My first SFGs in 11 years

Someone replied to my intro that you love pictures. I guess if I'm posting from Oklahoma I should say "Y'all" love pictures. 

Anyway, I have my two beds up and growing. One has the chicken-wire protective cover as described in the SFG book, but I goofed when I realized my climbing plants are under it! I'll cross that bridge when the plants get taller!

The one on the left has all the squares filled, but I realized I goofed by planting the wrong size carrots or not building up. So I pulled out the sprouting carrots (14 of 16) and planted Romaine lettuce.

The bed on the right has some corn, an attempt at garlic, peas, and catnip for the critters in the house! 

Good looking start! I understand creating 'cross that bridge' situations.
Is your catnip some you sprouted from seed? I ask because I've been having troubles with germinating that one. Not sure if I got the odd bad packet, or if I'm doing something wrong...

phoeg wrote:... One has the chicken-wire protective cover as described in the SFG book, but I goofed when I realized my climbing plants are under it! I'll cross that bridge when the plants get taller! ...

I have a 4x4 bed with a chicken wire cage that covers only 3 rows of the bed. The fourth row of the bed is for climbers. It has a trellis but no cage.

Yours are good looking beds by the way.

Beds looking good.

TD, a photo of the bed you mentioned?

"Is your catnip some you sprouted from seed?"

Not sure yet. :-) I just planted the seeds yesterday. I may grow some in a pot indoors.

Will keep you updated.

trolleydriver wrote:I have a 4x4 bed with a chicken wire cage that covers only 3 rows of the bed. The fourth row of the bed is for climbers. It has a trellis but no cage.

Photo of 3-row chicken wire cage with 1-row trellis. Permission to post it publicly??

sanderson wrote:

trolleydriver wrote:I have a 4x4 bed with a chicken wire cage that covers only 3 rows of the bed. The fourth row of the bed is for climbers. It has a trellis but no cage.

Photo of 3-row chicken wire cage with 1-row trellis.  Permission to post it publicly??

sanderson ... that bed is not looking too petty right now. The chicken wire cage is starting its third year. I must have bought a bad batch of chicken wire because the cage has rusted. I'll see if I can find an old picture that will look better. Then it can go public.

Your boxes and set ups are looking really good. Thanks so much for sharing. It looks like you are off to a great start.

Mimi2 wrote:Your boxes and set ups are looking really good. Thanks so much for sharing. It looks like you are off to a great start.

Thanks! Lots of stuff sprouting too! The beets took a "beeting" in some recent severe weather with very heavy rain. Fortunately the beds are on the east side of the building and so are protected from the worst Oklahoma storm winds.

I'm going through a stage that I'm sure is part of learning: determining what is a weed sprouting or an intended plant! LOL I have some things growing in squares where I'd planted peppers, but they aren't in the middle where I put the seeds! Hmmm. In some cases the sprouting plants are where I expect them to be, so they make sense. Another one has the...what do you call it? The seed casing? It's still on the leaves and it sure looks like a seed I planted, but it's well away from where it theoretically should have been.

Another thing I'm learning about are the leaves that appear with the sprouting plant but are not the leaves that will eventually be on the plant as it matures. I don't recall the name of those first leaves. I'm hoping that as those wilt (on a couple plants) the rest of the mature leaves will appear. In other words, I hope that it's the first leaves wilting and not the plant dying!

On the plus side...ALL the garlic I planted is sprouting. (Vampires take note!), the corn is doing well, and the two types of lettuce are coming up. The marigolds (for color) are doing well. 

Oh, one other thing I learned: Vegetables grow better when you plant the seeds rather than leaving them in the seed packet. I wondered why my spinach wasn't coming up, and I figured I'd have to replant the seeds. I went out to replant the spinach, and when I got to the garden I picked up the...unopened pack of spinach seeds. 

phoeg wrote:

Mimi2 wrote:Your boxes and set ups are looking really good. Thanks so much for sharing. It looks like you are off to a great start.

Thanks! Lots of stuff sprouting too! The beets took a "beeting" in some recent severe weather with very heavy rain. Fortunately the beds are on the east side of the building and so are protected from the worst Oklahoma storm winds.

I'm going through a stage that I'm sure is part of learning: determining what is a weed sprouting or an intended plant! LOL I have some things growing in squares where I'd planted peppers, but they aren't in the middle where I put the seeds! Hmmm. In some cases the sprouting plants are where I expect them to be, so they make sense. Another one has the...what do you call it? The seed casing? It's still on the leaves and it sure looks like a seed I planted, but it's well away from where it theoretically should have been.

Another thing I'm learning about are the leaves that appear with the sprouting plant but are not the leaves that will eventually be on the plant as it matures. I don't recall the name of those first leaves. I'm hoping that as those wilt (on a couple plants) the rest of the mature leaves will appear. In other words, I hope that it's the first leaves wilting and not the plant dying!

On the plus side...ALL the garlic I planted is sprouting. (Vampires take note!), the corn is doing well, and the two types of lettuce are coming up. The marigolds (for color) are doing well. 

Oh, one other thing I learned: Vegetables grow better when you plant the seeds rather than leaving them in the seed packet. I wondered why my spinach wasn't coming up, and I figured I'd have to replant the seeds. I went out to replant the spinach, and when I got to the garden I picked up the...unopened pack of spinach seeds. 

Looking good, phoeg!  Like your set-up!  LOL, I have done that before, had a square all labeled, for chard I believe, and nada...and lo and behold?  Bright Lights package untouched!  LOL!  

Yes, the initial leaves, the cotyledons, will rule the baby plant until it setts its first set of tru leaves, which usually look like the plant leaves in mini.  Cptyledons look like, unfolding seed-leaf things.  And they wither and "die" as the plant takes over for itself. 

Even when I try to pant grid-style, there are inevitably some finger-sticking seed that land in unintended areas....I wait for true leaves to see if it looks like it's neighbors!

Can't wait to see your progress!  

phoeg wrote:Oh, one other thing I learned: Vegetables grow better when you plant the seeds rather than leaving them in the seed packet. I wondered why my spinach wasn't coming up, and I figured I'd have to replant the seeds. I went out to replant the spinach, and when I got to the garden I picked up the...unopened pack of spinach seeds. 

I haven't done that one - but last year I did something like it. I have a chronological to-do list for the garden. One week I read that I had assigned myself to "Start hardening off" some vegetable or another. I frowned, flipped backwards... but looking back through things, there had never been a prior entry to actual start them!

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:

phoeg wrote:Oh, one other thing I learned: Vegetables grow better when you plant the seeds rather than leaving them in the seed packet. I wondered why my spinach wasn't coming up, and I figured I'd have to replant the seeds. I went out to replant the spinach, and when I got to the garden I picked up the...unopened pack of spinach seeds. 

I haven't done that one - but last year I did something like it. I have a chronological to-do list for the garden. One week I read that I had assigned myself to "Start hardening off" some vegetable or another. I frowned, flipped backwards... but looking back through things, there had never been a prior entry to actual start them!

 What happens, happens!  Just keep notes, right?

Scorpio Rising wrote:

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:

phoeg wrote:Oh, one other thing I learned: Vegetables grow better when you plant the seeds rather than leaving them in the seed packet. I wondered why my spinach wasn't coming up, and I figured I'd have to replant the seeds. I went out to replant the spinach, and when I got to the garden I picked up the...unopened pack of spinach seeds. 

I haven't done that one - but last year I did something like it. I have a chronological to-do list for the garden. One week I read that I had assigned myself to "Start hardening off" some vegetable or another. I frowned, flipped backwards... but looking back through things, there had never been a prior entry to actual start them!

 What happens, happens!  Just keep notes, right?

Yup! I put "Add __!!!" at the top of the file so that when I copied it to start this year's to-do I'd remember to fix it! I've got plenty going on (or I wouldn't need a long to-do list) so it wasn't a huge loss. Clearly, since i can't even remember what veg it was! Maybe napa? Or maybe that was one that only appeared on the planning map and I didn't figure out I'd messed up until I went to look up what was supposed to be in the empty square...eh! It's all good.

Now I don't feet so bad. I carefully labeled all my different varieties of melons, cukes, and tomatoes, then had that infestation of spider mites. By the time I got everything separated, treated, washed, re-potted, etc., the labels had gone the way of the wild goose. Now I haven't a clue what varieties of anything survived, so I will definitely have a mystery garden this year.

BeetlesPerS wrote:Is your catnip some you sprouted from seed? I ask because I've been having troubles with germinating that one.

It has taken a while, but this evening I noticed some tiny leaves poking out of the soil, and they aren't weeds!!! 

phoeg wrote:

BeetlesPerS wrote:Is your catnip some you sprouted from seed? I ask because I've been having troubles with germinating that one.

It has taken a while, but this evening I noticed some tiny leaves poking out of the soil, and they aren't weeds!!! 

Hurrah!
I got a division of catnip from the nice lady I pick up horse manure from - I got the freshly dug plant home, plunked it straight in a hole, and watered it in. It looks happy, and I'm happy that I can skip worrying about those seeds. There are enough other seeds/plants to worry about.

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:

phoeg wrote:

BeetlesPerS wrote:Is your catnip some you sprouted from seed? I ask because I've been having troubles with germinating that one.

It has taken a while, but this evening I noticed some tiny leaves poking out of the soil, and they aren't weeds!!! 

Hurrah!
I got a division of catnip from the nice lady I pick up horse manure from - I got the freshly dug plant home, plunked it straight in a hole, and watered it in. It looks happy, and I'm happy that I can skip worrying about those seeds. There are enough other seeds/plants to worry about.

Pinch it back or it will get leggy like any other mint. When I pinch mine, I toss the trimmings on the floor for the cats, then just vacuum it up when the show's over.

A catnip plant would have to be under lock and key at my house.

countrynaturals wrote:Pinch it back or it will get leggy like any other mint. When I pinch mine, I toss the trimmings on the floor for the cats, then just vacuum it up when the show's over.

Okay, things are coming along. Things have grown bigger since I took these over the Memorial Day weekend.

I salvaged a couple tomato cage thingies my wife had and cut them down a bit so they'd fit. Anyone ever use these in their SFG? Any issues? 

I also have trellis netting up behind the one, but only the beans are getting tall enough to start climbing it.

Couple questions: The yellow (wax) beans say they're a bush type (I think Mel's book does too) but would they be better off climbing a trellis or one of those metal frames just to give other plants more room? 

Also, the peas are doing well but the leaves near the ground seem to be browning and drying, but there's a flower coming out and the upper leaves look good. Should those go on something to climb?

Any and all advice is welcome.

Paul

Paul,

Tomato cages in the SFG beds? Yes.
Bush beans are just that, bushy.
Peas and beans will normally shed the lower leaves as they grow taller. If the tops look good and they are flowering, all is good.
Are the peas bush or pole variety? The pole varieties (same with pole beans) need a trellis to climb.

Hope this helps. Others may also chime in.

Thanks! I guess I'm doing okay then. :-)

It has been an interesting learning experience.

I've had problems getting the tomato cages (not trimmed down ones) to stay upright in MM once the plants get top heavy. But I also have wind as a contributing factor. Trying to go all the way through the MM and into my dirt isn't very practical due to my having 8" beds and hard to penetrate rocky clay, but may be a solution for others. I'm mostly only using the cages for peppers and eggplants now, since they don't get as big, and try to use other options for the tomatoes.

I better modify what I said about tomato cages in the beds. I have so many PVC frames that I strap one cage to an upright PVC, then tie the next cage to the first, etc. Cages in the 5-gallon buckets are very stable.

Paul, your garden loooks AWESOME!!!!!  

I have tried cages in containers, and they were only successful with determinate varieties (tomatoes) not indeterminate.  Indeterminate (most heirlooms) tomatoes just really go nuts and send out tons and tons of side "plants", little shoots that literally become full blown plants.  

So, in my garden, I use cages for determinate only, because they are a more well behaved plant.  For indeterminate, I us a stake, and train to a central leader.  Pinch all suckers off (the little shoots that start in the crotch of leaves to stem junctions) and tie up to the stake.  

Search the box at the upper left for guidance.  I will look too if i have time!  You will be eating well!  Looking good!