Mike's Garden - 2011

Hi Everyone,

I figured I'd start a thread where I can post and update info and pics with my ongoing garden progress throughout the season! This is my first SFG, although I had a regular garden last year and grew some herbs in pots the year before that. Questions/comments/concerns/other feedback are all welcome of course! And just as a forewarning - In the few days I've been on the forum I've been told several times that you guys love pics. I'm going to take you at your word on that.

Here are the compost bins I've made so far, using some wooden pallets I got for free on Craigslist:

Left side is what I started last year (most of which I've used), right is what I've started this season so far.

My garden plot from the top...

...and from the bottom.

A close-up.

And again from the side where I've started my bed.

My bed-in-progress from above (the cut-off milk carton has some of my hair in it...the neighbor FEEDS the deer O.o):

Broccoli and Cauliflower:

Sugar Snap Peas (plus a stow-away, maybe a watermelon that survived in my compost?):

Black Beans! (aka Turtle Beans; plus another stow-away):

1st Yukon Potato to come up! (Not in my SFG bed, but in the 20" x 40" Rubbermaid bin full of MM that I used as a compost bin last year):

TRANSPLANTS! Tomatoes (Roma, Chocolate Cherry, Heirloom Mix, Nonna's Prize), Peppers (Jalapenos, Cayenne, Hybrid Bell Mix, Chocobelle, Lipstick), Butternut Squash (from seeds I saved last year!!!), Lettuce (Red Romaine, Buttercrunch, Brune d'Hiver - I may just eat these as baby lettuce since it's so late for cold crops), and a couple random things I thought I'd be able to plant by now but haven't been able to because of the accursed weather!

Dwarf Blueberries! I can't remember the varieties, but they're both different.

Raspberries (Center) and Strawberries (Edges)!

A Spinach! (The only one I planted in something big enough to live this long lol)

Herbs (Italian Parsley, Oregano, Basil, and Cilantro)

Well there you go. I'll post new pics etc. as I get more done; we've got sun coming for a couple days this Friday before it rains again for a week, so I'm hoping to get a little done then, we'll see. Thanks for checking this out! Take it easy.

nothing timid or small about this set up. Yes, we do love pictures and we enjoy seeing an area develop into a great SFG. You are definitely on your way.

Glad to see your first completed bed already planted.

Yes, you do have to watch for stowaways in compost, just means it is nutritious stuff.

Good job and yes, we do want to be updated on your progress.

If you get a place ready for them this weekend and can provide some shade later in the season, I would take a chance and plant that lettuce. You may still have a few weeks of weather cool enough to get a few cuttings or longer if the shade does the trick.

Your plants are looking good.


Kay

WOW! Love your setup! You have one heck of a variety of plants. I'm pretty boring , sticking with the good ole staples. Thanks for posting!

Lol thanks...I have a history of biting off more than I can chew, so hopefully I can manage to get it all done successfully!

Wow! That's an impressive array of transplants, Mike! I wish I had gotten a head start on seedlings, but I don't have a sunny place to put so many. Good for you!

Mike, looking GOOD! Congratulations.

Off topic: is that you playing the piano on youtube? I like the song.

Thanks guys. xD

I actually started most of that in the basement, but I guess my light wasn't strong enough or something because they're still really tiny (hopefully not too tiny).

The really lucky part is that I used the compost I made last year as a mulch for my blueberries, and obviously it wasn't fully composted because I had little Romas springing up all over the place! I transplanted 4 dozen Romas from my blueberry pots and those are all the big plants I have in the back, probably the only ones that are at the right size for this time in the season!

madnicmom wrote:Off topic: is that you playing the piano on youtube? I like the song.

Nah unfortunately I can't play the piano. I'm not sure which song you're talking about but it would be either my cousin Dan who is a piano prodigy, or my buddy Rob who just plays for fun but is really good. I play the ocarina, a little acoustic guitar, and sing. Check out my cover of "Lullaby" by Josh Groban, that's my best performance. xD

it was "Non Locus Eis"

Ah yah that was Rob...he composed that accompaniment, he's really got a knack for it. He also played for the "Night of Silence" song if you like his playing.

Just figured I'd post a couple pics of my first harvest! It's pretty modest, lol, but it's a start.


What's left of the plant

It looks like it's starting to bolt...should I pick the rest of the leaves and trash it, or will it still grow more edible leaves if I let it go?

You've done good there. You are not someone who does things half heartedly by the looks of things. I hope the deer get more than plenty to eat from your neighbour and don't wander your direction.

Why not trim the top and make the plant grow some sideshoots.

Every plant's aim in life is to reproduce, so if you top it, perhaps that will delay it going to seed.

NICE!

Wowzers!! Your garden and transplant assortment are very impressive. I can't wait to see more progress pix as you go along.

Beautiful gardens. I didn't realize hair would keep deer away. Thanks for mentioning it in your post.

junebug wrote:Beautiful gardens. I didn't realize hair would keep deer away. Thanks for mentioning it in your post.

No prob! I wouldn't consider it a viable solution on it's own, but it seems to help in conjunction with other precautions.

I know people who swear by it... so much so that they get human hair from hairdressers and stuff it in old pantyhose. They hang it around their gardens. I've never had (knock on wood) deer issues, so I've never had the desire to hang old pantyhose in my yard.

Hey All,

Well I finished my first SFG bed and have done some more planting! Here are some updated pics of all my plant-related endeavors:

Getting lots of raspberry blooms now!

My strawberries stopped putting out new blooms a couple weeks ago (all of which I've been pinching off, as Gurney's instructed to do until June), but all the bigger ones have started putting out runners, which I'll try planting into the spots where the strawberries I bought didn't last.

My herbs, doing really well so far:

Lettuces, which I had planned to transplant into the SFG, but it's so late in the season for them that I didn't want to take the risk when I could put more tomatoes/peppers in their place...I'm just going to eat them from the cups!

Yukon Gold potatoes, which are also doing great thus far:

1 of 2 bins of Beauregard sweet potatoes, which I just put in yesterday, so they're not looking so great yet:

Butternut Squash, which I don't have room for in my SFG bed, so I'm basically going to plant them and some other extras in the recently cleared ground of the ditch behind my bed, and if I get something from them great, if not, no worries:

My finished (for this season anyway) SFG bed, with my beautiful Romas in the foreground:

The other end of the bed you saw in earlier pics, with broccoli, cauliflower, bush beans, black beans, and sugar snap peas, all of which are doing great so far:

That's all of any note for now. I just planted some onions (I know it's late but I'm hoping xD), more beans, and some of the peppers, but there's not really anything to see yet. I'll update again when there is tho, don't worry.

Beautiful, both the pictures and the actual garden! Congratulations.

I think you broke the record for longest SFG posted on the forum!

Is it 24 feet?

boffer wrote:I think you broke the record for longest SFG posted on the forum!

I'll say!

But really, why have several boxes out there? One big long one might be perfect, if you have the space. You save on boards too, don't have to buy all those end boards. Save space, too, and you don't need the groundcover in between boxes.

How did you connect all those boards together? Did you use braces?

And do you think you'll put trellises in? Or just stake those tomatoes?

It's looking great!

HieronRemade wrote:Check out my cover of "Lullaby" by Josh Groban, that's my best performance. xD

Oh. My. Gosh.

If you guys think Mike is growing some pretty spectacular veggies, you should see the beauty(ies) he's growing in that video!

Way to go, Mike!