My Pride and Joy

Hi Guys,

First, thanks so much for the wonderful advice from everyone in this forum. I have learned so much in only two months!

I decided to plant a vegetable garden in late May with no prior experience whatsoever. I live in a harsh climate in Central Oregon, and the advice here seems to be to plant after Memorial Day to ensure that the seedlings will not freeze at night. We live at 3500 feet in very dry, sandy terrain.

After about a week of research, raised beds seemed to be the way to go. I also very much wanted to plant from seed, and I am SO glad that I did. After six weeks (and one VERY bad hail storm) my little garden is thriving, and it is such a joy! I have found a new passion.

Please check out my photos here: http://photobucket.com/communitygarden_photos?albumview=slideshow

Looking good!

Bernie

Congratulations. It really is a thrill, isn't it?

I started vegetable gardening for the third time this year. (I had raised bed veggie gardens in NJ and TX with various measures of success.) I have been very successful with summer squash. An artichoke plant that did not get eaten by the voles looks good. And there is still hope that the four very large tomato plants will set fruit that will grow and ripen. Some of the peppers ravaged by rodents are coming back, too. And I see a few been pods on the bush beans.

I was so encouraged by the (very modest) success of my raised beds that I have been filling spaces between roses with bush beans. Will see what happens.

Thanks for the compliments CountryGardens and Steve812!

Steve812 - I see you are in AZ... how are your squash handing the heat? Our highs are usually only in the mid 80s, though today it's only supposed to hit 72. I have found that my squash absolutely LOVE the heat. The warmer, the better!

Do you have any photos of your garden that you can share?

KBumgar, two questions. What's your planting medium/soil type and how're you keeping cats from using your veggie bed as a litterbox? Your garden looks absolutely fabulous! Just a tip - Make sure you document your season so you'll have a record of what you did. This will prove so invaluable to you in the future. Linda

Hi gymgirl. First, I am a native Houstonian. I lived there from birth - college. What a great place to grow everything! So warm and moist! I hope you are having success.

Regarding the cat problem - I have a fool-proof solution: my dog! You may notice in the garden photos that there is a small fence around the garden. Look just in front of the yellow wagon near the back of the garden. This was erected to keep my dog (a pointer) from trampling the garden. He, in turn, keeps our yard clear of cats. Our neighbor is one of those cat ladies who feeds all of the neighborhood cats, and I'm sure we would be overrun if it were not for the dog chasing them away.

Finally, thank you for your advice to document everything. I will definitely start doing that.

Kbumgar,
I see the fence. What did you plant in? Miracle Grow? Topsoil? Compost? etc.?

Very nice garden! I'm jealous of your pepperling. I hope mine get there eventually.

Gymgirl,

The soil is a compost mix from our local landfill, if you can believe it. It was pretty inexpensive (about $100 for the entire 5 yards), and I think it has made all the difference. The native soil here in Central Oregon is VERY sandy and rocky. It's a miracle that anything grows here at all. Another benefit of the good soil is that it allowed me to start everything from seed ($11 for all of my plants vs. $3 each for every started plant that I would have had to buy).

I was pretty determined to make sure that the soil was good before I put any seedlings in. In fact, I got a cheap soil test kit from my local Ace Hardware similar to this one: http://www.buyacehardware.com/rapitest-soil-tester-10-kits-73751.html?gdftrk=gdfV2835_a_7c963_a_7c3674_a_7c73751

After the seedlings were firmly established, I used a water-in fertilizer (once) called Alaska Fish Fertilizer. This is an organic product, and the guy that delivered the soil swore up and down by it. Here is a link: http://www.nehydro.net/images/alaskafishqt.jpg. Does anyone else have any experience with this product? So far, I cannot tell whether it has done any good?

Dividedsky, thank you for the compliment! I have to admit, this is the first time I have ever tried a pepper plant. My husband is a pepper maniac (he grew up in New Mexico), and I he is so excited to try the fresh jalepenos this year. Let's hope they make it to maturity. :)

Kbumgar many, many of the seasoned gardeners have extoled the bennies of using that very Fish Emulsion. In fact, I bought a bottle eart on and only used it once. You've inspired me 2 go find and USE it! Linda

Kbumgar,
Well, for a new gardener you sure are doing well! Your garden is lovely, and I bet it tastes as good as it looks. So glad you have found a new passion, But, a word of warning, the passion for gardening does not go away, it just grows (pun intended, forgive me).
Please visit this forum often and tell us of your progress. You are an inspiration for all those thinking of starting a garden.

kbumbar - I checked-out your photos on photobucket. What lovely photos! Looks like you live in bug-free heaven, 'cause I didn't see a single leaf with a hole in it (giggle)

I like fish emulsion so much, I buy it by the gallon. I don't know if the plants prefer it, 'cause I use all kinds of organic fertilizers/compost/castings in my garden.

BlackThumbz,

Awesome pear tree! It has so much fruit on it. What kind of pears are they? Comice? I am jealous.... :)

Texasroses,
Thanks so much for the compliment and words of encouragement. You are right... I am hooked. I don't think a year will ever pass again without a garden.

HoneybeeNC,
You are right about the lack of bugs. I don't know why, but I haven't found a single bug on ANY of my plants yet. Frankly, I am amazed, and I am also counting my lucky stars. Our climate is overall really bug-free. It freezes so hard here in Central Oregon for such a long time in the winter that I think most bugs just can't survive. I am originally from Houston, so there is quite a contrast. I remember growing up and not being able to leave any type of food out on the counter overnight. Here, you can leave a whole jar of cookies for a week and nothing will touch it. Amazing!

kbumgar,
I am fortunate to live in the mountains. The highs here have only just this week started to hit the 90's. My squash are growing like topsy and they are blooming and fruiting. When I was planting, I dropped a seed in some really poor sandy soil, evidently, and there is a plant growing there. I even forget to water it most of the time. I'm growing Cavili, an early light yellow one, and tromboncino, a late light yellow one. Notice the strange pale mottling on the leaves. Any idea what causes this?

Raison d'etre for fence...

Is that the cavili up front? If so, it's ready to harvest.

Also, some squash leaves are variegated. I googled cavili, and in this link http://www.territorialseed.com/product/7276/s you can see in the picture underneath the squashes that the leaves are supposed to look like that.

I have some trombocino seeds but unfortunately didn't have room for them this year. They seem cool, though. Are you growing them to eat (small) or letting them get big for gourds?

I use the same fertilizer and then the blooming one later from the same brand. I hate the smells and the dogs like it too much but I think it works great!!!

Steve812,

Regarding the mottling on the squash leaves - I have them too! Mine look exactly like yours and so far, the plants do not seem to be under any stress at all. They are growing like crazy and are putting out tons of squash. I was just this evening wondering if these spots are just how they are? This is my first year growing them. I will take a photo tomorrow morning when it is light out so that you can see how much they have grown - despite the spots!

Hey Kbumgar!

Coupla more questions for yah. What are the dimensions on your veggie bed? How do you access the plants in the middle? Looks like your boards are just standing vertical and braced up by the steel rebar, right? How deep is your bed?

Finally, what were the average daily temps when your seeds started coming up?

Tha-tha-tha-that's all folks!

Linda

This message was edited Jul 17, 2009 9:16 AM

Very Nice! I too have found a new passion.. I only wished I new then (May) what I know now. And I wish I new about this great website!! I didn't till the dirt...By the way I am in New Mexico and have planted lots of Chilis, I didn't till the dirt and I think my plant roots are being strangled! I have a ? about your bed. Is there a bottom to it? You say landfill...where you dump your trash????

Viewed your photos and your garden looks great. The lettuce is the prettiest I've seen. I love spinach but quit trying to grow it because it heats up so fast here in Louisiana. I grow malabar mexican spinach. It is a vine and very decoritive. The hotter it gets the better.

Hi Gymgirl,

We are fortunate to have a 1/2 acre backyard that is still within the city limits, so we had plenty of room for my garden. The dimensions are 12' wide x 24' long. The plants in the middle are accessed by a 2' walkway (well, it was supposed to be 2', but it really turned out to be a more narrow 1'). This allows me to walk down the middle without trampling the plants.

You are correct - the boards (2" x 6" x 12') are just standing upright supported by rebar that we hammered into the ground as stakes. It's not the prettiest, but it seems to be working so far.

Finally, I planted on May 21st. We have to start late around here or it will freeze at night and kill everything. The average DAILY temp was around 70. The average NIGHTLY temp was around 38. Let me tell you, I was so nervous those first couple of weeks. I thought I would lose everything to a freeze for sure!

I have attached a drawing of my original garden plan. The only difference from this plan vs. the photos of the garden now is that I added some pepper plants in near the tomatoes.

Thanks K.

That's a cool garden layout. What program did you use?

Hi Gymgirl,

Thanks for the compliment. I really geeked out on the planning phase of my garden this year. Originally, I actually used good old fashioned graph paper, a pencil and a ruler. Even then, I wasn't happy with how my plan looked, so I switched to a digital format.

I use a mac program called OmniOutliner. It is very similar to Microsoft Visio, but it is a little bit more intuitive and easier to learn.

Where in Houston do you live? I am from there and my former boyfriends grandmother and grandfather live near Hobby off I-45 and Airline. I am jealous of your warm, wet weather, although I hear that this year you guys are in a severe drought.

K,
I can get to Hobby Airport in 5 minutes! I'm at Belfort & Telephone. 45S and Broadway are right up the street from me. 45 and Airline are about 14 miles north of me.