MomVet - My first Square Foot Garden

I missed this site a lot! You guys are so supportive AND I learn so much here. Turan - the only reason I continued to garden this fall was because of Mr. T. He love the kale, arugula, turnip greens. He also loves nasturtium leaves and flowers. If I can remember how to post you will see some volunteer nasturtiums in my "new" garden. Unfortunately, my compost spinner was neglected and I was left without compost - I bought a variety at the big box store and mixed it - hope it works. I know I was lucky to have a fantastic garden last summer. But I noticed that the bed farthest from the fence was MUCH more productive. They get almost the same sun, same watering, and are exactly the same as far as I can tell (except I had to use a lot of the commercial Mel's Mix in the "bad" bed because I miscalculated the amounts). This winter almost nothing grew in the "bad" bed - peas did OK. Any thoughts? I haven't planted much I care about there because I feel that it won't thrive. Anyway, thanks for the support. I am back and Scott was big on veggies!! So I dedicate this garden to him. Will post pictures soon because I forgot that I had to import them first

Just testing to see if this works. Beds newly planted.

My worms didn't make it but I am trying again. I have volunteer nasturtiums, garlic, beets that didn't really do that well, chives. The big plant in the back is squash. I LOVE summer squash and used to have to give it away. Past few years - nada.

Had wonderful potatoes last year. The ones in front are volunteers from the scrap pile. I planted Yukon Gold and Pontiac Red in the other containers. It is late but I hope they do well.

Ruger is my newest garden helper. Nitro is still the boss, though.

Isn't it funny how the volunteers always seem to be the biggest and strongest plants in the garden? Maybe they're just bullies. 

I know, I think it's Mother Nature's way of showing us who is boss. 

Hello there, little Ruger! Hope to see more of you and Nitro in the Pets thread.

CC

Momvet, your boxes are beautiful!  This year I had a volunteer basil plant and some volunteer violas.  The basil plant was a welcome addition because I forgot to plant seeds in early spring.

You are off to a wonderful start.  Keep us posted. 

Windmere wrote:Momvet, your boxes are beautiful!  This year I had a volunteer basil plant and some volunteer violas.  

Is there anything more amazing than violas? My poor little 4" pot, neglected and abused, has bloomed continuously for a year and a half. 

Hi - My name is Kathy and I used to post here a lot. My first SFG turned out great!!   Unfortunately we had a tragedy in the family last September and for a long while I just stopped caring about the things I usually care a lot about. I did plant a few things last fall (I am in Southern California) and had some success but a lot of the plants were eaten by insects. Last summer, I planted a lot of started plants from Home Depot and used bagged compost because my compost wasn't tended to. Harvest was meh. I want to get back into it. Have a lot of questions so I know I am in the right place!

MomVet, It is so, so good to see you again. I'm sorry for your tragedy, but everyone here understands that grief has to take priority for a while. We are here if you need us.

Hi MomVet. Welcome home.... I'm glad to see you!!

We're here when you need us...!

Welcome back, Kathy, from another CA gal (way north). I'm so sorry for your family tragedy, but very glad you're getting back to gardening, now.

Thanks everyone - everyone on this site is so nice! I remember you, Sanderson and AtlantaMarie,  as being very helpful!! Countrynaturals, I lived in Redding in the late 70's!! Do you recommend I post my questions be posted under individual topics, or to post new questions? Still no moderator for Southern California? I am concerned about the fact that I really didn't follow the SFG recommendation about compost (I had none except for purchased and did use some gardening mix so I am afraid I "messed up" the original Mel's Mix. Also, I was wondering about using row covers because aphids devastated my cauliflower and cabbage last year. I have broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, peas, carrots, onion, garlic, shallots, lettuce, arugula and more and they all look great right now. Thanks

Welcome back, Momvet.
I am sorry to hear about your tragedy, I think coming back to the garden will help you.  I too am in SoCal, in Pasadena; where are you, because SoCal is so big?

Plants in the Brassica family, like the broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts benefit from a some netting because the white cabbage butterfly always takes advantage of those delicious leaves.  Aphids could be blasted with a water hose if you catch them in time.

When I am short of my home made compost, I go get five bags of different compost.  Set them aside and open each and make a small batch from my five compost.  I keep the unused compost in a cool dark section of garden or the garage.  By the time spring comes, my home made compost is done, so I add it to what is almost gone of my purchased compost. 

Start collecting leaves now to make lots of compost for later.  I am collecting my neighbor's leaves. In Southern California we still have leaves on the deciduous trees in this late December.  Best time to collect is after a rain.

MomVet, I changed this thread to make it your own. It is under the So. Cal Region. For questions, if you can find an existing topic in which to ask your question, that would be great. Otherwise, you can ask in this thread or join us in the NO Cal thread.

I have all of the brassica beds fitted and covered with bridal tulle. Jimmy uses a different net material from JoAnn's.

We have had 2 rather strong (for Fresno) earthquakes tonight. They are centered on the east side of the Sierra Nevada range, in the Bridgeport (near Bodie ghost town) area and in Hawthorne, Fallon and Tonopah, NV fault lines. The 5.6 and 5.7 with several after shocks of which we can't feel.

Thanks everyone! Rose, I am in Murrieta (Zone 9? can't remember). Last year my cauliflower was decimated by aphids. Broccoli was OK, brussels sprouts plants did well but never developed sprouts. Cabbage was OK. I didn't even plant cauliflower this time. I was wondering whether covering the plants with row covers would help with the insect problem. There are already holes in some of the leaves. I don't use any pesticides. Will post a picture of my beds when I "remember" how!

I have netting. Should I just cover the brassicas? Do you use some kind of hoop to raise the netting? I don't have all of mine together (per recommendations) so would you guys recommend covering the entire bed or just the individual squares (broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts). I have a lot of onions, garlic, shallots, lettuce, spinach, chard, arugula, beets etc. - not sure if they should be covered? 

momvet wrote:I have netting. Should I just cover the brassicas? Do you use some kind of hoop to raise the netting? I don't have all of mine together (per recommendations) so would you guys recommend covering the entire bed or just the individual squares (broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts). I have a lot of onions, garlic, shallots, lettuce, spinach, chard, arugula, beets etc. - not sure if they should be covered? 

I just checked my brassicas and they look great without being covered. We've already had several frosty nights and they're still happy campers. OTOH, we don't have cabbage butterflies this time of year, so they're pretty safe right now.

In Southern California, any sunny day brings out the white cabbage butterfly.
Momvet, you have a nice bed.   Is that a worm tube in your bed?
I have six beds, and one bed is dedicated to brassicas, so the entire bed is netted with tulle using 10 foot PVC held by rod irons and PVC clips to form a hoop. My cabbage and broccoli are a little less than two feet tall right now.  In your case, I wouldn't net your entire bed.

Maybe, someone can answer the question, how do you net one or two brassicas?  One year, I used 4 thin bamboo poles to hold up the tulle; the tulle was held by clothes pins, but the cabbage butterfly laid eggs on the leaves that touched the tulle.

Roseinarosecity wrote:In Southern California, any sunny day brings out the white cabbage butterfly.

Maybe, someone can answer the question, how do you net one or two brassicas?  One year, I used 4 thin bamboo poles to hold up the tulle; the tulle was held by clothes pins, but the cabbage butterfly laid eggs on the leaves that touched the tulle.

I had the same thing happen when I used coarser netting.  I use fine bridal veil tulle, now.  I buy the 108" tulle to allow for the height of the PVC frames.

Just a personal thought, it is easier and more successful to net an entire area than hopscotch around the bed.  My broccoli, Russian kale and Swiss chard are almost 3' tall.

I also plant all the brassica and chard in 4 beds closest to the back door Photo when they were shorter.

sanderson wrote:Just a personal thought, it is easier and more successful to net an entire area than hopscotch around the bed.  My broccoli, Russian kale and Swiss chard are almost 3' tall.

Aha! I'd been meaning to ask about the relative height of your kale vs your enclosures. My kale is trying to raise the roof this year. I'm adding a third brassica frame/enclosure next year, and was planning to make it like yours to deal with my tall kale. And I'll be switching to shorter kale varieties in the other enclosures. (I'm eagerly awaiting Adaptive Seeds updating their online catalog for 2017, in the hopes they will still be selling Baltic Red kale seeds; and I'll be buying dwarf blue scotch curled vates seeds from somewhere else.)

I agree with the sentiment of netting a larger area being easier rather than hopscotching. You don't need to fill out the whole space with brassicas - I have a spatter of lettuce/greens, beets, and green onions mixed in with mine since none of those require pollination.

My winter crops are tall but I found that if I use wide tulle, 108", and make it billowy (but sealed), it will expand as the plants grow. Yes, I also have lettuce, garlic, carrots, and radishes growing it that specific bed under tulle. Maybe I can grab a photo tomorrow.

Roseinarosecity wrote:
Momvet, you have a nice bed.   Is that a worm tube in your bed?

Yes, I have worm tubes in each bed. Haven't had luck in overwintering the worms though.

Here is a photo of the loose, billowy tulle that allows for expansion.

MomVet, Are you feeding them in the winter? They should do great year around in So. Cal. The tubes don't have to be tall, just enough to clear the MM and have a cap.