"Jackee" not available wrote in message
...
I noticed there are a few of you from the Boise/Nampa area. That is
wonderful! This is my first year of gardening and any and all advice or
knowledge you share in here is appreciated. I have to ask, are your
gardens
in? If so what are you planting this year? What grows best in this area?
Any success stories or hard lessons learned from gardening in the valley?
I
am also looking in to putting some fruit trees in for next year. Is it
true
I can plant these in the fall?
Thanks again-
The Novice Gardener

I planted peas in February. They are now a little higher than my hand. My
dad says you plant peas as soon as you can work the ground, usually in
February. It's not too late to plant peas, but the earlier you plant them,
the more 'fruit' you will get before the weather gets too hot and they dry
up. Right now, you can get most of your garden in. I have small children, so
it's been a little tough for me to get out and actually do it, but just
about anything you can plant from seed, plant (well, I'd wait on squashes
til the end of May or early June). Some people are putting in tomatoes and
peppers now, but I'd wait on that until there's no chance of frost left, or
you'll have to be very diligent in caring for them so they don't get
frostburnt. Early varieties of tomatoes seem to work best here for getting
fruit before the frost (such as early girl).

I'll probably plant (besides peas) bell peppers, carrots, zuchinni, acorn
squash, chard, cucumbers, and beets. My parents, living in Nampa, grew the
biggest parsnips I've ever seen (as big as sugar beets), but couldn't grow
cabbage very well. Their neighbor, less than a block away grew cabbage
bigger than you could fit your arms around. Peppers grow well in my yard,
but tomatoes don't do very well. Just experiment with different veggies and
see what does well for you.

Corn, beets, and beans do especially well here. Squash (pumpkins, acorn,
zuchinni, spaghetti, etc.) grow well. Watermelon & cantalope do all right.
(ever hear of Hagerman watermelons? Famous all over Idaho). Potatoes do well
(now, no potato jokes, please, most of Idaho's potatoes grow in Eastern
Idaho, not the Boise area, where the main cash crop is sugar beets). You
have to watch out for cabbage worms in your corn, cabbage, and tomatoes.
Leaf lettuce, chard, and Kohlrabi are some others you can have success with

Are you going to plant berries? Raspberries and blackberries grow well, I
also have a gooseberry and a weeping mulberry (female, so it fruits). Grapes
also grow particularly well.

Just remember, whatever you plant, it will need a lot of water when summer
comes, mulching around your plants will help retain some moisture.