23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

Why not post this over on the Companion Planting forum here? That will get you the best feedback from those who follow that school of thought.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Companion Planting forum

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 10:10PM
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prairiemoon2 z6 MA

Creativeguy, I was thinking the same thing about being able to turn your tomato support system into a greenhouse. :-)

Thanks Seysonn, yes, that is another way I could do it. Working on this with my son so I'll pass along all these suggestions and see what he wants to do. He does have a circular saw and some experience with wood, too.

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 8:19PM
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mckenziek(9CA)

I would definitely level them. Water will have less tendency to run off that way.

--McKenzie

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 9:16PM
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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

Agree that the Florida Gardening forum is the place to start. Not only can they advise you on what crops will work there but on the proper planting times - which are far different than for most of us in the rest of the US. Your gardening season will soon be over until fall so you have plenty of time for research. :) Good luck.

Dave

PS: even Central Florida gardeners have difficulty growing asparagus, sorry.

Also check out all these Gardening in SW Florida info sites.

Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Gardening forum

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 9:31AM
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Holliflower

Thanks guys, truly appreciated!!!!

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 8:33PM
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Slimy_Okra(2b)

No need to cover anything except the strawberries.

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 6:23PM
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ltilton

You should really investigate those drains, even if it takes some digging.

I, too, have clay soil and poor drainage. The only place I have for gardening is in a lowlying area. I usually have some standing water after a rain event, but there are ways to cope.

Amending the soil really helps, but I think it's more important to look at the drainage pattern, the direction in which the water runs off, higher to lower. Dig trenches around the perimeter of the garden to direct it there, hopefully in the direction of the french drains.

Rather than raised beds, I do most of my planting in raised rows, so that the working paths between them also serve as trenches. When I plant crops like squash, I plant them in actual raised hills.

Doing this, I've successfully managed to grow crops like onions, that hate wet feet [always on the garden's high side].

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 9:42AM
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wayne_5 zone 6a Central Indiana

I agree with tilton.

Until you can make changes, make raised rows with drainage in the paths,

Perhaps the retaining wall is holding back water from seeping to lower ground.

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 10:44AM
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lionheart_gw

Field mice ARE voles. At least around these parts that is the common name for voles. :-)

Since they spend quite a bit of time underground, building networks of tunnels called "vole runs", they gnaw on tree and shrub roots to keep their teeth from growing too large, just like other rodents. They also find tasty morsels that we plant, like root vegetables, that give them the opportunity to gnaw and have a tasty meal.

Voles seem to be particularly fond of potatoes and sweet potatoes. They completely devastated my small crop of sweet potatoes a couple of years ago. Not one single sweet potato was untouched by the time they were done.

After that, I decided the root veggies will be grown in fabric pots, not the ground.

If you have small beds, you could use hardware cloth around your garden. Voles can't climb very high so you only need about 12 inches above ground and 6 inches below ground. Most voles only burrow about 6 inches or less below ground level, unless you have pine voles, in which case the hardware cloth should go down about 12 inches below the ground at the garden perimeter.

Of course, this could be both expensive and time-consuming if you have huge gardens. I grow all of my root vegetables in fabric pots or containers now. I hate those little spawns of satan.

Moles, on the other hand, disrupt your ground but they eat grubs and worms, not plant matter. They certainly could disrupt young plants as they push through the soil looking for food, but they don't eat plants and won't eat your almost fully grown root vegetables.

If it doesn't have eyes, it's a mole. If it looks like a mouse and has eyes, it's a vole. You can have both at the same time. I certainly do. I don't mind moles all that much and tend to leave them alone.

Voles are rodents; moles are NOT rodents.

Appearance-wise, voles are a bit different from a mice, but it's not immediately obvious. Voles have smaller ears and shorter tails. However, I don't care - they are still destructive little mice to me. They give me the creeps, like all rodents.

So 1/4 inch hardware cloth, installed like a fence, except you put about 6 inches of it under the ground and the rest above ground. Make sure it surrounds the entire perimeter of the area where you want to grow root veggies.

If you have pine voles (and they seem to be more common in the west and midwest) then go down a foot. The idea is to block them from getting in via underground tunneling. Like all rodents, they can "collapse" their bodies and get through small holes. Since they are small, 1/2 inch holes probably won't stop them, so use the 1/4 inch.

Best of luck.

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 6:45AM
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prairiemoon2 z6 MA

Wow, I can't believe they can manage to get through 1/2 inch mesh. When I bought the rolls of hardware cloth, I was thinking 1/4 inch would be better for keeping out the critters, but later had second thoughts that it might impeded the roots of the vegetables I'm growing, like Asparagus that go pretty deep or keep the earthworms from moving into the bed from the subsoil. Does anyone have any idea if that could happen or not?

I'm not going to be able to put fencing all around the vegetable plot, so the alternative was to install it to the bottom of the raised bed frames.

We have not yet seen voles, but have spotted a mole in the garden. I've read that voles show up after moles and use the tunnels that they've dug. I realize the moles eat the earthworms and not the plants, but I work hard at creating soil that has a lot of earthworms in it and I don't really want them snacking on them and reducing their numbers. [g]

So, since we are just building new beds, I'd rather bite the bullet and do it now and not regret not doing it later.

Thanks Seysonn and Lionheart!

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 9:48AM
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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

Rinse, wrap in a damp paper towel, stick in a zip lock bag, roll out the excess air in the bag, and into the vegetable crisper drawer of the fridge.

Dave

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 5:17PM
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

Plastic bag in the fridge. It will keep a fortnight easily.

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 9:24AM
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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

This is a duplicate post. Your original post is linked below.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Your original post

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 8:56AM
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djkj(9b)

Dave - thanks, I did not realize there was a forum dedicated to Ginger.

Nancy - Good luck, its an amazing experience!

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 11:14PM
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terry_neoh(5b)

Be sure to plant them feet down.

    Bookmark     April 15, 2014 at 12:45AM
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elisa_z5

I enjoyed reading the stories from you folks who have started small businesses -- thanks for writing in detail.

"I lose probably 90% of what I grow due to animals and other people in the house"
Desirai -- now THAT sounds like a story not yet told!

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 9:48PM
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seysonn(8a WA/HZ 1)

Though each state might have its regulations, but in general, for small scale operations there is no need to get a permit or license or register, unless it has something to do with public safety and health. Some state might require licensing just to make some revenues, just like licensing a street peddler.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 11:51PM
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digdirt2(6b-7a No.Cent. AR HZ8 Sun-35)

How often will depend on what you use to feed them. Gus is a heavy feeder.

If you use only compost then 1-2" layered on top 3-4x a year. You can't really OVER-feed them with compost.

I use manured composted on my beds and feed them liberally in early spring before spears sprout, again once harvest in done, again mid-summer, and again in the fall as a mulch for the bed after the deaf ferns are removed.

But keep in mind that compost alone won't feed them unless you have a very active soil food web established in the bed. And even then it takes time for it to work. So a handful of watered in compost doesn't do anything for them now.

If you use a good well balanced granular fertilizer you can probably get by with 2x a year. Or you can use one of the many good organic liquid fertilizers once a month when you water the bed.

Dave

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 4:59PM
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ltilton

Agreed. It's very common to harvest lettuce and spinach by picking individual leaves instead of the entire plant. At that time, you could discard the outermost leaves, which are often getting pretty battered by then anyway.

If you harvest the whole plant, the oldest leaves will likely look even more unappetizing.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 1:32PM
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catherinet(5 IN)

Thanks slimy_okra and ltilton,
I'll just wait until they grow for awhile, then discard the oldest leaves and begin to eat the newer leaves.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 4:16PM
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Flako

Here is a shot of the Squash Plant and some info for all of them:

They were planted about 3 weeks ago, have been on a light box for about 16hrs a day and now I have brought that amount down to 14 since I started noticing the change in the leaves.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 2:46PM
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Flako

Cucumbers

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 2:48PM
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tommyr_gw

I use a garden pitchfork or a shovel but my bed is only 3 x 8' currently.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 12:14PM
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djkj(9b)

For an 18'' raised bed, you could use a fork and just work up the soil. We had 16'' raised beds and never had to use a tiller. Tillers are good but make sure you don't shred the worms!

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 12:43PM
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Slimy_Okra(2b)

I find eggplants to be quite heavy feeders like tomatoes and I fertilize them similarly.

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 11:29AM
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djkj(9b)

Nice to know everyone is trying to grow different varieties and the opinions about them. I have had great success growing Black Beauty. Yes they do need heavy fertilizing in the growing season. The results are worth it :) I have been using an organic fertilizer with lots of bacteria in it and it seems to provide good amount of soil activity (lots of worms!)

    Bookmark     April 14, 2014 at 12:37PM
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