.html

Cindy 7,

Do you buy compost from VA Ground Covers premixed or do you tell them to mix it? I am assuming you this compost for your veggie garden, right? When do you usually add compost to your garden?