Growing your own herbs, etc.

we found it grew better when it was kept fairly dry, as opposed to the basil).

Maybe my problem is over-watering. I'll give it another shot.

We over-watered our rosemary and it was sickly-looking and thin.

Once we cut back, it really took off!

We've been wondering if the same sort of thing exists in the US.  We are planing to rent at least for the first few years but I think I'd like to grow more things and I doubt the landlord would appreciate me digging up the garden!

June

Baltimore had city gardens, but there weren't too many and it was really hard to get one. The one thing about eating vegetables grown in the soil found in the middle of a city is you have to worry about lead content. I have a friend who did lead studies for her master's degree and the levels in the city were through the roof. So, it's fine for flowers and such, but I'd be hesitant to eat the vegetables. I never would have even thought about this being a problem until I saw her results.

We've been wondering if the same sort of thing exists in the US.  We are planing to rent at least for the first few years but I think I'd like to grow more things and I doubt the landlord would appreciate me digging up the garden!

June

Are you renting a house or apartment? When I was looking at apartments, some places had a gardening area where people could grow their own things.

I'd like to try this sometime too. I'll probably wait until I move to England next year since I only have two windows in my apartment and my cat would probably eat them all. I just need easy stuff since I have a brown thumb instead of green.  I got an african violet from one of my students for Christmas and I'm surprised that thing is still alive!

We want to rent a house but we are still not sure.

We've been wondering if the same sort of thing exists in the US.  We are planing to rent at least for the first few years but I think I'd like to grow more things and I doubt the landlord would appreciate me digging up the garden!

Some landlords are quite happy for tenants to make use of the garden! I think it depends on where you rent, what your landlord/lady is like and what sort of house/apartment it is. In the US, I rented the second floor of an old Victorian house, and the other two tenants and I were free to do what we wanted with the garden. It saved the landlord (a cheapskate) spending money on landscaping.

Providence, where I lived, also had a local land trust with gardens that people could use for veggies, sort of like allotments. I have a feeling they were a bit difficult to get, though. It's a shame the whole allotment thing hasn't really caught on in a big way in the US yet. (Unless, along with the flying cars, that's a new development since I left.)  

Depending on where you're moving to and the landlord you may be lucky enough to rent a house with enough area for a veggie garden.  I've rented a couple of houses and one had loads of room and the landlord didn't care a bit, the other had the room, but the landlord said no way we could dig up part of the yard.  Depends on the landlords.  We live in a smallish city, about 100,000 people and there are a few community gardens, but it seems to be more a sub-division/neighborhood thing rather than run by the city, at least in our area.

I'll probably wait until I move to England next year since I only have two windows in my apartment and my cat would probably eat them all.

All I could think of was "well make sure you plant some mint so your cat always has minty-fresh breath!"

 

I'll probably wait until I move to England next year since I only have two windows in my apartment and my cat would probably eat them all.

I missed this post. Grow some catnip!!

I also poke a fork in the herb pots every now and again.  Just churn things up a bit because they're indoor plants.

We also feed them up from about March - October.

Strawberries are frost-hardy, so you'll be fine planting them now.

I start tomatoes late.  One of the tutors where I work is a very seasoned gardner and she and several others warned that sowing them early here leaves them thin and weak and prone to aphid attack, but this is also much farther north. 

I don't plant much new outside till April.

Do strawberries grow okay in Scotland?

I'm planning on growing tomatoes and a nice herb garden; all in pots.  Although we have a back garden its shared with another flat, so I think planting in pots its my best bet.

Do strawberries grow okay in Scotland?

They grow very well with the right care - not too hard at all in a pot.  I put shards of broken pot in the strawberry pot as well.

This year, we're trying alpine strawberries, too.

I missed this post. Grow some catnip!!

I've tried that, it died.    My cat gets so mean if she eats too much and my roommate feels the need to take out loads of catnip at a time, so I think I'll wait until she moves out to try again.

I haven't planted much here yet, but almost everything I planted last year has come through the winter outside fine.  The lovage has died, which is bad... (very difficult to find the plants/seeds).  Chives, thyme, oregano, garlic, green onions, daikon tops all OK.  I think we could have been planting lettuce all winter here. 

Anyone else had tomatos ripening through November?  I was boggled.

Some of the plants are in the ground, some in pots.  I ignore them all equally.  There was enough rain this winter. 

Oh, for the person with African Violets; put them in a cold North-facing window.  Don't water them too much.  They'll be happy.  Heck, you could probably put them outside.

Additions to the 'never plant out' list:  fennell, mustard, rosemary, kale.  I've had bad experiences with all of them.  Plant them in someone elses' garden if you want some.... ooh, I didn't say that... Rosemary you can find all over the place, anyhow.  I just go for a little wander when I want some.

Cilantro did well for me last year, then I let it go to seed.  Not sure if it'll re-seed itself.  If not, next month is the time to start them outside.  The biggest problem I had with cilantro in NA was people stealing it... same prob with rhubarb. 

Anyone else had tomatos ripening through November?  I was boggled.

Yes! But I'm always worried about a frost killing them off, so I generally pick whatever green tomatoes are left in the early autumn and make my grandmother's famous GTC (green tomato chutney)!