Any Gardners??

[Ol'Hickster]

Hey guys Ive been planning on starting up a Gardin in my back yard this year, A vegitable garden is what im shooting for and I was wondering What are some do's/ Dont's and what is good and not too goo to grow. Any info would be much appreciated Want to get all set up and ready for the Spring acoming!!

[bONES]

this is a great read to learn all about companion planting.

I grew tomatoes and potatoes last year on my property up in Haliburton. I was only there on weekends to water and they turned out amazing! I had such a good crop This year I am growing squash for sure and may grow some root crops

have fun :thumbup:

[CyberHippie]

I'm probably going to get my seeds started in a couple of weeks...

The last couple of years I've grown tomatoes, hot peppers, sweet peppers, beans, snow peas, and strawberries. Lettuce failed miserably. The cherry tomatoes always seem to do the best.

Every year is different. Some things will do better one year over another. Some bugs like certain plants and will be worse some years than others. You really just gotta experiment. Plant a few extras in case something should happen to a plant.

Pests in Toronto are bad. Raccoons, squirrels, bugs... They'll definitely make it trickier for you. But it's still worth it when you can do a little harvest and eat a fresh stir fry that you grew.

If your planting in containers, water every day, and fertilize often. I save all my eggs shells which the snow peas really love. Snow peas do the best in spring and fall when it's cool.

[jonyak]

I just recently bought a house on 3.5 acres so I am gonna get into gardening this year. I plan on haveing a huge garden.

I wanna do tommatoes, at leat 3 different kinds, beans, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, maybe potatoes, and a whole slew of different herbs.

I hope it turns out good. I am a little worried about deer and other animals eating them all. especially since there are supposed to be coyotes out there.

[phishtaper]

We plant a medium sized veggie garden every summer in our yard too, as well as couple of smaller herb gardens. Im a big fan of heritage tomatoes and always plant a variety of them as well as onions and peppers.

Plan out your placement and spacing first - and always plant things MUCH further apart than you think. Read the seed packages (or the tag on the nursery-bought plants, if you are lazy like me, although I think they work better especially for tomatoes). They will tell you to space things 18" or 24" apart or whatever. DO NOT plant them any closer than that or you will regret it in August/Sept when you have to hack your way thru a mess of overgrown plants. Your garden will look sad in the beginning, but will grow to fill in empty spaces.

Our veggie garden is about 12' x 10'. It changes every year, but a rough schematic of last year's is:

..........Row of Fennel...........

..........Row of Onion 1..............T1.....T2

..........Row of Onion 2..........

..........Row of Onion 3..............T3.....T4

..........Row of Onion 4..........

Pep1......Pep1......Pep2.....Pep2.....T5.....T6

Pep1......Pep1......Pep2.....Pep2

Pep3......Pep3......Pep4.....Pep4.....T7.....T8

Pep3......Pep3......Pep4.....Pep4

Several things you will need to consider are soil quality; sun direction and amount; access to water, and the time you can devote to it.

If this is your first year, I would strongly advise to not over-do it. Start small. Your garden will explode in late summer, and the last thing you want is to not be able to harvest everything.

Plant shorter plants closer to the sun. If you plant tall plants like tomatoes closer, they will block shorter ones like peppers. (My sun is on the left of my diagram.) Choose a location that has convenient access to water (it will become a big deal later in the season when you need to water - with a hose - for 20 minutes every day) and a location that gets as much sun as possible. Amend (feed) the soil before you plant anything by tilling in either 3-in-1 garden mix (easier) or peat moss and compost, and then level the soil.

Cage your tomatoes well before they need it. Once they reach the height of the cage, stake them with a large bamboo stake (my tomatoes routinely grow to 6' to 8') using velcro garden tape. And stake your peppers - if they fall over in August due to bulk, it can actually kill the plant.

Once things get growing, prune your tomatoes!!! Do not be afraid to chop off side shoots in order to clear out tangles or promote growth elsewhere (like the main center shoot - don't cut that). Allowing tomotoes to take over will dramatically affect both the volume of harvest (more plant does not necessarily mean more harvest) and your ability to physcially get in there to pick things. Put down stepping stones strategically to allow you to get in to water and later harvest, and make sure you tag everything so you know what it is.

If using pots, expect things to grow a third the size and you also need to water more often. If you have a yard, I wouldnt bother with pots. Use them for herbs, not veggies.

And most importantly, have fun! I find tending to the garden to be a very rewarding and relaxing experience. But make sure you control it, and it doesn't control you.

[bONES]

Plan out your placement and spacing first - and always plant things MUCH further apart than you think. Read the seed packages (or the tag on the nursery-bought plants, if you are lazy like me, although I think they work better especially for tomatoes). They will tell you to space things 18" or 24" apart or whatever. DO NOT plant them any closer than that or you will regret it in August/Sept when you have to hack your way thru a mess of overgrown plants. Your garden will look sad in the beginning, but will grow to fill in empty spaces.

I personally disagree with phishtaper on this. I like to plant intensively and then thin out plants during the season. Especially for crops like beets where you can eat the roots and the leaves. I'll eat the tops throughout the summer by thinning out the row and allowing the roots of some to have more space and get larger.

[phishtaper]

I personally disagree with phishtaper on this. I like to plant intensively and then thin out plants during the season. Especially for crops like beets where you can eat the roots and the leaves. I'll eat the tops throughout the summer by thinning out the row and allowing the roots of some to have more space and get larger.

i agree with you here, starhead. sorry that I wasnt clear. for leafy and root plants like lettuce and onions, its not problematic to crowd them in at the beginning. we plant a lot of onions (maybe 40 in a 5' row?) and harvest them throughout the season, making space for remaining ones to get bigger.

for singular plants like tomatoes and peppers, though, i do think they need to be spaced well at the beginning. ive been over-ambitious in the past and found that things were just too crowded come Sept, especially if you have to wiggle into the thicket to harvest.

but figuring out how to grow better next year is always part of the fun.

[Gr8FuL]

I had a Huge successful garden last year(my first year on my Farm ) the areas i use have been gardens for over 100 years that i know of for sure so the soil and everything is Primo, Its was alot fo hard work but soo Worth it. Saved a fortune on produce and was aqble to vacumme seal and freeze a good ammount for the winter grew corn,snow peas, beets, raddishes, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, zuchini,cukes,broco-Flower and a few giant Pumpkins. and whatever else, thats my business tho... :grin: Good luck with your garden!!

[Gr8FuL]

The best thing i found at keeping pests ie, Deer, Skunks, Racoons away is Human hair, my aunt runs a salon and gave me a couple bags of hair clippings and i jut spread them around the outskirts of the garden i had Zero trouble with any animals. Worst thing i foudn was trying to keep the potato bugs off the potatoes those lil bastards are tough. I actually had to go out several times a week and bug hand kill them off each [plant.

[Ms Zimmy]

Asparagus will keep coming up all summer long, and is a perennial, so plant it where you wanna keep it (and everyone needs an asparagus patch). Chives are perennials, as well as rhubarb. Plant some cucumbers so you can make pickles. Mmmm pickles.

My uncle used to grow pumpkins and they were so lovely…I would grow pumpkins.

One year my older sister wanted her own garden, and she had flowers in there along with her veggies, it was really nice. (But my younger sister and I decided to plant some chicken feed in her patch, and wheat, corn and sunflowers started growing all through it, she had no idea what she did wrong, HA I was such a jerk).

I heard that Corn sucks to grow, but I can't remember why….But sunflowers are great.

[Ms Zimmy]

my aunt runs a salon and gave me a couple bags of hair clippings and i jut spread them around the outskirts of the garden [plant.

bleh...interesting, but still bleh

[Gr8FuL]

my aunt runs a salon and gave me a couple bags of hair clippings and i jut spread them around the outskirts of the garden [plant.

bleh...interesting' date= but still bleh

Yeah its pretty grosss, but not nearly as gross as all the pesticides and such ppl use that dont work half as good.

[phishtaper]

my aunt runs a salon and gave me a couple bags of hair clippings and i jut spread them around the outskirts of the garden [plant.

bleh...interesting' date= but still bleh

ive heard of this before too, usually for skunks and squirrels and it was dog hair, not human. but apparently the best thing to keep away all animal pests is to spray wolf urine, lol.

[AD]

thank god i have a use for all the wolf urine i keep lying around. now davey boy will stop coming over for shooters.

[bokonon]

I used to put human hair clippings in my box garden to keep the squirells (fucking tree rats!) out. It worked okay for a short amount of time. we didn't have all that much hair, though.

[phishtaper]

mmmmmmmmmm, hairy box garden

[CyberHippie]

Corn grows well, but the critters will rip it off before it's ready!! And you only get 1 to 2 ears per plant...

I have a yard, but I still grow in containers. If find it's easy to move things around to get the sun. Throughout the season as things grow I'm always moving my plants around, changing their positions. Plus when it gets into fall, you can easily pull them into a shed, or wherever when it gets cold at night.

[Birdy]

I had major squirrel issues, but it seems planting a ton of different herbs has kept them away.

[Tricky]

I use to eat vegetables until I became sensitive to their rights as individual creations of planet Earth. Now I eat only animals---I mean, I couldn't possible eat something I could never identify with like a carrot---but a cow I get.

[mulvee]

You may want to check out if there is any trees and what types around your garden plot.. We had a Black walnut tree and some things, tomatoes included, wouldn't grow anywhere near it. Also, I'd get out and get your seeds now, 'cause come sowing time they're hard to find.

[AWeeJig]

To keep the critters away from your garden human hair will work but not nearly as well as Blood Meal. Blood Meal is available at any garden centre or even grocer. All you need to do is grab a small handful and lightly dust it around your plantings. For a vegetable garden I'm guessing you would be safe by just a pinch around every planting. It is Blood Meal not Bone Meal. Bone Meal is a root stimulant. Which would help also with the growth process but do absolutely nothing to keep the local jackalope at bay. Good luck.

[allison]

It's really important to start with good soil..especially in Tdot.Actually the same holds true here...in town soil is very ,very sandy.

You can make a raised bed...put some newspaper down,pile soil,compost etc on top and make some sort of retaining "wall " to hold it in place.Or dig down a foot ,scoop it all out,lay the nespaper and then mix in copious quantities of compost/manure etc.

I love designing gardens,buying plants,digging up lawn and checking on what everything is doing in spring/early summer...but then I tend to forget completley about taking care of it.

[bokonon]

mmmmmmmmmm, hairy box garden

Set and spike! Good work!