Show your gardens

[Los_Control]

May 12, Tomato produced it's first flower today. Still not everything planted, and 1/2 way done building second box. Goal is 2 boxes this year.

Next year want to build a small deck around the stump. Then arrange the boxes in a horse shoe on the deck. Can build a wire fence from the ground to the boxes to keep critters out.

Think it will work out nice and easy on the back to maintain, also water bill.

Been several years since I have had a garden of any sorts, and first time in this zone, so will be a learning curve. I have had several gardens in the past. I like boxes rather then in ground.

Will convert one box into a mini greenhouse and have fresh green salads all year long.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Los_Control

[Brent B3B]

we also haven’t done a garden in years

Julie and I recycled the wood from a one ton truck bed recently 

 

planted cool weather veggies in this raised bed.

Have a larger area in a sunnier spot in the ground for the warmer weather veggies, but are a month away for that..... 

[Plymouthy Adams]

My last garden in the dirt standard style turned out to be a disaster to the point I said no more....this year however these huge 24 gallon super heavy containers become available at dirt cheap.  I have green beans, potatoes, grape tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cukes, sweet banana peppers and bell peppers.  I have baby cukes and squash already on the vine...some of these were late plants and staggered plantings...I hope with the buckets I will have better control over weeds and water.  There are 25 of these container set up and I have my planting station just behind the little building..

 

 

[Los_Control]

8 hours ago, Brent B3B said:

Julie and I recycled the wood from a one ton truck bed recently 

Repurposed wood is the best kind  When I was working, I always had a pile of good used lumber laying around for projects. My first box is all used except for the sides, sadly 2nd box is all new as out of used.

44 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

I hope with the buckets I will have better control over weeds and water. 

You will like the containers .... I saw yours and wondered WOW! wonder where he found those? They are a nice size and perfect for this situation.

My first experience with containers was 3 boxes 8' long 2' wide. And I was sold on them every since.

 

The way you have yours lined up, would be really easy to run a drip irrigation line right down the middle. Just turn it on while you go do something else, then try and remember to come back and turn it off ... or get fancy and put it on a automatic timer. Weeds will be much more manageable and just clean them out as needed.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Thanks....I am pleased so far with the set up.   I just picked up another 50 of these containers for my brother....albeit in red.....the greens and black having sold out first....these are brand new never used and I saw them unwrap them for the count......they are a steal at 4.00 each.  I kinda wish I had bought another 10 of these for myself.  I can still get some red ones but I an not so sure I would like bright red containers sitting about....the green ones don't catch your eye and sort of blend in.  

Edited May 13, 2020 by Plymouthy Adams

[Los_Control]

$4 is a bargain. I hate spending money for the lumber, but is still cheapest option I can find. Also I can make what I want.

I was at tractor supply and looking at water and feed troughs, $100 - $200 each. looked at 1/2 whiskey barrels $50 each and super flimsy imitations made in china. I found some pots at another store for $8 each, bought 2 of them but they are only about 3 gallons. Finding proper containers for a sensible price is a challenge.

Need to get this box finished up today and planted, Saturday is coming fast 

 

 

[Veemoney]

Here is a picture of mine from a previous year. Have not tilled it up yet this year with the cold weather and rain were having. I like the raised bed idea to help keep the small animals out. I trapped 14 skunks, a raccoon, 7 squirrels, a woodchuck, a feral cat, and 2 possum all in about 30 days winter before last. Deer are also tuff but my fault for not putting up a fence. I second Los comment on those PA buckets they look great and the price is certainly a deal. I see 55 gallon plastic drums come up for sale at pretty decent prices that could work. 

[Brent B3B]

4 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

Thanks....I am pleased so far with the set up.   I just picked up another 50 of these containers for my brother....albeit in red.....the greens and black having sold out first....these are brand new never used and I saw them unwrap them for the count......they are a steal at 4.00 each.  I kinda wish I had bought another 10 of these for myself.  I can still get some red ones but I an not so sure I would like bright red containers sitting about....the green ones don't catch your eye and sort of blend in.  

I like how close you placed it to the sandblasting shed, spent sand = good drainage

our is next to the chicken coop

[Plymouthy Adams]

good memory on the sandblasting shed....sandblasting here is for the larger components and none on the horizon to be done anytime soon and when used there is a vacuum dust collection system in place that keeps the fine stuff out of the air for the most part....at least as best possible...

 

as per Veemoney…..around here at one time plastic pickle barrels were common and not so expensive....one could I would think be able to screw the big lid on...put a couple screws to lock in place and split these down the sides making two nice planters out of one...only draw back would be the half round but a placing is a slight trough would prevent roll over .  

Edited May 13, 2020 by Plymouthy Adams

[Los_Control]

9 minutes ago, Veemoney said:

Here is a picture of mine from a previous year.

That looks beautiful, I remember as a child my father and his buddy, every year they planted about a 1/4 acre in the ground. Was a lot of work but mother canned and we had veggies all year. I remember being 6 or 8 years old and having to work it pulling weeds or harvest. Just saying I was introduced to it young and carry on today.

 

First time I tried boxes was because we had crab grass, I tried to do it in the ground but 3 months later the garden was doing great and the grass was getting to be 3' tall in between the rows. Was a disaster. 

The next year, I had a pile of log rounds, fire wood with to many knots to split. I buried them in the ground and used them as legs and build my boxes on top of them. And I was spoiled from then on. Just so much easier. Because they are off the ground, there is no bending or kneeling to do weeding. Because you are getting maximum usage of the soil. Shallow rooted weeds have little chance to grow. Using 1/4" drip lines, and connecting them to your hose bib. You can get 100' or more of drip line connected and just snake them around the plants.

This is why am building a deck and the boxes in a U shape this time around.

1, weed barrier down to keep grass and weeds growing through.

2, I have connection points for a fence. and a a gate.

3, I run the irrigation drip lines and can run them in the U shape and get all boxes. If I ran boxes in rows, the lines would have to jump across from one box to next,  and block the path to walk through at the end of the row. I remember coming home from work, tired. Go out in the back yard and turn on the hose bib, then go eat dinner while the garden was watered.

Taking care of a garden turns into a hobby and not a chore.

4, When it is time, easy to refresh the soil with compost and fertilizer and get it ready for next season.

5,One small box, 2'x4', I can put a couple heads of leaf lettuce, radishes, green onions, cool weather plants. and have a fresh salad for dinner. Build a hoop type top on it covered with plastic.

Open it up during the day to let the heat out, close it up at night to protect it from frost. You can have a fresh green dinner salad right up to a hard freeze. Just walk out with your scissors and cut a few leafs off of the lettuce and pick a few radish and cut a few onion tops, replace as needed with new seeds.

 

Yes it is more upfront labor and cost more money to set it up,  Once it is setup, You need to remember to go out once a week and talk to your plants.

 

[Los_Control]

1 hour ago, Brent B3B said:

I like how close you placed it to the sandblasting shed,

For those that watch JonathanW, old junkyard he dumps his sand in the back yard. his wife went out to dig up the nice black soil for the cucumbers. They are germinating fine and close to be planted.

Maybe there is a trick to be learned using coal for sandblasting and gardens?

[keithb7]

We lived at this spot for about 15 years. We built the deck, the retaining walls, the fences too, ourselves. We started from scratch and landscaped everything. It was a wonderful relaxing spot. It was a fair amount of work to upkeep but it was nice. We sold and moved to our current home about 2.5 years ago. So far we have not done much to the landscape. Just grass and a few little flowers here and there.  You know how it goes...I'm too busy with old Mopars there days.

 

A couple of pics of our previous garden, as it matured...

 

Some of my best memories were working so hard with my wife to build the retaining walls and stairs. We cut up and removed the 20 year old old wood-based original retaining walls. We excavated all of it 3 ft back by hand with shovels. We carried every block in by hand from the front yard. 19 quantity of  five foot high pallets worth if I recall. We placed all the crush drainage rock in by hand and packed it. Many a summer night we were out there working under lights well past dark.  I was so very proud of my wife for her efforts in this project. We did it together. No heavy equipment. No help. Just her and I.  We sifted all the dirt thru screens ourselves and layed out a base for the lawn. We carried away countless buckets of rocks that we sifted out. We took them away and dumped them. We installed sprinkler systems too.  The project was a real marriage strengthener.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by keithb7

[Veemoney]

KeithB7,

Really well thought out and executed garden. Had to be satisfying to sit back and enjoy it after all the hard work. When you work hard for something to get it the way you want it the appreciation of every detail is so much more than the eye can see.

 

[Ulu]

I used to garden back in the 70s with a Honda Rototiller.

 

But, my lovely wife has never been interested in growing vegetables. We live in the middle of the small vegetable farm eden, here in our corner of the San Joaquin Valley. Also she grew up poor in the farming district, and now is retired with a masters degree from Cal state.

 

Now I will go buy all her vegetables, If she doesn’t feel like going to one of the fruit stands. I will also wash those vegetables and cook them for her and I have done it for three decades. But one of the benefits of my life, is that a professional California State govt employee retired with a pension and a masters degree, washes my dishes and cleans my house. 

 

Since the corona epidemic she has been doing it with out assistance, as we usually have a part-time housekeeper.

 

But she is in love with gardening, And virtually all of this is her doing as far as the plants are concerned.

 

I have an aquarium on the patio that I insulate in the winter, and it runs on a sump that also serves my main aquarium indoors.This is one of those trick shots where I am focusing the camera on the aquarium but mostly what you see is a reflection of the garden.

 

 

[Los_Control]

keithb7 Just WOW

Just saying that is awesome. I love it and can appreciate the time and effort you put into it. I do have a idea what it takes to maintain that level.

I thank you for sharing that.

[Ulu]

As you can see, where I live the weather is nice enough to have tropical fish and a rug on your patio. I just ordered a new shed which will be delivered Wednesday but we bought this one four years ago, From the same outfit.

 

Ohhhh. . . barbecue in the smoker!

 

[Ulu]

Patio aquarium in summer.

My wife puts flowers everywhere.

 

She loves sugarcane, and here she's at her aunt's house, chopping with her grandpa's machete.

This is the closest she will get to actual farm work.

 

 

 

 

[Los_Control]

30 minutes ago, Ulu said:

This is the closest she will get to actual farm work.

I love it, looks like she is having fun, and thats why we are here in this life.

[Plymouthy Adams]

why does it look like that knife sits so comfortable in  her hand....don't anger her....Ulu...we no see Ulu....

[Ulu]

Not a chance.

 

She’d have to cook her own food and go grocery shopping. She’d have to learn to drive the pick up truck & deal with her $$ garden soil habit..

 

What I worry about most is she will succumb early. She has lost a brother and two sisters already, all in their 50’s. Her parents passed on early too.

[Ulu]

Here are some more low rez shots of the flowers and trees. I planted the five redwood trees in 2002, which are now 50 feet tall, but my wife planted all the other flowers and shrubs, and I hired people to put in the sod.

 

Back patio:

The eucalyptus tree was here when we moved in and it is huge such that we have to have it pruned back every year.

Plants everywhere you look, thanks to my wife.

 

Kitchen windowsill

Back wall:

 

The Bermuda triangle:

[Ulu]

I live In a bungalow on a cul-de-sac, so the front isn’t very large. In fact the whole thing is just 1/3 of an acre so not large at all but it’s the second biggest lot in our neighborhood.

 

 

When we moved here in 2002 that tree existed and there was one rosebush, And some scruffy grass in the front yard.

 

But the entire backyard was nothing but hardpan dirt, dog poop and puncture vines. We had it scraped out with the ripper and brought in 10 yards of topsoil and thousands of dollars worth of sod.

 

I’ve probably bought another 10 yards a bag at a time over the past 18 years.

[Veemoney]

Ulu,

Nicely done, looks like a good place to sit back with a cool drink and relax. 

[Ulu]

Once I get the junkyard cleaned up. Pics elsewhere, maybe...it's embarrassing.

 

[Los_Control]

2 hours ago, Ulu said:

Once I get the junkyard cleaned up. Pics elsewhere, maybe...

That could be the title of a whole new thread 

I do appreciate all the love and labor you put in your yarden. As a disabled remodel carpenter, I have seen a lot of nice yards over the time of my career. And realize with my past efforts the dedication to make it work ....

My most favorite yard was more like a jungle. All native plants along with bamboo, trees and shrubs ... You would leave the back deck and wander down a path, find a bench to sit on and enjoy. Walk a little further and find a fish pond with a water fall, Little secret spots along the path as it returned back to the house.

I really liked that, even though it was downtown Albuquerque, you felt like you were miles away out in the woods.

 

That said, that will be a goal or direction I will be heading in. I bought this house over 2 years ago, and just getting a feel for it. Here in west Texas we cant have nice things.

I watched a guy few blocks down redo his yard, within 2 years the lawn is all crab grass like the rest of us. While not attractive, it is a good choice for this area and we really have no choice.

This particular area here, I plan to get a wild asparagus patch going. They look pretty gnarly when going to seed and 4' tall, but they offer my favorite veggie.

The little tree in the photo Is actually a volunteer from the Large tree across the alley behind it, a pecan tree and looking forward to pecans when ready.

I also have 10-15 watermelons growing, going to transplant them in this area and see what they do.

I have a issue with black eyed Susan's growing. First year I ran them over with a lawn mower, second year I mowed around them. Dogs and cat loved it, They grow over 6' tall and pets had trails or would have hidey holes to take a afternoon snooze.

This year the flowers are trying to take over my yard.