Finally, getting back to gardening

OmahaJB · January 6, 2020

It's been awhile. Was stuck in apartments for close to two decades, so was very limited to how much and how well I could grow. Then came new carpeting in my apartment and didn't want to take a chance ruining that. During that time I did have access to a backyard for three or four years which I had mixed results with.

Well, finally this year I'm living in a house with a decent backyard. Will mostly use containers/grow bags but will have at least a couple of plants in the ground. This is the same backyard I had access to previously and Black Cherry & Big Beef hybrid did especially well here. Bought seeds for both.

Tomato seeds I've purchased recently:

Big Beef (Had good productivity and the taste was good when I grew it out)

Black Cherry (Loved the flavor except when it rained too much one August)

Dester (Haven't grown before but know it's well regarded)

Kellogg's Breakfast (Only tasted one slice of this and it was fabulous)

New Big Dwarf (Growing to possibly make crosses w/Dester, Kellogg's Breakfast & Black Cherry)

Rosella Purple (Haven't grown before but others love it)

Sweet Scarlet Dwarf (Sounds like a really good one from the Dwarf project)

More seeds around here hiding. They are at least 2 or 3 years old and were refrigerated when I lived in my apartment. Since the move in late October I still haven't looked for them so they are in a bag around here somewhere. When I find them they'll be added to the list.

Planning on growing both sweet and hot peppers. Pretty sure I still have Chinese Giant seeds from my saved seed, and for hot peppers I'll look for Anaheim and probably Jalapeno at the stores. If the Chinese Giant seeds aren't viable I'll get something from Meijer, Home Depot or Menard's. Not too picky when it comes to sweet peppers, but would like to see how big Chinese Giant gets for me outdoors. Indoors the size was much more modest than it's potential. Not ideal growing conditions, to say the least.

Would like to grow Charentais melons which I've tried and failed at before, but may wait until 2021 for those. Also would like to grow cabbage, eggplant, lettuce, and kale, just not sure how much effort I'll put into those this year. It's going to cost a fortune for all the container mix I'll be using already, and don't want to tear up the yard too much year one.

Looking forward to and very grateful for the ability to garden outdoors again.

Good luck to everyone with your gardens this year. Feel free to share your planting list for 2020.

January 6, 2020	#1
OmahaJB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Toledo, OH Posts: 1,821	Finally, getting back to gardening It's been awhile. Was stuck in apartments for close to two decades, so was very limited to how much and how well I could grow. Then came new carpeting in my apartment and didn't want to take a chance ruining that. During that time I did have access to a backyard for three or four years which I had mixed results with. Well, finally this year I'm living in a house with a decent backyard. Will mostly use containers/grow bags but will have at least a couple of plants in the ground. This is the same backyard I had access to previously and Black Cherry & Big Beef hybrid did especially well here. Bought seeds for both. Tomato seeds I've purchased recently: Big Beef (Had good productivity and the taste was good when I grew it out) Black Cherry (Loved the flavor except when it rained too much one August) Dester (Haven't grown before but know it's well regarded) Kellogg's Breakfast (Only tasted one slice of this and it was fabulous) New Big Dwarf (Growing to possibly make crosses w/Dester, Kellogg's Breakfast & Black Cherry) Rosella Purple (Haven't grown before but others love it) Sweet Scarlet Dwarf (Sounds like a really good one from the Dwarf project) More seeds around here hiding. They are at least 2 or 3 years old and were refrigerated when I lived in my apartment. Since the move in late October I still haven't looked for them so they are in a bag around here somewhere. When I find them they'll be added to the list. Planning on growing both sweet and hot peppers. Pretty sure I still have Chinese Giant seeds from my saved seed, and for hot peppers I'll look for Anaheim and probably Jalapeno at the stores. If the Chinese Giant seeds aren't viable I'll get something from Meijer, Home Depot or Menard's. Not too picky when it comes to sweet peppers, but would like to see how big Chinese Giant gets for me outdoors. Indoors the size was much more modest than it's potential. Not ideal growing conditions, to say the least. Would like to grow Charentais melons which I've tried and failed at before, but may wait until 2021 for those. Also would like to grow cabbage, eggplant, lettuce, and kale, just not sure how much effort I'll put into those this year. It's going to cost a fortune for all the container mix I'll be using already, and don't want to tear up the yard too much year one. Looking forward to and very grateful for the ability to garden outdoors again. Good luck to everyone with your gardens this year. Feel free to share your planting list for 2020. Last edited by OmahaJB; January 6, 2020 at 11:48 AM.