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B33rChiller posted:Question for Hexigrammus: Sorry for the late reply - haven't been around lately to get this. I haven't been growing garlic that long. The first couple of years we planted peas hoping for a fall crop. An usually hot summer (like the last four) can screw peas up though. The last couple of years we've put in late fall / winter crops that have worked better. The celeriac and florence fennel did well this year after following the garlic in mid-July. If the garlic is harvestable in early July (like my neighbour's) then carrots, beets, rutabagas, endive & raddichio, Swiss chard, leaf beet, and kohlrabi can go in. If mid to late July (like ours) then Arugula, fall & winter lettuce, collards, kale, daikon, leaf mustards, chinese greens, spinach, and broccoli raab are plantable. (Linda Gilkeson's list.) Also winter onions and scallions, except alliums are a group that really need to be rotated so I don't follow garlic with onions. West Coast Seeds has published a fall and winter crop planting schedule this spring that looks really useful too. We planted West Coast Seeds "Fast and Furious" lettuce mix last summer in another part of the garden and it really lives up to its name. It can be a bit tricky to keep the surface of the seed bed moist at that time of year but you'll be eating full sized lettuce in a little over a month. We also had Winter Density lettuce that got eaten well before the cold got serious. Need to plant more of that next summer.
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Mar 2, 2019 08:11
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Hexigrammus posted:Lots of helpful info.
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Mar 2, 2019 16:30
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I've just put down a 1x1m piece of cardboard over part of my lawn and covered with a few inches of compost as a not-very-well-researched no dig experiment, but I think in hindsight I've probably left it far too late and should have done it a couple of months earlier. If I'm looking to start sowing in late April/early May will this be enough time for the grass to (mostly) die and the cardboard to (mostly) break down? I suppose it's only an experiment so it doesn't matter if it doesn't work this year.
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Mar 4, 2019 15:22
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oh no computer posted:I've just put down a 1x1m piece of cardboard over part of my lawn and covered with a few inches of compost as a not-very-well-researched no dig experiment, but I think in hindsight I've probably left it far too late and should have done it a couple of months earlier. If I'm looking to start sowing in late April/early May will this be enough time for the grass to (mostly) die and the cardboard to (mostly) break down? The cardboard will probably not break down all the way but it will probably kill the grass. I'm doing the same right now but only weighing the cardboard down with rocks so when it comes time to plant I can just remove the cardboard. If you are committed to that cardboard breaking down, you could poke holes in it and plant in them, and then the rest of the cardboard would act as a weed barrier for a while. I've seen that strategy used most often with thick plastic landscaping cloth, but the perforated cloth is reused every year.
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Mar 4, 2019 16:23
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vonnegutt posted:you could poke holes in it and plant in them, and then the rest of the cardboard would act as a weed barrier for a while.
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Mar 4, 2019 16:58
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Yeah, you usually want to leave it for a year for lasagna mulching. That said, plant stuff on top and the roots will shove their way through the cardboard. Maybe some greens and then also something else with deeper more penetrating roots?
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Mar 4, 2019 20:34
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I planted lots of stuff in compost on top of cardboard on year one and had great production.  Unless you’re planting something with really deep roots I don’t think you’ll have any major issues.It was a super wet year, too. As soon as cardboard is completely soaked it allows water to pass through almost as efficiently as soil. I had no drainage issues.
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Mar 4, 2019 21:06
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There's plenty of use for cardboard in no-till or no-dig methods of gardening, but it still requires making mounds of soil and compost to grow in. You can also grow some things in straw and leaves (like potatoes, onion, and garlic). I just don't use them because they don't look that awesome and I don't have the space to do lots of rows of things. But for one year or so until I put in something else, I'd definitely use the method.
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Mar 4, 2019 21:25
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Lady Demelza posted:UK folks, when would be the best time to get the cheap and nasty plastic greenhouse up in the garden? The weather for the beginning of March suggests it'll be wet and windy. I plan to get some extra tent pegs to keep the frame in place and tie the plastic cover on with twine but they're just so prone to flight I guess maybe I'm replying late here - did you get it put up in the end? I hope you have a decent spot for it - in our previous house we drilled it into concrete slabs, but this time we're more sheltered so have got away without doing that. Having said that, the door blew off a few weeks ago in the wind. We actually put ours up (glass, though) in the middle of winter - it was only up for a week or two when the Beast from the East struck... Also, hello other UK forums user!
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Mar 7, 2019 16:21
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Planted apple, pear, and morello cherry tree from Aldi. Discovered I still have a near-delibitating phobia of worms. No root vegetables for me.
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Mar 7, 2019 16:47
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crazyvanman posted:I guess maybe I'm replying late here - did you get it put up in the end? I hope you have a decent spot for it - in our previous house we drilled it into concrete slabs, but this time we're more sheltered so have got away without doing that. Having said that, the door blew off a few weeks ago in the wind. We actually put ours up (glass, though) in the middle of winter - it was only up for a week or two when the Beast from the East struck...  Britgoon.No, it's not up yet. I knew this week was going to be very windy so I decided not to risk it. It needs to go up soon though, because the first seedlings intended to go in it have germinated. The garden isn't particularly sheltered and glass would be so much better, but unfortunately there's no way that's happening this year or next. Angrymog posted:Discovered I still have a near-delibitating phobia of worms. Come to my garden and dig, I can barely find any.
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Mar 8, 2019 00:31
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Worms are good. Worms make good dirt. You won't get really good friable soil without them. If you have a bunch of them then you're waaaaaay ahead of the game on making your dirt into soil. If you want some good old fashioned exposure therapy go to a bait shop and buy a cup of blood worms. Play with it. mischief fucked around with this message at 00:48 on Mar 8, 2019 |
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Mar 8, 2019 00:46
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mischief posted:If you want some good old fashioned exposure therapy go to a bait shop and buy a cup of blood worms. Play with it. I agree worms are awesome and essential, but I wouldn’t go telling someone with a phobia to go fondling worms with the ability to throw its toothy maw unless I was taking the piss.  :slow heavy metal music playing:
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Mar 8, 2019 18:28
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I know worms are good and helpful. I just don't want to see them. They can continue being good and helpful underground, where they belong.
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Mar 8, 2019 18:36
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Angrymog posted:I know worms are good and helpful. I just don't want to see them. They can continue being good and helpful underground, where they belong. No dig gardening?! Lady Demelza posted:
Is the greenhouse the only space you'll have, or is it stuff to plant out elsewhere? Let's hope this summer isn't like the last, or all our efforts will be somewhat in vain anyway 
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Mar 8, 2019 20:37
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We can agree slugs and snails should be annihilated without mercy at least.
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Mar 8, 2019 20:38
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Most of our earthworms are alien invasives although there are some native species that managed to survive the last glaciation in refugia on the west coast of B.C. Thanks to 1800s shipping routes (high value compact cargo, people, and ballast in, bulk coal and timber out) we had a lot of interesting microfauna transferred from Europe when the ships dumped the rocks and dirt they used as ballast on shore. My neighbour has a species of Lumbricus earthworm on his property that I suspect is the giant from Germany, well over 30 cm. Those things will give you nightmares. Unlike our locals Lumbricus likes to feed on the surface and drag things back to its burrow for caching. Looks like this behaviour might be instrumental in the propagation of ragweed. So there you have it - earthworms good, earthworms bad. Take your pick, depending on your phobias, allergies, and attitude towards alien invasives. Grand Fromage posted:We can agree slugs and snails should be annihilated without mercy at least. Yep. Both the banded garden and green garden snails are imported pests here. Not sure about the small black slug that is fit only for squashing and composting, but the big banana slug is native and polite enough to stay in the forest where it belongs so we co-exist happily except for the occasional slime trail up the back door. We haven't had slug/snail problems in the garden since I surrounded the perimeter with a cedar chip path. Keeping my fingers crossed that this will continue to be effective.
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Mar 8, 2019 20:51
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crazyvanman posted:No dig gardening?! It'll be the bulk of the growing space. The majority of my garden is rubble with some earth on top. There's one small bed that's been planted with onions but most stuff will have to live and die in pots and growbags.
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Mar 8, 2019 22:36
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Glad I went to check on the trees today, the apple had nearly uprooted itself in the high winds. Put more earth around it and whacked the stake in a few more times.
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Mar 10, 2019 16:49
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Walmart garlic that I stuck in my raised beds in late January is pushing up shoots!! Pretty exciting. Gonna put out greens and root veggies this afternoon after work.
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Mar 11, 2019 17:24
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Crakkerjakk posted:Walmart garlic that I stuck in my raised beds in late January is pushing up shoots!! Glad it worked! I've heard rumours that some of the non-organic garlic is treated with hormones to prevent it from sprouting (so it lasts longer in storage).
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Mar 11, 2019 20:32
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Hexigrammus posted:We haven't had slug/snail problems in the garden since I surrounded the perimeter with a cedar chip path. Keeping my fingers crossed that this will continue to be effective. I have a whole multi layer defense plan designed, I think it'll do the trick. The raised beds will be on legs, have copper strips around them, then a little lip that juts out with copper mesh hanging down from the edges and another layer of the mesh surrounding the top of the lip. Can't see how a slug's going to get through all that poo poo. I also saw designs for a battery electric fence that zaps them off if they try to climb up the sides, if I get bored I might try that. Was also thinking about the legs sitting in small pools of water but I don't want a mosquito party in my moats. I must defend my greens. 
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Mar 11, 2019 22:51
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Lead out in cuffs posted:Glad it worked! I've heard rumours that some of the non-organic garlic is treated with hormones to prevent it from sprouting (so it lasts longer in storage). Yeah, I bought three heads of the organic stuff.
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Mar 11, 2019 23:24
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I planted my supermarket garlic because it was sprouting, despite everything I've read telling me planting from supermarket seeds/bulbs is a waste of time. It seems to be doing well 2 months in, but I suppose a lot could still go wrong before harvest.
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Mar 11, 2019 23:49
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My supermarket garlic sprouts all the drat time, it's annoying.
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Mar 12, 2019 00:39
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I buy sleeves of garlic for way too cheap and I end up roasting garlic to spread on toast to use it before it sprouts. Or it just sprouts anyway. I just put out a bunch more into a bucket with leaves on the porch to see if they’ll be good to go in this year or if they go in the compost. One more week for those “Kung pao” peppers to germinate before I go for something else in that space for this year. I bought some warming mats, but they’ve been on my radiator so I may have gotten a bunch of garbage.
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Mar 12, 2019 01:13
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Jhet posted:One more week for those “Kung pao” peppers to germinate before I go for something else in that space for this year. I bought some warming mats, but they’ve been on my radiator so I may have gotten a bunch of garbage. Are those the Sichuan lajiao seeds I found on Amazon? I just planted mine today, will report back.
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Mar 12, 2019 01:36
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They are the same. I’ve had one sprout, but it doesn’t look like a pepper and has stopped growing entirely. They were only a couple dollars, but it’s a bummer if they don’t go anywhere.
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Mar 12, 2019 02:46
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oh no computer posted:I planted my supermarket garlic because it was sprouting, despite everything I've read telling me planting from supermarket seeds/bulbs is a waste of time. It seems to be doing well 2 months in, but I suppose a lot could still go wrong before harvest. As long as it actually sprouts, you should be good. There's not much to go wrong with garlic. It even seems to suppress weeds (at least from when I've planted it).
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Mar 12, 2019 03:07
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Planted fava beans, snap peas, lettuce, kale, carrots, rutabegas, beets, and a cool season Asian greens mix. Still need to plant some chard, spinach, radishes, and more carrots. Problem is I can't remember exactly what I planted where in the beds. :/. How do you guys track that? I'm trying to interplant stuff for diversity, so I don't have rows of stuff, it's scattered in square foot patches, and it makes it really hard to keep track of what goes where. Graph paper?
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Mar 12, 2019 11:45
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Graph paper. Sometimes popsicle stick markers in the bed with names in permanent marker.
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Mar 12, 2019 13:17
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Jhet posted:Sometimes popsicle stick markers in the bed with names in permanent marker. This. Writing down where you planted something on a diagram is helpful for when you want to know what's sprouting where, but not terribly helpful when you need to put new seeds in the soil and you're not sure if your row of carrots starts here or another four inches to the right.
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Mar 12, 2019 15:12
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Do you plant each clove and it turns into a new garlic?
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Mar 12, 2019 15:38
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Angrymog posted:Do you plant each clove and it turns into a new garlic? Yup! Ideally you plant them in the fall, they grow a little, they stop in the middle of winter, then they grow more once it warms up enough in the spring and you harvest when the tops start to turn yellow. In my case, I waited until super late and shoved some garlic in my raised beds in late January, and they just now sprouted. So we'll see how big they get by the end of spring/early summer.
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Mar 12, 2019 18:13
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I’m getting ready to start some veggies indoors. Mostly peppers but also some pumpkins, decorative squashes, and okra. What’s a good brand of Scotch bonnet pepper seeds I can get online? Ferry Morse (my go-to seed brand) apparently doesn’t do Scotch bonnets, and I’ve learned over the years that not all seed brands are created equal. EDIT: Pepperoncini seed recs would be nice too. EDIT 2: Might as well get recommendations for soils and fertilizers too. I’m planting everything except the pumpkins and squash in big containers. I. M. Gei fucked around with this message at 22:30 on Mar 12, 2019 |
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Mar 12, 2019 22:06
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For square foot, I mark out the grid with stages twine. 1' lengths of bamboo are plenty for this. I then draw out what's where in Inkscape. Graph paper (or a squared journal) works too. Last year I just made parallel rows, clearly dug (ie a bit of a ditch even after the seeds were covered), and marked the beginning of each with a bamboo stick. I wrote what was in the row in Sharpie on the stick, and it lasted well through the season.
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Mar 12, 2019 23:13
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I've mapped my square foot garden beds out on paper. I'll stick in labels for each square too but as long as I follow my map I'll know what's up.
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Mar 12, 2019 23:30
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Jhet posted:Sometimes popsicle stick markers in the bed with names in permanent marker. My prefered method. Unfortunately Sharpies (the most common permanent marker) fade in sunlight. There may be brands that don't fade but I ended up buying a garden pen from the seed store because I didn't want to try different brands and have to deal with faded tags in September. I was checking the cabbages today and it looks like my wife used a Sharpie on one of the labels. I can still read "Cabbage" but I have no idea if they're Danish Ballhead or Consul. Whatever. Stocks of kimchi and sauerkraut are reaching critical levels.
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Mar 12, 2019 23:37
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I. M. Gei posted:I’m getting ready to start some veggies indoors. Mostly peppers but also some pumpkins, decorative squashes, and okra. Freeport orange Scotch bonnets are supposed to have a great flavor, it's one of the varieties I'm growing this year. Foodarama and Beth Boyd are also highly regarded.
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Mar 13, 2019 04:36
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I ran some soil tests on plots at a local community garden with a real production problem. Nitrogen almost completely depleted, potassium kinda low, phosphorus is good. What should I be mixing into the soil to fix this? Also, the soil they bought when they started the joint (before my time) seems to mostly sand with some clay, maybe 75/25% respectively? It's tough to tell because visually in a water bottle, it's almost entirely sand. When it's dry, it's very crumbly, and very clumpy and compressible when it's wet. I assume this is one of the reasons (in addition to the non-existent nitrogen) that we can't get worms going. What can I do about this? For background: This is in the greater Phoenix AZ area (Tempe, specifically) so it's dry as Hell, hot as Hell, and really only has two appreciable growing seasons (3 if you're competent, which I'm not). The garden is in an old, shut down community pool, so the water is probably trash. The garden falls under the city non-profit which provides very little support, basically reimbursing small costs like a few tools or a bag of fertilizer. It's entirely volunteer-run and as you might imagine, there's not a ton of volunteers. I'm part of a mutual aid group and we kinda tripped over it while looking for stuff to do, and almost no one knows what they're doing (least of all us, with nary a plant between us prior). I'm trying to make this work with Google and stubbornness. In addition to the questions above, if y'all have any advice on how to get funding for a community garden, or just general stuff I should know, please speak up. This place is in bad shape and the city is talking about reopening the pool. Thanks. E: pH is surprisingly good so maybe the water's not so bad now that I think about it Solid Poopsnake fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Mar 13, 2019 |
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Mar 13, 2019 22:31
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