Kevin L (NKY)
TVWBB Diamond Member
Now that is a garden, great for deep root plants also.
What's in your Garden?
- Thread starter ChuckO
- Start date
Kevin L (NKY)
TVWBB Diamond Member
Rusty around here I went to a landscape supply store, and they make garden mix, compost, topsoil, and other organics. Light fluffy when tilled, has vermiculite in it also.
Late fall I covered with black plastic to heat and kill off weed seeds. Remove early spring to let in natural rain water.
I never used chemical plant food,only organic, plus egg shells,etc.
Late fall I covered with black plastic to heat and kill off weed seeds. Remove early spring to let in natural rain water.
I never used chemical plant food,only organic, plus egg shells,etc.
ChuckO
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
It's just the home depot in ground soil for $2.5 a bag.
Rusty James
TVWBB Emerald Member
I think I goofed. My raised bed consists of leaf compost only. My stuff doesn't look so good in spite of me mixing potting soil with the plants, and adding fertilizer and lime too.
Thought about adding some red dirt to the mix.
Thought about adding some red dirt to the mix.
Rusty James
TVWBB Emerald Member
Not trying to make someone sick, but yesterday I found a not-so-fresh pile next to my raised bed, and it was crawling with grub-like worms. Never seen anything like that before. I assume someone's dog has intestinal worms of some sort. Hate to see something like that make its way inside the bed, so I shoveled it up and got rid of it.
Rusty James
TVWBB Emerald Member
I gave up on my meager-looking garden after the summer heat made it look withered, but temps dropped a bit in August, and things rebounded somewhat. I'm getting a few jalapenos and some tomatoes now.
Sorry about yours, Chuck. I assume the heat was a bit too much this year?
I've harvested a fair number of tomatoes already and have about 150 cherry tomatoes still on the vine, plus a few dozen of other varieties, assuming the squirrels and other critters don't get them. I had a couple chocolate cherry tomato plants in an Earthbox up against the fence. I figured this would let me use the fence to support the tomatoes. It worked okay in that regard but I noticed the nearly ripe tomatoes kept disappearing. Then one day I went out to water and saw a squirrel running away along the top of the fence with a nice chocolate cherry tomato in his mouth.
I also have jalapenos, serranos, Anaheims, and regular bell peppers. My seedlings didn't fare well this year so I only have a few of each type and won't be getting enough to do much with aside from make a bit of salsa. I planted shallots but if I get a small handful of those it looks like I'll be lucky. The carrots also did not do particularly well.
I planted sage, rosemary, a lot of basil, and had some oregano from last year that survived the winter. I transplanted that as it wasn't where I wanted it for this year's garden layout. The basil is about done. One of the transplanted oregano plants is doing okay. I've already harvested more sage than I've used in a decade and there's still loads of leaves left on the plant. The rosemary is not quite as abundant as the sage but there's still a lot left. I didn't realize how much I like using rosemary until I had a ton of it in the garden last year. It freezes well.
Chuck, I'm sorry to say your peppers look a bit like mine did the year I had a massive infestation of slugs. And I was gardening on my balcony! I killed about 600 of the buggers individually and can't begin to guess how many died from the slug bait. You might want to take a night time stroll with a flashlight and see if anyone is chowing down on your pepper foliage.
I also have jalapenos, serranos, Anaheims, and regular bell peppers. My seedlings didn't fare well this year so I only have a few of each type and won't be getting enough to do much with aside from make a bit of salsa. I planted shallots but if I get a small handful of those it looks like I'll be lucky. The carrots also did not do particularly well.
I planted sage, rosemary, a lot of basil, and had some oregano from last year that survived the winter. I transplanted that as it wasn't where I wanted it for this year's garden layout. The basil is about done. One of the transplanted oregano plants is doing okay. I've already harvested more sage than I've used in a decade and there's still loads of leaves left on the plant. The rosemary is not quite as abundant as the sage but there's still a lot left. I didn't realize how much I like using rosemary until I had a ton of it in the garden last year. It freezes well.
Chuck, I'm sorry to say your peppers look a bit like mine did the year I had a massive infestation of slugs. And I was gardening on my balcony! I killed about 600 of the buggers individually and can't begin to guess how many died from the slug bait. You might want to take a night time stroll with a flashlight and see if anyone is chowing down on your pepper foliage.
Rusty James
TVWBB Emerald Member
Got squirrels here, too, but they don't dare stay on the ground long or the cats will get them. The neighbor has so many cats, my raised bed has become a defacto litter box. Don't know if that's good or bad.
Last edited:
A couple years ago I had squirrels coming from all around to eat bird seed. I once counted 13 of the little rascals in the backyard at one time. It would have been entertaining if not for them eating bird seed by the pound. I tried everything I could think of short of letting the birds fend for themselves. I liquefied habaneros in vodka and mixed the bird seed with that. I made hot pepper oil that would have scorched a hole in your tongue and coated the seeds with that. That slowed the squirrels down a bit but didn't stop them. I got a slingshot and started shooting dried peas at them. (Too many breakable objects around, like school children, to use potentially deadly ammo.) Nothing worked satisfactorily. Then a friend pointed me to the Squirrel Buster line of bird feeders. They're expensive but they work as advertised. After two years of using them the squirrels don't even bother trying to get seed from the feeders. They just eat whatever the birds have tossed to the ground, which, sadly, is often a substantial amount.
I had rabbits feasting in my garden earlier this year. They seemed to relish the Swiss chard. Three times I replanted and each time they ate it right to the ground. They took out my sunflowers too. I finally chased them away enough they seemed to get the message.
I had rabbits feasting in my garden earlier this year. They seemed to relish the Swiss chard. Three times I replanted and each time they ate it right to the ground. They took out my sunflowers too. I finally chased them away enough they seemed to get the message.
Rusty James
TVWBB Emerald Member
Before the cats multiplied, our bird feeder, which was mounted on a pole, fed a lot of squirrels until I mounted a cheap round waste can (plastic) upside down on the pole. The buggers kept gnawing away at the edge, forcing me to replace the waste can. Only this time, I smeared vaseline and hot ground pepper around the edge. That was enough to solve my squirrel problem.
ChuckO
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I did have slugs early on, but now that there's no leaves on them, I haven't seen any slugs. I resisted spraying bug spray, but I almost put in some bug bait poison.
My outdoor cat does a pretty good number on squirrels too. He did get his butt beat by a pretty good size rat though, he doesn't mess with rats anymore. Not sure how he tells the difference between a squirrel and a rat, but he will not mess with a rat. I had to put chicken wire up around my garden, not so much to keep the cat out of it, but to keep the stupid dog from eating everything in the garden
Bill Elwell
TVWBB Pro
We had a successful growing season.
In addition to all the stuff we gave away to family and neighbors we put up: tomatoes: 4 qts crushed and 7 pints; salsa: 6 pints mild, 10 pints hot; tomato juice: 34 qts; green beans: 21 qts and 10 bags in the freezer; beets: 7 qts; sauerkraut: 7 pints and some bagged in the fridge; peas: 7 qt bags in the freezer. Sweet & yellow corn we get from a neighbor: 15 - 1.5# bags. Plus, we have about 10# carrots and a couple dozen cucumbers spread out between 2 refrigerators.
I also harvested over 4# of Hallertau hops, which after being dehydrated were reduced to just over 14 oz. While moving hops around in the freezer I found 4 oz left over from 2015 and 4.5 oz from 2016. That's in addition to the 19# of other hops (pellets) I have in the freezer.
I brewed a batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale the other day. It's fermenting away. But it uses Cascade hops. Not sure what to do with the Hallertau...short of gifting them at Christmastime. I already have 2 kegs on tap and another 6 kegs ready for tapping, but I'm going to brew something. You can bet on that.
Later...
In addition to all the stuff we gave away to family and neighbors we put up: tomatoes: 4 qts crushed and 7 pints; salsa: 6 pints mild, 10 pints hot; tomato juice: 34 qts; green beans: 21 qts and 10 bags in the freezer; beets: 7 qts; sauerkraut: 7 pints and some bagged in the fridge; peas: 7 qt bags in the freezer. Sweet & yellow corn we get from a neighbor: 15 - 1.5# bags. Plus, we have about 10# carrots and a couple dozen cucumbers spread out between 2 refrigerators.
I also harvested over 4# of Hallertau hops, which after being dehydrated were reduced to just over 14 oz. While moving hops around in the freezer I found 4 oz left over from 2015 and 4.5 oz from 2016. That's in addition to the 19# of other hops (pellets) I have in the freezer.
I brewed a batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale the other day. It's fermenting away. But it uses Cascade hops. Not sure what to do with the Hallertau...short of gifting them at Christmastime. I already have 2 kegs on tap and another 6 kegs ready for tapping, but I'm going to brew something. You can bet on that.
Later...
Rusty James
TVWBB Emerald Member
At least someone had a good harvest.
I guess that rich alluvial soil pays dividends.
Last edited:
Bill Elwell
TVWBB Pro
You bet. I have farmland on 3 sides of my property...which used to be part of the farm to the north.
My wife reminded me that I left the radishes, turnips, jalapenos, bell peppers, cilantro, strawberries and pears off the list.
Rusty James
TVWBB Emerald Member
Of all things, my raised bed is sprouting mushrooms. 
They are growing together in large clusters (up to 12" OD). Very strange.
EDIT: My bed consists of mostly leaf compost, and the level has shrunk below the top of the bed frame. It used to be heaping above the top. I guess this stuff is still decomposing. It smelled like stinky cheese when it was first delivered in the spring, and it was loaded with drunkards.
They are growing together in large clusters (up to 12" OD). Very strange.
EDIT: My bed consists of mostly leaf compost, and the level has shrunk below the top of the bed frame. It used to be heaping above the top. I guess this stuff is still decomposing. It smelled like stinky cheese when it was first delivered in the spring, and it was loaded with drunkards.
Last edited: