official veggie gardener's thread

[fatpat268]

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.

I used a combination of top soil, compost, cow manure, and peat moss. I took a tiller and mixed it all up. It's worked great.

Although, top soil is even cheaper here. $1.49 for a 40lb bag at the most.

 

[BoomerD]

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.

Depending on what's available at the various places that sell soil, I'd get one yard of topsoil and one yard of compost/humus mix to add organics to the soil.

 

[dabuddha]

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.

Thanks all for the info! As for the garden, I was planning on filling it up to 3" instead of 6" (to avoid any runoff when it rains). So if I'm reading it correctly, I should get top soil instead of potting soil and also get some manure and blend it all together using a tiller? So far, I've tilled the ground but haven't added anything yet.

 

[Elbryn]

Thanks all for the info! As for the garden, I was planning on filling it up to 3" instead of 6" (to avoid any runoff when it rains). So if I'm reading it correctly, I should get top soil instead of potting soil and also get some manure and blend it all together using a tiller? So far, I've tilled the ground but haven't added anything yet.

it sounds like you're going to be using the soil that's already present to grow in. if it's hard clay, boomerd's suggestion is a good one. a yard of compost/peat blended well with the clay will be pretty good. check around your area, you might find sources of free mulch or in my case, very cheap compost a la comtil. http://utilities.columbus.gov/DOSD/Com-til_NEW.htm

 

[HydroSqueegee]

it sounds like you're going to be using the soil that's already present to grow in. if it's hard clay, boomerd's suggestion is a good one. a yard of compost/peat blended well with the clay will be pretty good. check around your area, you might find sources of free mulch or in my case, very cheap compost a la comtil. http://utilities.columbus.gov/DOSD/Com-til_NEW.htm

holy crap. i live just east of Dayton. Going to look into that com-til.

 

[gsellis]

Thanks for the reminder. I made my T&M order last night for peppers and tomatoes for the patio.

 

[Elbryn]

holy crap. i live just east of Dayton. Going to look into that com-til.

yea no kidding. if only i had a truck, i'd be mulching and gardening with that stuff. at 16 bucks a yard, it's cheap. they got com plus which is just soil conditioner for 12 bucks a yard. somehow i never really wanted to make the trip with plastic garbage bags to fill by hand there though

 

[jEnus]

I'm in Idaho, Zone 6/7 - most likely will not be planting these until the mid or end of May. We've always used a nearby mountain to determine when its safe to plant, by when the snow is gone from it's peak.

Here's what is planted -

Walla Walla Onions 61
Bush Beefsteak Tomatoes 13
Brandywine Pink Tomatoes 9
Better Boy Hybrid Tomatoes 9
Cherokee Purple Tomatoes 9
Red Cherry Large Tomatoes 10
Jalapeno Peppers 10
Black Beauty Zuchinni Squash 6
Viva Italia Roma Hybrid 11
Sunny Yellow Belle Pepers 6
California Wonder Bell Peppers 6


Most everything has germinated, except about 1/3 of the Walla Wallas. I'll only keep 10 plants and will sell the remaining to friends and family on the cheap.

My wife planted a few flower variety, but I didn't include those.

 

[Patt]

My wife wants to get some container gardening done ... I'm somewhat abivalent, but love the output of the garden, and my eldest daughter loves to get dirty in the mud, so maybe we'll do a bit this year ... so long as it doesn't cut into my golf time.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

yea no kidding. if only i had a truck, i'd be mulching and gardening with that stuff. at 16 bucks a yard, it's cheap. they got com plus which is just soil conditioner for 12 bucks a yard. somehow i never really wanted to make the trip with plastic garbage bags to fill by hand there though

my dad has a 1/2 ton pickup i borrow all the time for hauling various things. wonder how much can fit in the bed with a tarp strapped down on top. hmmm...

i need at least 45 sq feet of soil for the beds. all the soil from the 4 old beds fit into 1 of the new ones. so ive got 3 4'x5'x10" beds to fill

 

[alm99]

I'm in Idaho, Zone 6/7 - most likely will not be planting these until the mid or end of May. We've always used a nearby mountain to determine when its safe to plant, by when the snow is gone from it's peak.

Here's what is planted -

Walla Walla Onions 61
Bush Beefsteak Tomatoes 13
Brandywine Pink Tomatoes 9
Better Boy Hybrid Tomatoes 9
Cherokee Purple Tomatoes 9
Red Cherry Large Tomatoes 10
Jalapeno Peppers 10
Black Beauty Zuchinni Squash 6
Viva Italia Roma Hybrid 11
Sunny Yellow Belle Pepers 6
California Wonder Bell Peppers 6


Most everything has germinated, except about 1/3 of the Walla Wallas. I'll only keep 10 plants and will sell the remaining to friends and family on the cheap.

My wife planted a few flower variety, but I didn't include those.

They are looking tall and spindly. If you can lower the lights so they are within 1-2" of the plants. Great start to the season! Will you be transplanting them into other containers before going into the ground?

 

[WannaFly]

I finished my 3rd raised bed this past weekend. I now have almost 160sq ft of raised beds and 120sq ft of a regular non raised bed.

In florida, I'm already a few weeks late - I'm planting my seeds this evening. I'm going to try and plant most of my stuff directly in the ground instead of starting them inside, like I have in the past.
brief list of what i'm going to plant:
Basil
Cilantro
Corn
Tomatoes (cherry, roma, better boy)
cukes
zukes
pumpkin
gourds
beans
peas
carrots
lettuce
sunflowers
might try onions again since i have leftovers


edit: http://picasaweb.google.com/wannafly37/MiscPics#5457124016040033026
not sure if that link will work - a pic of the raised beds.

 

[charrison]

I tried planting a few veggies in large pots last year and produced very little. Hopefully I will get better results this year. I built a couple of raised beds our of scrap lumber this spring and have planted tomatoes, squash, bell peppers and cucumbers so far.

Now to keep the dog out of the beds.

 

[nerp]

I am an advocate for starting in the ground. They might seem to be behind but they catch up to the indoor starts quickly and eventually are stronger, hardier and don't have to deal with the shock of transplant. I live in New England.

 

[Marinski]

i just got mine started inside about a week ago. We got cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, red pepper, green pepper, ancho chili pepper, spinach, romaine lettuce, green ice, purple lettuce, basil, parsley, rosemary. Will start some other things in the ground when the weather warms up and when I get the raised beds built.

 

[Marinski]

how big should I make my raised bed?? i was thinking 4' x 8' (or maybe a lil longer) and using 2" x 8" cedar boards.

 

[jEnus]

Sketch of the raised garden I built last year. I will upload a picture of it tomorrow.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

how big should I make my raised bed?? i was thinking 4' x 8' (or maybe a lil longer) and using 2" x 8" cedar boards.

thats about what i have. I use 1" thick cedar boards in 4'x5'x8" beds. i wouldnt make them any wider than 4 feet. too hard to get to the center otherwise.

 

[meltdown75]

I changed my mind... I was going to demolish the entire lower level of my deck, but now I think I will only take down half. I'm going to have to start another thread asking for advice before I begin

so basically I am going to have my existing 10' x 3' planter box and a new 12' x 8' or so.

 

[BoomerD]

Got some more planted today. the fresno chili is in the ground, as are 2 rows of radishes, some green onions, got about 25 strawberry plants planted in containers.

Not sure when we'll get the beets planted, but I still have a couple more rows of radishes to plant as well as a couple short rows of carrots.

(I hate having a small yard...my gardening space is limited, and the wife refuses to let me take out more lawn for vegetables...)

 

[HydroSqueegee]

peas and carrots are in the ground. not sure how well they're going to do. the soil is... less than perfect. Need to fertalize.

transplanted the tomatoes to larger peat pots yesterday. i expect them to grow quite nicely.

 

[bignateyk]

Ok, I just built my garden box yesterday. It is 16 feet long by 4 feet wide, by 1 foot high. It is sitting on top of more soil, but it is mostly clay.

What is the best kind of soil? I was going to fill the box with about 10 inches. Should I just buy a couple yards of top soil?

I am planning on planting tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, squash, etc...

Next to the garden box I am also planting some grape vines. I have 3 concord and 3 norton (dry red wine grape). I have read the best kind of soil for those is sandy loam, so i'll probably dig a 2.5 foot deep by 2.5 foot wide hold for each one and fill it with a mix of peat moss, sand, and a little clay.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

lots of different formulas out there for filling a raised bed.

When i fill a new bed, i do Peat Moss, Peat Humus, some top soil, and at least 5 different sources of compost.

 

[dullard]

Got my sod removed on the 10th-11th weekend. It was quick and easy (wife cut it all, we both rolled and moved it aside to create other landscape features). Although, moving 1300 square feet of sod does take a lot out of you.

On the 17th/18th, we did a lot. We put down 11 cubic yards of compost and tilled it into the clay for the garden. Moved 3 cubic yards of potting soil onto the landscape features. Also, we put down landscaping fabric for some bushes, moved 5 cubic yards of mulch for landscaping. Dug some trenches and installed 220 feet of plastic barrier to stop the grass from intruding. Used a weed eater to trim along the fence and killed the remaining grass that we couldn't reach with the sod cutter or the tiller.

To do: Still need to create one raised bed and set up a compost area. We have a pile of 5 cubic yards of potting soil remaining that we'll lay over the garden. We have 4 cubic yards of mulch left to move. We need to plant about 12 shrubs, ~10 hostas, and plant the whole garden. I'd like to stain the fence and attach a rabbit fence along the whole bottom (200 ft). Sadly, it is raining most of this week so I'll have to get this all done on the weekend (except the garden planting that will wait two more weeks).

Every muscle in my body aches.

 

[meltdown75]

i should have some pics of my new raised bed soon.