My First SQF Garden 2012

I can finally post outside links!! So here's my beds:
Number One last week
Number One this week
Back row L to R: German Queen tomato, sweet 100 cherry tomato, yellow bell pepper, green bell pepper. I put some carrots in with the tomatoes and also marigolds are planted randomly. I put some nastrium in near the melons, but they haven't sprouted yet so we'll see if they come up at all... I learned today I should have used a nail file on the seeds before planting.
Front row: Watermelon (which I need to pull two out apparently... going to try and save them and give away), bush green beans, cantaloupe, and then an empty square (more bush beans later?).
Also you can see my bush zucchini in the pot in the background. The yellow squash will go in another pot. I didn't want to waste all the bed space for those.
Number Two
Back row L to R: corn (3 planted), romaine lettuce, broccoli, broccoli
Front row: Will be corn, romaine lettuce, empty, and another empty (but think I'm going to put the basil in that corner)

I've also got an old rubbermaid I've drilled holes in and planted norland red potatoes in it... they are sprouting now. Anyone see any issues I may have? Other than apparently the melons are supposed to have two squares each lol.

I am a newbie, but they look GREAT to me!

What did you mean about using a nail file on some of your seeds?

Thanks!

~Amanda

asilcox wrote:I am a newbie, but they look GREAT to me!

What did you mean about using a nail file on some of your seeds?

Thanks!

~Amanda

The pack of Ferry-Morse Nasturtium seeds I bought didn't say anything, but the second pack (different variety and different company) that I bought the other day says that to aid in germination to rub the seed with a nail file.

Great job!! I really need to think smaller and make a few 4x4... They look fantastic!!!

One of the tomato plants has grown into the second story already.. the other one is close behind. The pepper on the end is getting eaten by something, but haven't spotted anything on it. Oddly nothing else seems to be getting eaten like the one on the end... a few other plants just have a hole or two. I've seen a few baby grasshoppers (two total over two weeks) and some caterpillars, which I pick off and throw over the fence. I sunk a small cup of beer into the soil (seen in picture), but it didn't catch anything.
I've got a basil plant I'm going to put in that still empty square. Hubby made a complaint about the fact that there wouldn't be a lot of corn so he's decided he'll help me make another bed so he can get more corn lol. I'll probably make the new bed much bigger... thinking 3'X10'.... oh the space... so much for staying small on year one lol.
Box two doesn't have much new going on... the first square of corn has sprouted and the romaine lettuce is a little bigger. How slow does broccoli grow? I feel like the two little ones I have out there aren't growing very well... They have one true leaf each, both super tiny. I started them late, so I'm wondering if it's just too warm now. I started three, but only planted two. The one that I still have in a 3" pot seems to be much better off (it comes in and out of the house as it's in a plat with pepper seedlings), it also has only one true leaf but it's bigger and just seems healthier. Potato box is really starting to take off as well.

Growth rates from sow to harvest are listed for common veg in the ANSFG book 2006 editiion starting on page 261. It is so handy being able to see at a glance how long a square is likley to be occupied to allow you to judge what to put next door to it when taking the mature size of the plant into consideration .

Mel shows the averages for broccoli as harvest eight weeks after seed sowing and a time slot of a month to harvest it, so you can plan the sucessional broccoli etc in other squares . abraidin ght skin of some hard skinned seeds near the brealm out point often helps for a quicker start ..

If you don't have one of the diamond type nail files a bit of hubbies wet & dry sanding paper in a medium grit is just as good so is a fine nail emery stick , the old type rasp nail files aren't quite so good .

Except for a few minor probs, your garden is looking good. Sometimes the little buggers come out at night so you can't see them in the daytime. Try shining a flashlight from BEHIND the leaf to spot any critters.

Well I was going to do a 10'X3' bed... but based on the dimensions of the wood I found at Lowe's it's going to be a 4'X8' bed (8" height). I also got a 2"x6"X8' board so I can make a 2'X2' topper box for carrots. Once it's built I'll go out and buy the items needed to fill it... the expensive part lol. I also bought sweet potato starts... and got a bag of yukon gold seed potatoes. It may be a little late for those, but they were $0.50 so couldn't pass them up!!!

So here's new pics of the two smaller boxes:
Box 1:
Back row: German queen heirloom, sweet 100 cherry, yellow pepper and green pepper. Both tomatoes have flowers, and the cherry currently has two itty bitty baby tomatoes lol. The yellow pepper is about to flower.
Front row: watermelon, bush green bean, cantaloupe, and sweet basil. The front row is kind blah.. everything seems to now be growing very slowly and everything is kind of yellowing out. This was the first bed and I only used one compost so I sprinkled a little bit of garden fertilizer on it the other day so hopefully they perk up... also considering sprinkling some black kow over the top.
Box 2:
Corn coming up (planted about a week apart) in the two left squares. The Paris Island Cos Romaine in the next two over looking great. The two right back squares are broccoli... they are growing very slowly but still alive. The two front right squares are bush green beans (planted two weeks after those in the other box) and rosemary.
The two terracotta pots in the photos are mint.. box two photo is peppermint and the one in box one photo is spearmint.
My potato box is doing really well and all the stalks are over the top edge of the box. No photo of that one the computer yet.

CarolinaGirl wrote:

asilcox wrote:I am a newbie, but they look GREAT to me!

What did you mean about using a nail file on some of your seeds?

Thanks!

~Amanda

The pack of Ferry-Morse Nasturtium seeds I bought didn't say anything, but the second pack (different variety and different company) that I bought the other day says that to aid in germination to rub the seed with a nail file.

Or soak them in water for a little bit

The romaine lettuce squares doing great:
The first two yellow peppers are starting to form:
Sweet 100 tomatoes:
Zucchini is about to blossom:
The sweet potato... which I desperately need to make a trellis for tomorrow before they start to take over anything:
And here's a photo that shows half of one of the smaller boxes. I think the green beans in this box are getting closer to having flowers:

Wow! You look like an old pro to me! That garden looks so healthy. I wish I'd started mine a bit earlier. As far as 'nicking' the seeds to help germination, I do that for my Morning Glories but what I do is to take a little mini-scissors (like the ones that come in Swiss Army knives) and just break the seed coat a little then soak it overnight. So far it's worked very well!

Chopper wrote:claudiamedic said it is like baby pictures and I agree! So fun to see. The romaine look great. I hope you like sweet potatoes b/c you are going to have A LOT!

Lol I always feel like the garden isn't progressing very quickly, but then I go back and look at the weekly update pictures I've been taking and I see that they are actually growing like crazy lol. Yes we do love sweet potatoes!

Wow, your garden is progressing amazingly.

Nice work on the garden, it is beautiful, and congrats on getting a new box! Just a heads up on your 2 squares of corn and you probably already know this, you will probably have to hand pollinate that since there aren't a lot of them all together! Hate to have hubby disappointed!