2011 Gardening Thread (Read 1783 times)


Prince of Fatness

    Here's a question for you guys.

     

    I have a tiny bit room left in my garden (and am actually thinking about taking the rosemary out and putting it in a container, which will give me even more).  So I bought 2 cucumber plants for $1.50 each.  What is the yield of these guys (on average)?  I have room for 2 more.  Should I "risk" it?  I have heard horror stories about people being overrun with cukes and zuchinni.

     

    Is two plants enough?  They're only $1.50, should I go for two more?  They are vining, so there's not really a real estate issue.  They'll go up, not out.  And, also, how high will they get?

     .

     

    I don't have experience with cukes but do know that the stuff that vines takes up a lot of room (but I guess that you are using a trellis).  Zucchini does not vine, so they take up less room.  2 - 3 feet on either side should be good.  You would get plenty off of just 2 plants.  When you see the zucchini keep an eye on them.  It doesn't take them long to grow too big.  Lots of folks around here plant the yellow summer squash, too.  The plants are similar to zucchini.

    Not at it at all. 


    #artbydmcbride

      Picture of my garden.  Tomatoes in foreground.  Spuds in the back.  Hard to see the flowers but they are there.  I should be able to dig some up by around the July 4 holiday.  Still no squash or beans planted.  I need to work on that.

       

      MTA:  Pay no attention to the shaggy lawn.  I cut it after I took the picture.

       

       

       

       

      I don't see the tomatoes

       

      Runners run


      Prince of Fatness

        I don't see the tomatoes

         

        There are four plants in the foreground.   They don't look all that different than the potato plants due to the crappy cell phone picture.  Plus, they aren't that big yet.  No tomatoes for at least a month yet.

        Not at it at all. 

          I don't have experience with cukes but do know that the stuff that vines takes up a lot of room (but I guess that you are using a trellis).  Zucchini does not vine, so they take up less room.  2 - 3 feet on either side should be good.  You would get plenty off of just 2 plants.  When you see the zucchini keep an eye on them.  It doesn't take them long to grow too big.  Lots of folks around here plant the yellow summer squash, too.  The plants are similar to zucchini.

           

          I didn't do zucchini, no one except for my wife and I really like it, unless it was in bread, and that gets old real fast.  I have a small plot, and I think I might end up having too much in there.  I was a little ambitious.  That's fine, it didn't cost too much, and next year, I can change the size of the bed a little and add more space.  That said, it's only mid-June, and things are doing well so far.

           

          Left to right, hybrid tomatoes, plum tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno/habanero peppers, wax beans, broccoli, lettuce.  Across the back is the cukes.  4 plants.  Everyone likes them, so it shouldn't be an issue if they go crazy.

           

          Jeff


          Prince of Fatness

            Looks nice.  I'm curious as to how you will do with those tomato cages.  I tried them a few years ago, and my experience was that the plants were too much for them and pulled them out of the ground as they grew.  Now I use stakes.

            Not at it at all. 

              Looks nice.  I'm curious as to how you will do with those tomato cages.  I tried them a few years ago, and my experience was that the plants were too much for them and pulled them out of the ground as they grew.  Now I use stakes.

               

              I tried staking my 'maters a few years back and the plants got so big and falling over and all that I was constantly putting new stakes in, and I was worrying that I was hurting the existing roots..  Then tying the plants to them all over the stakes.  I would end up with like 5 or 10 stakes for each plant.

               

              I decided to try cages this year.  This is the first time I've tried them.  You might be right, they might get too big.  I've seen other folks use cages and they seemed to do well enough.

               

              I'll let you know come late July/August.  :-)

              Jeff

              mark-bixler


                I have a question on starting a raised bed.  

                 

                I have old railroad ties currently being used as borders.  They are stacked two high.  My thought is to take the top row and use them as the border on a raised bed.  My concern is, I read where some wood leaks stuff in to the ground that you wouldn't want around your garden.  These ties have been in the same spot for over 13 years (I have lived here for 13 years and they were in place when we moved in).  Is this enough time for whatever toxins and stuff that may have been present to leak out?  Do you think these are safe enough to use as a border for the garden bed?  Or should I see what is available at the local greenhouse/box store?

                 

                Thanks for the input.

                Listen. Yeah, it's gonna hurt some. That's the marathon business.

                But here's the thing. When it starts to get intense, that's not time to panic. This is what you wanted to happen. It means that all the training, all the miles, all the wakeups, all the cold, all the wet, all the sleep-deprived days and all the shit you've done to yourself over the last 6 plus months is finally about to pay off. It means you've put yourself where you wanted to be. You've given yourself an opportunity that very few will ever have. You've given yourself a chance.

                Now finish it.

                  Railroad ties are typically treated with creosote, which will leach out into the ground for many many years.  It won't leach terribly far horizontally, though, so you would probably be safe if you put a row of flowers along the inside and then vegetables on the other side, away from the ties themselves.  I'm not sure it's great to cut the ties or handle them excessively though.  I probably wouldn't do it personally, but I'm a little nutty about pesticides and chemicals and stuff where I'm growing my food.

                  2009 Goals:
                  PR 5K (Ha, current 43:10)
                  Run a 10K
                  Meet Seasonal Weight Loss Challenges
                  Complete my first Sprint Tri

                    Railroad ties are typically treated with creosote, which will leach out into the ground for many many years.  It won't leach terribly far horizontally, though, so you would probably be safe if you put a row of flowers along the inside and then vegetables on the other side, away from the ties themselves.  I'm not sure it's great to cut the ties or handle them excessively though.  I probably wouldn't do it personally, but I'm a little nutty about pesticides and chemicals and stuff where I'm growing my food.

                     

                     +1

                     

                    Even though the ties are 13+ years old, I'd ditch them, unless you know they're not treated.

                     

                    Actually, I did that my first year gardening, 20 some years ago.  Then, the next year I thought about it, and removed them, and went for cedar.  It can stand up to the environment better than pine, and isn't that expensive.

                     

                    You could also use Trex I guess.  But that costs more.

                    Jeff


                    Prince of Fatness

                      If I already had the ties I would be tempted.  I try to keep the chemicals to a minimum so I would at least use some kind of plastic liner before filling the bed with dirt.  I think that I would probably end up deciding not to use them.  I probably wouldn't use pressure treated wood, either.

                       

                      How about cinder blocks?  They are probably as cheap as wood and would last a lifetime.  They might be a little less attractive but after they've weathered a couple of years I bet that they would not look so bad.

                       

                      Or you could do what I do and plant right in the ground.  I compost and on average get a couple of yards of the stuff a year.  Plus, I collect leaves that people put out in the fall and use them as mulch the next season.  All of that ends up in the soil.  It took a couple of years but doing it this way I went from orange clay that you needed a pick to dig a hole to a rich chocolaty soil that you can scoop up with your hand.  My plants seem to like it.

                      Not at it at all. 

                        How about cinder blocks?  They are probably as cheap as wood and would last a lifetime.  They might be a little less attractive but after they've weathered a couple of years I bet that they would not look so bad.

                         

                         

                         

                        It really depends on how big your garden is.  For mine, it's 9 x 5.  that cost me $25 in wood.  Not too much.  I hope to make that much up in the amount we save on vegetables this summer.

                         

                        Plus, it's a hobby.  You're supposed to spend money on it.

                         

                        By the way, two of my tomato plants are flowering now.  And so are my jalapenos. 

                        Jeff


                        Prince of Fatness

                          By the way, two of my tomato plants are flowering now.  And so are my jalapenos. 

                           

                          I noticed some green tomatoes on the grape tomato plants this week.  That kind of surprised me since the plants aren't all that big yet.

                          Not at it at all. 

                            Found some eggs on the underside of my tomato plant leaves yesterday.

                             

                            Hello, insecticidal soap...

                            Jeff


                            Feeling the growl again

                              My camera phone obviously needs to be cleaned off but you get the gist of it....

                               

                              This is our kitchen garden, which we put in for the first time this year.  It was an awkward patch of lawn once we put the patio in last spring and a pain to mow so I thought what the heck, with it this close to the house it will be really convenient and we can actually take care of it easily.  The ground cloth and mulch idea is working really well, although there is some grass coming through the openings as I did not find time to mulch around the plants like I should have once they came up.  From left to right 2 rows of onions, 3 of peas, lettuce, some cucumbers in the foreground, 2 pepper plants and tomatoes in the back corner:

                               

                              We did not plant ANYTHING in the main garden this year, just weedy strawberries planted a couple years ago, last year's onions coming back that I did not pull because they did not get big enough due to the drought, and a row of carrots I planted that apparently did not come up.

                               

                              Our secondary garden.  Three rows of potatoes buried in some grass on the left, some pumpkins and squash next to them, some space with corn that is not up yet, and then corn off to the right.  Should have gotten the corn in a bit earlier but we had some late frosts here and I've just been so busy this year.  I always have problems with grass in this one.  You can see my 57 vine vineyard in the background and the end of the black rasperries, just getting ripe, off to the right.  I need to start picking and freezing them for wine next week.  My orchard is off to the right of this and covers an area a little bigger than what you see in this pic.  Looks like a lot of peaches and not much else this year, I think a storm knocked a lot of the small fruit off that I saw hanging earlier:

                              ]

                               

                              One of my 4-yr-old White Cayuga vines.  They are entering full bearing years now, I should get a good batch or two of wine off them this year.  I had to drop $200 on bird nets last night for the Marachel Foch planted next to them, the grapes are small so the birds get them once they start to ripen if I don't cover them.  They got stripped bare last year, lesson learned:

                              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                               

                              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                               

                                I noticed some green tomatoes on the grape tomato plants this week.  That kind of surprised me since the plants aren't all that big yet.

                                 

                                I now have a few 3/4 inch jalapenos on one of my plants.  Not lot before the salsa making begins!

                                 

                                Here's a question.  I'd like to put down straw or hay once I get the weeding done.

                                 

                                I know plenty of places I can buy a bale of hay, but I read, don't get hay, get straw, since hay has weed seeds in it.

                                 

                                I'm like, huh?  I thought it was the same stuff.

                                 

                                Or should I not even worry?  I do recall buying a bale one fall for Halloween, and seeing nice beautiful green shoots coming out of it next spring.

                                 

                                I know this sounds odd, but since this is to keep the soil cool, keep moisture in, and keep weeds down, what would happen if I hit this with some round up, left it sit for a week, then put it in the garden?  Too risky?

                                 

                                Or should I just not worry about it, and put the hay on, and weed when something comes up?

                                Jeff