TOO Garden Thread
- Thread starter Milo
- Start date
LET IT RAIN
I've turned the garden over two times in the last two weeks, last time was Thursday afternoon in hopes it would stay dry enough to plant today. just now done getting all of Nancy's starts in the ground and lining the perimeter with Marigolds. She grew everything from seed this year besides the Fortex beans. She always grows peppers and tomatoes from seed, but usually not the cukes and multitude of squashes. I'll probably run after straw yet today and put out the tomato cages after we scatter the straw around. Put up the bean netting sometime in the next week or two. I'll grow the cucumbers up the netting again this year as it worked well last year.
We've been using straw for about 10 years, and our soil is as good as it has ever been right now. at the end of the garden season (while I'm deer hunting
) Nancy cleans up all the dead plants and rakes out the straw to cover the entire garden, then I till it under in the spring. Straw is tough to beat even though it only does a so-so job of keeping weeds down. It does do an admirable job of holding in moisture.
Last year we tried a new fertilizer, adding a TB to each hole when we put plants in the ground. I'll go back and fertilize the rows of beans after they are up. We don't ever fertilize the whole garden any more so as not to encourage the weeds any further. I don't think it is coincidence that our garden grew last year like it never has in the last 17 years. The difference in our garden last year was remarkable. I expect we'll use this evermore, or until we find something better.
hope you all are planting your gardens today, too. darn nice day for it, and rain is coming.
I've turned the garden over two times in the last two weeks, last time was Thursday afternoon in hopes it would stay dry enough to plant today. just now done getting all of Nancy's starts in the ground and lining the perimeter with Marigolds. She grew everything from seed this year besides the Fortex beans. She always grows peppers and tomatoes from seed, but usually not the cukes and multitude of squashes. I'll probably run after straw yet today and put out the tomato cages after we scatter the straw around. Put up the bean netting sometime in the next week or two. I'll grow the cucumbers up the netting again this year as it worked well last year.
We've been using straw for about 10 years, and our soil is as good as it has ever been right now. at the end of the garden season (while I'm deer hunting
) Nancy cleans up all the dead plants and rakes out the straw to cover the entire garden, then I till it under in the spring. Straw is tough to beat even though it only does a so-so job of keeping weeds down. It does do an admirable job of holding in moisture.Last year we tried a new fertilizer, adding a TB to each hole when we put plants in the ground. I'll go back and fertilize the rows of beans after they are up. We don't ever fertilize the whole garden any more so as not to encourage the weeds any further. I don't think it is coincidence that our garden grew last year like it never has in the last 17 years. The difference in our garden last year was remarkable. I expect we'll use this evermore, or until we find something better.
hope you all are planting your gardens today, too. darn nice day for it, and rain is coming.
Buckmaster
Senior Member
My garden received some new fencing this year to keep out the unwanted critters.
My kids decided they no longer wanted their swimming pool so I took the 40 ton of sand from under the pool area and placed it into the garden.
I followed up with lime, fertilizer, and double till.
Next weekend if its dry enough I will till for a 3rd time and plant. I think I'll buy a dozen bails of straw for trial this year.
My kids decided they no longer wanted their swimming pool so I took the 40 ton of sand from under the pool area and placed it into the garden.
I followed up with lime, fertilizer, and double till.
Next weekend if its dry enough I will till for a 3rd time and plant. I think I'll buy a dozen bails of straw for trial this year.
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Looking good fellas!
I have too many irons in the fire to have a garden this size, but I don't understand moderation, so here I am planting a garden! By the time I was ready to plant, it decided to rain 9 days in a row, so it wasn't until yesterday that I got a chance to plant. Started with both traditional and bush variety cucumbers, "Black Beauty" zucchini and yellow squash. Added some collard greens in there too. I'll be back over tonight to plant tomatoes and peppers ahead of the rain hopefully.
I have too many irons in the fire to have a garden this size, but I don't understand moderation, so here I am planting a garden! By the time I was ready to plant, it decided to rain 9 days in a row, so it wasn't until yesterday that I got a chance to plant. Started with both traditional and bush variety cucumbers, "Black Beauty" zucchini and yellow squash. Added some collard greens in there too. I'll be back over tonight to plant tomatoes and peppers ahead of the rain hopefully.
Buckmaster
Senior Member
….and we are done.
Looks like this year's feature crops will be sweet banana peppers, tomatoes, brussell sprouts, green beans, and corn.
Looks like this year's feature crops will be sweet banana peppers, tomatoes, brussell sprouts, green beans, and corn.
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Looks great Ben! The homestead looks like it is fitting in nicely tucked back in the woods. What year is it now, 3,4?
Buckmaster
Senior Member
Looking good fellas! You guys have me reconsidering my layout once we get moved. Those raised beds are the cat's ass.
I was able to finish my planting Friday, then watered today before putting the last of the straw down. I like this layout better, but its slightly smaller with no corn. I'm too busy to go all out this summer, but there's plenty of pickles, salsa and hot pepper mustard in here! Can't wait until next summer when we live here and I have the ability to monitor/control things a little better.
I was able to finish my planting Friday, then watered today before putting the last of the straw down. I like this layout better, but its slightly smaller with no corn. I'm too busy to go all out this summer, but there's plenty of pickles, salsa and hot pepper mustard in here! Can't wait until next summer when we live here and I have the ability to monitor/control things a little better.
Well when it rains enough to be considered the "wettest June on record", its hard to tend a garden. When you're in the midst of the craziest year of your life, its hard to tend a garden. When you don't live next to your garden, its hard to tend your garden. And this is what you get! Still pulled a batch of pickles, plenty of squash for the chickens, enough peppers to do mustard and the beans and Romas look great. Just going to let it be and enjoy what I get! It nearly paid back in produce what I have in the plants already, so who cares from here on out! Next year we'll live here and it'll be a different garden!
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I can relate Jesse. We used to have this issue as well. "Watering the garden" was also watering all our weeds. Initially I built mounds and ran some irrigation. This helped but as water ran off it was still giving our weeds lots of water. Finally broke down and did raised beds. Used cedar. I think they will out last me but we may never recoup the cost of the Lumber. . It has limited our weeding to only the raised bed areas. We were still getting weeds between the beds. Lastly, I began to mulch in the raised beds and around them. This has greatly reduced our weeding. Mind you, this year I got mulch outside the raised beds done late so we are getting some weeds thru the mulch. Nothing like we used to though. I'm pleased.
Erin picked lettuce already. Onions pretty much ready. Tomato plants look crazy big and healthy of recent weeks. Squash and cucumbers coming along nicely. Peppers doing okay. Zucchini looks terrible.
. It has limited our weeding to only the raised bed areas. We were still getting weeds between the beds. Lastly, I began to mulch in the raised beds and around them. This has greatly reduced our weeding. Mind you, this year I got mulch outside the raised beds done late so we are getting some weeds thru the mulch. Nothing like we used to though. I'm pleased. Erin picked lettuce already. Onions pretty much ready. Tomato plants look crazy big and healthy of recent weeks. Squash and cucumbers coming along nicely. Peppers doing okay. Zucchini looks terrible.
so two years later, I finally got my cold frame built.
turned out as good as I had hoped, but was a bit more of a project than I anticipated time and cost wise. built the whole thing out of PVC. impervious to moisture and bugs. zero maintenance forever. nearly cost prohibitive, however, and PVC not quite as rigid as I would have thought. .125" clear acrylic sheet for the doors.1x12 for the back, 1x8 for the front, sides tapered accordingly.
door frames are 1x2. all of the butt joints are glued for a little extra stability/durability. the corner braces and "T" braces are a necessity.
I built this so that we could disassemble and put away for the summer. a total of 6 pieces. two doors, two sides, front and back. I made 1 1/2"x 2" corner supports buy gluing together scrap 1x, screwed the corner supports to the sides, using bolts and wingnuts to attach front and back.
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so two years later, I finally got my cold frame built.
View attachment 62041
1x12 for the back, 1x8 for the front, sides tapered accordingly.
View attachment 62042
door frames are 1x2. all of the butt joints are glued for a little extra stability/durability. the corner braces and "T" braces are a necessity.
View attachment 62043
I built this so that we could disassemble and put away for the summer. a total of 6 pieces. two doors, two sides, front and back. I made 1 1/2"x 2" corner supports buy gluing together scrap 1x, screwed the corner supports to the sides, using bolts and wingnuts to attach front and back.
Looks awesome man. Planning to get an early jump on lettuce or something?
we'll grow herbs, lettuce, spinach, green onions all winter in this cold frame. also get a head start on some things in the spring. about the only herb that does not seem to do well over the winter is basil, but since we've got enough of that now that we could bale it, we'll have room for more greens.
Do you think it’ll hold a snow load? I’ve thought about this and that’s my worry, or a dog getting on it.
the doors are plenty strong. they would hold my 50lb dogs, but I can assure you that they would only climb on it once when I can see them do it. three feet of heavy, wet snow might be a problem, but I have a wife and a snow shovel. we don't get enough snow here to worry about something like that. I do keep the snow off of it, anyway, just so the radiant energy gets in and keeps it warm.
we don't get enough snow here to worry about something like that. I do keep the snow off of it, anyway, just so the radiant energy gets in and keeps it warm.