I want to plant more

I have two boxes and this uncontrollable urge to build another. Any thoughts?

You've got it bad! Welcome to the club! Last year I built 2 boxes to start and a couple months in I was out of gardening funds, but still managed to build a couple of small boxes out of a broken bookcase and fill it with mostly compost. Those boxes were broken down by this spring, but I had already built another box for the fall and added 5 more this spring. My yard is full but I still keep finding room for containers.

buttaflie143 wrote:I have two boxes and this uncontrollable urge to build another. Any thoughts?

I say give in to the urge! You know you can't resist!!

Yep...you might as well prepare hubby that's there's more boxes in your future. It's futile to resist. Some of us have tried, but...well...we're not ashamed to say we failed!

One advantage to holding out as long as possible, is to learn more about the pros and cons of what you have now, what you like and dislike. Then you can adjust/adapt your new boxes accordingly. I'm still finding little tweaks here and there to make on my boxes to suit my gardening style. You will too!

Mother's Day present?

Hi, my name is Buttaflie143 and I'm an SFGaholic.

In unison: Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, Buttaflie.


Meetings are on Tuesdays at 7pm. But, you have to leave the baggy of MM at home. Great meeting, everyone. See you next week.

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:Hi, my name is Buttaflie143 and I'm an SFGaholic.

In unison: Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, Buttaflie.


Meetings are on Tuesdays at 7pm. But, you have to leave the baggy of MM at home. Great meeting, everyone. See you next week.

I laugh because there are so many different things I want to grow, but all 6 of my boxes are full or planned. To make it worse, it's only me. I'll may never be able to eat it all. Already got stuff in the freezer.

Kay

Unfortunately, I'm having to condense my boxes this year. I stretched my mix to fit my boxes last year and then it settled so much over the winter that I'm going to have to consolidate my boxes. I have compost to blend in but not as much as I need to make up for all the settling. I haven't finished adding the compost yet so don't know exactly how much smaller my garden will be but I am thinking I will lose about 80 sq feet. Ugh! (I have boxes totalling 136 square feet.) I will have to decide what I really want to grow before planting and I'm sure I'll have to give a bunch of seedlings away to make room for things that I want more that I didn't start from seed. This year, instead of spending money on more MM ingredients (unless I have money to spare) I'm going to make coverings to keep bugs out and probably some critter cages. I also got a cat repeller to keep the critters away. I will be so excited if I do have money to spare (in the gardening budget) to make more MM but time will tell. I can't use the ground for growing either because about an inch (or less) under the grass is rock. It is what it is, so I'll just adapt to what I can do.

Bec wrote: It is what it is, so I'll just adapt to what I can do.

Black Mountain sounds ominous! Good thing for SFG!

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:Hi, my name is Buttaflie143 and I'm an SFGaholic.

In unison: Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, Buttaflie.


Meetings are on Tuesdays at 7pm. But, you have to leave the baggy of MM at home. Great meeting, everyone. See you next week.

Is it that obvious?

Howdy neighbor! Well, sorta, I'm in Tennessee. I know what you mean. This is my first year, and I am dying to make more boxes, but the budget says otherwise.

I haven't even started my first 2 boxes and I'm already contemplating a 3rd! Go for it, life is short!

There is still time to plant potatoes in a box for a later harvest this year. But if you do that, be prepared to expand into vertical gardening. If you have a 4x4 then you can start the potatoes - and when they grow big enough, stack another 4x4 directly on top of that box and fill it up with soil. Three high should be about all you have to go, but we will see, because I am doing the same thing and have (4) 4x4 boxes all with one potato per square! Good luck!

clb58 wrote:Howdy neighbor! Well, sorta, I'm in Tennessee. I know what you mean. This is my first year, and I am dying to make more boxes, but the budget says otherwise.

I have another box and the materials to construct another trellis, but no MM. I originally purchased the premixed Ladybug blend because I don't have time to mix the ingredients myself. My DH has finally tabulated the bill (boxes, MM, grid and trellis materials, seedlings, seeds, incidentals - hammer, nails, female work gloves) and the bank is closed. I am selling some items on Craigslist and I plan to take some items to a consignment store. I plan to use those funds to buy more MM. I just hope I can get my hands on more cash before its too late to plant more warm weather crops.

LOL. Just don't mortgage the house trying to buy Mel's Mix. You've got it bad girl BAD.

You could also start scrapping metal to fund your garden project. Just from cleaning up our woods around here we have made about $200 scrapping that has all been dumped back into our project. It can be a bit intimidating at first but as long as you separate the aluminum (cans, gutters, etc) from the rest of the metal (anything metal, except spare tires usually), and go in the right line at the scrap yard, then you will have no problem making easy money. Just be sure to wear your gloves, it can get rusty. But anything metal, you can pretty much scrap.

genes wrote:

Bec wrote: It is what it is, so I'll just adapt to what I can do.

Black Mountain sounds ominous! Good thing for SFG!

Actually, Black Mountain is a beautiful place. But where we are currently living - rocks are under the grass. It's still beautiful though. I'm thinking of supplementing my SFGs this year with the Ruth Stout method of planting.

Bec wrote:

genes wrote:

Bec wrote: It is what it is, so I'll just adapt to what I can do.

Black Mountain sounds ominous! Good thing for SFG!

Actually, Black Mountain is a beautiful place. But where we are currently living - rocks are under the grass. It's still beautiful though. I'm thinking of supplementing my SFGs this year with the Ruth Stout method of planting.

Black Mountain is beautiful. I spent a couple of weeks their for a seminar and I fell in absolute love. I think that's what I love the most about NC is its diversity. We have sunny, sandy beaches and beautiful mountains. So many vacation options in our back door, especially living in the piedmont area. Three hours in either direction and we're golden.

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:Hi, my name is Buttaflie143 and I'm an SFGaholic.

In unison: Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, Buttaflie.


Meetings are on Tuesdays at 7pm. But, you have to leave the baggy of MM at home. Great meeting, everyone. See you next week.

Hmmmm.......BBG. You are very familiar with the "aholic" meeting format. Sounds like you have been attending for some time now. They don't have a chapter in my neighbourhood.

@Buttaflie, you are indeed a candidate. I would say, hold on for a while if you can, just to see how this season goes. In the meantime keep looking at raising money for more squares. If you get really desperate, and the twins are under two, they still bring a pretty good sum on the black market. Because they are twins you could likely get a premium for them. By the time they are three they have already started to decrease some in terms of what you can get for them. The five year old could most likely still net you a fairly reasonable sum but by the time they are 10 or 11 you pretty much have to pay someone to take them or keep them yourself.

Gwynn

LOL!!! Obviously you have never met my twins. I don't think I could pay someone to take them, and if I could they would probably be willing to give me double to take them back.