Quarantine Vegetable Gardens

[Kavya01]

Super job! Is it too late to move them a little further apart before you fill them too much? I am speaking from experience, i have my raised beds too close together in retrospect, the growing foliage will stick out far beyond the edges of your beds and you want probable a foot and a half to two feet pathways between them to comfortable squat or ride a wheelbarrow... Just my experience I envy you the weather, it's cold here in Northern Jersey!

 

[Luckyzmom]

That's awesome @PayrollNerd ! You warmed me right up ! Go Girl Go !!

 

[PayrollNerd]

Super job! Is it too late to move them a little further apart before you fill them too much? I am speaking from experience, i have my raised beds too close together in retrospect, the growing foliage will stick out far beyond the edges of your beds and you want probable a foot and a half to two feet pathways between them to comfortable squat or ride a wheelbarrow... Just my experience I envy you the weather, it's cold here in Northern Jersey!

I only bought enough wire mesh to cover that 4’ by 25’ area. I have voles, at least I think that’s what they are. I’m also right next to a wetland area so I know they’ll be varmints. There’s probably 30” between the beds and the fence. Maybe a foot between them on the narrow ends. I’ll just have to keep everything trimmed and tucked in.

I’m watching videos on the PVC hoops and netting to keep the squirrels out.

 

[Luckyzmom]

Outstanding! It will be beautiful !!

 

[PayrollNerd]

Progress! I’m raking leaves to put on top of the twigs. Plus I need to uncover the ant beds. More bait is on order for fire ants but I have the regular bug spray you put on the end of your hose too.

Yesterday the guys at Home Depot were able to help me place my order for top soil (bottom), organic raised bed soil (middle) and compost (top). I ordered 2’ rebar, 10’ PVC pipe, breathable fabric covers, clamps to hold it in place, tomato stakes, and more fire ant killer. It will be delivered late Wednesday to my backyard.

My cousin gave me the name of a contact for the local Master Gardener program. I’m going to see if they have anyone willing to help get the soil into the beds for me.

I went thru my 2 dozen seed packets and it looks like the only veg I can’t plant right now is peas. I’ve been watching the square foot garden method videos too.

It has been unseasonably cool, as in not as humid lately. This has been wonderful!

 

[PayrollNerd]

I’m soaking the leaves to make them sink around the twigs. That’s the plan anyway. The birds are screeching to high heavens. They must be excited about the water.

Back to raking….. at least I remembered my eye drops and mask this time.

 

[mickey2942]

Great job @PayrollNerd! We consider our garden a hobby, not necessarily a frugal method of saving money on food.

It is nice to have fresh herbs, tomatoes and peppers in the Summer.

 

[PayrollNerd]

I typed up all my seed packets. Not that I will grow all these, just that I have them on hand. I haven't found the mini cucumber seeds yet nor the spaghetti squash seeds. Tomorrow I'll go to Home Depot to pick up my "will call" items. Maybe they'll have them.

In Walmart this morning I looked at the veggie starts. Almost every single plant was nearly dead. Like they hadn't watered them at all. The only living plant was the peppers. A few weeks ago Lowes had some nice looking starts. I might get a tomato plant first.

I'm going to take a day off from raking leaves to let my body recover. I'm going to watch a video or two on how to make those big grow bags. They shouldn't take too long.

Veg Name
Arugula Rocket
Bean Kitchen King
Beets Detroit Dark Red, Med Top
Broccoli Calabrese
Broccoli Green Sprouting Calabrese
Carrots Nantes Half Long
Cauliflower Early Snowball X
Celery Utah Heirloom
Corn Silver Queen Hybrid
Cucumber - need mini cucumber seeds
Eggplant Burpees Black Beauty
Lettuce Little Gem
Lettuce Burpee Bibb
Lettuce Parris Island Cos Romaine
Onion Yellow Sweet Spanish Utah
Pea Burpeeana Early
Pea Sugar Daddy
Pepper California Wonder
Rutabega American Purple Top
Spaghetti Squash
Spinach Space Hybrid
Squash Early Prolific Straightneck
Squash, Winter Burpees Butterbush
Tomato Roma VF
Tomato Super Beefsteak Indeterminate
Tomato - need cherry / grape seeds
Zucchini Elite Hybrid

 

[MimosaMornings]

I typed up all my seed packets. Not that I will grow all these, just that I have them on hand. I haven't found the mini cucumber seeds yet nor the spaghetti squash seeds. Tomorrow I'll go to Home Depot to pick up my "will call" items. Maybe they'll have them.

In Walmart this morning I looked at the veggie starts. Almost every single plant was nearly dead. Like they hadn't watered them at all. The only living plant was the peppers. A few weeks ago Lowes had some nice looking starts. I might get a tomato plant first.

I'm going to take a day off from raking leaves to let my body recover. I'm going to watch a video or two on how to make those big grow bags. They shouldn't take too long.

Veg Name
Arugula Rocket
Bean Kitchen King
Beets Detroit Dark Red, Med Top
Broccoli Calabrese
Broccoli Green Sprouting Calabrese
Carrots Nantes Half Long
Cauliflower Early Snowball X
Celery Utah Heirloom
Corn Silver Queen Hybrid
Cucumber - need mini cucumber seeds
Eggplant Burpees Black Beauty
Lettuce Little Gem
Lettuce Burpee Bibb
Lettuce Parris Island Cos Romaine
Onion Yellow Sweet Spanish Utah
Pea Burpeeana Early
Pea Sugar Daddy
Pepper California Wonder
Rutabega American Purple Top
Spaghetti Squash
Spinach Space Hybrid
Squash Early Prolific Straightneck
Squash, Winter Burpees Butterbush
Tomato Roma VF
Tomato Super Beefsteak Indeterminate
Tomato - need cherry / grape seeds
Zucchini Elite Hybrid

Oh my word, are you planting all of those?
Silver queen corn - one of my favorites.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Oh my word, are you planting all of those?
Silver queen corn - one of my favorites.

That's my favorite corn too.

I doubt I will plant everything. Some stuff it is too late to start by seed. I would have to build up the berm out back to do corn. The square foot gardening method means I'll have 32 squares in each of my 4' x 8' beds. There will be 18 squares in my 3' x 6' bed. That's a lot of squares. Some items need 2, 3 or 4 squares, like yellow squash or zucchini. I'll have to plan out what I want to plant and where. I've been watching videos galore!

 

[PayrollNerd]

I made a grow bag! I didn’t have outdoor thread. Poly cotton will have to do. I zigzagged every seam. The roll of fabric cloth is 48” wide. So I cut a 6’ piece. My finished bag is about 18” wide x 46” long x 18” deep. It’s big enough to do corn! I was watching a video of some guy with corn in grow bags inside a kiddie pool. I have no idea if I’ll have enough soil items but if I do, I’ll attempt it.

 

[PayrollNerd]

The local Master Gardener group doesn’t offer help to anyone. They’re an education group, so they say. At least they responded, and referred me to the American Cancer Society.

My oldest will be here this weekend and maybe my other daughter’s boyfriend, maybe. My neighbor is going to bring his wheelbarrow over tomorrow. He will likely help me. Such a kind man.

Yesterday the soil was delivered just behind the gate in 2 pallets. Their big machine was too wide to get thru my 8 1/2’ gate. This morning I got the heavy bags off the top pallet by literally dumping them next to the fence. Now to do the same with the next pallet. These bags are smaller and lighter fortunately. Progress!!

Oh and the old kiddie pool is a good fit for my grow bag.

 

[SA55]

The local Master Gardener group doesn’t offer help to anyone. They’re an education group, so they say. At least they responded, and referred me to the American Cancer Society.

My oldest will be here this weekend and maybe my other daughter’s boyfriend, maybe. My neighbor is going to bring his wheelbarrow over tomorrow. He will likely help me. Such a kind man.

Yesterday the soil was delivered just behind the gate in 2 pallets. Their big machine was too wide to get thru my 8 1/2’ gate. This morning I got the heavy bags off the top pallet by literally dumping them next to the fence. Now to do the same with the next pallet. These bags are smaller and lighter fortunately. Progress!!

Oh and the old kiddie pool is a good fit for my grow bag.

Thats alot of dirt!

 

[Yesiamapirate]

The local Master Gardener group doesn’t offer help to anyone. They’re an education group, so they say. At least they responded, and referred me to the American Cancer Society.

My oldest will be here this weekend and maybe my other daughter’s boyfriend, maybe. My neighbor is going to bring his wheelbarrow over tomorrow. He will likely help me. Such a kind man.

Yesterday the soil was delivered just behind the gate in 2 pallets. Their big machine was too wide to get thru my 8 1/2’ gate. This morning I got the heavy bags off the top pallet by literally dumping them next to the fence. Now to do the same with the next pallet. These bags are smaller and lighter fortunately. Progress!!

Oh and the old kiddie pool is a good fit for my grow bag.

My goodness that is going to be a grand garden!! Thanks for sharing. I look forward to your updates.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Lots of dirt for sure. I used the calculator online and put in the bed sizes. Then ordered the quantity stated. I had to pay $100 for threshold delivery for each truck.

Even if I have too much, I can spread it in the yard. I have nothing but weeds and sand. It could use a dump truck load of topsoil.

Birdie was a workhorse and handled quite well with the loads. I went slow and got all the bags of topsoil out by the beds.

 

[mickey2942]

Yes, this is our 3rd year of gardening, each year we have spent about $250 on topsoil.

 

[PayrollNerd]

After moving all the top soil bags to the garden area, we rested. Lanie the new foster furbaby "helped" I guess you could say. She ran behind Birdie with each trip. About 4pm I added the top soil to the beds. 8 bags each to the two 4' x 8' beds and 5 bags to the 3' x 6' bed. Then it rained for a couple hours. Right before sunset the rain stopped and it looked like it really tamped down the top soil into the twigs and leaves. I didn't have time to break up the big chunks of soil yet. I have 10 bags of top soil left so I can use my grow bag too!

Tomorrow my oldest is coming in for the weekend to help me. She is going to try to get her sister to come up only because maybe, just maybe her sister's "Mr. Right Now" will actually help. I'm not holding my breath. My neighbor is loaning us his wheelbarrow and he will likely help too. He is a great guy but retired, working part time. His wife is going deaf and just retired. I think he likes being outside doing yard stuff.

Here is Lanie - trying to get into the flower pot with the empty bags. Silly dog.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Yes, this is our 3rd year of gardening, each year we have spent about $250 on topsoil.

I decided I'd use twigs and leaves for layer 1. Top soil for layer 2 because it is cheaper. Organic raised bed soil for layer 3. Compost for layer 4 which is what I'll plant the seeds in. I don't have the strength to mix it together so it's just going to have to work the way I'm doing it. I figure eventually the twigs and leaves will meld into the topsoil and it will sink some. That will be some good compost on the bottom eventually. I think. This better work. LOL!

 

[PayrollNerd]

Lots of progress in the garden this weekend. My oldest was a huge help. All the garden soil went in Saturday before the rain storm. Sunday we broke up the big chunks of soil with the hoe and rake, smoothed it out and then put a thin layer of compost on top, spread that out.

Kiddo pounded in all the rebar and we put the PVC pipes on it. Now I have arches which is very cool. We took 1 piece of 10' x 15' garden fabric and laid it over one big bed and clamped it to hold it in place. I tied one corner initially but just rolled the other corners. I'm not sure if that is how I want to do it or not.

Anyway, we got the bag set up I want to put corn in. I think it's overfilled. I'm going to see if I can find a another used kiddie pool, make a second bag and put some of the dirt in it. I want more corn that what one bag will be able to accommodate.

All the extra bags of soil are stacked for future use. I ordered too much PVC or too little rebar. One or the other. I can get more rebar and add a third hoop to the bigger beds if I think I'll need it.

I am going to take my little gardening guru, Lanie the foster furbaby to the vet tomorrow. Then I'll be ready to mark off the 12" sections for square foot gardening!!

ETA: uploaded pictures.

 

[Yesiamapirate]

Lots of progress in the garden this weekend. My oldest was a huge help. All the garden soil went in Saturday before the rain storm. Sunday we broke up the big chunks of soil with the hoe and rake, smoothed it out and then put a thin layer of compost on top, spread that out.

Kiddo pounded in all the rebar and we put the PVC pipes on it. Now I have arches which is very cool. We took 1 piece of 10' x 15' garden fabric and laid it over one big bed and clamped it to hold it in place. I tied one corner initially but just rolled the other corners. I'm not sure if that is how I want to do it or not.

Anyway, we got the bag set up I want to put corn in. I think it's overfilled. I'm going to see if I can find a another used kiddie pool, make a second bag and put some of the dirt in it. I want more corn that what one bag will be able to accommodate.

All the extra bags of soil are stacked for future use. I ordered too much PVC or too little rebar. One or the other. I can get more rebar and add a third hoop to the bigger beds if I think I'll need it.

I am going to take my little gardening guru, Lanie the foster furbaby to the vet tomorrow. Then I'll be ready to mark off the 12" sections for square foot gardening!!

I can’t wait to see some pictures!