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PaperclipPerfector  9d ago (text post)   2663 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for June 12, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I've been getting into gardening lately. I grew some herbs and small vegetables many years ago, but otherwise I am completely new to it again.

Two months ago I made the rookie mistake of using "garden soil" in planters (garden soil is to be used in the ground, or in raised beds) and unfortunately nearly all of the plants died. But the California growing season is forgiving, and I haven't lost much time. Last weekend I bought a strawberry plant, a cherry tomato plant, a larger tomato plant, and six zucchini squash plants. This weekend I'm setting up a drip irrigation system to keep the plants watered, as I have quickly learned that the plants I currently have will need a lot of water.

AI chatbots have been very helpful for answering every question I could possibly have, and capturing the nuances between different varieties. (Certain strawberry varieties have runners that you should snip off to encourage upward growth! Zucchini squash may need hand pollination when flowers appear! Switch to liquid fertilizer when fruiting!) What could've been hours of searching in the library, or talking with the local gardening club, in the good old days, is now a half hour conversation at my desk. In one way, I am glad that I am able to kick off a new hobby successfully, but in another way, I'm a bit sad that I no longer have a reason to get up with the local gardening folks to figure out what's going on.

I've got a lot of planters sitting around. What should I grow next? What is everyone else growing?

zucchini

On the one hand they're easy to grow and highly productive which is gratifying from the point of view of gardening. On the other hand you'll be inundated with a glut of courgettes that nobody likes eating that will quickly turn into a glut of giant marrows that nobody likes eating.

strawberry

Now you're talking. People will tell you to propagate more plants from the runners, which is okay up to a point, but you'll end up with a monoculture of plants that all fruit at the same time. If you want more plants consider getting some different varieties that crop early/mid/late to extend the season. I'd also recommend alpine strawberries - they're too tiny for anyone to grow commercially and they taste twice as good.

drip irrigation

I'm sceptical of garden techno-fixes. It's often swapping one form of maintenance for another.

What should I grow next?

For edibles grow things that you love eating, that are expensive and/or rare, and that grow well in your locale. Unless you have acres of garden and are growing for self sufficiency don't waste time growing staples like onions and carrots (or zucchini) that you can buy by the sack for pennies. Soft fruits and fresh herbs are a good choice, cut flowers if you like flowers, or premium vegetables like asparagus. Basically start at the apex of produce and work your way down, not vice versa.

Basically start at the apex of produce and work your way down

That's what I figured as well. The fun stuff are the fruits and vegetables you can't find in the supermarket, either because they're fragile or the market for them is too tiny. Thanks for reminding me about the alpine strawberries, I read about that several months back but it has since slipped out of my mind.

I actually just bought a drip irrigation starter kit last weekend from a big-box hardware store, which hooks into a typical 3/4" garden hose connection. I also bought a timer, which attaches to the 3/4" GHT and will let me run the drip irrigation to send 0.5/1.0/2.0 gallons of water per hour to each planter. For those of us who work long hours away from home and may not be able to consistently water in the morning, it's a good solution.

Drip irrigation is extremely convenient and low maintenance. There is a startup cost, of course, but it's great to have it. It's also like building a hydraulic lego set.

I just finished a small setup on 9 pots, I totally get the analogy now. I'll post about it at the next Friday Fun thread and you can critique it...

I'm far from an expert but would be interested to see what you came up with.

On the other hand you'll be inundated with a glut of courgettes that nobody likes eating that will quickly turn into a glut of giant marrows that nobody likes eating.

Zucchini bread is a godsend when this happens. It turns out people love zucchini if you bake it into a cake that's full of sugar, butter, and sour cream.

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