Howdy from cold Ohio !

[peachdejour]

I'm so excited to be talking to you guys. We just bought our first house and I'm a home grown country girl so I loved the idea of getting my gardens going. I realized very quickly that at 28 I had forgotten a lot of what my grandmother taught me before her arthritis got too bad to keep up our flower beds. The previous owners did nothing! So we did a lot of clean up and little planting. What I did plant got beat up by an early snow storm and the neighborhood deer herd ate my mini tomatoes! My grandma laughed a bit when she saw my garden. I'm going to get it right eventually!

 

[Pat]

Hi, welcome to the group. I am also from Ohio so I know how cold you can get. When spring gets to your part of the country next year you will be able to plantbut for right now you may want to like at some books so that you will know what you can grow in your short growth period, what to start indoors to be ready for spring.

 

[peachdejour]

That's what I was thinking. I have plenty of starter pots and discs. I know my boyfriend would like to grow some corn this year and it usually does well in our climate. I know tomatoes and peppers are usually a good bet too. I just need to figure out when to start them. I love having my kindle unlimited membership because they have lots of hobby books to get information. Are there any books that you found helpful?

 

[marlingardener]

Welcome from Texas! About a good gardening book, I have found The Gardener's Home Companion by Mackey, Reilly, et. al. to be really helpful. It has step-by-step instructions on raising and propagating more than 350 flowers, vegetables, berries, etc. It is also written in plain English, not botanist-speak!
I don't mean to be negative, but you have a deer problem. Deer will eat your garden, tomatoes, corn, beans, everything right down to the ground. Think fencing--high fencing, possibly electrified. There are deer-repellent plants, like rosemary, but they take a while to get established, and you want a garden this spring.

 

[peachdejour]

Welcome from Texas! About a good gardening book, I have found The Gardener's Home Companion by Mackey, Reilly, et. al. to be really helpful. It has step-by-step instructions on raising and propagating more than 350 flowers, vegetables, berries, etc. It is also written in plain English, not botanist-speak!
I don't mean to be negative, but you have a deer problem. Deer will eat your garden, tomatoes, corn, beans, everything right down to the ground. Think fencing--high fencing, possibly electrified. There are deer-repellent plants, like rosemary, but they take a while to get established, and you want a garden this spring.

That's the thing, we live in a suburban area and we all have high fences around our yards. We sat in the neighbors yard and watched a buck clear an 8ft fence with no problem. I do plan to plant rosemary but it does take time to get going. I'm a bit hesitant to do anything electric because of neighborhood pets and kids. My dog does have a habit of keeping most animals out of our yard, but I'm afraid she doesn't stand much chance against this buck we have running around. This thing is not afraid of humans either. It came right up on my porch, knocked down my daughter's jack o lantern and stomped it with it's hoofs! Thank goodness my little one thought it was funny. Before the deer, we had these huge ground hogs digging in the gardens. Did you know that ground hogs could climb fences? Well, they do. I watched this big thing climb a chain link fence two houses down. Now, I grew up in the country on five acres so never saw how animals interact with the city life. I find it fascinating. Thank you for the book recommendation. I will check it out!

 

[zigs]

Welcome to Gardening Forums

 

[peachdejour]

Thank you!

 

[Dez97]

welcome to the forum, cold Ohio.