Anyone Garden?

[johnpma]

Putting in our first veggie garden at the new (old) home. Plan on having tomato's, summer squash, beans, zucchini, red peppers, carrots, pumpkins, and cucumber.

Just rototilled the area and started raking it all out. Nothing like fresh veggies in the summer.

May even get brave and can this year........

Pics to follow as garden progresses

 

[begreen]

Yes, just a little

 

[johnpma]

very nice I like the tar paper idea for weed control....thanks for sharing the pic

 

[begreen]

This is actually heavy duty landscaping fabric that nurseries use. Our goal when I set these beds up was to eliminate weeding. It's been pretty successful at that.

 

[DBNH22]

So begreen, it doesn't look like there are any vegetable plants in there. Do you do veggies?

We've been wanting to plant vegetable garden for awhile now but haven't gotten aroung to it.

it'd sure be nice to have some heirloom tomatoes, carrots and greens.

 

[bassJAM]

Last summer I planted a few tomato plants at the corner of a flower bed. This year I'm expanding to 4 cherry tomato's, 4 sandwich tomato's, and 4 bell pepper plants. My house is almost in the woods, so I'm very limited to where I can plant to get enough sunlight. I'd love to have a full garden someday and can veggies for the year. That's how I grew up, I just don't have the space for it on my property.

 

[Bobbin]

I really like the cement raised beds! The good man is still using lumber (no PT). I recall a Victory Garden visit to a garden in the SW where the guy had poured concrete walls and had spread heavy duty mesh at the lowest depth(18"?) to prevent rabbit/pest infiltrations. He also had mesh hoods he could lower at night, in addition to a fence that rivaled Sobidor!! blew my mind, but in an arid place it made good sense. No such precautions are necessary in Maine... "gahden" fodder is really gravy because there is lots more to eat.

Proud members of MOFGA for over 20 yrs. now. We buy locally produced meat and eggs. Grocery shopping is for "ingredients". We skip the "non-food aisles" (chips and tonic).

Canning is more intensive than blanching and freezing meal size portions of vegetables. But there is nothing better than your own tomatoes January-whenever they run out. It's a little taste of summer when you most need it! If you've never done it before, plan to spend a lot of time on it. It's not a "quickie" project. Follow the directions and it's not hard... contact your local state university... Cooperative Extension Service=4-H. They're there to help YOU!

 

[bobdog2o02]

Kinda hard to see but this is my first garden...... Corn, Peas, Beans, Radishes, Beets, Broccoli, LOTS OF ONIONS, Pickling Cucumbers, Pumpkins, ANNNND Tomatoes.



And the funny surveyors tape is to keep my hounds out, this one especially...

 

[Bobbin]

Nice lookin' dog... what sort am I lookin' at ? boxer/pit/x? We have a brindle beast (more Shepherd-y) who's the smartest dog we've ever had. 100 lbs., well behaved, and still vigorous and active at 12 +/-. Adopted at 1 1/2 yrs. when fully out of control. 3 Ps = Patience, Praise, Practice (can't remember the order). Exercise, consistency, and praise every single day. (I teach you the command and the hand signal, I use it every single time. You do it and I tell you how fabulous you are and sometimes you get a treat!). We both win!

 

[Warm_in_NH]

Bell peppers, various hot peppers, tomatillos, cukes, supersweet cherry tomatoes and early girls in the containers.
Elsewhere in various beds are Leeks, garlic, kale and peas. Also, basil, mint, oregano, dill.

North side of the hill makes it challenging. I've honed in on what does and doesn't do well here.

The eartboxs are great with a limited season, they allow the roots to be much warmer than they would be in the ground resulting in better growing plants with the limited sun and short NH season. They're on the expensive side but worth it, I have 5, 3 were gifts over the years I bought 2. Some are 7 years old and still in good shape.

Then there's the other house where the gf has her garden. Two hours south, full sun, she grows whatever I don't from asparagus to potatoes and everything in between. Plus a dozen egg layers. She goes weeks without going to the store in the summer.

Gardens are a great hobby. I love em.

 

[DBNH22]

View attachment 133984


Gardens are a great hobby. I love em.

Yeah it's not just the enjoyment of working in them but the added bonus of knowing you're not actually poisoning yourself like the veg you get at the supermarket.

I can't wait to get one going but it will have to wait next year.

Has anyone ever planted the black tomatoes? I saw them in the seed catalogs and they look very appealing.

 

[bobdog2o02]

Nice lookin' dog... what sort am I lookin' at ? boxer/pit/x? We have a brindle beast (more Shepherd-y) who's the smartest dog we've ever had. 100 lbs., well behaved, and still vigorous and active at 12 +/-. Adopted at 1 1/2 yrs. when fully out of control. 3 Ps = Patience, Praise, Practice (can't remember the order). Exercise, consistency, and praise every single day. (I teach you the command and the hand signal, I use it every single time. You do it and I tell you how fabulous you are and sometimes you get a treat!). We both win!

She is one of our Johnson American Bulldogs. Typically a southern breed, we found a great family breeder in WV. We have a boy too. Its hard to tell but she is a lean 90lbs and our boy is 2" shorter at the shoulders and runs a stout but lean 105lb. Its funny to think but they are well trained with visual barriers, we use baby gates in the house and once they knew the surveyors tape was the limit they have obeyed it....

 

[begreen]

So begreen, it doesn't look like there are any vegetable plants in there. Do you do veggies?

We've been wanting to plant vegetable garden for awhile now but haven't gotten aroung to it.

it'd sure be nice to have some heirloom tomatoes, carrots and greens.

Chuckle , it's all veggies except for the lemon tree in the foreground and the strawberry bed. There are tomatoes, potatoes, corn, broccoli, carrots, spinach, beans, beets, radishes, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, onions, peppers, eggplants, cukes, zukes, peas, squash, spinach, chard, kale, herbs, etc. all growing well. I'll take some new shots tomorrow.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

Tomatoes aren't going to out grow their stakes this year!

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Expanded by another 12x12 area this year (Still only in the 700 sq ft range). Once again- no till, no landscape fabric. heavy mulch, and little weeds/watering. I'm hoping to get on top of late season crops after early corn etc is done.

 

[begreen]

June progress. Cukes, zuke, brassicas, corn and tomatoes are starting to take off. Greenhouse tomato plant is getting silly big.

 

[valley ranch]

You guys have some nice looking growing areas. Good for you. I really look forward to this time of year. To be able to plant and grow.

Richard

 

[valley ranch]

Here is the duff I use to mix soil for starting seeds. Mostly decomposed Fir. Sifted through 1/2" hardware cloth.

 

[Lake Girl]

My question is what is the best method of keeping deer and bunnies out of the veggies? would love to plant some apple trees too but would actually like to eat the fruit not feed the wild life. OK - don't mind sharing some but....

 

[begreen]

A tall fence is all that has worked for us and we have tried several options. For bunnies you may need to use metal fencing that starts out laid flat on the ground for a couple feet so that they can't dig under it.

 

[Bobbin]

If you have to fend off invaders that dig, bury wire mesh fencing 1' down and 2' horizontally. Deer? fence should be 8'+, no kidding!

We have a fenced garden (no mesh under and the fence isn't 8') but we also have a dog and every single time we go "out" we do the perimeter patrol! There have been plenty of times (early AM) when the cats have been dialled in on "noise" and Faithful Hound has been "all over it" when the door was opened! Deer beat feet to the hinterland, and the hound's been "skunked" a couple of times... but garden damage is nil and we have a ready supply of the crap you use to neutralize the skunk thing. Sucks when you have to do it, but you learn how!

We're home a lot of the time. And when we're home the dog is out... makes a huge difference, IMO. With 4 cats we have minimal trouble with damage to perennials by rodents. Resident felines are out all day and in at night. (N-nights with their humans is a huge part of the social structure).

 

[bobdog2o02]

this has worked well for me for deer. Smells TERRIBLE, Main ingredients are, Dried Blood (0.0024%), Putrescent whole egg solids (0.0024%), Garlic oil (0.00048%) Is completely safe for veggies and other stuff you plan to eat. Basically, it smells like death and most critters dont like that.http://www.arbico-organics.com/product/repels-all-animal-repellent-rtu/animal-critter-control.

 

[begreen]

Irish Spring soap bars worked for half of one year for us. Then they ignored it. We have used dried blood, rotten eggs, dog hair, wolf urine, garlic, hot pepper, and most every commercial preparation. All worked, some for a few weeks and some not at all. When deer pressure is strong they will eventually ignore almost anything. A junk yard dog that stays outside, a strong fence or an electric fence are the only options when you have many deer interested in a large garden.

 

[Lake Girl]

Lock it down like Fort Knox? I do have a GSD but she doesn't run free yet... she still has issues with understanding her boundaries. She took off today - possibly after a deer - but did come back within a few minutes since I kept calling. Problem with that is if she gets a habit of chasing deer, MNR has no qualms about shooting her.

Fencing seems to be the most likely answer. I know a neighbor has tried many of the commercial remedies and the Irish Spring. Deer and gophers seem to be the bane of their gardens. Building some raised beds to start and see how it goes - can't fence the yard so it'll be the raised beds

 

[valley ranch]

Greetings, We use a fence charger at both ranches. In the mountains it keeps out Bear, raccoon, deer and dogs from the corrals and barn. In the desert its cows, bulls, goats rabbits and rodents from the garden areas. On the inside or the fence we have a 2' chicken wire tied to keep out the rabbits. They work well, We use parmark chargers SE 4 and SE 5.

These will do the job for you. I promise. There are other ways that might work for you. But we've found an electric fence to work great, animals will keep away. Some people hang aluminum foil on the hot wire with peanut butter on it to teach the deer.

Richard