Third Year SFG in Canada

Weed cloth lining the inside of the bed? Can't wait to see it completed.

sanderson wrote:Weed cloth lining the inside of the bed?  Can't wait to see it completed.  

I'm putting cardboard over the whole area, which is both under the bed and where the paths are located. I'll put weed cloth on top of the the cardboard but only where the bed is located.

I had some wood left over after cutting the 8 foot pieces for the new 3x6 bed.  It was just enough for a 2x2 addition.



Below I'm going to post some photos that include both SFG and other non-SFG areas of the yard.

First up is a 4x4 SFG bed with the recently transplanted tomatoes and peppers.  The empty square on the right of the pepper row is where there was a pepper that was destroyed by a cutworm.  I have since added protection (straws and solo cups) around the tomatoes and peppers.





These are Daikon Radish volunteers which self-seeded from last year.





Recently transplanted tomatoes and peppers in one of the Old Style SFG beds.




Mrs TD has been busy cleaning up her gardens.  Looks like I am going to need another compost pile to process what she has taken out.  The yellow and white bag on the front left contains horse manure from the neighbour.




The potato plants in the leftovers of a compost pile continue to thrive.




Dark clouds ... storm approaching.




Mrs TDs garden around the fish pond.





One of Mrs TD's bleeding heart plants.





Not sure what this is.





I grew this Lemon Balm in the 2x4 SFG Table Top last summer and then transplanted into the regular garden for the winter.  It is thriving and getting huge.





This Sage plant also was grown in the 2x2 TT and transplanted into the regular garden for the winter. 





This is the table Top with a protective hardware cloth to protect some Tom Thumb Peas and some lettuce from predators. I'll have to remove it soon to allow room for the plants as they grow.





Amaranth seedlings.




I took a break after putting together the frame for the new 3x6 + 2x2 SFG bed.





Our "Garden Lady".  This was originally part of a bigger fountain that was located in my Mom and Dad's garden in St.Catharines over 15 years ago. We brought it to Ottawa when they downsized and moved to a smaller house.




And then the dark clouds got even darker and the rain started. Yes there are signs of rain drops hitting the pond water.

Continuing from the previous post here is proof of the rain and the reason why work on the new 3x6 SFG bed came to an end. Click on the images to start the videos.





And at the front of the house.




The mini rock garden is overflowing with "hen and chicks".

And as if my previous two posts loaded with photos are not enough here is one more photo.  It's an aerial view of the SFG garden taken from my home office second floor window following the rain and thunder.

It looks really nice. Much less random than my mess.

One step closer on the new SFG bed. I had to remove the cardboard that I put down yesterday because the frame for the bed was not sitting level. The cardboard was wet from the rain we got so I pretty well had to trash it.  After leveling the ground underneath and putting down dry cardboard, I was able to install the weed barrier cloth.  I fold the cloth up the outside of the sides and staple it in place. Yup I can be a bit of a perfectionist which drives Mrs TD crazy.

It's way too windy today to start mixing the MM.

OKay so now I am getting into "panic mode".  I took on way too many things not just in the gardening but in other areas of my life.  

Breath deep....
One step at a time....
It will be ok if you put aside the new bed until fall and just don't do squash....
Remember this is the crazy time in the garden and in a week or so it will be maintenance and harvest.

Growing anything is to participate in miracles, but you don't have to drown in it.

And last but not least, the garden already is perfect, designed by creation, with or without our actions to steer the it.

TD your gardens are magnificent! I love seeing all your pics. We're still in the development stage, so your setup is like a carrot hanging in front me. Someday . . .

Turan and CN thanks for your comments.

I have to do squash, I have to do squash, I have to do squash ...

I cleaned up the area between the new bed and the cedar hedge by removing soil (it was too high), leveling, covering with cardboard and then a layer of wood chips.  Also planted a couple of bluecrop blueberry bushes near the garden patio beyond the new bed.





View along the hedge from inside the shed. In front on the right is the 3x3x3 compost bin, followed by a row of raspberry bushes, then the new bed and cleaned up area. Note the pile of soil near the rasberries. That was taken from the area between the new bed - garden patio and the cedar hedge. Actually that is only about half of what was removed.  Mrs TD took the rest for her gardens.




Robin in the cleaned up area next to the garden patio.




Robin standing on the frame of the new SFG bed. The robin is slightly to the left of the center of the photo.




The rest of the photos are various plants inside the mini greenhouse.  I usually put them outside during the day  but left them in the greenhouse because of the cold wind and expected downpour that has not yet materialized.




Tomatillos on the left and tomatoes on the right.




Squash and melons with varying degrees of success.




Small but pretty Alyssum.





Alyssum.

I can't see the photos. I hope it's only me.

sanderson wrote:I can't see the photos.  I hope it's only me.

I can't either.

Well that sucks. I store my photos at Photobucket and copy the URL for the images into my posts.  Something has gone wrong and the images are no longer automatically appearing in my posts. I do see a small icon for each photo which, if I click on it, does bring up the photo.  

This has been reported as an issue on the PhotobucketBlog so I am not the only one with the problem. Let's hope it gets fixed. 

https://blog.photobucket.com/status/


Oh!  I just refreshed this page and now the images are being displayed.

Not displayed on my computer even after refreshing the page.  Just the small icon.

yolos wrote:Not displayed on my computer even after refreshing the page.  Just the small icon.

Yup the photos disappeared again.  Hopefully this will get fixed otherwise I've lost a lot of history on the forum.  I can still get to the photos in Photobucket.

And now I just noticed that if I wait long enough the photos appear again on this forum page. Maybe Photobucket is having a server problem for direct referenced images.

Another blustery day here in Ottawa with wind and chance of showers. The wind probably will prevent me from mixing the MM for the new bed.

The new SFG bed is a 3x6 with a 2x2 apendage to make an L shape. However, it will soon have a 1.5x6 addition to turn it into a U shape. The 1.5x6 will be a regular soil bed. Sorry but I can't let all that good soil in my yard go to waste. The soil will be amended with peat moss and compost so that I am thinking it will become more like Old Style SFG. If it does not work out then eventually I'll convert it into an ANSFG. I still love my SFG beds for their ease of maintenance (no heavy soil turning, easy to amend with compost, a breeze to weed, lower water requirements, etc.).

I see your photos now. Lovely! I, too, couldn't see them yesterday but thought it was my tablet. Weird.

trolleydriver wrote:Another blustery day here in Ottawa with wind and chance of showers. The wind probably will prevent me from mixing the MM for the new bed.

The new SFG bed is a 3x6 with a 2x2 apendage to make an L shape. However, it will soon have a 1.5x6 addition to turn it into a U shape. The 1.5x6 will be a regular soil bed. Sorry but I can't let all that good soil in my yard go to waste. The soil will be amended with peat moss and compost so that I am thinking it will become more like Old Style SFG. If it does not work out then eventually I'll convert it into an ANSFG. I still love my SFG beds for their ease of maintenance (no heavy soil turning, easy to amend with compost, a breeze to weed, lower water requirements, etc.).

Your garden puts mine to shame.  Though I could just paraphrase Stitch here: "It is small, and broken, but it is good."

Also do Daikon radishes grow as fast as their rotund brethren?

SwampTroll wrote:

...

Also do Daikon radishes grow as fast as their rotund brethren?

I'm not even sure I have true veggie garden Daikon Radish. Last year I sowed a square of them from seeds I obtained from Mumm's Sprouting Seeds to use for growing microgreens in the winter. They produced wonderful edible seed pods but I really did not get the good white roots. Mine were all tops. They have self-seeded and come back again this year and they are growing much faster than the regular radish seeds that I sowed.

Trolley, awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing! Plants look great! I love the pond, always wanted one. Perhaps someday, but for now I'm just grateful to have the space to garden. Maybe I'll get a water feature next year and stick it somewhere in the corner of my terrace. 

Thanks for your comments Fiz.

So far today I have:

1. Turned the compost in the 3x3x3 bin.

2. Replaced the Sweet Million Tomato and Chinese 5 Color Pepper that were destroyed by cutworm(s).

3. Transplanted two Ground Cherry plants (bought at a garden center) into a regular soil bed (see note 1 below).

4. Transplanted two Tomatillo plants (started indoors) into a regular soil bed (see note 1).

5. Transplanted two Okra plants (from indoor starts) into one of the Old Style SFG beds.

6. Transplanted one Eggplant (from garden center) into an Old Style SFG bed.

7. Transplanted a Red Rubin Basil (from garden center) into the Table Top.

8. Sowed Parsley seeds in a square in the Table Top.

9. Transplanted an indoor started Cayenne Pepper plant into one of the Old Style SFG beds.

10. Transplanted several Dreadlocks Amaranth seedlings (started indoors) into one of Mrs TD's perennial beds where she kindly left room for some annuals.

11. "Hilled Up" the Yukon Gold Potatoes growing in the old hardware cloth compost bin.

12. Gave the following to a neighbor for her row garden:
- two Tomatillos, a Brandywine Tomato and a Jalapeno Pepper (all started indoors)
- a bunch of Butter King Lettuce seedlings that were started in Winter Sowing
- bunches of Basil, Thyme and Cilantro seedlings from a garden center


Notes:
1. Mrs TD donated the corner of her perennial bed that is close to the SFG beds for the purpose of growing her Ground Cherry plants that she likes so much. I have planted a few other things in that area in addition to the Chives that were already planted there. The other things include Tomatillos, one Yukon Gold seed potato, and some Tom Thumb Peas. For me this is mostly an experimental area and I needed the extra space since the SFG beds are filling up.

I updated the previous post with some additional activities.

I hope I don't bore people with all this detail. I use this thread somewhat like a journal so that I can go back and see what I did when and how things worked out.

Here are some photos to go along with the previously listed activities.

This is the compost material in the 3x3x3 bin. It's getting there slowly. This is day 25 but it also contains material from last Fall.




This guy was near the bottom of the bin along with some of its buddies.




The material and the empty bin.  There is a method (not obvious) in the way I pile the contents on the tarp so that it goes back in with the material that was on the sides and top (the "cold" stuff) going into the middle and the "hot" stuff that was in the middle going onto the sides.




This is the carrot volunteer in the corner. I sowed seeds in the rest of the square and they have come up and are barely visible.




These are the Ground Cherry and Tomatillo plants set out today in part of one of Mrs Td's garden beds.




Eggplant back left, tiny Cayenne Pepper (solo cup) in front of it, two Okra beside them and a previously planted Broccoli (from Winter Sowing) in front. Excuse the really pathetic, almost none-existent grid on this Old Style SFG bed.

Nice compost! That worm is as big as I've ever seen them.

How do you know that that giant carrot isn't a Queen Anne Lace? Or maybe you don't have that in your area...?