[LaRemnant]

Originally Posted by Screaming Eagle

Another reason that it's good to compost any kind of manure (okay, maybe not cows) is to 'heat up' the seeds of grass etc that have passed through so they don't sprout again.

LR, find out what 'plant hardiness' zone you're in and let us know. That will make a big difference in what you can plant at different times. I'm in zone 9 so I can pretty much have a garden year round. In fact, I'm going to add some more Brussels Sprouts this week. Take a sample from the 'center' of your garden area as part of your sampling. My state recommends 4 samples from different areas in the garden. Aside from determining the amount of clay etc, the report will also give you some of the chemical components (calcium, sodium etc) that you may need to account for.

I am smack dab in the middle of Florida, so I would imagine I can grow just about anything throughout the whole year as long as I cover them during our intermittent freezing nights during our "winters".

I will definitely check with the Department of Agriculture and get the sample kits ASAP. I think my parents are SLOWLY starting to pay more attention... my mom was actually explaining to me today how to grow beans and can vegetables. She did it all her young adult life in the back hills of Ohio. I was hoping she would come around soon because she is very used to living a very modern and comfortable life (she worked hard to get where she is so I guess I can't blame her)... so getting her to talk about canning and sweating at the brow hunched over a dirty zucchini is probably not on the top of her list of things to do!

[carolina168181]

La Rem--you may want to consider container or raised bed gardening

[snowshoe67]

Originally Posted by Camdor

Check out this site for lots of ideas!

Free Energy

All the plans and toys come with a 100% working money back guarantee and they have a great reputation.

CamdorThanks for the site looks like a lot of good info.

[Camdor]

Welcome, of course, glad you found it helpful

[lpm67]

Originally Posted by LaRemnant

WOW, thank you everybody! Especially you Mama! So much info! There is this guy who lives a stones throw away who actually has a garden about 100ft x 150ft, and he sells what he grows. I don't know how much longer the state will allow that considering how Nazi the laws are becoming, but I think I will talk with him and see if I can learn anything. I might ask him if he would like me to help him for free, as long as I get to learn a thing or two. These days though, a lot of people think I am weird for actually knocking on doors and introducing myself as their neighbor. I've done it a couple times before, and they ALWAYS act like I am a weirdo... Imagine that, someone could live no more than 30 ft from you for ten years and not even know your name, or anything really about you.

Most gardeners love to pass on their knowledge....its a huge compliment to be asked! And don't be put off by the past reactions of neighbours, they are the ones who are weird...I think its really important to know your neighbours - you never know when you might need each other. I have an incredibly nosy neighbour and feel that no-one could get away with stealing from my property in broad daylight (after dark she locks herself into a internal room...gets a bit scary here at night).

My favorite plants for the shade:
Alpine strawberries (make sure you get a tasty variety...the big red ones are horrible)
Lettuce
Cape gooseberries
Asparagus
Parsley
Sorrel
Silverbeet (chard?)
NZ spinach
Blueberries
Sorrel
Rosemary (apparently its not suppose to like the shade but my shrubs do)
Brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli) will also grow in the shade...just take longer to reach maturity.
Leeks
Spuds (potatoes)
Most carrots
Beetroot
Dandelions

Also the brassicas send down deep roots so will break up the soil for you...good first crop.
Peppermint (sometimes)

[NorthWet]

LOTS of great info here! Thanks all!

I'm only a year ahead of you so can only share some tid-bits from this year's lessons:

It is better to over-plant and thin than to have too few plants sprout.

Bad bugs happen. A mixture of dish soap, cayenne, and Diatomaceous Earth in water works on many of them (if not all). The mixture will not spray on thru a regular spray bottle (it clogs) so a pump-up sprayer is needed. No matter how urgent it feels, an emergency stop-gap measure is not painting it on, you'll do the plants in along with the bugs. Make sure you're not down wind when applying (don't ask ).

Soaker hoses not only help conserve water, they help avoid some of the diseases you'll encounter sooner or later.

Learning about the weeds you are pulling can greatly increase your gardens yield. I have lots of lamb's quarter so have no need to plant spinach and fight the heat. Next year I'm pondering allowing it a space where I don't 'have' to pull it all.

Next year I'll plant my sweet basil by my squash to keep the bad bugs away. (though I think the praying mantis did a purty good job this year!)

Zucchini, squash, and pumpkins all take up more room than seems possible.

No matter how large the garden looks in spring, it will look sooo small by late summer. No matter how exciting it is to harvest the first whatevers, when winter comes, while bittersweet, it is also a blessing. (dunno how it works were you can grow year-round ... sounds exhausting to me)

Some plants love cool (lettuce, spinach) other thrive in heat (amaranth, corn) For next year, I'm working on planning a progressive garden with three main stages. The growing season here is long enough to allow more than one crop as long as I pay attention to temperatures.

I have my doubts it is possible to have too much Lemon Basil. I planted a few that went ape, and I'm soo glad they did. Smells WONDERFUL and makes exceptional tea.

Learning to save your own seeds is fairly easy - just ensure you start with heritage seeds if this is your intention. The book Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth is well worth grabbing. And realize some things need to be left alone for two years to go to seed (e.g. onions and carrots)

Zeolite is a volcanic soil additive worth checking out. It absorbs up to one and a half times its own weight in water (then gives it back off). It will grab fertilizer that would otherwise leach away - and give it off later. Doesn't increase yields in fast crops but does for season-long crops. It can be 'pre-charged' with goodies before it is applied (e.g. in a horse stall - where it does a top notch job of grabbing ammonia by the way) NASA uses this stuff in their hydroponics system. Best of all, once it's there - it is always there!

Charcoal is another excellent soil additive. It is easy to make your own. Does a great job of supporting beneficial micro-life in the soil (among other benefits). It is supposed to stick around for a long time, but I'm not certain how long. Neither will replace compost, but are used in conjunction.

Raised gardens are a blessing. For me, old tires are gold - esp. for tomatoes - keeps their tootsies all nice and warm. Dunno how they would be in your summers. We have 100+ off and on for a few weeks but not week on end. They thrived in them anyway ... might for you as well. Would be great to get them going early or keep them going longer in weather technically a little too cool for them.

But more than anything, I learned about gleaning this year. If you are near a farming area, check into it. There are a number of things I will not plant because I can get it for free, by the bucket load (or pick-up truck load) just for the asking. The only reason I'll be planting potatoes is to avoid the nasty chemicals they use to kill the plant off prior to harvesting. But many other crops are so readily available, my limited space is better spent in other ways.

Anyway, welcome to the most therapeutic addiction I've come across yet!

[LaRemnant]

Originally Posted by NorthWet

It is better to over-plant and thin than to have too few plants sprout.

What do you mean by "thin"?

Originally Posted by NorthWet

Bad bugs happen. A mixture of dish soap, cayenne, and Diatomaceous Earth in water works on many of them (if not all). The mixture will not spray on thru a regular spray bottle (it clogs) so a pump-up sprayer is needed. No matter how urgent it feels, an emergency stop-gap measure is not painting it on, you'll do the plants in along with the bugs.

That Diatomaceous Earth sounds pretty interesting! Do you just eyeball it, or do you actually have a ratio measurement between the three? What is an emergency stop gap measure?

Originally Posted by NorthWet

Soaker hoses not only help conserve water, they help avoid some of the diseases you'll encounter sooner or later.

I looked up soaker hoses, and they look like normal hoses. What makes them so special, and how do they help avoiding diseases?

Originally Posted by NorthWet

Learning about the weeds you are pulling can greatly increase your gardens yield. I have lots of lamb's quarter so have no need to plant spinach and fight the heat.

Does Lamb's Quarter have the same nutritional value as spinach?

Originally Posted by NorthWet

Next year I'll plant my sweet basil by my squash to keep the bad bugs away. (though I think the praying mantis did a purty good job this year!)

Sweet Basil helps keep bugs away? Do you know why? The Diatomaceous Earth doesn't really affect the praying mantis? They have an exoskeleton, so I don't see how the Diatomaceous Earth wouldn't eliminate them. (?)

Originally Posted by NorthWet

For next year, I'm working on planning a progressive garden with three main stages. The growing season here is long enough to allow more than one crop as long as I pay attention to temperatures.

So a progressive garden is one in which different edibles (that grow in alternatingly successive time frames) are planted like clockwork to produce a cycle of sorts? Interesting... I think I heard that before (remember! I am a NEWWWWB )

Originally Posted by NorthWet

Learning to save your own seeds is fairly easy - just ensure you start with heritage seeds if this is your intention. The book Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth is well worth grabbing. And realize some things need to be left alone for two years to go to seed (e.g. onions and carrots)

GREAT! Another book for me to study!!! What do you mean by letting some vegetables to "go to seed"? Do they have to rot? Why the crap would it take TWO YEARS?

Originally Posted by NorthWet

Zeolite is a volcanic soil additive worth checking out. It absorbs up to one and a half times its own weight in water (then gives it back off). It will grab fertilizer that would otherwise leach away - and give it off later. Doesn't increase yields in fast crops but does for season-long crops. It can be 'pre-charged' with goodies before it is applied (e.g. in a horse stall - where it does a top notch job of grabbing ammonia by the way) NASA uses this stuff in their hydroponics system. Best of all, once it's there - it is always there!

Charcoal is another excellent soil additive. It is easy to make your own. Does a great job of supporting beneficial micro-life in the soil (among other benefits). It is supposed to stick around for a long time, but I'm not certain how long. Neither will replace compost, but are used in conjunction.

Can I pick up Zeolite from the nearest garden shop? Where do you get yours? So basically you just need to throw it out once, and that's all she wrote? It will be good to go for years and years? Do you use a particular ratio ammount? As for the charcoal, do you pulverize whatever wood you burn? ColcordMama says you can use ash depending on the soil gradient... is using charcoal similar?

Originally Posted by NorthWet

Raised gardens are a blessing. For me, old tires are gold - esp. for tomatoes - keeps their tootsies all nice and warm. Dunno how they would be in your summers. We have 100+ off and on for a few weeks but not week on end. They thrived in them anyway ... might for you as well. Would be great to get them going early or keep them going longer in weather technically a little too cool for them.

I can DEFINITELY see the method to the madness with using old tires, barrels, etc. for particular edibles, like potatoes and tomatoes! I will definitely look into that to add to my "repertoire".

Originally Posted by NorthWet

But more than anything, I learned about gleaning this year... There are a number of things I will not plant because I can get it for free, by the bucket load (or pick-up truck load) just for the asking. The only reason I'll be planting potatoes is to avoid the nasty chemicals they use to kill the plant off prior to harvesting. But many other crops are so readily available, my limited space is better spent in other ways.

Anyway, welcome to the most therapeutic addiction I've come across yet!

Yes, gleaning sounds wise. Thanks for including that. I am sure it would've taken me a little while to realize that gem, regardless of how obvious the nature of it is. That is probably what was going on with the ancient harvest festivals, among bartering and a host of other down to earth, good natured comradery and fellowship. I can TOTALLY see how being a steward of Earth with gardening could easily be a therapeutic addiction. Some would probably even dare say it has a quality of being more spiritual, with tuning into life more fully.

Thank you SO MUCH for the wisdom you shared with us!!!

Noble.

[Screaming Eagle]

I can testify about soaker hoses too. They're hoses that have very small holes in them and one end plugged off. You lay them at the base of the area you want to water, turn it on and it soaks water slowly into the ground (6" or so either side of the hose) rather than broadcasting it in the air. Cuts down on mold and fungus on the leaves and makes more efficient use of the water that you do use. Highly recommended.

I've also seen pictures of 'bins' (or tires) that people stack up for planting potatoes. As the vines grow up, you add another layer of 'bin', add soil around it and the plant produces taters all the way up the vine. Every place that the soil touches the vine, the plant sends out 'roots' which turn into taters. It also extends the harvest because you can pull taters from the bottom while still producing taters further up the vine. You know a potato vine is producing when there are flowers.

[LaRemnant]

Originally Posted by Screaming Eagle

I can testify about soaker hoses too. They're hoses that have very small holes in them and one end plugged off. You lay them at the base of the area you want to water, turn it on and it soaks water slowly into the ground (6" or so either side of the hose) rather than broadcasting it in the air. Cuts down on mold and fungus on the leaves and makes more efficient use of the water that you do use. Highly recommended.

Okay, now I see how it would help prevent mold and what not from growing because you're not watering the the shoots so much as the ground that it actually gets all its oxygen and sustenance from. I wonder if there are soaker hoses available that have small outlets every two feet with 1 ft of connected hoses extended on either side that you can turn on/off that run the length of your garden? That would probably help water the whole length of your garden, two rows at a time if you have only one hose designed like this. Make sense? Do they exist?

Originally Posted by Screaming Eagle

I've also seen pictures of 'bins' (or tires) that people stack up for planting potatoes. As the vines grow up, you add another layer of 'bin', add soil around it and the plant produces taters all the way up the vine. Every place that the soil touches the vine, the plant sends out 'roots' which turn into taters. It also extends the harvest because you can pull taters from the bottom while still producing taters further up the vine. You know a potato vine is producing when there are flowers.

With the tires, or bins, how would you access the potatoes/tomatoes form the lower sections without disturbing the upper layers, and without having the soil fall out? Also, are there any other vegetables/fruits that grow better using this method, besides potatoes and tomatoes?

Thank you everybody for providing SO MUCH experience and wisdom. Sincerely, I am greatly humbled, and blessed.

Noble.

[George]

Some plants are best kept in pots or in well defined areas as they can take over whole garden.

Plants like:
Lemon Balm, Oregano, Mint