One of the best Gardening things I have ever done

[Sako]

What is the best thing you have ever started doing in your gardening....?

The best thing that I have ever done was to start planting something new ever year that I have never planted before. This allows me to learn what I can grow easily where I am and also what I like to eat. The other benefit is that it has expanded my cooking, freezing and canning. I have learned so much about ways to put new stuff up and Recipes that we eat all year long... great decision.

 

[TX300mag]

Hmmm...

Raised beds?

 

[catman529]

Same thing you've done Sako, besides getting 3 shop lights to start seeds in mid-February. I like to try new tomato varieties every year, mostly heirloom, and whatever other fruits and vegetables I feel like growing.

Soon as I get my paycheck in the bank in the next couple days, I will head out and replace the 2 shop lights that quit on me (cheap POS they are) and get some new fluorescent tubes and some seed starting Jiffy mix and some potting mix and some dixie cups and all the empty saved egg cartons...and on top of that I am really late to buy new seeds this year, which I also got to do ASAP.

I'll start planting within the next 2-3 weeks. Peppers and tomatoes go in the earliest.

 

[farmin68]

Black plastic with drip tape under it.

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

Hmmm...

Raised beds?

I agree 110%.Once you start using raised beds you'll never go back to traditional flat rows.

 

[Sako]

Hmmm...

Raised beds?

I agree 110%.Once you start using raised beds you'll never go back to traditional flat rows.

Raised beds as in raised rows - like a hiller makes? (I got a hiller for the tractor for Christmas is why i am asking)

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

Sako raised beds can be made several different ways in many shapes and sizes.Most people make them out out wood .4'X8' is one of most common easy to work with sizes.I have made them with a hiller on a tiller. 3' wide X 100' rows.After a few years of adding to the beds we built them up to about 18" high.The general idea is to build the beds and the soil up.

http://organicgardening.about.com/od/st ... sedbed.htm

 

[Sako]

that was what I was getting at.... I will have about 15000-18000sq feet in garden this year.... your typical raised bed is not going to work for me... From the link they will never work for me with the sq footage that I have. I guess I will just continue to get the dump trucks load of mushroom compost every few years.

thanks

 

[Poor redneck]

mushroom compost every couple of years, More experaminting in the kitchen has broadened my gardening ventures, but I will have to say the best thing I have ever done is get my youngster into it, He is excited about every stage of the garden, His favorite is harvest and thankfully weed pullin (he is young enough to enjoy weed pullin)

 

[Sako]

The next thing I'm working on is an "outdoor kitchen". I want to be able to can goods out on our screened in patio so as not to heat up the house. I've already got a triple sink, extra stove, commercial fridge.

I do all of my processing outside.... I use the same fryer burner I purchased with my turkey fryer. Hook up the propane and start the processing... sure keeps the heat outside.

 

[Sako]

my main garden is about 60X100 (6000sqft). I keep most of covered with Tyvek housewrap. Except for the where the strips of wrap meet. I leave a 2" gap and plant between that. It has done tremendous wonders (obviously) for weed control. The is for my beans and tomatoes.

Can you reuse it every year or do you have to go new every year? What do you do to keep it down?

 

[TX300mag]

Hmmm...

Raised beds?

I agree 110%.Once you start using raised beds you'll never go back to traditional flat rows.

Raised beds as in raised rows - like a hiller makes? (I got a hiller for the tractor for Christmas is why i am asking)

Sorry Sako, I forgot all about this thread.

By raised beds I mean eiter 16'x4' beds with 2x12" sides. They drain much better than my heavy soil, and my ammendments are much easier to control (grass clippings, leaves, rabbit/chicken manure). Weed control is EASY with 4' plastic or fabric.

I have 7 of these, and will probably add three more this month.

My main garden is 20,000+ft2, so it's not like I do it because I don't have room.

Crops that I don't cultivate regularly (everything but beans, peas, and corn) are planted on hills with a hipper (probably what you have but with disc gangs instead of two big discs).

This part of the garden gives me 10 200' rows that I raise about 6" with the hipper.

I tried to find a picture of it raised, but I don't know that I have any. It had summer and winter squash in it this fall.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

i gotta try a raised bed

 

[IceMann]

What is the best thing you have ever started doing in your gardening....?

The best thing that I have ever done was to start planting something new ever year that I have never planted before. This allows me to learn what I can grow easily where I am and also what I like to eat. The other benefit is that it has expanded my cooking, freezing and canning. I have learned so much about ways to put new stuff up and Recipes that we eat all year long... great decision.

Adding a pickup truck load of black gold every year,and using black plastic for mulch.also using bamboo or river canes for my pole beans and my peas and cucumbers..I tilled all day today and my butt is a dragging..I dont care for the rasised beds at all though.I do hill every row but thats the extent of it.