The first few weeks of June the weather has been fantastic for my gardens. This last week has been a bit rough with a little too much rain and not enough sun. I'm hoping to see some more sun in July:)
As you know I have had a square foot garden(my little girl garden) in the back year for 4 years now. This year I started an in ground(big girl) garden in the front of the house. The soil is the same in the back garden but I used the old compost from cow manure for the new front garden. I think that is why the plants have gone insane. I will see how it affects the production.
So…time for some June pictures.
This the top garden on June 10th:
Some changes on June 28. I had to pull out the bans on the left as they did not do well. The lettuce has come to the end of it's life but I did get a lot of lettuce this year:) And the tomatoes and cucumbers are growing:
June 10…Mostly the beans and squash/melon plants:
June 28:
The back yard garden is doing well. I just have to keep the rabbits out.
Now for the front garden….which is the one I think is on steroids, lol.
Looking at the front of it on June 10:
And June 28:
June 10….lettuce, spinach and tomatoes:
June 28…I pulled up most of the spinach but I still have lettuce and the tomatoes are really growing:
June 10…cucumbers and beans:
June 28…
And the biggest change of all….the squash and melon plants:
June 10
June 28:
On the right I have a huge pattypan squash, a zucchini and a yellow squash. On the left I have a watermelon, cantaloupe and a mystery squash(I forgot what I planted, lol).
Looking from the bottom up:
I am amazed at the squash. The patty pan and yellow got so big in the front garden that I had to cut one out. I had two plants on one hill for each one. I now have one plant per hill.
The pattypan has grown like crazy in the front garden. Here you can see my hand on one leaf:
So far the differences between my big girl and small girl gardens.
1. The plants are huge in the big garden.
2. I have picked beets, lettuce, spinach, squash, peas and cucumbers from the big garden.
3. I have picked lettuce and spinach from the top garden.
4. The pattypan is huge in the big garden and pretty small in the small garden.
5. The cantaloupe and watermelon are growing about the same.
6. My peppers are much better in the small garden. I think I will lose them in the big garden and I'm not sure why. I think they have too much compost.
This is another year of learning and testing although I think each year I will continue to learn more about gardening. Next year I need to space my plants farther apart and figure a better way of staking things.
That's all for now. It's not raining out so I need to help Mike mow and do the weedeating….then I get to weed the gardens.
Have a great day!!
Lisa
Garden looks great. You found the gardeners secret, it’s all in good soil, drainage and sun. I find I have the best luck with 4’ dia. Mounds for my melons and squash. Like you I usually start with a few plants and then weed them back to a couple. The thing I find works on tomatoes is to plant them up to the first set of leaves, which I pull off first. They love a deep root system.
ReplyDeleteHave you guys ever considered hydro-seeding that problem hill behind the store?
Gary
Thank you for the tips. I will definitely have to increase the melons and squash area next year. I was looking into cattle panels for the melons and the acorn squash since they can be trained to grow vertically. Mike is smacking his head, lol. I will see how they finish growing this year before I decide.
DeleteI did plant my tomatoes up to the first set of leaves:)
We have considered the hydro seeding but I think Mike wants to try one more round of throwing seed on it ourselves. We do have "some" growth. Mike can get the top, lol.
The manure will make a huge difference....as you've noticed. And since you've got the aged stuff from the fields, it's not going to burn out the ground the way fresh manure will.
ReplyDeleteTurning it in the way you did, as you dug the soil for the lower garden was also a good way to do it...though I would have rented a tiller...LOL!!
You are also going to fine that some plants just don't want to grow, while others grow like weeds...may be in the seeds, but don't know for sure....but the soil will have a bit impact for sure.
Did you ever get the soil sampled and sent to the County Extension for analysis? It's usually free, and they can really help with figuring how to treat the soil for next season.
Both gardens look great...nice weeding job!
Next year I am going to expand the garden and I will either rent or buy a tiller for that:) Mike want s greenhouse where my square foot garden is. We'll see.
DeleteI never did get the soil sample. I guess I will do that when I have a lot of problems:) My librarian just told me that her peppers are doing poorly…something about fore blight. I never heard of that so I will have to check into that and see if anyone else around here is having trouble with their peppers.
I need to weed again. I wonder if I can put weed cloth all over my garden, lol.
Looking good Lisa~~you can use those cattle panels for so many veggies just be sure you get the ones with the openings you can get your hands through to pick. Your squash, cucumbers, melons & pumpkins can climb up the panels making them very easy to pick but more importantly they won't touch the ground. No worries about them getting soft on one side or rotting. If they get to heavy for the vines to hold them take some panty hose to make hammocks to rest them in tying the hose onto the cattle panels. I've put some 4"x4" posts in a row then stapled cattle panels on each side to plant tomatoes in between the panels. You can lay wet newspapers around your plants, cover them with soil, to be a weed barrier then they decompose into your soil. When the garden is finished I'd put a layer of manure over it let it lay for a bit then before the snow comes till it into the ground. It will be ready to till & plant come spring full of nutrients to grow your seeds/plants. :) Jaxson
ReplyDeleteI knew you would know.:) Thanks for all the advice. I may have to wait until next year's garden for the cattle panel. I can't get the lighter 12 foot ones locally.
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