jblth wrote:

Darren72 wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:So suggesting that increased food supplies >> increased rodent/raccoon/etc. populations >> increased predators is not a huge logical leap.

You are right. What is a logical leap is the connection between frontyard farming and this:

spinynorman99 wrote:Do you think that a sudden doubling of plantable area will have no (or only positive) effect on the ecosystem?

Doubling? How big is your front yard and how many of your neighbors are "farming" in their front yard?

Seriously. Someone is going to have to cite legitimate peer-reviewed research to show this to be true. Is swapping your hosta for a tomato plant really going to increase the deer population? They already love to eat ornamental plants. Some vegetables, especially chiles, are dramatically less attractive to mammals as they evolved to not be eaten by them.

Oh good god, this isn't a Congressional hearing, I was merely pointing out that there's a reasonable slipperly slope argument to be made against letting people do whatever they want.

spinynorman99 wrote:So suggesting that increased food supplies >> increased rodent/raccoon/etc. populations >> increased predators is not a huge logical leap.

that is an interesting theory that makes sense.

where I live deer, fox and turkey are plentiful(lots of field corn to eat & hide in). This spring I started noticing less deer than usual in my immediate neighborhood, and no turkey the last year or so. Didnt think much about it til I saw an adult coyote dart through my yard while I was having a party a few weeks ago. Then the last few nights I have heard the new family of coyotes howling with the train whistle late at night. Seems the woods behind my house and the ravines that connect it to the Illinois River have been good hunting, or at least good enough to allow for a litter of coyotes.

I recently started to grow a small, native prairie grass area in the back area of my property(a little less yard to mow), curious if this is having any effect.

Something Ill have to keep and eye on.

We have an organic garden in a community known for its manicured lawns. Our garden looks like crap but it yields plenty of delights of both flowers and edibles. I always tell my neighbors to pick whatever and whenever they want. I am sure that they would rather have a beautiful garden next door but they are wonderful and do enjoy the pickings. There are times I wonder if it is all worth it as the farmers markets yield the same selection. But two nights ago I made a marinara sauce with tomatoes, onion, basil and oregano all from our garden (I just added fresh garlic, salt and pepper and a little vino) and last night I clipped some fresh chives for my baked potato. Now if I could just figure out if any of those weird mushrooms are edible...

Elfin wrote:But two nights ago I made a marinara sauce with tomatoes, onion, basil and oregano all from our garden (I just added fresh garlic, salt and pepper and a little vino)

I highly recommmend adding garlic to your garden--I planted it this year in a pot and am still getting new bulbs--and they are incredibly delicious. Very low maintenance as well...

boudreaulicious wrote:I highly recommmend adding garlic to your garden--I planted it this year in a pot and am still getting new bulbs--and they are incredibly delicious. Very low maintenance as well...

What variety did you plant? I'd love to try this.

bean wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:I highly recommmend adding garlic to your garden--I planted it this year in a pot and am still getting new bulbs--and they are incredibly delicious. Very low maintenance as well...

What variety did you plant? I'd love to try this.

Good question...no idea I think I picked the bulb up at Alsip Nursery down in St. John (IN) but even that I couldn't say for absolute certainty since I am a bit frenetic in my garden prep and buy a few things at a lot of different places. It came as what looked like a normal head of garlic, each clove gets planted separately and generates a new head. I pulled them all a month or so ago--they were smaller than what I buy and had maybe 3-4 cloves each--and were very sweet and tangy but without the bite of typical garlic. Now I have 3 new shoots that have popped up. I can't say I know anything else about it. Will absolutely do it again next year--in fact, I can probably put them in the ground now...

I can probably put them in the ground now...

Yeah, I am under the impression that most garlic is best planted in the fall. I did this a few years back with mixed results--we got plenty of shoots, but the cloves were very small, though tasty.

Way back when, in MA, we planted what I think was a hard necked garlic that produced its cloves on a stalk above ground. The cloves were much larger and more plentiful. But back then we had goose manure (and colored glass pebbles).

bean wrote:

I can probably put them in the ground now...

Yeah, I am under the impression that most garlic is best planted in the fall. I did this a few years back with mixed results--we got plenty of shoots, but the cloves were very small, though tasty.

Way back when, in MA, we planted what I think was a hard necked garlic that produced its cloves on a stalk above ground. The cloves were much larger and more plentiful. But back then we had goose manure (and colored glass pebbles).

sounds like our results were similar. I'd describe the heads as about 1 and half inches in diameter. I'd like to do more investigating of the different kinds--I'd love to produce scapes--mine were more like onions... The stalk sounds interesting.

My back yard and side yard are almost all in shade from mature trees.
This year we planted 3 tomato plants and 3 green pepper plants next to the driveway close to the garage door.
The plants are not visible from the street as they are hidden behind a 4 foot wide bed of perennials.
You have to come up the driveway almost to the garage door to see them.
We had a dozen tomatoes so far. And a few peppers. Plants got sunshine about 60% of the day.

Problem was we planted late and did not improve the soil at all. Watered only when super dry.
Next year we will plant in time after preparing the soil and proper fertilizing and we will enjoy bumper crops.

I planted lots of hard-necked garlic and shallots in my front herb/perennial garden over the past couple of days, along with three new columbine plants (bargains galore on perennials at Chalet Nursery in Wilmette these days).

Should look quite interesting out there come spring. . .

2012 update. No vegetable gardening this year. Drought. In June we watered the grass and the water bill went from 40 to 100 a month. We are only watering young trees and bushes occasionally. We have flowers all over the garden beds, unwatered. We also have a few pots near the patio including one with basil and other herbs. For 60 a month difference I can go to Tom's and buy homegrown tomatoes, corn, zucchini and cucumbers, about 2 miles away. They are watering all their vegetables as they have a substantial wholesale division besides the huge fruit stand. Also pumpkins later.

I have dug a kidney shaped garden in my back yard. Its pretty small but the front has flowers and the back of it has tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, rhubarb,etc. I also grow herbs in containers on my back yard patio. I replaced the geraniums this year with swiss chard and some other flowers in the pots flanking my front door. My family has always had some kind of garden in the back yard. Front yard is grass and mostly bushes with maybe a flower or two. I have heard of people planting tomato plants in strategic locations here and there provided there is enough sun. I do not like the idea of the front yard becoming a garden but I think some people can figure out how to do it cleverly so it blends in.

I picked every fruit I could reach from my front-yard dwelling Cornus mas (Cornelian Cherry Dogwood) and made jam the other day. This jam came out a stuning ruby red color with tiny bits of fruit floating in it. Everything I read said it's tough to get it to jell and I agree. Next year I'll have the process down pat and hopefully I'll have more fruits. I picked just under a pound from the tree this year.

I've been saving water from my kitchen sink and the clothes washer to dump on the garden. The little bit of soap hasn't hurt anything and I see no reason to dump perfectly good water down the drain. I keep a basin in the sink so whenever anyone runs water, it's caught by the basin. Then I either run the full basin outside or keep a 5 gallon pail near the sink. When it's full-ish, I dump that on some lucky plants.

It is a lot of work but I feel good about saving money and not wasting so much water. Now if I could only get the kids to buy into this completely...

Benign Neglect on gardening this year. I don't know if it was my day job or the drought but something seemed wrong about watering at home this year.

Strangely, I had fewer problems with heat/drought related plant catastrophes than I've ever had in 10 years of container gardening in Chicago. The couple of times that I went out of town, I scheduled garden tenders the way I schedule dog walkers. There was some decreased production (cukes/squash and beans seemed to have been affected the most) but, all told, it was/is a banner year, especially for tomatoes which I seem to struggle with in one way or another every year.

Now I'm suffering from garden guilt--that time of year when I have so much produce that needs to be eaten, put up or given away that I start to resent my hobby a little There are worse problems to have!!

My front garden ended up turning into a combination of perennials, late-season annuals, fruit, veg, herbs, and - the new addition - grain ('Purple Majesty' millet) this year. The Purple Peruvian potatoes are coming out this week, and being replaced by. . .Siberian iris. I think of it as extreme crop rotation.

Here's what it looks like now, in earlier seasons, and also in previous incarnations.

Ditto re banner crop of tomatoes this year and still going strong. Cukes were great too. Lettuce burned out fast and onions seem small. Peppers were almost nonexistant due to rabbits.Corn was terrible.