Lurker from Michigan

[mostlypurple]

THis is my new favorite place on the internet. I love coming here and browsing the threads. I feel now that I have become a plant breeding expert by evesdropping on some of the amazing conversations. About me: Mom had a modest garden when I was a kid, nothing special, but I spent alot of alone-time out there as a kid now that I think back. Guess it''s impacted me more than I knew. I started my own little personal gardening blog recently and have been spending just waay too much time on the internet lately "researching" stuff. I don't even remember how I landed on this message board. Last month I didn't even know sweet corn could come in colors, or that you could save the seed from your garden and use it next year. I had always bought into the propaganda that saving seed is pointless, there's no way the next generation of plant will grow "pure" for the home gardener and plant breeding must be left to the "professionals".

I haven't had a garden in about 6 years. This summer we moved to a suburban home with a backyard about 75' wide and 120' deep. There are only 2 trees to speak of and the yard is basically a big flat fenced-in lawn. No neighboring trees at all. I am so very excited to be planning and laying out the most fantastic kitchen garden/backyard orchard ever. Just last month I thought I was being so smart and clever by planting the seeds from supermarket apples on my windowsill in the name of "biodiversity", then I find this place and y'all are crossing corn with wild grasses and growing blue tomatoes. What fun!! What a bunch of nerds. I think I'll like it here. ;D

Of course I also hope to get in on some of the free seed action seen I've seen here. As of right now I don't have anything to trade and won't be buying seeds until next month. I am however intrigued (like everybody) by that blue OSU tomato, Kculli corn, and someone mentioned an elusive purple winter squash in one of the threads. I'd also like to be part of a grow-out for one of you larger producers, if you'd educate me, and if I get my plot prepared in time.

[pugs]

Welcome mostlypurple!

Alot of people here will send you seed without a trade, just pay for the postage. Some send even without the postage. If you'll PM me your address I've got seed for Tamina and Red Brandywine tomatoes I could send you.

Pugs

[americangardener]

Welcome to the best forumn on the net Mostlypurple..

I'm another Michigander here. Not born here but a transplant from Maine. Similiar climates i guess.

Looks like you have a nice blank slate to work with there.. you can get quite a lot of veggies from a kitchen garden. I'll be glad to help you fill it up. Sorry i don't have that Blue tomato yet, I was gonna wait till next year to give that one a try. No purple squashes yet either. And i don't have the Kculli corn. You must of just been reading the wrong threads!

Seeings you're just starting out.. might be a good idea to get some fruit trees. Pears and cherries do quite well here in Michigan. Course i like apples and i've even tried peaches and plums.. those didn't work so well for me..but you might do better. I'd at least get a couple fruit trees started if i were you. They do take a while to bear fruit. Don't even want to think of how long it's gonna take to grow that apple tree from seed. Grapes do quite well here too! That's what i'd start out with. And if you need any veggies i got plenty of seeds i could send you. There's plenty of other generous people here too. I don't think you need worry about not having anything to trade. Just let me know if ever i can help you out.

And welcome to our little family...

Dave

[lavandulagirl]

She called us a bunch of nerds!!!!

(Man, did she ever read us quickly. ;D)

Welcome, Mostlypurple. I don't have the corn, or the purple tom (YET!) but I do have other seeds, if you are looking for some garden-starting material for this year. There's a thread about the Musquee de Provence seed I sent out last year around here somewhere... the seed is still good (just did a germination test), so I have that if you want some. I also have Black Hungarian peppers, and a few other things. Let me know.

Enjoy the site!

[grungy]

Welcome to our "little family of nerdy gardeners". Hope you'll pull up a chair and join us. If you should need tomato seed, please feel free to contact us and we'll see what we can do to fix you up.
Cheers,
Val (grungy) and Dan (grunt)

[johno]

Welcome, and glad you finally joined! Got a link to your blog?

What are your plans for getting the backyard ready? I recommend a soil test if you haven't already done that. With that info in hand, you can really zero in on what to do, and avoid spending too much on fertilizer and amendments.

[Penny]

Hi there and Welcome.

[PatrickW]

Hi Mostlypurple, I'd second Johno's suggestion for a soil test, and also suggest as few unnecessary fertilizer and soil amendments as possible. These often end up hurting more than helping your garden, and at best are a waste of money.

You might also put down some black plastic or other mulch to start killing the weeds now. This takes about 6 months to work, so maybe do it on a part of your garden you intend to plant last. This will save you the back breaking work of digging weeds, that often doesn't work well anyway.

If you're starting with a grass lawn, you may want to try lasagna gardening. This basically involves a layer of cardboard or several layers of newspaper, covered with compost or ordinary dirt. You can then plant the seeds into the dirt on top, while the grass underneath dies. It's very difficult to kill grass and the weeds in it, without smothering it somehow. Even then it's hard work. In this case, a good first crop is beans, as they will fix nitrogen and improve the soil.

For seeds, check out the Bloggers Seed Network!

www.patnsteph.net/weblog/?page_id=65

[houseodessey]

Welcome to our merry band of goofballs to you and Penny, too.

[ottawagardener]

I start almost all my gardens in the lasagna way that Patrick suggested and it works superbly well for me.

[canadamike]

Welcome my friend, just tell us here what you want to grow, make a list, and just watch.

This place is about sharing first, learning second, or is it reversed???

Anyway, they go hand in hand. You tell me you are a person that will later share, either here or in your community ( even better as you will educate on heirlooms and biodiversity) and I give you whatever I have, my seeds are yours.

Pretty simple deal, really... I don't care much for postage, paying 3$ for money exchange fees on a 50cents stamp is not my cup of tea... just share with others, it is payment enough.

And please stop calling me a nerd, I am already married and reminded often enough

[mostlypurple]

Thanks to all! And the seed offers too. You're a friendly bunch. Yep, I grew up in michigan, but I never thought grapes would do well here. Glad to know that, americangardener. I'm going to buy about 20 various fruit trees from a nursery to get started. I am starting a garden from scratch and I will be documenting my odyssy on my little blog. I plan to do mostly raised beds and will be filling them with purchased topsoil/peat. Maybe that's a cop-out to purists, but oh well. To get rid of the lawn, I'll rent a sod cutter from a local home improvement center. I have a lot of sod to get rid of and I want to do it sooner rather than later.

I've already checked out many of your blogs/websites and added them to my own list. I will single out grungy's site--browsing those photo albums, I swear I could smell those tomato plants right through the screen...a super pick-me-up on a snowy January day!!(I've bookmarked it on my desktop).

Again I will say that there is so much interesting conversation going on here, so much to learn. What a great way to network too.

Oh, and salutations to Alan Bishop for starting this little board!

[grungy]

Mostlypurple, hope you are going to compost the sod. It will give you some lovely loam in a year or two.

[canadamike]

I second Grungy Make a huge pile, sod upside down, cover it with a dark tarp and enjoy later..

[mostlypurple]

You bet I'm not going to waste all that organic matter! I have a whole bunch of these big rubbermaid storage containers, alot like Alan's worm bins. I was going to use some of them to grow potatoes. I wonder how they'd do if I filled up the bottom of em with several layers of sod, then add compost, potatoes and more soil.