What did you do in the garden today?

[Fishychix]

DW and I built two new raised beds for herbs and strawberries. These were in the plan this year, but I'm just getting to them a few weeks before we need to plant in them. They are 10'x2'x15" each. I don't want to talk about the cost of lumber... but I save by using 1x boards and just reinforcing the structure a bit with center stakes and a cross member brace over the center. We filled them with a mix of dirt from an old flower bed I'm removing and or own compost. At least I was able to save money on the soil.

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Indoors some of our sunflowers are already sprouting. We just planted them a few days ago.

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Also, my tomatoes are getting huge! They are ready to go outside but will be staying inside for at least another week or two. Here's just some of them:

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While checking in things I also noticed the larger pepper plants are seeing flower buds indoors under the grow lights. They are 8 weeks old I think. They are pretty big though already. I have began fertilizing, they get watered regularly and they still have room in their pots so I don't think this is an attempt to go to seed due to stress. I think they are just maturing already. That said, I am not too interested in hand pollinating them and I need to transplant them outside in a few weeks which may kill any flowers anyway from any minor transplant shock. Any thoughts an whether or not to pinch off the buds?

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I bought fence pickets and plan to line them with feed bags since they're treated. Much cheaper than lumber.

 

[BReeder!]

I bought fence pickets and plan to line them with feed bags since they're treated. Much cheaper than lumber.

I've done plenty with pickets before. They are usually cheap. I used to get them for $1-$2 each. Now they want $3-$5 each. They are also 6' long and 3-6" wide, the 6" ones costing the most. The 1x boards I used are 8" wide and 12' long for $13 - about the same price for the surface area but being twice as thick sounded like a deal to me. I also had to use less screws since I used two boards on each side instead of 4-6, which is what I would have needed in the case of fence pickets to achieve the same size bed.
Just my experience from the lumber yard today.

 

[chickengr]

That works too, but I've seen gardeners use chickens to prep the garden plot, and within a week of removing the chickens they're already planting into those beds. There's not a ton of poop on it, it's not caked by any means, but there is some. And yet, their plants never look burned.

It's an experiment I intend to try firsthand.

my chickens scratch my garden area before I plant anything. when the plants are big and strong I put 2-3 chickens in it for about an hour 2-3 times a week to take care of bugs and weeds. they are such a great help.

 

[chickengr]

I can't till that soil now, as it's a raised bed. I knew I'd be battling this for a while; I've done something similar before. I need to get as many of the roots out of there as I can by the end of May, as that is when I'll be planting tomato plants in those beds. When the 'maters go in, I won't be hacking at the roots anymore, I'll just be cutting them off sub soil level. Over and over and over again.

if you cover the raised bed with naylon on a sunny day (or 2-3) wouldn't it rot?

 

[jerryse]

Installed grab hooks on tractor loader bucket . Cut a log and brought it down to the sawmill . Rain shower run me inside . Then the old body said I was done .

 

[Sueby]

DW and I built two new raised beds for herbs and strawberries. These were in the plan this year, but I'm just getting to them a few weeks before we need to plant in them. They are 10'x2'x15" each. I don't want to talk about the cost of lumber... but I save by using 1x boards and just reinforcing the structure a bit with center stakes and a cross member brace over the center. We filled them with a mix of dirt from an old flower bed I'm removing and or own compost. At least I was able to save money on the soil.

Great job, they look fantastic. I ended up buying 2 galvanized 6x3 beds because it was so much cheaper than wood. I really do hope the price of lumber goes down at some point, but I do wonder.

if you cover the raised bed with naylon on a sunny day (or 2-3) wouldn't it rot?

I've had my raised beds covered in black plastic for well over a month & my cover crop is STILL growing under there! I will never grow a cover crop in raised beds that can't be tilled again. Even in the beds I've cleaned out, planted in & mulched the vetch is still popping up.

Speaking of, I'm going to clean out the rest of the beds with the plastic on them & get them ready to plant. I need to get a couple tractor buckets of wood chips down on the garden paths too.

 

[WthrLady]

Odd plans for the day.
I have whole wheat pizza dough on the rise for the wood fired oven, might toss a loaf of bread in there too.
Need to get the burn barrel loaded with this month's cardboard while there is no wind.
4 more vents need installed in the greenhouse if I can make them easy access from the outside.
I might drag a few bags of mulch in the garden to their final places.
DH is putting new tires on the dump wagon and then cleaning winter hay and straw and poos from the corral to mulch and compost in place on the hilltop.
The seeding area is full to maximum capacity. Even the floor has heat mats going. The greenhouse can't be loaded until Thursday due to lows in the mid 20s for too long at night until then.
I can't afford to loose everything for the Mother's Day garden sale in a couple of weeks. Plus my oen starts are in there.

 

[WthrLady]

Great job, they look fantastic. I ended up buying 2 galvanized 6x3 beds because it was so much cheaper than wood. I really do hope the price of lumber goes down at some point, but I do wonder.


I've had my raised beds covered in black plastic for well over a month & my cover crop is STILL growing under there! I will never grow a cover crop in raised beds that can't be tilled again. Even in the beds I've cleaned out, planted in & mulched the vetch is still popping up.

Speaking of, I'm going to clean out the rest of the beds with the plastic on them & get them ready to plant. I need to get a couple tractor buckets of wood chips down on the garden paths too.

You don't need to till vetch. You simply cut it off at the ground, and leave it to die. I don't know how big your raised beds are, but a hedge trimmer works great. (On the ground we use a sickle mower.)

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Not planning on doing any gardening today. I need to get the brooder set up and wash the new waterers for the main flock. I found a 5 gallon for $15 at TSC yesterday. It will be so nice not to have to haul water twice a day this summer.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Need to do a bit more housework and make bread today, but I will be working on the bed where I'm planting corn and getting some grass seed on the bare spots. Last Autumn I covered 3 of my larger raised beds with cardboard and dirt. Those beds are now ready to plant with no weeds present. The cardboard is breaking down enough that I can poke holes for the seeds or seedlings. The one large bed I didn't cover was full of weeds. I've covered that with clear plastic and will leave it there until I'm ready to plant. Try smothering your weeds/cover crop with cardboard @Sueby. I have two smaller raised beds in my main garden and the 4 x 16 foot bed in the backyard where I used the 1 inch boards @BReeder! They were so much less expensive and the two smaller ones are on their third season now, the larger bed is entering it's second season. I think it will be quite some time before the price of wood comes down so fortunately I'm just about finished all my building projects. I will be adding a grow out pen / expansion on the front of the chicken run but I have most everything I need right now. The hardware cloth is being delivered this week and I will only need just a little bit more wood for the posts and the mini coop. I'm also putting up a more permanent fence around the chicken "complex" to deter the four legged predators. I heard a fox in the woods when I was doing my garden walk this morning and my neighbor caught the local bobcat on her trail cam. That with the motion sensor lights should discourage the local chicken lovers. Please advise on what size pot to use for the dill @Sueby. Totally cute, the seedlings are getting their secondary leaves.