2021 SFG Adventures in Hampstead, NC

Hello my SFG friends. I know it has been a while. I think it is fair to say that 2020 did not turn out like anyone expected. Early in the year I was busy with my daughter's wedding. Then the pandemic hit. Then my wife and daughter finished college. And I was still remodeling my home...which thankfully I finished...sort of. 

With all that said, no garden for 2020, except my wife did plant some rosemary. 

2021 is here and I don't know how likely a garden will be this year. My beds are in rough shape. They are overgrown with weeds. (yes I used the W word here...I apologize) Also, the sides of my 4x4 are rotted. I haven't looked under it yet, but the plywood may not be in much better shape. 
I am pretty sure my MM needs to be revitalized with more compost but I have not made any. I am pretty sure my compost bins need to be rebuilt too since my removable front panels have rotted and broke. 

So it sounds like this year may be a rebuilding year and I may move the beds as well. 
That is a shame because I would love to grow something, but we shall see.

Actually, a lot was achieved in your family in 2020. Your daughter got married, your wife and daughter graduated from college, and you almost completed the remodeling of your home.

Regarding your compost bin, sounds like you just need to cut some fencing planks. ?? This is just a suggestion for gardening this year. If those beautiful table top beds with built-in arch need repair, I have a suggestion. Ready?

Buy some durable weed fabric and enough 2"x8" lumber to make temporary beds on the lawn. Roll out the durable weed fabric to extend 3' out from the beds, overlapping the edges. Set down the boxes and fill with the existing MM. Buy some tomatoes and other summer plants. Wella, you have now stored the MM and can have complete access to the beds for assessment and repair.

My husband is having to repair some of my beds. The oldest is from 2013 and some were built without underneath support frames. We are experimenting with cement board for the bottoms.

Hey Sanderson and Marie, I hope you guys are doing well.

So here is a hint to what happened today...

Someone ate your Tootsie Rolls!! Or something ate your crops?

So the #1 question most people ask regarding table top beds seems to be: How long do table top beds with plywood bottoms last?
I can say definitively that they last 6 years, 1 month, 24 days or 2246 days.

So back in 2014, I started building a Table Top garden bed. I used treated 4x4 posts, but untreated 2x6's for the sides and untreated plywood for the bottom.




About 7 months later, the build was complete and the Mel's Mix went in.



Fast forward to June 4, 2021...6 years, 1 month and 24 days later the bottom fell out...literally.

Oh my gosh! That happened to a 2'x4' bed on rollers but the plants didn't have to fall as far as yours did! Three others started to fail, one of them built in fall of 2014.

What are you going to do?

I moved the strawberry plants to the other 2 beds (which I noticed were rotting too) and topped them off with the MM from that 4x4. I had not been adding any compost or MM to those beds so they were quite low. I only ended up with 1 5-gallon bucket left over.

I am going to take this opportunity to move the 2x8's and will look at rebuilding the 4x4, but I have to wait for my loan application to clear before I can go buy any lumber.

ralitaco wrote:. . . I am going to take this opportunity to move the 2x8's and will look at rebuilding the 4x4, but I have to wait for my loan application to clear before I can go buy any lumber.

Truth

So sorry that happened, but with all this rain.....  
Do you get many strawberries from your strawberry plants? How much work are they? 


I live in Wilmington NC

Beachmom wrote:So sorry that happened, but with all this rain.....  
Do you get many strawberries from your strawberry plants? How much work are they? 


I live in Wilmington NC

Hello Beachmom. So glad to see someone nearby!!!

I will answer your questions in reverse order:
For me they are not much work but right now none of my SFG is much work. I have been working on other things around the house and have really let them go the last several years.

With that said, we do get lots of strawberries. They are not very big, but that is probably because I don't water them and the MM is in serious need of compost to boost the nutrients.

Every season they do put out runners and my plant count increases. When I relocated the ones that fell, I ended up with about 20 extra plants that are in pots right now. Mind you the original plant was a free, half dead one we got from Ashton Farms in Burgaw. Prior to the pandemic I really let the SFG go wild and do its own thing because I was focused on remodeling the house thanks to Florence. For some reason, once we went on lock down I decided to clean up the beds which were super crowded with the runners. I ended up repotting about 100 plants and gave them away to friends and my wife's Sunday School class kids - one of which just shared a picture of a really big berry from HIS plant.