My attempt at my first garden

[mtmetzger]

I'm trying a garden for the first time this year. I've been reading and researching a ton but tips and tricks are always welcome!

Started off tilling up a 4x12 section in the back yard. Then I made a little raised bed out of some old treated lumber. This location gets full sun almost all day.


Got a scoop of topsoil and a half scoop of compost and had them mix it up before they loaded it into the truck. Topsoil turned out to be mostly clay :/ I dumped most of it in.


Then I revived a bed that was on the side of the house from the previous owners. It was shored up with landscaping timbers that were falling over and rotting. Boxed it back in with some more old treated and an old deck board. This one is about 3.5' x 8' and the area gets about 6-7 hours of sunlight and has some pretty nice topsoil already in it. Not a whole lot of clay or other junk.


In the side bed, I've got onions sets in. I burried the smaller diameters fairly shallow to grow nice onion bulbs and the larger ones I buried deeper just to use for green onions. That took up about half the bed and I'm going to try corn on the other half. I should be able to do 12 stalks and I already put 6 in. I'll hold off another week or 2 for the other 6.


In the rear garden, I'm doing (or trying to do)
3 Asparagus
2 Broccoli
22 Carrots
2 Cauliflower
1 yellow bell
1 green bell
1 sweet banana pepper
14 green beans
1 squash
1 zucchini
1 cherry tomato
1 better boy tomato
I got some plants from a local nursery and some from a neighbor who has a green house. Everything is planted and I left the Asparagus on one side because I won't be able to harvest them for a couple more years.
Everything was in the ground the past friday before all the rain started. I'm hoping that is a good thing!

[Mike]

Looks good. I'm about to transplant a few of my plants outside. Hope this year takes as well as last year.

[richief]

Good stuff, maybe add some fertilizer after harvest for next yr, and they say not to use treated lumber for raised bed gardening cuz it's poison can leach, glad it is old treated lumber, and prob won't leach as much as new stuff.

[mtmetzger]

Thanks! The guys at the feed store where I got the top soil suggested just using some water soluable miracle grow since the area is so small. Do you think that will do? If so, I'm assuming that I would wait a couple weeks before using it, or should I go ahead and try some?

I did start a compost bin so hopefully the soil will continue to improve in the coming years as I add it.

I knew I didn't want fresh treated lumber but my dad had this stuff left over from the deck on the back of their house. It was part of the original deck that was constructed about 29 years ago, so I hope it's OK to use. I did a little research on it before I made them and I concluded I should be OK after its a couple years old.

[JustShootIt]

10-10-10 is a good all purpose fertilize....

For best results get your soil test at the ag extension office.....they can tell u exactly what u need to add ie pot ash, nitrate, lime etc, etc

[guncrank1]

Weather said frost Sunday

[mtmetzger]

That's what I heard. I'll be sure to cover them up and hope they survive!

[Livewire]

Later in the summer when things start drying out you might want to think about watering them. Raised beds have a tendency to dry out a little faster than a regular garden.

[mtmetzger]

10-4 I picked up a soaker hose yesterday. Most things I've read say about a inch of water per week.

[JustShootIt]

Always water early morning or late evening.....even with soaker hose.....(when it's hot)

[mtmetzger]

Lookin good coach!

[broncogal]

I have been using raised beds since we've been here. The soaker hose is a great idea. I use Shultz garden soil- its light a fluffy and much cheaper than miracle grow. I also mix in my compost. Ive got peas, green beans and tomatoes in right now. I need to get some pepper plants and a few more tomatoes.

Couple of tricks Ive learned- obviously water in the evening. You can use kroger bags on stakes as cheap scare crows if you have problems with pest.

This year I am trying companion planting- natural pest control.

Good luck!!

[mtmetzger]

I have been using raised beds since we've been here. The soaker hose is a great idea. I use Shultz garden soil- its light a fluffy and much cheaper than miracle grow. I also mix in my compost. Ive got peas, green beans and tomatoes in right now. I need to get some pepper plants and a few more tomatoes.

Couple of tricks Ive learned- obviously water in the evening. You can use kroger bags on stakes as cheap scare crows if you have problems with pest.

This year I am trying companion planting- natural pest control.

Good luck!!

I'm going to have to try the Kroger bag trick!

Spinach bolted.

Is this a good or bad thing?


Here's mine today


I planted 3 asparagus crowns a couple weeks ago and this guy popped up between Friday night and Saturday morning. Yesterday is was about 7" tall and this morning it was about 11" Pretty cool!


Got some tiny bell peppers starting too.

[mtmetzger]

Onions are growing pretty well.


Here is my new compost bin

[broncogal]

I planted 2 rounds of peas. The first ones are around 2 1/2ft tall, the 2nd ones about 12" tall. My green bean however havent done crap!!

I need to get at least one early girl tomatoe and hot peppers.

[broncogal]

picking peas and banana peppers now. Have some bells and cayenne's that should be ready in a couple days.

[son of liberty]

They have not used all the deadly that stuff that gave treated wood its bad reputation in like 10 years, the modern stuff is safe around kids, plants, and pets. Dont fear using it in your raised beds, odds are the water you feed the plants is 4 times as toxic if not more.