Zeke's Garden 2016

Finished all my plantings for this year or to start anyway.  Not really much to look at it, but it felt good to have all the first plantings done and I hope to follow up with "progress" pictures, so I think it will be neat to see start to mature. 

Anyway,
Garden #1.  There's one "volunteer" tomato plant in this garden I'm interested in seeing how it does.  It came up on it's own and survived the cold snaps and just so happened to be in a square I had marked for tomato this year.  Destiny.  I did slide it over a little closer to center of square a couple weeks ago and... it still seems to be doing well, so I didn't replace with a purchased plant.
 

Garden #2.  First batch of beans were planted in this one couple weeks ago.  They seem to be coming along nicely.  There's some corn in the back and it seems to have germinated nicely, only couple inches tall though.  Added dill and basil plants and more beans.


Garden #3.  Wire mess  .  This is my main tomato and pepper garden this year, so lots of "cages" for future support.  Hopefully it will look better later.


Garden #4.  One of my "top hats" with carrots.  Carrots planted couple weeks ago, but not sprouting yet.  Couple extra strawberries from last year in the center.  Few lettuce in this one that have just sprouted, tiny little things. Planted more beans along the front row (Yes, we like beans  My daughter takes them, boils them, add "secret" ingredient (butter, plenty), yummy).
 

Garden #5, a.k.a. Hannah's Garden.  Another carrot "top hat", Zucchini, and lettuce.  


Garden #6.  Trellis not installed yet, but cucumber and vine tomatoes planted along one side. Cucumbers were planted couple weeks ago, but only one had popped up.  I replanted the "missing" cukes and added the tomatoes.


Potatoes:  planted several weeks ago.  Coming along.  I'm trying the "tier" approach.  I planted in bottom box, then as the plants grow adding more compost and boxes to raise the bed taller.  That's as tall as I'm going though.
 

Strawberries 2nd year.  Fingers crossed for a good harvest this year, supposed to be the first harvest year.  Generally look healthy, they have bloomed and there are green strawberries on the plants.  Hoping to get fresh strawberries next month.

Looks like you have been busy.  Question - it looks like those pvc pipes around the outside border of each bed is being used to hold the wire fencing.  Is this what is going on.  Then you just lift off the whole frame and fencing to access the bed.

Nice set up! Strange thing: Your beans come up in days -- mine take weeks. My cukes come up in days -- yours take weeks.  I don't get it. 

countrynaturals wrote:Nice set up! Strange thing: Your beans come up in days -- mine take weeks. My cukes come up in days -- yours take weeks.  I don't get it. 

I think it depends on the optimal soil temperature for each type of seed. Perhaps Zeke's temperature was optimal for Beans while your temperature is optimal for Cukes.

yolos wrote:Looks like you have been busy.  Question - it looks like those pvc pipes around the outside border of each bed is being used to hold the wire fencing.  Is this what is going on.  Then you just lift off the whole frame and fencing to access the bed.

That is correct.  The bottom pvc piping just adds some rigidity to the wire "cage"/basket.  Without the bottom the wire tended to flex or bow along the bottom sides and creep into the beds, so I added a frame to hold the bottom edges.
I really liked the cages, they were so easy to handle, UNTIL you get tall plants then I hit some "snags", literally.  Tall or very bushy plants around the outside edge tend to grow through the wire cage, then you play h.... umm, it gets more difficult to pull the cover without damaging plants.  
That's why this year I added some simple open square ones, BUT those are more difficult to lift and handle, not heavy, just cumbersome.

Anyway, I HOPE this year to get a final permanent garden set up with one fence all the way around the outside for deer and then I won;t have to deal with any cages... except as I might use for "hot box" or protection.  The domed cages make easy conversion to covering, just add plastic draped over it and tuck or temporarily tie to frame.

Nice! Well done, Zmoore!

With the domed wire cages why not plant short stuff on the rows next to the lower part of the cage and taller ones in the centre rows.  I see the side parts of the cage are vertical. The whole cage does look easy to remove with the pvc on the bottom.

It all looks very good.

Well, my potatoes appear to be doing well.  
Kind of neat comparison to picture above.
I just hope the potatoes are developing and not just the vines.

They look terrific, Zeke! I hope you get lots!!!

AtlantaMarie wrote:They look terrific, Zeke!  I hope you get lots!!!

+1

You are going to get a bunch of taters! The tops just feed the tubers. More tops, more taters!

One of my new beds I put most of my tomato plants in.  Very poor, nutrients definitely not right and sun exposure is debatable.
I added some organic fertilizer about a week ago and did a compost tea soak this weekend, hoping to save something.   


Other new bed, really poor.  Poor zucchini is stretching for the sun.  Lettuce germinated but stalled.  UGH!  Poor nutrients again.  Did same as above hoping to salvage something.


This is one of my older beds.  I'm o.k. with this one.  Plants much healthier looking.  The bare spots at the front is where I tried some brussel sprouts and broccoli.  Didn't do well, replanted trying some radish and carrots now.  


Another older bed, mostly beans.  Doing fine.  


All in all, doesn't look like a very good year.  I was supposed to be working on my permanent garden by now, but then my son's vehicle decided to go "kaput" and all finances went into getting him a more dependable used car.  Sooo... no permanent garden this year  
So, that'll give me another year to get the new boxes I threw down this year up and running good.... and then I'll have to tear them down and move them to permanent garden... sheesh.

I think the beds often get better each time compost is added and they "age".