Hello everyone! I'm still a newbie to IP, but I absolutely LOVE to garden!! It is one of my passions, my therapy when I feel upset or need to get away and just relax my mind. I find gardening to be a form of meditation because usually I'm just taking in the sights of the vegetation and the sounds of nature while forgetting about those things that bother me.

I have also learned a lot of things through gardening and would like to connect with others that love to garden and who may would like to share some tips as well as joys of their gardens!!! I'll start off first!

So, if you love green onions like I do, you may buy them weekly. But did you know that you can grow your own in a simple glass of water? First, you cut off the white bottoms (with the roots) and use the green part for your food. Take a class of water and place about 2oz of water in the glass. Sit the white bottoms of the green onions in the water and sit the glass in a sunny window. Within 2-3 days you will see the green part of the onion beginning to grow back!!! You can either keep the onions in the glass and harvest as you need or even place them in your garden or a small plant pot!!! Easy and saves money!!! $$$$$$

So share some tips with us!! We're all ears!!

Foxxybrown- I also love to garden. I did not know that tip about the green onions, I will try it for sure. I have a new garden and have put in rhubarb, asparagus, tomatoes, summer squash, and cucumbers.
Hoping for a good crop. I also love flowers and plants with interesting leaves.

That's awesome DizzyJean!!! I would love to try to grow rhubarb! How do you grow it?

I currently have zucchini, summer squash, different varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, kale, lettuce, Cayenne, habanero, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.... I got a little carried away!

I have a lot of Red Russian Kale and Swiss Chard Growing. Any recipe ideas?

I have a garden as well...variety of tomatoes, (mostly Roma as I like to make my own spaghetti sauce and salsa), green & red sweet peppers, ancho peppers, sugar snap peas, turnips, radishes, zucchini, spinach, romaine, 2 eggplant and brussels sprouts (first try with these 2), rhubarb (is pretty easy to grow, and comes back year after year), cabbage, strawberries, and blueberries (another first). Oh, and still have onion sets and green onions to put in. We also planted 2 pear trees this spring. Unfortunately the asparagus I put in last year didn't even come up this year. Guess will have to try it again.

Also put in a new perennial flower garden this spring, though it looks a disappointment now. First flowers I put in got frosted, and others haven't come up yet. Have high hopes for next year! lol (And you think you got carried away )

Wish I could give you ideas for the kale and swiss chard, but have never used either one.

I like to blanch kale and add a little soy or tamari and toasted sesame seeds. The Swiss chard will keep growing all season-- unlike spinach. I like to cook it like kale, or sauté it with EVOO and add a little cider vinegar. It is great in soups and stews,too. The stems can be chopped and sautéed also.

Wow! You have a great mix of things in your garden! I would love to try to grow rhubarb!

I must try sauteed kale and swiss chard. I didn't know that spinach stops growing. I thought you could pluck it and new leaves will come up.

Kale chips are great also. I make mine on the dehydrator so I know I won't burn them. I have had some issues...with that in the past. Kids love them too. Just spray the tray lightly with oil so they don't stick, tear into small chunks and place on tray, spray lightly again with oil and sprinkle with sea salt or whatever seasoning you want. I use garlic sea salt. Usually takes around 2-3 hrs with 4 trays (rotate the trays when the bottom seems more crisp than top about half way through)

I'm trying brussels spouts for the first time too. I have two pots on the deck with 2 plants in one and 3 in the other. If I get sprouts from one plant, I'll be happy. I also have carrots, green onions, tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, which is the first time for these too. I don't know if these are going to work out. The first seeds I planted, only one came up after two weeks. I just planted another set of seeds yesterday. I also have red/green/purple/serrano/jalapeno/banana peppers, zucchini, cauliflower, regular cucumbers, and tomatillos, first time for the tomatillos also. I also have a bunch of herbs. They are so expensive, it's well worth it to grow them yourself. As the season progresses, let me know how your sprouts are doing.

So I have done this and I have to let you all know that this only lasts a little while before you have to get "new" white bottoms. The green growth starts becoming weaker each time you cut at it.

I am a gardener myself and have been since I was a little girl with my mom. Now I grew up in a different part of the country (dry Sierra Nevada Mountains) and so my gardening in IL looks weird to all who have always gardened in IL. Irrigation is huge for me, but now I do the opposite.

In NV I would always hoe rows for my seeds (I only plant seeds and watch them grow - no plant starters for me). I would place the seed above the "ditch". The dirt was so dry that if we would water or have a hard rain, the seed, or plant would wash out. Here in IL I still use the row trick, but I put the seeds in the "ditch" so the water goes straight to the seed instead of the clay black dirt we have here. That's my trick!

This year I have, rhubarb, radishes, rutabagas, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, beans (bushes and pole), snap peas, cukes, zukes, summer squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, pumpkin, tomatoes (romas, cherry, chocolate cherries, sweet babies, and Big Beef) cantaloupe, bell peppers (every color).

I will have my hands full, but we eat 2/3 veggies during this time of year even when we weren't on IP.