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Happy Birthday to you!
For a number of years I kept some snapdragons (i.e., the same ones) as houseplants, in a south-facing window. They kept producing flowers, and after a while the stems even got bark on them. (Eventually they did kind of dwindle and die off, one by one.) I mention it with the idea that you could try bringing them inside for the winter and see if they hold up 
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Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!
@IronEdithKidd @anon3072533 - I was really hoping that at least one of the snapdragons i’d planted last year would pull through, but it was not meant to be. Interesting idea about keeping one as a houseplant…
I had to resist all of the lovely tuberous begonias at the nursery today because I kept thinking they’d also make great houseplants.
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& @anon3072533: 4 cats means we bring NO flowers into the house. Better safe than sorry!
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Advice/opinions requested:
I added river rock as mulch/chipmunk deterrent to the potted citrus (thornless Key lime shown). I don’t want to use an organic mulch because 1) damn chipmunks and 2) concerns about messing with the drainage. But now I’m worried about the rock messing with the pH. Is river rock a bad idea?
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citrus likes sandy and here in Florida, there is limestone everywhere. i’d guess (IANACG *I am not a citrus grower) a few river rocks won’t alter the pH enough to cause harm. if your pH drops too low, toss coffee grounds on there.
as far as chipmunks go, chili powder scattered on the surface? it keeps tree squirrels out of some of our beds and pots. they get it in their nose and run away sneezing.
YMMV
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Adding the food service sized chili powder to the Costco list
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Hello Happy Mutant gardening brain trust. I need you.
At the end of the summer I am moving to a new place that has ample gardening space for the first time in my life, and I want to grow some food. My modest initial goal is to grow some vegetables in a raised bed (I have a bad back, so the more raised the better) and I’m in zone 7a.
I have NO idea how to start. Can someone point me in the general direction of resources for how to get started for some someone who has never so much as stuck a trowel in dirt before?
It’ll be too late for this year, but I’m planning ahead for next year and trying to figure what to do.
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It won’t be too late for some things. You might be able to get in some cool weather crops. Spinach, lettuce, radishes, carrots…
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Theres a Youtuber called Josh Sattin who has a very good channel based out of Raleigh NC (zone 7a). He used to be a teacher and I find his videos well structured. His focus is now geared to small farmers and so his most recent videos have switched to farming courses but the older videos are worth a look.
Charles Dowding is another very informative Youtuber. He has a lot of videos about seed starting, transplanting, and always grows a wide variety of food which is good for giving me ideas. He is an advocate for no-till gardening which I’ve been doing for a few years now since I also have a bad back. He is in England so zone 8, so fairly comparable.
Keeping on the Youtuber theme, The Rusted Gardener is geared towards the backyard grower. He shows how to prep beds and setting up trellises and such, growing in pots, containers, and raised beds. He has a store and does pitch his own products but doesnt force the issue. He’s based out of Northern Virginia (I think).
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Funny thing. I was looking into rocks as dress for trees a few years ago. Our oaks were done thus when we moved in (plus a layer of landscaping cloth- not good). The result was that rocks don’t add to soil nutrients, don’t retain water, and can trap heat. Citrus likes it’s soil a bit acidic. Like 6.5. But I don’t think the rocks would alter the PH in a significant way, certainly not quickly. Are the chipmunks digging in the pots or eating the tree roots? We don’t have those. The potential issues with rocks might be worth the trade off. Like @FloridaManJefe said, acidifying the soil, particularly in a potted plant, isn’t too hard.
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Lucky you. I used to be all “ooo, so cute!” Which they are, but they are also soooo destructive!
They are after my newest Meyer lemon right now, have tunneled into the roots several times, enough to tip it partially over in its container. It’s not happy. They’ve also dug a few newly potted up container plantings right out of the pots.
I’m hoping the rocks (plus 
and 
) will discourage them.
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Oh wow. We have this grey squirrel who likes to hide acorns in the pot of our Meyer lemon, but it has never seemed to cause any trouble. Good luck!
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Biggest thing to know is it takes a few years, even with raised beds, to get the soil optimal. Start small, with one or two boxes (i made mine from 2x6x12’s, but any legth will work. You don’t want it any more than 4’ wide, 3 is better, so you can easily reach the center without stepping into it.) Fill with whatever soil you can get, then start adding whatever organics you can. Fall leaves, composted kitchen scraps, grass clippings (as long as it hasn’t gone to seed yet), whatever. Eggshells are great for calcium and usually have some potassium as well. Add more boxes over time, as long as it is fun. But mostly, have fun. It is great therapy, and homegrown tomatoes… 
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Seconding the Charles Dowding recommendation.
Even if you don’t like the no-dig/no-till method (and why wouldn’t you?), he has very useful tips on propagation, planting schemes and so on.
I’ll look into the others, so thanks for those recommendations.
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@VeronicaConnor gotta second this advice. 3’ is better! We made that mistake with our otherwise awesome 2’ high raised bed. It’s hard to get into the middle. Damned weeds. The fall and winter is a good time to get some raised beds set up for spring though. You’ll also want to consider irrigation. Another lesson learned. It would have been so much easier to set up the drip irrigation when we built the bed. I’m not sure you want to go all in with drip, it is difficult and expensive to get set up initially and we have to replace small pipes every so often. The bunnies chew on them for some reason.
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Thanks for the tips, everyone! I appreciate it.
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Another good option:
I’ve built a couple of these and they make it so much easier to forget about watering.
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Mice chew on PEX flexible tubing inside houses, so maybe it’s something similar?
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