Gardening Thread

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

Briansol

Admins
Admin
VIP
Anyone else grow a garden?

I'm going to start my first one this year. I've been doing a bunch of research on how to set it up, place it correctly, and make it flourish.

I ordered a 'starter kit' of non-gmo, non-hybrid, Heirloom seeds of multiple varieties, and the place I ordered it from also sends along some 'noob' stuff which is why I ordered it here. A dvd on how to save seeds, when to plant, soil test kit etc etc.

Garden Kit

There's a few in there that I likely simply can't grow due to geographic location (I don't think things like cantaloupe or watermelon will grow well up north)

It's a bit pricey, but if I do it right and they aren't crap, it's the only purchase i'll EVER have to make, rotating my seeds in and out for each season from my own crop.


I'm looking into getting some sort of pump to use my properties river water to water it, instead of chlorinated/etc tap water. Will need about 200' of hose though as the river is in the front of the house and my garden will be in the back yard. I'm also considering getting a simple gutter for my shed and a bucket system for rain water collection. The shed is 'uphill' from where i plan to place the garden, so gravity should be all i need there.

I saved a lot of leaves last year to compost. The snow has just melted off them this week and i'm planning to 'turn' that over and water to get it finishing up. I also have last couple years compost/leaves/grass from my river border where I blow them in the fall. It's all rich dirt at this point. I will probably also get a bunch of top soil bags from the local tractor/etc stores.

My back yard is fully fenced in already, so i shouldn't have too many issues with animals (at least larger ones like rabbits, deer, etc) eating the crops. My biggest concern is beatles (have a lot, will need to grub kill my lawn this year) and birds (especially if I grow the corn) as I have a ton of crows and robins.
I don't think squirrels will be too much of a pain.

I've scoped out a portion of my yard that gets the most sun and am working out how i want to order them (shorter crops in front, taller in rear) and how to stagger planting so i don't have 324234234342 tomatoes ripe at the same time. And plant positions to they don't lean towards the sun and fall over on their own weight.

We just got snow again yesterday so it's still early for me here, but within the next month or so, i'm going to hopefully have something going to grow my own food this year.


Anyone else grow a garden?
 
Last edited:
my mom used to operate a bitchin garden. She cannedand all that too. I'll get some tips from her for you.
 
Yes, that is another thing I'm looking into--
storage, preservation, pickeling, etc.

I need to get a 'mason jar kit' or something :D
 
No room for a garden for me, but I was able to get a few tomato plants, basil, parsley, and 2 pepper plants on my deck. I got the plants at some organic farm stand. I am hoping that using better soil this year will help me get more crop this year.

How sure are you that the brooks water is clean?
 
Now you have me thinking B. I've got 2 acres of land going to waste right now. The only thing that puts me off is time commitment. I wonder how many hours/week it takes to maintain?
 
The brook literally starts about 1/4 mile or so from me in what seems to be a natural spring which forms a little pond of some sort. No one seems to know why it's there so thats my only logical explination. It then travels through woods crossing just one dead-end street before it gets to my house. You can see the pond on the map clearly, and i've traced the rough path in blue and of course my house is the pinpoint.

With the exception of rainy days where road-run off my be an issue (and i won't need to water the crops that day anyway), I don't see the water quality being an issue.

It is fairly fast moving for a little brook and all the wildlife around here seems to drink from it and they aren't dead. Can't be any worse than rain/tap water.

Of course, the first year i do this is going to be a huge learning experience for me and i expect to fuck up and make mistakes.
 

Attachments

  • Bing Maps_1301024121992.png
    Bing Maps_1301024121992.png
    63.7 KB · Views: 294
Last edited:
Now you have me thinking B. I've got 2 acres of land going to waste right now. The only thing that puts me off is time commitment. I wonder how many hours/week it takes to maintain?

Depends on how much you grow. Need to water a couple times a day, weed it as needed, probably once a day, and harvest time, + planting time, tilling the area, getting the soil prepped, etc.

I imagine my 20'x20' box (rough) that i'm planning on will take me about 20 min in the morning for watering and weeding and another 20 min in the afternoon for watering/weeding.
a day or two to till the land and lay the top soil
an hour or so to plan the seeds
harvest as needed/ready
 
Last edited:
My mom usually puts news paper down around her flower plants and such to prevent weeds from creeping in. Ill ask her if that principle works for veggies and such as well. As for mason jars I know safeway has them, along with the lids and such. Ill have to see where you pick a press up at.
 
Albertsons maybe? Most of the grocery stores around here have mason jars and lids. They are usually in the same section that has whisks and such.
 
I need to grab a picture of my mom's garden during the summer. I just help her out but it's pretty big, though mainly eggplant, hot peppers, and those small tomatoes.
 
Albertson, Safeway are just grocery stores. I think Albertsons is/was related to Shaws. I bet Walmart would have the jars
 
My version of gardening is just ripping out all the damn weeds from my yard.
 
This year I will once again be doing a "bucket garden" I already have my seeds sowed in a starter kit in my window sill. I plan on doing 3-6 buckets of Tomatoes, variety bell peppers, and zuchini bushes. The wife and I have kicked around the idea of a dedicated raised garden bed in the back yard since we moved in three years ago. If I do that I am going to do it right and start it in the fall.

Plans for the raised bed:

-One raised bed 8x12 foot long
-I plan on using flexible PEX tubing as a framework so that I can throw plastic over it to get the soil temp up earlier in the spring. It will look something like this:
Products Image Gallery
-I want to set up a dual rain barrel design using old water softner barrels with and overflow so that any extra continues out of my downspout. My brother is a plumber and gets the barrels all the time when doing remodels. We get enough rain to make this happen. I am going to use a simple water timer and gravity to feed teh drip irrigation system for it. No need to water twice a day if you water deeply at dusk.
-I want to compost my own dirt using my yard waste.
-Once the temps are up I can switchout the PEX structure with a PVC fence structure and some flexible plastic fencing to keep out the critters.

I would love to eventually grow:

Tomatos, Onions, Green Onions, Peppers, herbs, zuchini, peas and beans, If it worked well I could also try Corn, Raspberries, and lettuce.

My grandpa was a pro at the home garden when he was in retirement and I still get advice from him from time to time.
 
we used to have a pretty huge garden. think about the stuff you want and what you can do with it. also think about shit you would want to eat over and over again. and there are some pretty good low maintenence foods.

thinks i would grow:
corn
zucchini
green beans
carrots
potatoes
 
Back
Top