Gardens

BigBody79

BigBody79

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2005
Location
Lumberton
Who's got one?

I have an idea to start a garden this year. I would like to do some simple stuff to get my feet wet. Really only want to grow things that I will actually eat.

I would like to grow some herbs, tomatoes, green beans, a few cucumbers, a few squash. Some bell peppers, maybe even some hot peppers. Would really like to grow some sweet corn but that might not happen.

I am thinking about going raised beds. Something small enough to water and keep the weeds out.

I was thinking three 8x8 beds.

Or one 32x8 bed.
 
Raised self watering beds with wicking tiles.
The april issue of Handyman magazine should have this article in it. I can send you a link once it comes up, if they have it on their website.

otherwise I can send it to you after im done reading it.
 
corn...I was always told you need a few long rows in order for them to cross-pollinate to be worth anything, so I never tried it.

Tomatoes are easy, require lots of water, taste waaaay better than grocery store crap. It can be time consuming, but the 'maters make it worth it. I do 4-8 plants every year, always do some cherries, they are less likely to split with the inconsistent watering I usually do.
Zuchini are real easy too, even one or 2 hills of them can generate enough to start feeding neighbors at the peak. I still have zuchini in the freezer from last year.

Last year I had 8 tomatoes, 4 peppers (1 jalepeno, 1 yellow, 1 red, 1 green), 2 butternut squash (by accident, thoguht they were cantaloupe plants), 2 zuchini and a lima bean (courtesy of stokesdale elementry kindergarten o_O) in a 20x10ish area.
I also tried watermelon and pumpkins in another area, but the hot summer killed them. Wait, no, more like the slack gardener who never dragged the hose over there was to blame.
For effect, I get a bag of giant sunflower seeds, and put a row along the fence...they are easy and impressive.
I never tired the raised bed, I just till the area up, let grass grow into it, etc.
 
We built two 6-8' by 10' raised beds the first or second spring we were in our house. Then we tore that out... 2 or 3 years ago... and built one big bed 15' by 10'.

RenegadeT said:
corn...I was always told you need a few long rows in order for them to cross-pollinate to be worth anything, so I never tried it.
Click to expand...

I've read the opposite... Corn is wind-pollinated, so you need to plant it in blocks (more short rows instead of fewer long rows)... or in 'hills' in a group of 3 or so.

Tomatoes are easy, peppers are easier. We've been up to our ears in both the past two years, but I think rebuilding the raised bed is what made the difference. Last year I didn't water like I should have... I was at home with the baby but the mosquitoes were insane.

Zucchini and squash do well up to a point... then it always seems to get too hot and they give up. Of course, by that point I've usually frozen, baked and given away a bunch of it! :lol:

We built a free-standing trellis and plant beans and cucumbers under it, so they have something to train on.

Never had much luck with watermelon but cantaloupes do ok. We have a good patch of strawberries and hopefully will get some decent raspberries off the vine this year.
 
I just plant a couple mater plants in my wife's flower bed. That way I dont have to weed it. Mulch is good at keeping the ground moist underneath and controlling weeds.
 
My Dad is an avid gardener. He always has 10x what they can eat and can so he gives most of it away. He just likes to grow stuff. If you decide to get corn, get Olathe sweet. Best corn ever! Comes from the town of Olathe Colorado near where Mom and Dad live. It is actually pollinated by bees. I watched it happen a few years ago at my (now) ex mother in laws. (It's really neat to watch bees work. They'll have enough pollen on their hind legs that it makes them look twice as big). I currently live in an apartment but once I buy a house I plan on starting a garden.
 
Do you guys plant from seeds or do you buy plants that are already growing?

I know my grandfather is a huge gardener. I wish he could hear better so I could pick his brain.
 
Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers are great. Never had good luck with bells mainly bannana and hot ones. Basil is also a good herb. Ive had some sucess with eggplant. Never tried growing melons. Ive always felt like corn would take up too much space ro justify and its cheap to buy at local markets.

I plant cold weather stuff lettuce, spinach, kale etc from seed about this time of year. At same time try to get warm weather starters going from seed so its ready to plant after frost date (May 15 here). At least thats the plan I start with.

I have two runs about 20 x 4 that were tilled up in yard. Then raised the beds with a locust border. Its fenced in to keep dogs out. The 4 beds allow me to walk on either side and reach in to harvest without compacting surrounding soil.
 
Seeds need to be started around February and can be done in a seed bed with clear plastic outdoors or in seed starters indoors. I live in pitiful soils and have always made a trip to my local horse farm every year for poop. You can't go wrong with manure. Chicken is best but I've always had silly thoughts of a morning ritual into each hole. LOL!!! This year we laid block and done nice looking raised beds. The wife is going to plant inside the block holes as well. She talks to the starters like babies... :) My dad was a green thumb and I am only an intern in training... But getting the hang of it. I believe in a person that can grow his own veggies. The price of green peppers is over $1 each now - at wal-mart. Tomatoes - about the price each as a carton of entire plants.

Tomatoes - squeeze seeds onto news paper and let dry and store. Rip paper into shreds the next year and plant entire around late Feb. to early March. Cover with clear plastic until last frost and good to go.

Peppers are all different. Green peppers need PLENTY of water where as a hot pepper such as habenero or jalopeno needs a drought condition. Peppers are a late crop.

Zuchiny and squash are simple. And be sure to give plenty of room and don't over fertilize for they burn up worse than anything else I know.

If you go the manure route, use plenty of lime to neutralize. Is best to let manure age a couple of years along with compost mixture. Look up "compost" and you'd be amazed of what makes a good mix. Basically anything a dog won't eat but you'd never imagine things such as egg shells.

Would love to hear other experiences on gardening... I've only learned by trial and error. But going on 12+ years now.
 
Really not all that excited about a bunch of zuchini and squash. Really wouldn't eat alot of that. I really think that green beans, peas, some tomatoes and some things like that. I might not need as much room as I think.

What would you get to fill in your beds for the first time?

When is the last frost date for southeastern, NC?
 
Definitely plant what you will eat. Any extra you can freeze, can, or give away.

I sow lettuce seeds in the ground, have saved and started tomatoes and peppers and I buy seedlings to get more variety. I typically split a 4-pack of different things with my dad.

Used coffee grounds are also good for compost.
 
Iv'e never grown in raised beds but have had tremendous results w Bush type Greenbeans and green and hot peppers w my brown thumb. I'm still trying to master maters they seem to need alot of attention, I have good results w cherry or grape sized tomatoes in pots. The Green beans will flood you w tasty goodness like no other garden veg. IMO right up till freezing temps! Be sure to build a strong trellis for the climbing beans as they will weigh alot w all the beans.
 
We've done tomatoes for years... everything from buckets early on (didn't know where the sun would be over summer) to way too many in the garden spot. Family's so fickle, I cut way back on what gets planted (a bud always gives me a bunch of "exotic veggies")...

A few years back, I made some raised beds outta rough cut cedar. The first got strawberry starts from the local AGExt and come back stronger every year after cleaning the leaves & acorns off them. The other beds get tomatoes (my wife eats them everyday). I'll do a couple rows of cucumbers (I'll eat them EVERY meal! :D ) and maybe some cantaloupes if I get them separated far enough in the garden spot...

Everything else we get from family & friends...
 
Use garden blend soil to fill in your raised beds....it is a mixture of good topsoil,manure, conditioner, and some aggregate to help with drainage.....go get bulk from a local landscape supplier not baga from lowes....usually runs around 28-31 dollars per cubic yard. Length x width x depth= cubic feet then divide that by 27 to get your cubic yards
 
7 year old thread revival.... Let's get it.

How many gardeners do we have here?

So far between me and Dad we've got:

Broccoli
Collards
Kale
Cucumber
Eggplant
Rosemary
Onion (purple & yellow)
Potato
Tomato (big,better, sandwich)
Strawberry
Cilantro
Spearmint
Oregano
Garlic
Lettuce
Peppers (Jalapeno, green bell, sweet bananna).
Cucamelon
Watermelon

Plus a wide variety of full sun annual flowering plants to attract some bees and drop some panties.

What y'all got?
 
trailhugger said:
Definitely plant what you will eat. Any extra you can freeze, can, or give away.

I sow lettuce seeds in the ground, have saved and started tomatoes and peppers and I buy seedlings to get more variety. I typically split a 4-pack of different things with my dad.

Used coffee grounds are also good for compost.
Click to expand...
And metal shavings from a saw. The iron is great for green leafy stuff and maters.
 
UTfball68 said:
I had a 10x20 plot at my first house...planted tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers...but the only thing that came up were pumpkins. Not sure how or why, so I gave up on vegetable gardens.
Click to expand...
Have you tried hanging tomatoes? Almost guaranteed to work.
 
Making use of some really old red clay brick.
May replace with some natural Columbia river rocks.
IMG_20190323_113714290_HDR.jpg

IMG_20190323_113658268_HDR.jpg

IMG_20190323_113634307_HDR.jpg

IMG_20190323_113622478_HDR.jpg

This is only about half of it.
 
I did not start a garden when I had my right knee replaced two years ago, and I haven't since. I guess I'll jump back in this year. I didn't get my onions or taters in so it will be a summer garden. Maters, squash, peppers, and corn.
 
Last years garden sucked. Couldn't get in it to work it because of rain fall. Didn't do well, just too much rain.
But in years past, it's done very good. Corn being he most expensive seed I bought, usually did great, until the wind came and laid it all down. That cut the crop in half, or less. Squash and cucumbers did great up until a point, then in a days time, they'd all be brown from the beating sun.

A few years ago, had a bumper crop of green beans. Between my son, myself, friend of my son, friend of mine and a cousin, there was way over 400 qts canned out of it. We picked green beans every week for 8 weeks.
Several hundred qts of spaghetti sauce, vegetable beef, vegetable deer soups, and just plain tomatoes were canned.
Green peppers were still producing all the way until Thanksgiving.
Green beans> Blue Lake Bush bean
Corn, Silver Queen
Green Peppers, Big Bertha's
Cucumbers, White wonders and Boston Picklers

One thing I can't or at least have not had success in canning, Pickles. The taste is there, but just not crisp.
 
I had a pretty big garden for a few years. Around 30'x 60'. I loved tending it until it came to actually picking it. I finally realized that I didn't actually like gardening, I liked plowing and having a nice looking garden :lol: There isn't much more satisfying than hitting the levers just right on the ol' 100 and turning a row just right. Picking that same row a month later is for the birds :lol:
 
We have had a very very small garden behind our garage the past 4 yrs. It never produces much. I don't think it gets enough sun, plus the dirt sucks. My wife is wanting to try some raised beds with new good dirt this year. It just seems like a bunch of unnecessary work to me.
 
Back
Top