2012 Veggie Garden Thread

[BurnHard]

Time for the new garden thread! Summer hit us super early in Boulder this year, 80s all weekend for the past month interrupted by the rare cold rainy day. Few more weeks till average last frost, then it's on!

I've been container gardening for the past years, but I'm stepping it up this year. Got myself a 400sq.ft. community gardening plot, built some 300sq.ft. of cedar raised beds, and can't wait to harvest some San Marzano's and tons of eggplants & red peppers later this summer.

Started some seedlings very early in my shower under CFL & LED grow lights


They got big, fast! This is mid-march. They're HUGE now, started flowering, ready to go outdoors soon.


First day I got my plot. Looks like shit!


Lots of diggin, lots of rocks, lots of roots.


Working on the beds. Two 2x4s stacked vertically screwed onto 4x4s dug into the ground.


Beds almost finished. One 20x3ft bed Ts into an 8x4ft bed, Two 15x4ft beds, One 6x5ft bed.


Planted some peppers (started from seed) outdoors protected by water season extenders



Whatcha got? Plans? Plants? Tips & tricks?

[pepperdawg]

Kinda half-assed started garden here in New England(CT)……started some hot peppers (Bhut Ghost and Trinidad Scorpions) and pickling cukes seeds indoors last week…….and did 3 rows of green beans seeds in the ground this weekend. In a few weeks will be planting (from plants/seedlings from local nursery):

Habaneros peppers
Cayenne peppers
Yellow squash
Broccoli
Lettuce
Tomatoes – the usual big-beef-boy varieties
Beets (from seeds)
Carrots (from seeds)
Radishes (from seeds)
Sugar Peas (form seeds)

Maybe a pot of cherry tomatoes on the deck or something.

Maybe some strawberries from plants…..

Which brings me to a question – was poking around for some sort of software/website I could use to play with the layout of my garden……I tried MS Visio 2010 pro, but nothing…..any Mag gardeners come across or know of anything? Have 2 6x12’ raised beds.

This year I put up a fence made from chicken wire after losing my lettuce/broccoli/baby squash to woodchuck/rabbits last year.

I’ll throw up pics as we get further into the season…

[BurnHard]

Which brings me to a question – was poking around for some sort of software/website I could use to play with the layout of my garden……I tried MS Visio 2010 pro, but nothing…..any Mag gardeners come across or know of anything? Have 2 6x12’ raised beds.

http://www.growveg.com/gardenplanner...nplanner.html#

Nuff said. AWESOME app. Great layout tool plus helps you plan the season once you select which plants you want. Seriously kickass app. And you can share your plan:

http://www.growveg.com/garden-plan.aspx?p=265621

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Got "Summertime" Lettuce, "Salad Bowl" Lettuce, Kale, and Celery in the ground.

Got more Kale, Spinach, and Basil under a light inside and ready to go outside whenever I get a chance.

Got Purple Tomatillo and Goji Berry seeds that I need to start as well. Anyone done Goji before? Tips?

[Pegleg]

BurnHard, what kind of wood are you using for those beds? I'm working on a plan for raised beds in my yard this year (been working at ground level for years and I'm ready to stoop less), but I'm getting conflicting advice about the wood. Don't want to use pine or douglas fir, as those will rot in contact with the moisture and soil pretty quickly. Cedar and redwood are crazy expensive. Home Depot says that pressure treated wood is fine for a garden, but internet sources disagree and claim chemicals from the pressure treatment (including arsenic and metals) will leach into the soil and get absorbed into your plants.

Any thoughts?

[BurnHard]

I found a cheap'ish source for Cedar down in Denver. I paid $0.50/ linear foot of cedar 2x4. Came out to about $140 in 2x4s for my entire garden, plus $40 for the 4x4s. Not too bad given the size of the garden and how long cedar will last. The quality of the cheap 2x4s was however drastically less than the 50% more expensive 2x4s at Lowes or Home Depot. Which isn't a big deal for raised beds.

We're not allowed to use pressure treated wood at the community garden (exactly because of the chemicals) or I would've looked more into it. I think the price difference is relatively small to justify going for the 100% safety of cedar vs. pressure treated wood.

[Pegleg]

Mind providing your cedar source? I'd drive to Denver if the price was better.

[Trainwreck]

The real crime here is that hat.

[BurnHard]

Mind providing your cedar source? I'd drive to Denver if the price was better.

Rocky Mountain Forest Products (not 100% on their name)
5075 Tabor Street
Wheat Ridge, CO
(303) 420-3331

I paid $4 per 8ft 2x4

The real crime here is that hat.

It's only missing a vest and double barrel shotgun, Sicilian style.

[brice618]

I found a worm in my first tomatoes last night. Little bastard.


I bought 1 x 6 cedar fence posts and squared the chamferred end on them to use for my beds. Cheap, but a little more work. I also have smaller beds. Maybe only 80 total square feet of garden. Got 5 tomatoes some peppers broccoli squash onions carrots radishes and various herbs.

Anyone have a good non pesticide way to fend of the worms that made residence in my tomatoes?

[Cruiser]

I've been lazy with my garden this spring. Just yesterday I turned the soil and added some fresh compost. But I haven't planted anything yet. Funny thing is that my leeks came back from last year. They never got big enough to harvest so I just left them. This year they're looking really good. But other than that the garden is pretty much bare. I gotta get my ass in gear and do some planting.

[SorryBro]

Home Depot says that pressure treated wood is fine for a garden, but internet sources disagree and claim chemicals from the pressure treatment (including arsenic and metals) will leach into the soil and get absorbed into your plants.

I made my boxes out of pressure treated lumber, but lined in the inside with a plastic barrier (sides only) to keep the pressure treating from leaching into the soil. It's working great 4 years later. Way cheaper than cedar if you're on a budget. I used 2x10s to get the beds up high as I have a crazy amount of moles that are constantly causing problems, and this seemed to keep them at bay.

[Trainwreck]

It's only missing a vest and double barrel shotgun, Sicilian style.

Oh damn you're right, that's right out of Godfather 2!

5 kinds of potatoes
2 kinds of carrots
2 kinds of beans
tomatoes (who doesn't?)
serrano peppers
basil
strawberries (ongoing patch)
onions

For perennial herbs I went with the kitchen window box so I have them fresh year round: rosemary, sage, thyme, marjoram, oregano and lavender (for herbes du provence)

We still on for beers Friday?

[Trainwreck]

Home Depot says that pressure treated wood is fine for a garden, but internet sources disagree and claim chemicals from the pressure treatment (including arsenic and metals) will leach into the soil and get absorbed into your plants.

Any thoughts?

I wouldn't put treated wood anywhere near plants I was planning on eating. Some of the chemicals they use are listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_preservation

[systemoverblow'd]

I'd give anything to have a garden. Solid work!

[Cyber Cop]

Nice seedlings burnhard. Sweet set up at the community garden. I bet that's going to be a cool experience.

[Bobby Stainless]

Some pretty serious lighting for starting veg seeds.

[BurnHard]

Haha yeah. I currently live in a low-light garden-level apt though, so the lights are both to start the seedlings and to grow them into full-blown flowering plants before I set them out:



Those are just the smaller tomato & eggplant plants in their current state. I just put 8 gigantic San Marzanos out in the garden (in their pots) to harden off during the day, back in at night. Pic to come.

@Trainwreck - hell yeah we're on! Beers & charcoal grilling!

[Zesty Not Spicy]

Some pretty serious lighting for starting veg seeds.

No Shit! I use a standard 4' shop light with a couple bright T12 bulbs and it seems to do the trick. First shot is some current starts I'm working on and the second are tomato plants I started about 6 weeks ago. Anyway, I am going BIG this year with a new 1,700 SF plot. I'll do a proper write up on it once I get some updated pics and get a little closer to being able to show off the finished product but this is what I started with (last pic).

In the ground so far:
Potatoes
Carrots
Peas
Broccoli
Cauliflower
4 types lettuce
Radish
40' Raspberries
20' Strawberries

[Boomer28]

Great thread timing, was about to start one. 4 weeks here in CA so far and am all fired up for some west coast gardening, always dabbled back east but the weather/short season was always rough.

Our house has a 7' x 30' raised bed in the back yard that looked perfect upon moving in but upon closer inspection was basically filled with clay & rocky dirt. Can't believe anyone every got anything to grow in it prior to us.....I was going to turn it over and add gypsum and some amendments but after a terrible PH test decided to just shit-can all the dirt. And start from scratch.

Dug up half the bed myself, down about 18" and piled up the shit dirt on the other half so I could at least get started asap. Brought in some amazing compost from a local soil company, chicken manure, earthworm casings and a few bags of peat for good measure. Very happy with the result, looks beautiful and is holding moisture well so far.

In ground:

-Early Girl Tomato
-Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato
-Yellow Heirloom Tomato
-Yellow grape Tomato
-Jalapeño Peppers
-Red Bell Peppers

Ready to go in this weekend:
-Eggplant (Black Beauty and Millionaire)
-Zucchini
-Crook Neck Yellow Squash
-Lettuce mix (12 plants to start)
-Tomatillos
-Cucumbers
-Herbs: Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Cilantro, Parsley

Planters:
-20 gallon pot with about 20 basil seedlings in it
-30 gallon with Dwarf Lime Tree

Trees:
-Avocado (2)
-Dwarf valencia orange
-Lemon tree
-Plumb tree

[Pegleg]

Trees:
-Avocado (2)
-Dwarf valencia orange
-Lemon tree
-Plumb tree

Living in Colorado, I dream of being able to do these.

[gatorboy]

Traded my garden for a pool last year. I'm going to miss the garden. Instead, I plan on having a dozen potted plants going on the deck. Psst. and I don't care what she says about it

[TitanneeNC]

I found a cheap'ish source for Cedar down in Denver. I paid $0.50/ linear foot of cedar 2x4. Came out to about $140 in 2x4s for my entire garden, plus $40 for the 4x4s. Not too bad given the size of the garden and how long cedar will last. The quality of the cheap 2x4s was however drastically less than the 50% more expensive 2x4s at Lowes or Home Depot. Which isn't a big deal for raised beds.

We're not allowed to use pressure treated wood at the community garden (exactly because of the chemicals) or I would've looked more into it. I think the price difference is relatively small to justify going for the 100% safety of cedar vs. pressure treated wood.

There are organic wood treatment products out there. Good resource is gardeners.com

[Boomer28]

Living in Colorado, I dream of being able to do these.

Coming from the east coast this is still amazing to me. I don't know how everyone in CA that can doesn't have a farmer's market growing in their back yard...Just going to the Nursery and seeing the variety of fruit trees & veggie plants that will grow is mind boggling.

[The AD]

Haven't got any veggies going yet, but my big project so far has been cleaning out the pond. We've let it go a little too long so we decided to drain the entire thing (took over four hours to pump out all the water) and get rid of all the accumulated muck. One cool thing is a water lily I planted a few years ago has really spread. I've got several feet of rhizome now! I also had a ton of irises. They grew a little too good. The roots were everywhere. I threw a lot of these into pots and put them by the road with a "free irises" sign. There are still a couple pots out there, but several have disappeared. I have clear instructions from the wife that these are NOT going back in the pond.

Here's a photo of the work in progress. There's an upper section with a waterfall you can't see here, then about 15 feet of stream that dumps into this lower section. You can see this in the upper center of the photo just to the left of the japanese maple. The deepest part of the lower section is probably about 2.5 feet deep.

If anyone has lots of experience with ponds and/or water features, any advice on the best way to filter the pump? Right now I've got mine in a plastic Rubbermaid box that I drilled a bunch of holes in and then lined with a spongy material. The problem is it tends to get pretty plugged up quickly and then I need to wade into the pond and clean it out again. I've always wondered f it would be OK to just put the pump in without an kind of filtering. Will it get ruined if I do this?



Here's a photo of the water lily.