Your local Buy Nothing group, the Craigslist Free section, or local Facebook gardening groups are great places for that. If I were local, I would happily take them off your hands!
Last year, one of my quarantine projects was to rebuild one of the raised beds. We built it out of the bricks saved when we had the chimney taken down after buying the house 4 years ago, but it turns out that construction adhesive isn’t a very good way to build a raised bed out of bricks that still have chunks of mortar on the so they aren’t level. So last spring I decided hey, concrete mix is cheap and I have nothing but time on my hands, so I watched a couple of Youtube videos on bricklaying and gave it a shot. The result isn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s damn solid and should hold together for a few years, anyway. And maybe by then I will be in a frame of mind to pay people who actually know what they are doing to build new beds with non-crumbling, non-recycled brick or other durable material. Anyway, that bed is probably 20’ long and currently has maybe 15 different types of radishes and turnips and lettuce in it (not much sun over there), plus apparently some of the parsnips that I tried to overwinter didn’t de after all, because they grew new tops. They are mixed in with the radishes, so I guess I will just wait until the radishes are ready and dig them all up at the same time.
The other side of the garage has a similar bed that needs rebuilding one of these days, but as I am working full-time again, I didn’t feel like it this year. It currently has 3 kinds of peas, which will grow up a giant trellis made of electrical conduit and nylon netting. The peas will get replaced by cucumbers, melons, and squash as the weather gets warmer.
Then there are 8 regular 3’ by 6’ wooden raised beds. Right now one of them has an astonishing amount of parsley that overwintered under a plastic low tunnel, plus a bit of dill that reseeded. I am told that the parsley will likely bolt within a few weeks, so I will probably make a giant batch of tabbouleh with some of it and freeze some of it so I can replant more parsley and a bunch of other herbs (dill, a couple different kinds of basil, cilantro) in the front part of that bed. The back part has another trellis that leans against the back fence, where I planted squashes last year, which were attacked by squash vine borers and most didn’t survive. So I am told I shouldn’t plant squash there again this year so the damn SVBs die off. So maybe the cucumbers should go there? Haven’t decided yet.
Then there’s a bed of strawberries, plus chives, thyme, and some green garlic in one corner. Those are looking happy after being refreshed with a load of composted combination goat/duck/chicken manure from a neighbor who moved away. We literally took home a carload of it (n boxes, and it’s a small car).
The next bed has a sage plant that is totally indestructible, plus bunch of other greens and cold-weather veggies that I tried to start under a low tunnel, but they are just getting going. They could use some rain and warmer weather, I think.
The bed after that was just planted up with a dozen kinds of beets and carrots a couple of weeks ago, but they aren’t doing much yet because it’s been so cold. There are some very happy overwintered Japanese bunching onions in a corner of that bed, though.
Then there is a bed full of garlic which is about 8" tall right now, another bed where some carrots and kohlrabi overwintered under plastic (I guess I am going to try cooking kohlrabi greens, because that bed is going to be used after last frost date for tomatoes or eggplants or peppers), and a couple of empty beds that will be used for eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes.
The 3rd wall of the garage is our raspberry hedge, which is encroaching into the small remaining grassy part of the yard (which is more clover every year, which is just fine by me). Lots of people have offered to take raspberry seedlings off my hands.
Along the ugly-ass chain-link fence on the south edge of the garden, we built two 10’ trellises out of galvanized conduit, nylon netting, and zip ties. Last year one was for purple pole beans and one was for cucumbers. This year they might both be pole beans, haven’t decided yet.
Then there are the two edges of the patio where we made some shallow beds - one has some chard that survived the winter, and I will add more when it gets warmer. The other was zinnias and nasturtiums last year. The zinnias were kind of tall for that spot, so I bought some dwarf zinnia seeds, plus a few different kinds of marigolds, and still have some nasturtium seeds left over.
Last fall we lasagna composted the front yard and the front half of the side yard and planted it with several different bags of mixed wildflower seeds, which are just starting to come up. Then in the side yard, about halfway back there’s a gooseberry bush that a local gardening friend gave me from her yard last year, which I cut back and is now looking much happier. and behind that, we added 5 yards of topsoil and this year in front of the perennials, I planted 16 different kinds of brassicas!
Yes, this is all more than a little insane now that I am working again. But it’s useful and gets us outside, and last year we started a weekly neighborhood veggie giveaway in the local community garden as a clearinghouse to direct neighborhood gardeners’ excess harvest to food-insecure people. It went really well, and I think on average we gave away 50 - 60 lbs. of produce a week! We plan to do it again this year.
Due to last week’s cold spell, including snow, my containers are still empty of everything but soil.
Fortunately, spring IS coming (really) and I hope to get my cold-tolerant seeds planted this week, along with acquiring some support for the beans I will be planting at the end of May.
We did our usual herbs in planters (parsley, basil, thyme, cilantro, chives, rosemary, etc.), also arugula. It’s all going like gangbusters even though the weather has been quite cool for the past three weeks (<70F most days, 40’s and 50’s at night). We decided to go with new deck rail planters and planted Ranunculus that we bought already started. They are stunningly gorgeous and plentiful now but will not survive the dreaded summer heat of July and August. Anybody have suggestions for flowers that will tolerate hot, full sun conditions?
Zinnias and nasturtiums tolerated a fair amount of neglect for us. Bonus: we had a giant butterfly garden all over the zinnias during the monarch migration!
The peas, radishes, lettuce, and spinach seeds that got sown three weeks ago are emerging. The carrot and beet seeds did not. My seed stock of both of those, however, are quite old ~2012. So I’m not entirely surprised. I’ll have to get new seeds and sow once again.
Last frost date is mid May around here. I’ve started tomatoes, cucumber and zucchini seeds inside at the beginning of the month. All of the tomato seeds sprouted and are going strong, but only one cucumber and no zucchini emerged. Once again, old seed stock. I’ll have to either buy transplants from a local greenhouse or try sowing direct with new seeds in a couple weeks.
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Check my profile header (click on my avatar; and then click on it again) to see a picture of my new medlar tree! Currently it’s the same photo 4 times, but as we progress through blossom (coming!) and hopefully fruit, I’ll sub in new pictures to provide a photo-story of it’s first year.
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You Can’t Grow That In England You Fool part 3 is under way. In previous years it was chickpeas/garbanzos (worked perfectly) and aubergine/eggplant (barely worked - not worth the effort); this year it’s going to be… okra/gumbo! Started germinating today.
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This year I sowed most things directly; and in a dry, sunny but really cold April, peas have come up but we’re waiting for potatoes, leeks, carrots, broad/fava beans and runners. I wouldn’t dream of sowing French beans yet.
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Cucurbits I germinated, and hit 100% for pumpkin, cucumber and courgette/zucchini but just 4/6 (so far) for squash.
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I composted and dug over the raised beds yesterday; and a pair of blackbirds have deposited the contents over the lawns. This happened last year (a similar April, with rock-hard soil) so I was expecting it. When they’re done I’ll put the soil back and plant the salads.
j
It’s “legume” night at Casa De Shoe’s gardening dept. as the following are getting a brief soak before being stuck into the Big Red Recycling Bin (where I will later grow a warm-weather crop) to help reinvigorate the existing potting soil that I don’t want to toss/replace:
- Sweet pea “Old Spice mixed colors”
- Garden pea “Blue Bantam”
- Snow pea “Dwarf Grey Sugar”
Probably shoulda started them earlier. Ah, well.
I also have some volunteer baby lettuce, courtesy of last year’s lettuce that went to seed.
The tulips are aaaaaaalmost blooming, and I have a lovely crop of grape hyacinth naturally popping up by the front door.
They’re flanked by dandelions, which I’m sure 
off the neighbors, but you know what? Yellow & purple make a beautiful contrast, and dandelions are important early-spring food for local pollinators.
No veggie garden but I did tear out some old mismatched yews from under one window and replaced them with three Green Velvet boxwood. Also cleaned out some beds behind the house and planted a Low Scape Aronia, Kodiak Orange Diervilla and a trio of Rosy Returns daylily. Last year’s Oso Easy Red shrub rose and the Heuchera are coming back strong but the Double Play Gold Spirea and Russian sage is struggling a bit. It has new growth but I’m not sure if it’s being slow or fighting for life.
Funny thing about the boxwood: I bought them for $19 a pop from Costco in a 3 gallon can. I work for a commercial landscape company and the wholesale price we’d buy them for is $23 in a 2 gallon can. The rest of my post looks like an advertisement for Proven Winners because they send over promos each year to plant and report back with how they fared.
So is boxwood a “loss leader” like milk or eggs at the grocery store?
Come in for six or ten cheap boxwoods, leave wondering, “How much did I pay for all these orchids?”
One of my original tomato plants is dead; I have no idea why, as it was watered and otherwise treated the same as the others. Other the weekend I put in stakes for the surviving tomatoes and the banana peppers, as they are getting large enough to warrant it. As soon as the tomatoes start flowering and show signs of bearing fruit I need to pick up some mesh to keep the squirrels from getting at them.
The greens are spreading out. I’m going to harvest some and have salad this week, probably with some of the basil.
My tulips are starting to bloom! 
My first three ripe tomatoes of the Spring season got picked yesterday!
Wow! We’re at least two weeks away from tomato planting time here.
My tulips have just started to open up. I got a mix is purples and deep pinks from Longfield Gardens, and so far they’re all a pinky-lavender. Still pretty, though.
Sweet peas are in the ground, and I’m waiting for a shrub and some perennials to arrive, so I can get my front foundation bed squared away. I ripped out three ugly spireas two season ago, and have been dithering about what to replace them with. This weekend I’m going to distribute a ton of mystery volunteer sunflower seedlings to different garden beds. I can’t wait to see what I end up with. 
Same here. Over the last few days, the most I can boast: pea seedlings have appeared and just today the first sign of a broad/fava bean.
Yesterday we had some rain! Lordy, were our blackbirds happy to peck the lawns at last. Just to illustrate how dry and cold it has been this April (Sussex, England) I did some research. This website is an oddly compelling repository of UK weather stats. To date we have had*, in April, 3.8 millimeters of rainfall, 7% of the April average (up to the last but one day of the month.) I have been watering bare dirt for a month, in hopes of getting stuff to germinate. Mean temps are about 2 degrees centigrade down on the April average, which hasn’t exactly helped.
j
* - I’m quoting stats for Herstmonceux, which is probably the nearest listed weather station.
My more exotic seeds have been pretty disappointing. But my more conventional seedlings are rarin to go outside. I’m sprouting a few taro bulbs I got at my local ethnic grocery store, a few cuttings from last year’s plants.
Black bamboo seedling!
My setup on the stoop of my building:
Awwww … I had two potted black bamboo for years. It was one of the few early “splurge” purchases with my late Other Shoe so they always made me think of him.
Alas, I had to leave them behind when I moved last year.
How did you get a seed (?) or is that from a cutting/rhizome?
I spent the winter quarantine searching the planet, literally, for seeds I wanted to try. These came from some individual selling them on Etsy. I got many seeds, cuttings, roots, bulbs from civilian hobbyists.
Yay! I planted my lettuce and chard today!
Only four more weeks before it’s safe to plant the beans!
My Aerogarden seeds are sprouting - I’ve got purple basil, chervil, savory, and two cherry tomato plants putting up their baby leaves. The chili pepper hasn’t shown itself yet but I expect it will in the next few days.
The roma tomato outside is big enough now that it needed staking - I think it is going to be a very large plant. The one I had last year was large but not very productive, so I hope this isn’t a repeat of last year.
I moved the planter with the cayenne and shishito peppers in it to a sunnier spot and I have so much thyme, sage and oregano already from the established plants that I’ve trimmed those off and dried the harvest. I think I will be up to my eyeballs in those herbs this year if this keeps up.
The blueberries are set - now we just wait until they ripen. Strawberries are flowering and there is some green fruit, so we wait on that as well. Raspberry canes are gaining steam and should start to flower in June or so.