I used a Burpee seed starter kit for the first time too this year. First batch planted were the corn and tomatoes.
I want to get another kit to start some other stuff. I’d love to grow some corn and taters. I will be growing tomatoes as well but I will not be starting them myself. I am completely inept with tomatoes and no matter what I do, they fail. So I’ll be starting with a nice healthy plant that someone else started. 
It may take a while but I will report back on my success/failure starting tomatoes in the Burpee seed starter kit.
I tried last year. I failed. 
Of course it’s entirely possible that my Sweetie is deliberately preventing my tomatoes from growing. He thinks they’re repulsive.
Tomatoes repulsive? Do tell.
He’s a freak. He feels the same about most fruit - especially watermelon and strawberries.
They do say opposites attract though. I hate mushrooms, sausage, and provolone and those are 3 of his favorites.
I’m reading my seed starter kit and you’re not supposed to put the tray in direct sunlight until the seedlings have fully rooted (2-4 weeks). If you put the tray in direct sunlight the tray may dry out too quickly. Ya gotta keep things moist and warm. (Indirect sun light?) Suggest you reload and … try again 
C’mon. 'Tis the season. - Why do I feel that a seasoned gardener will come along shortly and make us look like complete fools. :rolleyes: Or how about buffoons? Yeah, complete buffoons.
Do you compromise on olive oil? Wine maybe?
New plantings: Bunch onions, brussels sprouts, parsnips. We decided to save cauliflower for fall.
Yes, Brussels Sprouts. Where we live we just go up a ways a way and the farmer let’s us go out and cut down a whole stalk. Bring 'em home, pull off the ones you want for a meal and leave the remainder on the stalk in the back yard until you want some more. In cool weather, they keep.
Every year I experiment with different heirloom tomatoes - one of my picks this coming season will be these black cherry tomatoes. Also pattypan squash, which is hard to find in stores around here but one of my favourites.I’m in zone 5a so in mid-May I hit Wojos and go nuts on 6-inch potted veggies and herbs.
I’m also going to plant a LOT of herbs in containers on my front porch this year. And be more disciplined about drying or freezing what I can’t immediately use up. I also have raspberries and blackberries that come up every year on my property and I’m going to nurture them this year - maybe some netting so the birds don’t get all the berries before I do!
“Planting Zones” seem to be varied, depending on who’s book you are appealing to. Yes?
I think yes. I really love having four distinct seasons and in general prefer winter over the hot, humid summer - but I do wish we had a longer growing season! If I could afford a heated greenhouse for year 'round fresh vegetables and herbs I’d definitely do that.
I only planted them a couple years ago and don’t know much more than you can read online. In general for my whole garden I do minimal feeding or anything besides weeding, watering, and pruning if needed.
I put mine on the side of a hill facing the sun in my backyard and they seem to like it. That meets the requirements of lots of sun and drainage. My soil leans towards clay and I’ve never checked the pH. The soil should be slightly acidic according to various guides.
You definitely need to cover them. Birds love blueberries and will eat them before you get the chance. Part of the reason I planted them is because my grandfather had dozens of very mature blueberry bushes. When I was a kid we would always be there during the season to pick gallons of blueberries. He had netting over all of them and often we would have to free birds that gut stuck in the netting trying to get to the blueberries.
Plant at least a couple varieties if possible to get better production than several plants of the same variety. They also should be close enough to each other to get cross pollinated, all the guides saying under 100 feet apart. Mine are about six feet apart from each other, which is about what is recommended depending on your garden layout.
Most recommendations say to pinch of the flowers so they don’t produce the first few years so the energy goes to growth instead of producing fruit. That way the bush is supposed to get bigger faster and ultimately lead to better production. Blueberry bushes can produce for decades, so I hope you like them in the location you picked.
Most guides will also have recommendations for pruning to keep the berries large and yield higher than without pruning.
It’ll be at least a month before that window actually gets direct light and once it does it’ll only last about a month. I love my trees but I do miss sunlight.
Ha! Coffee.
Oh yeah, I’m trying out blackberries as well- I planted two Ouachita thornless upright blackberry bare-root plants about a month ago, and they’re finally growing!
I tried some orange tomatoes, and some chocolate brown tomatoes last year - both were very good, and I will plant them again if I can find them.
I planted a dwarf sour cherry last year that has been developed for my zone (zone 3); we’ll see how it does this year. We’re going to sell our house this summer; I’m very tempted to take this shrub with me. Since we are selling, I’m not going to plant much of a garden this year; just potatoes, peas, and tomatoes, probably (potatoes mostly because they have such lovely foliage).
Oh yeah, definitely put nets on your fruiting shrubs. I don’t mind sharing with the birds and squirrels, but they’d take everything!
I was doing a clear-out on my front garden, because a few things are overgrown. While I was at it, I decided to clear the planting areas in the back, which is where I like to grow veggies and herbs.
It’s a little late in the season here - South Florida - but I’ll plant some stuff for the warmth of summer. I’ve been too lazy the past few years, and my soil isn’t great right now. So I just need to get something in the ground, and let it start going.
I figure I’ll plant zucchini…some beans and peas, maybe. I might throw some sweet potatoes in the ground, because I can, if I don’t find other things to plant.
Thank you very much!
Here I thought you could grow grapes. Ok, Coffee it is.