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Gardening Thread

I tried composting on my own a few years ago. It started out well, and I got my neighbors (all family) to bring stuff over to contribute. About halfway in I started noticing a horrific smell and maggots. My grandmother had decided to use it as a place to put her food scraps and leftovers.

Down the road, I'd like to try my hand at composting with worms.

our attempt at composting with worms was very, very amateur. but it worked really, REALLY well. we did, however, put everything through the food processor before adding it to the container, just to speed up the process. but other than that, it took practically no effort and the result was pretty awesome.
 
I suppose it varies by area, but I've never had any trouble at all growing zucchini or squash. None whatsoever.

A big help is the quality of seed you purchase. We get some of ours (more exotic peppers and such) from Park Seed and the rest we get from our local Southern States. We've tried the cheap seeds from Walmart/Lowes, but they just arent as good as the others.

We haven't had any issue with rope worms until this year. They took out and entire row of each (zucchini and squash). I wish I could remember what we did, but we ended up planting another type of plant in order to deter them and it worked. I had other items going on at that time and just didn't pay enough attention to tell you what we did.

We buy all of our seeds and plants either from the local garden shop or from Parks.

Anyone had luck with root vegetables? I'm growing garlic bulbs, but would love to get potatoes and onions going.

We always do onions and have not had any trouble. This year we tried sweet potatoes for the first time and had good luck.
 
Just had 3 yards of top soil delivered to the house. The pile is not as big as I thought it would be, but 3 yards was more than the project called for, so hopefully this is just a matter of looks being deceiving.
 
Just had 3 yards of top soil delivered to the house. The pile is not as big as I thought it would be, but 3 yards was more than the project called for, so hopefully this is just a matter of looks being deceiving.

How much were you able to get it for, if you don't mind sharing?
 
We haven't had any issue with rope worms until this year. They took out and entire row of each (zucchini and squash). I wish I could remember what we did, but we ended up planting another type of plant in order to deter them and it worked. I had other items going on at that time and just didn't pay enough attention to tell you what we did.

An organic bug spray that I've heard but never tried is cayenne pepper mixed with water. Here's a list of other common tricks:

Plant Bug Repellents
  • Cayenne Pepper and Garlic: Spraying a solution cayenne powder, garlic and water helps to keep away plant bugs from your garden.
  • Garlic: Placing a piece of garlic under the soil of indoors plants repels bugs away.
  • Lemon or Lime: Spraying lemon or lime solution over the leaves of the plant acts a good repellent.
  • Marigold: Soak chopped marigold plants in boiled water. Once it is cooled, add some liquid soap drops and spray on the aphids.
  • Plant some nasturtiums, garlic and onions around the plants, which are more, attacked by the aphids.
  • Spraying the water from boiled sweet potatoes act as a natural repellent to keep away plant bugs.
 
How much were you able to get it for, if you don't mind sharing?

Total was $130.

The topsoil was $25 / yard - they nailed me on the delivery fee since it was a "small" order (under $100). I could have purchased more soil to avoid the surcharge, but don't have any need for more soil than I ordered. It was kind of lose-lose for me and I expected to pay a lot.

Keep in mind, my boxes are 18" tall so I need a lot more soil than it sounds like you'll need.
 
Keep in mind, my boxes are 18" tall so I need a lot more soil than it sounds like you'll need.

Any reason to go taller than the 2x10's I had planned? Besides less bending over? If there's a benefit to deeper soil, I can always go taller.

I think it's about 1 YD that you can fit into the back of a standard pickup bed. I may just make a couple trips rather than paying the delivery fee. I think the city of Charlotte has compost available in bulk as well.
 
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Any reason to go taller than the 2x10's I had planned? Besides less bending over? If there's a benefit to deeper soil, I can always go taller.

I think it's about 1 YD that you can fit into the back of a standard pickup bed. I may just make a couple trips rather than paying the delivery fee. I think the city of Charlotte has compost available in bulk as well.

I don't think so. We chose to go with 3 - 2 x 6's for aesthetic reasons, not because there is any benefit that we're aware of.

Just be mindful of the haul capacity of your truck. I think a yard of topsoil weighs around a ton.

ETA: From what I'm reading online, a 1/2 ton truck should be able to handle about 1 YD max, so unless you have a mid-size truck you should be good to haul your own soil.
 
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IETA: From what I'm reading online, a 1/2 ton truck should be able to handle about 1 YD max, so unless you have a mid-size truck you should be good to haul your own soil.

Good point...I've always owned 250/350's, but I'd be borrowing a 150. Just a couple miles though to exceed capacity. :D
 
Anybody do a cold frame? I don't know what it is but I always feel challenged to grow this time of year.
 
I did sweet potatoes for the first time last year, and they did amazingly well. We've done onions, and they just didnt turn out that well. The garlic is easy and continues to produce year after year. I've also had great success with asparagus. This will be the first year we can harvest them regularly, so I'm pretty stoked. The few we got off them last year were very, very tasty.

I wasn't planning on doing garlic, but I went to turn my compost bin last week and found three cloves that sprouted new growth, so I planted them and we'll see what happens. To be honest, I don't have a vision for how it's going to work. Does a single clove divide once its foliage matures?
 
It does. Just make sure you didnt plant them upside down. I thought I had got all my garlic up, but low and behold its coming up again.
 
we have 5 raised beds in our yard right now and the soil is the most important aspect. each of our beds has fresh garden soil, peat moss, worm casings and vermiculite. we add a little extra soil every season while we till up the soil, but you need to make sure you rotate your crop (from box to box). we are also starting a compost area for nutrient rich soil...i will let you know how it goes.

for water...i have set up a 4 station watering system i got at Home Depot that i leave my spicket on all the time and the system will turn on every morning at 7am and water each station for 15 minutes through a hose to a soaker-hose in the garden box. once one area is finished the 2nd area begins, etc.. very little work!

as for the little pests...it's a tough one that i have not mastered. we have 2 owl plastic things that we move around every once in a while but that only works on birds...squirrels are a pain in the ass!

i am by no means an expert but i am on my 4th season and we get relatively good results...my freezer is filled with veggies!
 
Interesting that folks are watering every morning. The advice I've gotten from two separate local gardening sources is to water once a week, twice during the heat of the summer.
 
Interesting that folks are watering every morning. The advice I've gotten from two separate local gardening sources is to water once a week, twice during the heat of the summer.

i have been told that i can reduce the watering over the hot months but my i was getting great results by watering every day. i think it depends on what you are growing but once a week doesn't sound right (i have never been told that).
 
Maybe I misunderstood my wife who went to a free seminar earlier this week. Maybe it was once a day?
 
I wasn't planning on doing garlic, but I went to turn my compost bin last week and found three cloves that sprouted new growth, so I planted them and we'll see what happens. To be honest, I don't have a vision for how it's going to work. Does a single clove divide once its foliage matures?

garlic seed is merely cloves of garlic that has been cured to an extent. the best way to grow garlic is to (during first year) pay out the wazoo for expensive seed garlic. they will send you nice big bulbs of whatever variety you choose. Carefully break apart the cloves without nicking them (if you nick them they will most likely rot before they take root and you will not get any growth). Plant those cloves with the rough part down about 6 weeks before you first frost. Mulch with straw and then wait to harvest when several of lower leaves go brown. Once you harvest, you should select the biggest heads to save as seed. Cure them and wait to repeat process again. The bigger the head, the bigger the clove which gives you the most potential energy for growth in ground. By saving "seed" you will really save on cost.
 
i have been told that i can reduce the watering over the hot months but my i was getting great results by watering every day. i think it depends on what you are growing but once a week doesn't sound right (i have never been told that).

If you can you should be watering everyday. Although, water should be done in the early morning or in the late evening. Water during the high heat of the day will result in a lot of evaporation. This will cost you money and will reduce the amount of water that actually percolates into the ground. It may not be possible to water everyday. As a "commercial" farmer, I used an irrigation system (rainflow) that was run off a honda water pump. The pump siphoned water from the creek nearby to my fields. With that in mind, I was able to water everyday even through the insane July drought and heat. Most garden farmers will not have access to a creek, pump and irrigation system. As a result, it really depends on water usage restrictions (drought restrictions, etc.) to determine how often you will be able to water.
 
garlic seed is merely cloves of garlic that has been cured to an extent. the best way to grow garlic is to (during first year) pay out the wazoo for expensive seed garlic. they will send you nice big bulbs of whatever variety you choose. Carefully break apart the cloves without nicking them (if you nick them they will most likely rot before they take root and you will not get any growth). Plant those cloves with the rough part down about 6 weeks before you first frost. Mulch with straw and then wait to harvest when several of lower leaves go brown. Once you harvest, you should select the biggest heads to save as seed. Cure them and wait to repeat process again. The bigger the head, the bigger the clove which gives you the most potential energy for growth in ground. By saving "seed" you will really save on cost.

Wow. Great input, thank you very much.
 
We eat a lot of squash/zucchini...didn't realize they were tough to grow. I guess we'll give it a shot. The farmer's market is always close by if things go bad.

To be clear, zucchini and squash are easy to grow IF you can avoid the stem borer (they plant their eggs in the stem while the plant is young and kill it just as the plant begins to produce...and by the time you realize they are in there, it's too late). And the stink bug is more of a nuisance than anything. but they reproduce massively fast and can take over the garden. my garden is 30 yards or so from the house. would not want those things much closer to be sure they didn't come inside.
 
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