Any gardeners?

[Foxpup]

I've found that I really love working in my little balcony garden. I'm going to try to make a larger garden soon. My ultimate goal is to be more self sufficient.

Im getting into vermicomposting. Any tips there? (Yay worms!!)

any tips on getting the most from your garden? I'm talking calorie dense foods.
Also, any tips on what to start with first to try to make a good balanced garden? (Ex: I want a good variety of foods)

tips in general are welcome too.

[strengverboten]

In my limited successful gardening it seems even a dead man can grow potatoes.

I bombed tomatoes, can't keep the green worms and deer away.

I'm with you in becoming more sufficient- many family members of mine could grow the most delicious veggies but sadly they have all passed without me having time to learn the ins and outs.

Hopefully a career farmer will chime in and show us the way..

[EB71]

The best success I personally had was with "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. I wouldn't call anything gardening-related "foolproof," but it's pretty close. A very logical, common sense system.

And if greater self-sufficiency is your goal, you might want to learn how to can the stuff you grow. It's easier than it looks.

[Wolf Pack Sr.]

In my limited successful gardening it seems even a dead man can grow potatoes.

I bombed tomatoes, can't keep the green worms and deer away.


Interestingly, my first choice would be tomatoes. NOTHING tastes like a "home grown" tomato! And, as my first wife's father said: "Potatoes are hard work (to harvest & keep), are cheap in the store, and it's hard to tell the difference in taste."

Sevin for worms (or BT, if you want to be organic); high fences for deer.

General advice:
1. Mulch. Cover the ground with an organic compound, which can later be tilled under. (Tilling this in, enriches the soil with organic matter.) I used grass clippings at one location; leaves at another; even tried newpaper once (harder to keep in place & till under). This smothers the weeds & grass, & retains moisture.

2. Water deeply. Sprinkling the ground daily encourages shallow roots. Water less often, but slow & heavy, & let the water soak in. This is a common problem with tomatoes. If you can, invest in your garden's infrastructure... put in an underground or a drip irrigation system. Also, watering in the evening (often suggested by the water company to save water from evaporating) can leave plant leaves wet, encouraging mold & fungus on plants.

3. Seek local help: County extension service, we have a local chapter of "Master Gardeners", farmers' markets, etc. Also check the internet, and if so inclined, subscribe to appropriate magazines, such as "Organic Gardening"...

And, as suggested, learn to preserve your food!

Good luck! :biggrin:

[strengverboten]

Interestingly, my first choice would be tomatoes. NOTHING tastes like a "home grown" tomato! And, as my first wife's father said: "Potatoes are hard work (to harvest & keep), are cheap in the store, and it's hard to tell the difference in taste."

:

I missed several of the step you recommended there on the last season that I tried to grown them in... And my tomatoes tasted terrible! Bland and almost sour even when red-ripe!

I'll give it a shot with some decent mulch and deeper water... thanks friend.

[AlwaysVigilant]

I missed several of the step you recommended there on the last season that I tried to grown them in... And my tomatoes tasted terrible! Bland and almost sour even when red-ripe!

I'll give it a shot with some decent mulch and deeper water... thanks friend.

PH test your soil as well...you may need to add some thing first to balance it out, given your locale.

[strengverboten]

PH test your soil as well...you may need to add some thing first to balance it out, given your locale.

That could be necessary my friend....

The soil at my place is littered with rocks and no amount of tiller work to date has made a difference.

I've been shallow watering as you say - on the top of soil. That may be an issue...

[TFA303]

A few things I've found:

- Raised beds are a very effective solution to poor/rocky soil.
- Composting is a huge help
- Helpful Gardener (http://www.helpfulgardener.com/phpBB2/) is a great source of advice
- I now "get" much more from all those agricultural metaphors in the Bible
- I'm deeply thankful that my family doesn't depend on my gardening efforts to survive

[choirboy]

For tomatoes I modified the "Topsy Turvy" idea. I have 2 inch iron pipes about 3 feet into soil. On them sit a removable 4 or 6 spoke wheels of 3/4 rebar with a hook bent on the end. I use 5 gallon buckets with 3-4 2 inch holes drilled into the sides about three inches from the bottom. This allows for a small water reservoir that you lose if you drill on the bottom. I fill my planting mix which is mostly my composted cowhoney and about 1/3 peat moss. I keep a lid on top with a hole just big enough to get a water hose in. These buckets hang about six feet off of the ground so I can water easily. Big plus is weeds are minimal. Downside is you need to water them a lot, everyday in the high heat. You have to protect the plant vines from their own weight cutting them on the bucket. I use waste hose sections or the foam tubes sold to insulate 1/2 water pipe.

Bugs and mold can still be a problem, but not nearly as bad as growing them on the ground. If you have a frost warning it is easy to toss a 10x10 tarp over the whole thing and it will be protecting as many as 24 plants.

I also grow Bell Peppers this way.

I have three of these tomato trees about 75 feet a part. I do this because i devote one tree to my heirloom Romas for canning sauce. I dedicate another to heirloom "Big Boys" The third I do with commercial seed and try things like Lemon, Chocolate, Zebra or whatever hybrid catches my eye.

I stagger my plantings over a month so I do not have everything coming in at the same time. I start some seeds in the house, others in a plastic covered "Hoop House."

In the regular garden I grow many beans for prepper storage. Bush beans are the easiest but you lose more to pests because they are on the ground. Pole beans are a little more work, but having them off of the ground gives a higher yield.

Last year I tried an experiment with using buckets sitting on rain gutters. Look at gutter growing on YouTube for great illustrations. I have a pond and did some gutter growing with a 12 volt aquarium pump that was on a timer. The unit was powered by battery charged with a solar panel. This impressed the hell out of me and I will be doing several hundred feet of gutter grow this year. Because the plants are off of the ground there is much less mold, weed and bug trouble. The height of the buckets sitting on a gutter make for minimal bending of my bad back. I will also be running my 12 volt timer water system of nutrient rich pond water to my hanging tomatoes. There is no such thing as a maintenance free garden, but last years experiment had about 20 buckets on 60 feet of gutter. This produced great with minimal work.

Worms are a great benefit to any garden including one with bucket plants. My worm investment was about 10 pounds of "Red Wigglers" bought at least ten years ago. You can see many vermiculture plans on YouTube. I used two 35 gal barrels and drilled a few dozen holes about four inches from the bottom of the barrels to let excess water escape. The barrels stand upright with lids. I have dirt/compost about 2/3 high in the barrel. I feed kitchen compost on a random basis, in the winter once a month give or take. The barrels sit in an unheated garage all year In the winter, I do have them touching the motor vent of my chest freezer so they get some heat. I dump about a quart of water per week in the barrels when it is hot and maybe a quart per month in winter.

I toss a few handfulls of worms in my planting mix and they seem to survive even mild chemicals. I have to lime my mix. I spray Neem Oil or a dash of Pyrethrin if I see mold or bugs. I put Jap Beetle traps away from my garden and feed the bugs to my chickens. I have one trap in the chicken yard and the bugs fall into a pan of water. the chickens can hear them and gobble them up.

As to canning your bounty my favorite YouTubers are Bexar prepper and Katzcradul.

Start planning your garden now. If you are going to use a space that has not been tilled in years I would plow it up now to start aeration. Get a few dozen fishing worms at a sports shop and toss them around; some will live and benefit the soil.

Good Luck

[ZMB HNTR]

We typically get a few surprised reactions when my wife and I tell people what we have gotten to grow here in Vegas; and there are few things I find more therapeutic than our own garden. This past year we had: tomatoes (there IS nothing like a salad with your own fresh cherries and Romas), peaches, figs, oranges, a few different types of peppers, basil, thyme, oregano, sage and rosemary (it's EVERYWHERE here). I hope to do even more this year and expand our planter boxes and herb garden a bit more. Everything here is underground drip system and while our "top soil" is hard and harsh; you can easily overcome that with a raised planter bed and a quality soil/mulch. Some plants actually do very well in our soil however, my wife's rose garden has received a lot of positive comments from neighbors and friends.

[barnetmill]

For gardening begin with what is sure to grow in your area and then later concentrate on the harder things. I have been very busy in recent years and did not have time for much of a garden so I started with fruit trees since these take a few years to start yielding and do not reqire a lot of care. In my area the easiest fruit trees to grow turn out so far to be fireblight resistant pears, blight resistant chestnuts, persimmons, blue berries, native black berries, and native plums.
The hardest vegetable to grow are tomatoes in my area which coontrast with being a sure thing in the midwest where I grew up.

The advantage to growing your own is that you know what sprayed or not sprayed on it and growing your own will encourage one to eat more plant material which is better for you rather than the meat that I am normally disposed to eat.

[DogDoc]

I'd second the recommendation of Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening. It's a fantastic system...been doing it for years.

Doc

[texvet45]

We are using raised beds here in Guadalupe County and Texas A&M Agrilife extension has a very helpful website.

[Foxpup]

All great inputs. Thank you so much! From what y'all are saying I'm on the right track. I'm setting up for my wigglers and I'm so excited! My poor husband is so used to my projects that worms didn't even phase him.
Im planning on a raised bed system and I've already successfully grown some great things so im going to expand on those. I appreciate the input :)

[gps man]

The best success I personally had was with "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. I wouldn't call anything gardening-related "foolproof," but it's pretty close. A very logical, common sense system.

And if greater self-sufficiency is your goal, you might want to learn how to can the stuff you grow. It's easier than it looks.

I second this....great way to grow lots of veggies in a small space.

[gps man]

That could be necessary my friend....

The soil at my place is littered with rocks and no amount of tiller work to date has made a difference.

I've been shallow watering as you say - on the top of soil. That may be an issue...

Add lots of organic matter. Compost, leaves, whatever you can get. Till it in. Mulch... Lots of mulch. And water deeply like was suggested.

[Ragsbo]

Be sure you pick the right variety of the plant you want to grow for your area. Best way to find this out is to talk to people who grow stuff around you. And trial and error.

[RonaldBeal]

Another vote for "Square Foot Gardening"... We started several years ago with four, 4'x4' beds, and can about 75-100 pint jars every season, plus what we eat fresh... it is a good system.

[Redacted]

Fairly new to gardening. Have tinkered over the years but we started a big garden project last season. It is a container garden, uses soil, and is self watering. Based on a "rain-gutter grow system" seen on Youtube by Larry Hall, found here (http://www.youtube.com/user/larrylhall). The whole garden is also in an enclosure to keep out animals. Works great.