Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Mid-Atlantic Roll Call, 1 by greenhouse_gal

greenhouse_gal wrote:
Name: Greenhouse Gal
Location: Southern NJ
Family: DH, two children: son, married with one daughter who's here a lot while parents work; daughter, living on her own; labradoodle puppy, still at home.
Employment: Painter/portrait artist
Gardening Level: Intermediate
Gardening Focus: We garden organically and are trying new things all the time. We have lived here for over 35 years and have enriched our sandy garden soil fairly well by now. I think we're in zone 7a or b; since we're on a river near the bay we have a microclimate that's warmer than nearby towns. Last year I revamped my garden using Elliott Coleman's ideas; we're also trying to put in drip irrigation but only got partway through the setup last year. This year I ordered some products from Spray-n-Grow, after reading very positive things about it on DG, and I'll see if that helps my plants become a little more resistant to pests, although last year was better than the year before. I'm still trying to figure out a way to grow zucchini without being tripped up by squash vine borers and squash bugs. Last year I tried silver mulch on those rows and it did seem to help, but they still succumbed midseason. We have not been successful with tree fruits, which is frustrating because I like to buy organic and the choices are limited - and expensive! Strawberries and raspberries are fine, and our blueberries are finally taking off. And our freezer is full of last summer's tomatoes, beans, asparagus, peas and spinach - as well as our chickens and geese and some deer meat.

We have visited France the last two years and are trying to grow some of the varieties we saw there. And I love the way they use bamboo poles to support their tomatoes, so we're going to do that this summer, too. Here's a photo taken in Southwest France to show you what I mean. Lots of fun things to experiment with!



This message was edited Jan 21, 2008 12:16 PM