Gardening in NH

[MTPorcupine3]

Check out Willing Workers on Organic Farms www.wwoofusa.org and www.organicvolunteers.org. They both have several organic (certified or otherwise) farms listed in New Hampshire and will give you an idea of what's possible.

[Fragilityh14]

Check out Willing Workers on Organic Farms www.wwoofusa.org and www.organicvolunteers.org. They both have several organic (certified or otherwise) farms listed in New Hampshire and will give you an idea of what's possible.

Thanks for that link, one of my friends told me about WWOOF, but I thought of it more as a thing for if one is going abroad. I might think of doing something like that when I am first trying to get settled in NH.

[ny2nh]

believe me, I am moving there as soon as is feasible. if my life just fell into beautiful place maybe even for the next summers growing season, however, as it stands I will probably in eastern washington for the next summers growing season, but will be in  New Hampshire for the growing season after that.

but, it's great to know about growing things in a specific area in advance to be able to think about what one could do in the garden there.

I also want a moon garden...are there fireflies in NH? There must be right?....I've never seen a firefly, I'm very interested.

I live in the city - and even I get fireflies in my backyard. I think they started hanging out here because I have a pond - which tend to attract a lot of dragonflies as well.

As far as vegetables - you're growing season is late May to late October on the long side. I try to have my vegetables int he ground no later than Memorial Day, often weeks earlier. I have to watch for frost and cover them sometimes though. This year I didn't get things in until after Memorial Day - and I am now picking zucchini, summer squash, pickling cukes, green peppers, and a host of different tomatoes. I'll probably still have tomatoes turning when the first freeze comes. The only things that I haven't had luck with really are cantaloupe and watermelon....our season is just too short for the fruit to get big enough.

But, I'm just a backyard gardener.....

[Russell Kanning]

one for Dawn .... about the bugs
http://extension.unh.edu/Agric/AGPDTS/ArthroID.htm

[Rochelle]

The only things that I haven't had luck with really are cantaloupe and watermelon....our season is just too short for the fruit to get big enough.

Hmm that sucks. I really love watermelon and would like to grow some once I have a garden. Did you start them inside first? How did you do it?

[Vote Tyler Stearns]

Our soil is very clay-ish (we're located in the southern part of the White Mountains on a small mountain).  We've found that raised beds work best for us because it's easier to work the soil.  We also use half whiskey barrels to plant tomatoes and peppers (even cukes & squash).  Our vegetable gardens are awful this year because of the cold, rain & clouds earlier in the season.  The only thing growing well is our garlic -- and even those are small.  Even Longview Farms (a very popular local farm stand) is having problems with their gardens & hot houses.  They have something like 8 hot houses full of tomatoes that aren't ripening. 

We've grown cantalopes (end up about the size of a grapefruit, but not a lot of flesh). 

One of the big problems we have in our area is deer and rabbits eating up our gardens.  My boss lives down the street from me and has lost many of his veggies this year to deer (sometimes 7 are in his yard at a time).   Something is eating my perennials this year...not just nibbling the leaves, but chewing the flowers right off stem, leaves and all down to the ground.  All my balloon flowers disappeared

[Russell Kanning]

maybe some of our gun cleaners can help with the deer problem

[Vote Tyler Stearns]

Too close to shoot in my neighborhood...funny, though, the deer all disappear when deer season opens.

[Russell Kanning]

It is also interesting that you have so much clay there. I haven't really hit any clay in any of my digging.

[Vote Tyler Stearns]

I have a shovel with your name on it...come on up and try it out!

[toowm]

Our region (SE NH) is all sand and rocks. We had clay back in the midwest.

[Russell Kanning]

I have a shovel with your name on it...come on up and try it out!

no way man

[mvpel]

Caren and I are thinking about starting up a garden once our neighbor moves their chain-link fence off our property.  Gardens Alive, an online store, is even in iGive, so I can funnel my donations to GO-NH too.

[bogie]

All clay and rocks here on our side of the ridge.

We have built several retaining walls and decorative walls just to use some of the rocks up (and we still have piles of rocks at the edge of the woods because we can only use so many). We have gardened in the same area for nearly 20 years and rocks still come up. We think we must have built on a rock farm!

Clay can be worked with by amending with shredded newspaper, shredded leaves and well composted manure. May take a while, but it can be done. Raised beds can work, but you must be at 40-60 feet from any trees, otherwise the tree roots find them and invade (voice of experience).

[Kat Kanning]

All clay and rocks here on our side of the ridge.

That's interesting.  What area is that?