Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Here in zone 5 if you start your own seedlings, it's time to start plantin' those hardy brassicas indoors.

Today I started presprouting collards, rapa broccoli, Waltham 29 broccoli, red cabbage, 7-top turnip, and chinese cabbage.

For good measure I also started some bibb lettuce, early girl and Kellogg's Breakfast tomatoes (Kellogg's in name only--they're not from Kellogg's!), and Indian jwala peppers.

I don't bother to plant parsley anymore since I have a perpetually self-seeded patch in the back yard. But if you don't have this sort of set-up, then it's past time to plant the parsley. It takes at least ~14 days to germinate.

Any other crazy gardeners out there? :applause_

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I'm in zone 5 but it seems awfully early to me. The only thing I have started is onions, and they are just starting to peep up through the soil. I usually start the brassicas in March.

I do have several ripe cherry toatoes from a volunteer tomato seedling I potted last fall...and some lettuce for cutting in the south facing windows. yummmy.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I was plowing today, getting two new garden spots ready.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

You lucky bastard, we still have a foot and a half of the white stuff. I have dirt envy. I may get the pitchfork and see if I can liberate some parsnips.:shine:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

yup I started planting last night under grow lights

i sure do love growing season :10_1_20:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

INDOOR starting. For outdoor transplanting a little later, after hardening off.

I've done it for decades. It works fine.

A couple years ago during the mild winter we had in 2005-2006 I put out several tomatoes under cover the end of February. Except for the one the deer got they all survived and thrived.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/195/3...c07abe17_m.jpg

By end of March my garden beds are teeming with rapa broccoli, turnip greens, spinach, and arugula. They can stand frost just fine and I cover them when a freeze is expected. I'm trying to find the photos I took a few years back for my favorite garden forum--green is so pretty in March.

The parsley stay out without protection all winter and resprout in spring. I also bring 3-4 small plants inside in fall for fresh use, and four of my favorite sweet pepper plants. Also brought two jalapeno plants in last fall which unexpectedly survived, so out they go in late April/May.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Indoor starting, same here. Things are usually still hard as a carp and buried in snow around here in March, what's your last frost date? I usually put the brassicas out in April, and even then I use row covers.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Parsnip soup on tap for tonight! Only a couple of inches of frost under all the snow. :565:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Gotta go pick up some seed potatoes. I like the Red Indian (I think they are called). Make excellent "new potatoes."

Time to get them in the ground latter this month.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I grow Siberian tomatoes in my greenhouse during the winter -- apparently, these tomato plants can withstand much colder temps than regular tomato plants: 38 degrees F. is what I remember reading. I bought my seeds here:

http://www.seedstrust.com

and I've been very happy with the results.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Being a poor sucker, I found a dead Craftsman front tine tiller (24"), badly rusted but the chain drive and tines were still good.

I found a 5hp Briggs motor on Craigs List for $50 (great condition) and spent Saturday replacing the engine, pulleys, drive belt and cleaning it up the tines and axle. I couldn't find the belt guard but its no big deal.

I think I got $70 in my tiller.

Time to bust up some ground.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

My dad bought my tiller 20 years ago (it was used-- 10 or more years old then). He bought a new one to replace it and gave me his old one. Well, his new tiller died, and now he borrows the old one he gave me. They don't make em like they used to.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Man it must be nice to be able to till the soil already.

Let me know when some of your neighbors are selling their lots! :ok:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Pole bean sprouts are already 1' high, beets, butter lettuce and shard are all on their way for almost a month now. Just thought I'd rub it in here in S. Fla.:wink:
Good luck to everyone this season.

Groove

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I got potatoes going out in about 2 weeks.

Mid-April my yard will be transformed into a jungle. :bear_w00t:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

April 15 is my average annual last frost date. Hardy brassicas are set out as early as March 10 (5 weeks before last frost), depending on if the weather is nice enough to be outside mucking around in the garden. They're hardened off for about two weeks prior to transplanting, making trips into and out of the house, then into an outdoor cold frame for overnights, then into the ground.

The turnip greens and rapa broccoli can shrug off some amazing temperatures without damage. I have to find my notes on it--one year I kept a remote thermometer with them to track how cold it got. If memory serves, they could handle temps into the teens without damage.
==============
Oh-I also use raised beds for all the spring planting. They drain and thaw faster than the ground. I pre-warm them with black plastic if I have to. But usually we've had enough warm spells in order for the beds to thaw. Arctic air and gulf air battle it out all winter over Nebraska.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Pruned a hundred year old apple tree that had not been pruned for about 20 years last weekend.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Ah, that explains the discrepency. May 15 here. One year we had 5 snowstorms in May, we are a "high" elevation (for Massachusetts) at 1,100 feet.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

How you get so big eating food of this kind?

What's parsnip soup like? I've never grown them and was thinking about picking up a packet of seeds and trying overwintering them in the ground. Of course we have compacted clay soil here, not like that fine rock gardening in New England...

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Ralleia, thanks for the wake-up call. I've been pruning my apricot trees & grapevines, but I've been kind of asleep at the switch when it comes to getting the spring garden prepared. It's been rainy and yucky here, but I'm in zone 9 so I can start all kinds of things now, even in the ground. I picked up some strawberry roots, onion sets, garlic, and a few seed potatoes. I need a break in the rain to till the ground for the berries, but I've got a nice container started for the 'taters and maybe the garlic and onions as well. We got some old wooden shelving units free from craigslist that we'll be using as raised beds for the roots and tubers. Everything else goes into the ground. I'll be starting my broccoli & cabbage seedlings this week.

Do you ever use the eyes from store-bought potatoes? I've read that you shouldn't due to disease or treatment that inhibits growth, but if they're growing already, I hate to just chuck 'em. I may try a test batch since I have separate containers so that any disease would be isolated. Or is this a bad idea?

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

This is the first time I've ever grown and eaten them, they look like big white carrots and taste great after cold weather (you eat them now through spring).

My soup wasn't all parsnips, I put carrots, canned tomao sauce, canned salsa, dried oyster mushrooms (wild gathred), canned shitaake mushrooms, and canned green beans (all my own stuff). Good and free! :565:

I'm definitely planting more parsnips this year. Germination is not so good so you over-seed them and then thin heavily. Grow them just like carrots, and yes sandy soil is better so they can grow long roots. Seems crazy because they just sit there until now, but now is when the fresh food craving is highest around here (We did break 50 yesterday so some snow has melted).

We have rocks aplenty here but many of my beds were excavated out of fill near the house and are totally imported soil (no rocks).

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

[/QUOTE]Do you ever use the eyes from store-bought potatoes? I've read that you shouldn't due to disease or treatment that inhibits growth, but if they're growing already, I hate to just chuck 'em. I may try a test batch since I have separate containers so that any disease would be isolated. Or is this a bad idea?[/QUOTE]

This is all I ever do, I have had no trouble with them here! Good luck!

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

'biled parsnips: the recipe.

Skin and boil your parsnips whole in salty water.

Then glaze them off in a fairly hot oven with

A sauce composed of butter seasoned with

Minced fresh ginger and cayenne.

Need to roll them a few times, to get the glaze even.

Serve with either lima beans or peas,

(lima beans better, in my opine)

And a slice of naturally cured ham.


It'll stick to your ribs and make you crow at the break of dawn.


scyth

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I've got a serious case of garden envy going on.

Maybe someday I'll have the time to learn, before it's too late for me.

:rose:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Do you have even the slightest bit of land?

If so, then you can start this spring. My overall favorite book is "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. It presents all the basics and a method that can get you great results, without being overwhelming. The basic size is 4x4 square feet. Enough to grow some great vegetables and start gaining some experience.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I've got enough land to do some gardening but I can't seem to make the time to get anything done lately. During the week I leave the house at 7:00 A.M. to drive 50 miles to my measly job from which I don't return until 6:00 P.M. or so. Mornings and evenings are spent helping take care of our 3 kids, ages 2, 4, and 10. I am also taking Math classes with the hope of eventually getting a Masters degree and any possible free time I can get I have to study my brains out to understand it.

So as much as I want to be involved with gardening I'm not willing/able to abandon my job/career goals/family time to even think to get started. Heck I haven't even been able to put any preps up for months because I've used up what little pantry space we have, my wife isn't the least bit interested in cooperating to expand my efforts, and I can't seem to get anyone else in my family interested in trying to change our eating habits to work in our preps. Well the last isn't entirely true, most of the canned goods I bought have been used up and not replaced.

I know I'm just whining but I can't prep for myself to the exclusion of my family and I can't really prep for my family much without the active cooperation of my wife. On top of it all I just don't have any extra money to spend on needs that aren't immediate. Thus my frustration. :bawling:

But I do very much enjoy reading what ya'll are doing, so thanks for threads like this!

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Teach the kids to garden. 2 Birds 1 Stone

I'm 18 and would love if my dad taught me... Although I am on GiM, maybe I'm not normal.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

You have a good point. My four-year-old just LOVES to help Mommy in the garden. Of course, it's not actually extremely helpful, but it IS time spent together in the sun and the breeze. Mine especially loves to water with a mini watering can and to dig in the dirt. She likes to plant seeds with me, too.

To get the kids involved it's best to plan a specific child(ren)'s garden with quick, easy vegetables or colorful plants and veggies to give them the gratification of success!

I admit that I was never interested in gardening when I was a kid growing up. It was just something my mom did. I didn't get interested until I was a starving college student without money for food or to get those grinding brakes fixed on my car. I remember counting out change so we could get that pizza or that treat of an ice cream sundae.

Oh, the glory days! :shine:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

My parsley & celery have sprouted and growing in the basement under lights for 2 weeks now. Last night I planted a 72-cell flat of spinach. The night before that I put in 100 cells of lettuce and they are already sprouting. I will let the lettuce and spinach grow a bit indoors then once they get big enough with a few true leaves I'll keep them outside during the day and bring them in at night until I feel the ground is ready for them. I always prefer transplanting not so much because you may get them a bit earlier but its much easier to plan my tight garden with established plants than hoping all my seeds germinate in the ground where I want them.

Man I wish I had a few acres of farmland...

All I got is a little under 400 sq. ft of garden space and it's on a north facing slope. :bawling:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Great thread, kind of got me motivated, still plenty of time to get a head start here in VA. Guess will have to start with overhaul of my lil 2 stroke tiller, shes small, but a screamer. Last house I lived in(rental) had a huge rear yard I converted to a garden. Now will be limited and trying to figure out areas (one large garden will not happen) My problem at moment is, rescently moved here, so as for figuring out what gets full sun etc, is a little misleading, at moment, EVERYTHING is getting full sun.But I have alot of trees. Am thinking about using 5 gal buckets for tomato plants. Any tricks to use, besides make sure holes in base?

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Alright. My pruning is finally finished; better late than never! And I got a long row of strawberries put in between rains. I also finished several potato bins and got a raised planter box for garlic planted. I have some pretty big tomato seedlings and various veggie sprouts going.

Now I say, "Let it rain." :rose:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I'm getting a late start this year, but I had to finish getting the rest of my previous job put to bed before I could get going. Fortunately, FIL has already plowed and planted potatoes, onions, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and other items I'm not sure of....

I planted 9 blueberries last year to add to the pears, apples and peach tree we had already, but have now got 4 plums, 2 larger blueberries, 2 apple, 2 peach, 4 cherry, and 1 pomegranite ready to plant and will be going to pick up additional peach, apple, pear, paw paw, almond and pecan trees asap. Oh yeah, planted scupernong and muscadines last fall and thornless blackberries. Will be ading to all of that as well.

I have 3 sections plowed and waiting for me to make raised beds..... which will add a total of 1312 sq feet of garden for me to plant and that doesn't include my herb and ornamental beds or the corn field or other garden plot that FIL does beans, okra and tomatoes in each year.

I pruned my Vitex today and started cleaning out existing beds.... it feels so good to be outside..... :emotions16:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I can't wait, it's been a long, nasty winter.
Hoping to do double of what we did last year.
Man do we need that gardening forum on here somewhere.

My absolute favorite is to make spaghetti sauce and just savor
that divine taste in the winter. I just love that so much.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Mmmmm.... there is NOTHing as good as opening a jar of something you grew, then harvested and then preserved or canned yourself.

I love my garden!

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

All snow finally disappeared with this balmy weather here in SE NY , zone5/6 cusp. Hit 70 today! I forgot what wearing shorts felt like. Turned the beds today and will put spinach peas lettuce and afew other in this week. Hell , you can drop spinach seeds right onto the snow if you don't want to wait.
Will try broc and chard too , though we're long before last frost round here. Not much to lose if fails, and time to gain if it works.
never hurts to experiment, and keep a calendar for yourself.
Hey, I know I've declared myself as having giving up on carrots , but I have one more try in me I think.
Saw a good article (Mother Earth maybe?) wherein the guys says people go about it all wrong. Yes, you need to loosen soil down a decent ways for these root crops , but... the problem is that carrot seeds need to be in very close contact with the soil to germinate properly and start early. Or so says he. He recommends digging the bed, then sowing seeds and actually tamping down an inch or so. Sow an eighth to quarter deep,cover with some vermiculite and soil, then place a piece of plywood over the bed and walk over it good. Anyone ever heard such?
I'm gonna give it a try, cause carrots have befuddled me so many times, and I really do like them.

PS - I'm a late start on one order- got a $100 gift certificate for Christmas for Miller Nursery and am think some kinda berry/ fruit tree maybe. Any recs? I have a good raspberry row and a strawberry patch that are good to go , thinking maybe blackberries? God and the deer have resigned me to being blueberry free I think. Tired of fighting them.

Thanks for the thread Ralleia, been a long ass nasty winter round here. Excited for growing days.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Momo, I have heard that about the carrots.... few other crops as well.

While I was trying to decide where to plant trees yesterday, I noticed something I had out there touted "deer resistant" on the label. I'll look and see what it was and report back!!

Alternatively, have you tried peeing in your yard? They don't like the scent.....

:yes:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

bleuberry and raspberry plants going in this week. seedlings started in kitchen, looks to be a good year so far.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I started to plant this past weekend. I cleared an area about 20x20 to get started. I planted onions, squash (Yellow and green), green beans, cukes, sunflowers, wildflowers to get bees to come and pollinate the blooms. I will plant my tomatoes in a few weeks. I still have room for more--decisions, decisions. :-)

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Phew! I smell like garden dirt and clay buster.... and I *like* it!! Got the gardenia moved and the dwarf peach planted and coerced the FIL into using the tractor to break up some new ground for me.

I splurged on myself today, too..... :biggrin: finally ordered myself one of them Compost Tumblers. Sure, I can (and do) have a big ol' compost pile, but the allure of a huge batch of finished compost every 2 weeks finally got the best of me. Next..... greenhouse.... got to sell a painting before I can do that, though.

momopanda, the deer resistant plant I have is a forsythia... sorry! Can't eat that 'un!

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Thanks Magpie. I tried most everything with the deer, peeing included. Ain't worth the trouble or expense to keep buying blueberry bushes that they're gonna find a way to get at. They don't bother with my raspberries , the prickers maybe. Heard the same about blackberries so I plan to put some of them in.
Sometimes I wonder about these deer. I mean they don't just eat the berries, they chew the branches right down to the nub and kill the plant. Seems like a kind of destructive behavior for an animal to practice, but what do I know?

Let us know how you like the tumbler, always wondered if they work as well as the pretty advertisements.

Onions, peas and spinach went in the ground yesterday. Lettuce Kale Beets Chard after St Patty's day. Most else waits til April round here, later for summer stuff.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I planted the second of our two 35' rows of strawberries yesterday. I did lots of work amending the soil from our old compost pile, then let the chickens spread out the piles I left with the wheelbarrow. After they got most of the worms, I went over it with the rototiller and made a long mound for matted rows. I then covered with ground cloth and planted the bare root strawberries through that at ~15-18" spacing. I've only put in temporary protection from our chickens using materials we had on hand. I need to spend some time and (sadly) money shoring that up but I didn't want to delay planting. The tomato seedlings went into the ground nearby (gotta love zone 9!)

As for out containers, we keep adding to our potato bins and the first batch of eyes is sprouting already. We've also planted garlic and various garden seeds like zucchini, squash, basil, and cucumbers. We have plenty more to go, but we got a good start. My muscles are sore and my hands are already callused. Gosh, I love spring!

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I picked spinach yesterday from a bed that was melted out of the snow. Three more inches today! Gotta love zone 5 :cry1: At least we don't have malaria....

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

AUGH! Freezing rain!

I've had several flats of turnip greens, rapa broccoli, regular broccoli, cabbages, etc. outside for the last week on and off and then continually for the past several days to harden them off. I planned to bring them inside this morning since we have an arctic blast coming in with lows to the single digits and wind chills to the negatives.

Well, I knew the brassicas can withstand temperatures down to 20 and lower, but I didn't factor in the trouble that freezing rain can cause. So this morning when I went to retrieve my flats they were frozen to whatever surfaces they were sitting on.

Most of 'em came up okay, but I had one flat with no base sitting on some flagstone and every cotton pickin' cell had cemented itself to the stone. I finally managed to pry it up piece by piece, but when it came loose one cell of turnip greens went flying.

You remember seeing what happens when a rubber ball is dipped in liquid nitrogen and hit with a hammer? Well, that's what happened to this turnip green. It just shattered. It was pretty interesting.

Anyhow, all the little brassicas are inside now waiting for Friday or Saturday when they'll go into the ground for the season.

I've also got about 180 kohlrabi plants started (my hand sorta slipped), more lettuce, zinnias, kale, escarole, chard, and multiple varieties of peppers and tomatoes.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I can't find my seed starting trays!! ahhhh!!!

i've been looking for like 3 days, grrr......

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Jalapenos (and other peppers) often take upwards of 14 days (or more) to sprout for me.

I transplanted between 150 and 200 brassicas into outdoor beds so far today. Broccoli, cabbage, chinese cabbage, rapa broccoli, and turnip greens. My wrists are so tired it's hard to type. Still got about 100 seedling ready to go and 250 more waiting for the first true leaves. Tomorrow I plan to seed peas, spinach, and oriental greens. Tomato, chard and okra seedlings have emerged for planting later.

Spring hurts so good...

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Ralleia, what zone are you? I am just starting my seed trays. I did plant my potato's in raised beds yesterday, and was thinking about doing peas today, but think I will wait a week or so. Our last frost date is May 8th or there abouts! We also built two more raised beds. Now I need to fill them! I need to get my strawberry plants planted, but been afraid that it is too cold. DH is trying to find time to make a pvc/plastic bed cover/cold frame type of thing. Once that is made, I think the strawberries will be ok outside.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Sunny and 50 yesterday, planted spinach. Mizuna, spinach and mustard greens I planted last week under plastic tunnels are all sprouting. Still 10 inches of snow on the north slopes but bare earth on the south hillsides.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Zone 5b with average last frost date of 15 April.

The hardier brassicas can withstand cold of down to 20 degrees or worse as long as it doesn't last too long. I have frames in place over the beds in case I need to cover them. I set out the hardy brassicas up to five weeks before last frost, but I'm about a week late this year because we had an unseasonable cold snap down to the single digits.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

My basement is now full of germinating seeds. Just finished off planted 6 varieties of tomatoes last night. Still got peppers, eggplants waiting to sprout from last week. Plus a few trays of herbs and hot peppers.

Plus I already went outside and planted peas in the ground. Maybe plant onion sets, radishes and spinach this week in the ground too. Theres still some frosty weather on the horizon but these crops can handle it.

It's going to be a good year.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Raised Garden Bed Ideas.
http://www.ruralmissouri.org/05pages/05MayGarden.html

http://www.blinkx.com/video/garden-g...5D-erlVamR_MUA

http://www.blinkx.com/video/organopo...82rCjifvSlIa8Q

http://www.blinkx.com/video/building...rsoyX5sCkxKNqQ

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Thanks for the links.... haven't seen those yet.

I'm spending the better part of this year getting raised beds installed. I'm putting in the work now while I can still lift, tote and do the harder work so I can focus on growing instead of weed control in the coming years. The red clay soil here needs a lot of work and conditioning, so how better to do it than work it into raised beds?

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I've used raised beds for over a decade for small-scale gardens. But for larger gardens I'm wondering if regular rows are the way to go. Especially since we have a small tractor with a nice tiller now.

I think a mix of the two is the right way. A limited number of raised beds--especially for early spring planting because these are the first to thaw and dry out from the winter muck. They're good for planting smaller crops, too. However, raised beds are also the first to dry out during the heat of summer...

So some traditional field-planting is appropriate for larger crops (indeterminate tomatoes, corn, fall broccoli, bush zucchini, sunflowers, and the like.) Also, field-style planting makes it easier to till under cover crops. I have that blasted clay soil as well, so I think if I do a few runs of a high biomass cover crop, tilling it under each time then I can work that clay into something that doesn't form a plaster over my hands when damp and concrete when dry!

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

To all You (Us) Northren Peoples -

Don't forget good old-fashioned cloches:

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publi...b__5364386.htm

They are a little labor intensive -

But isn't all gardening -

And they work like bandits.

scyth

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

One of the great things about raised beds is that they allow the addition of row covers much easier than without the bed frames. Also helps to isolate plants you might be trying to keep seed on without getting cross pollinated with others....

Ralleia, we have several areas that get field plowed, but I'm looking for a way to keep perennial veggies going and also a way to have very low maintenance on some of my beds. With layered mulching, there should not be a problem with drying out or a need to till much. in theory though, the raised beds should be just fine with almost any crop.

It's an experiment in progress, I'll admit, but after dealing with the challenges of gardening here (excessive pests, weeds, drought), I'm pretty excited about getting these put in. I'm using recycled plastic composite wood, so no leaching and no rotting. I'll get some in process pictures taken while I work on them and then post when I get some done.

:ok:

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Thanks Scyth, I used floating row covers all the time but I'm thinking of getting some of those wall-o-waters for tomatoes. Last frost date here is mid-May, and I'd like to try getting some tomatoes really early.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I fired up the old tiller yesterday. I have an Ariens from the mid 70's. Old but built well and does a good job for a front tine model. Poured gas in the tank and it started in about 3-4 pulls and this was after sitting outside all winter with the obligatory metal washtub covering it. Some day I'll splurge and get a Troybilt rear tine.

I tilled the garden. The moisture was just perfect. The ground crumbled, tilled easy and I have no clods at all. West central Indiana, I think it is zone 5.

We grow mostly tomatoes and green beans along with a few radishes, small cukes, lettuce, green peppers and spinach.

I've been laid from work since xmas and just got called back, start Monday so I'm glad I got the garden work started.

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I was browsing thru www.ixquick.com on the photo's and found some neat raised beds.

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I am putting in four 4' x4' raised beds in my backyard. I'm going to try the Square Foot Gardening method this year. I have built the beds from 2 x 6 untreated lumber which I painted with linseed oil. I will be putting up 4 ' high poultry netting as a fence around the perimeter as the vegetable garden will be in the backyard where my chickens free range. So I have spent a good bit of today digging up the sod under the beds and then lining the ground with weed fabric. I hope to have this completed after work tomorrow and then I can add the topsoil.

Our landfill sells composted topsoil for $15/ cu. yard which is about half of the going rate at any landscape outlet here. I got 1 cu. yard yesterday which is ready to go in the beds. Not sure how far that will go so I may need to make a second trip.

This year I've also started a compost bin and I should have some usable compost pretty soon. One question I have is that I have been adding chicken manure to the pile as I had read in one article that only dog/ cat poo were on the no no list, but just yesterday I saw another resource that stated not to use chicken manure in a compost pile to be used for a consumable garden. Anyone else here put their chicken waste in their compost bin?

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I use chicken manure. But mostly just in my tomato beds. I dont use alot of it as it tends to be strong. Mine does not go to the compost pile, I just work it in at the end of the season. If yours is composted, I would say you would be ok. Alot of the bags of compost at homedepot or lowes have chick poop in therm.
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Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I just made some quickie boxes to start seedlings in.

Duct tape, razor blade and old campaign signs that the wife has been asking me to get out of the garage for a year now....

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

I've been gardening like gangbusters! Most of the strawberries are growing, and I have tomatoes and cauliflower about 4" high. My potato boxes are thriving, and my garlic is off to a good start. My chinese cabbage, lettuce, and swiss chard were put in last weekend and should be sprouting any time now. I planted zucchini, squash, and 3 rows of corn from seed this weekend, and did a ton of other yard work. I'm sore and sunburned (just in a football shaped stripe on my lower back where my shirt rode up and I didn't think to sunscreen!), but I feel great. Spring rocks!
:shine:

Yes, I put all of our chicken manure into the compost bin along with everything else. We had many wheelbarrows full of some really nice black compost this year. I'm sure our veggies will love it. I'm not at all worried about pathogens, but if you wanted to be extra careful, I would expect that a very hot compost pile aged for over a year would minimize any risk. I personally don't bother though.

What an ignoble ending to RP's campaign signs. Oh well...at least the peas will live on! (Nice idea for recycling, BTW)

Re: Gardeners--Start your Engines.
 

Nice to see gardeners here. Gardening is my feel good dope. I'm about 60 miles north of Gulfport, Mississippi; whatever zone that is? I go by my own signs.

So far, the Romaine lettuce is about 1 foot tall but hasn't started to head yet. Strawberries are starting to come on strong. I've been cutting asparagus for about 2 weeks, potatoes are up and about time to side dress and hill sweep, Vidalia onions planted and growing, Kentucky Pole beans are up but not climbing yet, most of the fruit trees have bloomed or in the process; some peaches already set so hoping we don't get the freak freeze. Got little figs on the tree, carrots are up, broccoli is still in my hotbed ready to set out as soon as the soil dries a little from our most recent monsoon. The cabbage is planted and the tomato raised bed is ready and waiting for Good Friday.

I still have lots of planting to do as it gets warmer and I'm digging it. Last week I grafted lemons, oranges, and satsumas onto one trifoliate orange rootstock tree growing wild in my back yard. I'm trying to grow a fruit cocktail tree and this is my first attempt at grafting. Sure hope it works; will be great conversational tree.

Sorry for the long-winded post; didn't know we had such great gardeners on GIM and I got all excited. :shine: