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I think im done with veggie growing after this season . Im too tired of putting my heart in it and getting very little return . It is just too much work with too little return . I will stick with flowers and my roses .
What return do you get with flowers? I think flowers is same amount of work. Sorry you are giving up. When I took a break in 2017 I have to admit... it was nice not having to do anything so I understand.
Something tells me you'll figure it out and try again
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threerun
Needed a little extra room this year so my son banged together a quick 'addition' to the new section
I went to my neighbors and filled 4 buckets of 10-20 tear aged horse and chicken manure / top soil into it.
Some tomatoes and onions are going in. And some radishes here and there.
Wow! Very nice setup! You got room for so many other crops. Bell peppers?
You reminded me to go get some aged horse manure. Thanks!
I thought that last year but decided to give it another shot this year. No it isn't a huge garden and no, I don't expect to plant so much that I will be giving it away but it still is a fun project.
Now, I have a huge gripe and I am an animal lover. I went out to the garden yesterday to pick the first 1/2 dozen cherry tomatoes and guess the rabbits didn't believe me when I told them, last year, the tomatoes were not for them. All the little guys were gone, clear down to the leaves. I know they are the guilty ones. I bet they were babies that didn't even ask their mom if they could raid the garden.
oh, durn wabbits! It must have been a letdown to see your tomatoes gone after all that work. And it IS work, just keeping them watered and fed and cared for.
I'm only doing ONE tomato plant this year. Not having piles of tomatoes to give away this year. Started it from seed, as always, (well, started three but something happened) and one ended up growing in a small pot, got transferred to a decent sized pot and even went outdoors onto the balcony.
Yesterday I finally got around to taking it downstairs (cursed apartment living) and planting it into a gigantic ceramic container. The temperature was 87 today and I was going to go down and water stuff later but then it poured. So everything is watered. The tomato plant looks good--bright green and growing strong. Now all it needs is some flowers.
What return do you get with flowers? I think flowers is same amount of work. Sorry you are giving up. When I took a break in 2017 I have to admit... it was nice not having to do anything so I understand.
Something tells me you'll figure it out and try again
Wow! Very nice setup! You got room for so many other crops. Bell peppers?
You reminded me to go get some aged horse manure. Thanks!
Thanks! We have a challenging property/soil. We live just on an upthrust from the Helena Valley, so our soil is decomposed granite and shale. When we bought this place the bulk of that raised bed area appeared to be for a kids playground.It was filled with very fine pea gravel- 3' deep in some spots. We dug it out, spread the gravel on our driveway and backfilled it with topsoil and manure. That's the only way we could start a garden. Virgin soil was totally out of the question...
What's irritating is that the previous owner did not 'square' the raised timbers with the house- it is crooked from a birdseye view. We're German, so we like things to be in square, lol.
So we've adopted a name for our home/garden- North Hills Crooked Gardens.
Things are going okay- tomatoes are always a challenge in Montana. We had healthy plants in the hothouse, we hardened them for a few weeks, set them out last weekend- and wind hit. 2 days of 30 mph dry wind. Sucked the life out of them. They are starting to bounce back but we lost 2 weeks. Frustrating.
Everything else looks good. Peas, potatoes, bush beans, cabbage, onions, parsnips, radishes, bingo beans, even the corn is taking off. Hoping this summer is mildly hot and no hail.
Thanks! We have a challenging property/soil. We live just on an upthrust from the Helena Valley, so our soil is decomposed granite and shale. When we bought this place the bulk of that raised bed area appeared to be for a kids playground.It was filled with very fine pea gravel- 3' deep in some spots. We dug it out, spread the gravel on our driveway and backfilled it with topsoil and manure. That's the only way we could start a garden. Virgin soil was totally out of the question...
What's irritating is that the previous owner did not 'square' the raised timbers with the house- it is crooked from a birdseye view. We're German, so we like things to be in square, lol.
So we've adopted a name for our home/garden- North Hills Crooked Gardens.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threerun
Things are going okay- tomatoes are always a challenge in Montana. We had healthy plants in the hothouse, we hardened them for a few weeks, set them out last weekend- and wind hit. 2 days of 30 mph dry wind. Sucked the life out of them. They are starting to bounce back but we lost 2 weeks. Frustrating.
Everything else looks good. Peas, potatoes, bush beans, cabbage, onions, parsnips, radishes, bingo beans, even the corn is taking off. Hoping this summer is mildly hot and no hail.
What a view!!
LOL @ "North Hills Croooked Gardens".
Smart idea replacing the soil. I'd love to do that to my entire beds but it's just not worth the $$ so I just keep amending.
Do you have a compost pile around?
How do you keep the weeds at bay in the garden?
It's interesting how your crops looks the same as me here and I am south more. You are at 47°N latitude and I am 41°N. Goes to show how the coast can lag in spring I guess..
What return do you get with flowers? I think flowers is same amount of work. Sorry you are giving up. When I took a break in 2017 I have to admit... it was nice not having to do anything so I understand.
a Im the only one who eats them and it is not worth it for one person and now im going to have way too many cucumbers and i will have to give them away . UGH .....flowers ? i just have to water them and they are pretty and they show off my flower beds .Im just done , done , done . Besides when i move to florida i will just be growing flowers anyway not so many though cause the yard will be way smaller . No im not trying again .
Something tells me you'll figure it out and try again
Wow! Very nice setup! You got room for so many other crops. Bell peppers?
You reminded me to go get some aged horse manure. Thanks!
You know when you only have one person eating anything out of this it is not worth it .
Smart idea replacing the soil. I'd love to do that to my entire beds but it's just not worth the $$ so I just keep amending.
Do you have a compost pile around?
How do you keep the weeds at bay in the garden?
It's interesting how your crops looks the same as me here and I am south more. You are at 47°N latitude and I am 41°N. Goes to show how the coast can lag in spring I guess..
We’re kinda lucky- my neighbor has a literal mountain of topsoil/aged horse and chicken manure so we’re able to use that. We did have to buy a few dump loads of top soil- about 21 yards, but it wasn’t that expensive. Maybe $275 total.
The compost can be seen at the bottom right in the previous picture- 4x4 square and we box it with straw bales- helps a lot in the winter to keep wind off of it. Things break down s-l-o-w-l-y here.
We don’t mulch yet- just hoe it every few weeks. Weeds are not that aggressive here. When we lived in WV our garden had to be mulched or in a few days it looked like a weed bomb went off.
Here's the birdseye of 'Crooked Gardens'-
Kinda cool the satellite caught this image when we were adding topsoil.
Here’s my little box o’ veggies:
Currently have chives, oregano, and dill returning. Seeded lettuce, arugula, parsley, peas. Planted peppers, tomatoes, basil, cilantro, and cucumbers.
I went to my neighbors and filled 4 buckets of 10-20 tear aged horse and chicken manure / top soil into it.
If "tear" isn't a typo, then I guess you just need to add some blood and sweat and you're all set.
Assuming you meant "year," then that's not as good as might think: by the end of one year of aging, most of the fiber in horse manure has broken down and you've lost it's best quality. Fiber adds air space to soil--the opposite to compaction. It allows water & nutrients better access to root hairs for absorption.
Also, the reason N always seems to be needed in soil is that it's mostly metabolized quickly by soil microbes to NH3 (ammonia) which is highly volatile and quickly out-gassed to the air....Adding to that problem is the fact that most N is eliminated from animals via the kidneys, not by the GI tract. That also explains why chicken manure is so good: both the renal & GI systems empty thru the common path of the cloaca, so it contains both solid waste and urine.
Nice set up, BTW-- Good job.
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I think flowers is same amount of work. Sorry you are giving up. When I took a break in 2017 I have to admit... it was nice not having to do anything so I understand. 
You got room for so many other crops. Bell peppers?
