The 2014 Get Dirt Under Your Fingernails Thread

[mom45]

That is one cute laborer you have there, even if she isn't working too hard!

Raised bed looks great!

 

[88GT]

*Sigh*

Finally got the garden "in" completely. The cold temps and constant rain of last week made for a long period of no progress. It's a good thing it stopped raining and warmed up; the tomatoes were getting too big for the indoor greenhouse!

The list of things done today:
*transplanted 3 kinds of peppers (8 plants)
*transplanted 2 kinds of tomatoes (20 plants)
*transplanted the eggplant
*planted the first of 3 successional zucchini plantings
*planted the first of 2 successional corn plantings
*planted acorn squash
*mulched three 33-gallon garbage cans' worth of limbs and other stuff that we've lopped
*spread the mulch around the plants in the garden

I am also putting in for a Purple Trowel. The wood for my beds is aging. It's drying and splitting and prone to splintering off in a hand if one is careless about where one puts her hands. Today though, it played dirty. I sat down on the edge of the bed to dig a hole for the next tomato and somehow ending up stabbing myself in the leg with one of these splintering edges. It went through my jeans even. I now have a "splinter" at least as big around as a toothpick and about 1/2" long embedded in my skin. It hurts awful bad. Tomorrow I will head to the urgent care so they can numb it and scalpel it out. You can feel it under the skin. It's gross. I tried doing the surgery myself but it requires me to contort the knee too much to reach it (almost to the backside of of calf).

We had a busy day! How about you?

 

[mom45]

I plan to do my garden Tuesday. I have brussel sprouts in so far and that's it. I picked up cherry tomato plants on my first trip to the greenhouse and then on the second trip, got a 8 early girl and 8 rutgers. When I went back this week, I was hoping to get some Brandywine but none were available so I picked up 8 Beefsteak and figured I just would have to do without the Brandywine this year. So...having almost 30 tomato plants is more than we need for just the two of us but then a friend offered me a Brandywine as she had two and had heard me whining. Today, she called and said she was at the greenhouse and found four Brandywine....so she picked those up for me. Another friend called this evening and asked if I wanted some tomato and cabbage plants that they had raised from seed and could not fit in their garden...guess what, 8 more Brandywine!

I will also be planting (from seed) butternut squash, pickling cukes, slicing cukes, zucchini, green onions, beets, carrots and dill. I think that is everything. I have all of my flowers planted as of this afternoon but the neighbor that had the tomato and cabbage plants for me found a huge patch of irises in her woods so we will be digging those up and splitting them.

Tomorrow, I am helping an elderly neighbor with her flowers. She and I went to the greenhouse Wednesday and she was like a kid in a candy store...we have a lot of planting to do!

 

[teddy12b]

I got my garden done, Yippee!!!



















This is our first year with big raised beds. We're still rookies, and we're still looking but we've got a "master gardener" just a short walk away who's very helpful. The beds are finally built and fixed in place where my wife approves. The beds were filled with almost 8 yards of dirt. Each bed is 4' wide, 12' long and 1' deep. So far, we're very happy with the results.

 

[88GT]

I got my garden done, Yippee!!!

**pictures snipped**

This is our first year with big raised beds. We're still rookies, and we're still looking but we've got a "master gardener" just a short walk away who's very helpful. The beds are finally built and fixed in place where my wife approves. The beds were filled with almost 8 yards of dirt. Each bed is 4' wide, 12' long and 1' deep. So far, we're very happy with the results.

Looks fabulous. But you forgot to tell us what you put in there. I think I see tomatoes and/or peppers. And some sort of cucurbit? Is that last one a flower bed or an herb/flower bed?

I just have one piece of bad news for you: it won't be enough in a year or two. So start saving up for some more lumber and dirt.

 

[jmiller676]

I plan to do my garden Tuesday. I have brussel sprouts in so far and that's it. I picked up cherry tomato plants on my first trip to the greenhouse and then on the second trip, got a 8 early girl and 8 rutgers. When I went back this week, I was hoping to get some Brandywine but none were available so I picked up 8 Beefsteak and figured I just would have to do without the Brandywine this year. So...having almost 30 tomato plants is more than we need for just the two of us but then a friend offered me a Brandywine as she had two and had heard me whining. Today, she called and said she was at the greenhouse and found four Brandywine....so she picked those up for me. Another friend called this evening and asked if I wanted some tomato and cabbage plants that they had raised from seed and could not fit in their garden...guess what, 8 more Brandywine!

I will also be planting (from seed) butternut squash, pickling cukes, slicing cukes, zucchini, green onions, beets, carrots and dill. I think that is everything. I have all of my flowers planted as of this afternoon but the neighbor that had the tomato and cabbage plants for me found a huge patch of irises in her woods so we will be digging those up and splitting them.

Tomorrow, I am helping an elderly neighbor with her flowers. She and I went to the greenhouse Wednesday and she was like a kid in a candy store...we have a lot of planting to do!

You're gonna be S*&%%ing kethcup.

 

[snorko]

After being delayed 2 weeks by a little heart attack, got our garden in this weekend. Three kinds of tomatoes (Better Boy, Roma & Sweet 100 Cherry), three kinds of peppers, Japanese eggplant, Chinese Broccoli, Kohlrabi, patty squash and a half dozen herbs. Less than I've done in the past but we moved the garden this year.

Since I missed the spring planting, I may try for a fall garden.

Thinking about doubling or tripling it for next year and also adding a row each of red raspberries, blueberries and a fig tree or two. Got about 1,500-2,000 SF of back yard that is underutilized.

 

[teddy12b]

Looks fabulous. But you forgot to tell us what you put in there. I think I see tomatoes and/or peppers. And some sort of cucurbit? Is that last one a flower bed or an herb/flower bed?

I just have one piece of bad news for you: it won't be enough in a year or two. So start saving up for some more lumber and dirt.

To be honest, I don't really remember what all the veggies were that my wife put in there. I was lucky enough to do all the "grunt" work of building the boxes and getting them in place along with filling them with dirt. I know we've got the usual lettuce, onions, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, and one of those beds is strawberries with two watermelons at the end. I don't think my wife really understood how big the water melons were going to get, but I didn't want to ruin any of her excitement. For me, the big victory was just getting the whole thing started and letting my wife choose whatever she wanted. The more fun I make it for her, the better odds I have of this becoming a normal thing for us every year.

Last years garden was a 100% fail, and this year I think we've got a fighting chance. Everything just looked ugly until the veggies were transplanted into the raised beds and now it's not bag looking. When we first started all of this I told her that we could setup four of them pretty easy and that she could use one of them for flowers. I think that one ended getting more plants stuffed into it than any of the others. She's already looking up ways to deter rabbits and deer, while I'm thinking of where to setup my trail cameras and find a nice set of gen 1 nightvision. We're looking at it from two completely different angles .

 

[mom45]

You're gonna be S*&%%ing kethcup.

Maybe not. Rabbits or squirrels or both are interfering this year. I have lost about 10 tomato plants so far. Some have been chewed off at the ground. Others are being sucked under the ground by the roots. We have these stupid 13 striped ground squirrels that showed up this year and are tunneling all over the yard. The cat had one and hubby made her drop it. I told him never to do that again!! I've been reading up on them, and they also eat flower bulbs. I have a ton of flowers that have gone in over the last three years and I don't need some stupid squirrel destroying them all.

Cucumbers, zucchini and butternut are all popping up now.

 

[eldirector]

Garden is 90% done!

Far to near:
- cucumbers (regular and pickling)
- short row of snap peas
- 4 rows of onions (red, white, yellow)
- tomatoes (roma, cherry, regular)
- 2 rows of peppers (hot and green)
- some cabbage at the end of the peppers
- 3 rows of beans (green and red/kidney)
- a little broccoli

Oh, and a lone raspberry bush in the far corner. A gift from my FIL. We'll see how it does.

All the irrigation lines are run, and the battery is hooked back up. I need a larger tank, though. 55 gallons doesn't cut it.

Still need to set up my wife's table-height boxes for lettuce, herbs, and such. We'll get those next weekend, after I am done staining/sealing the deck.

 

[jmiller676]

Maybe not. Rabbits or squirrels or both are interfering this year. I have lost about 10 tomato plants so far. Some have been chewed off at the ground. Others are being sucked under the ground by the roots. We have these stupid 13 striped ground squirrels that showed up this year and are tunneling all over the yard. The cat had one and hubby made her drop it. I told him never to do that again!! I've been reading up on them, and they also eat flower bulbs. I have a ton of flowers that have gone in over the last three years and I don't need some stupid squirrel destroying them all.

Cucumbers, zucchini and butternut are all popping up now.

Sounds like you need a pellet gun.

 

[mom45]

Sounds like you need a pellet gun.

22 ought to do it. I just need to catch the stupid little critters. They always seem to do this when I am sleeping. Last night, I only lost one Brandywine.

 

[teddy12b]

Garden is 90% done!

I really like what you've done there. I like seeing gardens where people make them look good and take some pride in their appearance. I've got some neighbors with houses paid off and gardens that look like junk just because they're too cheap to make it look nice. I think there's a certain amount of pride to had in a good looking garden and this picture is exactly what I'm talking about. Very well done!

 

[eldirector]

I really like what you've done there. I like seeing gardens where people make them look good and take some pride in their appearance. I've got some neighbors with houses paid off and gardens that look like junk just because they're too cheap to make it look nice. I think there's a certain amount of pride to had in a good looking garden and this picture is exactly what I'm talking about. Very well done!

Thanks, teddy! I'll share you comment with my wife. The garden (and her flower beds) are her pride and joy. I'm just the manual labor!

What's hard to see in that picture:
- every row is labeled
- every row is PERFECTLY straight and square. Seriously. I have to use a string and stakes to lay out the rows. I crooked row will drive her bonkers!
- I had to dig out and re-set all of the retaining stones (which are not mortared into place). The raised garden settles, and the stones where crooked.

Plans are to double the size next year to allow for some corn, more beans, and some space-hogging veggies (like pumpkins).

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

My raised beds this afternoon.

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The new one in the foreground is an herb bed, mother's day present from my son to his mom.

 

[teddy12b]

My raised beds this afternoon.

The new one in the foreground is an herb bed, mother's day present from my son to his mom.

Very Nice! I especially like the look of what you did there with the herb garden. I'll show this to my wife and see if she goes after it.

 

[bwframe]

What kind of steps does everyone take to prevent tomato blights?

 

[teddy12b]

All we did with our tomatoes was to put some crushed egg shells around the root ball, and sprinkled some around the top.

 

[88GT]

I don't do anything special for blight. Knock on wood, I haven't had any problems with it.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

What kind of steps does everyone take to prevent tomato blights?

I found a fungal blight tomato spray guide from Purdue online. It describes a rotation of different chemicals to use.

I get fungal blights every year, with varying severity. I use mostly Mancozeb, daconil, and liquid copper.

I also started using straw to mulch tomatoes so that rain doesn't splash from the soil to the plant and I water very sparingly once the plants become established.