23,948 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

That's pretty cool beesneeds! I might have to drag out my dehydrator (and overplant cukes again--my husband will kill me!).

Tish, I tend to peel them because the peels can dry kind of not so tasty IMO, lol. But nope, I don't seed them.

I don't know anyone who has rain all season. I sure don't and have to make sure the barrels are empty before they freeze and burst.

I set the barrels up to collect the early season rainfall. Sometimes I use it all other times I don't. If the barrels get empty I fill a couple from the hose which allows time for the chlorine to dissipate and for the sun to warm the water.

I have nothing to measure the pressure in the hose but I do know that soaker hoses require pressure to move the water from the inside of the hose to the outside. I have learned to use gravity where available and having a downhill slope to the garden does help the water to run to the end of the hose.

One secret to using rain barrels is to make certain they are on a level surface and they are elevated high enuff (alright two secrets) to get a 5 gal bucket under if you want to use gravity. I use cinder blocks, two high, with 2x lumber (say 2x8) across the cinder blocks to hold two 55 gal barrels.

A full barrel is extremely heavy say a 55 gallon barrel might be 50gal x8lbs = 400lbs. So you'll want to make sure the cinders are level BEFORE filling with water.

I do have to use a sump pump to get some rainwater up the slope to the barrels closer to the garden which I either use the soaker hoses on or just an open end hose for watering or simply washing/rinsing hands, etc. These are the barrels that I fill with city water if the need arises; been a couple yrs since that was needed.

I also use 30 gal garbage pails under the down spouts to facilitate using the sump pump (or buckets dipped in the water). I squirt baby oil on the water to deter insects such as mosquitoes.

The barrels have a cover and are not a problem with insects.

I do have another 30 gal garbage can with a spigot on the bottom I make compost tea in. Of course you can also just use a bucket to dip into the barrel. I use an aquarium pump in that to help brew but that is another topic entirely.

I found the article that I mentioned earlier...

I don't know if it is still posted in one of these forums but some years back I posted a link from research done back in the 1920's (iirc) that showed how far roots would travel for the different vegetable plants.

Definitely worth a read...

http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/010137veg.roots/010137toc.html

ROOT DEVELOPMENT OF VEGETABLE CROPS BY JOHN E. WEAVER
Professor of Plant Ecology, University of Nebraska

You can plant peas and pole beans around a cage in a circle. This pic is noodle beans.

I've used trimmed branches as pea supports. Also, I sow peas in a 10" wide strip rather than single rows on either side of my current trellis.

Here's pic I found of branch supports - not mine, from the web - but mine were very similar...

I been using double action hoe to help deweed. I lightly mulch before planting this year I guess am gonna need to mulch this week again. Gonna buy some compost

I was going to ask how the area is prepared but I read again that it is a raised bed. In that case, there should have been so little weed in the first place. It seems like you have let it get out of control, though I have to admit that a 20x10 space might be hard to reach all the areas.

For a future time, you might consider making the space a little easier to access from outside of the bed. In the meantime, definitely a mulch will help.

I've always been pretty skeptical about weed-block fabric under a bed, because it's not going to block any weeds that establish themselves on the (hopefully deep) topsoil you have on top of it. That is, if it keeps weeds from growing because it prevents deep roots, why is that good for your tomatoes? I can certainly understand a wire mesh underlayment, to keep out moles, but vegetable roots can go right through that mesh. It won't stop the roots you want.

As to weed barrier fabric on top, sounds like a mess. You should know that at least Bermuda grass grows readily underneath such a layer. It'll keep spreading until it finds a gap to pop up in. As noted, the water permeability of the stuff is not very good. I know several people who have tried it, and nobody likes it.

I think the reasons are because of various people's different situations. For example, some will clear the sod and till up the area first. Others put cardboard or newspaper right on top of the grass. Still, others add the weed block to keep other plants down.

Some of it also depends on how deep your bed is and if you will mulch. Deeper bed and mulch helps reduce any unwanted weed seeds which may have been present in the original soil (assuming there was none in the soil above the ground)

So that's why there are so many ways to prepare a raised bed.

On April 22nd, there's still about a 10% chance you could see a frost in your area.

On May 3, 2013, the high temperature was 36 degrees at a weather station nearby you and snow/ice pellets were observed. I remember what a horrible day that was for everyone anxious to plant out. Seems like 2013 was a year that winter wouldn't let go.

How big are the tomatoes getting? And what kinds of tomatoes are they? I mean, if you are growing patio toms and getting big means 4 inches tall that's one thing- if they are giant indets and are a couple feet tall- that's quite another.

And it can also depend on how warm your bed is- and if you are prepared with some sort of coverage/capping type of scenario in case you get hit with a late chill.

It can also depend on what your micro-climate is. Like for me, looking at a general map- I'm zone 5. But by going into detail, and considering my micro-climate, I'm actually a zone 6. But I still don't put out tomatoes till May, regardless of how nice the last frost date is. And even so, I'm prepared with hot caps and mulch deep just in case. Because even though I'm supposed to be frost free by then, it has happened where I get a late frost or even (gasp) on one occasion a late snow.

I think a few hours is fine. The commercial process for lettuce is called seed "priming", and it's a little more complicated than just soaking. That's where the seeds are soaked just long enough to start the metabolic activity required for sprouting, but not enough to actually make it sprout. The seed is then dried slightly to allow for a bit of storage time, and uniform planting. This process works against both photo-dormancy and thermo-dormancy, which are big problems for commercial lettuce growers. I'm not sure, but I think the priming process it may also soften the seed coat a bit, allowing for easier emergence.

You can read all about it here.

Lettuce seeds sprout quickly when soaked. I soak all my lettuce seeds before planting. They usually sprout in 24 hrs or less. During the winter months sprouting took a little more than 24 hrs while temps were in the mid to low sixties.

LOL Miss Moose! Nancy

Miss Moose, years ago, I overheard my daughter's young friend telling her that if you ate pink PlayDoh it would make your poop pink. As far as I know, my daughter never tested that info herself :) But I don't doubt her friend was reporting first hand knowledge. Oh, yes, they were an interesting pair, never a dull moment when they got together.

Since your new bed can't possibly have any active soil micro-herd, no soil food web of bacteria, developed yet to convert the added organic fertilizer then no, you don't need to worry about any "burn" issues, a minor concern anyway.

Of course it won't do much for the plants either and that is the real issue. Until the soil food web has a chance to develop and that takes time and more time, the nutrients aren't available to the plants. You might want to do some research into how dry/granular organic fertilizers work (vs. liquid organics) and what you have to do to tide the plants over until the soil food web develops.

Dave

Thanks for the info Dave. I'm not sure exactly what's in the soil, but this isn't a brand new garden plot. It's a 14x14 plot in a community garden, and I don't know what has been grown in that plot since it opened 2 years ago. I probably should've done a soil test before planting. Another gardener there told me that a couple had rented 3 plots in a row last year, including mine, but didn't tell me what was grown or added to the soil. If I see him again I'll ask him if he recalls what was there... though even that prob wouldn't be as good as a soil test.

Now that I think of it, was my terminology incorrect when I said I made a raised garden bed? It's just a 3x14 wide bed raised about 6" above the walking paths. It's not enclosed with boards or anything... Just sloping down to the paths on each side.

I third Dave's advice. Stacking them will allow you space to grow 'deeper rooted' veggies, but I also agree with Nancy Jane and others that using them directly on the native soil will allow anything 'deeper rooted' the space to grow out.

I have nine of these and love them. My oldest is four years old and looks as new as the one added in March. I do amend and dig the native soil underneath before filling them. I have had great success with tomatoes and peppers in my beds along with greens, edamame, cukes, garlic, and many more veggies and herbs. Sometimes the corner pieces could have been sanded better, making it a bit of a challenge to slide the boards in but overall they are easy to put together and sturdy.

That's fascinating. Good discussion. Thank you. I guess your original question was about disposable diapers, but the ramifications of that question go well beyond them.

Isn't that so true! I myself was really shocked to come to this conclusion! I think this knowledge should remain in healthy circulation in the community. I wish there was a way to de-salinate the diaper-gel. My husband mentioned vinegar which might do the trick, but then it would be very acidic, and I almost wonder if it would liquify the diaper-gel. I honestly got curious yesterday and tore apart an unused diaper, shook out the crystals and now have about 2 cups of gel. I'll add vinegar to it and see if it completely breaks down. If not, then perhaps the acidic properties could be neutralized with calcium carbonate, as other neutralizers are just basically made of more salt, such as baking soda, which would bring us back to square 1.

I'll add some white vinegar to the diaper gel and update you in a bit. Who knows... perhaps we may end up with a safe, salt-free plant gel! Wanna get in on this patent?? Loll

Update: I didn't realize it, but calcium carbonate separates and releases salt when it reacts with an acid. I didn't even think about it's hidden salt properties, since I didn't see Na in the compound structure. ( CaCO3 )

Update: Vinegar turned the diaper gel into soup.

Glib what do you mean it wont matter? Is that good or does it mean I need to wait because it is bad?

for the bale method to work you need the straw to decompose. On decomposing, ammonia gases will be released. I would use the method myself, a neighbor grows huge cabbages this way, but I have no source for a lot of cheap straw bales.