Let talk about our veggie gardens, how big? how many varieties of veggies do you have? anyone do square foot gardening?
How to keep rodents out?
I am planning to finally get mine done this year.
So far here I've only done container gardens but I do have tons of space to do a huge one. So any and all advice is appreciated.
This pic is my grandma's garden in Edmonton Canada c1980
My concentration this year will be on planning and planting the veggie garden...as you can see I have the space
I don't have much sun in the backyard. this year I'm going to try veggies mix in with the flowers in the front. lots of sun there.
Have to put it where you can
I've seen a few articles where towns are trying to stop people from planting veggie gardens in their front yards...which is just crazy http://goo.gl/GB0yN
http://goo.gl/Leb7s
Instead of doing one huge one, maybe put up several raised beds.
It has to be easy for hubby to mow around and leave room for kiddies to play
Raised beds way to go!
I have two places I can use. The front garden is about 120' by 180'. The back one is going to be hard to determine. It has trees to the south so you have to get out of the shadow them and there are a lot of wet spots in it. The first picture is the front one. It can't be worked all the way back to where I'm standing because it is too wet. The equipment to the right is what I use to work it up. My limitation to what I plant is how much weeding I can keep up with.
I'll grow tomatoes, corn,beans,squash and flowers.
This message was edited Feb 12, 2013 10:24 AM
Raised beds take care of all those concerns.
I have a much smaller garden than I used to have....but I grow about 18 tomatoes, 2 rows of green beans, 2 hills of squash, 5 hills of cukes, 1 row of peppers, 2 rows of carrots, 2 rows of beets, several rows of peas, a row of bunching onions, and then a row of something different each year....this year I'm trying baby bok choi.....the rest is flowers....dahlias, cosmos, zinnias, plus a few mixed pkgs......I surround the veggies with marigolds....not many pests....I use no chemicals, just cow manure & lime......
anyone starting veggies from seed - when are you going to start?
Here's a neat chart to find out when to start sowing specific seeds
http://www.chestnut-sw.com/growform.htm
Anyone bury chicken wire or fencing to keep critters out?
I plant most everything from seed..... here's a couple of really good charts.
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/veggie_chart.htm
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/e-PDGSeedStart.aspx
those are good - thx
I don't go by charts. I plant peas when I can work the ground and beets too. I use raised beds and 10 gal containers. I'm trying a new variety of snap peas from Burpee's which only grow 10 inches high but are suppose to produce the same amount of peas as the taller varieties and you can plant them in an 8" pot. I am also planting regular tall varieties so I'm assured some peas either way. I've always planted warm weather veggies on or around Memorial Day. The only seeds I do start indoors are my tomatoes and perennials and I do that the first of April. This year I have planted 4 6-packs of columbines and placed them on my front porch. I'll bring them in around the first of April and place them on my heat pads under light. I always direct sow every thing else in my veggie patch which includes cukes, summer squash, winter squash, snap beans, rutabega, and chard. I am a creature of habit and don't change.
Haven't researched it yet but anyone know if Burpee's seeds are non Gmo?
Have no idea.....
Not sure but my last ones were the size of baseballs...
I wouldn't think the heirlooms are.
What does everyone use as paths/walkways in their veggie gardens?
Just the dirt....should mulch, because it gets very weedy.....only my peas are up...just so dry.....
I use chipped trees for paths. At the sound of a chain saw on Saturday morning I am out looking to see if they are using a chipped and a truck! About every other year I get a mountain of chips dumped on my driveway and spend the summer wheel barrowing them into place.
Good for you, Memory!
Woohoo!!!
good idea!
I am planning my veggie garden still... I am reading up on companion plants and found something very interesting that I want to share because I had no idea.. A plant I have always thought to be extremely poisonous called Solanium nigrum, was listed as a great companion plant to potatoes, because potato beetles find it way more delicous than potatoes. When searching the plant I found some info that it is not poisonous and in other countries it is eaten regularly, but it has been confused with another similar plant. http://goo.gl/j3JXU
some more info on companion plants
http://goo.gl/n4yZI
I always thought it was poisonous! I always have several that show up in my veggie garden, & I dig them out.
planting veggie's this weekend - t's are in as are leeks - tomorrow the rest will get planted
Glad to read about everyone's 2013 veggie bed.
Wha, We have never planted leeks, and we seem to fail at onions so I assume I wouldn't be good with leeks. Don't know why.. Love to cook with them. We have had cold weather crops in for a while both direct seed and starts that we bought. We gave up on starting seeds ourselves as we travel too much. We always managed to kill way too many little seedlings. It was heartbreaking.
We will plant all the other starts that we just bought when we get back to the Island on Tuesday as both of our veggie beds are all ready to be planted. The paths are even already mulched. This year we used regular mulch as we had an extra yard of it to use up after we had done all the shrub and border beds. Other years we have use pine needles or straw, but that can be weedy or hard to find on Nantucket. I like the wood chip idea from AYankeeCat. Sounds real Yankee Fugal too. Patti
Hopefully will get to mine this week. No biggie being late this year with all these cold temps.
Won't be planting warm weather crops until the end of this week....missed WFF's Tomatomania, but will pick up plants at the farm on my road.....
veggie garden is in - we "mulch" it with sea straw - it really is the start of summer when the veggie garden is planted! had the in-laws over to help and a nice cookout afterward.
Great!
Do you mix in any fruit type plantings in your veggie garden? or should they be kept separate?
I left a note for the pet sitter to help herself to asparagus. I got a note back from her that she couldn't find it. Guess I should have told her that it was purple and 2 feet tall and as thick as a thumb. It is monster sized, but it still is tender and delicious.
LOL...should have drawn her a map
Heehee. Monstergras!!
We still have lots of 40 degree nights in our forecast, but I don't see any 30's which is a good thing. I won't be planting alot of the seedlings I started until June 1st or better I think.
Nights look to be in the 50s now, or high 40s...still haven't finished digging all the veggie garden.....very unhappy with my son at this point!
no fruit in my veggies
