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Aagot
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I have used straw bales to make a raised bed and filled it with bagged soil and compost. Worked great!
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pumpkinmom
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Anyone have any recommendations for container gardening? I've had good luck with grape/cherry tomatoes in the past. I think we will be doing more containers this year. We got away from that when we had chickens.
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Pilgrim
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CrunchyMom wrote:
I wasn't thrilled with our cucumber choices this year, which were pickling varieties. I still plan to plant these for pickling, but I am looking to add a good cutting cucumber as well. Does anyone have a favorite?
And carrots. I didn't have much luck with carrots. I'm pretty sure it was a water factor, but I am wondering if anyone has a ice, shorter variety they recommend.  |
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For a slicing cucumber, I second the Marketmore suggestion. We grew these last year, and everyone loved them. Or, another favorite is the Bushcrop, it's an excellent variety for those with limited space.  One note on cucumbers, their flavor can be very much affected by water, or lack thereof. So even timing and amount of watering, esp. if it's a droughty year like last year, is important, otherwise you can tend to get bitter cucumbers.
Don't know what you had for pickling cukes, but we liked the Homamade Pickles variety last year, and have had a number of friends say they like it, too.
For carrots, we really liked the Tendersweets, they grew awesome for us, and had great flavor; another favorite is the Chantenay, it's very popular, or if you like the idea of trying some baby carrots, since you said you wanted a short variety there's the Minicor, a lot of people like that variety. We would hands down second the idea to try growing carrots in a raised bed. We don't grow anything else in raised beds, as we have quite sandy soil, and don't need to, but the carrots we did, on the recommendation of dh's friend, and it was amazing the carrots we got. His friend said he'd never grow carrots any other way anymore, and we have come to agree.
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Pilgrim
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pumpkinmom wrote:
| Anyone have any recommendations for container gardening? I've had good luck with grape/cherry tomatoes in the past. I think we will be doing more containers this year. We got away from that when we had chickens. |
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For container gardening, this page may give you a beginning idea of things you could try. With tomatoes, look for determinate varieties, as they are usually more of a bush than a trailing vine, and they will do better in containers. Other veggies, maybe try looking for bush varieties, such as cucumbers, or summer or winter squash. For things like cantaloupe, watermelon, and other vining things like squash, you can lattice them by securing a lattice to or in the container, or putting the containers along a fence or porch rail, and that helps for the vines to have something to grow up along, you can also use old pantyhose or knee highs to help hold the fruit up as it grows, so it won't break off the vine, and the pantyhose are gentle enough they won't damage the plant or fruit.
Two things we've heard with container gardening is that you want to make sure you water enough, and to fertilize, as well, as the soil can't replenish itself, being that it's in a container. We haven't tried container gardening, but a friend of ours was telling us that last year, as she was delving into container gardening.
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CrunchyMom
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Thank you, Pilgrim! I noticed that you are already out of stock on a few varieties! I hope that is a "better business than we'd hoped" sort of thing. Your prices really are excellent!
I followed a few of the suggestions (maybe all  ), ladies, so thank you!
My boys are anxious to have their "own" gardens this year, and of course, they want to grow EVERYTHING 
So I did succumb to some of the ADORABLE little diminutive varieties offered by Kitchen Garden Seeds, in spite of their price 
In addition to the little Adelaide carrots that Angela mentioned, I got their "Wee Be Little" bush pumpkin and their "Tintin" variety of Tom Thumb Romaine. Because how could I NOT buy my boys ANY vegetable named TINTIN whatever it was???
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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MichelleW
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I want to plant escarole. Any advice? Tips? Links?
Thanks!
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Betsy
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Does anyone have any advice for heat tolerant varieties? I am slowly adjusting to gardens in the South......but some things have still been hit or miss! 
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Jan 15 2013 at 8:38am | IP Logged
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pumpkinmom wrote:
| Anyone have any recommendations for container gardening? I've had good luck with grape/cherry tomatoes in the past. I think we will be doing more containers this year. We got away from that when we had chickens. |
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If you check out this page of our old thread and scroll half way down, Mommy4Ever shares some pictures of her extensive container gardens. Maybe she will pop in and offer some advice in how she makes this work
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Pilgrim
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CrunchyMom wrote:
| Thank you, Pilgrim! I noticed that you are already out of stock on a few varieties! I hope that is a "better business than we'd hoped" sort of thing. Your prices really are excellent! |
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Thanks, Lindsay! It's a "little of both" thing with the Out of Stock varieties right now. Yes, we are blessed and business is pretty good, by the grace of God. The other reason is we try to be careful and run things moderately with our stock, so as to refresh and keep good germination rates, and January is the month when the major seed suppliers get the majority of their stock finally in and sent out to us. So, the great majority of Out of Stock items are arriving this week, or next and will be back up for sale.
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Angel
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Betsy wrote:
| Does anyone have any advice for heat tolerant varieties? I am slowly adjusting to gardens in the South......but some things have still been hit or miss! |
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I'm all ears here, too. So far our gardens have crashed in July for 2 years in a row. If the heat hasn't burned everything up, the squash bugs get the rest. 
Would *love* to hear what you do for squash bugs, too.
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CrunchyMom
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Have you shopped at local nurseries to see what plants they carry? My mom's garden always did well, though it could have had just the right balance of shade, etc... For the hot months. Yk, the microclimate? We were also on the mountain. Well, as such
Anyway, she always bought her seed and flats from the locally owned hardware store.
However, I am also from Bount County, which is "known" for it's tomatoes, so again, it could be a number of factors. Tomatoes were my mom's favorite. I just think that the local stores probably carry what is popular and works well in your area. Harder, though, if you are looking for an heirloom versus the latest hybrid of something.
I do remember she always did bush beans, not pole. Bush cucumbers, too. It was probably just a practical choice, but is there anything that would indicate bush varieties being more heat tolerant? I don't know really.
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Lindsay
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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Angel wrote:
Would *love* to hear what you do for squash bugs, too. |
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Have the boys hunt for and squish them all?
Seriously, that's what we did when we saw them, but we never had them in quantity. Whether it was just chance or because we started squishing early enough before they got bad, I don't 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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Betsy
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Angel wrote:
Betsy wrote:
| Does anyone have any advice for heat tolerant varieties? I am slowly adjusting to gardens in the South......but some things have still been hit or miss! |
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I'm all ears here, too. So far our gardens have crashed in July for 2 years in a row. If the heat hasn't burned everything up, the squash bugs get the rest. |
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We have learned that we need to start our garden early enough to be done before June and July. It's just too hot!!!!
We plant most of the gardening in March to avoid this. I found some information on line for our zone and plants on when to plant them.
I have also done a fall garden planting again in late August. This has been really great for lettuce.
However, I would still love the more heat tolerant varieties!
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Betsy
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The Winter Harvest Handbook , which is a really good read, recommends getting a DUCK to help with pest problems.
Apparently he keeps his in a little house like the movable backyard chicken coops that are trendy right now. So, who's game!? (No pun intended!)
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Angel
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CrunchyMom wrote:
| Have you shopped at local nurseries to see what plants they carry? My mom's garden always did well, though it could have had just the right balance of shade, etc... For the hot months. Yk, the microclimate? We were also on the mountain. Well, as such |
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What state, Lindsay? Just curious .
Locally I seem to be able to find mostly non-heirloom varieties... which I may have to switch to, I guess... but then again there are CSA's and such growing heirlooms, so I don't know. I'm going to try ordering see mainly from Baker Creek and Southern Exposure this year.
Our neighbors never have problems with squash bugs... because they use Sevin. 
Part of the problem, I think, is the raised bed gardening, which increases the need for water. Our soil here is hard as a rock clay. In the winter (right now) it turns into a swamp because water doesn't drain through it. In the summer, you can't even dig in it, because is, for all intents and purposes, rock. So most everybody does some sort of raised bed gardening, at least partially. Last summer everybody's garden took a hit because of the drought. The next county over was ruled a disaster area because they lost their entire corn crop for the year. It was tough. But lots of people garden here, and they can't all be using non-organic methods! I'm sure it's just me. I think we planted our beds too intensively, for one thing.
I'd like to put my chickens in the garden to help with the bug problem, but... my neighbors across the street aren't keen on chickens and there's nothing there to block their view, so... still thinking about that one.
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CrunchyMom
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I grew up in Northern Alabama.
And, yk, it is possible my mom used a pesticide like sevin. I know they owned organic gardening books, a few of which I have now, but I don't know if they were strict about following the techniques
I've never had chickens, but won't they scratch and dig up your garden? Or are the raised beds sort of a deterrent for that habit? I have sen where people put in chicken tunnels around the perimeter fence of their garden so that the chickens can roams and collect bugs before they make it into the garden, but the garden is safe from the chickens.
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Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Angel
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CrunchyMom wrote:
I grew up in Northern Alabama.
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Oh, no kidding! I'm from southern middle TN, only about 30 minutes from AL.
As far as chickens in the garden go... turkeys are actually better at pest control because they don't scratch. Chickens can be ok as long as they're in the garden past the seedling stage and you don't let them near tomatoes, which they love. We didn't really have a problem with them in the garden when we lived in NY. But then they had a lot of space to roam there, too. The best place for chickens is in the beds when you're trying to clean them up, but by then... it's going to be too late for this year.
I was really surprised by the ferocity of our squash bug problem here, because like you, I don't remember our garden having these kinds of problems when I was growing up... and I think my dad used organic methods.
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Angela
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pumpkinmom
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Chickens will destroy a garden! We put a fence around ours to keep them out. They LOVE tomatoes!!!
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Mackfam
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We had one chicken that we could actually put directly in the garden last year and she'd eat all the worms and grubs for us. I hope she'll do it again for me this spring/summer. She never bothered the plants and we had a fantastic strawberry patch because of her help. We discovered this entirely by accident since she's one of the favorite hens and the boys were "walking" her for exercise...IN MY STRAWBERRY PATCH. Anyway, maybe you have a hen that could spend 15 or 20 quality minutes with you in the squash patch one day?
The rest of "the girls" would consume every green thing in their path with reckless abandon, and that's my experience with most chickens. They enjoy vegetation...so if you put them IN your garden, they're going to eat the bugs AND the plants. So, we kept ours in a small cage that was bottomless right next to our raised beds. We moved them every couple of days...always around the garden beds. And it was the kids jobs to pull off grubs, slugs, caterpillars and feed the chickens. Keeping them nearby was helpful. I really couldn't believe how just having them near cut down on the insect issues we normally have here!
Could you get a small, moveable cage for a few "garden girls", Angela? Something unobtrusive and that wouldn't draw the neighbor's attention?
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Angel wrote:
Locally I seem to be able to find mostly non-heirloom varieties... which I may have to switch to, I guess... but then again there are CSA's and such growing heirlooms, so I don't know. |
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This was my experience for so long, too...but then Sarah and I were at a local nursery late last spring and we saw that they had many heirloom varieties of different veg available, and I was excited! I haven't had good luck AT ALL with heirloom from seed and our heat/humidity. So, I was hoping that the local nursery's selections might be a better place to start. It's what I'm going to try this spring anyway.
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Jen Mackintosh
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Kitchen Gardens 2013
