Introduction

Hi,

I couldn't find a thread on whether introductions were recommended, but here goes... I'm primarily a veggie gardener in Zone 7b/8a in Middle GA. I'm located on a lake, so our weather is actually moderated a bit - our first frost is usually in late Nov. I didn't have a real frost in my garden at all this March (not typical!). I have almost entirely raised beds. I garden mostly organically. This is my fourth year gardening in this location, third year with my raised beds - each year I have added beds - DH is tired of digging tho ;-). I used to garden many years ago in Massachusetts in raised beds and did "intensive gardening" then. I use the spacing of square foot gardening/wide row, but I'm not rigid about it - my garden "look" is kind of jungly/random and I can't afford "Mel's Mix". I use some hoop houses through fall and winter to keep eating salads through the winter and to get an early start on my garden.

I've been enjoying reading everyone's posts here. Thanks for letting me share! The attached photo was taken May 1, 2011. I don't take a lot of full shot images of my garden - this one shows about 1/2 my garden and the neighbor's summer house. The main garden is about 60 x 35.

Whew!

Hi Cindy and welcome to Dave's Garden. Your garden looks so neat and tidy!! Really nice. From the picture it doesn't seem "jungly" but it does have character. We finally had rain today to end the dreadful heat wave. It is such a relief to not have to drag hoses out to the beds. The big vegetable garden has a number of raised gardens but it is a job to keep the paths clear of weeds. It is truly a jungle at the moment since morning glories have seeded everywhere. I love all the colors but have to keep them somewhat under control or they hide everything and create tangles all over. I had intended to lay down all new weed cloth but haven't gotten to it yet. I also try to garden organically and have been pleased to find that I have less trouble with bugs. Hope you will continue to contribute. You should have good advice for those who do intensive gardening or want to learn about it!

What a beautiful garden Cindy. Welcome to DG, your going to love it.
Acts

Thank you Gardadore and Acts for the nice welcome! I love the stories people tell of their gardens. Most neighbors and friends aren't nearly as interested in veggie gardening as I am.

So glad to hear you finally had rain - I can so relate to being tired of dragging hoses. We haven't had any significant rain in weeks. A quarter of a inch is enough to make me do the rain dance. ;-)

Keeping the paths orderly is definitely a challenge. Some of my paths have weed cloth, most have sheets of cardboard and then shredded pine trees over that. To put in this garden, I had to take out a number of pines, so had plenty of chips to use in the aisles. With close planting, I don't have a lot of weeding to do fortunately. I also mulch pretty heavily.

Your morning glories sound beautiful! We have some that grow wild here. They are a pest if they get in the garden tho...

Welcome and be sure to say "Hi!" over at the Georgia forum. Sorry you just missed the Georgia Round Up I hosted. We had gardeners from all over the state sharing food, fun and plants. Hopefully you can make the next one. I too am mostly a veggie gardener but DG gardeners are trying to convert me and keep plying me with flowering plants. lol

Welcome to DG, Cindy! We're all pretty interested in our gardens here so you'll find lots of company. I think your garden looks great - just random enough not to look OCD, but basically very neat!

Welcome Cindy! Your garden looks grand. It's whimsical and eclectic, I love it.

You can plant in those cinder blocks you know.....I had broccoli, garlic and carrots in mine last winter. Too hot here to grow anything in them in summer.

You'll find great camaraderie here.

Hi MaypopLaurel!
Thank you for the welcome! I saw the posts about the gathering you held this year - that looked like great fun! I hope I can come next year! I noted that you're in Cleveland - this August, there's a Garlic Festival at LoganBerry Farm and I'm planning to buy some garlic for this fall's crop. Have you ever been to it?

Hi Greenhouse Gal!
Thanks for your nice words and welcome! The garden gets pretty jungly as the summer wears on. But I love it.

Hi MaryMcP!
And thank you! I love your photo - did you paint the cinderblocks? Did that work well? I have a few that I'm growning in - some Egyptian onions and some chives. But like you - I can't grow much in them in the summer. I had great visions of planting herbs that spill down over them and flowers - I quickly found out that come June, the GA sun bakes all of their roots!

Yes, I painted them with roof sealant. It's a rubberized compound that insulates somewhat, although not enough for summer. Nastursiums would fit the bill for trailing flowers and they are good for repelling pests as well.

Welcome, Cindy!
Your garden looks wonderful, and is right on time, too! I have 55 cinder blocks lined up to build my very first raised bed, so expect some questions. Well, shoot, I have one now!

I see you used only two bricks high, but it looks like the first one is set down a bit. Is this the case? If so, what's your relative depth in the beds with two bricks high? I have a neighbor who volunteered to till up the ground for me, before I fill the bed with double grind pine bark fines, some peat and perlite. (Check out Tapla's Soil Recipes over on the Soil and Composting forum...).

Not sure if I'll get the bed built in time for the fall/winter cole crops, but I have eBuckets standing by. If I don't, my plan is to begin lasagna layering stuff on the site so it can break down and be ready for the tomatoes in February!

P.S. We have an intensive gardening thread, and there's always lots of discussion. Jump right on in, cause you seem to have that system down pat!

Linda and her new friend Cindy, jumping up and down on cinder blocks! ^^_^^^^_^^

Hi Mary - Thank you! The insulation factor would be great and I think they'd look better "clean".

Gymgirl! Nice to meet another intensive gardener! And thanks for pointing out the other forum. I started reading through - I am looking forward to participating!

When we started the garden in Jan. 2009, the beds were placed on a clearing adjacent to a pine area - not quite a forest, but fairly shady. The soil is hard packed clay with lots of roots - no way to truly till the area or sink the blocks. The first two beds were (inside dimensions) 4 feet by 16. The blocks are not mortared - I think this might be a good thing to do in the future. The beds were built sort of "lasgna" type with a layer of cardboard in the base of each bed and everything piled on from there. I used a bunch of straw in the base of the first beds. Soil levels start each season nearly level with the top of the blocks. They shrink/settle as the season passes.

The blocks appear to be recessed because the path has been raised between them over time. I started with grass paths and they were such a pain to mow/keep tidy. We put in weed cloth and when we ran out - we used sheets of cardboard and piled on the pine wood chips. (The garden was expanded quite a bit in 2010 and we removed ~10 pines - used them as mulch.)

Welcome Cindy! You're garden is very beautiful, I absolutely love it.

Mindy

I lean towards intensive gardening. I'm not going to do that with tomatoes anymore though, they grew into a jungle of vines, I had to crawl on the ground and peek through the canopy to get the tomatoes!

Now that the tomatoes are done and I have removed the plants the stuff I planted that was supposed to complement the tomatoes but instead became smothered - are coming back. Like some basil and eggplants.

I planted peas everywhere there was a blank area. I guess I'm doing that intensive, but I'm hoping since they fix their own nitrogen I'll get a lot of peas and a nice fertile bed for fall greens.

Your garden sort of reminds me of mine, I only have 5 raised beds behind the main fence though. I have two more somewhere else in the yard.

I gather leaves when people leave them out and pile them high between the raised beds. I put cardboard down at first, as much as I could. I have nice paths now that double as mulch or compost!

Hi Mindy! And thank you!

Hi Margocstn - I know what you mean on the jungle - I've had to go chop tomato vines a couple of times this year. Since that bed had new soil in it and some composted manure - I think the nitrogen may have been a bit too high - the vines and leaves have been very dense.

I love your idea on the paths - I need to try that...

Welcome to DG and I Love your garden. Reminds me of Home..... I have some cinder block beds too.... 6 of them. different sizes. (3)10ft, (1)16ft, (2)5ft. and one that is 4x5 and 3 feet high at the end of my drive way with Wave petunias growing in it. Gotta love wave petunias in the raised gardens. Plus I have (4) Table Top Gardens that are 2x8ft and in the process of making 4 more...... I have a lot of painting to do around here. Gotta paint the new house soon but also gotta paint all my Table Top Gardens.
I know squash takes up a lot of room in the Table Top Gardens but - I like squash up high so I can see and get rid of those ugly squash bugs much easier. I started new squash plants about a month ago.

Table Top Garden with patty squash and recently sowed carrot seeds between the plants.

Love that tabletop garden idea and I'm with you on seeing the SVB critters. Nice work.