I thought it would be fun this year to photograph my garden through the different growth phases from basically the same position on a regular basis.
The first photo shows how my garden looked in January when only some lettuce and over wintering onions were planted.
[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2011%20Garden/IMG_2687.jpg[/img]
This photo shows the same view in early March after most of the garden was planted on March 7.
[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/IMG_2719.jpg[/img]
This photo is the same view taken today, April 12. We have been eating lettuce, chard, onions, and radishes for a couple of weeks. All of the tomato plants (thirty varieties) have numerous small tomatoes on them and are covered with blooms.
[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2011%20Garden/IMG_2759.jpg[/img]
This is one twenty cent pack of "American Seed Company", Italian mix lettuce from Walmart. I planted it not knowing how thick it would grow. My intent was to pick individual leaves as needed. It is growing very thick so I simply reach into the lettuce to the soil and pull a handful of plants and then trim all of the roots off with a single cut with a pair of scissors. It leaves a bare spot of about 6" in diameter. The bare spot fills in within two days. It's like a never ending salad bar.
[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2011%20Garden/IMG_2743.jpg[/img]
People often ask how much space different plants require. I've always had good luck planting compatible varieties very close, insuring every plant gets plenty of sunlight. This bed has six varieties of tomatoes (two plants of each variety) , five yellow squash plants, and many onions. They seem to play well together and enjoy each others company.
[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2011%20Garden/IMG_2763.jpg[/img]
In the past, I never had good luck growing onions. I finally learned to make sure I plant a short day variety (Texas A&M 1014) for my latitude. I also learned to never plant the seedlings more than 1/4" deep. They also like well drained soil heavy in organic material. I planted 450 onions in January. They went through a couple of snow storms and a few hard freezes while their roots developed below ground. By early March, they looked like dead grass without any green tops showing above ground. We have been eating them for a couple of weeks. By late May, many of the onions will be as large as baseballs.
[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2011%20Garden/IMG_2754.jpg[/img]
I've also not had good luck growing Swiss chard in the past. I was planting the seed too late in the spring. Swiss chard seems to take a long time for tiny plants to develop from seed. In the past, it simply was too hot for the chard by the time the tiny plants had time to grow some roots. By planting the seed while snow and hard freezes still loom in the future, the roots develop well and the plants are ready to grow when warm weather arrives.
[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2011%20Garden/IMG_2746.jpg[/img]
I am growing chard in the shade of my cucumber trellis and also in full sun in order to see which condition works best. This is the full sun planting.
[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2011%20Garden/IMG_2749.jpg[/img]
My yellow crook neck squash is doing well with tiny squash on them. All of my plants always produce female blossoms first without any male blooms to complete pollination. I believe they do the same thing every year in order to start attracting pollinators. They then start producing male blooms along with the female blooms and I can start harvesting squash in a few days. In the past, I've tried to protect my squash plants from squash vine borer moths. It resulted in spending a lot of time, every day; lifting covers and hand pollinating the squash. This year I will grow squash plants about one month apart in containers. When the borers kill some plants in the spring and in the fall, I will pull them and replace them with fresh plants.
[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2011%20Garden/IMG_2748.jpg[/img]
I haven't gardened in containers in many years but wanted to try growing some recently developed, open pollinated, dwarf tomatoes. Since the seed was a little late becoming available this spring, I decided to plant the seed direct in some containers. I am growing a variety developed in the late 1800's named "New Big Dwarf" as well a green when ripe, white, and multi colored variety. I am really interested in the Dwarf varieties because they were developed to provide full size, good tasting, tomatoes on very small plants.
[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2011%20Garden/IMG_2757.jpg[/img]
Click on any image to enlarge.
If you would like to see all the photos of my 2011 garden, check out my
2011 folder on Photobucket at the following link.
https://s291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2011%20Garden/
Happy gardening!
Ted
My garden space is about 24' X 30' total. Total surface area planted is about 15' X 18'. I have four 4'X 8' beds, two 3' X 8', and one 3' X 24' bed. I harvest a lot from the small area by planting thick with compatible plants.
If you can't build another bed from scratch, you can use containers, grow bags or many other options. You can also purchase raised bed kits from garden supply companies on the internet. You don't really need a bed as deep as yours. My deepest is 12". The primary key is to design a good watering system and use soil with a lot of organics in it.
My system uses a battery powered timer to water the entire garden. We have been in a severe drought for a few months and my timer has been set to water for six minutes at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm daily. If we get some rain on a regular basis this spring, I will turn the timer off.
Ted
If you can't build another bed from scratch, you can use containers, grow bags or many other options. You can also purchase raised bed kits from garden supply companies on the internet. You don't really need a bed as deep as yours. My deepest is 12". The primary key is to design a good watering system and use soil with a lot of organics in it.
My system uses a battery powered timer to water the entire garden. We have been in a severe drought for a few months and my timer has been set to water for six minutes at 7:00 am and 7:00 pm daily. If we get some rain on a regular basis this spring, I will turn the timer off.
Ted
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annastasia76
- Senior Member
- Posts: 223
- Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:59 pm
- Location: Southern Ca
Each bed has a twenty five foot soaker hose which delivers two gallons of water per foot of hose per hour at sixty psi. I think my current settings deliver about ten gallons of water per day per bed. Mid summer and larger plants may require longer durations.annastasia76 wrote:wow, that doesn't sound like very much water, (of course I don't know what you are using to water, drip? soaker?) what do you do in mid summer??
I am trying to grow with the minimum of water required this year. I hope it will intensify the flavors of my tomatoes and other veggies. The regular watering intervals prevents blossom end rot on my tomatoes each year.
Ted
I plan on using soaker hoses also this year and have a question about them. Should I bury the hoses under the mulch or should I leave them on top of the mulch. I'm worried about the hose possibly breaking down if they are buried. I don't use mulch around my corn so if I should bury the hoses should I cover them with dirt around the corn.
Thanks,
Denny
Thanks,
Denny
Aya,
I was thinking about your 4' deep bed and how to best use or change it to a more shallow bed. I think if you mark a line 2' below the top of the bed around the outside of the bed, you can use a skill saw and follow the line around the bed with the saw. You can then simply remove the top part and use it for a second bed. At 2' deep, each of your beds will still be twice as deep as my deepest.
Ted
I was thinking about your 4' deep bed and how to best use or change it to a more shallow bed. I think if you mark a line 2' below the top of the bed around the outside of the bed, you can use a skill saw and follow the line around the bed with the saw. You can then simply remove the top part and use it for a second bed. At 2' deep, each of your beds will still be twice as deep as my deepest.
Ted
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Spicy Chicken
- Senior Member
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 4:56 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
Thanks Jeff! I don't have anything close to the size of yours, but like you; I had a few sore muscles when I put it together.
I am more into tomatoes than you and less into peppers than you. I grow strictly for the consumption of our family and friends. I don't sell anything, but who knows what the future holds. As productive as my little garden has been, and hopefully will be all summer, I may reconsider growing for market. If I do, I will need to expand considerably and I'm not sure I want more sore muscles. I have high expectations for my little garden each year and I'm not sure I want a whole new set of expectations if I start growing for market.
Thanks again and I hope your garden is exceptionally productive this year.
Ted
I am more into tomatoes than you and less into peppers than you. I grow strictly for the consumption of our family and friends. I don't sell anything, but who knows what the future holds. As productive as my little garden has been, and hopefully will be all summer, I may reconsider growing for market. If I do, I will need to expand considerably and I'm not sure I want more sore muscles. I have high expectations for my little garden each year and I'm not sure I want a whole new set of expectations if I start growing for market.
Thanks again and I hope your garden is exceptionally productive this year.
Ted
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jal_ut
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7447
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
- Location: Northern Utah Zone 5
Great job tedln. We sure garden in different climates. Here it is still snowing and the early stuff is not growing because it has been too cool. We have had a few fairly dry days and I was able to get some seed in the ground, but most of it is not up yet. The fall planted garlic and onions are up but not growing very fast.
Your lush green growth looks so inviting. Keep up the good work. Gardening is interesting and rewarding.
Your lush green growth looks so inviting. Keep up the good work. Gardening is interesting and rewarding.
Jal,
I think in the past, you have mentioned the fact that it is hard to grow vine ripened tomatoes due to your short growing season. When I lost my heirloom tomato seedlings to a frost, I purchased some early season hybrid plants named "Fourth Of July". They are the fastest growing tomato I've ever seen. They are indeterminate and will produce all summer into fall. One guy said the variety is both the earliest and latest tomato he has grown. My vines are covered with long strings of golf ball sized tomatoes and I expect some to be ripe next week. Folks have told me, but I haven't confirmed; they are also great tasting and great for canning or making tomato sauce. The only negative thing I have read about them is "they split easily". I know seed is available on the internet but if you have a really good plant vendor in your part of the country, you may want to try them.
Ted
I think in the past, you have mentioned the fact that it is hard to grow vine ripened tomatoes due to your short growing season. When I lost my heirloom tomato seedlings to a frost, I purchased some early season hybrid plants named "Fourth Of July". They are the fastest growing tomato I've ever seen. They are indeterminate and will produce all summer into fall. One guy said the variety is both the earliest and latest tomato he has grown. My vines are covered with long strings of golf ball sized tomatoes and I expect some to be ripe next week. Folks have told me, but I haven't confirmed; they are also great tasting and great for canning or making tomato sauce. The only negative thing I have read about them is "they split easily". I know seed is available on the internet but if you have a really good plant vendor in your part of the country, you may want to try them.
Ted
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jal_ut
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7447
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
- Location: Northern Utah Zone 5
I have grown those 4th of July tomatoes. They did well here and I don't remember them cracking bad. My favorite tomato is Celebrity. They are about the size of a baseball and show good disease resistance. Seldom crack or have green shoulders. They are supposedly a 72 day tomato, but takes 100 days here. Go figure! This season is starting out cool, I hope I can even grow tomatoes this year.