Garden 2021

[Double R]

@Bacpacker I had heard that marigolds were good for helping keep pests away in the garden. Does it seem to actually work?

 

[Amish Heart]

I picked up 10 more strawberries yesterday and the greenhouse around the corner from us. Only $2 a piece. The twins had time this afternoon to dig out a big area, line it with a brick border, and load it with aged cow poop. So it's ready for the strawberries tomorrow. That'll make 20 plants total. Also had them do an area for horseradish and rubarb. Our neighbor gave me a gal ziplock full of the large marigolds to plant the perimeter of the annual garden. She says it absolutely keeps the bugs out. Wish they'd keep the rabbits out

 

[user 55]

Meer I now have 5 raised beds. Hopefully by this winter I'll have 5 more built and filled. PLan to try and make a frame to cover and try to grow some stuff over winter. One of my beds is now loaded with asparagus and it's coming up nicely.Gonna have to finish topping it off soon. Still have 2 other areas down in my field that I'm growing taters, beans, and will plant melons, squash, corn, and pumpkins.

Question @Bacpacker What are you making raised bed from material wise? I would like to make some waist high that are near the house, truly raised. Ive heard not to use treated wood for obvious reasons. We have a bit of time as the growing season won’t get off to a start for a few weeks yet.

 

[UrbanHunter]

After reading @Bacpacker and @Double R 's posts I remembered that I saw a couple packets of marigold seeds, so I made up some markers and planted them in patches across the raised beds.

I have learned that I am always better off to mark my plants, I remember the time (back when the wife was mobile) that we planted spinach and the wife was weeding, when spinach first comes up it looks like a single blade of grass, the wife weeded that patch bare we still laugh at that learning moment.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Hey @Guardian, I know that @Bacpacker and I are using 2 different production methods and I will not try to describe his. I am using pressure treated wood to avoid those pests that start with a T.... I am very close to the house. I use 2 rows of 2X10 pressure treated lumber, joined at each corner using 4 1/2" Headlok screws (I find I need to pre-drill to avoid splitting the wood). There is a picture in an earlier post, picture is before lining. I fully line mine with 3 layers of 6 mil black plastic (no seams) folding at the corners and stapling in place to keep the moisture in and the pressure treating chemicals out. Mine are only 20" high

I could imagine a raised platform and making a single row of the 2X10s to create a bed of any height 9" deep, I would want to make sure that my platform was strong enough to support the soil when wet. If you use pressure treated wood you would definitely need to line them to preserve the wood and protect your crops.

The 2 2X6 beds I took out this year were 8 years old and had some wood rot at the bottom where they came in contact with the soil, but other than that they were still serviceable, I actually stacked the 4 rows from the 2 beds and am using them as a raised support for some container plants while I am working the rest of the garden. (when you have no space you have to think in the vertical). I am hoping to find a place to re-use the old beds before the summer is over.

 

[Meerkat]

According to your soil type is what to fill the bed with also if you feel like all the digging and moviing the soil into bed.
We have a sandy loam type here so we added some fallen tree limbsin ours. Those will help keep some moisture in the soil plus feed the plants as they decompose.
But these days we would probably buy some of the soil.
We didn't use pressure treated lumber and its been about 10 years and no significant rot yet. Sun kilned I guess from time maybe stopped the rot.
We try to stay organic and don't use fetilizer but if we had to work or just not ablr huess we may of had to. We did use chemical fertilizer in our hydroponics, the organice stunk too much..

 

[Cascadian]

Man, am I the only one that is glad I am not surviving soley on my gardening skills "yet". We keep plugging along though. Every year a little bigger and a little better.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Tonight after work I assembled and installed the trellis over the second raised bed to support the tomatoes in the vertical when they get going. The trellises are each 7' high and run down the center of each of the 8' beds. They are made of 2X4s with 2 vertical supports at the end, 2 horizontal board supporting repurposed wire fence with 2"X3" openings, I had to patch work the second one using 3 smaller pieces of fence laced together. They are spaced about 5' apart from each other so in the fall if the plants are still producing when the early frost comes I can use it as a frame for a temporary greenhouse to extend my growing season.

The lettuce I planted last October is now a foot high so we will be eating a lot of salads until it bolts in June. The spinach is doing even better, but we can blanch it and keep it in the freezer.

Some of my cabbage now has softball sized heads, getting close to being ready to harvest that.

Happy days.

 

[Neb]

Tonight after work I assembled and installed the trellis over the second raised bed to support the tomatoes in the vertical when they get going. The trellises are each 7' high and run down the center of each of the 8' beds. They are made of 2X4s with 2 vertical supports at the end, 2 horizontal board supporting repurposed wire fence with 2"X3" openings, I had to patch work the second one using 3 smaller pieces of fence laced together. They are spaced about 5' apart from each other so in the fall if the plants are still producing when the early frost comes I can use it as a frame for a temporary greenhouse to extend my growing season.

The lettuce I planted last October is now a foot high so we will be eating a lot of salads until it bolts in June. The spinach is doing even better, but we can blanch it and keep it in the freezer.

Some of my cabbage now has softball sized heads, getting close to being ready to harvest that.

Happy days.

Feel free to share some images. It is sounding great!

Ben

 

[Bacpacker]

Question @Bacpacker What are you making raised bed from material wise? I would like to make some waist high that are near the house, truly raised. Ive heard not to use treated wood for obvious reasons. We have a bit of time as the growing season won’t get off to a start for a few weeks yet.

I found the video below and liked the way it looked. After getting the materials I found them pretty easy to build as well. I made mine 2'x3'x8' and 2'x3'x12'. Last year I used 2x12's stacked 2 high. Not nearly as easy to build and with the price of lumber much more expensive this year.
The metal I bought comes in a minimum 4' length, I cut it in half. But if I wanted 3' tall beds I could have ordered 6' lengths. I also filled mine roughly half way up with wood, branches, limbs, cuts from a trunk, what ever you have. Then I used mushroom compost to fill them up.
Here is the video of the build. I'll add a second of them filling it up.

 

[Neb]

I found the video below and liked the way it looked. After getting the materials I found them pretty easy to build as well. I made mine 2'x3'x8' and 2'x3'x12'. Last year I used 2x12's stacked 2 high. Not nearly as easy to build and with the price of lumber much more expensive this year.
The metal I bought comes in a minimum 4' length, I cut it in half. But if I wanted 3' tall beds I could have ordered 6' lengths. I also filled mine roughly half way up with wood, branches, limbs, cuts from a trunk, what ever you have. Then I used mushroom compost to fill them up.
Here is the video of the build. I'll add a second of them filling it up.

Very nice!

Is that you?

Exceptional work shop. Yoy have there.

I am now inspired to duplicate or render as stone and mortor.

Ben

 

[Peanut]

I re-planted 6 rows of sweet corn Friday, 1st batch of seed was bad. Also planted 4 rows of okra and a few more hills of squash/cucumbers/melons.

I found this a few days ago, haven't researched it so I don't know if it's accurate or not.

 

[Amish Heart]

Have heard the same. Have a long area of dirt outside the kitchen window, and planted onion in one area and mint and rosemary in the other. We don't have a bug problem, but don't want one. Getting ready to plant marigold seed around the perimeter of the garden.

 

[UrbanHunter]

I am hoping the tomatoes bounce back, they were in very bad shape when I planted them in the new raised beds, it has been cool the last couple of nights and that does not help.

The lettuce and spinach are doing okay:

The carrots need to be pulled soon so I can replant.

And the Onions are all fully up.

I have a lot of clean up and work to do but spring is here and some things are growing. Pray we don't get anymore freezes.

 

[Bacpacker]

Very nice!

Is that you?

Exceptional work shop. Yoy have there.

I am now inspired to duplicate or render as stone and mortor.

Ben

Not me. Just a video I found.

My tomatoes got bit last week during the cold snap. Toos of the plants look bad. Halfway down still look decent. I'm gonna evaluate this week and either prune the bad, or just pull and replace them. I need to put up a few pics of the beds since they are filling in.

 

[Meerkat]

I found the video below and liked the way it looked. After getting the materials I found them pretty easy to build as well. I made mine 2'x3'x8' and 2'x3'x12'. Last year I used 2x12's stacked 2 high. Not nearly as easy to build and with the price of lumber much more expensive this year.
The metal I bought comes in a minimum 4' length, I cut it in half. But if I wanted 3' tall beds I could have ordered 6' lengths. I also filled mine roughly half way up with wood, branches, limbs, cuts from a trunk, what ever you have. Then I used mushroom compost to fill them up.
Here is the video of the build. I'll add a second of them filling it up.

I had to put up a song 'Making It Natural'kidding aside that looks like a good one. We have some tin roofing we can use from chicken pen roofs we no longer use.

 

[Meerkat]

Of course to start the pen I'll need some 'Young Blood'lol. Just kidding hubby ain't what he once was but hes as good once as he ever was.Another song.We get it done it just takes a lot longer.Sometimes we both feel good at the same time and thats productive.

 

[Meerkat]

When we were productive,we were 'productive' not so much lately,Me and my broccoli I grew in covered raised bed using kerosene lamps for heat,worked great as yall can see,Kinda reminds me of that guy on tool man,lol

 

[Amish Heart]

I'm too chicken to take the tomato plants out of the greenhouse just yet. The only things in ground at the moment are: strawberries, onion, mint, snap peas, brussel sprouts, cabbage, beet seeds and kale seeds. I have all the different squashes in the greenhouse, too.

 

[joel]

I planted nesting onions today.

 

[UrbanHunter]

This morning I harvested and washed 5 gallons of spinach leaves for the wife to blanch, as I came into the house to put them on the counter I realized that gardeners and farmers must be the lowest paid people on the planet, unless you're hungry...

I need to run back out and trim all the stems back because they will poke holes in the next batch of leaves..... always something to do.

Happy day

 

[Amish Heart]

I never thought of that.

 

[lilmissy]

@UrbanHunter when you planted lettuce in Oct, did you keep watering it during the winter? What zone do you live in?

 

[UrbanHunter]

@UrbanHunter when you planted lettuce in Oct, did you keep watering it during the winter? What zone do you live in?

I am on the edge of USDA 6a/6b zone, we see temps down to 0 to (-10), I only watered a few times over the winter when the temperatures came up to 70. I started watering about every other week in March. It being the end of April I am now watering every other day. The lettuce does not hold up as well over the winter as the spinach, but they are both happy now, needing daily harvesting.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Yesterday was spinach, today I harvested leaf lettuce. Have to separate red from green leaf lettuce. Sorry, wife does not like head lettuce....

We actually get more use from the spinach as we can freeze it for later use. The lettuce we have to eat as it comes and you can only eat a layered salad so many time in a row... We will have to give half of this away.....

 

[Amish Heart]

What did you do with all that lettuce? That's a really big salad.
I grow lettuce and spinach all the time in the greenhouse, but had to start again after the negative 13 temps. It stays warm in there, but not that warm. I watered twice a week in the winter, but not alot of water at a time.

 

[UrbanHunter]

What did you do with all that lettuce? That's a really big salad.
I grow lettuce and spinach all the time in the greenhouse, but had to start again after the negative 13 temps. It stays warm in there, but not that warm. I watered twice a week in the winter, but not alot of water at a time.

I mostly ignore my lettuce and spinach over the winter, I like to see if the spinach has sprouted, but it is like watching paint dry. For spinach and lettuce, my raised beds with the tops are good down to about -5 after that every it is very problematic. I have found if we get a good snow 6-12"+ and then the temperature dips it is no problem as the snow is a good insulator at the freezing point. If it is clear and windy and cold then everything dies.....

The raised bed tops have held 3'+ of snow with plants growing inside no problem.

Now, I have to be honest, I don't harvest my outdoor salad over the winter, but I do dig up a sprout or two and bring them in the house to grow into something to harvest.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Today when I harvested lettuce I found some slugs, so tonight I will pop open a Bud and make a half dozen slug traps. I hate having to explain walking around with a bottle of beer to the church folks..... MY LANDS (grandma's favorite cuss word), I can still see her dumping a bottle of fine drinking alcohol one Christmas when grandpa's boss came by with his Christmas bonus and a bottle. Grandma simply said, "I'll take that and went right to the sink". Silence.....

 

[Amish Heart]

Ha Ha. I would of liked your grandma.

 

[lilmissy]

Urban, you are the sane zone as I am. I definitely am going to plant lettuce in fall. what kind of cover do you have onyour raised beds?

meer, was that a big broccoli variety? how was the taste?