...but I have a black thumb. And my husband is not much better. We are not huge outdoor people here. I'm actually thinking of starting SMALL, and doing container gardening and Topsy Turvey Tomato and Strawberry plants. I need some help! I'm totally gardening challenged. I've been told I could do some lettuces in the late summer/early fall if I want to test my wings a bit. I'm thinking I'd like to do Tomatoes, Strawberries, beans, cucumbers, peppers (green and jalepeno). I was thinking of doing lettuce and herbs too. I'm trying to think of things that will grow well in a moderately sunny spot (our back porch gets about 8-10 hours of sun a day - I'm going to start measuring that to be sure). I have 6 square foot area on my back porch that I could probably give to gardening....and I if I do the tomatoes, strawberries and jalepenos as topsy turvy plants, then that is less that's on the ground. THANKS! I'm open to ANY/ALL information, suggestions. THANK YOU!!!!
I am like you: BLACK thumb. Seriously. I kill spider plants and they thrive with zero attention. But the boys were given a pumpkin plant each at farmer's market last month. I did a lasagna bed and gave them a sq. foot each. They are growing like crazy! I mean, flowering and long vines and everything. I'm so excited! I guess I don't know if I have advice, just encouragement. I'd start with something small that is relatively hearty, like tomatoes. Then let that build your confidence. You can do it with knowledge and practice. I read The New Square Foot Garden (especially good if you want container gardens in small spaces) and it was very informative. It assumes you know nothing, which I needed.
Ok, In Pennsylvania Tomatoes, Green Peppers and Beans all THRIVE! I've never had one of those plants die on me. If you are set on using containers PLEASE make sure the containers are LARGE enough and you get the right species of plant. If you can spare some yard space I think you'd do better that way (less maintenance). Once you put the tomato, bean, and pepper plants in the ground all you need to remember to do is water them daily (just until the ground gets small puddles of water and water in the early morning or late evening), and if you put down some ground cover (raked leaves or grass clippings work great) you won't have to weed the garden at all. Also I suggest putting some fertilizer (cow or horse poo works great) in your soil before you plant but it's not necessary. If you are going to do containers though I'd be happy to give you some suggestions and pointers if you'd like, I do think that the plants would do better in the ground though (you'll get more yield from a plant in the ground than in a container)
I'm trying something new this year. Probably my biggest hinderance to gardening is the weeding. I can never seem to get ahead of it!!! So this year, a friend of Rachael's was saying that she had a new system I decided to try. I put down a layer of mulched leaves, a layer of straw, and a layer of shredded paper. The weeds simply cannot grow through this!!! Well, duh, that means your plants won't grow through this either, right? Yes and no. You clear away your rows and plant your seeds. Then as your seeds start coming up, you can cover the ground around them. Or, if you buy nursery plants, you push the stuff away, plant them in the ground, and then push the stuff back around your plants. Another bonus is that the leaves, etc., will break down and feed your soil for next year, and I'm told it holds water more so that you don't need to water as much and your soil won't dry out like it does in Ohio in July and August. And it insulates the ground so things grow longer. I'll let you know how it goes next year, but this year, I've had NO WEEDS!!! Well, not exactly! Some of the straw had seeds in it, and I had to pull them up at the very beginning because they would sprout after a rain, but they came right up without any trouble. Compared to all the time I spent weeding last year, this has been SO easy!
Weeding is a HUGE reason for NOT putting it in the yard. The other reasons are shrews, voles, groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits and what nots that live in our yard. We have a half acre property, and the yard slopes down to a runnoff creek and covert that runs under our neighbors yard and under the street...and down the trail,etc. We get A LOT of wildlife, and they're quite brazen...not to mention the birds! ANYWAY....I was thinking that container gardening would be quite a bit easier to weed (or mulch a bit so I don't have to weed), and also, would deter the burrowing pests, at least. I will most likely buy the seedlings and not the seeds - except for maybe the lettuce. My friends hubby is a great gardener, and she's said he'd be able to help me get started at least....he does a GREAT garden in their yard - and they share, but I always feel guilty! I get lettuce, basil and tomatoes from them. This year, they have a TON of tomatoes, and she said they'd never eat them all - I told her I'd pay for their tomatoes! LOL!!!! Her husband said GREAT!. If I could convince him to grow FOR me, I'd do that instead! LOL I've considered joining a CSA...but the problem with that is paying and getting things that you don't really want, occasionally. I know I'd get plenty that I want....but...most of them around here also grow stuff I wouldn't want. Sigh.
A raised lasagna bed is a nice compromise of all the suggestions mentioned. I built a raised bed frame and started with a layer of newspaper (not shredded.. just layed out sheets). Then added a layer of mulch. The most important thing I did differently (and everyone I know in our local garden project suggested) was to use compost instead of potting/gardening/top soil. Now, some people like a layer of verminculite in there, too (or mixed with compost and soil) but I was going for cheap. Our city has a facility where you can buy SUPER cheap mulch and compost, so that's what I did. But all of that information is found in the book I suggested. It's available just about everywhere. I bought my copy at Lowes, of all places.
Just reserved the original Squarefoot Gardening at my Library. I'm sure it's been updated, but assuming the original book will give me the general idea. I want to compost too, of course, I've been wanting to do that for YEARS. So...I think we'll start that this fall!
I've been composting for just over a year now! A layer of that will also go in my garden this year, though I'm not sure if I should add it in the fall or the spring.
Jackie we always added our compost to the garden in the spring when we tilled it up for planting, we would spread the compost, till the land, let it sit for a few days and then plant our seeds.
I won't be tilling. All this stuff I have on it is suppose to break down in such a way as to make tilling not necessary. Birbitt, let me ask a compost question. If I keep adding stuff to it and turning it, how do I add it to the garden? I mean, I have all this really good, yucky compost, but there's also all kinds of fruit and veggies mixed in with it that are NOT composted yet. Do I just not worry about it and add that stuff right into my garden, too?
I too am putting in a garden next year because I didn't move here soon enough to do it this year. For composting we have decided to build a double bin. You start on one side and keep adding and adding until you have a good amount and then stop adding to that side, just turn it often. You can then begin adding to the other side so when one side is ready to use the other side is still "cooking". Another thing we are going to do is get chickens. We plan to have the chicken yard and garden share a fence with a gate which will allow us to let the chickens in the garden in the fall to eat the weeds and clean everything out. Then again in the spring when we lay down our layer of compost we can let the chickens back in for a bit to scratch all that compost into the soil.
I'm in my 3rd year of SFG. Actually there are some pretty big differences. In the original book, it was all about amending your existing soil. The new one ignores your existing soil completely and covers it with a raised bed like in lasagne gardening. The recipe for "mel's mix" is equal parts peat moss, compost (from 5 different sources) and vermiculite. It's a PAIN to mix, and depending on where you live, hard to find vermiculite. I live in a rural area and drove all over the place finding stores with different types of compost. However, when Mel teaches SFG in 3rd world countries, he advocates using only compost because it gets the job done. The vermiculite and peat just add more air and water retention abilities to the mix. I might make more beds next year and if I do I think I'll do lasagne method, leaning heavily on rabbit poop, since I found a free source for that. Mixing the mel's mix was a pain. Being almost Fall, garden centers and such might have their peat and compost (and vermiculite if you can find it) marked down, so maybe go shopping for it NOW, rather when it's back to full price in the spring. Also, if you like to be cheap and have a truck or other way to keep your trunk/van clean, you can ask about buying "culled" bags of stuff. they are the torn open/messy bags that people won't pay full price for. supposedly you can get them REALLY cheap. starting your compost now will definitely save you money on your mels mix, if you can get it finished in time for spring, and that means actually paying attention to your compost pile (I don't) and/or worm composting. the SFG forums at www.squarefootgardening.com are a wonderful resource full of helpful people. If you are on there, search for "worm tube." It's a cool way of composting. other ways to compost that I've learned of too late are trench composting and ditch composting. much more stealthy than a big ugly pile if you have whiney neighbors. Rabbit manure can be used without aging or composting. If you have friends with bunnies, ask for the poo! Make sure to compost the chicken poo. It's "hot" and can burn your plants.
Definitely accept the local help; things are so different place to place. Buying pots can be expensive though but critters can definitely bite into your end results. I buy bulk cottage cheese and yogurt and save the containers for planting. I just cut good sized drainage holes. In pots you have to be more careful about watering too. I use landscaping cloth to keep the weeding down. It works pretty good and I'm hoping it will last quite a few years so I don't have to buy again soon. I started composting awhile ago but haven't added any to my garden yet. Next spring I was hoping to. My mother started at the same time but already harvested once. She screens hers so the large chunky gloppy stuff goes back in the composting bin and the good stuff goes into the garden. Her end result looked beautiful.
I like that screen idea, Frogger! I've developed a system of wood and chicken wire that really keeps the critters off my peas. So do you start everything in the containers, and then transplant them into your garden?
Thank you. I'm reading the first book now. I'll see if I can find the revised edition. I'm THINKING that I'm going to do a combo of SQ Ft. Gardening and Container Gardening. I KNOW for sure I'm going to do one 4X4 block, and I think I've picked the spot in the yard for it. I've been watching it's sun exposure all summer. I'm debating about putting the frame on two sides, so that one end can be all tomatoes, etc. but in a "V" so that the 4 blocks on one side are tomates, and the 3 others going down are pole beans and cucs. This one would have our pepper plants, too...I think. i'm trying not to overdo for our first year....just so I can make sure we'll be diligent and take care of it. If we do well our first year, I'll add on one 4 X 4 Square a year until we have 4 of them. For the containers, I think I'll do most of my herbs, lettuces, and onions in them because they are easy grow, quick harvest, etc. Those I'll keep on my back deck.
Well I confess, I do and I don't. I'm very very blessed to be able to work with my mom since we only have a home that is 190 square feet per person not including the dog and I have no idea where I would keep tray upon tray of plants. I have only one southern facing window and it's in my room which happens to not be the master bedroom since I have all four kids in the master bedroom. So I'm very blessed that my mom has a large garage and a husband who doesn't use it for a shop so she has huge shelves where we start plants. I helped her put in the lights and I go have work days with her so I do do the work but I don't have to trip over the plants or water them daily. We have some regular trays but we also use any type of plastic container we happen to accumulate over the winter. Then I take my trays once we can plant. The season is really short up here so a lot of things spend a lot of time inside. :|
Where are you at, if you don't mind my asking. (If you don't want to say, that's quite alright, just say so!) I just got home from a friend's house. She a bit of acreage, and was commenting on FB tht she has all kinds of blackberry canes she needed to get rid of.... So I took some off of her hands for her! I've about four or five pretty good sized ones sitting in a tub of water out back. I'll get them into the ground tomorrow. She says they'll need a good bit of water at first.
But you have Salmonberries and Nagoonberries instead! Or at least in parts of Alaska. I spent a summer in Cordova, at the bottom of the Prince William Sound, the summer before the Oil Spill.
