| Author | Content |
HoneybeeNC
Charlotte, NC (Zone 7b)
April 13, 2011 12:53 PM Post #8493100
| Here I have growing: Broccoli, Beets, and two kinds of Peas 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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JohnCrichton75
League City, TX (Zone 9a)
April 13, 2011 1:05 PM Post #8493126
| Awesome, HoneyBee. You are getting a lot out of that bed and it looks like it is a good size bed, too. |
HoneybeeNC
Charlotte, NC (Zone 7b)
April 13, 2011 1:17 PM Post #8493158
| All the beds are 24' x 3'
I've been using old CD's to keep the birds from pecking at the veggies - it seems to be working.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Pfg
Cornwall Bridge, CT (Zone 5b)
April 13, 2011 2:01 PM Post #8493243
| I see the peas are down the middle. When they are finished, do you put something else there, or do the beets and broccoli need the space? My new raised beds are also 3' wide - not nearly as long, but enough to feed the 2 of us- and I'm working on a plan.
Thanks!
Pam |
HoneybeeNC
Charlotte, NC (Zone 7b)
April 13, 2011 4:43 PM Post #8493670
| Pam - this is my first attempt at intensive gardening, so I don't know what will go down the middle. I think the beets will be ready soon, and I thought I would sow some soy beans in their place, or maybe some sweet peppers.
As I keep telling my hubby: "I'm making it up as I go along" LOL |
JohnCrichton75
League City, TX (Zone 9a)
April 13, 2011 7:01 PM Post #8493985
| That's a great quote, HoneyBee. LOL.
There are some really straight-forward aspects of gardening, but as one delves deeper into the matter it becomes a chess game. Crop rotations, plants/ vegetables with different DTMs, pest concerns. I mean, the list is endless. Gardening is so dynamic that sometimes you just have to jump in to get started. And learn from you experiences season after season...and just make it up as you go along.
This message was edited Apr 13, 2011 8:05 PM |
Pfg
Cornwall Bridge, CT (Zone 5b)
April 13, 2011 9:41 PM Post #8494283
| It's my first intensive attempt also, have grown all but the root crops in the past but not like this. My dedicated veggie area is ambitious to me, but not when I see the size of you and so many others are doing. I'm chomping at the bit to get it going. I keep playing around with layout ideas while I wait for mother nature to ready herself for what I have to offer. I really like how yours looks, hope you don't mind a copycat.
I've got beets soaked and germinating inside, WS'd lettuce ditto outside (at least I hope so), carrot, spinach and pea seeds to start as soon as I get back there tomorrow...
Tomatoes to harden off over the next few weeks, plans for squash, Asian and other types of greens, lots of herbs in various stages...
You're a couple of zones ahead of me, so I'll be watching to see what you do next!
Pam |
HoneybeeNC
Charlotte, NC (Zone 7b)
April 14, 2011 11:17 AM Post #8495276
| Pam - copy as much as you like.
I have a small web site that gives my planting dates. I need to update it, so will try to do that this weekend. I put all the info into a Word document, and then copy/paste to the web site.
http://ncgarden.hobbies.homepagenow.com/about_us.shtml |
Pfg
Cornwall Bridge, CT (Zone 5b)
April 14, 2011 3:36 PM Post #8495825
| Yikes! Practically the first thing I saw on your blog is your first daffodil showed on Jan 3rd. Well, I saw my first daffodil bud today! Jealous? Yeeaaaahh!
Good to see your details...I soaked Red Ace beets in hand hot water overnight, 1 seed per cell, plastic cover, no bottom heat, first sprouts 5 days later.
Outside almost all the snow is gone,, good old WS'd Simpson lettuce shows lots of green. The beds I covered with frost blanket are ready to go, so tomorrow the peas go in, also spinach, radishes and all the other early goodies. Forecast says it stays pretty warm for the next few days, so I'm going full speed ahead.
Spring is sprung for sure in my neighborhood...such a happy thing!
Pam |
HoneybeeNC
Charlotte, NC (Zone 7b)
April 15, 2011 11:05 AM Post #8497820
| Pam - all my daffodills have finished for the year - but the Iris are starting to burst into flower. My neighbor across the street asked me if I had any flowers he could plant in his front yard, so I gave him some I had started in a couple of pots.
One of my beets took 32 days to sprout! I have three that will be big enough to eat very soon.
I set out a row of tomato transplants this morning.
I've been humming: "Its a Wonderful World" all morning :)
I'll get to update my web page this weekend - so check it again next week. |
cathy4
St. Louis County, MO (Zone 5a)
April 15, 2011 7:32 PM Post #8498924
| I plant onions, peas on a trellis and spinach (two plantings) together. I pick the spinach when it is still pretty small, and replant, getting 2 crops before the peas shade it too much. |
HoneybeeNC
Charlotte, NC (Zone 7b)
April 27, 2011 12:00 PM Post #8524295
| Well, I'm determined to try this High Yield Gardening idea...
Today, I planted melon transplants where I pulled beets yesterday, and put in sweet pepper transplants next to the broccoli that I cut heads from. |
ErzsebetF
Swansea, SC (Zone 8b)
May 4, 2011 7:00 AM Post #8538957
| Good Morning All,
I have a question for HoneyBee in NC. When did you plant your beets? Did you have to pre-germinate them before you put them out in your garden? Or do you plant them straight in the soil?
I planted the Detroit Red Beets about three or so weeks ago, and they never sprouted. I guess the seeds just wern't viable. I am in Zone 8 below Columbia. |
Gymgirl
SE Houston (Hobby), TX (Zone 9a)
May 4, 2011 8:41 PM Post #8540544
| Erzse,
The first time I direct sowed beet seeds, they took almost 30 days to come up. But, they finally did! Turn your back on em, and they'll pop! |
HoneybeeNC
Charlotte, NC (Zone 7b)
May 5, 2011 5:47 AM Post #8540968
| ErzsebetF - I sowed beet seeds indoors on Jan 11th and they began sprouting Jan 20th. When they had their second set of true leaves, I separated the seedlings because more than one will sprout from each seed.
I pulled the first beets for eating Apr 26th. |
taskmasters
Charlotte Hall, MD
May 12, 2011 7:40 AM Post #8557509
| I am new to any type of forum so please bear with me. I want to grow tomatoes and red malibar spinach along 10-15 ft of chain link fence. Do you think this would work? How far apart should they be? |
HoneybeeNC
Charlotte, NC (Zone 7b)
May 12, 2011 9:54 AM Post #8557772
| taskmasters - Growing tomatoes along the fence is a great idea. You will need some kind of twine to tie them to it as they grow - personally, I prefer Jute or Cotton twine which I purchase from WMart.
Set them about two feet apart in deep, well-drained soil to which you have added compost, or other organic matter. I add fertilizer to the bottom of each hole, and thoroughly mix it with the surrounding soil. To prevent blossom end rot, I add seabird guano, crab shell, and a little dolomite lime to organic fertilizer that is not too high in nitrogen.
I continue to fertilize the plants every two weeks or so. Pull back the mulch, sprinkle fertilizer around each plant, carefully scratch the fertilizer into the soil, and put back the mulch.
Because it gets so hot here, my tomatoes are pretty much done by August. I usually get my first ripe one around July 4th.
Keep the soil around and under your tomatoes comfortably damp to prevent the fruit from cracking. Once the tomatoes have settled in, and, preferably after a heavy rain, add a couple of inches of mulch around each plant. Replace the mulch as it breaks down.
I harvest several hundred pounds of tomatoes every year - most of which I cook and freeze to make hubby his favorite chili.
This photo was taken July 5th 2010 - it's my Tomato Jungle!
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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RickCorey_WA
Everett, WA (Zone 8a)
May 18, 2011 12:14 PM Post #8571862
| I've seen a suggestion for tieing up tomatoes extra-gently by cutting "slings" from discarded supermarket plastic bags.
Cut them to form 2-3" wide circles. These can be used as loops and slings to "cradle" stems and fruits.
I wondered about stems, leaves and fruit laying against plastic" doesn't it hold water and encourage mold or rot? But that author seemed to think not.
I can't find that thread or website, but I did save his or her drawing:
Corey 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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HoneybeeNC
Charlotte, NC (Zone 7b)
May 23, 2011 8:27 AM Post #8581727
| Update:
The beets have all been harvested and sweet pepper and melon plants put in their place.
The broccoli is still producing side-shoots, but now that the temperatures are in the 90's their days are numbered.
The Alaska and Wando peas are still producing. Once they are finished, the melons will be encouraged to climb the trellis.
This morning I sowed a few leftover soy bean seeds between the pepper plants.
Plants are fertilized every two weeks. |
SoFlaCommercial
West Palm Beach, FL (Zone 10b)
May 23, 2011 8:27 PM Post #8583306
| I had to pull out my zucchini plants which were at the end of the northern 'leg' of my planting bed. with summer approaching (well, actually arrived here in south florida), any suggestions as to what to put there? if i made a 'teepee', would beans do well? figured couldn't hurt to plant something that would add nitrogen to soil for fall crop.
thanks. |
yehudith
silver spring, MD (Zone 7a)
May 24, 2011 6:08 AM Post #8583906
| If it would stop raining long enough between carpools I need to get out and rip out one of my beds. Something like a mole or whatever has gotten into it and is burrowing around and has shifted and moved everything to the point I'm losing nearly everything in the bed. My Japanese melons are in there and I'm not happy. These melons come from the area that got hit by the tsunami so I really don't want to loose them. The same critter got in my bed with brussels sprouts and lacinato kale and ripped that apart earlier this season. I finally got rid of it and the bed is doing great. If only the rain would stop! |
HoneybeeNC
Charlotte, NC (Zone 7b)
May 24, 2011 6:18 AM Post #8583933
| yehudith - if you have moles - they eat earthworms and grubs. If you have voles - they eat plants' roots, especially beans.
Bloodmeal is supposed to deter both. I've purchased Plantskydd to deter voles. I've not used it yet because the voles aren't being a problem yet.
http://www.plantskydd.com/ |
HoneybeeNC
Charlotte, NC (Zone 7b)
May 24, 2011 6:20 AM Post #8583935
| SoFlaCommercial - the only thing I can think of that likes really hot weather is okra. |
Gymgirl
SE Houston (Hobby), TX (Zone 9a)
May 24, 2011 12:29 PM Post #8584612
| Eggplants, okra, southern peas (beans): black eye peas, crowder peas, lady cream peas, purple hull peas, etc. ^ ^ |
SoFlaCommercial
West Palm Beach, FL (Zone 10b)
May 24, 2011 6:34 PM Post #8585291
| not a big fan of okra, but thanks, honeybee.
think i'll try the peas, GG - thanks.
yehudith - where did you get those japanese melons? sound delish. |
yehudith
silver spring, MD (Zone 7a)
May 25, 2011 3:33 AM Post #8585839
| Oh they are, they are! If I manage to get any I promise I'll share the seeds. Problem is they aren't allowed to export them and they are only allowed to grow them in that one area. I'm just glad I didn't plant all my seeds and saved 2 or 3 just incase. I only had a very few to start with, I mean less than 10. If I can catch that critter I'm going to schewer it on my pitch fork. |
