My Summer Project. Updated with photos

[Oneslowz28]

Back when I was in high school I was very much into the FFA. (Horticulture Studies) and for 3 years in a row I grew a very impressive 1/2 acre garden. The last one I grew actually won second place in the county vegetable garden contest. That garden had 14 different variety of tomatoes, most of which grew to 6-10 feet in plant height. 2 short 20' rows of Sweet Corn produced 268 ears, and my green beans produced 42 gallons of beans. All in all I had something like 40 different veggies and some strawberries and Raspberries.

I have not had a garden since that one so its been 10 years. This year that is going to change. I was thinking of growing one in my small backyard, but after reading over the HOA, if anything grew over my fence height I would have to cut it down. So I have decided to head out to my grandmothers and build one there.

Having already broken up a spot for her, I have to find a new spot for mine, but the initial plan is for a 70'x30' space that will house the following varieties of veggies. Before someone says that I have way more than I need, I agree, and will be giving away lots of veggies to friends, families and if there is still too much left over, I will donate it to a soup kitchen or church to give away. This is mainly for me to have something to do and relax a bit in the summer evenings.


Tomato Big Beef Hybrid
Tomato Early Girl Hybrid
Tomato Jelly Bean Hybrid
Tomato Better Boy Hybrid
Tomato Big Boy Hybrid
Tomato Large Red Cherry
Squash Pic n Pic Hybrid
Squash E. Prolific Straitneck
Turnip P-Top W-Globe
Watermelon Crimson Sweet
Watermelon Carolina Cross
Watermelon Sugar Baby
Raddish French Breakfast
Raddish E. Scarlet Globe
Raddish Cherry Bell
Carrot Chantenay
Carrot Tendersweet
Cucumber Carolina Hybrid
Cucumber Sumter
Cucumber Muncher
Pepper Long Thin Cayenne
Pepper California Wonder
Pepper Hungarian Hot Yello Wax
Pepper Jalapeno
Pepper Sweet Banana
Bean Contender
Bean Kentucky Wonder Pole
Bean Harvester
Crowder Pea Mississippi Silver Queen
Crowder Pea Purple Hull
Lima Bean Henderson Bush
Green Onion White Lisbon Bunching
Cantaloupe Imperial 45
Cantaloupe Hales Best
Lettuce Iceberg
Dill Long Island Mammoth
Parsley Italian
Parsley Moss Curled
Sweet Basil Sweet Basil
Chives Chives
Sage Broad Leaf
Thyme Common
Rosemary Rosemary
Onion Crimson Red
Onion Sweet Yellow
Onion White
Okra Clemson Spineless
Cabbage Ferrys Round Dutch
Egg Plant Black Beauty
Sweet Potato
Potato White Idaho
Potato Early Red



I have some pretty cool DIY seed sprouting tricks to share and some DIY projects like sprinklers and maybe even a PVC greenhouse build.

I even started my tomatoes, Cabbage, Lettuce, Squash, and Peppers this evening. They are sitting on my kitchen table with 2 grow lights over the flats and hopefully they will begin sprouting in a few days.

[x88x]

Sounds fun! I've been thinking of starting a small vegetable garden in my back yard this summer too, but I've never really done one before (well, not by myself anyway). Any tips?

[Oneslowz28]

For your first one, buy the plants from a home center, walmart or a nursery. Starting them from seed can be very tedious and very difficult. Also if you do not have a roto tiller, and do not wish to buy one, build a 2' raised bed and fill it with top soil. It will make things much easier for you.

[SgtM]

Awesome! I wouldn't mind doing something myself this year. Herbs would be very cool. Hmmm...

[NightrainSrt4]

Me and the fiancee live in an apartment, but we've been growing plants on the balcony. She's ambitious though, so she's tried tougher plants to try and grow on a balcony.

We've got these big plastic tubs that I drilled some holes in the bottom and filled. The first year she tried pumpkins, and the second tomatoes, but both years the fruit got some kind of mold that we couldn't stop from happening. She didn't want to use pesticide, so we used colloidal silver sprayed onto the plants but it didn't help. *shrug*

But, my basil has grown like 4-5 feet tall each year, and has given great yields for the price I pay for the little tiny seedling.

[jdbnsn]

What a great idea! I used to help my dad with the farming when I was a kid, mostly on my knees pulling weeds in the heat. But I always was fond of it, and it is very relaxing altogether in a zen-buddha-feng-shui whatever ya call it sort of way. I haven't done any personally since I was very young but hope to again some day (if I still remember how it works). But the idea of growing your own food is as old as can be and most people don't have a clue how to start. So it is a great hobby and kudos for giving the extras to hungry people, awesome plan!

To this day I still love the smell of nurseries (for plants, do not enjoy the ones for babies). I think the smell is even calming in itself.

[x88x]

To this day I still love the smell of nurseries (for plants, do not enjoy the ones for babies). I think the smell is even calming in itself.

Agreed. There's just something about plants that calms me....maybe one reason why I love the woods so much.

[Oneslowz28]

That zen-buddha-feng-shui whatever ya call it feeling is the main reason I am doing this. I remember spending hours planting, then hours weeding and feeding the plants in my old gardens. Being able to eat the end result was just a bonus.

I first became interested in gardening when my Grandmother and Grandfather use to grow one every year. I use to help pull weeds and would even get to water things every now and then. (It was a lot of fun to run through the sprinklers when it was 105f outside.) They even gave me my own small section one year and I grew my first tomato, watermelon, and cucumber plants. I think there were a few sunflowers there as well. I remember the feelings that I got when I realized that those plants were growing all because I planted a few seeds.

I should begin seeing some sprouts sometime this week, next week at the latest. I still have a lot to plant in the starter trays, but I am waiting on a second one of these (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380314949635) to arrive.


http://thebestcasescenario.com/oneslowz28/personal/GREENHOUSE-ZGSGH05.jpg

Its 12' long x 7' wide x 7' tall. I have already built some multi level benches for it and ordered some drip irrigation gear from a friend who does landscaping. Wholesale prices FTMFW!!!!

I ordered one for my grandmother last week(should be here tomorrow). I had been planning on using a little bit of space for myself, but after hearing her plans for new flower gardens and such, I decided to order one for myself. This means I will have most of my garden ready to plant by April.

I will take some photos tonight of some of traditional and non traditional methods I am using to start the seeds.

[Oneslowz28]

Awesome! I wouldn't mind doing something myself this year. Herbs would be very cool. Hmmm...

My mom has been growing herbs for a few years. She started them from seed the first year or two and now I think she buys the $1.50 plants from Walmart and Lowes. I have a few seed packets here and am going to try and grow them, mainly so I can create some salsa 100% from my garden.

[NightrainSrt4]

The herbs we've grown have been pretty hearty. Well, except the parsley. But I think that died because it was overtaken by the basil and chives in the same container that went crazy.

We've done the seeds, and from the little seedlings from places like Home Depot/Walmart. The best ones we god were little couple week old plants from a little nursery. We paid $15 for a little tiny plant, and that thing grew 5 feet tall. It dwarfed the ones we did from seeds. It made literally pounds of basil. It would have kept growing, but as it got bigger it started budding faster than I could stop it, and once the little buds start growing the plant stops making leaves.

We didn't have to buy basil at all that spring/summer/fall. Here it is like $4 for a little tiny container, so it paid for itself several times over.

It is fun, even if we only have buckets on our balcony. But it is nice to look up at the balconies in the summer and have ours be the only one blooming with some sort of life in a concrete jungle.

[Snowman]

I am not sure of what you have available but why not make this a full blown mod and go with a hydroponics set up with arduino control

[Drum Thumper]

I'm actually going to double the size of my garden this year. Also planning on planting some berry bushes in the general vicinity as well -- makes for easier watering that way!

[Oneslowz28]

I am not into the whole hydroponics thing. I like the feel of working in the dirt. Plus I am expecting some plants to reach 8-10 feet tall. You have to work way too hard to keep plants alive in a hydro setup.

[Oneslowz28]

Update!

So last week I planted some of my seeds so they would be ready by the middle of April for transplanting into the garden. Back in the day I use to use what we called 6 pack flats and plug trays to germinate or seeds. Any of you who have been in to the garden section of any home center or walmart have seen the 6pack flats. They are what you usually buy plants in. The plug flats are made from the same thing, but instead of having 6 cells per pack or 36 cells per flat they usually have between 180 and 500 tiny cells per flat. These are nice to use but they are quite expensive and the plug flats can be a PITA to grow in.

Most of you have seen those peat pellets marketed by a company named Jiffy, and while they work for many people, they are expensive, hold too much moisture and the netting that surrounds them does not decompose very fast. Wanting to put about 500 plants in my garden these were very cost prohibitive for me. So I went back to a method I remember seeing on a gardening show once: Making seed starting pots out of news paper and filling them with garden soil. The idea behind this is that they cost something like $0.02 each to make and fill and you are recycling at the same time. I am going to have a tutorial on my site in a few days that will show you how to make these.

I must say that they surprised me. I was expecting the news paper pots to fall apart once wet and make one big mess. They however, worked flawlessly and actually helped form a nice healthy root ball, and the paper helped wick away excess moisture from the soil. For those of you who want to know what type of garden soil I used, its called Maricael Grow Organic Garden Soil and it cost me $7.89 for a 2 cu ft bag at Lowes. I also picked up a 2 cu ft bag of sphagnum peat moss for $5.99 to mix in with the garden soil. This helps it hold moisture and oxygen. I will include the mix ratio and a seed planting tutorial with my news paper pot tutorial.

I did cheat and mass sow the Lettuce and Cabbage seed into small tray boxes I picked up from a local grocery store. Lettuce and cabbage seeds are very tiny and this just makes things easier.

So I know that you are ready to see some photos, but first let me post a table of what I planted, how many seeds were planted, and how many germinated.


Plant Type|Plant Name|Seeds Planted|Seeds Germinated
Tomato|Early Girl Hybrid|34|31
Tomato|Big Beef Hybrid|29|28
Tomato|Jelly Bean Hybrid|34|34
Tomato|Better Boy Hybrid|25|22
Tomato|Big Boy Hybrid|50|49
Tomato|Large Red Cherry|70|70
Egg Plant|Black Beauty|78|56
Squash|Pic & Pic Hybrid|29|28
Squash|Early Prolific Strait Neck|69|53
Cabbage|Ferry's Round Dutch|100|94
Cantaloupe|Hales Best|32|27
Cantaloupe|Imperial #45|26|25
Okra|Clemson Spineless|103|97
Lettuce|Iceberg|201|167
Lettuce|Romaine|156|85

Ok now for the pics.




http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/cabbage-germination.jpgCabbage

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/lettuce-germination1.jpgLettuce

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/squash-germination3.jpgSquash

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/squash-transplant7.jpgI began transplanting the squash into 2.5" pots today.

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/squash-transplant6.jpg These squash have been germinated for about 3 days now and they are already becoming root bound in the paper pots. So it was time to transplant them.

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/squash-transplant5.jpgWhen making the paper pots I used a staple at the top to hold them together and prevent unraveling during storage. You have to remove this staple because the roots often times will snake through the layers of news paper, so you have to be very careful and unroll the pot to prevent root damage.

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/squash-transplant4.jpgWhen unrolling the newspaper you have to be careful to not damage any roots. Notice the root ball snaking around the outside of the soil. One of these was actually snaked around the inside layer of news paper and penetrating a second inner layer.

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/squash-transplant3.jpgTo transplant to the larger 2.5" pots you first need to separate both of the plants. I germinate multiple seeds per starter pot to save on space. Be very, very careful separating the plants as the roots are very fragile. Also try to preserve as much of the soil on the roots as possible, this will help prevent transplant shock which could stunt growth.

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/2.5in-pot.jpgThis is the type of pot I am using for transplanting. They can be found at the Dollar Tree Dollar Store for $1 for 10. They are about 2.5" x 3" and have plenty of drainage holes on the bottom.

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/squash-transplant2.jpgBefore transplanting the seedling add about 1" of soil to the bottom of the pot and moisten it with a spray bottle.

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/squash-transplant.jpg Gently hold the seedling near the false leaves and using your spare hand, fill the pot to the rim with soil. Then thoroughly moisten the soil with water slightly warmer than room temperature. I try to stick to between 75 and 80 degrees.

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/squash-germination.jpg When you are finished with each transplant place them in a water proof container and let mother nature go to work and in a few weeks you will have garden ready plants. Remember to check the soils moisture a few times a day. It should be moist but not wet feeling. Over watering will rot the plants roots and base resulting in death.

http://themakersworkbench.com/images/garden2011/squash-germination2.jpg

[SgtM]

Wow! That's a pretty successful germination rate.

[Oneslowz28]

Yea, I hope the rest of the seeds germinate that well. Most of the seeds I bought are manufactured by Ferry Morris and bought at Walmart for $1 per pack. There are a few $0.25 packs in there from the dollar store such as the carrots and radishes, but most are the $1 Ferry Morris packs from Walmart. Next year I think I am going to order from Ferry Morris and Genericseeds.com and skip walmart, as they have better variety and some funky stuff.

I did wrap those aluminum pans in plastic wrap for the first few days of germination and kept the temp in the house around 75f. Most of it is the quality of the seeds though. If you look at the lettuce photo, the seedlings on the right are ferry morris, and the ones on the left are cheap $0.25 seeds from the dollar store.

[Twigsoffury]

heh you could make 100,000's a year working for a cartel.

[Oneslowz28]

lol

[BS Mods]

I have been gardening since I was a kid. There is nothing better than walking out to your garden and munching on fresh veggies.

I especially love sugar snap peas right off the vine. Just pop the whole thing in your mouth. yum!

I've never made the newspaper pots before. That's a cool idea. Gardening can be the most fulfilling experience and more people should get back to it. And if you've noticed the prices of produce lately it will save a lot of money!

I have a helpful hint on a couple things -

Things that grow fast like radishes, beans, etc. should be planted in 1/3 rows every couple weeks. So you don't end up with all of them ready at the same time. You can plant a 1/3 of a row every week or so and you will always have enough but not too much.

Some people ask "how deep do you till the dirt" the answer is - "how long do you want your carrots?" ;)

[Oneslowz28]

After breaking the soil and removing all the grass I tilled to a depth of 10". I got my soil test results back to day and need to add about 50lbs of lime, some peat, and plenty of compost. I am going to buy a truck bed of compost tomorrow and a small utility trailer of wood chips to work into the soil with the lime the next time I till it. I transplanted the okra to the 2.5" pots today and tried to do the lettuce, but kept crushing the seedling's stems. I am going to ask a friend how he does it tomorrow.

My greenhouse came today so I am going to build some shelving for it tomorrow and hopefully be planting the rest of my seeds in it by next week. I did breakdown and order some 1020 flats and some 6cell tray inserts for them. I love those news paper pots but they take between 15 and 30 seconds each to make and I still need to make a few hundred. The problem is that I just do not have the time to make them all.

[Oneslowz28]

Well I will not have the chance to set up the greenhouse today. We are expecting heavy thunderstorms with 25-35mph winds to move in around noon. This also means I will not be working today so maybe I can head out to the shop and build some benches.

[SXRguyinMA]

or maybe you can get some articles published before they grow spider webs :whistler: :D

In all seriousness though, get this thing up soon!

[Snowman]

or maybe you can get some articles published before they grow spider webs :whistler: :D

In all seriousness though, get this thing up soon!

or answer pms...:whistler:

Really like this project, as I need to start eating healthier anyway.