Welcome! This season I want to start an outdoor veggie garden and would love any tips, tricks and know how. I have cultivated MJ indoors and it has sprung a VERY enjoyable hobby for me! Throughout this thread im going to be asking a lot of questions on how to get started. First off, What are the most common and NECESSARY gardening tools (what do you find to be useful?)? Tools I already have: * Wheel Barrow * Flat-Nosed and Spade Shovels * Axe and Hatchet for root and weed removal * Garden Trowel * Water Hose (will probably get a long-necked sprinkler attachment) * Soils and Nutrients (will be using the Fox Farm line, is it better to go organic?) * Shears * Starter Pots ( I intend on transplanting seedlings into my tilled plot) -A "Shade Screen/Cloth is an item Ill be investing in- Now I want to grow maybe 3 or 4 different kinds of veggies (what are good varieties to grow at 39N latitude where i live? it usually gets pretty hot in summer and its ALWAYS very humid). Veggies in mind are: * Tomatoes * Sweet Corn * Peppers (red peppers most likely. any suggestions on good varieties/strains to grow?) * Cucumbers (also considering tobacco and sunflowers. any thoughts?) What kind of plants can I grow w/ these veggies to ward off pests? Any suggestions for ideal plants to grow in communion that will help in ANY way? (i.e.: plants that can help w/ retaining moisture, nutrients, root structure, etc.) Something I'm real interested in doing is making some sort of "compost heap". What is the best way to do this? Can I make a container and keep it outside or should I just keep a compost heap somewhere right on the ground near my plot? I really have no idea of what to add to the "heap" or what to use for the starting medium. I've seen some peoples compost heaps under this forum but not many go into detail about starting and maintaining them. Now after figuring out "what" i want to grow, how do I start to prepare my plot for the season? How do I till the earth and what soil amendments are good to add to my plot? Watering will be VERY important as I live in the mid-west. Any good DIY tips to starting a "Self-Watering System"? What is the best way to "germinate" these seeds? Can i use the same method I have used with MJ? (damp paper towel method) I feel very confident if i can get a proper setup for my plot (tilling, sectioning, edging, etc.) then I wont struggle much after they start to take off. I live at a 39N degree latitude and my plot faces south so sun wont be a problem (i will probably need to water quite often). Any comments, tips, tricks and general exp. shared about these veggies would be much appreciated. Would love your 2 cents!
I'll try to answer some of them..... the list of tools looks OK for a list of veggies that grow in your area, check the book store. I have a book that lists the crops that will grow in north texas To start a compost pile, pick a good sized area outdoors. Put 4-5 bags of compost, landscape mix, or wormcastings in a pile. You start by shoveling some of this new material to the right or left to create the base of a second pile. You then cover the base of the second pile with fresh materials that include: grass clippings, leaves, coffee grounds, alfalfa pellets, dry molasses and lava sand and green sand for minerals. Then you cover this with fresh compost from the first pile. This way, you have two piles going. One fresh and one that's being created in laters. After the pile is full of new material, let it sit for a month. Then you turn the pile again in the same manner. The pile will grow for a while as you add stuff then shrink as it get closer to finishing. It's a good indicator of when the pile is ready. Gerally, good compost takes at least 3 months to make> I would then recommend letting it dry and then run it thru a coarse and fine screen. My compost thread -> http://forum.grasscity.com/gardening/656770-my-adventures-compost.html A simple waterting system would be to get a drip hose
okay great! yea im going to start here in a few day when this last snow we had melts. well i hope its the last snow! indiana is hard to tell when it comes to weather.
Also, You can plant flowers that are native to your area to attract benefitial insects like bees and ladybugs You should be able to find a book that lists shrubs, wildflowers and trees that are native to your area I can usually find 3-4 native plants at my local garden centers plus there's a site online where I buy a couple more My gardens are alive with wildlife now that I have 6 native species of wildflowers and shrubs. Im adding another native wildflower this year!
ill prob PM ya a couple times this season for info as i go. im wanting to start a veggie garden to stock up since money is starting to become quite the object. ive read a couple of your threads and loved em'! most were well written and i learned some just by reading!
If you check what veggie seeds (and other seeds) your local garden center carries, that's a good idea of what crops grow in your area, too.....
thats what i figured id do. be the best way. im sure tomatoes prob grow every where. if not i know they can grow where i reside cuz lady next door grew some. prob peppers too. oh yea and i def know corn grows here in the mid-west!
You can probably grow most varieties of veggies. Till in plenty of quality compost, if nothing else. You will probably have to buy some for this spring, as compost takes a while to properly finish/age. Soaker hoses work better than drip hoses. Plus they are easily moved, are more durable and are maintenance free. I don't use the paper towel method. I just put the seeds in starter mix (Not Miracle Gro!) For your first season it might just be easier to buy seedlings from a nursery or hardware store later in the spring when planting time gets closer.
depending on my $$ sit. i might do like ya mentioned and buy some seedlings. got plenty of garden shops/nurserys around here
LilDize, I went to Home Depot yesterday and they had a good selection of about 6-7 different berries and veggies that were ready to plant in the ground And there were plenty of seeds - veggies, beans and wildflowers..etc Plus, I picked up some wildflower bulbs - black-eyed-susan - good for attracting butterflies. They look kinda like sunflowers Your local home depot is probably carrying some of these, too Also, If you want to plant an apple or peach or plum tree, this is the time of year to plant My home depot also had 25 fruits trees to chose from. Some varieties grow smal and some grow pretty big. Look at the label and see what height it grows to before buying. SOme are as small as 10-12 ft some get to 20 ft
Don't forget your herbs basil, Thai basil, thyme, parsley and rosemary. I always plant jalapenos for seeds i find one at the grocery store eat it dry the seeds....plant
Saving seeds from F1 vegetable hybrids is not recommended. A lot of the time the seeds are infertile or they will produce undesirable results. My Early Girl tomatoes always grow volunteer bushes the next year. They are always tiny grape tomatoes with a very sour taste. It is best to start with known seed stock and/or nursery plants. Heirloom seed stock is a different story, but even then cross pollination concerns are always present.
oooo! fruit trees! i would love to grow some. i have 4 pear trees in by backyard that flower delicious pears but unfortunately some branches often times die and leaves wilt not growing any fruit. to be honest they are untended throughout the season. ill probably show them some love this season and try and get some better fruit of em this time around. yes ive kept this in mind. i have a lot of research to do in this area as im new to outdoor growing and pest warding herbs. thx for the heads up! okay so thats probably why its best to get some seedlings? like i mentioned before im going to go look and see whats availale as far as veggie seedlings are concerned. all my herbs and everything ill prob just start from seed. its still pretty cold here but according to the forecast things are going to warm up this week. next week i should be able to get outside and start preparing my plot and thats when ill also be checking out nurserys for me veggiez!