Hello from a Haggard Mom in Ohio

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to kickstart a garden at our new home, but I have a bad habit of wanting to start things and never actually doing it. I've found that if I join a forum, I'm more encouraged to keep doing the thing, so here I am!

I'm interested in planting fruits and veggies that I know my family will eat (no sense in starting something we'll waste) and experimenting with flowers. I'm aiming to be as practical as possible (e.g. lazy) so I'm trying to figure out what works best for a busy Mom on a small lot. I've been successful with tomatoes and almost successful with cucumbers (the flowers died and nothing came out of the plants after, for some reason :( ) and I'm open to trying anything twice.

I'm on a corner lot with a very nice stretch of land running east and west, shaded only in the early morning with our neighbor's house; by noon it's bright. Now, as the sun sets, tree shadows could be a problem, and for the life of me I can't remember what they did last summer, which doesn't help. For now though, it's definitely the sunniest part of our land.

I'm hoping to plant green beans, cucumbers, summer squash, acorn squash or butternut squash, sugar snap peas, carrots, lettuce, strawberries, potatoes (I think those need shade, so I'll put them someplace else), melons, and maybe peach trees if my winter experiment succeeded. I killed the avocado seeds I started a year ago so I'm trying to be hopeful...Anyway, I think that's all that springs to mind right now. I'd love to try broccoli, cauliflower, and maybe cabbage, but I feel like I heard those were difficult, so we'll see.

I also experiment with flowers, favorites being rose attempts, lilac attempts (WHY DOES IT KEEP DYING), and pretty much anything pretty and hearty (except when it's not...). I hope to get zinnias and morning glories!

I'm joining a few forums at once to see if any (or all) stick, so if you see this same message somewhere else, it's me, being lazy again. Thanks for the opportunity to share, everyone!
~Lucy

Hi Lucy, welcome! I am new to DG too. :)
I also hope you get zinnias and morning glories. I had both last year. The zinnias were pretty easy to grow. I had a problem with my morning glory seeds not sprouting, and then a neighbor said it's best if you nick/scarify the morning glory seed coat before planting.

So I did that (nicking seed coat) with the other half of my seed envelope, and they grew and put on a lovely morning glory display in October. Better late than never, said the hummingbirds, butterflies and bumblebees that all came to drink from my morning glory flowers. :)

(Keeping back half your seeds in the envelope in case of late frost or other problems is habit with me, because I learned how to grow stuff in Montana!)

Your cucumber problem sounds like insufficient pollination. You can either attract more pollinators by planting flowers in between your veggie rows, and/or buy a parthenogenetic variety of cucumber: a modern hybrid that does not require pollination.

As to why your lilac keeps dying: Could be wrong soil type for the plant, or could be overwatering or underwatering. Tough to know without being there to look at it. You could try asking your local county's Agricultural Extension Service to give you pointers on growing lilacs; bring a soil sample with you when you go there, so they can advise you on your soil pH, soil type and what, if anything, needs to be added to your soil for lilacs to thrive in it.

Thank you very much for joining, and for your post.
Best,
Iris

This message was edited Mar 4, 2024 1:57 PM

Regarding lazy gardening, I highly recommend you check out some of these lazy gardening tips on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lazy+gardening

In my opinion, when one is a mother of young kids and/or has a full time job, gardening the lazy way is the Only realistic/practical way. :)

You will probably get a lot of use from this great Urban Farmer website, which shows when to plant which veggie seeds:
https://www.ufseeds.com/ohio-vegetable-planting-calendar.html

If in your shoes, I would be outdoor-sowing lettuces, salad greens mixes, parsley/parsnip, spinach, beets and other cool loving veggies like sugar snap peas right now, under shelter like under a patio roof, and protected from frost either by growing under cloches, or growing under row covers.

In my experience, you may want to sow Collard greens which is a good beginner plant in the cabbage family, in place of, or along with, your Spring sown broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage are somewhat challenging to grow, and may need to be started indoors in peat pots, or sown in Fall rather than sown in Spring, depending on your location. They are all Fall sown, or started indoors in peat pots, here in TX. Your local agricultural extension service can also tell you when is best to sow those.

Best,
Iris

This message was edited Mar 4, 2024 2:01 PM

This message was edited Mar 4, 2024 2:19 PM

This message was edited Mar 4, 2024 2:22 PM

iris, I have trouble with morning glories as well, will try nicking the seeds,already planted a package, will get another and try your method. Great idea about gathering seeds before first freeze, just incase.

I had a secret garden than was well hidden by lilac trees, last year my plow guy pushed snow and broke most of them, praying 5his year that just maybe, big maybe some saplings will appear. These lilacs were about 50 years old, doubtful i will be around to see the garden secret once again.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate you all.

You can plant potatoes in containers, and move them anywhere you like. You can use potatoes from the market if they are already sprouting . cut them so there's an eye with each piece, bury it in loose soil with some sand added for good drainage, and you'll get a good crop. Watch for bugs, pick them off and execute them, you can also put netting over the plants .I've heard people grow them in garbage bags but I have not.

Sounds interesting, still can’t convince myself to give up flower garden space in order to plant tomatoes/potatoes..might try this method

Hello again! Geez I wish I had realized I had to click the "watch" button to get notified of responses, I would've been back here much sooner! Maybe there's a way to automatically do that in the settings...I'll have to check.

Anyway, thank you all for the welcome and advice! I'm just beginning to figure out what I should plant, when, and I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

You click watch on each thread you want notifications on. Also, if you need to edit more than once, you can delete the previous edit info to save space.. It won't delete what you edited, Just the edit info. Now I had to edit this post because I lost a vowel.

This message was edited Mar 25, 2024 11:31 AM