# Anyone else getting into gardening?



## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Until this spring/summer, never really thought much about gardening. Having a baby girl changed that & since Felicia loves her veggies, decided to try my hand at gardening. Boy is starting a new addiction expensive. Even with finding great deals on most things, I'm sure I've pumped in at least $700-800 into Felicia's blueberry "farm", 2 raised garden boxes and now 2 greenhouses (including a "horizontal" greenhouse). The blueberry patch is by far the most expensive, costing a total of at least $400 since I like cedar planter boxes for them. There are over a dozen bushes, mostly 3+ years old and berrying up very, very well.

Growing all sorts of veg in the raised planters that we filled with sod and soil from the deck building project a couple of summers ago. All that sod composted over the last two years & is now supplying my seedlings with plenty of organic nutrients.

We now have bok choi, strawberries, green onions, zuccinni, chayote squash, bitter melon, 5 different varieties of tomatoes, 3 different varieties of sweet bell peppers, some hot chilis, including the really hot variety, brocolli, cauliflower, corn, onions, purple onions, celery, string beans, sweet peas, and two varieties of cherry tomatoes, rosemary, mint & other herbs.

So, Kole & I are now "garden buddies" (sorry Kole, I know it sounds unmanly), but just wondering how many others have gotten into or are into gardening nowadays?

BTW, I love having a big backyard.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Wow.. starting a late post eh? =)

Aquatic gardening? LOL! J/k
Well, honestly, not much clue about the real gardening outdoors! For this year, actually bought 6 huge packs of soil, a shovel, tons of different fetillizer and seeds, but i've done nothin, just got everthing and did everything for my mom, as she luvs growing things in the backyard! But i can't agree more... wow.. the bill at the counter came to quite a price!


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

I've always loved growing my own things, but have suffered very limited space due to renting. My old place had a balcony, 10 ft x 5 ft. I had tomatoes (3 plants 4 ft tall), zuccinni, bell peppers and about a half dozen herbs growing in pots. Where i am not has very poor sunlight so im stuck with just herbs


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## Baos (Apr 22, 2010)

I started with gardening and eventually thought it would be nice to water the plants with fish water. according to some study I don't quite remember the only thing some outfits add is iron.


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## kaisa (Apr 21, 2010)

i loves gardening and collecting house plants

theres two doller stores side by side on 6th ave in new west that have a really good plant selection with good prices. Lots of differrent herb plants and tomatoes and lots of annuals and some perennials. I walk past everyday while I walk the dog and their always loaded and over flowing onto the sidewalk. 

also on marine drive theres 4 farms side by side which are loaded with awesome plants and really good prices. way cheaper than going to garden works. to give an idea I bought a big bag of potting soil for $20 from the farms and the exact same bag was selling for $40 down the street at garden works.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

We do a container garden every year. I will post some old pictures later.

This year I went on ebay and purchased some heritage seeds. (old fashioned varieties) There are chocolate cherry tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, and a type of radish that grows as big as your head.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Most of my seedlings and some soil/mushroom manure came from those Marine Drive farms.

I even reset up my 90g cube outside with butterfly koi & common guppies and have been growing hydroponic lettuce (Romaine & Iceberg) on top for the last 3 weeks. Gotta start transferring these onto larger styrofoam floats cause they're getting to the size where they start tipping with the small floats presently being used.


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## pdoutaz (May 13, 2010)

Whenever I do a water change - most of the old water goes into the garden - the plants seem to love it...



Baos said:


> I started with gardening and eventually thought it would be nice to water the plants with fish water. according to some study I don't quite remember the only thing some outfits add is iron.


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## Sargasso (Apr 21, 2010)

I've always had a garden of some sort. Growing up in NB, the family always had a one acre patch for squash and potatoes, as well as a large garden (40'x100') for tomatoes, peas, carrots, beans, lettuce, and corn. We have a blueberry patch too, except that they're low-bush and wild, so the only maintenance we really have to do is to set the field on fire once a year  I used to love doing that as a kid! We also used to keep chickens (for eggs and meat), turkeys, and pigs as well. Not to mention a trout pond! Not sure what kind of fish are in there now, since I've been there in the summertime beavers have taken over the pond.

Now I'm in Vancouver, Carolyn and I keep the condo balcony stocked with lettuce, carrots, radishes, and a nice selection of herbs. In pots. Small time!


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

eternity302 said:


> Aquatic gardening? LOL! J/k
> Well, honestly, not much clue about the real gardening outdoors! For this year, actually bought 6 huge packs of soil, a shovel, tons of different fetillizer and seeds, but i've done nothin, just got everthing and did everything for my mom, as she luvs growing things in the backyard! But i can't agree more... wow.. the bill at the counter came to quite a price!


Actually, other than rain, all the plants I've planted are watered entirely with fish tank water. My fw tanks have never had as many waterchanges  I pump their water into the koi tank outside & then pump the koi water into rain barrels strategically positioned near the elevated garden plots and greenhouses. I even let the koi water go completely green before turning on my UV sterilizer to clear it up a bit, figuring the extra nutrients would make a rich plant food when used to water the blueberries and other plants.


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Dave and I are also nuts about gardening lol We even go together to nurseries 
btw Anthony your graden looks really nice


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## kaisa (Apr 21, 2010)

the only time I watered any plants with fishtank water I siphoned water directly from my 65g straight into my window boxes. A few days later the plants were dieing and never really recovered  I don't know what happened but now Im scared to use tank water incase I kill more plants


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## fkshiu (Apr 22, 2010)

kaisa said:


> the only time I watered any plants with fishtank water I siphoned water directly from my 65g straight into my window boxes. A few days later the plants were dieing and never really recovered  I don't know what happened but now Im scared to use tank water incase I kill more plants


That's weird. I've always used fish water to water plants. It's full of great nutrients.


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## BaoBeiZhu (Apr 24, 2010)

my dad is a landscaper so i m pretty sure he knows quite a bit about it, so any info just ask. but i have no interest in at all


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Kaisa,

You probably waterlogged the soil and drowned/rotted the root systems.

BaoBeiZhu,

I've never really been a plant/veggie growing person either (I'm a meat-a-terian), but my dad has a green thumb.

This is my first real garden and so far, so good. 

For newbies, try bok choi if you're into Chinese veg. Ours grew incredibly fast (doubled in size every 3 days) and we've already harvested all the original bok choi by cutting off the big leaves & leaving the root stalk and maybe some baby leaves in the center. This growth was during our minimal sun period over the last 3 weeks too.


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

when my daughter was about 3 we decided to try our hand at gardening. she and i decided sunflowers were the way to go. do not plant roasted seeds. they will not grow.


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## Captured Moments (Apr 22, 2010)

I used to do gardening a few years ago but now I am too busy doing other things. It was very rewarding but can take quite a bit of your time. Anyway, gardening skills is going to be very valuable in the near future when "the end of the world" happens and we will need to rely on our own to grow our own food. 
Anyone ever watched that show on the history channel "Life after Oil".


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## jkcichlid (Apr 21, 2010)

Got a veggie garden out back right now with carrots, beets lettuce onions tomatos cucumber strawberries raspberries grapes celery parsley asparagus beans basil etc
I do this every year plus tons of flower gardens all around the place. Keeps me busy but always looks nice


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## kaisa (Apr 21, 2010)

I think you're right Anthony. This was before I knew that too much water is just as dangerous as no water  I emptied out about a 1/3 of the 65g tank into one window box lol  It certainly didn't help that it's lined with black garbage bags so not good drainage either.


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## pt1190 (Apr 21, 2010)

We also have put in a garden for the grandsons this year. Cost was very minimal. As our compost was used, which was nice black dirt, consisting of grass clippings, leaves, organic waste from fruits, veggies. Also one large pickup full of a mix of sand, peat, composted top soil from " Jones Brothers" in Mission for $20.oo. Yes 20 dollars, not for a bag but for 2 big scoops of the loader which equates to 1 yd. We used seeds that were purchased at the end of last summer, 10 packs for 1.oo. We raised the beds and put a little walkway between each with sandstone ( which was FREE off of craigslist)
So there is peas, carrots, radishes, okra. green onion, cuccumbers, beans, dill weed, pumpkins, watermelon. Oh and potatoes that had started to grow in the compost have been put in to tires. Now all we need is some sunshine to go along with the rain.


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## Srenaeb (Apr 24, 2010)

=( I'm a renter, so I don't have a garden to garden in . 

I have been keeping three gardenias though, and they give me pretty blossoms every now and again. This year not as good as last year, as I have moved from a sundecked apartment to a basement.. 

I also find that they make awesome fish cemeteries ;_;


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