A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion New Members Tis the Season for Newbie Greetings!

Well, perhaps it's a bit early yet, but.. :)

hello!

I'm a newbie here!

I'm a young housewife living in alabama... I live with my husband and my 4 cats. (they say Hello and Meow, respectively)... I'm a little bit of a nut, and often refer to myself as the house's fifth cat... I've been a 'cat' to my friends for years, actually, due to my attitude and occasionally odd mannerisms. I love reading, writing, naps in the sun, and drawing. :)

I don't know a thing about gardening, but I desperately want to learn! My husband and I both need to eat more healthily, and growing our own food sounds like a fantastic way to save money and eat better...

You guys seem like a warm, friendly, active forum... and a great place for me to spent my winter learning about gardening. :)

now if only I can figure out where to start... This is definetly a HUGE project.. and between trying to figure out how to garden, where to garden, what to garden, when to start, where to start, what to start, what to do with it all once I've got it.... *head explodes*

Anyway, hoping to get some help and make some new friends!

Hi Colby

Welcome to the Gardenhelper.. sooooooo glad you found us,, and we welcome all your Kitties too ,

there's a critter corner subforum here we'd like to hear all about your kitties and pictures too

I'd say to start off with a garden you certainly can begin with making your own compost,,

you can read about that in the organic gardening subforum,,
//www.agardenersforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/5087#Post5087
it can be "cooking' during your winter stay here with us , and in the mean time be making your plans for spring,

you can still do several other things to prepare for gardens in your winter climate,,
We're here to help and questions are always welcomed!! :wink:

Welcome Colby! I love your cheese, btw.

Alabama, huh??? I bet you could grow something or another this fall. do you know what zone your in? we have a zone map you can get to from the home page. I'm in zone 9 and am growing lettuce, raddish, carrots, cilantro, collard greens, sweet peas....I think one more thing, but it's slipping my mind now.

the main thing is whatever, whenever, however....start small.

welcome colby! where in alabama?

HI Colby! Welcome to the forum! It is a great place, some wonderful people and so much knowledge you cant wait to soak it all up! Theres information all over just take a look and open all the threads.
So nice to have you. I too am a Crazy cat Lady, I have 4.. or more like they have me!

Alabama-- you lucky dawg, you! You are right on the money that growing your own is waaaaaay better than buying. And all those good Southern veggies... .

One thing you can start with immediately is herbs. Most are extremely easy to grow inside, and in your area, may will over-winter outside.

Basil, parsley, cilantro and many others can be started from seed, even now. Some, for example, rosemary, thyme, sage, it would be more efficient to get as small plants from your local nursery. (Have fun finding one that you really like, and if it's more "local" than corporate, you'd end up with better plants.) You can transplant the small plants to pretty pots-- they don't need to be very big. You can sow seeds in any pot you want, just be sure to thin the seedlings so they don't eventually get too crowded.

You can use the herbs fresh, or dry them yourself. In either case, it's definitely less expensive that getting them from the store.

Here's a photo of my indoor "herb garden". And there's an herb forum here, too!


That's basil from seed on the top, more basil and mint on the 2nd shelf, rosemary, oregano, thyme and more mint below. (In front is a pepper growing inside!)

And-- don't forget to ask for gardening books for Christmas!

Welcome! Have fun!!

Angelblossom - I'll definetly post some pictures of my Fuzzy monsters later

I'll take a look throuhg the composting stuff when I'm a bit more awake.. :) I hope I'll have enough stuff to compost...

Thank you!



Cricket - I love my cheese too XD And Provolone... but ProvoloneWolf just doesn't sound the same... :)

According to http://www.garden.org, I am in 7a. I had to go and look because My city's right.... in.. a really annoying bit of the map where I couldn't tell either way. XD

I'd say 'no garden' for me until spring, but the lettuce is pretty tempting. everything I find in the stores looks half dead ><

Problem is, by spring, my husband and I may have moved. It's a situation where, if something happens, we'll move.. maybe jsut down the hill, maybe way off somewhere closer to his work (he's driving about 100 miles a day right now... ><) and ever time I bring up garden with him, his responce is to say wait until spring. So, I"m not sure the cost of setting up a bed for a few heads of lettuce will make up for hwat we're not spending in the store...

I'm prety sure I'll need raised beds to get anything to grow... the area right around my house is .. well.. red claytype stuff... there's a bit of top soil in areas, but in others... well, the grass STILL hasn't regrown from where we bulldozed a bit to get the pad for our trailer laid.. and THAT was about 3 or 4 years ago. Our front yard is still struggling to regrow in patches from where our 'sweet' roomate parked his car and drove out every morning to work... you'd think after tearing a few gouges in it, he would have learned to touch the gas GENTLY, but no..... ahem.. anyway.. I ramble. sorry! :)



Jiffymouse - A bit northwestish of Birmingham--near a smaller town named Jasper. :)



Ditchy - Hello! I'd belive it. This place smells liek a good place to be I jsut hope I can fit in. :) the last forums I frequented regularly were a fan forum for World of Warcraft and one for graphic designing--signatures and avatars and stuff :) Oddly, I ended up moderating both, and one or two others that a friend bagged me to help with. Then my head exploded. XD

I'm definetly looking forward to absorbing all the information here... jsut wish I had more free time to suck it all up. LOL.

I'm relatively new to the crazy cat lady thing. :) I mean, I've always been craxy, a lady and catty, but these are actually my first cats. :) We adopted one of them and, wouldn't you know it? she came with 4 more packed up inside her ;)



Marica - lucky dawg? I duno.... I grew up in hawaii! You have nooo idea how much I miss my manga tree, my avacado trees... Guava... pinapples that didn't cost a fortune.... sushi...

I hadn't thoth about an herb garden! I should though. So many recipes want 'fresh' basil and stuff and I'm left lookign at the dried stuff going "hope this will do' XD Now I'll jsut need to see which ones are kitty no-nos.. as the last thing I need is my tiger dropping dead of Rosemary overdose XD

Oh I could keep it in our second bedroom it'll get plenty of sun if I pull the curtains. and it's the only room where the carpet isnt' already ruined XD

Thanks! I hadn't thoht about that XD

why not try some lettuce or herbs in some pots, colby? maybe you could find some seed at a local feed store along with some good soil.
and you know you can grow pineapple where you are but you just have to bring inside for the winter.

I second cricket's idea. You can grow almost anything in a pot-- and pots are portable! Plus, if you put your garden in pots, you don't have to worry about the clay (although clay isn't all bad). Don't forget a strawberry pot (if you like them). Looks like your last frost date is early April. That means you could get some seedlings started indoors in early March, I'd say.

If you're worried about the herbs and kitties, put some catmint in a pot (it's an herb, too) and use it as a decoy! :-)

As to your husband-- once he starts easting fresh veggies, he will be out there digging up your whole yard for you! So be sure to plant his favorite kind of tomato!

"Lucky dawg"-- well o.k., if you're from Hawaii I suppose living near Jasper Al. is no big deal. I'm from the south but live in Cincinnati, so I"m envious!

i third crickt's idea. pots are the way to go. that way, if you move, you just take them with you :wink:

and isn't there a college in jasper? i know that town for some reason and i think it is because my sister in law went to college there. she's from al. born in mobile. just a mite south :wink:

Welcome! I know you will love it here! I am a newbie, too and let me tell you everyone here is so nice!!!

Angelblossom- Where is the Organic Forum? I looked, but couldn't find it.

It's a subforum under landscapes trials and triumps.

welcome and yes you will love it here....