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dreams_in_color
03-16-2008, 04:03 AM
I found this site a few weeks ago when looking for a guideline on planting in a raised bed.

http://journeytoforever.org/garden_space.html

If you think you need more space consider planting your tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets or large planters.

It is a UK site but that should not make a difference. Hope this helps. *

megdesmik
03-18-2008, 06:28 AM
You can also check out the book 'square foot gardening' by mel bartholomew. It's great advice on planting things close.

lostinthewoods
03-18-2008, 12:40 PM
You might also look for a book on companion gardening. That would help you figure out what you can plant "on top" of each other.
Just a thought.



lost

MooseToo
03-24-2008, 08:26 AM
agree with your take on square-foot - been doing it for awhile and it does work - as for your questions on when, where, how much and what - don't ask us cause we don't know - your county agent does - your neighbors with successful gardens know - not enough attention is paid to "micro-climates" and there's noway for someone on the net to give you advice on yours -

msta999
04-12-2008, 12:40 AM
Well, got some of my seads sprouting (except the carrots for some reason they just sit there) and tomorrow I buy the wood, dirt and compost. Should have it all together by sat afternoon. We'll see how it goes. I plan on using 2X6 treated wood for the 2 10 foot boxes with 3 inches of compost and 3 inches of dirt. Mix it and start planting.
I still have to get some tires for the potatos, but that shouldn't be a problem. I was suppose to get some from a guy I know, but if not I'll just go to the scrap yard. Plan on small red and the larger white for baking. As I said before, I'll be using the square foot planting method. Thanks for the post, it is the same as "Grow Vegetables, by Alan Buckingham" which is what I have.
Since my garden is going to be 2 ft by 20 ft long broken down into two ten foot sections, I have concidering making one into kind of a green house. It wouldn't take much to build a frame and cover it with clear plastic. It might help the shorter veggies to grow better.

msta999
04-12-2008, 06:19 PM
Man! Garden is in. Made the 2 ten foot by 25 3/4 inch boxes. Planted carrots, Broccoli, radish, cherry tomatos, full size organic tomatos, cucumbers, sweet corn and Caulflower. Kind of small, but Like someone said here, try it small first to see if it is something you really want to do. We'll see how it turns out.
I did notice all the seed packets has directions on the back.

Here it is:

http://a890.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/66/m_3eb373b2f44a170de0af2d04260ec3a9.jpg

See the fense posts on the boxes. I have to put a fense up, my dog thinks it is a nice cool place to make a hole to lay down in. %#@$ dog!
Here is Pongo.

http://a248.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/72/l_82cefe8a413c6b21d7ffa6a586a09cff.jpg

msta999
04-24-2008, 09:18 AM
I planted my garden and then the next day had to cover it with tarps, due to a week of frost. I took the tarps off yesterday morning (after being covered over a week) and low and behold, my seeds are growing. I don't see the corn or carrots yet, but most have stated already. Here I thought I was going to have to start all over. I got potatos in the window so they will sprout. Tire and peat moss on hand, I'm ready.

Deberosa
04-24-2008, 12:28 PM
The corn may rot because it will be a while before we see warm enough soil for it to sprout here in the Northwest!

My cover crops are at a standstill at one inch tall - been like that for a week! I am learning how important warmth is to plants - in the green house I added a small electric heater and my tomatoes are at least twice as large as they were last year! I have plenty of greens in a matter of weeks just because of the temperature increase as far as I can tell. They certainly didn't get more daylight because there hasn't been hardly any sun here in quite a while!

It's great your other plants survived, I am hoping this cold snap will break soon, although the wind has kicked up here today.

DM
04-24-2008, 02:35 PM
This is why i'm never in a rush to plant my gardens... Why rush and make more work for yourself having to cover everything because of cold nights? OR, even worse, having to replant because of lost plants or rotted seed!

DM

msta999
04-25-2008, 10:54 AM
I didn't think I was rushing, it hardly ever freezes here in the winter time, let alone in the spring.
Just about everything is coming up, even the carrots started. I'm thinking of digging up some corn just to see what it is doing although the book said to plant it 1 inch down.
I have the potatos sitting in the window sill to get them to start sprouting. nice sunny day today so that should help things grow.

aprilconnett
04-25-2008, 03:44 PM
I was gonna work in the garden today. Haven'y planted much yet. Then, I sneezed for about an hour and decided that maybe I should hide out inside til we are able to pick up my prescription. :(

msta999
04-27-2008, 12:43 AM
I was gonna work in the garden today. *Haven'y planted much yet. *Then, I sneezed for about an hour and decided that maybe I should hide out inside til we are able to pick up my prescription. * :(

Alergys huh? That must suck, especially when the sun is out. It was finally warm and sunny here, went up to 75 deg f. Had a real heat wave and just about everything is starting to pop up in the garden. Just planted potatos in a tire with peat moss. Put 2 reds and 2 reg for baking.

msta999
05-02-2008, 10:35 AM
DAM SQUIRLS DUG UP MY POTATOS AND ATE THEM!

MotherCharlotte
05-02-2008, 02:19 PM
DAM SQUIRLS DUG UP MY POTATOS AND ATE THEM!

;D ;D ;D Hahaha. Gotta love those squirrels...a few weeks ago a squirrel smashed, I mean SMASHED our bird feeder to smithereens...then proceeded to eat all the birdseed he had spilled all over our back yard. >:(

msta999
05-02-2008, 07:00 PM
Ya! I think I'm going to break out the 22 and do some target practice ;)
I guess I'll be making some screans this weekend. I see they have also been in the garden, there are little holes in the dirt and you can see their foot prints.

Everything is coming up but the two different types of tomatos, cucumbers and the corn. I think I will move the spot for tomatos to the west side of the house, it gets a lot more sun, maybe put the corn there too. That will give me more room for some else in the back.

lateaprildawn
05-05-2008, 01:53 AM
Hiya msta999, You have already included the main part of an anti squirrel technique I use. I your picture you show the raised bed with a "dog defence system" ;D. All my raised beds have 2ft tall pillars at the corners, I drape fruit netting over the posts and tuck the edges into the soil.

If you put some sort of cap on top of the post, i have some with wood caps ,some simply have old soft drink cans with the top cut off nailed to the top, this just prevents the netting slipping down the posts and saves it tearing. The mesh is reusable year after year.

Another thought as well. If you drape some netting against the fence at the back, you could grow peas and beans up it ;D

Peas are fabulous improvers of soil. The roots hold nitrogen in the soil, when the plants die back, cut the stem off leaving the roots in the soil. Compost the top of the plants to add to you soil for next year.

Best wishes,
April

msta999
05-05-2008, 02:07 AM
;D ;D ;D Hahaha. Gotta love those squirrels...a few weeks ago a squirrel smashed, I mean SMASHED our bird feeder to smithereens...then proceeded to eat all the birdseed he had spilled all over our back yard. *>:(

Jen, she lives across the street, just told me today, her father built her a "Squirrel proof" bird feeder. She said the squirrels had been tearing up thier feeder as well. We'll see if it works. :D

msta999
05-05-2008, 02:38 AM
I was looking at my garden and noticed many tiny holes about an inch deep, then it accured to me....that squirrel is eating my seadlings. Dam Squirrels. So I declared "War" on that squirrel. I stacked my two bags of peat moss by the back sliding glass door, put a cushion down, got some coffee, a book and my 22. I dawned my flack jacket and put on my WWII helmet. I was ready, then I looked at the back fense and since it is not very think, I put my 22 away and got the pellet gun out. I only had to wait about an hour and here he comes, running along the top of my back fense, then he jumps down into my raised garden bed and goes straight for my potatos in the tire. He starts digging up my brawn potatos, AGAIN! (What? he dosen't like the reds?) I take aim and "pop", I got him. He is shaking on the ground, so I go over to put him out of his mizery, thinking I'm going to eat him, just to see what squirrel tastes like and whoooom! My dog runs by me, clamps into the squirrel and starts shaking it. I tell my dog to drop it, but he just runs over to the other end of the yard and sits down chopping on the squirrel. I go over to take it away from him and he runs over to the other side of my yard (140 ft away). I give up and go into the house and as I'm ready to close the slidding glass door, there my dog is, he brushes by me to get in the house. So I go get the squirrel and through it in the garbage. Dam dog.

Just kidding *;D
The little holes are there though, so I'm off to get some netting tomorrow.

msta999
05-05-2008, 02:17 PM
Hiya msta999, You have already included the main part of an anti squirrel technique I use. I your picture you show the raised bed with a "dog defence system" *;D. *All my raised beds have 2ft tall pillars at the corners, I drape fruit netting over the posts and tuck the edges into the soil.


I try'd to find some netting, checked at lowels and fredies, but no luck. I would have to sew two pieces together, so that won't work. I'm thinking of checking ebay for something, although that doesn't do me any good now.

suijurisfreeman
05-09-2008, 08:45 AM
John Jeavons's book How to Grow More Vegetables* *is an excellent book on biointensive gardening.

I've used the 'biointensive' method of gardening since 1999. *For the duration that I'll be here at my daughter's place I'm in the process of building 16 4'x8' rasised beds. *The reason that I decided to go 4'x8' is because I was able to get a good deal on 3"x3"x8' cedar posts -- $1.00 each.

Yesterday I found a lot that had alot of wild blackberries going on it, asked the owner if I could dig up some, selected 12 good healthy plants for stock and I'm in the process of transplanting them today.

msta999
05-09-2008, 06:58 PM
It is hard to find used/cheap treated wood here, I have been checking Craigslist. I was going to make one more raised garden bed, but I got my tiller today and had to try it out. I made a small 2 foot wide garden on the side of the house, behind where we keep the garbage and recycle cans, we don't use that area anyway as it is hidden and out of the way. That side gets the most sun, so I'm going to put the tomatos there along with some corn and cucumbers. My tomato seads are not taking off, out of a hole package I have to and those were put under a heat lamp. I had both organic and hybred and niether one is doing anything. I took the two seeds that did sprout and put them in a hanger and will buy plants for the garden. Oh, I also got some kind of german bean from a friend and they did sprout so I planted them. I don't know what they are, but they make really long pods, so I'm told, and will see. The been sead is as big as my thumb so they get big. I'm told the pods get about 12 inches long or longer. I wish I new what they were, so I would know what to do with them when they are ready to pick.

WileyCoyote
05-09-2008, 09:03 PM
Oh, msta, please please tell me that you are not using treated wood in your raised beds!

Treated wood has many poisons in it that can leach into the soil and be taken up by your vegies; not the least of which is trace metals and cyanide.
Not to mention that the chemicals initially used may be harmless, but when the wood deteriorates over time the chemicals degenerate into other harmful substances.

Please don't use treated wood near anything you plan on eating. A natural rotting board can always be composted. Even plastic or PVC can leach bad stuff into the soil over time.

msta999
05-09-2008, 09:52 PM
Yep, I am using treated 2X6s. I guess I'll have to figure out something else for next year. Maybe rap them in plastic. If I change out the plastic every year, I would think it should be ok. I have seen many gardens boardered in treated 4X4's. But what you say does make sense.

suijurisfreeman
05-09-2008, 10:54 PM
Oh, msta, please please tell me that you are not using treated wood in your raised beds!

Treated wood has many poisons in it that can leach into the soil and be taken up by your vegies; not the least of which is trace metals and cyanide.
Not to mention that the chemicals initially used may be harmless, but when the wood deteriorates over time the chemicals degenerate into other harmful substances.

Please don't use treated wood near anything you plan on eating. A natural rotting board can always be composted. Even plastic or PVC can leach bad stuff into the soil over time.


That's why I used cedar posts -- and at $1.00 each what a bargain! At Menards they're $18.00 each!

msta999
05-12-2008, 01:35 PM
I'll look into the cedar posts next year. Thanks for the info.

msta999
05-16-2008, 08:19 PM
Well, most of the plants are coming up pretty good. I have some more started under a heat lamp and since they are getting more heat, they are coming up faster. I started taking pics with the video recorder for the 4 days, then remembered I won't be able to use them to post pics, so I switched to the digital camera, but they are already up about 2 inches, so the first growth won't be there.
The plants I am giving up on are the corn and cucumbers. I went and bought starter plants, and have plenty of room for the plants I'm starting under the lamp. the brocolly only had a few plants come up, so I'll plant something else there. Just want to wait until the weather stays warmer. We have a long cold season this year for some reason.

msta999
05-21-2008, 05:29 PM
Well, putting bird screan over my hardens seemed to help or atleast the "squirrils have stay'd out of them anyway. Ever have a few corn popping out, I had given up on them.

My seads under lamp are doing good, going to have to plant them outside this weekend. The beans (still don't know what kind they are, I'll post a pic of the seads later) are about 10 inches tall. Cucumbers are about 3 inches. The tomatos are only about 1.5 inches, don't know why they are taking so long.

I broke down and bought some organic furtilizer and started using that.

I have bought a total of 8 different tomatos, 6 plants and 2 seads. This should give me an idea of which ones will grow and produce the best fruit, in my area.

So, as far as seads go, the letus, radishes and brussell sprouts are growing the best/quickest. I'm going to get somemore lettus going so I'll have a second crop.
Gotta go.

msta999
05-25-2008, 11:40 PM
Here is what my beans look like in sead form:

http://a637.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/89/l_ce9f0ee89c826a42170daa488aecc724.jpg

I am told they are from Germany, anyone know what they are?
I'm told they get really long pods, about 12 inches long.

msta999
05-26-2008, 12:02 AM
I have added some Giant sun flower seeds to my batch. They are starting to sprout, so we'll see how "Giant" they get. My second batch of lettus is starting to sprout, My *corn and cucumbers under lamp are ready to plant. The two types of tomatos I have sure are growing slow. They are only about 2-3 inches tall, are all tomatos like this?? I put some more of those german beans under lamp too. I also through some flower seads in with the tomatos, just to help give them some color. ;)

msta999
05-27-2008, 09:10 PM
So far the radishes seem to be growing the fastest. I think the cauliflower it not too far behind, then the brushel sprouts.

I just planted those big beans, which are by far the largest of all, but that was under a heat lamp, so we'll see how they fair, against the rest.

msta999
05-28-2008, 07:49 PM
Well, as far as starting seads under a lamp, I try'd seeds on a paper towel, in a tray with with peat moss, and putting peat moss in egg cartons and only 2 or 3 seeds in each container of the carton. So far, it looks like the egg cartons are doing the best. I put the egg cartons in a tray and then put 16 oz of water in it every day, the water soaks through the egg carton and gets soaked up by the peat moss and the seeds are doing very well. So, for now on, I'll put my seeds, that I start under the heat lamp, in egg cartons. Then I just cut out the cup with the plants in it, and plant the hole thing, so the dirt is up above the cup and a little ways up the stem, then give them a good watering. I think, next time, when I till the ground for the garden, I'll mix in a bag or two of peat moss with the dirt. That should help them grow better and hold the water.

sbemt456
05-28-2008, 09:36 PM
Msta999 I started tomatoes 2 different times and the second time I used an old water bed heater to keep the bottom of the containers warm and had excellent results. This was my first attempt at starting seeds in the house and I was thrilled. The first batch did OK but the second ones would sprout and come up in just 3 or 4 days. You might give some thought to a heat source for the containers next year.
But you know they grew faster and better when it was warm enough to put the plants out side. Guess nature is best, but we must attempt to cheat. We must , we just must.

Good luck!

stella

msta999
05-29-2008, 03:25 AM
Thanks stella,
your right, we are always trying to get a jump on things and get them done faster.

Problem is, seems like nothing goes by faster than the years, everytime I turn around another one goes by. Have you came up with a way to slow them down and still get the veggies to grow faster? *;D

lateaprildawn
05-29-2008, 03:41 AM
BIG lesson learnt for me this year on the benefits (or lack of them) of starting seedlings early.

I started loads of seeds, tomato's, beans, peas etc at the earliest advised date, in flats in my greenhouse in march.

Very few germinated but as some had I then started using a small anti frost heater as I didnt want to loose the few that had started. Even with that background heat, i reckon 70% of the peas simply rotted.

I sowed a second lot of seeds into flats last month and laid them on the garden, simply throwing a fleece over them when frost was forecast. Their germination rate this time was about 95%.

Two weeks ago I planted a third sowing of peas and beans directly into the garden.

RESULT ???

The third sown plants are taller, stronger and more vigourous than either of the previous sowings.

Dear Mother nature I apologise wholeheartedly for trying to rush you and thinking I know better than you.

;D ;D ;D

Best wishes,
April.

PS April will be sowing in April next year !!

msta999
05-29-2008, 05:08 PM
PS April will be sowing in April next year !!

That should be easy for you to remember. ;)

I think your right and I'll probably do some more planting (if I have room) in a week or two, if the weather stays war.

sbemt456
05-29-2008, 06:01 PM
Msta999 we cant slow them down, so my idea is to live fast love hard die young and leave a long trail of happy memories!
::)

stella

bookwormom
05-30-2008, 11:52 AM
quote
I have seen many gardens boardered in treated 4X4's.

many gardens? are you living in a rich area? those things cost money. I guess you do not have any Amish sawmills around. we got a load of scrap lumber for very cheap that contained a bunch of warped two by sixes that I used in my new herb garden. It does the job, may not looks so fancy but heck, I am paying the bills around here.

bookwormom
05-30-2008, 12:08 PM
Quote by msta999
Here is what my beans look like in sead form:



I am told they are from Germany, anyone know what they are?
I'm told they get really long pods, about 12 inches long.



yep, they are Feuerbohnen, very tasty, and with very pretty red blossoms. Make sure you pick them early and regular as they form a tough liner when they get a tad too old. It feels like they are lined with plastic. They also have strings. And they are climbing beans. I bent two cattle panels so they look like small greenhouses. On the north side on the outside I planted feuerbohnen, in front of them on the inside I made a long lettuce bed, in the middle I have one row of cucumbers. I tie used bailing twine from the top of the structure for every plant and train it up the string. very simple todo, you tie a loop around the bottom of the plant and just twist the plant around the string gently, works very well. (I joke that there is a law here to never through away a piece of used bailing twine. It always comes in handy).
On the southside outside I have tomatoes growing, they will get trained up the side of the panel, weaving them in and out. come fall we are planning to cover the structure with plastic for a winter garden.

msta999
05-31-2008, 02:10 PM
Msta999 we cant slow them down, so my idea is to live fast love hard die young and leave a long trail of happy memories!
::)

stella

Cool plan stella. Must be a fun life. ;)

msta999
05-31-2008, 02:25 PM
Bookwormom,

thanks for the info. Question, how do you tell when they are ready to pick? I have never picked beans.

Another question: How do you eat these beans? Use them like navy beans??

bookwormom
05-31-2008, 02:34 PM
you have to pick about every second day or so. Hmm, I guess I pick them when they are no longer than 8 inches. snap one, it should snap easy, be crisp and and juicy, not have a bean inside, take a bite out of one. some will get away from you, you will notice the difference and learn quickly.
Good luck. :) :)

msta999
05-31-2008, 11:55 PM
Thanks,
so I take it you cook them still in the pod? then the ones you want to get seeds from you just let them grow.

msta999
06-01-2008, 08:08 PM
Well, a couple of my aunts stopped by, one of witchh has been doing gardening for over 40 years. She was quick to tell me what I have been doing wrong. Just to make sure the plants took off, I planted 3 in each hole, so I have a hole bunch of thinning to do. Said my corn and cucumbers need to be moved to the side of the house where there is more sun and the ground is not as wet. I think I heard most of this on this site, but when I started planting, I didn't have the garden by the house yet and just left everything where I originally planted it. She was happy I gave her some of those german beans and was able to show her what they looked like as plants. The one who works with gardens if from SD and the other one is from AK. The one from SD has also worked part time at the nursery for years, so I guess I need to listen to her. It will accually save me some work. I'll have 3 times as many brussell sprouts, carrots, lettus, radishes and corn, than I would have originally had and they are already plants.

msta999
06-01-2008, 09:42 PM
Another thing she mentioned, is with the tomato plants, when they are small, get a plastic milk jug, cut off the top and put milk jug over the plant you planted in the ground. Acts like a mini green house. Then you take it off when the plant starts to touch the top of the jug or in this case the bottom.

msta999
06-06-2008, 09:52 AM
You should seem my corn seedlings! They are over 2 foot tall and only in a shot glass full of peat moss. I will have to plant them this weekend. It is suppose to be rainy and cold all weekend long. Hopefully we will get an atleast semi warm day to do it. They have out grown the heat lamp and are just sitting there.

I seperated the tomato seedlings and to get them started back up, put a heating pad under them and that did a very good job. I think I'll start leaving it on for a few hours a day to get them to grow quicker.

msta999
06-06-2008, 09:53 AM
My giant sunflower seeds are doing something odd. Instead of growing up, they are growing like a vine, kind of to the side.

JakeLeg
06-06-2008, 01:13 PM
I found this site a few weeks ago when looking for a guideline on planting in a raised bed.

http://journeytoforever.org/garden_space.html

If you think you need more space consider planting your tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets or large planters.

It is a UK site but that should not make a difference. Hope this helps.


that's pretty cool. it might make sense to make some cardboard templates to help. instead of marking the X, just cut a hole about 1" in diameter. this way you can lay the template on the ground, use your finger or a dibbler to drill a hole in the soil through the hole in template, drop in the seed, left the template, and fill the holes with some loose soil that you had previously set aside....

msta999
06-13-2008, 03:16 PM
My radishes are kind of odd, they are the tallest plants I planted, over a foot tall. But they have real thin stems going into the dirt. Big bushy leaves and tinny stems? I don't get it. Cucumbers died, I'll have to try them again. The corn is just sitting there and starting to wilt. Lettus looks good, but some of it is laying flat on the ground. Potatos are doing real good, time to put another tire on them. Califlower is also doing good, getting big. Tomatos haven't changed, still look the same as when I planted them.

msta999
06-21-2008, 06:45 PM
My potatos really took off, just put another tire on and filled in with more peat moss. Cauliflower, lettus, radishes are looking good.
Note for next year, the corn and cucumbers I planted in the ground for seeds are starting to grow, now that it is warmer. The ones I planted from plants are not doing good. Debbi was right on that. The left over potatos I had in a gunny sack and through in the peat moss bag are growing too, so I planted them in the ground in one of the holes the dog dug, then put a round climbing fense around it.

Deberosa
06-21-2008, 08:27 PM
I'll have to grow potatoes next year. My garden is pretty much the same. And it's the same as other gardeners around here as I've been comparing notes. It's just one bad year for plants here.

My corn is a couple of inches tall, as are the beans. The beets, turnips, carrots and parsnips still are at a standstill and the new summer squash plants are at least not dead yet! The sun has been out for a couple of days now so maybe things will turn around here soon.

msta999
06-21-2008, 11:02 PM
My radishes where getting so tall I clipped about 6 inches off the top. That should make them grow thicker, shouldn't it?

lateaprildawn
06-22-2008, 05:24 AM
Hi msta999,

I have never heard of that technique, could you point me in the direction you learnt about that ?

I am interested as i was told to thin out tomato plant leaves so the plant put more energy into producing fruit rather than leaf.

I am still in two minds about it as photosynthesis via the leaves is a plants main way of getting the energy to produce the fruit or in the case of radishes, root. I believed removing the leaves would automatically reduce the "energy" the plant could gather.

LOL, i'm confused about this too.
Has anyone done a trial on this subject please ?

Best wishes,
April

msta999
06-22-2008, 12:39 PM
April,
I'm not sure if I did the right thing. I was told to do that on other plant, to focus on the fruit, I think it was tomatos. Anyway, I try'd it and will see how it works. Less growth in leaf and more the radish, is what I'm hoping for.

lateaprildawn
06-22-2008, 01:22 PM
Keep us updated anyway msta, its only by experimenting can we find out improvements.
I will be very interested to see how they turn out.

Best wishes,
April

msta999
06-23-2008, 02:33 PM
I just noticed today, I have little tomatos on my Roma and Husky Cherry plants. I had almost given up hope on these plants.

msta999
07-06-2008, 12:27 PM
Found out what has been putting holes in my lettuce/other leafs, "slugs" as some on this board thought it might be. I finally found some when I picked lettuce the other day. I bought some slug killer, put it around my garden. This morning I see lots of dead slugs.

Well, my radishes went to seed, so I'm just going to pull them all. Don't know why this happened. I'll try a different brand next year. I cut them down, a couple weeks ago, hoping they would focus more growth on the radish, but they just started growing more and started to flower. I wonder if it could have anything to do with them being too close together?

My German bean plants are getting bean pods, they are orange in color and only about 1/2 inch long or less, but they are there.

My cauliflower is really big, but no white heads yet.

All of my cucumbers died. My neigbor across the street has cucumbers that are doing real good, so maybe it is just the brand.

Brussel sprout plants are getting real big, but nothing on them yet.

My potato plants are getting tall, have it stacked 2 tires tall, I think I'll leave it there for this year and if they provide a good crop, I'll go three high with several stacks, next year, but spread them out so they I don't have to harvest them all at once.

The onions never did do anything, I was told I should buy onion greens and plant them. We'll see next year.

I have about eight corn that are growing, but slow. Don't know that I'll try them again. Need a bunch to do anything with.

So far the only thing I have been able to eat, from my garden, since planting in April (it is now July) is lettuce. I think that is mainly due to the cold spell we had this spring.

My tomatoes are starting to grow fruit, they are still small yet, we'll see how they do.

My carrots have nice plants, but not much carrot. When I planted them and some others, I put 3 seeds in each hole, thinking some of the seeds would not grow, but looks like they all grew. Part of my problem is most likely the plants are too close. They are planted in real moist soil, if I dig down about 5 inches the dirt is wet. I planted this garden in an area that is always wet thinking I wouldn't have to water as much and they would grow better. This is a low part of the yard and I think next year I will raise the yard up 10 inches, in that area and see if that helps.

Out of two giant sunflower seed plants, only one is left. Something carried off the other one. All that is left is a stem.

Note for next year:
I think I should try just planting the seeds in the ground, those seem to be sturdier plants. And only one seed per hole!

msta999
07-06-2008, 01:19 PM
Here is my garden as it looks now.
http://a226.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/43/l_cc78ec4e5f49ee8b1ea9294bd2337ec9.jpg

Cauliflower:
http://a148.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/42/l_308925052ee0cbb7d113b3f0122b73e3.jpg

Brussel Sprouts:
http://a351.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/7/l_69ba84e40ac6c6e52a07344b4a38857e.jpg

Lettuce:
http://a958.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/65/l_3211bfe5d7e1682e4ce658236ce2df8d.jpg

Here are my german beans, I thought the orange things where bean pods, but they turned out to be flowers:
http://a787.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/1/l_a77fc4b99a68978fd142acaaacd01a32.jpg

msta999
07-07-2008, 01:26 PM
Just added some grape vines to my mix. Planted them along the North fence. Took the main vine and put that under dirt, with the stringers ticking up. there is a lot of shade along that fence, but I'm hoping if I keep them good and moist, they will grow, we'll see. These vines are from plants that are over 30 years old.

msta999
07-11-2008, 12:06 PM
I have been letting the lettuce grow, thinking I'll get heads, but they are getting pretty tall, so I am not sure if I should keep cutting them down or leave them. I don't want to loose what I have, but heads would be nice.

It has been a week, since I planted the grape vine stems, and they don't look so good. Thinking I probably should have cut them into shoots and put in water till they got roots. We'll see.

msta999
07-13-2008, 05:52 PM
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/

http://www.gardenweb.com/

http://www.garden.org/articles/articles.php?q=show&id=2299