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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 21 2012 at 1:53pm | IP Logged
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Any thoughts or experience on strawberry beds?
We are planning to use cement block (hopefully we can encourage moss to grow on it) with holes to line the beds. We had both block and wood beds before, and we do like the holes in the block for the opportunity to plant edgings and things in them.
We planted strawberries in them our last Spring there and we were not around to see if they came back. I know that they will not put out runners to form new plants as they would in a traditional bed, but a single plant will last 3-4 years, in theory.
My experience is limited. I've never had a real strawberry bed. My thought is that the plants should come back in the block and I can put in new plants every couple of years to stay ahead of the ones that don't come back (since you get more berries if you don't pick the first year).
I don't want to buy plants every year (and what a bummer it would be to not eat the berries the first year, picking the blossoms, only to have them not come back!), and I know that there are few absolutes in this whole gardening gig and much is left to experimentation, but I'm also trying to avoid huge missteps 
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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stellamaris
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| Posted: Jan 21 2012 at 3:37pm | IP Logged
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I'd check that eastern side and see if it gets more sun. Asparagus definitely likes sun, though it will grow in partial shade. Also, keep it well weeds as it can easily be overcome by weeds (trust me, I know!  )
The blocks sound nice, but I've never tried them. Though I do think if you're going to the trouble of putting in a bed that you want to be permanent, using stone or blocks is a lot more durable choice. Not sure about the stawberries, though. If you're planning to have more children, you might want those runners  ! I think I'd be tempted to put herbs in them, not berries. How cold does your temperature get in the winter? That could be a factor, too. I don't know how strawberries would tolerate the freezing of their roots if you get really cold winters. I don't have strawberries here, but my neighbor does and he always mulches them heavily which makes me think they don't like the cold so much.
One of my ideas here is to plant saffron bulbs in the fall. Just bought saffron this Christmas for cookies and it's outrageously expensive! Saffron bulbs aren't so expensive, multiply every year, and provide enough saffron for our needs, which are very small. Great kid job, too, picking all those stamens! My husband's grandmother used to grow saffron in NJ and give us these huge quart jars full of it! I figure I can even do this at our rental house, because they just look like pretty crocuses (which they are!)
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Caroline
Wife to  dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 23 2012 at 1:20pm | IP Logged
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I just came upon this quote today. I can't find it anywhere else to verify the source, but I thought it was so lovely!
Quote:
There is nothing simpler, nor more beautiful, than a kitchen garden. It is not enough to cultivate vegetables with care. You have the duty to arrange them according to their colors, and to frame them with flowers, so they appear like a well laid table.”
St. Ignatius (found in Creative Vegetable Gardening) |
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Jan 23 2012 at 1:27pm | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
I just came upon this quote today. I can't find it anywhere else to verify the source, but I thought it was so lovely!
Quote:
There is nothing simpler, nor more beautiful, than a kitchen garden. It is not enough to cultivate vegetables with care. You have the duty to arrange them according to their colors, and to frame them with flowers, so they appear like a well laid table.”
St. Ignatius (found in Creative Vegetable Gardening) |
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Where's the "like" button?
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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stellamaris
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| Posted: Jan 23 2012 at 3:43pm | IP Logged
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The saints are so wonderful! 
I got to thinking this morning that I said to check the eastern side of your garden for more sun than under the southern fence. Actually, the best place would be along the WESTERN side. That has the most sun exposure, being well lit into the later afternoon.
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Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 23 2012 at 4:44pm | IP Logged
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I'm thinking that the East might be just as well. What isn't on the plan is the giant magnolia tree just outside the fence on the Western side.
That's one of the things I reworked. I liked the table in the middle with the circular shape, but I've since decided it makes much more sense to put it in the shade under the magnolia (even so, it is a very open tree, the type with the pink flowers, not dense like a Southern magnolia, so a good bit of light does come through).
Here is my newest plan. It was difficult to change (funny how attached one can get to an idea), but I think it makes much more sense for the space and my own sense of order and organization.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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stellamaris
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| Posted: Jan 23 2012 at 5:25pm | IP Logged
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I like that plan better, Lindsay. It gives a sense that the garden is its own space and I like the idea of drawing attention to a beautiful magnolia. Also, its not too symmetrical, just symmetrical enough to be pleasant. Great job!
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Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 24 2012 at 7:09pm | IP Logged
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Angel wrote:
Ooh! We're building a potager!! I'd love to talk potagers and raised bed gardening!
Here's the book that inspired us: Designing the New Kitchen Garden
Lovely pictures in this book. Our garden is a maze design... or at least that's what we're aiming for. Right now we have almost all the outside beds built: 4 L-shaped beds at each corner with 1 rectangular bed in between on each side. Inside those beds will be 4 more smaller L beds arranged in a square. Our goal is to make brick or stone paths at some point. We got a surprising amount of produce out of a very small space this year... or at least until the squash bugs killed most of it in the heat of the summer. 
Right now we have a fall garden with a lot of bok choy, chard, and lettuce, some carrots, and peas which probably won't bear.
Surrounding our beds we have a hedge of blueberry bushes, a long asparagus bed (which needs edged), and another hedge of blackberry bushes that we're going to try to grow on wires.
Our plans to mix in flowers and ornamental beans didn't quite materialize this year, but... maybe next year.  My dh is going to be planting apple trees shortly... he ordered 10. 
I'll try to get outside and take some pictures in the next couple of days! Looking forward to reading about y'all's gardens, plans - etc.!
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How did the tree planting go? Where did you get your trees? Were you pleased with the quality? What variety? A dwarf? Inquiring minds want to know
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 27 2012 at 7:56am | IP Logged
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I just wanted to add a book I've really been enjoying to the mix Elements of Garden Design
The Amazon description
Quote:
| Elements of Garden Design does what few gardening books do--it addresses the process of conceiving a whole garden, as opposed to a single element like color or a particular class of plant. Joe Eck explores the idea of a garden, and offers a practical approach to translating concepts such as "intention" and "harmony" into the solid forms of hedges and terraces, paths and rooms. Novice and experienced professional alike will find both food for thought and down-on-the-ground advice on such matters as creating child- and pet-friendly designs. |
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In the introduction he speaks of how there are so very many gardening books on specific topics, "but for those who like to proceed first from principles, who crave a certain order and coherence about thinking on any subject, there are very few books to turn to."
YES!!!
I was frustrated by this very thing and couldn't quite articulate it. Well, apparently I articulated it just well enough to find this book
I bought the kindle version, and it is a nice gardening book to have on kindle as it is a series of 1000 word essays on a variety of principles of design.
He also has an essay on vegetable gardens where he talks of the potager specifically, and his essay on gardening with children is a delight.
I'm thoroughly loving this book, and I figured that this was one group of ladies who might appreciate this heady approach. Its not too heady, though, as each essay is truly enjoyable to read. It simply provides that "vocabulary" that is often so useful for organizing one's creative ideas, ordering and prioritizing, and discerning which of those ideas will have the most impact. It is hard to start from scratch
I will warn you, there are no glossy photos But I find it actually refreshing to read about this topic with the freedom to be lost in applying his ideas to the imaginary garden in my head instead of being distracted by the glut of images (not that I'm against those, its just a nice compliment to those ).
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 27 2012 at 8:07am | IP Logged
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Also, I just wanted to remind anyone planning of Craig's List as a resource. We found concrete block for $.50 a piece instead of $1.20 as the home store, and we found treated fence posts for $5 a piece as opposed to $12!
Also, I just discovered this source for vermiculite. Apparently it is used as a packaging supply instead of peanuts for shipping liquids. This is MUCH cheaper than the best price we've been able to find at a garden supply store, even with a bulk discount. We are only 2 hours from this particular place and could drive to go get it, but its possible that another more local to you packing supply place might have it, too. I'm not sure what freight shipping would be on it if you needed a large quantity.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Angel
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| Posted: Jan 27 2012 at 8:16am | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
How did the tree planting go? Where did you get your trees? Were you pleased with the quality? What variety? A dwarf? Inquiring minds want to know |
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Well, the *planting* went well, but the real test is how they do this year... and if they can survive the spring and summer!
Our apple trees are all Southern variety antique and heirloom trees from Big Horse Creek Farm. My dh wants to make cider, so we have some cider varieties including a crab. The orchard is really his area, so I'm not sure exactly what varieties we got, but... I'm pretty sure we have Arkansas Black, Cox's Orange Pippin (because we are Roald Dahl fans ), and... ok, drawing a blank as I look at this huge list! I'll ask him tonight when he gets home. I know we have a specific Mississippi variety, and our varieties go from July to November. The trees are small, but you can't really get them anywhere else.
I think they're all semi-dwarf, which I like better anyway... I know those dwarf trees are easy to pick from, but I really like a decent old-fashioned apple tree, especially when they bloom in the spring. (I was spoiled by living in front of an old abandoned orchard in NY.)
Our other fruit trees and bushes are a mix of Stark Bro's and stuff from our local Lowe's. We have Mission and Brown Turkey Figs, a nectarine, a couple of peaches, plums, and cherries each. One of our cherries died last year, though, so we'll have to replace it.
This year we're going to plant raspberries.
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Angel
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| Posted: Jan 27 2012 at 8:34am | IP Logged
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I was just looking at that book on Amazon, too! I just ordered a bunch of books for the kids and can't remember if I slipped that one in or saved it in my cart for later. It seemed like the used prices were decent.
Thanks for the review. I like those sorts of "principle" books, too. At some point the glossy photos begin to be not enough for me. They're great for inspiration, but sometimes I just need to know the "science" behind something so I can strike out on my own.
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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mommy4ever
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| Posted: Jan 30 2012 at 11:06am | IP Logged
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I started planning my gardens back in August
Our yard currently consists of.... 1 spruce tree, an apple tree. sheds, dog run, play structure and a trampoline
The areas in red, are going to be vegetables :) But I do them in containers. My soil here is very quickly depleted by the mature trees in the neighborhood. Our spruce is taller than the 2 story house next door, and his yard is full of trees the same size, as well as the yards behind us. As a result, our soil is acidic.
The sketched areas are more trees we'll be putting in! I can't wait. I was able to pick evans cherries this year and they are wonderful, freeze great and are delish in smoothies. We'll get a grafted pear for the front yard.
My container garden will not by typical.... they will be self watering. as we spend weekends away often and containers dry out so fast. I made some last year and they worked wonderfully, so I want to do so again this year.
Under the play structure we're doing a more traditional raised bed, using a soiless planting medium with compost. This is an area that had a sliding bar that no longer slides. We thought about more swings instead, but we hang tomatoes there, so why not put the garden below.
We'll be doing sheet mulching around all the new trees, taking out a good chunk of lawn. The raspberry patch we'll get shoots from friends. Since it will be against the dog run which has concrete and we'll make a dug in barrier around it to contain it.
This is stage 1 and 2. I don't know how many trees we'll have money for this spring. I know the cherry bushes for the front won't be too bad. I'm not sure on the other trees though.
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mommy4ever
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| Posted: Jan 30 2012 at 11:18am | IP Logged
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Here is some photos from the container gardens last year. Some are my dad :)
Dad's container cucumber
Yard pre-garden
DD8 container garden
DD8 caring for her pepper plant. She grew 8 green peppers :)
This year was an experiment. Next year we make it prettier :) As you can see in the picture of the pumpkin, the soil around it isn't nice at all.... barely grows weeds. So that area we are leveling off and laying down mulch, it'll look tidy. I'm told to try a few blueberry bushes in that soil as it is acidic, so if I can find a good price, that is what we'll do.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Jan 30 2012 at 11:19am | IP Logged
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I just love seeing all your plans on paper! Such potential!
Lindsay,
I meant to say that I really, really like your latest plan! It's really quite pleasing to look at and consider!
Mommy4ever,
Please do share about your self watering container gardens you worked on last year! Perfect use of the old play structure! (Could you hang a swing from the big spruce? I know they're not naturally conducive to hanging swings from....but since it's so tall I just wondered if there was a branch. It's hard for me to imagine childhood without a swing of some kind - so please do ignore my pathetic, romantic notions of swings! ) Your tree plans sound wonderful....part of my long term plans consist of a smallish orchard of fruit trees and I'm so hopeful (if not a little impatient) to get that started. Anxious to start my raspberries from my brother's raspberry bushes, too, which were decidedly prolific this year! How exciting to simply consider fresh raspberries!
Alright, you all have me inspired to polish up my simple little sketched garden plans! What a thrill to have a gardening goal for the week!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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mommy4ever
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No we couldn't hang swings from the spruce, however, if you look at the 2nd picture, there are stills wings hanging there :) They are on the right of the slide, and the garden will go on the left of the slide. There are 2 normal swings, no more baby swing and a trapeze bar and rings.
I'm revising how I'm building them this year, but I'll find the link I started with.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Jan 30 2012 at 11:52am | IP Logged
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Yep - I see the swings in there now! We were cross posting and I hadn't seen your pics yet. I think it's a neat idea to have the children's play area tucked in and amongst the gardens. Very enchanting and charming to me! Doesn't it seem "Secret Garden"ish?
I'm looking at a sandbox feature in our garden spaces....for under the big oak. I love the idea of the children playing and gardening in common spaces.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 30 2012 at 12:31pm | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
I just love seeing all your plans on paper! Such potential!
Lindsay,
I meant to say that I really, really like your latest plan! It's really quite pleasing to look at and consider! |
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Thanks, Jen!
I was channeling you yesterday because dh and I were going over my shopping carts of seeds and such and making sure we had space to do what we wanted to this year (we might add some beds west and north of the porch down the road), and I was using sticky notes as a flexible way to make notes for each bed on the layout.
We mostly do square foot gardening for veggies, so my current plan is to have a sheet of paper of little stickies for each bed with the plan for each square on a sticky. Then, as I plant each square, I can add a sticky on top with the name and date, so I can keep track of successive plantings as the summer goes on (or indefinitely, I suppose).
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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I love your containers, Mommy4ever. I think we will be using some containers for growing some zucchini and crookneck squash. Those plants take up so much space in a bed, but are so prolific, you only need a couple
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Mackfam
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CrunchyMom wrote:
| I was channeling you yesterday because dh and I were going over my shopping carts of seeds and such and making sure we had space to do what we wanted to this year (we might add some beds west and north of the porch down the road), and I was using sticky notes as a flexible way to make notes for each bed on the layout. |
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CrunchyMom wrote:
| We mostly do square foot gardening for veggies, so my current plan is to have a sheet of paper of little stickies for each bed with the plan for each square on a sticky. Then, as I plant each square, I can add a sticky on top with the name and date, so I can keep track of successive plantings as the summer goes on (or indefinitely, I suppose). |
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This is a really great idea, and fantastic way of keeping up with things! And of course you DO KNOW how much I enjoy the Post-It note sticky!! I do really like this idea and it's motivating to me to further get my plans in a more polished layout so I can easily use sticky notes to map out the year. Great idea! I may have missed this in one of your earlier posts, so forgive me if I did (!!), but do you keep your garden layout in your gardening notebook you made, Lindsay? I was thinking of how I might attach my plans so that they would simply fold out of my gardening notebook.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Potager Plans
