What did you do in the garden today?

[gtaus]

Last year I bought a bunch of heavy wire tomato cages that looked really good. Unfortunately, they are breaking off at the welds/solder points and just falling apart. I'm very disappointed with them. So, this year, I think I will try and build some tomato cages out of scrap wood and see how that goes.

Here is a picture of what I currently have in mind...

If anyone has already made tomato cages out of new wood, pallet wood, or reclaimed wood, and has any lessons learned, I'm asking for your experience in what works and what does not. Thanks.

 

[karenerwin]

Strawberry bed questions...

Two years ago, for the first time, I planted a 4X4 foot hügelkultur raised bed full of strawberry plants one plant per square foot. I got a few handfuls of strawberries that first year, but last year I did not use any bird netting over the bed and maybe only got 2 or 3 ripe strawberries. I'm thinking the birds ate all the green berries before they had any chance of growing to size and getting ripe.

Each year I lose a few strawberry plants, but other runners seem to grab hold. This spring, it looks like maybe only 50% of the plants are coming back, and they are pretty much clumped together in the middle. Over the past 2 years, the level of the hügelkultur raised bed has dropped about 4 inches. I need to top off the bed this year, but I know I can't just dump 4 inches of fresh compost on top of the strawberry plants.

Can I just dig out all the strawberry plants, separate them out, top off the raised bed with 4 inches of fresh compost, and then replant the strawberries one plant per square? From what I have learned, the strawberry plants should be replaced every 4 years, so I'm thinking I might have 2 years left on this batch. However, will digging them up and transplanting them kill them? I am really new at this. Thanks in advance for any responses.

You should be able to dig them up, add the new compost, split apart the strawberry plants and replant them with little to no problems.
The strawberries I planted in my garden this year came from a 4x 10ft raised bed at the church garden that was overgrown with strawberry plants so they were asking for people to dig them up and take them. They also dug a lot up and moved them to a new bed

 

[BReeder!]

I got back outside and finished the cucumber bed, repaired the arch trellis (well enough at least), and transplanted the cucumber starts into the bed. The bean bed still needs some work - I need to pull all the dirt to one side so I can replace the 1x8 board and stakes that were quickly put in a few years ago and are now leaning outward quite a bit. Then I'll top off that bed and transplant the yard long beans.

While I was out there, I watered the garden. It needed it even though I watered some earlier. We need a good downpour of rain.

 

[BReeder!]

Strawberry bed questions...

Two years ago, for the first time, I planted a 4X4 foot hügelkultur raised bed full of strawberry plants one plant per square foot. I got a few handfuls of strawberries that first year, but last year I did not use any bird netting over the bed and maybe only got 2 or 3 ripe strawberries. I'm thinking the birds ate all the green berries before they had any chance of growing to size and getting ripe.

Each year I lose a few strawberry plants, but other runners seem to grab hold. This spring, it looks like maybe only 50% of the plants are coming back, and they are pretty much clumped together in the middle. Over the past 2 years, the level of the hügelkultur raised bed has dropped about 4 inches. I need to top off the bed this year, but I know I can't just dump 4 inches of fresh compost on top of the strawberry plants.

Can I just dig out all the strawberry plants, separate them out, top off the raised bed with 4 inches of fresh compost, and then replant the strawberries one plant per square? From what I have learned, the strawberry plants should be replaced every 4 years, so I'm thinking I might have 2 years left on this batch. However, will digging them up and transplanting them kill them? I am really new at this. Thanks in advance for any responses.

I agree with @karenerwin. You should be able to dig up, separate and replant the strawberries. I would treat them as first year plantings them and remove any flowers so they focus on root development. The other thing with strawberries is they are not as cold hardy as we might want them to be. I have learned the hard way that they need to be mulched for the winter. I'm zone 5 and lost 46 of 50 strawberry plants this year because I failed to mulch for the winter.

 

[BReeder!]

Last year I bought a bunch of heavy wire tomato cages that looked really good. Unfortunately, they are breaking off at the welds/solder points and just falling apart. I'm very disappointed with them. So, this year, I think I will try and build some tomato cages out of scrap wood and see how that goes.

Here is a picture of what I currently have in mind...

If anyone has already made tomato cages out of new wood, pallet wood, or reclaimed wood, and has any lessons learned, I'm asking for your experience in what works and what does not. Thanks.

My problem with cages is they always seem too small. They are low maintenance throughout the growing season though, which is nice. I did the strong method, which is high maintenance as I had to regularly chevk the plants growth and wrap the string around each plant. This year I am using trellis netting. I clip the plants to the netting, but they can grow a foot or so before needing another clip.

 

[WthrLady]

I've never mulched my berries and mercy they're huge and out of control. OC it depends on location and variety. My newest berries are in containers, so I will put those in the workshop over the winter. I keep track of the volunteer runner plant's ages with painted stones, so I know when it's time to give up on them and move a new runner to that location.

 

[gtaus]

You should be able to dig them up, add the new compost, split apart the strawberry plants and replant them with little to no problems.
The strawberries I planted in my garden this year came from a 4x 10ft raised bed at the church garden that was overgrown with strawberry plants so they were asking for people to dig them up and take them. They also dug a lot up and moved them to a new bed

Thanks. I'll dig them out and transplant them after I top off the bed.

 

[gtaus]

I have learned the hard way that they need to be mulched for the winter. I'm zone 5 and lost 46 of 50 strawberry plants this year because I failed to mulch for the winter.

Yikes! I have never covered my strawberries with mulch for the winter - and I live in zone 3b! I guess I'm lucky any survived. This fall I'll cover them with leaves for sure. I'm still learning....

 

[chickengr]

You know, I don't expect my pallet wood raised beds to last a lifetime. I think using untreated pine wood will normally last 3-5 years in a raised bed. I don't know if using the Hügelkultur system will cause the wood to rot out sooner than that. I have 3 hügelkultur raised beds out in my main garden with untreated wood and they are still intact for over 5 years. I have 2 hügelkultur raised beds in my backyard using pallet wood and they are going on their third summer with no signs of wood rot yet. I live in northern Minnesota, and half our year is under snow, so maybe my untreated raised beds just last longer than a raised bed in a more southern state.

I have thought about staining or sealing the pallet wood on the raised bed prior to filling it up. Another idea was to line the inside with empty "plasticy" feed bags and maybe that would add some life to the build because the barrier would keep the pallet wood separated from the soil.

However, I have just decided to leave everything as is for the pallet wood raised beds and actually see how long it lasts before it needs to be repaired, rebuilt, or replaced. A very big factor for me is knowing that I spent less than $1.00 on the hardware for the raised bed, the pallet wood was free, so I did not want to spend much time, money, or energy on trying to make it last a few years longer. It will be easier, and cheaper, for me to just rebuild if needed.

I liked your question, but I really don't know the real answer yet. Maybe someone else has had experience with this issue and could help us both?

in my climate untreated wood would last max 2 years. but if you stain it with burnt oil (when you change oil in your car just save it) it will last long. plants will not be affected.

 

[chickengr]

Doing my morning garden rounds I saw that the peas are blooming and the rattlesnake bean seeds are breaking ground! Just got back from a shopping trip to Walmart and bought a 2 gallon watering can. (also a 40# bag of chicken scratch. Figured I'd see how my chicks like it. It's made of cracked corn, whole milo and whole wheat, nothing else.)

I have a couple pounds of Miracle Grow fertilizer laying around and I figure I might as well use some of it so it doesn't go to waste. It's not organic, but I grew up on chemically fertilized veggies and I ain't dead yet. LOL I suppose the non-organic veggies in stores are chemically fertilized too.

I think all the chicken poop I have is too fresh to use in the garden.

Edited to add:

I looked again and saw that some of the summer squash and cucumbers are sprouting too.

when I have fresh chicken poop I dilute some in water (1:3) and water plants.