We came from here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1019787/#new
Directions to free seeds is here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1010521/
heya girls!
CLOSED: Free Seed For Newbies! 7/31/09. Come Join Us!
Thanks Cue. I left you a poem on the back porch LOL
OK - found it. Thanks for the new thread!
well, having my morning cuppa, then off tot he garden to work on the lasagna bed.
yesterday, as a b-day gift to myself, i purchased 3 bags of compost, 3 bags of top soil and 1 bag (for $4) of peat moss. in total I spent $12.. not bad eh?
now, my question:
do i layer the topsoil along with the greens and browns OR do I just pile a HUGE layer of it on the top of the bed only? Anyone?
Good morning Cue. Seems like somone said the top soil goes on top as the last layer.
Foggy here this morning so waiting for it to clear off before I head outside.
cue - I would mix the topsoil in with some of the compost and finish that as your top layer to plant in.
good suggestion KT2. try it later. right now, recouping from the dreaded task of grocery shopping. its not so much the 'getting' that tires ya out, its the bringing in and putting away that gets ya!
I hear that. I don't care for grocery shopping too much myself.
I'm out in the blasted heat cleaning up the back yard. I have a vacant house next door that has a Palo Verde tree that drops it's dead needles all over my concrete area. It's a pain in my you-know-what! I can't even use them in my compost pile because they take forever to break down. So, I get to rake them up and put them in the trash - all the time. Sucks I tell ya! LOL!
if the house is vacant.. perhaps the tree might suffer some mysterious death ? Mysteriously missing limbs? hehehe
Oh it's missing limbs alright - ROTFL! I cut that sucker back all the time... It hangs waaaayyyyyy over my block wall. Granted it gives some nice shade in that corner of the yard, but the mess it makes is too much. Then it gets these yellow flowers that drop all over the place - argh!
HI Loca and Cue. Loca I'm with Cue on it's mysteriously dying. Paint it with Roundup or something next time you trim those limbs.
Finally got in gear and weeded my herbs that my friend gave me. Dratted woman gave me a marigold even though I told her I don't like the things. Now I have to figure out what to give her in return that she doesn't like. Only way to break her from that nonsense is to do her the same way.
Felt more like fall here than the hottest part of summer. Oh well, now that the herbs and other stray weeds are done with in the one bed I can start on the lasagna bed.
my lasagna bed is DONE!!! put down a layer of fresh pine needles, a sprinkle of spanish moss, tossed two days worth of coffee grounds in, then peat moss, compost, topsoil, peat moss, compost and topsoil till it was all gone and finished. got a nice 12-18 inch bed now... tomorrow we start planting veggie seeds! think i will pass on planting tomatoes tho.
ok, so the lasagna bed is 5' x 7'. which is the best way to plant rows? should i plant them short with more variety running the 5' length, or long rows, with fewer variety running the 7' length?
All of my veggie beds are in the square foot method - I don't use rows. If I did, though, I would plant the short way - that way you can plant more variety.
Ive heard of this 'sq.ft.' method. how exactly does that work?
I have raised beds - 3 beds that are 4' x 4', one that is 4' x 10' and another that is 2' x 10' for a total of 108 sq ft of gardening space. In each sq ft goes one crop, for example one broccoli, 16 carrots, etc.. How many of a certain crop you plant in each square depends on the "thin to" spacing for the crop. No overplanting and thinning - plant just what you need where you need it. I really like the method and you can grow more stuff in less space, and even more so if you grow stuff vertically (trellised, etc.).
If you google square foot gardening you will find lots of info.
This picture was when we were working on the last bed, the 4' x 10', but gives you an idea. I have better pics of the beds, but this is one I know where it is quickly. Trying to organize all my pics so I can find them faster - lol.
Edited to say you can see that blasted Palo Verde in the background!
This message was edited Aug 1, 2009 1:29 PM
cool, maybe i will try that next time, when i have planned out the bed a bit better.
ok, now, about mulching. all i have available (sitting unused in the garage) is red cypress mulch. if i plant seeds, wont they have a hard time sprouting up through the layer of bark? should i wait until after they have broken thru the surface to mulch?
I would wait to mulch so the seedlings can get to the surface. As long as you keep the soil moist until they sprout they'll be just fine.
ok, just planted the bed with:
green onion, peas, bush beans, spinach, carrots, romaine, zucchini, and straight neck squash.
hopefully everything goes smoothly. but at this point, all i can do is cross my fingers and hope for the best. hopefully, all my hard work and sweat will pay off.
How hot is it there right now? The peas, spinach, carrots and romaine are "cool season" crops. As long as it's not hot as hades there they should do fine . . . If for some reason it gets too hot you have plenty of time for another crop!
Hi Everyone
Looks like everyone's out in the garden today. Congrats on finishing the lasagna Cue. You're fast!!! I still need a few more papers but did get the Black Kow today.
Loca's right about the peas etc. They may come up but won't do much until it cools off. I have some Kale that will come up in the heat and some Swiss chard if you find you need to replant. Just dmail me.
Your beds look great Loca. I was curious about sq ft myself. How many bean plants do you plant in the square? I know in the EB's I can plant about 16 plants in one box and that will get me through the first part of the season with some in the freezer. I usually have to plant a second box for Aug and Sept though. It seems sq ft would give you the option to plant every few weeks if you wanted.
Hi, seray -
Thanks!
Pole beans w/ tripod trellis I usually plant 8/square. Bush beans 9 per square. Seems to work well. The square foot method is great for succession planting. I can estimate using days to maturity and can pretty much plan out my planting schedule from one season to the next. I've read about making your own EBs - may try that one of these days as I like to grow things in containers as well, but the watering is a killer - lol.
its all a learning experience for me.. those i planted on a whim... i dont eat alot of the leafy stuff, so if they die out, i wont be too heartbroken.. more hopingt he squash and beans do well.. we eat alot of that.
HI Everyone
Congrats on getting the lasagna bed done Cue
Loca I've been considering that sq ft method for awhile now always seemed a waste of good space to plant in rows and I was always thinking if you plant x inches apart in rows why can't you plant the rows that same distance apart. Am I right in thinking you do in the sq ft method? You just have a sq ft section with the plants spaced as in the rows apart all through it?
lol.. i id pole beans this year, planted nine plants at the base, but could never harvest enough at one time to cook for a meal.. so we snacked on them... oh well, ya live, ya learn.. perhaps next year, we plant twice as many
cue - your squash and beans like the summer heat and should do fine.
mindy - if you look at the pic I posted above and look at the 2' x 10' bed, the long skinny one, and see the squares divided out? Each one of those squares is 1 sq ft and you plant one crop in each square. You determine how many of the crop for each square based on the thin to guideline on the seed pack, or just by knowing how big the plant gets. For example, one tomato/square. That is sometimes tight, so it's best to grow indeterminate or bush varieties or be ready to prune and stake determinate varieties. With row gardening, they require so much space (wasted space) between rows so that you can cultivate the soil, weed and walk between the rows.
The best book I have found is the "All New Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. I got mine pretty cheap on Amazon. The other great thing about this method is you don't use your native soil (tho I did in some beds mixed with homemade compost). Great if you have awful soil!
seray - teepeed is a word if you say it is - lol!
wouldnt that be 'tee-pee'd" ? ROTFL
Mindy,
If your on here you have mail.
HI Everyone
Thanks for the book title Loca the library does have one on sq ft but while it is good it's not real clear to me.
Flower you have d mail back.
Might get to start on the lasagna bed today if it doesn't rain all day. Pulled weeds from the shady bed so it's ready to be worked on too if it gets too hot in the other location. Once I get those two beds done I'll be free to figure out where to put more. DH went back on his offer to let me turn the whole yard into a flower gardne POUT. All because he's into fixing old riding mowers and wants grass to mow.
well, cut a deal with him.. tell him all the pathways you make around the garden will be made of grass instead of mulch, that way he can still mow :)
LOL Now Cue you know men who think having a big lawn to mow is the greatest summer project ever LOL. Mine actually hates to mow unless he's trying out a new riding mower or in this case fixed older models. Don't worry The flower gardne/orchard section is mine since I was the one who battled the weeds and did the digging and there's still plenty of room down there for me to play in. Though he's trying to have a say in that area too but he only gets say on fruits to put in there since he eats most of them.
what is it with men and mowing??/ I hate mowing, dread it every week!
For him it's the machine LOL. I actually like to mow but only with a push mower which I've not got to use at all this year.
all I have is a push mower.. and 75% if my front yard is on an ncline.. so it makes it extremely difficult to mow. I hate it. dont mind the side and back yard so much but, Heat+humidity+incline= Aggravated and exhausted Kelz...lol
Yep I know about those inclines we have one here on a side yard though not real steep it give s the lges a workout. He got rid of that portion mainly by making the chickens pen cover most of it said they needed the exercise worse than he did and I'm like but it's a breeze on a riding mower LOL
lol, my incline is too steep if ya ask me. when i first moved in, i wasnt thinking about it.. all i saw was yard, and how wonderful it was to have one after living 3 years in a 1000 sq. ft. apartment. but now its torture...lol. cant mow it sideways, the mower will just slide down the hill, so what I have to do it sort of let the mower roll down the hill, then drag it back up, then roll down the hill, then drag it back up... and over and over...LOL. thank goodness the rest of the yard is nice and flat!
Well least you are getting your recommended aerobic workout each week during the summer. Keeps you in good shape LOL
lol.. true, that is until the boy gets big enough to do it.. then its all his...lol