Ambitious certified black thumb- I’m in over my head SOS pls send help

[ChickenLady2014]

Hi Camping, great advice your getting. Coffee grounds are great in a compost piles. If your not feeding back your egg shells to your hens, crush them up and add them to your compost too or directly in your raised bed soil. I used pine straw around my strawberry plants last year & they did well. Now if I could just control the ants that always get the berries first I also mulched my tomato plants with pine straw. Anything that is acid loving will do well with it. I took a look at the seed place you shared. Love the site, wanting a pkg of seeds of the smaller sized cantelope plants & some Patty-Pans seeds. Those are those little space ship shaped summer squash. Loved the look of the small round watermelons, not certain how well they would do here. Loved the look of that purple & offwhite bell pepper. I wish they carried the purple pole beans. I have trouble finding seed for those & that is what I grow over my arbor tunnel. So much easier to pick, my back can't do the bush beens anymore. We will be making another arbor tunnel for the cukes to grown on this year. Wishing you all the very best with your garden stuff. How deep are your raised beds by chance?

 

[campingshaws]

Coffee grounds are a slow release nitrogen. They are AWESOME.

I am curious about the no manure thing??
Commercially grown veggies get a lot of manure added hence the manure spreaders.
Composted steer manure is sold at home depot in bags as is mushroom compost. I wonder if those are also objectionable.

Definitely get a soil test done.

Wondering if there is a possibility that 2-4-D is present since nothing that roots deeply is really thriving.

The no manure thing is likely due to if you water incorrectly or you get a really heavy rain, the manure and soil will splash up onto the plants. If they will be feeding the kids the veggies, especially leafy crops, I can understand the concern, it's just a salmonella lawsuit waiting to happen.

Just seems odd to have that restriction when the growing industries use it readily.

Weird rules.

Kusanar has the right answer. Commercial growers can do it because their produce is inspected/treated before consumption. Now, I could use manure and take my stuff to the farmers market and sell it with no issues. I can cook it at home and bring it to church. But I can’t use it for the campers and can’t use it in the camp kitchen.

Our health inspector is a really stand up guy and I believe he’s got our best interest in mind. So I try not to gripe too much about him. He’s overworked and underpaid just like the rest of us.

 

[campingshaws]

Hi Camping, great advice your getting. Coffee grounds are great in a compost piles. If your not feeding back your egg shells to your hens, crush them up and add them to your compost too or directly in your raised bed soil. I used pine straw around my strawberry plants last year & they did well. Now if I could just control the ants that always get the berries first I also mulched my tomato plants with pine straw. Anything that is acid loving will do well with it. I took a look at the seed place you shared. Love the site, wanting a pkg of seeds of the smaller sized cantelope plants & some Patty-Pans seeds. Those are those little space ship shaped summer squash. Loved the look of the small round watermelons, not certain how well they would do here. Loved the look of that purple & offwhite bell pepper. I wish they carried the purple pole beans. I have trouble finding seed for those & that is what I grow over my arbor tunnel. So much easier to pick, my back can't do the bush beens anymore. We will be making another arbor tunnel for the cukes to grown on this year. Wishing you all the very best with your garden stuff. How deep are your raised beds by chance?

I found purple cow peas at Lowe’s one year, wonder if that’s the same? I can’t tell peas and beans apart.

I think the beds are 2ft deep. Our weather looks about to turn but I’ll try to remember to measure when I go check on the ducks.

I’m glad you said arbor... I was going to try to make a bean wigwam but I wonder if a volunteer group would do an arbor instead?

 

[lazy gardener]

What about use of manure 90 - 120 days prior to crop planting or harvest?

Either way, you can certainly grow a garden without use of manure. Deep mulch, and compost will be your best friends.

You can also do green manure crops to beef up your soil. You can even grow green manure crops that you can eat: Do a 10' x 10' bed of bush beans, or short vine peas. Sugar snaps would be a great edible green manure crop. You could do any number of greens. Sow a wide bed of them, harvest the first growth for salads, then let them continue to grow and till them back into the soil.

You apparently have lots of land available to you. How bout planting a row of Bocking # 14 Comfrey. This is a perennial that will not self sow. It mines minerals from deep in the soil. The leaves can be repeatedly cut and used as mulch or to feed a compost pile. Good stuff. However, don't plant it any where you don't want it to live for ever! The roots grow 10' deep, so it's a plant it once, have it forever plant.

No matter what, you will most likely have to do a lot of watering, and add some fertilizer to keep stuff growing in your sandy soil. Pick up a bag of 5-10-5 or 10-10-10, and don't be afraid to use it.

 

[deepbluesea]

Hi! You're getting some great advice--I haven't read all of the responses, so this may be repetitive, but First, get your soil tested. See what it says and then amend as necessary.

For some reason compost is hard for me, too, but I'm getting the hang of it. It's mostly a matter of mixing and keeping moist but not wringing wet. The turning was the thing I was slacking on because my big compost bin is behind my weed-enveloped shed. Once I got the smaller rolling one directly in the garden it worked a lot better.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I found purple cow peas at Lowe’s one year, wonder if that’s the same? I can’t tell peas and beans apart.

I think the beds are 2ft deep. Our weather looks about to turn but I’ll try to remember to measure when I go check on the ducks.

I’m glad you said arbor... I was going to try to make a bean wigwam but I wonder if a volunteer group would do an arbor instead?

When you open up a pea pod, peas are round. Beans are kidney shaped. Peas are yummy, beans, not so much. Except green or yellow beans, i love those.

 

[21hens-incharge]

When you open up a pea pod, peas are round. Beans are kidney shaped. Peas are yummy, beans, not so much. Except green or yellow beans, i love those.

Beans are to yummy!

Seriously they are. Capricorn is just a bean snob.

 

[lazy gardener]

BEANS!!!!! FORTEX pole. I don't think it would be possible for me to grow a garden without them. Canned beans, dilly beans, stir fried beans, bean and fried onion casserole, beans chopped up on a baked potato with cheese, beans and other veggies in a foil packet on the grill.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Beans are to yummy!

Seriously they are. Capricorn is just a bean snob.

Fine for you to say. I was forced to eat them as a child, like clean up your plate. I hate the taste and the texture of them. Once i managed to choke them down and promptly threw up on my plate! Nope, peas are my go to. Love them, can never get enough.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Lol I know Cappy.

Forcing children to eat things they despise is doing them a disservice.