Garden ... ???

• Belly35

  

  I enjoy working in the yard and maintaining a nice visial of plants and flowers around the home.
  As a young kid I worked on a farm, picked berries, cut wheat and planted fields so I do understand the labor of gardening.
  
  I have never had a garden on my property but have been thinking about it. I love fresh vegetables and spices when cooking. Yes, Belly is a gourmet cook in his own home.
  
  I was thinking of a 25x25 above ground Lasagna gardens method.
  
  Who on the OC has a garden?
  What do you plant, what is the size of your garden?
• Belly35

  

  ccrunner609;728636 wrote:I have grown some herbs down in the creek bottom...........................

  We incorporate those in the flower beds …… came with the mulch.
  Who knew? I like the color of the leaf and the shape .. Decoration
• power i

  

  I just steal stuff from my neighbor's garden. Much easier that way.
• OneBuckeye

  

  power i;728654 wrote:I just steal stuff from my neighbor's garden. Much easier that way.

  
  + 1 I know too many people with gardens who give stuff away. Therefore I have no need for one.
• CenterBHSFan

  

  I have an herb garden I grow every year. Basil (about 3 varieties), thyme, parsley, mint, rosemary, garlic chives and sage. I never buy those things at the store anymore. I just prep about 1/2 of them right off the bat and the other 1/2 I hang in my pantry to keep dry. When I do run out of some of them I just go to the local veggie store (Jebbia's) and buy replacements.
  I haven't had a veggie garden in a while, but used to grow corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.
  
  Belly, what kind of soil do you have where you live and what kind of fertilizer are you looking at?
• thavoice

  May have a small garden this year for the first time myself.
  
  As a kid parents always had one. HATED picking the green beans...always seemed to be the hottest day of the year and the day gnats would take over the garden.
  
  Many in the family still do it...i always liked tomatoes. You ccan use them so many ways, andd can them for sauces and suc.
  
  Strawberries can be very tempermental.
  
  Havent had much experience with any exotic stuff....just plain old corn, tomatoes, green beans, brocolli and the such.
• FatHobbit

  

  We grow mostly weeds, but have had some success with tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and peppers. This year we hope to add some strawberries to the mix.
  
  We usually buy tomatoes and peppers that have already been started, but I got one of those starter trays from walmart and started my own just last week. I am not overly optimistic.
• Belly35

  

  CenterBHSFan;728675 wrote:I have an herb garden I grow every year. Basil (about 3 varieties), thyme, parsley, mint, rosemary, garlic chives and sage. I never buy those things at the store anymore. I just prep about 1/2 of them right off the bat and the other 1/2 I hang in my pantry to keep dry. When I do run out of some of them I just go to the local veggie store (Jebbia's) and buy replacements.
  I haven't had a veggie garden in a while, but used to grow corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.
  
  Belly, what kind of soil do you have where you live and what kind of fertilizer are you looking at?

  Because this will be above ground ( 25x25x2 box) I can purchase any good top soil I want to put inside.
  However I’m looking to do the Lasagna layer gardens method.
  This requires no digging and weed control:
  Lasagna gardening is a no-dig, no-till organic gardening method that results in rich, fluffy soil with very little work from the gardener. The name "lasagna gardening" has nothing to do with what you'll be growing in this garden. It refers to the method of building the garden, which is, essentially, adding layers of organic materials that will “cook down” over time, resulting in rich, fluffy soil that will help your plants thrive. Also known as “sheet composting,” lasagna gardening is great for the environment, because you're using your yard and kitchen waste and essentially composting it in place to make a new garden.
  
  I’m going for some spices, radishes, beans, red peppers, banana peppers, different types of tomatoes and lettuces, zucchini, onions, cucumbers…
• sej

  

  We had one that was about 30x30 last year. I'm planning to put another one in, but will probably scale back a bit. We also have some fruit trees/various berries/grapes, and get produce from a coworker who has a large garden. I spent a lot of time canning last year and plan to do the same this year.
  
  Last year we had corn, tomatoes, potates, pickling cucumbers, green beans, black beans, peas, onions and peppers (and probably a few other things I've forgotten) as well as pots of garlic and herbs. At the very least, I'm hoping to get tomatoes, peppers and pickling cucumbers planted so I can use them to can salsa and pickles. Those were the 2 most popular things I canned other than jam.
• Belly35

  

  We go to the Hartville open market in the summer for most of the fresh veg but that getting costly. We do get berries from the Hartville market for jelly and jams
  (strawberries, red raspberries and peaches)
  
  We also make tomato sauces…..
• Cat Food Flambe'

  

  We have a 12x12 patch in the backyard - couple of tomato plants, two hills of cucumbers, some bell peppers and some hot peppers. I fixed the weed problem last year by laying down "landscaping fabric" and cutting 1x1 openings where we actually planted. It's enough to keeps in fresh produce for four or five months.
  
  We also plant some cilantro and basil in flower boxes on the deck rail - if we put the stuff at ground level, the rabbits get it.
• FatHobbit

  

  Cat Food Flambe';728956 wrote:I fixed the weed problem last year by laying down "landscaping fabric

  Do you take that up before you plant the garden?
• Cat Food Flambe'

  

  Nope - I get the ground ready, and shovel a bit of topsoil off to one side. You then lay down the fabric, and toss the remaining soil on top of it (just a thin layer, mostly just to keep the plants from baking from the absorbed heat you'd have if the fabric was left bare). You then cut a hole in the fabric wherever you want to put a plant. Didn't have to weed all last summer, and didn't have to water as much either.
  
  You can do the same thing with newspaper, but it's messy when you go to pull it up in the fall.
• FatHobbit

  

  Cat Food Flambe';729024 wrote:Nope - I get the ground ready, and shovel a bit of topsoil off to one side. You then lay down the fabric, and toss the remaining soil on top of it (just a thin layer, mostly just to keep the plants from baking from the absorbed heat you'd have if the fabric was left bare). You then cut a hole in the fabric wherever you want to put a plant. Didn't have to weed all last summer, and didn't have to water as much either.
  
  You can do the same thing with newspaper, but it's messy when you go to pull it up in the fall.

  
  I'm going to have to give that a try. thanks!
• j_crazy

  

  my parents have a killer garden. so do my in laws. i'm always in good supply of veggies (they bring some down every trip).
  
  I'm thinking of starting a raised bed garden in my backyard to grow some of my own stuff, but it seems like a lot of extra work, plus i'm not going to be in this house forever, don't want to mess up the grass if i don't have to.
• CenterBHSFan

  

  Cat Food Flambe';729024 wrote:Nope - I get the ground ready, and shovel a bit of topsoil off to one side. You then lay down the fabric, and toss the remaining soil on top of it (just a thin layer, mostly just to keep the plants from baking from the absorbed heat you'd have if the fabric was left bare). You then cut a hole in the fabric wherever you want to put a plant. Didn't have to weed all last summer, and didn't have to water as much either.
  
  You can do the same thing with newspaper, but it's messy when you go to pull it up in the fall.

  Which kind of cloth do you use? I've tried the felt-like type in my annuals garden, but didn't care too much for it. So, I tried the plasticy kind and it's definitely an improvement and easier to work with, IMO!