Learn me to garden

[wcd]

I've got 11 acres total but don't see ever going over 1 acre for the garden realistically unless it's necessary. I don't really have any space to get plants started indoors, we downsized as far as the house goes and we're pretty well packed in as it is. I have a barn but I don't think that's going to work well. I may try to put up a small greenhouse down the road if its beneficial to what I'm wanting to do.

I appreciate the advice so far.

You are living there? If so put your garden near the house, it will minimize intruders. Especially if you have a dog. Also T post and hot wire are your friend. If it were me I would start with a 1/4 to 1/2 acre. Ground prep is crucial in initial stage, proper prep will save you a lot of work wedding etc later down the season. Also think about how you want to preserve it, water bath canning is a good choice for tomato, beans etc, also a dehydrator is awesome for dried tomatoes.


Are you e chickens free range of in a coop? If they are in a coop collect waste and save for the garden. Also start a compost pile for non meat food waste.

Most of all Enjoy

 

[Jmiyake]

Need more information boss how big a garden square footage. And what usda hardiness zone you are in. Raised flowerbeds can help you deal with the mole problem as well as save your back. Old rail road ties make easy work of this. The types of plants you list require a couple different types of soil compositions as well as water absorption. Be aware of this when planting. Here’s a good place to start for you. https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/vegetable-gardening/5069.html

as far as waterlines go that’s easy to plan out and tons of supplies out there.
Deer you can deal with a couple ways human urine around the edges of the garden or human hair human scent will keep them at bay.

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

I've found that tomatoes work best when planted in a well pulverized soil and buried to the first set of leaves. This ensures a strong stalk that resists breaking. Stake or cage everything. Epsom salt can help with blossom end rot.

 

[natdscott]

I know a guy who knows about this stuff, and the soil labs, and so forth.

He's going to be sending in a sample set yet this fall, so if you want, shoot me a PM and we can see about getting yours sampled so you can make educated decisions on fertilization.

 

[femurphy77]

According to the GF two words; worm ****. Biggest damn tomatoes I've ever seen and she attributes it all to worm ****.

 

[patience0830]

Lots of info available.
You should have saved that straw. A compost pile or tumbler is a great way to utilize table scraps as fertilizer. You can compost meat scraps too, though most folks don't because it attracts vermin, like coons and coyotes. Not such a problem in the tumbler.
Raised beds are cool but I'm not gonna use creosoted RR ties or CCA treated lumber because of toxicity concerns.
Any leaves you gather this fall, spread on the garden plot and till them in. Now or later. Later allows them to kill the weeds and grass in the plot.

 

[WhitleyStu]

Cultivating the garden all summer to eliminate weeds can be real time consuming. We planted everything far enough apart to be able to easily get tractor/tiller between plants. Keeping weeds out of melon areas can be tough. We had three tillers; tractor mounted 48", Troybilt horse and Stihl Combi tiller. We also sat down in very early spring and drew up where wanted to plant everything giving us a good idea for our spring shopping list for garden plants and seed.
We gardened for 35 years, but last fall seeded over the garden and now just get veggies from local stands and grocery. It was great gardening, but getting old enough to not want to spend all weekend working a huge garden. I wish you many happy and pleasant hours tending to your garden in the following years...

 

[DoggyDaddy]

1st....a proper straw hat
2nd....a proper set of bibs.....

And a pitchfork. Don't forget the pitchfork.

 

[eldirector]

I'd till it right now. Get lots of poop, and till that in, too. It'll compost all winter, and be ready to go in the spring. Start a compost pile for next year. Leaves from the yard, straw, chicken poop, eggshells, coffee grounds, etc...

You don't need a massive garden to get TON of veggies. Ours is only 30x20, and produces more cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes than we can deal with.

Block out your calendar in August. You'll be picking and canning/preserving/freezing a couple of times a week to keep up.

We keep herbs in planters up by the house. Actually have to cut stuff back, it grows so fast.

Blackberries, raspberries, and the like are native to Indiana, so grow like weeds. In a year or two, a short little berry hedge will produce buckets of berries.

You have chickens? Keep them out of the garden until the plants are taller than they are. Otherwise, they will destroy whole rows scratching around. Once plants are established, turn the birds loose. They make great weed and bug control. Watch what you spray - it will go straight into your eggs. We stick with diatomacious earth until the June bugs get bad. Then, Sevin for a bit, and keep the chickens out.

Figure out water. Dragging out a hose sucks...

In any case, don't wait 'til spring to start. You will be behind.

 

[Tactically Fat]

Sage advice I've read recently: Don't have a garden bigger than you're willing to weed.

 

[Mark-DuCo]

Putting newspaper around plants really helps keep weeds down. I literally cover almost my entire garden with newspaper with just what I planted sticking up through the cracks. Put just enough dirt on top to keep them from blowing away and then i will put my grass clippings around the plants as well.

Rabbits will wipe out your young plants like green beans so we fence those off until they get about 1 foot tall, other than that we don't really have issues and we live in a heavily wooded area. I know one guy that uses crystallized coyote Urine to keep deer away and he swears buy it.

 

[natdscott]

Rabbits will wipe out your young plants like green beans so we fence those off until they get about 1 foot tall...

Dang. 1 foot tall rabbits?

Do you BBQ them, or...

 

[bwframe]

I celebrated this thread by turning about a quarter of my compost pile. I'm notoriously lazy about this, letting time do the work that I should be doing. Good rotting/heating compost kills weed seeds that my laziness too often makes me have to deal with.

I've recently come across a crosscut paper shredder. Running it hard with cardboard boxes, grocery paper bags and old documents to be shred, all going in the compost.

More carbon in the compost, we'll see how it works. Also how motivated I stay to work the dumb end of the potato fork for the needed workout and to actually get the compost cooking.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I celebrated this thread by turning about a quarter of my compost pile. I'm notoriously lazy about this, letting time do the work that I should be doing. Good rotting/heating compost kills weed seeds that my laziness too often makes me have to deal with.

I'm right there with you on that. I turn no compost before it's time, in fact, most of mine is aged like fine wine. I know I have some bins that I started four years ago that haven't been turned. My other compost rule is that "If it was recently alive, I'll compost it", whether animal or vegetable. My compost is mostly made up of pulled weeds, with grass clippings and leaves, and smaller amounts of kitchen food scraps.

The best way to learn how to garden is to dive in there and start doing it. I garden because it gives me pleasure and peace. There's no better therapy for me than to spend a day weeding my raised beds. Contrary to what some might tell you, the only way to do it wrong is to not enjoy it.

 

[Expat]

I tilled about 3/4 of the garden this morning. Then I plated 2 rows of garlic. I still have some kale, spinach, lettuce, turnips and broccoli raab in the garden to eat on until they get killed off. I have some red raspberries still on.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Sage advice I've read recently: Don't have a garden bigger than you're willing to weed.

Truth. Tilling and planting are a lot more fun then picking, and weeding is least fun of all.

Plant potatoes. They are a very undemanding crop. Keep the potato bugs off the leaves and hill them occasionally and they'll tolerate most things. You also don't have to be in a hurry to harvest, they'll keep for a long time under ground. They live there and like it.

Chicken poo is good fertilizer. If you have a hen house, shoveling it out and turning it into the garden combines two chores that need done anyway.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Starting small is very good advice. I'd recommend some of the old organic gardening magazines and books from the 70s on. Also Mother Earth News. Just dont go all hippie on us.

The thought to do your initial tilling and amendment now is sound. Good gardening builds up the soil as you go.

As you grow your operation, remember "A: Phylodog is lazy. B: Phylodog is greedy".
Think maximum harvest for minimum labor.

 

[Fargo]

A quarter acre is a really big garden unless you are selling. I would suggest starting in the 40x20 range if you aren't a seasoned gardener. See how your yields are that first year and adjust from there.

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

A quarter acre is a really big garden unless you are selling. I would suggest starting in the 40x20 range if you aren't a seasoned gardener. See how your yields are that first year and adjust from there.

This. My garden is roughly 24x50 and supplies more than my house needs.

 

[Steel and wood]

You have no idea how many tomatoes you can get from 6 plants try different varieties of tomatoes. Your cool weather crops like lettuce and peas also potatoes plant early.
We use roll of black plastic on the ground first then cut x’s in them for tomato plants that way you don’t have to weed between the plants they need room to grow and also cage them when they are planted.
Don’t plant all your corn at once if you plant a lot, they will mature all at once if you do. We plant about 3 weeks apart. Same with green beans. That way you don’t have to pick,can and eat all of it in the first week.
One 20 foot row of green beans are a lot. Corn needs to pollinate so if the rows are close together it’s better than one long row.
Best advice start small and love to weed when it’s 90 and humid out the crops love the heat you will too.
It’s great family time and something for your kids to do for 4-h. Best of luck