Greetings!

[kittiekat]

hi kittykat; welcome! that's a beautiful garden you posted. I love order like that - somehow, my garden can't seem to stay orderly. the tomatoes sprawl all over the peppers, the beans crawl all over the okra & eggplant while the weeds grow like - well, you know. look forward to chatting w/you

Same here BJ. Hope that I can maintain a garden such as this. It would be a great achievement.

 

[buckabucka]

Wow, kittiekat, I would love to have a beautiful, orderly garden like that! I'm sure, with some perseverance, you can do it (especially if you are not working full-time).

I must say that every year I start my garden with a beautiful, neat image in my mind, but I quickly get distracted and end out with something quite different. The solution for me, is finding beauty in whatever grows.
Here is our hoop house that overwintered. We had not yet cleaned it out for spring. The arugula was blooming, volunteer poppies came up, and I loved going out and standing in there when the ground still had snow. Of course, we had to rip it up to plant tomatoes!

 

[canesisters]

Hey there! Welcome to TEG!

That is a beautiful picture and I'm sure that you will soon have something just as lovely in your yard.
When I started my first veggie garden, someone on here (Thistle or maybe Vfem??) advised me to "start small and grow with my garden." Good Advise. Enjoy each step.

 

[digitS']

. . . The solution for me, is finding beauty in whatever grows.
Here is our hoop house that overwintered. We had not yet cleaned it out for spring. The arugula was blooming, volunteer poppies came up, and I loved going out and standing in there when the ground still had snow. Of course, we had to rip it up to plant tomatoes!
View attachment 203

I like having that "click on member's location to find map" TEG feature.

I was just looking at the American Horticultural Society's Heat Map (growing season heat) and realizing that Maine has much the same growing season climate as northwest Washington State, aaaalll the way on the other side of the continent! Winters would be different but you could find a zone 5 or 4 there in NW WA just by going up or down in elevation. Where most folks live, their WA State winter climate would be considerably warmer than Maine.

Now, Kittikat lives in California and it really depends on where but the growing season could be hot, very warm, or cool. Not all that many people live in the cool areas of California. Still, those that do live near the coast where the growing season goes on and on . . .

Steve

 

[buckabucka]

Cool, I didn't know about the map feature.

Maine is quite varied also. We are in a cold pocket, with the garden at the base of a north slope. It was always zone 3, with one night a year getting down to 40 below, but that hasn't happened in years now. I think with climate change, we are now officially zone 4.

 

[catjac1975]

I always tell beginners to start small. If the garden you showed in the grid is what you like it is a perfect design to start and keep adding on to year by year. The planting of a garden is just the smallest part of it. Weeding and maintenance is what takes the most time. If a plant fails one year it does not mean it will fail the next year. Experiment as to what will do well in your climate.

 

[cityfarmer]

Welcome!

 

[PhilaGardener]

Welcome, @kittiekat ! Great to have you join TEG. Sounds like you are getting a lot of good advice. It can also help to find a successful gardener or two in your area to see what grows well under your conditions. If you see a nice garden in the neighborhood, just stop and introduce yourself like you are doing here. That is a great way to make friends and learn a lot!