Ask:
My DH has planted a garden and I have helped picking things but I haven't done it myself. Any tips for first timers?
Thanks for this gardening section!!!!!
Answer:
WEED WEED WEED!!!! That's the biggest thing I can say!! A little bit everyday will keep the weeds at bay and keep them from taking over your garden (yup, that's experience talking! ZOIKS was that bad!!)
Plant things that you like to eat....lettuce is good, but plant a short row your first year so that you know if you'll be able to keep up eating it or if you'll end up losing the plants because they get too woody (once they get too big they get yucky, so you have to keep cutting it...last year I had to cut mine daily to keep up), green beans are good...you can get the bush kind that are nice or the climbing kind that you have to stake up...depends on how much room you have. Sugar snap peas are always good...though my kids eat them faster than I can pick them! Sweet corn is fairly easy, but be sure to plant more than one row to help with pollinization (bees and bugs will do some of the work, but the wind helps, too).
The first year I had a garden, I let each of the kids pick a seed that they wanted to grow and they were in charge of that area (they were about your kids ages) and they were excited to help water the plants and pull a few weeds, and once it was time to harvest they were EVEN MORE THRILLED because it was "theirs" so maybe you can talk your girls into helping, too. My oldest still talks about his white pumpkins that "he" grew (and then shared with the neighborhood!)
Answer:
*Absolutely agree with weed, that is top on my list.
*don't plant till after the risk of freeze is over, we plant after mothers day.The farmers almanac web site will give you dates when to plant what.
*Use markers so you know what is what
*I always sprout my seeds in a damp paper towel before I plant them and they come up faster
*After we plant our seeds we cover the row with saran wrap held down by rocks until the plant pokes through so the birds won't eat the seeds.
Answer:
I take it weed, weed, weed is the theme? It does make sense. That's how the flower bed keeps nice. So, if you weed once a day is that good enough? I guess I'm getting ahead of myself since the ground is still .... as frozen as an ice cube.
Thanks for the tips ladies!
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I've always had great success with tomatoes and most peppers. If you grow tomatoes, I'd invest in some bird or deer netting to keep the birds from pecking holes in them.
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Will the netting keep out all wildlife? We have deer, rabbits, squirrel's, birds. you name we probably have it. Is there something else need to keep it all out? I would hate to go through all the trouble and not get to enjoy it.
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Black Plastic
I have to do things a little bit differently. I can't pull weeds. I have had carpal tunnel surgery on both of my hands and have quite a bit of loss of strength. If I do to much, they just quite. Soooo, I don't weed!!! Weeding is a miserable job anyway, so why not get away from doing it if it is possible. We go to a commercial farm supply store and buy black plastic on a huge roll, 1000 ft. It will last us years! If you buy it from walmart you will pay about $15 for not very much plastic, it will add up quickly. Go get the big roll for about $100 and never worry about it again. It keeps the soil very moist and eliminates weeds, except for a very few that will peek out next to your plant. We hold it down with wood, bricks, rocks...anything really. It will look a little goofy when you first start out, but when your plants get bigger and you are the one with no weeds and beautiful plants, you will be very happy you did this step. Be sure to take it off at the end of the season so the dirt has a chance to breath over the fall and winter. If you don't want to spend the money on the plastic, you can use newspapers too. I did this the first year when the weeds were getting ahead of me and it slowed them down some.
Tomatoe cages
Tomatoe cages are very important. Be sure to put them on when you first put in your plants. After the plants start to get big, they will break if you put the cages on then. They are pretty cheap. After we expanded our garden, we started using wire and posts instead. But we plant well over 100 tomatoe plants. Be sure to leave lots of room between your rows. The plants grow out on each side a lot! and you want at least two feet two be able to sit down and pick. We made this mistake last year...ugh!
Plants vs Seeds
We use plants for tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers
Seads for beens, peas, corn,
(I'm going to check with dh and add to this list)
Netting
We've never used it. I see an occasional critter, but they really don't do much damage here. I have heard that you can plant marigolds and dill to keep some of them away. I've also heard that human hair around the edges will work too.
Water
You must water!!!! And just a little bit on top won't due. Buy one of those sprinklers that you attach to your hose and let it get good and soaked. It needs to get all the way to the roots for it to do any good. There are debates as to when, morning or night...we water at night just because it's convenient. Never do it in the full sun on a hot day though, you can burn the plants and most of it will evaporate anyway.
Fertilizer
We fertilize the garden every year before we put the plastic on. We just follow the directions on the bag and rack it in.
Bugs!
We are strickly organic with our garden. Every year we get aphids. I fill a spray bottle with dish detergent and water and sprintz the plants. You have to do this more often than you would with the chemical stuff. I let my boys do it, they think it's fun.
Gardening is fun! It's quite a bit of work in the beginning, but when you see it starting to grow it is so worth it. It's kind of a learn as you go thing. We revise our plan a little every year.
Answer:
Definitely weed!
And lots of water - esp. for tomato plants!
Answer:
I am not a pro or a perfect green thumb maybe yellow-green!
But weeding is key -weeds kill plants and attract pests. We also spray the homemade insecticide with dish soap and water like pp said to repel pests. ( I have also heard if you add tabasco it repels deer)
We have deer, birds, groundhogs, rabbits, squirrels and fox. The groundhogs and the fox are the worst. To repel deer we use Irish spring soap hung around the edge of the garden- they hate the scent - we also put it around the perimeter of our yard and it keeps them out all spring/summer.
We use flash tape to repel birds and I planted mint right at the entrance of the garden to repel the rabbit, fox and groundhog last year and it seemed to work. (rodents hate mint for some reason) They were still around but left my plants alone. The squirrels eat our birdfood and never bother the garden - knock on wood... But I have seen them in the compost!