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back yard gardening, getting ready for the season

Started by Howdy, May 23, 2011, 06:14:30 PM

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Howdy

My backyard urban garden is small, yet it gives me a feeling of satisfaction that is hard to beat. I am in my second year of raised bed square-foot gardening and have so much to learn.

I had a water drainage problem resulting in a flooded garage whenever it rained so to solve it I dug out an area 25' square and 30" deep and used that area to build my dream garden. I have six beds 3' x 6' and a retaining wall around it all built up to around 50' long x 2-3' wide, about 225 sq. ft.. It is enough to provide for family, friends, and co-workers with ease.

I am about to add some additional compost and soil then start planting this week.  Most of my plants will be purchased at the local farmers market and transplanted after hardening off. 

It may not be a huge homestead garden but I am happy, not overworked and have a peaceful place to just sit and enjoy. 

Tom

Sounds like a great start and good hobby.  The good thing about the narrow plots, I always heard, is that you can broadcast seed from a lot of plants and not have to worry about rows and stuff, because you can reach all of the way across from either side.   That's cool!

I guess that makes salad type stuff a lot easier to grow and get you more stuff too.  Radishes, lettuce, carrots and stuff like that would sow real good. 

You'll have to take some pictures and show us what an Urban Oregon Garden looks like.  :)

sandhills

Hope you have fun with it!  So far the only thing I have to replant is in my garden,(I'm a farmer) DanG rabbits anyway  :-\.  All my tomato plants are gone and they even started chewing on my pepper plants now, guess it's time for the electric fencer to come out  ;D.  Hope you have a little better luck and be sure to add a few pictures.
PS probably a dumb question but what do you mean by "hardening off"?

Buck

I bet rabbit would keep in the freezer till the garden grew back. mmmmm ;)
Respect is earned. Honesty is appreciated. Trust is gained. Loyalty is returned.

Live....like someone left the gate open

Patty

Sandhills, I think what he means by hardening off is when you buy plants sometimes the stems are spindly and weak due to little sunlight and no wind, so you have to gradually expose the little plants to both to get them strong enough to stand up to them.

We have to do the same because the wind is always blowing here, and it just shreds the little plants if they are not sturdy enough to stand up to it.  Often the plants get shredded by the wind anyway no matter how strong they are. Life on the prairie....
Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ........
on a broomstick.....
We are flexible like that.

Coon

I hear ya on that patty.  ;)  We finally had to put out our mater plants the other day because they were overcrowding themselves in the little six packs we bought them in.  Hopefully the plants will perk up in a few days.  We used coffee cans with the bottoms cut out around each plant to help shield them from the wind.  Once they get a little bigger we will remove the cans and replace with chicken wire for them to climb on. 

I see this morning that some of the other veggy plants are starting to poke out of the ground finally and the saskatoon trees are in full bloom.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

Chris Burchfield

I had to put chicken wire around my garden to keep the chickens out.  They'd scratch up the new little plants or eat them.  My little garden is about 18' X 36'.  I have little green tomatoes on the vine, 1 bell pepper and picked two crook neck yellow squash.  I have zucchini, cucumber, yellow - red & green bell pepper and a couple of jalapeno plants. I've not found a hoe that fit my hands just right so I put down plastic to keep the grass down.

Woodmizer LT40SH W/Command Control; 51HP Cat, Memphis TN.

Howdy

As the nursery workers explained it, hardening off refers to taking a seedling raised in a greenhouse and acclimating it to the real world. 

After purchasing the plant, you gently expose it to wind, temp changes and sunlight.  This allows the plant to develop sturdy leaf and stem development.  Each day you give it more time and after a week or two it is ready to plant in the garden.

I set the plants on the raised bed with a trellis and covered it with plastic to create a mini greenhouse.  This allowed me to pull one side open during the day and keep it covered at night or when strong winds are expected. 

This is something I have never heard of or have done before but being gullible I am willing to listen to the "experts" (or anyone who has more experience than I do) and try something new if it makes sense. 

Ernie

Has anyone mentioned that we do like pictures ;D

I am just in the planning stage for my main garden next spring.  Winter is supposed to be starting here any day now.

A very wise man once told me . Grand children are great, we should have had them first

darty

Hardening off acclimates the plant to the harsher climate of the garden.  Often if you take plants from the greenhouse directly to the garden the more intense sun will "sunburn" the leaves and kill the plant. As mentioned above you should slowly expose the plant to increasing amounts of direct sunlight till it is acclimated.

sandhills

Thanks for the info, I kind of figured that's what it meant.  I won't have to worry about doing that thanks to my wonderful bunnies.  Told the wife and stepdaughter all 2 1/2 dogs are going, worst part is the 1/2 dog probably does more good keeping the critters away than the other 2 (she's a minnie poo, and yes I love her dearly but don't tell my wife I'll deny I ever admitted to it  ;D).  I've never had much trouble transplanting until this year and we get the same winds you do Patty, sorry for sending them on  :-\.  We farm a lot of sand and it will beat young crops up like you wouldn't believe when it blows, if it doesn't cut it off it makes it look like a hail storm went through.

thecfarm

I lay down black plastic for my pepper plants and I just about pick them like tomatoes. I live in Maine and we may have some warm,90's for temps but usually cool at night.They like the heat. I just bought 2 rolls,boy plastic gone up from last year.Wet the ground,than cut an X where you want the plant and that's it. Put something on the plastic to keep it from blowing up over the plants. I use rocks on the edges and than beside each plant. I even have to use tomato cages on my pepper plants because I get so many peppers it will pull the plant over. Have big stalks,but the peppers will pull them over.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Patty

We have tried black plastic for row cover and we have tried that white woven stuff to keep the bugs off. No matter how many rock and how much dirt we put on it, the wind has destroyed it within days. Usually ends up wrapped around some fencing about a mile away. One year I did get the black plastic to stay down........only to have the mice burrow under it and destroy my garden from below.  ::)

Now I have resigned to just mowing the weeds down in between the rows, and unsuccessfully hoeing the weeds in between the plants. By August usually the weeds have won the battle.  >:(
Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ........
on a broomstick.....
We are flexible like that.

Don_Papenburg

Patty,  Put a broom handle on a paint roller .  Fill a bucket with a water/ glysophate mix and roll the weeds back and forth .  You could get most of them painting in one direction , but if you pull the roller back you get the little ones that the big ones try to protect.
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

Norm

Our new FF sponsor has a really cool glysophate applicator we are going to order.

Roller Applicator

Anybody that gardens needs to check out their website, lots of innovative gardening stuff!

thecfarm

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Patty

Yep it is always windy here.   I like the idea of the roller/round-up application, since most of the time it is too windy to spray. Last week I went out with a can and a paint brush to apply roundup to the weeds. It was tedious to say the least.  ::)    So far it has not kicked in. I don't know if I got enough on the weeds or not.  The garden is too muddy today to go check, but hopefully the sin will shine some this weekend so I can get out there.

May just have the cement guy cover the whole thing up and we can have one giant patio.  Farmers market here we come!!
Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ........
on a broomstick.....
We are flexible like that.

beenthere

I noticed our new sponsor with the gardening tools has a roundup roller.
http://www.lawn-gardening-tools.com/ecom-prodall/COREseo.html

(Whoops! missed Norm's post on this same item).
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Norm

That's who I linked to in my post, click on "roller applicator".  ::)

red oaks lumber

you just need to plant a roundup ready garden then wind doesnt matter 8)
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

SwampDonkey

Patty, what I did with the floating fabric is I strapped it down on the wooden frame around the garden beds. Just tacked it there so I could get a claw hammer and take off a piece of strapping to check the plants. Dad has floating fabric on his strawberries and already has green fruit and lots of blossoms besides.  He's got lots of anchor rocks. ;) 8)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Patty

Round up ready vegetable garden would be great!  We need to invent this.  ;D

Donk, the row cover fabric on a frame, weighed down with boulders would work. I guess I am not that ambitious! Why don't you just send me one and I will tell you how it works!  :D
Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ........
on a broomstick.....
We are flexible like that.

SwampDonkey

My raised beds have a PT wooden frame, so all I did was strap the fabric to that. Didn't build a special frame for the fabric. Dad has no frame, he gets lots of wind, but has some heavy rocks to. :D Most of my rocks are the size of a small salt shaker or smaller, fine gravel type of size.

Planted my root crops yesterday and some spinach, peas. I made rows for stuff, but I also had extra onion sets that got poked in between other rows of stuff. Like Tom said, just poke a seed in an empty spot. :D :D

I don't bother making a frame for cukes, I have all kinds of them for one fella to eat. :D They want over a dollar for a cucumber in the store, I'll never pay that. Farmer's market cukes are high to until they have to move'm quick. Squash, I can buy a 50lb sac for $20 in the fall. Store wants $1.69/lb. ::)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

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