I was a newby last year...my garden

This is my garden experience from being a newby last year, 2009.
My son used a sod cutter to clear the back lawn space for my 9 raised beds.
The beds are 2"x12" in 4-foot squares. He filled them with garden loam he had trucked in, 6 yards of it.
I actually had enuf extra loam to add a mound for strawberries, potatoes, sweet corn and an annual bed. No lumber, just raised in a mound.
url=https://servimg.com/view/15016226/6][/url]

I amended the soil, adding composted manure, peat moss, and then marked my foot-sqaure plots with old venetian blind slats I got for a buck at Salvation Army store. I planned nasturtiums and marigolds in one corner of each bed to repel pests.


Next I went shopping for started seedlings since I didn't have the set-up for starting my own at that point. I planted, and planted. I also sowed seeds directly in the garden, like beans and peas and carrots, onion sets, and a host of others.

These are hot peppers and tomatoes in their bed


My New Jersey Wakefield cabbages, bought at Home Dept, came up a treat.


I made cages out of chicken wire and netting to shade my lettuces. I found the chicken wire snagged the netting too much for my taste. I'll try another method for 2010, like tenting cheesecloth over poles at each end of the lettuce plots.


I had one bed with just herbs, but will change that next year also. We only used a few of them fresh. I prefer to get mine at the store, already dried. I haven't the capability to dry them properly. I'll just have a few staple herbs in my 2010 garden.


My garden view in August. I got lots of good, fresh, tasty veggies from our garden for my first year and expect to get more next year. In 2010 I plan on having both a spring and fall crop of the cool-weather crops, like cabbage, spinach, lettuce and the like. The green 7' high fence posts were buried at the end of 6 of my beds so I could string twine for vining crops like beans and peas and to string up my tomato plants as well. The long mound across the front of this photo is 14 1st-yr strawberries.


In November the beds were empty and I'd added a bit of compost from my compost barrel. All in all, we enjoyed the fruits of my labors and I enjoyed every bit of it, even the weeding.

url=https://servimg.com/view/15016226/14][/url]
Its great picking your own veggies to add to your evening meal.

WOW looks like you had a very bountiful first year congrats i hope my first years is half as good keep up the good work and keep us posted

Quiltbea, thanks for the inspirational photos. I'm a newbie this spring and need all the insirpation I can get.

Thanks for the great pictorial. There's a lot of ideas in there for sfg gardeners to take note of that aren't often talked about.

Happy Gardening!

Thanks for sharing. I guess I hadn't thought about checking the salvation army for some cheap gardening supplies.

I also bought several packs of the large plant labels for a buck a package at Good Will. They are soooo nice I haven't even used them yet. I don't know why I'm saving them. These are the large white plastic ones that have a large square at the top that leans back so you can read it when its plunged in the soil.

Thanks Quiltbe for sharing photos of your garden. It looks great. Seeing other gardens is one of the best things about the forum.
It will be interesting to see how your garden goes this year.
Cheers from Ray Down Under

I planted 7 squares in my tenthouse for an early start this year. Unfortunately, last nite it went down to 15 degrees so besides the row cover, I also put two thick towels over the plots to keep them from freezing. They haven't even germinated yet and with this cold, I may have to start again.
We'll see.

Your garden is glorious! And yes...nothing like picking your own goodies for a meal. Thanx for sharing and happy gardening

The only thing I've lost so far this year is the basil which I bought in pots and planted. For some reason, I just can't seem to grow basil yet. I tried it in a pot and I tried in in a square. Both died. That and chives are my downfall.

I have light row cover on my cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce plots now to protect from insect pests. In the A-frame I've been harvesting radishes and All lettuce mix. I also planted two Matt's Wild Cherry tomato plants to live there thru the season. I've also harvested some Swiss chard. I have buttercrunch lettuce and mesclun mix ready to use. I'm really enjoying this year's SFG endeavor. I started lots early with heavy row cover ready to cover the plants when nites got frosty. No losses yet except for the basil and the chives just don't want to germinate.

Tomorrow will be a nice day, in the 70s, so I'll be out early putting in eggplant, zucchini, peppers and even some tomatoes.....keeping row cover always handy just in case.

Here's my Swiss chard. The 3 Oregon Spring tomatoes were put in a few weeks ago. They can be planted a month before last frost, but I notice they don't do much growing since planted, tho they are healthy. You can see two Basil upper left slowly dying for unknown reasons. Maybe I watered them too much.
It continues to be a learning experience for me. I'm loving it.
I'm always grateful I ordered the SFG book that got me started in veggie gardening.

Lookin' good, Bea! Your garden is coming along nicely.

Looks terrific! Thanks for sharing with us. Pictures always help inspire me. I keep trying to get my pics off my Blackberry but for some reason it seems to hate my computer. Grrrr! Keep the pics coming--they're awesome!

Carrie