Hello from Mississippi

[sunflowers]

Hello everyone,
My name is Beth and I live in Gulfport Ms. I'm very new at forums and such and equally new at SS. I had my first small garden last year and never new you could have so much fun with your clothes on:) I have absolutely fallen in love with growing my own veggies and am thrilled to become a member here with all of you. I'm getting ready to plant soon here in Miss. and am sure I will come a runnin' for advice and information from some of you more seasoned growers. One of my biggest challenges concerning gardening is I work offshore, on a supply boat, in the oilfield. My work schedule is 28 days on the boat and 14 days at home. I have recruited a neighbor to help with chores while I'm away. He gets to have his choosing of veggies and such but being it's my garden I am the brains and financer. Life isn't worth living without challenges I say. So just wanted to drop in and say "hello" and good luck to everyone on this coming season. Thx Beth

[spider8]

Hello Beth and welcome to -ish.
Thank goodness for neighbours! He's got a good deal there, taking his pick of stuff and i bet you'll get a nice surprise when you come back from a shift and see how much stuff has grown. Good luck to you and happy gardening and enjoy being an -isher

[red]

welcome

[liskeardjane]

Mississippi! and you work on a ship! well I'm in Cornwall/UK and I don't work on a ship and I work every dayish! what do you grow in your garden? do you suffer from drought there? and does it get very very hot??? it never gets very hot here and the hottest is 28 degrees and it doesn't get cold in the winter................nice to meet you Beth!!

[Milims]

Hi there and welcome

[MuddyWitch]

Welcome to ISH

What sort of crops do you grow? I love learning about other parts of the world!

MW

[Minnesota]

Greetings Beth,
Good Luck, I hope your Neighbor is willing to pull weeds.
In 28 days things can get out of control weedwise.

[becks77]

Hey there, and welcome

[Millymollymandy]

Hi and welcome!

[sunflowers]

Still new at this so please be patient. Yes, I consider myself lucky concerning my neighbor. He’s a gentleman in his early 70’s and enjoys helping me with my garden. He really can’t do much except water and relay “updates” to me when I call in from sea. He also keeps an “eagle eye” on my house for me and I know he enjoys the free veggies being as he’s on a fixed income. He will chop a hoe in the ground during heavy growing season to try and help with weeds….so he tries and I’m perfectly satisfied with that. Whatever mess I have when I come home I happily handle just enjoying what I’m fortunate enough to have. There are always surprises and delights no mater what the issues. He (helper) was quit handy when some kind of bugs decided they were enjoying the garden also. He took it upon himself to sprinkle some kind of dust on the garden and it seemed to do the trick holding the pests at bay. I must do some research for this year on more natural ways to control pests though. So into another year of great gardening adventures and am very excited. Taking into consideration what I learned last year this year hopefully will be a little more successful. I’ve added another small plot so I may have to hire a helper for my helper:) He may move up to chief waterer/supervisor before he knows it:) Last year I planted tomatoes, banana peppers, tobasco peppers, bell peppers, squash and my dad accidentally planted a basil in the garden. The basil was quit at home….it grew humongous! I was pleasantly surprised. I planted 6 banana pepper plants and that was way too many. I planted sweet and wish I had planted hot. I was not ready ( didn’t know how) or prepared ( no equipment) to can any so I used some, froze some, gave away some and yes, unfortunately, trashed some. This year for Christmas I asked for a canning set and my sweet boyfriend came through. Big plans to do my first canning this year. SO EXCITED!!! As far as heat….gosh does it get hot here in South Miss. I haven’t been limited on water yet so hopefully this year it will be o.k. I’ve learned that because I live close to the beach my soil seems to be sandy and drains well so I’m fortunate there. I’ll be home the first of April and hopefully get some plants in the ground…I’m learning as I go and it is so much fun. Have a good day. Beth

[bonniethomas06]

Hi Beth!



Welcome to Ish. I love your description of your life and garden....something funny happened when I read your post though ...in my head I was reading it with a 'mississippi' accent!

Can't wait to hear more about your growing exploits. You could install a web cam in a window so that you can keep an eye on the garden progress while you are away (and the undergardener!)

[Minnesota]

Beth,
sounds like you have a plan.
excess produce is always good to have.
maybe instead of trashing the excess of excess.
check out the local scene.
In my town, we have assisted living appartments.
Many of my gardening friends and myself
will drop off excess produce to those residents.
Late in the season, I always have extra Beets, tomatoes and fresh Basil.
They really appreciate it.