[Stilton Disco]

So after spending most of the weekend in the Garden, I thought it might be nice for those of us with green fingers to share some tips and stories on how everything is going with our green spaces.

Right now I'm prepping a space for my Pumpkins to go in.
Yesterday morning:

Yesterday afternoon:

I cleared a roughly 10ft by 25ft patch of weeds, broke up the soil, then tilled in a 50/50 mix of my home made compost with a bag of organic fertiliser. I'm going to put down a water retention sheet and plant some Crown Squashes, Cinderella, Ghost, Munchkin and Blue Pumpkins, with a couple of Giants at the back. The Giants and a few of the others will be made into lanterns for Halloween, the rest for eating.

Most of the rest of this area of the Garden is for Fruit and Veg. Everything from Potatoes to Asparagus.

Next after Punmpkins will be Runner Beans, which I'm hoping will be done by the end of the week.

It's not enough to live off, but it sure tastes better and reduces the food bills.

Anyone else a keen Gardener here, or dabbling in the self sufficiency thing?

 

[Yoshi]

Our garden is a major piece of work. The (pretty big) garden was overgrown with enormous blackberry plants when we moved in and ever since, the majority of our work in the garden was removing backberries. We are now in a situation where we have roughly a third of the garden so free of blackberries that they did not come back for a full year and we are using this thir dof the garden to make a little playground for the children. Another third of the garden also is reasonably blackberry free and we have a couple of trees (apple, cherry, pear) and red currant bushes planted there. I just hope that we will gain full control over the last third over the next couple of years so we can use the garden also for barbeque.

 

[Stilton Disco]

Our garden is a major piece of work. The (pretty big) garden was overgrown with enormous blackberry plants when we moved in and ever since, the majority of our work in the garden was removing backberries. We are now in a situation where we have roughly a third of the garden so free of blackberries that they did not come back for a full year and we are using this thir dof the garden to make a little playground for the children. Another third of the garden also is reasonably blackberry free and we have a couple of trees (apple, cherry, pear) and red currant bushes planted there. I just hope that we will gain full control over the last third over the next couple of years so we can use the garden also for barbeque.

Brambles are an absolute sod to deal with, not least of all being climbers, so wriggle their tendrils in through everything, making it hard to purge them without damaging things you want to keep. And the bloody thorns go through even heavy duty gloves if you're not careful.

On the other hand, bramble jelly, blackberry vodka and blackberry and apple pies/crumbles are all excellent.

 

[Dr. Farnsgoth]

How do I compost?

Serious question

 

[J-Roderton]

No room for a major garden due to where I live at the moment, but I did plant some jalapeno and ghost peppers. They seem to be coming in nicely.

 

[Stilton Disco]

How do I compost?

Serious question

What's your current situation? What size garden? Do you have pets?

 

[mcz117chief]

I live in a rabbit hutch I got some tomatoes on the balcony though. I am not sure if they'll grow, I don't get much light.

 

[Yoshi]

Brambles are an absolute sod to deal with, not least of all being climbers, so wriggle their tendrils in through everything, making it hard to purge them without damaging things you want to keep. And the bloody thorns go through even heavy duty gloves if you're not careful.

On the other hand, bramble jelly, blackberry vodka and blackberry and apple pies/crumbles are all excellent.

I like the berries and I can see myself planting some of the thorn free variant later on, but the wild ones we have (and especially those enormous ones we had) are a pest.

 

[Stilton Disco]

I live in a rabbit hutch I got some tomatoes on the balcony though. I am not sure if they'll grow, I don't get much light.

As long as they get enough water and nutrients (a bit of liquid feed mixed in with their water once a week for instance) they're pretty forgiving plants.

Just make sure you prune off any leaves that get moldy as soon as you see them start to turn, and if rhat doesn't nip it in the bud, harvest any unripened tomatoes before it gets too them, since they'll continue to ripen up on the vine after.

Here's some pictures I just took of my Pumpkins, which I'll be planting after work later:

And my compost heaps:

They're at the bottom of the garden, under an oak try so they get dappled sunlight, keeping them warm but not likely to dry out.

We have 2 on the go, since they take a year to build up and ripen, plus we go through a lot each year (we've got barely enough left to finish this year's planting).

 

[Dr. Farnsgoth]

What's your current situation? What size garden? Do you have pets?

I'll take a photo of it when I get a chance. It's a raised garden bed, maybe 6-7 m long, 0.5-0.75 m wide.

 

[DESTROYA]

I've been doing this for years and currently have , tomatoes, peppers , eggplant , pumpkin squash , cucumbers , potatoes and various herbs. Poor AF growing up and had gardens to supplement fresh fruits and vegetables.
2 apple trees , 2 pear trees , 1 peach tree and grapevines. That squirrels and chipmunks love.
@DonDonDonPata where you at you love this kind of thing too.

 

[Dr. Farnsgoth]

I want to grow an avocado tree

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

No garden here, but I'm enjoying the discussion nonetheless. More pics! Also, you were damn productive yesterday. Kudos for knocking all that out!

 

[DonDonDonPata]

Thanks for the mention @DESTROYA

I've been harvesting strawberries, asparagus, wine cap mushrooms, and golden oyster mushrooms so far this year. Even though it is June, Michigan is only about 1 month into its growing season. We get hard frosts into April and sometimes May.

I have all the garden planted, but there isn't much to show off yet. Pumpkins, corn, beans, peas, tomatoes, potatoes, many different flowers (perennials and annuals), blueberries, bell peppers, broccoli, onions (including some self-replicating Egyptian onions), garlic, cherries, apples, black walnuts, and other stuff I'm forgetting. It'll be fun to photograph and share some progress.

Today's haul of golden oysters:

These are the same golden oyster mushrooms that I wild-foraged several years ago. The original log is spent, but I spread them to several other logs over the years. I don't know how to gauge overall productivity but I'd guess I get about 10 pounds of them over the course of a season.

How do I compost?

Serious question

Three options to consider:
Baby compost (where the main aim is to use up kitchen scraps)
or serious large-mounds-of-material scale of composting
or Ruth Stout / woodchip beds on-the-spot composting

A small worm vermicompost bin is the best option for kitchen scraps like lettuce, moldy bread, etc. The worm poop is excellent, concentrated fertilizer that can be spread thinly over the garden. Or you can go mad-scientist like I did and buy an air bubbler stone + pump, a 5 gallon bucket, and "ferment" 1 - 2 cups of the worm vermicompost in a bucket of water + molasses. Perform this ritual for 4 - 12 hours and then spray on lawn, dilute into more water and spread over lawn, use on indoor houseplants, etc. It's supercharged bacterial fertilizer that can bring ass-blasted dirt back to life.

If you have room to play with, try buliding a large compost hill with plastic tubes in the middle. Or you can put in a bit more effort and build a bioreactor:

How to Build Your Own Bioreactor – Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems

Learn how to make your own Johnson-Su BEAM compost bioreactor using easily found materials and tools.

www.csuchico.edu

The name of the game here is quantity. If you're composting large amounts of material, it's a pain to be flipping, watering, etc every few days. Aerating a pile with several pipes works just fine. You remove the pipes after the first 4 days of watering. The material will have already started to decompose by that point. Water it every few days if you want to accelerate the process. It's good stuff. This is what you put on your beds year after year to keep up the soil life. Don't bother buying fertilizer once you learn how to make decent compost.

Another good method is to build up your beds with organic material that slowly decompose over time. Woodchips work really well if you have cheap access to them. Chopped up straw is another good bed covering. The method performs several jobs for you: superior moisture retention compared to bare soil, gradually adding nutrients to soil, suppresses weeds, and long-term addition of organic material to the beds. My wife and I went with woodchips a few years ago, and everything is really easy now that the woodchips are broken down, mixed with compost, and interwoven with wormholes and decomposed plant matter. And the soil will only improve with time. Woodchips also allow you to combo-wombo with mushrooms. In my area, wine caps are easily grown and easy to identify. The mushrooms break down woodchips, network between plants (especially any woody perennials), and enrich the soil, plus you can eat them and they're stupid-easy to grow.

 

[lock2k]

I live in an apartment and I envy you guys who have gardens, in a good way.

 

[Stilton Disco]

Thanks for the mention @DESTROYA

I've been harvesting strawberries, asparagus, wine cap mushrooms, and golden oyster mushrooms so far this year. Even though it is June, Michigan is only about 1 month into its growing season. We get hard frosts into April and sometimes May.

I have all the garden planted, but there isn't much to show off yet. Pumpkins, corn, beans, peas, tomatoes, potatoes, many different flowers (perennials and annuals), blueberries, bell peppers, broccoli, onions (including some self-replicating Egyptian onions), garlic, cherries, apples, black walnuts, and other stuff I'm forgetting. It'll be fun to photograph and share some progress.

Today's haul of golden oysters:

These are the same golden oyster mushrooms that I wild-foraged several years ago. The original log is spent, but I spread them to several other logs over the years. I don't know how to gauge overall productivity but I'd guess I get about 10 pounds of them over the course of a season.

Three options to consider:
Baby compost (where the main aim is to use up kitchen scraps)
or serious large-mounds-of-material scale of composting
or Ruth Stout / woodchip beds on-the-spot composting

A small worm vermicompost bin is the best option for kitchen scraps like lettuce, moldy bread, etc. The worm poop is excellent, concentrated fertilizer that can be spread thinly over the garden. Or you can go mad-scientist like I did and buy an air bubbler stone + pump, a 5 gallon bucket, and "ferment" 1 - 2 cups of the worm vermicompost in a bucket of water + molasses. Perform this ritual for 4 - 12 hours and then spray on lawn, dilute into more water and spread over lawn, use on indoor houseplants, etc. It's supercharged bacterial fertilizer that can bring ass-blasted dirt back to life.

If you have room to play with, try buliding a large compost hill with plastic tubes in the middle. Or you can put in a bit more effort and build a bioreactor:

How to Build Your Own Bioreactor – Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems

Learn how to make your own Johnson-Su BEAM compost bioreactor using easily found materials and tools.

www.csuchico.edu

The name of the game here is quantity. If you're composting large amounts of material, it's a pain to be flipping, watering, etc every few days. Aerating a pile with several pipes works just fine. You remove the pipes after the first 4 days of watering. The material will have already started to decompose by that point. Water it every few days if you want to accelerate the process. It's good stuff. This is what you put on your beds year after year to keep up the soil life. Don't bother buying fertilizer once you learn how to make decent compost.

Another good method is to build up your beds with organic material that slowly decompose over time. Woodchips work really well if you have cheap access to them. Chopped up straw is another good bed covering. The method performs several jobs for you: superior moisture retention compared to bare soil, gradually adding nutrients to soil, suppresses weeds, and long-term addition of organic material to the beds. My wife and I went with woodchips a few years ago, and everything is really easy now that the woodchips are broken down, mixed with compost, and interwoven with wormholes and decomposed plant matter. And the soil will only improve with time. Woodchips also allow you to combo-wombo with mushrooms. In my area, wine caps are easily grown and easy to identify. The mushrooms break down woodchips, network between plants (especially any woody perennials), and enrich the soil, plus you can eat them and they're stupid-easy to grow.

This is one the joys of living in England, where it's the perfect combination of warm and damp so as to make composting easy, not requiring constant watering to keep them going.

We have rabbits and a hamster, so are able yo use their wood shavings and hay as a good, self aerating bulk material for ours, complete with it's own manure and, importantly, urine, since the ammonia and phosphates in it are really good for compost.

Infact, if you don't have pets that can do it for you, I'd actually recommend taking a piss on your compost heap about every couple of months if you don't mind the idea of it.

We add all out kitchen waste (peelings, leftovers, etc), weeds, soft plant trimmings, lawn mowings, and ash from the wood burning stove, as well as burning any larger woody prunings and mail waste like old letters and cardboard packaging, and adding rhat ash to it too.

We turn it with a fork about every 3 or 4 months, just to make sure it's aerated and mixed throughly.

 

[J-Roderton]

Wish my peppers would hurry the hell up. I'm ready to make some salsa.

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

This is one the joys of living in England, where it's the perfect combination of warm and damp so as to make composting easy, not requiring constant watering to keep them going.

We have rabbits and a hamster, so are able yo use their wood shavings and hay as a good, self aerating bulk material for ours, complete with it's own manure and, importantly, urine, since the ammonia and phosphates in it are really good for compost.

Infact, if you don't have pets that can do it for you, I'd actually recommend taking a piss on your compost heap about every couple of months if you don't mind the idea of it.

We add all out kitchen waste (peelings, leftovers, etc), weeds, soft plant trimmings, lawn mowings, and ash from the wood burning stove, as well as burning any larger woody prunings and mail waste like old letters and cardboard packaging, and adding rhat ash to it too.

We turn it with a fork about every 3 or 4 months, just to make sure it's aerated and mixed throughly.

We have 3 rabbits and they go through hay like nobody's business, picking out the stuff they like but leaving a ton of chaff behind. Always figured it would make good compost (loaded with poops and pee, as you mentioned). We don't have a ton of room for a compost pile, tho. Right now it all goes in the city compost bin that gets picked up every other week.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

I have a crazy-ass idea of building a catfish-fueled aquaponics setup using an ICB tote as a fishtank, and plastic 55gal drums as grow beds. The system would be run on a solar array I would build on my shed, along with a rainwater basin on said shed. I also want to raise coturnix quail for meat and eggs, and to top it all off a black soldier fly composter to throw meat, vegetable, and animal waste into for quail and fish food supplement.

The goal is a system that produces more food than my family can eat (the rest given to friends and family) where hopefully the only input I need is fish feed, quail feed, and very occasional animal restocking.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

We have 3 rabbits and they go through hay like nobody's business, picking out the stuff they like but leaving a ton of chaff behind. Always figured it would make good compost (loaded with poops and pee, as you mentioned). We don't have a ton of room for a compost pile, tho. Right now it all goes in the city compost bin that gets picked up every other week.

Do your own research about it, but afaik rabbit manure is a 'cold manure' that can be put directly on plants to without nitrogen burning them. The hay and poop can literally just be put on your plants to without concern.

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

Do your own research about it, but afaik rabbit manure is a 'cold manure' that can be put directly on plants to without nitrogen burning them. The hay and poop can literally just be put on your plants to without concern.

Interesting! Will definitely look that up.

 

[Mickmrly]

I have a crazy-ass idea of building a catfish-fueled aquaponics setup using an ICB tote as a fishtank, and plastic 55gal drums as grow beds. The system would be run on a solar array I would build on my shed, along with a rainwater basin on said shed. I also want to raise coturnix quail for meat and eggs, and to top it all off a black soldier fly composter to throw meat, vegetable, and animal waste into for quail and fish food supplement.

The goal is a system that produces more food than my family can eat (the rest given to friends and family) where hopefully the only input I need is fish feed, quail feed, and very occasional animal restocking.

I saw a YouTube video a few weeks ago that was very similar to your idea except with a pig as well included. Fish is quite expensive in Australia compared to other meats so I'd like to have something similar in the future.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

My wife bought me one of those manual reel mowers for an early father's day present. Did two passes on the back yard because I don't think my first pass had enough overlap. Anyway, it was a nice workout but not exhausting. I'm trying to invest some tlc into the backyard this year because the kids play on it all the time. Apparently reel mowers are better for the grass.

The garden is still giving a steady supply of strawberries, mushrooms, and asparagus. For the mushrooms, I'm mostly drying + grinding them and storing them in a quart sized jar. I hope to fill it with powder by the end of the season. Makes excellent soup or sauce base.

 

[rykomatsu]

Not sure this belongs since it's more of an ecosystem / aquaculture, but has plants so what the hell...

Moved into the new home not too long ago. Started putting together a stock tank pond with about 60 fish, but that was more to feed the various plants. Turning into a nice self-sustaining ecosystem.



Planning on turning the pool (18000 gal) in the background into a wildlife pond with a lot of natives. Spider lily, cattails, water primrose, bull tongue, etc...stocked with some native fish. Not really for self-sustenance, but just love the native fauna that native flora tend to bring.

We might carve out a portion of the yard for veggie gardening, but get anywhere from a herd of 10-30 deer passing through every day and...well...they've eaten a lot of our fresh plantings of everything...

 

[J-Roderton]

Well, my jalapeno and Anaheim peppers are coming in nicely. The ghosts are taking forever, though.

 

[Pumpkin Seeds]

First year peppers are slow. Make sure you have the right soil mix. Next year peppers will be good.

The most amazing edible plant I've grown is green onions. I did everything wrong on this. I was like a Englishman asking how to farm from the natives. I put seed straight into ground soil and only watered. I still got green onions and then the next year they reseeded themselves and grew again even though the plot had been run over with grass.

My plan right now is to do some potted aptenia and calibrachoa in the summer meltdown. I'm surprised by how few do the flowering suculents. When young women come in and buy non-flowering succulents, I'm like "yah she's single." It's like if they don't flower then their plants can't flower.

Herbs don't grow well in my current spot. They are my preferred plant since I love a fresh made breakfast with herbs plucked and tossed in. Yet the sun here is brutal. Need that olde Mediterranean climate.

 

[King of Foxes]

My food gardens

Onions, salad, carrots etc

Potatoes

 

[King of Foxes]

Put the tomatoes up this morning, it's been cooler these last few days so I get more done which is nice. Not really sure if I can go full time gardening with the time I have, work takes up too much time but I get chances to sneak off 20 or 30 min a couple times a day

 

[El Rey]

I'm dying to set up a garden but right now it's raining almost everyday so I'm spending most of my weekend fighting my damn yard. I have about an acre and a half so pretty much every weekend I have to mow this thing!!!

 

[J-Roderton]

Finally harvesting some of the best chilis on the planet. Ghost peppers of course.

 

[King of Foxes]

This year looking ok, will skip tomatoes though, I wasn't so successful last year.

Potatoes going well

And in general happy about my yard, in the background you can see two sections of cut firewood, taller than me and three rows deep. I have 5 sections like that in total, all cut by myself by hand axe.

 

[BFNoise]

This year looking ok, will skip tomatoes though, I wasn't so successful last year.

Potatoes going well

And in general happy about my yard, in the background you can see two sections of cut firewood, taller than me and three rows deep. I have 5 sections like that in total, all cut by myself by hand axe.

Were you trying to grow tomatoes without greenhouse? I was always sure it's a must in our climate. When I had summer house, we always planted tomatoes in greenhouse and were never disappointed with the harvest.

 

[King of Foxes]

Were you trying to grow tomatoes without greenhouse? I was always sure it's a must in our climate. When I had summer house, we always planted tomatoes in greenhouse and were never disappointed with the harvest.

I had a plastic frame with mesh covering I added but yeah they were just too squishy and not so good. They took a lot of attention and seeing as I'm in Riga a couple days each week I can't always look after them properly.

Looking into proper glass houses actually yesterday, will invest in a good one and start from next year with cherry and regular tomatoes.

Also looking into chickens, I want to section off the inside end of the barn and make it into their house with a tunnel to outside, just not liking the idea of fencing off a section on my yard for them cos it looks really nice atm but of course foxes will get them otherwise

 

[BFNoise]

I had a plastic frame with mesh covering I added but yeah they were just too squishy and not so good. They took a lot of attention and seeing as I'm in Riga a couple days each week I can't always look after them properly.

Looking into proper glass houses actually yesterday, will invest in a good one and start from next year with cherry and regular tomatoes.

Also looking into chickens, I want to section off the inside end of the barn and make it into their house with a tunnel to outside, just not liking the idea of fencing off a section on my yard for them cos it looks really nice atm but of course foxes will get them otherwise

We just used plastic film cover on steel frames, something like this:

It was quite small structure (6 x 3 m) and not very wind-proof.

Proper glass greenhouse is better, of course. But, you should keep in mind snowy winters (not a problem with plastic film approach because you can just remove the cover after harvest and install it back in spring). Friend of mine had glass greenhouse broken after two days of heavy snow. It probably wasn't built well though.

 

[King of Foxes]

We just used plastic film cover on steel frames, something like this:

It was quite small structure (6 x 3 m) and not very wind-proof.

Proper glass greenhouse is better, of course. But, you should keep in mind snowy winters (not a problem with plastic film approach because you can just remove the cover after harvest and install it back in spring). Friend of mine had glass greenhouse broken after two days of heavy snow. It probably wasn't built well though.

The ones we were looking at you can dismantle the glass, so it's a metal frame and the glass locks into place.

Would rather spend more for something that will last a long time, with inflation raping us im expecting garden materials and the cost of tomatoes to both go way up.

Gurkis, salad, potatoes, dill, carrots etc are all pretty easy to grow and I have plenty of land for them, just tomatoes that I can't just throw in and not worry about.

Slaughtered my 2nd pig a couple weeks ago too, this was the first time I did it alone and with a knife while my cousin watched and told me what to do.

Basically my getting fired for no vax plan has become my dealing with inflation plan.

Grow as much as I can myself, still not sure about cows and pigs but I'm learning how to kill and dress them anyway just for the knowledge

 

[regawdless]

We don't have a huge garden, but more than enough. The garden in front of the house belongs to the kids, with a wooden house for then, sandbox, small trampoline, a swing and their toys. Behind our house, there's a bigger garden, with the pool. We only have a little space where we have some things growing, nothing noteworthy tbh.

There a big fir tree that I want to remove inside of the next weeks.

 

[Stilton Disco]

Tending the fruit and veg has been a nice island ofsanity at the moment.

Potatoes are starting to be harvestable.

Pumpkins are absolutely exploding this year (thank goodness I coincidentally left the patch next to them to lie fallow this year.)

Runner Beans are coming.along nicely. You can also see how fast things are growing, there was barely a week between the ones at the top going in versus the bottom.

Brassica and root veg should be good for autumn.

Tomatoes are coming on great, lettuce had to be caged to protect them from birds, weirdly.

Strawberries, Raspberries and redcurrants all looking good, although they did get a touch too much sun during the heat splash.

All in all, looking good and, after watering and pruning dead leaves and weeds, time for a nice sharp cider!

 

[GreyHorace]

Just discovered this thread. Have to say, I'm extremely jealous that some people here have the patience and available land to have their own garden. I'd love to one day grow my own fruits and vegetables instead of just buying them at the supermarket.

 

[Stilton Disco]

Just discovered this thread. Have to say, I'm extremely jealous that some people here have the patience and available land to have their own garden. I'd love to one day grow my own fruits and vegetables instead of just buying them at the supermarket.

I'd say start small and easy. Tomatoes and potatoes are pretty simple to grow, don't need much space and provide a lot of produce for little effort. Tomatoes I particular can even be grown on a windowsill or window box if you're really lacking space.