official veggie gardener's thread

[dullard]

I have a question about a raised bed. I was hoping to make a rectangular bed right up against the house. But, I'm worried about water/bugs creaping into the siding (the cheap vinal siding). Would it be sufficient to put a metal sheet along the house, build three walls for the bed, and fill it up with the proper mix of soil/compost? Or what would you do for the along-the-house wall? I'd rather not move the raised bed away from the house, if possible.

 

[BoomerD]

I have a question about a raised bed. I was hoping to make a rectangular bed right up against the house. But, I'm worried about water/bugs creaping into the siding (the cheap vinal siding). Would it be sufficient to put a metal sheet along the house, build three walls for the bed, and fill it up with the proper mix of soil/compost? Or what would you do for the along-the-house wall? I'd rather not move the raised bed away from the house, if possible.

I wouldn't build a raised bed next to the house if it was me. Too many potential problems; moisture getting into the walls, bugs, rot, etc.
If you can leave at least a couple of inches...maybe...but not right against the house.

 

[nerp]

Yeah, keep a few inches. Treat it like a stack of firewood. You wouldn't want that leaning against your house unless you live in some 500-year-old villa in Tuscany.

 

[eplebnista]

Planted a couple of rutgers, early girl, german pink, sweet 100, and patio tomatoes, as well as a couple of jalapeno and banana peppers, in addition to yellow crookneck squash, bush cucumbers, and clemson spineless okra.

 

[Azraele]

Recently planted tomato, squash, and peppers.

Also have a cherry tree going nuts in the back yard. Mmmmm cherries.

 

[spidey07]

Got all kinds of heirloom tomatoes, broccoli/cauliflower, zuchini/squash/cucumbers. Lots of peppers including habenero. Already have a tomato the size of a marble (Early Girls). Got 14 tomato plants which is way too many. Oh, and 100 strawberry plants.

Other tomatoes
Brandywine
Braindywine OTV
Cherokee Purple
Mortgage Lifter
Chico III
San Marzano type I can't remember

 

[BoomerD]

My strawberry plants (started as bare-root plants) are growing and are getting loaded with blossoms. My radishes are doing well, bulbs are between nickel and quarter-sized already, green onions are looking good, tomato plants are covered in blossoms, and I have one jalapeno pepper that's poked through the blossom. (maybe 3/8" long)
My blueberry bushes have quite a few healthy looking green berries, actually far more than I expected for the first year.

 

[meltdown75]

can't wait to get out there and see what's for sale... i have a lot of work to do before planting.

- clean out my existing raised bed
- create a new one
- buy plants
- plant

weather needs to cooperate for 2-3 days in a row. this will be an amazing growing year!

 

[clamum]

Cool thread. I don't own a house but I'd love to have a garden some day. I have an apartment but there's a deck around it (I live in the upper level), I was thinkin about buying a couple pots or something and growing tomatoes.

 

[meltdown75]

i grew a couple outside of my bed last year, in pots... just for shits & grins. they did alright but the yield was a fraction of their bedded brothers'. they were still cool to keep an eye on though... and add some life to my otherwise lifeless deck.

maybe this year i'll put something else in the pots :ninja:

 

[spidey07]

i grew a couple outside of my bed last year, in pots... just for shits & grins. they did alright but the yield was a fraction of their bedded brothers'. they were still cool to keep an eye on though... and add some life to my otherwise lifeless deck.

maybe this year i'll put something else in the pots :ninja:

I've got just about every herb imaginable, 6 kinds of basil, etc in pots. They do really well. The secret is to use big pots and make sure the soil drains very well. I take a maybe 2.5 feet diameter pot, put about 6 inches of rock in the bottom and fill with soil. Then put 3-4 herbs in it along with a companion flower or two to help them.

Careful with dill and fennel. They will REALLY harm your tomato plants so keep them far, far, far away from them.

 

[clamum]

Hmmm. Well thanks for the info spidey, I may get around to trying this.

 

[spidey07]

Hmmm. Well thanks for the info spidey, I may get around to trying this.

You can do bush or determinate tomatoes if space is small. Same applies, they'll want a large pot of well drained soil and plenty of sun. They also needs lots of calcium and magnesium.

 

[BurnItDwn]

My strawberry patch (6x4) is growing nicely, I've weeded it several times, and the weeds keep coming back, but the strawberries are holding their ground.
My raspberry plants are doing awesome, I planted 4 of them 2 years ago, and now I have 3 big plants, as well as several smaller ones.

Sorry, no veggies growing here

 

[meltdown75]

ooh, i am almost out of dill too... i wouldn't mind trying to grow some.

 

[DrPizza]

Getting ready to put in the strawberry patch. If the rain hold off this evening, I'll get the area for the strawberry patch plowed & plow in all the compost. Hoping to put in 500 strawberries. If I can get my home-from-college tomorrow sons involved, it'll be one huge kick-ass garden; maybe a few thousand square feet. Planning on enough corn to freeze for the year & have leftovers to sell, ditto plum tomatos, squashes, peas, and beans. I'll also add in a 6-pack each of cantelopes, pumpkins, watermelons, bell peppers, whatever else comes to mind & might try potatos & carrots.
But first, there are two woodchucks that need to be dispatched so that I have a garden.

edit: wow! I just started doing a calculation of how many yards of compost I have this year - I have a LOT of compost.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Well, hopefully I'm done making my first-time newb mistakes.

Built 2 boxes, got mixed soil in one, and transplanted some established herbs, tomatoes and peppers. Lost the tomatoes during a freeze ~2 weeks ago. Lost the peppers on a freeze several days ago. Lost the herbs in last night's snowfall.

I'm never planting shit before June 1 in this state again. :\

 

[spidey07]

Well, hopefully I'm done making my first-time newb mistakes.

Built 2 boxes, got mixed soil in one, and planted some established herbs, tomatoes and peppers. Lost the tomatoes during a freeze ~2 weeks ago. Lost the peppers on a freeze several days ago. Lost the herbs in last night's snowfall.

I'm never planting shit before June 1 in this state again. :\

Look up the last frost and freeze dates for your specific area/city. Planting before then is just rolling the dice.

 

[torpid]

We only have pots on our deck but we are liking the results so far. Last year we had a LOT of hot peppers grow. We planted more this year, including a "Peter" pepper which looks like genitalia.

Broccoli was a waste of time, but we are hoping that broccolini this year won't be since it seems to produce much more veg in the same amount of space.

Why does it help herbs grow to put flowers in the same pot?

 

[spidey07]

We only have pots on our deck but we are liking the results so far. Last year we had a LOT of hot peppers grow. We planted more this year, including a "Peter" pepper which looks like genitalia.

Broccoli was a waste of time, but we are hoping that broccolini this year won't be since it seems to produce much more veg in the same amount of space.

Why does it help herbs grow to put flowers in the same pot?

Certain plants help each other grow or keep bugs away. It's called companion plants and varies depending on the herb or plant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

Pro-tip: Marigolds keep crop destroying worms/moths away. I always plant some near my tomatoes after a bad battle with hornworms. Never had them again.

 

[fatpat268]

Well, hopefully I'm done making my first-time newb mistakes.

Built 2 boxes, got mixed soil in one, and transplanted some established herbs, tomatoes and peppers. Lost the tomatoes during a freeze ~2 weeks ago. Lost the peppers on a freeze several days ago. Lost the herbs in last night's snowfall.

I'm never planting shit before June 1 in this state again. :\

I start planting late february/ early march here in texas, and the nights that are forcasted to be near freezing (pretty much anything below 40), I'll put old blankets over the plants.

It won't likely save them in a lengthy hard freeze, but if it's right around freezing for the night only, it should work.

 

[JEDI]

i want to grow corn. i love fresh picked corn to plate in 10min. (i have no idea where i can pick fresh corn in my area of Northern VA.)

i live in a HOA. my backyard doesnt have a fence, thus i cant grow anything back there since it's considered unsightly.

however, i can grow veggies in a pot and put it on my front step. (i dont understand this logic, but whatever.)

anyway, how easy/feasible will it be to have like a 12"x12x12" square pot and grow a couple stalks of corn?

 

[eplebnista]

So far have a handful of tomatoes growing plus a lot more blooms, a few jalapeno peppers have began growing, the squashes are blooming but not bearing yet, and the okra is getting quite leafy and has buds but no blooms yet.

 

[dullard]

anyway, how easy/feasible will it be to have like a 12"x12x12" square pot and grow a couple stalks of corn?

It isn't feasible at all. Well, you'll get the stalks, but no corn. You just won't get much of any yield with a 12 foot by 12 foot patch, so a 12 inch by 12 inch patch will give you next to nothing. A corn stalk needs to be surrounded by many other corn stalks to have any chance of being pollinated.

 

[BoomerD]

I was going to start a new thread, but since it IS garden related...

I was planting some flowers in my side yard this morning when I got the feeling I was being watched...and I was...by thousands and thousands of tiny eyes...

By the time I went and got my camera, they had started to disperse into my butterfly bush (Buddleja) land surrounding plants.

I'm always happy to see them return. They're "honored guests" in my garden.