What does everybody have going on in their garden for 2023? Anybody started seeds yet over the winter in preparation for spring?
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At our house, I am moving have of this big U-shaped raised bed and repurposing part of it in another part of the backyard. I also moved an arbor/trellis and 2 grape vines that used to be on the side of the house are now going to have a different home elsewhere in the yard.
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Very cool! Thanks for starting the thread! I need to order my eggplant seeds or the vendors could be out soon. 
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You have some great gardening space!
Too early her for nothing but dreaming. 
Still really too early to start indoor seeds which I don’t have great luck with anyway but will always give a shot.
Glad to see this thread started as well! 
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My Christmas prezzie is a shed for our garden. The problem was locating it - there’s precious little flat ground where I live, and I hoard the sunny areas for growing vegggies.
So we managed to find semi-flat space for a 10x12 shed right at the edge of the garden. Behind it is all our property, down to a gorgeous creek. But it’s about 200 feet almost straight down. And only a narrow, steep deer track to get down there. Lovely flat five acres once you’re there, though…
I’ll post a pic after the shed is built next week. (Has to be built by hand because of course there’s no way to get machinery back there.)
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I mean, that is gorgeous!
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Grape vine migration is done. Just in time for rain on Monday! The third pic has an in ground worm composting bin, sugar cane, lemon grass, and chiltepin pepper.
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A crew came in Monday morning and they were done by noon. They had prebuilt the four walls, the trusses etc, and just walked them in.
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I don’t plant seeds (no patience!). Today I purchased, and planted the following seedlings:
English Peas
Chinese Cabbage
Rainbow Beets
Swiss Chard
White Rutabaga
Tomatoes
Russian Kale
Globe Artichokes
As we move further into spring, I will plant corn, watermelon and squash
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So cool you can grow artichokes!
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I tried in PA - nothing by season’s end and the overwintering did not go well, as you can imagine.
I start my seeds this weekend. The 12-weeks-out ones, like a bunch of flowers, onions, peppers, celery…
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Mid 50s and sunny here today. A perfect day to play in the garden. It’s still a bit over two months away from frost free in the Mid-Atlantic but I can continue to get things prepped.
Went through and finished clearing out the asparagus bed that was a mess from last season. Lightly tilled just the surface and spread out some mushroom compost on top. I also have a couple bales of straw that I intend to spread there once the spears start sprouting. It makes me happy to see it looking “clean” again
Also turned in some other mushroom compost I had spread on my raised beds awhile back. That compost is really going to add a nice touch to those beds.
Took down my cucumber trellis and prepped that area too. I want to get something to edge that area also and better “define” it. Once I get that done I’ll reinstall the trellis.
Too nice of a day not to take advantage and get outside work done.
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We want to start some raised beds here; we’re in zone 7 and are pretty clueless. I will be reading here often to learn from experienced gardeners.
H wants to grow several types of lettuce, some grape tomatoes, carrots and potatoes. I’d like to add radishes, cucumbers, and some herbs to his list. The last frost date here is around the first of April, so we need to get cracking and figure out what to do.
We may splurge on some raised beds from Gardener’s Supply company. S built some nice ones last year when DiL started gardening, but H doesn’t have the time right now. We probably need netting since crows are a nuisance here.
Any suggestions for quick growing, sturdy flowers or vegetables that we can plant with GD? We’d like to do a lower raised bed for her, too.
If you have rabbits, like we do in our area, for lower beds, look for something that is bunny-proof.
Speaking of kids helping in the garden, I saw a kid-sized, very real, working wheelbarrow at Costco! That would be a fun gift to a kid.
Epic Gardening sells Birdies Raised Garden Beds from Australia. I have 2 of them. They are WAY better than any other raised bed I’ve used before. Worth the extra $$ for them. Very easy to put together and they last forever. The “Self Sufficient Me” YouTube channel has several videos about it.
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Zinnias are one of my favorites as they are pretty, hardy, and attract butterflies, etc. They’d grow nicely in your zone.
Are there certain things the GD likes to eat. It’s always nice picking something from the garden and popping it straight in your mouth. Peas are great early season crops and if you’ve never had them straight from the pod in the garden your missing out. My kids loved them. My kids also liked carrots but they take a bit longer. Cherry tomatoes are usually a hit. Most kids like cucumbers too. For quick results, radishes are ready in about 3 weeks, not as friendly to kids taste buds though. Broccoli takes a bit but can also be eaten straight from the plant. There’s so many options.
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Great ideas! Thank you.
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Zinnias would be good, thanks. As for vegetables, GD is not a fan except for sweet white corn. My hope is that she will change her mind once she’s helped to grow some others.
Before thanksgiving we read several books in which pumpkin pies were featured and I thought she’d give them a try. The “try” was one tiny lick. Oh well. Maybe if we grow some pumpkins she might actually eat some.
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Cherry tomatoes were a hit with our grands. The variety we grew was called Kahuku Gold (from seeds I bought in Hawaii), but any sweeter cherry tomatoes might do if the child likes tomatoes.
ETA: tomatoes are fairly pest resistant. Bunnies leave them alone, but our local deer like to eat the flowers. 
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Try sugar snap peas for your GD? You’ll need a trellis, but if you’re already planning cukes, you can use the same trellis - by the time the peas are done, it’ll be a great time to sow the cukes. And you’ll need to watch out for chipmunks etc. (We don’t have rabbits, as we have coyotes and foxes, hahah, so I’m not sure about their harm level re: sugar snaps.)
Anyway, my kids grew up going to our CSA before we had sun space for our own garden, and it was pick your own, and both kids adore sugar snaps straight off the vine. I told them they were pea popsicles, and if you pick them early in the morning when it’s cool, they pretty much are that delish.
Premade wooden raised beds are not cheap and often flimsy.
One option is the metal ones. These are well reviewed:
Bigger selection here:
https://www.lowes.com/pl/Metal--Raised-garden-beds-Planters-stands-window-boxes-Plants-planters-Lawn-garden/4294612568?refinement=4294965809
Have you looked into GreenStalks? They’re also great if you have limited space. If you get one, I highly recommend springing for the spinner base. Wheel kit if you want to move it. But definitely the spinner base, so you can rotate it for best sun exposure.
You can grow dwarf sugar snaps in a GreenStalk, and also dwarf tomato plants, though I’ve never done it. I use it for lettuces and herbs and strawberries (it keeps everything clean/off the ground). I do use plastic netting and put cheap dollar store pinwheels in it to deter squirrels. It’s not Martha Stewart but it works 
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