Home Vegetable Gardens

Happy hour starts in 5 minutes
Yeah, it’s a way backer…

I am going to set my ‘minimum’ at some raised beds this year. I *may* even till up some of my old garden bed but it will take a couple of seasons to get back to a full blown garden like I used to have - and including growing 90% of my plants from seed indoors. I’m excited to get back into it!
 
I doubt I will ever have a full garden since I landscaped back in HS for summer jobs and I just don't care to play in the dirt anymore than I have to nowadays.

What I do hope to start one day though, is a small spice garden that I can do on the deck or kitchen windows. Just a few of the basic spices and maybe some hot peppers.
 
I am starting small, have 4 pretty small raised beds ready to go. To the left of the photo is my old gardening bed which is pretty large but currently overgrown with blackberry vines. I may try to reclaim some of it if I can find the time and energy to clear and till it.

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That reminds me of my landscaping days. We built many vegetable beds using mostly landscape timbers and a few with railroad ties.
 
For a jump start I plant lettuce, onions, and spinach starter plants, then I use seeds a few weeks later. So I planted on Sunday, and then Tuesday we had an intense hail storm, went out this morning to see how they fared, spinach was pretty torn up but onions and lettuce looked just fine.
 
Here in NC, I learned the hard way never to put summer vegetables in the ground prior to 15 April. Sometimes that was even too early. But I'm breaking my own rule and planting my 4 boxes today. Going to do 2 boxes with tomatoes, 1 box with cucumbers (on a small trellis), hot peppers, radishes, and rainbow chard, and the 4th is going to be all herbs. There is a lot more I would normally do, but until I get my regular garden plot ready, I just don't have space. This at least gets my hands in the dirt.
 
Since cleaning up and planting 4 smaller raised beds, the gardening bug has hit me full force. I bought 4 raised beds (6x3x3) and enough garden soil (144 cubic ft) to fill them. Almost done with that laborious process and will be doing more planting this weekend. I also assembled a couple of chicken wire cages for potatoes (although I am admittedly getting a late start on them). I think going with raised beds going forward is going to make things a lot less labor intensive. Looking forward to seeing things grow again. Will post some pics when I have a moment.
 
I converted a pet crate into a mini-greenhouse.
It's the one thing the squirrels can't get to.
So, in it I grow my valued exotic asian Longan Fruit Trees, and a couple other things

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This is what I'll have to work with this season. the 4 larger raised beds are new, with 4 smaller ones from previous years. Chicken wire potato cages are also new. Next year I will add 3 more of the large boxes to the opposite side to complete a 'sun' diagram. Let me tell you, hauling 144 cubic feet of dirt was an ass kicker (that equates to 96 bags of soil.

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Last year I didn't have a lot of planting room, but my son had an extra raised bed available so I went and planted the whole bed with potatoes. It was definitely a little late in season but all of a sudden they really took off and produced some good sized spuds. Gotta ask him if I can do it again this year.
 
On a side note, cleaning out and burning some old hives and this guy was tucked in between 3 or 4 frames I had in my hand. He tried to convince me he was a rattler by shaking his tail like one, lol…

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Boone said:
On a side note, cleaning out and burning some old hives and this guy was tucked in between 3 or 4 frames I had in my hand. He tried to convince me he was a rattler by shaking his tail like one, lol…

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That's exactly what I need, to combat the squirrel problem
Wish you could mail him to me
 
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Thinking about micro planting on my patio
 
I cleaned up my raised beds and planting bags today. If I were still tilling the ground to garden that alone would take me a couple days. Using raised beds and planting bags, it just required pulling up a few weeds, some of the plant debris from last summer, removing some leaves, and then adding some long-acting fertilizer. I was able to prep them and get them planted in one day which is really nice. I really need to have some trees taken down to get optimal sun back there, but that may not happen this year, we'll see. I planted lots of tomatoes, ichiban eggplant (which I love to grill), several kinds of hot peppers, some pole beans, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, and some canteloupe and sugar baby watermelons (although I never seem to have a ton of luck growing those last 2). With being focused on retiring and all of the administrative bullshit that goes with it, I haven't had a lot of time to prep for a garden, but at least I'm growing some stuff even if it was a 'pull it out of my ass' late effort.

Anyone else got a summer garden started?
 
Boone said:
Anyone else got a summer garden started?
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Yes sir.
Started planting early this year. Got dozens of different veggies, herbs and fruits already doin well.

But lately I have taken a strong interest in growing & eating sprouts.
For 3 giant reasons.

1) Nutrition : I discovered that sprouts are so nutrient-dense, they have about 10 times or more, the amount of nutrients than when the plant matures.

2) Taste : I just loove the taste of sprouts as a topping on a sandwich. I became a fan when I worked for a deli that put Alfalfa Sprouts on their sandwiches.
I was like "WOW, that's a tasty CRUNCH". So now, my favorite sprouts to eat are Kale, Cilantro, and Broccoli sprouts. I will take sprouts over lettuce on my sandwich any day.

3) Speed & Ease : Harvest time can be within just a matter of days of planting. Not only is it faster, but that almost eliminates the chance of the plant being subject to harmful insects, animals, fungus and disease, as it matures.

There is also Micro-greens, which are similar to Sprouts...but different. I wanna learn about those too
 
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How are you growing sprouts? I always assumed folks grew them on wet paper towels indoors or something - it that what you are talking about?
 
As someone who used to have a big garden I'm enjoying this thread. My garden got blight, pretty sure was from the manure I got from a friend who had horses. I moved it and made is smaller but it still struggled. So now I grow an awesome variety of cherry tomatoes from 2 hanging baskets and I've concentrated on my new raspberry patch.
 
Lettuce, onions, green beans, cilantro, and tomatoes is it for this year. Still have frozen peppers from last year I had so many. Of course perfer fresh but limited on space.
 
Boone said:
How are you growing sprouts? I always assumed folks grew them on wet paper towels indoors or something - it that what you are talking about?
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Some people use the paper towel method. I believe it's just a matter of preference.
I personally have grown & eaten them, both from the ground, and from containers outside. And they worked out fine.

I just read though, that there is a higher risk of food-borne illness from bacteria by consuming vegetable sprouts as opposed to the mature plants ;
and so certain precautions should be taken.

Although in retrospect when I consumed raw sprouts of my own, I did not take any of the recommended precautions, and did not get sick at all.
Of course that doesn't mean I will be that fortunate every time, so I plan to look into it more.
 
Another quick tip, if anyone is interested.
I like to produce my own cooking seasonings from the garden. So worth it, due to the taste difference.

One example is Thyme spice. I guarantee it will be the best Thyme you ever had.
When mine was done, my brain receptors said, "This smells like the best, authentic pizza I ever had."
I then realized Thyme must be an important component of Italian Seasoning. But this was NOTHING like the store-bought seasoning.
Of course, Thyme goes great on chicken and other things besides italian food.

And easy :

Grow a mature Thyme plant. When the Thyme is right, clip off the branches.
Wash them in whatever veggie wash you like to use, or a vinegar soak, etc.
With paper towels, pat dry them as much as possible.
Next is the dehydration. But you don't need an industrial dehydrator ;
Take a cookie sheet. Cover it with parchment paper. Lay the Thyme evenly (not overlapping) on the parchment covered pan.
Set the oven to about the lowest setting. I find that anywhere between 150 and 200 degrees works.
The time to dehydrate varies among herbs. But usually about 20 to 30 minutes. Check on it occasionally, and when it's crispy, it's done.
Then pour it into a Coffee Grinder. Grind until fine. Pour into an empty spice bottle, like a used one that you finished.

BOOM. And there you have it.
Works with any herb plant.
And if you don't want to take the time to grow Thyme, you can buy Thyme at Lowe's garden center, or other herb plants. Then use the same process above.
 
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