[startover22]

:):) I won't have to worry about neighbors so I get to go crazy, maybe let the kids take total control... Uhhhh no, no that's a very bad idea! :) I am just excited, I know once the weeding comes I will mellow out!

[bushg]

To help control the weeds I have seen people use straw, or take brown paper bags and cut them open and lay them down. I once new a man that had his entire garden like this... I did not think it was very attractive but he was elderly and it was so much easier for him. He did this after the first hoeing and adding fertlizer.

[startover22]

I feel silly for asking, but did he just put the straw around the veggie plants, to keep the weeds from growing around them? We can get hay very easily here in the country, this would be the best choice for me.

[bushg]

No he also put it the paths, in addition to around the veggies. He had raised beds... umm that was about 20 years ago. This was really odd for me since I was raised on a small farm where we had corn fields and such. Btw his nick name was squirrel.
He was a very nice man that my cousin worked with, probably passed away by now. He would also take 2 liter bottles and cut them off and make a slit down the side , the neck of the bottle he would shove in the ground. He used this as a means to water the vegetables. He was all into conserving and this was his means of water conversation. He would take a cup of water a pour it down the inside of the water... he said it took less water that way as it went directly to the intended plant. We live in Ohio and can have some very hot and dry summers.

[startover22]

We live in Oregon and we have dry and hot summers too. Rain all winter and dry all summer. Oh that is great, I could start saving the bottles now, we always have those in the recycle bin. Great Idea, thanks. Isn't it funny we learn many things and USE that knowledge and pass it on! I am going to do a circle strwberry raised bed in honor of my great friend Elsie who passed away last year at 98. She taught me plenty and I always remember asking if I can go pick her berries from her circle strawberry bed! (some of the best summers were spent in her back yard!) Cool...

[bushg]

That is so sweet about the strawberries. I like the cosmos because my aunt always planted them. She always had the little cherry tomatoes (tommy toes is what she called them ) and she would plant these in the same bed with them. I was an adult before I realized they were called cosmos and not fairy wells, I plant flowers in honor of people that I know that have passed away.
You know I was thinking about it... If you took veggie cans and cut both the top and bottoms out of them and slit down the side you could achieve the same results as the 2 liter bottles except they would be sturdier. Also the base of the plant could be rounder as well, Lol hopefully it would not attract the crows... being so bright and all.

[startover22]

A remembrance garden it is then. For the here and gone! I need to start making a list. I now plan on making a great veggie garden and with some of your (bushg) great ideas, I will also make it a beautiful one. Plant some flowers around it too!
This is going to be great!!
Fairy Wells, how sweet!

[AKaeTrue]

WOW all the wonderful ideas!
Bushg, your garden sounds marvelous!

It's been cold and rainy here and I haven't been able to start anything yet.
There was a straight hour of rumbling noisy skys here a little while ago.
I can't ever remember hearing anything like it before, non stop thunder, cracking and rolling, there was no silence, I'm still amazed by it...
But all this rain should make the raised beds easier to mess with when it stops.

Start did you get your seeds?

Bushg, do you cover the top of your garden too with chicken wire?

[startover22]

Hi Ak, yes, lot's a good ideas. I haven't gotten my seeds yet! But I will. I promised myself I would do some big cleaning up the property before I do anything else, so in a bit I am going to git out there. Rain or shine, drab! Lol, that's OK, I can see it all coming together so I am excited! YOu know I will have to use chicken wire on top, the deer can jump right over a fence, they are pretty cool! I hope the weather clears up for you AK!

[bushg]

No because the squirrels only bother the tomatoes and not very much at that( maybe 2 or 3 with bite marks on them last year... with all of my animals and kids they fear my yard.

My fence is mostly to keep the dogs and cats out. My little boy dog would lift his leg on the veggies and the cats may be tempted to use the dirt for a litter box. They don't seem to like walking across the fence, because is sways under their weight, where we do not have post and we kept the post a few inches below the chicken wire so as not to encourage them to stand on the post. Plus the post are very thin.. not at all comfy to stand on.

Last year I grew carrots, beets, pickling cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes a couple of varietys and some beans, leaf lettuce and onions. But my garden is quite small. Last year at the back of the yard we tried to plant 2 rows of sweet corn... but something munched on them at night I suspect the local possums or coons. I put the pickling cucumbers on the outside of my fenced garden and and ran them up a fence that separates the yards. I have some oak racks from the rubbage of a wine store and put them in front to keep the little doggies at bay. These racks looks like little ladders and make perfect trellis if turned upright.

I have a friend that lives in Indiana and when she palnts her beans, okra, corn... she plants so close together that I can not understand how she gets such an abundant crop... but she does, her veggies look like grass growing that is how close they are planted together. Its like they make raised rows and just go down the line and fill with seeds there is no space in between each plant. She had some of the sweetest cherry tomatoes that I have ever tasted in my life, so she is doing something right.

[AKaeTrue]

My husband brought up a point to me today, so I checked into it and it seems as though I cannot have chicken wire due to a neighborhood ordinance against it.
You can have a garden out in the open in the backyard (which would absolutely not work for me due to animals) or in a mini greenhouse or you can also use flower and plant houses and racks.

But I came across this at Target and really think I'm going to do it this way.
It was called the Topsy Turvy Planter.
What do you think?
I could hang them right in my front yard in my flower gardens on flower posts where my hanging baskets would normally go.
I could actually pick some up tomorrow, stop by the nursery and get my plants and get started easily if this thing works.

[bushg]

I would say as long as you keep them watered no problem. You should ask the nursery which type of soil would work best. You would want the lightest weight possible... I would think.

[tacodawg]

It's too late for me to start from scratch, but the nurseries and greenhouses that I've been to around here for my flowers have beautiful fruit and veggie plants already started that I could get.

I probably have to think about some kind of caging too because of the squirrls...
How did you keep bugs off of them too?

(sevin dust)that will keep the bugs away. You can find it almost any garden center,walmart,Lowe's,home depot.works really good for me,make sure you wash or rinse your harvest before consuming. Best of luck to you,keep us posted.

[bushg]

If you want to go natural with your pesticides. I'm told that planting marigolds in with your veggies helps keeps bugs at bay and lady bugs eat other bugs. When I have problems I always have used my left over dish water and I have taken a water hose and sprayed the plants that are affected. I make sure to get the underside of the plant where the little buggers can hide. But as I said my garden is not that large.

[startover22]

OK, I have decided to go with seeds and start them when the time is right. They always worked for me before so I am not scared and know what to do from there. Corn, pumpkin, peas, peppers, and broccoli always seemed to do just fine from the beginning to end. I know tomatoes are a bit harder to get good starts, but I wonder about bell peppers and romaine lettuce? I have a bit of planning to do still. Clough, how about you are you going to get started? I am still so excited, there is much work to be done!

[biggsie]

I found a way to plant radishes that most people don't know about -- I use a roll of 3/4 "

masking tape -- and stretch out a length of tape the length of a garden row -- sticky side

UP... Then I have a board about 4 foot long marked in 2" increments and stick a seed

Every 2 inches until the length is seeded... The next step requires two people -- one on each

End and walk it into garden stretch out your row -- cover with thin layer of dirt...

This may take time but the rewards are -- a perfect radish every 2 inches -- saves on

Seeds and don't have many radishes crowding each other for space... Another suggestion

Is planting time -- plant a row now -- plant a row later -- harvest crop two times

I also had a way of planting onion bulbs --- I have the garden tilled and decide

Where I want a row of onions... To plant onions I have a short fork that has 4

Tines -- I stick the fork in the ground and make holes for 4 onions -- now the

Tricky part is pushing a bulb -- roots down into the hole -- I do not cover the hole

But move 6 inches and repeat the process until the row is complete -- 4 rows in the

Space of one... The results will amaze you -- the onions pop out of the holes --

And by not compacting soil they grow better... Long healthy onions -- Good Luck

[startover22]

Hey biggsie, thanks, I forgot about radishes, I could do this in a small quantity too, I love radishes in my salad!:)
Thanks for the onion advice, appreciated, I would have packed the soil for sure!
Good luck this year!

[AKaeTrue]

Today I bought a jubilee tomato plant, red bell pepper, and a banana pepper plant.
LOL, yeah, just 3... figured I'll plant them before I get more, to see how I do... ya know...
Pictures tomorrow...
So proud of my little plants LOL

[AKaeTrue]

Bought more plants today.
Planting tomorrow :)

[startover22]

Nice AK! Great, you got a head start, I am falling behind, hoping to catch up as the weather gets better! Just beautiful!