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Judging__Eagle
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### Planning a vegetable garden?

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Post by Judging__Eagle » Sun May 09, 2010 9:22 pm

So, our family has got the use of a small vegetable garden for the rest of the growing season that we're renting from a local municipality . Our neighboring town, we live on the edge of our town as it is, and we have it till October to use the 18' by 15' (plot).
So far, I've been doing a bit of research, and have found the following, and am either reading, or have read the following sites:
-http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/p ... arden.html
-http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/north-cold.html
-http://www.humeseeds.com/vegplan.htm
-http://www.humeseeds.com/raised.htm - this looks like a good idea. At least, the raising part.
-http://www.growinggroceries.com/?tag=garden-planning
http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/
-http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/
-specifically http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/cate ... echniques/
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEbMIM8f ... r_embedded
http://www.squidoo.com/vegetable-garden-planning
Are there other sources that anyone here knows that I could get info, or what other info do other people here know about? I'm pretty sure some other people here in the Den grow some of their own food.
Last edited by Judging__Eagle on Sun May 09, 2010 9:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Meikle641
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Post by Meikle641 » Sun May 09, 2010 10:41 pm

http://www.instructables.com/ Well, I think they have some. I'll check my text files on here since I think I have some more resources I can show you.
This thread is relevant to my (long term) interests.
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Maj
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Post by Maj » Sun May 09, 2010 11:13 pm

The biggest resource we use are local businesses who sell plants specifically for growing in gardens related to our climate. The big-box stores (Home Depot, etc) have vaguely knowledgeable staff, but only kinda.
A local food coop/organic/health food store usually has the hook-up to local farms, city composting services that will sell you compost on the cheap, etc, and they can probably hook you up with a group that knows some of the best tricks for your area.
Edit: Maybe your local Master Gardener's association, too.
---
If your garden space is small, when figuring out what you want to grow, don't forget to figure in cost of the food being grown, amount produced per plant, and how much you eat.
Celery and carrots, for example, are things we eat a lot of, but given the limited space of our garden, they takes up too much space and don't produce enough to be worthwhile crops. Tomatoes, however, don't take up that much space and produce a cubic ass ton on each plant, so it's a much better idea. We also grow our own herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil, thai basil, etc) because they are way cheap to grow, hella expensive to buy, and totally driable if there is too much.
Other good crops for us have turned out to be green beans, kale, zucchini, and peppers.
Good luck! Don't be afraid to use your library, either.
Last edited by Maj on Sun May 09, 2010 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Josh_Kablack
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Post by Josh_Kablack » Sun May 09, 2010 11:28 pm

If you live anywhere near me, tomatoes are pretty sure fire. You almost can't fail to produce a bunch of them.
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Crissa
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Post by Crissa » Sun May 09, 2010 11:45 pm

I've raised gardens in many climates, but I don't know where you're at exactly.
If you have a plot in a municipal garden, you probably don't have to worry about things like wind or getting enough sun; you'll get the maximum for your region.
There's two ways to look at garden planning: What can grow there, or what you are able to grow; and what can you save the most by producing on your own?
For instance, it's really hard to duplicate the ability of big farmers to produce stable onions, potatoes, or grain crops - these do especially well as monocrops and take specific timing to grow. Even though traditionally, they are fun crops to grow. There's nothing like fresh grains, honestly, they're really delicious - I tend to eat the oats and wheat that go wild on the edge of roads and paths.
Tomatoes are a traditional one to grow yourself. They don't hold well for shipping, and so the store tomato just can't hold anything to a real summer fresh tomato. Literally: One of the flavonoids breaks down below 50F, so you don't want to refrigerate fresh tomatoes. Any place that has warm summers can grow them; just as long as they're protected from dipping below that magic number, they'll produce readily. Most urban gardens have a heat-island effect and are thus protected.
The easiest crop to grow as a beginner is the lowly radish. They are quick to sprout, don't have the smallest seeds, and generally keep well. They were a staple of salads and now soups in my life because of this.
Crops you want to avoid in a communal garden are those which are perennial plants; like strawberries and some herbs. These produce better the second season they're in, even though they like the planting space, but communal gardens tend not to like over-wintering the crops because of the bother it is. But these are some of the easier crops to grow, but it's good to remember if you can't winter your crops!
We're growing many snap peas and string beans in our garden, because we have lots of vertical space that already has posts, and these will grow to cover them well. String beans are another crop which doesn't hold well for shipping, and is much improved by eating fresh. We've chosen some with varied colors of flowers and pods to increase the visual attraction of our garden, because it's in our front walk - things you don't have to consider in a communal garden.
You can look up local temperature variations on the internet - it's really fun to know what you can expect if you don't know it by heart. That you can compare with seed catalogs, even if you buy starts from the store, because the various types are pretty similar in what they'll require.
-Crissa
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Judging__Eagle
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Post by Judging__Eagle » Mon May 10, 2010 1:45 am

Location: Lyons Lane Oakville Garden Plots
So, cold climate (southern ontario, 'near' the lake, but not on it).
Right now, some of the things that my mother, sister, and brother want to plant are:
-heirloom tomatoes (freaking key, we eat tomatos year round, and prefer heirloom ones to begin with)
Radishes are a good idea.
There's a list written up that my mother has for crops that grow well from seed. The tomatoes we're going to buy as seedlings from a grower that supplies plants to restaurant chefs.
I've been too busy with school for the last few weeks so I'm not sure on what the other people who are working on this with me have got so far, but I know that they've also got stuff to add.
Growing our own basil and sage is an other idea for driving this project, we use a lot of it in our cooking.
Thanks for the advice Maj and Crissa, Meikle, I've been thinking about checking out Instructables, but haven't done so yet, so far I've found some interesting pieces.
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Crissa
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Post by Crissa » Mon May 10, 2010 3:41 am

Continental climate with lake influence. Nice. You can grow literally any annual crop there with your warm summers. The warmth you'll get in the summer will just accelerate its growth.
Avoid greens, like collards or lettuces, as it'll get too warm by the time they finish growing... They need sixty days and it is May already. And one might think it's too late for corn, but you should consult locally.
Your climate is hardly 'cold' compared to what I've grown up with ^-^
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Count Arioch the 28th
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Post by Count Arioch the 28th » Mon May 10, 2010 6:19 am

I am not really an expert of gardening, but one time I grew some Yellow Pear tomatoes in my backyard (In northwestern Virginia, which is considered semi-arid temperate by scientists and "shitty" by me), and they kicked ass. I chowed down on them, they were really good.
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Judging__Eagle
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Post by Judging__Eagle » Mon May 10, 2010 12:55 pm

Yeah, tomatoes seem like a win-win option right now.
and, no, it's not "cold", I mean... we're not in the prairies it gets actually cold there. Here, we're just north enough to get snow in the winter.
Avoiding greens, thanks, that's really handy to know.
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Maj
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Post by Maj » Mon May 10, 2010 9:51 pm

> JE wrote:-heirloom tomatoes (freaking key, we eat tomatos year round, and prefer heirloom ones to begin with)

The biggest problem I have with heirloom tomatoes (we grew them last year) is that their growing season tends to be longer. Out of six plants, two didn't even produce during the summer at all (we got green tomatoes that we ripened inside, but by October, it was too cold to produce much). So watch the varieties carefully.

> JE wrote:Growing our own basil and sage is an other idea for driving this project, we use a lot of it in our cooking.

Sage is cool because it can handle colder temperatures, so sometimes it will stick around over the winter. Thyme and rosemary work similarly. Mint and parsley tend to be durable annuals that can reseed themselves if given the chance. Basil dies anytime cold air breathes on it.
Crissa's idea about radishes was good - we actually used the radish leaves in salads and stuff, so they served a dual purpose.
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Crissa
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Post by Crissa » Mon May 10, 2010 10:40 pm

We just planted twelve feet of beets (approx yield 45). They have a longer growing time than radishes (about twice to thrice as long) but their greens are much more nutritious and versatile. Along with nine feet of carrots and radishes, these rows should be able to be replanted constantly during the seasons.
Tomatoes need to get to their height early if you want them to yield. Generally, they're a plant that keeps producing until it dies. It's actually unnatural for them to produce simultaneous fruiting like they prefer in monocrops. But that first ramp-up is the hard part. They need alot of water and sun to get to the producing stage, and then they need to stay away from cold. It being May, the earliest starts should be producing now.
No idea how well our garden will do; it's more an action of 'fill in the yard' than anything for us this year.
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Judging__Eagle
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Post by Judging__Eagle » Fri May 28, 2010 3:18 am

Ok, update tiem.
Yesterday we did the actual planting, after deciding what we were going to use, and what we could plant.
I and my sister dug out the dirt for the paths among the three beds dug. The dirt went onto the beds; we added some topsoil to each bed where the seed mounds/rows were planted.
So, we have three west-east lined rows; with the short stuff in front, and taller stuff in the back; although I think we might have got it wrong. D:
front row (butternut squash, melon, ice box watermelon);
middle row (sweet peas, eggplants, swiss chard);
back row (6 bell peppers in little hills, basil, rosemary).
+8 tomato plants spread out among the plot. 6 along the back beds, and the other 2 at the edges of the plot... they're on the east side, and should be moved to the west side, so as to not shade the other plants (I just realized that now)
+4 Marigolds
We put in a few marigolds at the edges. Right now four but, I want to put in at least an other 4 or 8 more to help cover the other sides, and maybe fill the edges in a bit more. The plot we have is about 10' by 10', the marigolds are more decorative, than protective right now.
We're doing this with really simple tools; a trowel, planting trowel, and a hand fork, a water spray bottle, some cloth gloves, and a water hose. There's really no need for a spray nozzle for the hose, since you can spray the water into a mist (need to aim high, and let it fall softly), and we're using lots of the spray bottle right now to not disturb the seeds, seedlings, and young plants, while watering them.
Likewise, a shovel would have been handy, but the plot was small, and a pair of trowels did the job fine.
In any case, we'll see what happens in the next 5-10 days.
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