Growing a garden.

[celticquetzel]

Square Foot Gardening is great. Nice to see it referenced. Don't build boxes too high because it takes a LOT more dirt to fill. Have 18 4x4 beds, 8 of them with perennial berries, herbs and flowers and we get more than we need. All dripped, but I occasionally supplement with hose to get each plant what they need. Also, each county has a County Extension Office that can give you advise for your locale. And many have Master Gardener programs. Some bigger nurseries will provide short classes. Another great book is Sunset Magazine's Western Garden Book for those of us out here. Have fun:)

[celticquetzel]

Oh, and most importantly, hardware cloth (smaller holes and thicker wire than chicken fencing) underneath for #$$(#!@ gophers... and chicken fencing on top for deer, rabbits and squirrels. It's such fun gardening in the urban-wildland-fire zone!!!

[TPMcGinty]

Container gardening sounds a good way to go, In American terms, my garden is probably considered quite small (about 30ftx35ft) but with having a pond and large Hedge it can be quite time consuming to keep on top of. (probs about 2-3 hours a week in summer).

Container/raised gardens can look great if they match the surroundings. Everyone here goes railway-sleeper mad

Heres a typical example

That looks like a raised bed garden. Container gardens are planted in pots and other containers.

yes your right, I meant raised garden

That is a beautiful garden!

[jeff0520]

We have almost 300 square feet of raised bed gardens. Here's our way of doing it. Get two 2x12x10. Cut 3 feet off each one. Use 4 stair brackets and some screws to make a box. Put the box on top of opaque black plastic. Fill the box with a mixture of 40% rabbit poop, 40% peat moss, 10% vermiculite, and 10% mushroom compost. Our green bean plants have climbed to the top of 10 foot stakes, and we have harvested 2 five gallon buckets full already. :-D The tomatoes are 6 feet tall and starting to really produce too. :-D

[Oldragbaggers]

We have almost 300 square feet of raised bed gardens. Here's our way of doing it. Get two 2x12x10. Cut 3 feet off each one. Use 4 stair brackets and some screws to make a box. Put the box on top of opaque black plastic. Fill the box with a mixture of 40% rabbit poop, 40% peat moss, 10% vermiculite, and 10% mushroom compost. Our green bean plants have climbed to the top of 10 foot stakes, and we have harvested 2 five gallon buckets full already. :-D The tomatoes are 6 feet tall and starting to really produce too. :-D

Sounds like a potent mixture, Jeff. That's a lot of green beans. Sounds like you have come upon the secret recipe for a successful garden.

[S. Heisley]

Forest, I am not suggesting that you buy any of these; but rather that you take one of these ideas and run with it:

http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware. ... nks-device^{device}-sitelink^Elevated+Cedar+Raised+Beds-campaigntype^Gardeners+Supply+Brand+Exact-sitelinktype^MSN+Category

Notice that there are 10 products but also 5 articles to give you additional help. Click on the "5 articles" near the top of the screen.

I especially like the VegTrug Ideas, found here:

http://www.gardeners.com/Raised-Bed-Gar ... nks-device^{device}-sitelink^Raised+Beds-campaigntype^Gardeners+Supply+Brand+Exact-sitelinktype^MSN+Category

[Forrest747]

Love all the ideas thank you.

[jeff0520]

We have almost 300 square feet of raised bed gardens. Here's our way of doing it. Get two 2x12x10. Cut 3 feet off each one. Use 4 stair brackets and some screws to make a box. Put the box on top of opaque black plastic. Fill the box with a mixture of 40% rabbit poop, 40% peat moss, 10% vermiculite, and 10% mushroom compost. Our green bean plants have climbed to the top of 10 foot stakes, and we have harvested 2 five gallon buckets full already. :-D The tomatoes are 6 feet tall and starting to really produce too. :-D

Sounds like a potent mixture, Jeff. That's a lot of green beans. Sounds like you have come upon the secret recipe for a successful garden.

Thanks Becky. :-) It does work well. The nice thing about using bunny poop is that its chemically mild enough to use fresh without harming the plants. Its wonderful natural fertilizer. It also helps that it doesn't smell bad in the garden. We raise rabbits so we have plenty. Chicken poop is higher in nitrogen, but it smells awful, and has to be composted for 6 months before you can use it. If you are going to grow a good garden, you gotta know your poop

[eaglesdare]

I think I will be trying that Straw Bale gardening next year.

[Zollinger]

I am kinda playing around with the "Back to Eden" method this year. The bed that I am trying it on has been covered with mulch for years and my tomato's and everything else in that bed are doing fantastic.

[Oldragbaggers]

If you are going to grow a good garden, you gotta know your poop

[TJinPgh]

+whatevernumberwe'reupto on Square Foot Gardening.

I've been using it for several years. I expended this year by adding two more 4x4 and a 2x8 raised beds.

I use a combination of potting soil, peat moss and composted manure for my soil. Dirt out of the ground won't work well. Water it with some soaker hoses. Minimal weeding, and even that is pretty easy, assuming you put landscape fabric down before you build the bed.

Shallow boxes work just fine, even for larger plants like tomatoes. Just strip off all but the top 2 sets of leaves and lay them down in a trench, with just the top part of the plant sticking out of the dirt. Roots will form along the buried stem and provide nutrients for a stronger plant, even in a shallow bed.

If I get a chance I'll post pics of mine.

[planovet]

I build Cindi a raised bed a couple of years ago. She liked it so much I had to build 2 more.

All the posts and sides are cedar

[Oldragbaggers]

What size are those beds, Mark??

[planovet]

I forget but I'm guessing they are 6' by 3'