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official veggie gardener's thread

meltdown75

meltdown75

Lifer
Well I realize this is a bit early for most of us, but I am getting very excited for my veggie garden this year so I thought I would attempt to drum up some interest before planting season arrives. I usually plant most of my crop on the last weekend in May unless it gets unseasonably warm and there is no threat of frost.

I'm expanding this year from a 10' x 3' tomato "patch" to a full-blown garden. I'm doing this by tearing down the lower level of my deck, which I never liked / wanted anyway (used maybe 5 times over 5 summers). So I'm going to have about 12' x 16' more to work with.

I thought we could use this thread to discuss crops, post pics, and share thoughts on the greatest hobby ever, growing veggies 🙂

Last year I grew three or four different types of tomatoes. This year I am going to include cucumbers, zucchini, onions, peppers and possibly some types of herbs or spices (dill, maybe for trying to make my own pickles once the season is over). I've grown all of those before with some success, but this year I have enough room for a better attempt / higher yields.

please discuss your veggie gardens here. be my veggie-friends 🙂 I will definitely be posting pics. I love taking pics of veggies.

Perennial lovers / landscapers / flower gardeners please feel free to join. Let's make this a fun thread to show off all the fruits of our fun labours 🙂
 
Grow some yellow Brandywines. If you have trouble finding them, you can get them here. They are low acid and truly fine on sandwiches or all by themselves.
 
I hope to be putting in a much bigger garden myself. Right now I have this:

Top Layer: Dead grass, dying grass, and/or weeds
Middle Layer: "Sod", if you can call it sod, mostly just dead things that couldn't survive
Middle Layer: Plastic mesh used to install "sod"
Bottom Layer: Clay that cannot sustain plant life

I plan rip up the sod and plastic, put down 3" of compost, till the compost into the clay, then put down 3" of potting soil (a top soil / compost mix).

Anything else that I should be doing? How difficult is it to pull up sod with one of those rental machines? I've done it with just a shovel and that is backbreaking work. And what the heck do you do with the sod when you are done?
 
Best bet is just to build up and not worry about growing in your existing soil. Build raised beds and the process of adding organic material and compost over time will eventually infiltrate the lower quality soil below as worms thread up and down.

I'll post more about my garden in time. I bought a house and moved and the back yard is barren and in quite poor shape. I won't really be able to do much out there until I've finished a few indoor projects.
 
Let's see. I got the chance to grow our freedom garden with my parents last year. I got to help dig out the ditch in our yard which my dad aptly named, "rock city." Gardening is not fun when you live where a glacier plowed through.

Let's see we grew some sort of italian zuchinni, LOADS of GB's, all the tomatoes died...some other random stuff. I just remember having to do half the work for another of my mom's "ideas".

I would really like fresh tomatoes, when they don't get wiped out by disease they are fantastic. You can taste a big difference, difference in GB's was meh at best. The herbs however were also fantastic.

I only wish I could plant animals. Le sigh.
 
dullard said:
I hope to be putting in a much bigger garden myself. Right now I have this:

Top Layer: Dead grass, dying grass, and/or weeds
Middle Layer: "Sod", if you can call it sod
Middle Layer: Plastic mesh used to install "sod"
Bottom Layer: Clay that cannot sustain plant life

I plan rip up the sod and plastic, put down 3" of compost, till the compost with the clay, then put down 3" of potting soil (a top soil / compost mix).

Anything else that I should be doing? How difficult is it to pull up sod with one of those rental machines? I've done it with just a shovel and that is backbreaking work. And what the heck do you do with the sod when you are done?
Click to expand...
oh my God... I just had nightmares of yanking up sod when my ex wanted to expand the front perennial garden. I have no tips... other than take breaks. Fortunately I didn't have to do a super huge area. I just chucked mine over the fence... my property backs onto a treeline so no one cares about dirty old sod down there 🙂

My soil composition is basically the same as yours, with the exception of the plastic mesh. I dug down into the clay a bit and then used some extra pressure treated cedar plants we had left over for the sides and created a planter box of sorts. i just wanted to create a bed of topsoil so when the roots reached the clay, they would have enough strength to dig in. I think that worked... well, the results spoke for themselves as I have had pretty decent yields so far. I threw 10 bags of topsoil in there. It now has 4 seasons of veggie compost and I assume is packed with nutrients now but I'm not sure about that side of things. Tomatoes have worked the best for me so far. I'm beyond geeked for this.
 
I have a little over 3 acres plowed. Already have various forums of lettuce, cabbage and onions coming up. Peas aren't far behind. Have a couple dozen tomato varieties about 3 inches tall in the hot house just waiting till after the 15th to put them in the ground. The same goes for my various forms of peppers, squash, etc... Will be planting some corn and okra before too long...

Blackberries are looking good as are the blueberry bushes. First year I'm going to let the blueberries produce so we will have to see how they do. Put some raspberries in about a week ago and I'm currently waiting on some Muscadine Grapes to show up so I can get them transplanted.

The orchard is coming along as well. Apple and cherry trees are covered in blooms, 2 of the Asian pear varieties are just starting to bloom. The European pears aren't far behind. Peaches and plums should come on quickly as well.

Probably left some stuff out...but typing while on a conference call is not my strong suit...
 
I'm starting a new veggie garden this year. Already put the framework for a 8'x16'x6" garden. My soil's has a lot of clay in it so I was looking to purchase some soil to fill er up. Would potting soil be ok or do should I get use topsoil or something else? I was thinking about getting about a cubic yard of soil but my neighbor recommended I purchase it by the bag instead of from one of those "soil yards" since I won't know what the quality of the soil will be and I'm starting from scratch.
 
dabuddha said:
I'm starting a new veggie garden this year. Already put the framework for a 8'x16'x6" garden. My soil's has a lot of clay in it so I was looking to purchase some soil to fill er up. Would potting soil be ok or do should I get use topsoil or something else? I was thinking about getting about a cubic yard of soil but my neighbor recommended I purchase it by the bag instead of from one of those "soil yards" since I won't know what the quality of the soil will be and I'm starting from scratch.
Click to expand...

You need organic compost.
 
planted a bunch of beans, peas, and potatoes.

Currently working on tomato, yellow squash, zuchini, anaheim pepper, cucumber, and lemon cucumber seedlings.
 
Planning on growing tomatoes, cucumbers, banana and bell peppers, and couple of herbs. I'm just going to do a small garden in the back yard. I had problems with mosquitoes the last time I did a large garden.

My recently planted blueberries bushes along with apple, peach, and plum trees are doing great. It's amazing how fast they're growing.
 
We don't have room for a big garden, but I built some raised beds last fall for the garden this year instead of just growing produce next to the house and along the fence.

I already have 6 tomatos in the ground, (2 early girl, 4 cherry) still need one beefsteak ,have 2 green bell peppers, 1 jalapeno, one serrano, and one fresno chile planted, plus 4 blueberry plants, (experiment) Still have a bunch of seeds to plant...rained this weekend...didn't get it done.)
 
Last year we planted a raspberry, texas sweet onions, cucumbers, bell peppers, new mexico big jim peppers (variation of anaheim), green beans, romaine, spinach and various herbs.

The puppy ate the bell peppers, chewed on the cumcumbers (but did not eat), ate 1/8 of the peppers, dug up the onions so she could play with them, and crunched the green beans. Oh, she ate a pecan tree too. Cant really blame her, she was having fun.

I did manage to get about 5 lbs of peppers that the dog didnt get. She absolutely loves peppers.

This year, the raspberry is looking great already and I put the bell peppers and new mexico big jims in the dirt tonight with a few herbs. Keeping it simple this year. The key lime tree is just about ready to stay outside full time now.

So far, the dog has learned to stay out of the now fenced off garden area and sticks to eating mulch.
 
shiner said:
I have a little over 3 acres plowed. Already have various forums of lettuce, cabbage and onions coming up. Peas aren't far behind. Have a couple dozen tomato varieties about 3 inches tall in the hot house just waiting till after the 15th to put them in the ground. The same goes for my various forms of peppers, squash, etc... Will be planting some corn and okra before too long...

Blackberries are looking good as are the blueberry bushes. First year I'm going to let the blueberries produce so we will have to see how they do. Put some raspberries in about a week ago and I'm currently waiting on some Muscadine Grapes to show up so I can get them transplanted.

The orchard is coming along as well. Apple and cherry trees are covered in blooms, 2 of the Asian pear varieties are just starting to bloom. The European pears aren't far behind. Peaches and plums should come on quickly as well.

Probably left some stuff out...but typing while on a conference call is not my strong suit...
Click to expand...
God, that's sexy. <3

We just moved into our own place this past November so we're settling in for the first year setup. Currently working on the backyard landscaping and our animal projects. We've got an acre we want to eventually do this with:
1260746277_c2b85b65e4c3.jpg

But it's going to take us at least a year to get the area graded and the soil prepped. We had our loader on another piece of property and the gorram neighbors stripped it, so repair is stop #1.

Just put a lilac into the ground and made a friend who gave me other cuttings for landscaping. I'm just dreaming about veggies this year but I did already plant curry, lemon thyme, peppers, orange spice thyme, rosemary and sage. 🙂
 
Melty, since you're in south Detroit :sneaky: you'll have success with cantaloupes and basil too. If you decide to do cantaloupes you'll have to get the fruit off the ground onto coffee cans or inverted planting pots in our climate. Also, nothing freezes as well as pesto.
 
It seems a bit late to me to start growing. What kind of growing season do you get up there in Canada?
 
Leros said:
It seems a bit late to me to start growing. What kind of growing season do you get up there in Canada?
Click to expand...

Seattle here and most of the local wholesalers haven't gotten their main stock in yet, should be in sometime in the next few weeks. I'd imagine Canada is a few weeks behind us. We're zone 8.
 
dabuddha said:
I'm starting a new veggie garden this year. Already put the framework for a 8'x16'x6" garden. My soil's has a lot of clay in it so I was looking to purchase some soil to fill er up. Would potting soil be ok or do should I get use topsoil or something else? I was thinking about getting about a cubic yard of soil but my neighbor recommended I purchase it by the bag instead of from one of those "soil yards" since I won't know what the quality of the soil will be and I'm starting from scratch.
Click to expand...
That yard of soil might be too much. I'd probably just buy a bunch of bags of topsoil. That's what I used, and it seemed to work fine. It's not too pricey here, maybe 3 bucks a bag.
 
Leros said:
It seems a bit late to me to start growing. What kind of growing season do you get up there in Canada?
Click to expand...
Well, we are experiencing some nice temps this week, a little bit higher than seasonal, but after tomorrow it will dip back down somewhat and the threat of frost is still a possibility. Usually I put everything in during "May 2-4" weekend, but I might do it a week early this year depending on the weather. But basically anywhere from mid-May to the end of September or so.
 
expanded the 4 2x5' raised beds to 4 4x5' beds. Still need soil for 2 of them, but i still have a couple weeks to get it ready. Last frost isnt till April 27th.

fianlly got around to putting in the peas and carrots last night. a few weeks behind, but oh well.

Still need to plant the bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce and cantaloupe.
 
We have a 12x12' garden.
We usually plant 4 tomato, 2 zucchini and 6 various pepper plants.

Anyone have any suggestions for something else?
It needs to take up a small area due to our size limitations, so no watermelon or creeping type plants.
 
meltdown75 said:
Well, we are experiencing some nice temps this week, a little bit higher than seasonal, but after tomorrow it will dip back down somewhat and the threat of frost is still a possibility. Usually I put everything in during "May 2-4" weekend, but I might do it a week early this year depending on the weather. But basically anywhere from mid-May to the end of September or so.
Click to expand...
Mother's day (May 9th) has always been when I put stuff in the ground, but since I went to work early in the morning I could always hose down stuff early before the sun rose if a hard frost came that night. It is the sun hitting a frozen plant that destroys it. May 31 is considered the more acceptable date, though. You can also go early if you use row covers.

btw-we had a hard frost on last June 2 in low lying areas.
 
dabuddha said:
I'm starting a new veggie garden this year. Already put the framework for a 8'x16'x6" garden. My soil's has a lot of clay in it so I was looking to purchase some soil to fill er up. Would potting soil be ok or do should I get use topsoil or something else? I was thinking about getting about a cubic yard of soil but my neighbor recommended I purchase it by the bag instead of from one of those "soil yards" since I won't know what the quality of the soil will be and I'm starting from scratch.
Click to expand...

if you figure the size you listed, 8 ft x 16ft x 6 inches you are creating a space of 64 cubic feet. a cubic yard is 27 ft. you're going to need a bit more than 2 yards of dirt to fill that. i'd get 2 yards of topsoil, no need to get the expensive kind, regular will do. get yourself a tiller and add a bunch of manure/peat humas/peat moss for the first year. each successive year, blend more manure/peat humas/peat moss and in a few years your garden will have nice soil. I sub out the peat moss with raked leaves from the fall before that i dump onto the garden in fall. decays fast and helps greatly in breaking up the soil. you could do the same with bagged grass or build your own little compost pile if you bag grass.

we grow chives, green onion, asian cucumbers, a couple tomato plants, a couple pepper plants, basil, rosemary, dill, and a variety of chinese plants. all in a 8'x12'x8" raised bed of pressure treated lumber, bottom layer secured by rebar, top layer by galvanized nails.
 
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