The BT Garden Thread (Page 4)

The finished product. Well not really, I still need to lay some gravel down between the beds, build a couple climbing walls for the climbing plants, etc. But this is what I was aiming for in my mind and it worked nicely. I'm very pleased.

We just finished planting yea

Bumping this thread because it should be one page 1 for the next 4 months.  I will take a personal pledge to keep it there.

Whatcha got people?

I've got the cold stuff in: chard, sorrel, spinach, kale, lettuces, peas, carrots, potatoes, beets, onions.

Fruit trees, rasps, bluebs, and strawbs had low browsing/kill rates from winter--looking good.

Our soil temps got up to 58 yesterday, but I haven't seen any asparagus popping up yet and no morels to date.  Unfortunately, we do have some freakin' snow forecast for Thursday:/ 

In addition to the stuff I listed last time I also have two apple trees, a peach tree, nectarine tree and a hybrid cherry tree. I have a small 10'x5' strawberry patch and am starting a raspberry patch. We also just bought some grapes to start those too. In the front yard we have lots of herbs growing thyme, sage, mint, oregano. Our last frost date is 5/10 so hopefully next weekend I'll get a bunch of stuff into the ground. Of course today it was 31.

I've got all my tomatoes in their pots and the peppers and eggplant in the raised beds.  We keep getting some chilly nights, not freezing but still in the forties.  Seemed to stunt the peppers a little but they're doing ok.  Just waiting to make sure I get some warmer nights before putting the bush beans, cukes, and squash seeds in.  Been getting a ton of rain lately, so that's really been helping the cause, but I haven't been able to mow my back yard in what seems like ages.  When it looks less like a jungle, I'll have some pics.  Proud of my simple little irrigation I laid out.  Nothing special, but it's the first time I've done it and it seems to be going good.

New for this year is poblano pepper.  Have a killer recipe for some enchiladas that use them to make the sauce, so I figured I'd grow my own.

Josh,

It sounds like you're building quite a permaculture paradise--too cool.  Your raised bed and irrigation set-up look sweet.  We have neither, just a large rectangle, but I'm hoping to get some drip hoses this year.  We have ~60 fruit trees now, the oldest of which are 5 years old.  We have the same ones as you, and some pear and plum.  Which varieties did you end up choosing for your fruit trees and plants?  What Zone are you guys in Boise?

I'm always a little jealous of you southern guys this time of year. 

I haven't grown poblanos before, but I want to try them this year too.  Chiles Rellenos is a family favorite.

60 trees, wow! If only I had that kind of space instead of my 1/4 acre. Boise is a zone 6 area. Our apple trees are a golden delicious and a zestari. I've never heard of the zestari, but my wife wanted it. I just planted them last year so they aren't producing anything yet. According to the tags one should be an early producer and one a late pruducer, so hopefully that will actually happen.

We just bought the house in October of 2011 and it's been a lot of work trying to get it fixed up (I attached a picture of what it looked like right before we moved in courtesy of google maps). We are definitely trying to set up a permaculture garden in our yard. My wife still wants to get a walnut tree, but I just don't know where we'd stick it on our property.

(yard.JPG)

Cukes and hot peppers have grown really well the past couple of summers.  All the other stuff fades out after July as it just gets ridiculously scorching hot.  At least I get to make all my bloody mary 'fixins.'  I take some of the green beans, the cukes, and some okra and pickle them with the peppers I grow.  Habanero pickled green beans... mmmm.  Of course, I also just straight up pickle cayenne peppers and eat them with my bloody marys.  

If my Cherokee purple tomato plant produces well this year (last year was a BUST) I am going to try and make a purple bloody mary mix.  Purple mix, red cayennes, green okra, orange habanero... a rainbow of mouth searing tastiness. 

Completely awesome!  Zone 6 is the best Zone, IMO.  We're 5, but I'm thinking we may be 6 before too long;)

Do your apple trees have cross-polination periods?  If not, do you have crabapples in your neighborhood?  You'll need one of those to make sure you get fruit set.  I would vote against the Walnut only because they get huge and produce Juglone, which almost nothing else can grow in, which is a bummer because Walnuts are yummy.

I love seeing people take on intensive permaculture projects in town. You can grow a ton of your own food that way.  We had almost no grass at our house in town, and produced a lot on our <1/4 acre. In a way, I liked the challenge of the small space.  It really required us to use vertical elements and learn about companion planting.  We started with an entirely grass yard, and when we left the only grass was between the flagstones on the walking paths!

We do have a lot of fruit trees, but we have a big farm:)  We also have 150 asparagus plants, 100 blueberries and raspberries and a strawberry bed that started with 400 plants.  The kids LOVE picking fresh fruit from the garden.  They talk about it all winter, and my husband and I love it, though I sometimes need to remind myself in August;)  It's very rewarding to see all the pretty jars lined up in the root cellar, and I can't think of anything that tastes better than good canned peaches in January.

Thanks a lot Sesh, it's 10:14 and I really want a Bloody Mary;)

That is what I'd love to do. I'm honing my skills right now for when I can buy some land and start my own little farm.

I live in the city and my backyard is cobblestone. Last year I bought half a dozen raised planters and tried to grow tomatoes, herbs, jalapenos and cherry peppers. The only thing that really grew well was the peppers, basil, and mint. Pretty much everything else limped along.

Yard is on the south side of the house. I have enough room to put a couple larger planters in there, but max would be 4'x2'.

What should I grow, other than more herbs and peppers?

Hmmm...give me a little more info.  What happened with your tomatoes? I think everybody has the right to fresh tomatoes and basil in the summer--the freakin best combo ever.  Add some fresh moz, xvoo and good salt--THE BEST!

What do you like to eat?  Beans? Cukes?  You could do some vertical stuff, if you're into those kinds of things.

I'll eat any vegetable, we are just trying to figure out what thrives best in a small area. I have a long wall on the back of the house I could trellis. The tomatoes plants grew but only produced a few small tomatoes.

Yeah, nothing means summer like fresh tomatoes and caprese salad.

Maybe try some cherry tomato types that you can grow in a hanging basket.  I grew some yellow and red Tumbling Toms out of some baskets on a stand last year and had fresh cherry tomatoes all summer.  Typical tomato plants do need a good amount of space.  I grow them in ten gallon smart pots because they take up too much room in my raised beds.

With raised planters and beds you have to feed A LOT.  That may have been a little of your problem.  It got me the first year I tried it.  I feed about every two-three weeks now.

I could eat caprese every day of my life and never get sick of it. I wish I was eating it right now:)

Bummer about your tomatoes last year.  What variety?  Were they heirloom or a hybrid?  I love some of the heirloom varieties, and I grow them every year, but I also usually plant some hybrid with disease resistance so I CMA.  I love tomatoes so much, that I would give them a shot again, even though last year was a bust.  Cherry tomatoes will often work well in that type of situation--even in a large container--and they're nice for caprese and an afternoon fresh off the vine snack. (Soooo hungry)

I'm going to vote for some nice bean and cuke trellises on your back wall, tomatoes in your raised bed/containers, basil, rosemary, and any other herbs you like. 

I'd like to hear what others think though...anyone have any good ideas for Brian?

My son and I put in our first garden this year. I rented a sod cutter 3 wks ago, pulled up all the grass and used it to patch up a side yard that had issues growing grass.  I had cut down our fountain grass in fall so I ground it all up then tilled it into the soil and l let it all sit a while.  Over last weekend we planted two rows of corn (white and yellow), potatoes (red and yellow), watermelon, cucumbers, lettuce and carrots.  We also put in a few sunflowers to harvest seeds for our parrot.

Our garden is only 22' x 15' but I believe it's decent size for a starter.

A lot of people in PA wait until the first weekend of May to plant their gardens to be safe from the last frost.

Good point on the strawberries.  If you can get the rabbits to stop eating them, they take over and do very well.  My neighbor planted them and says she spends more time "strawberrying" as opposed to weeding her flower bed. They took over. We picked up two plants and we are going to try to grow them in a hanging planter.

Depending on what you plant, some plants can survive the frosts. Our frost date is 5/10 and it was 31 this morning but my lone bed of plants are still going strong. Some of my onions are practically ready to be picked.

If you look at my garden pics, there is a small patch of dirt over by my air conditioner. That's my strawberry patch. They can't grow beyond it for now. At some point we might expand it but not yet.