23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening

Gorgeous garden -- love how filled in and vibrant it all is.

In addition to the actual garden updates, I would love to hear about the team work that gets it all done and the sharing of the food that results. The fact that it is a shared garden is just as impressive as the photos.

Elisa_Z5 (And everyobody else),

It's been an interesting journey in these two short years with the teamwork.

Our first year, we had about 5-7 folks help out consistently (there are probably over 100 people in our complex). As with almost any group, the number was steady around 3 who showed up to help every time. That can be disheartening; though, perhaps I am not a great leader in this aspect because I am often okay with just getting things done myself, haha.

We have had some struggles repeated each year - the biggest is our ability to create/build structures. All of the contributors are lacking in the 'building things' department, and some of us don't have a lot of time to dedicate to finding affordable materials. We also live in an apartment complex, so power tools are few and far between.

That said, we have had some wonderful help in getting structures created. The first year, our landlord provided the raised bed and the wonderful soil/mushroom compost. Our soil was so healthy, and there are trees near the garden bed so leaves compost in it during the winter.

The second year, a new neighbor and one of our most involved gardeners had her father come over with his tiller, some tools and supplies to create the wood-lined beds around the raised bed. The soil was tough, but this 3rd year should be better as we've worked it now and added some nutrients with our plants.

All of us who are gardening have only been doing so since the garden began. I grew up helping my mother but I am sad to admit I was not invested in it. It was such a happy surprise to my parents when I started to care about such activities as gardening. Because of this, we have experienced these problems:
- Overcrowded gardens
- Ill-planned planting
- Planting too much (one person thought you put about 8 seeds per hole, so he had MANY tomato plants sprouting up)
- Poorly built or a lack of structures for vining
- Lack of consistent help and money

Surprisingly, though maybe not really, most of the people who live here do not pick and eat the food. This could be because they have not helped, but I also believe it's because they don't know how to cook the food. I would like to teach a cooking class, but honestly don't have lots of time and am not sure I could get anybody to come!

We have some hopes and dreams for the garden:
- Create a functional winter space. Because of our structure-building issue we have not managed to create something stable. In the past I have had small success with some sort of wooden sides and covered in painters tarp/heavy plastic. Though this is not ideal health-wise (plastic never is) it works well. Unfortunately, I just do not have the finesse to build one that could function, say, as a vining wall during the summer and sides for the winter garden during the cold season.

- I need to plan better. I really, really need to do that! The first year was great, but this year we had more people and more opinions...and I am not great at decision-making.

- I would like to create a bigger garden. I want to have a space where kids can grow their own stuff; a space for experimental plants; a space for vining plants

- I have thought about, if we end up with lots of extra produce, selling a bit of it on the bike trail (we live next to it) to raise money to purchase structures and supplies

- We DO save our own seeds, but it would be nice to have a place to store them besides my own home - I think not having a universal shed or storage location kind of makes it seem like everybody has to come to me with questions or to do anything in the garden. Is that a bad thing? Maybe not, because I suppose somebody does need to be 'in charge' - especially when you have a single plot that everybody works on, not individual spaces.

Overall, this experience has been wonderful and I hope to learn more, gain lots of skills and continue this wherever I go.

Any tips, suggestions, structure-building thoughts, anything is welcome. You have a pretty good idea of what our area looks like - so any thoughts on expansion and the like are great.

Thanks for paying attention to this thread, folks! It's been nice watching this develop over time.

There are still quite a few sources to ship in early winter. The ground won't be frozen for the next 2-3 weeks. I just do not know if the gains out-weight the potential risk, if any. Or both would be minimal....

Considering you won't be able to harvest any until at least Spring 2016 either way, I'd suggest waiting until Spring. I planted mine in the Spring in NY and they did great.

Once the potatoes closest to the surface warmed some, many were definitely on the mushy side so those are compost now. Thank you for the help. I am looking forward to eating some of the good ones in rendered duck fat. Simple pleasures.

When a potato freezes and then thawed it will be quite mushy. Because the starch in it is decomposed due to enzyme activity. That is the reason for blanching vegetable prior to freezing to prevent getting mushy after it is thawed. It is easy to tell. Sometimes half of a potato near the surface might freeze but lower half is ok. Just cut off and discard the frozen/mushy part.

Seysonn

Also, please understand that bolting is not the "end" of the plant. In your climate brassica plants can live and produce for years. 3 or 4 easily, probably more. It would be more accurate to describe it as the beginning of the process.

Leave some to keep on growing for seeds.

Thank's Ken. I have one brussel sprout and all the leaves are totally with holes like they bombed Nagasaki. Will this plant die? Or i'll just leave them alone and keep looking for the green meanies.?

Next year cover all your cole crops with row covers as soon as they germinate; if the butterfly can't lay the eggs, you won't get any worms. works great and I've been doing it for years.

Yep --we eat kale flowers and arugula flowers, mustard too -- really any brassica flowers, stems, buds, seed pods are all very tasty raw in salad or cooked. Nice to know you haven't let the brassicas go to "waste" just because you couldn't get to them before they bolted.

Radishes are also a brassica -- and if you let them bolt (they can get huge) and develop seed pods, the seed pods are quite a delicacy in salads.

I have 2 question for chinese kale (gailan)specifically.
(1) it's november fall season I planted chinese kale, they are 4 inches tall and flowers are appearing. Did they BOLT(meaning the end of the growing season for the plant?) or are they part of it as they grow. Anybody please give me an advise.
(2) How do you harvest them properly in order to last until late spring.?

I think if I were to branch out from greens with another bag it would be with herbs. Something like parsley or cilantro.

Herbs like well drained soil in general. But you can experiment.

Try water cress .

Seysonn

Seems to be a common issue as there have been many posts here this year with pics of lots of crosses. Just no way to know what they are given how easily squash cross.

Dave

The first picture is definitely a green striped cushaw, not a overly healthy one, but a cushaw all the same. Cushaw are Cucurbita agyrosperma, this species has relatively few varieties compared to the other pumpkins species and interspecific crosses are less common, if possible at all, depending on what species you have growing.

The second picture you posted looks like some form of an unknown cross. Looks like Cucurbita pepo to me though.

To answers your question: The source are other insects, their parents. If you bought your soil it is highly unlikely your soil was infested with insects.

If you dont want any critters in your soil, beneficial or not. There are a couple of things you can do.
1. Put your bed over lawn wire. This also prevents moles and gophers from getting in there.
2. Put a bird bath near your garden and a small bird feeder. But be prepared the birds may choose to eat your vieggies and there are several ways to prevent that.
3. Get diatomaceous earth and follow the directions.

Less than 10% of the bugs you see in your garden are destructive. Identification is crucial. If they just gross you out and prevent you from enjoying your garden, which is the main point to all your work then get rid of them. Just keep in mind no insects at all = more work and less production.

Beneficial nematodes were really helpful in my garden and milky spore is another option for grub control. Asian beetles are a huge problem here, the University is studying it right now but unfortunately, the traps they are working on have an attractant and they're putting them all over the neighborhoods so more are attracted to the area and find they like gardens better than the traps. What they're after is nice fluffy moist garden soil to lay their eggs in.

The grubs themselves aren't usually a problem but when they reach the numbers that we see in this area (1 to 2 DOZEN per shovel full at times,) they ARE a problem because they kill plants by disrupting the roots. I let them stay in my compost where they are great workers but screen them out before adding it to my beds.

Yes, it is the carrots that most surprised me, I read they tolerate "light frosts".

The problem with peas is that the pods become mottled and unsellable after a freeze so the cited temperature data become mute points. If you want to pick for sales you better protect the crop from freezing temperatures.

I would have to agree with Dave. Every single crop that was listed can easily take up all that space in your garden with just a very small number of the plant, and the garden will be far easier to take care of that way. Two crop types are the maximum for that garden size imho. One annual and one perennial. Or maybe one more annual, top.

This post was edited by ceth_k on Mon, Nov 17, 14 at 7:06

Re: "Two crop types are the maximum for that garden size imho."

I'm befuddled. I've had community garden plots in the past, and people regularly grow ten or fifteen different things in their 12X25 plot. Sure, it would be less work to fill the OP's whole 95X35 space with raspberries, or tomatoes, or make it all one pumpkin patch, but I don't see it as actually impractical to grow several things.

This post was edited by chickenfreak on Mon, Nov 24, 14 at 2:12