new garden

[Ernie]

Bought a Yardman rear tiller last month and seeds for myself and my sister. Yesterday I tilled up 300 sq. ft. and going to go over it again this morning before the rains. My sister is deciding if she wants here own or will help work this one. Ordered some bags for growing potatoes and have some covered containers for starting plants. This is my first garden and I am reading and asking questions for information in hopes of having some success for the first attempt. Will be planting carrots, onions, radishes, peppers, peas, beans, tomatoes, and potatoes. Michigan decided gardening centers are not an essential business so getting plants will be difficult. Glad I got seeds early. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

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[JEBar]

we no longer have a garden .... I'm really looking forward to following your project .... please post comments and pictures often

[CT_Shooter]

Your soil looks great, Ernie. My wife and I had a garden for several decades and at one time or another grew all of the veggies you're planting.

We grew sugar snap peas on a fence made of netting which worked really well to allow pollinators to get to all sides of it. They're an early crop, so you should get them in fairly soon. Once they start flowering, the peas will come rapidly and should be picked Daily. We grew our beans on a trellis and just like the peas, once they start flowering, they come rapidly and need to be picked daily. They can be hard to see, so you'll spend a lot of time looking for them at first. After a while, you'll get to know how to spot them more easily. Even still, we would often find them that had grown to about eight or nine inches. We used those for seeds.

Radishes and carrots need to be thinned just after they sprout to separate them if you want decent fruit. We had great success with radishes; not so much with carrots.

You can plant your tomatoes and peppers deep once the seedlings sprout. Starting both of them indoors is best and once they're about six inches tall, bring them outdoors every day for about a week to harden them against the breeze. Then, plant them up to their necks to give them a good strong root system. Depending on the variety of tomatoes, you'll need to prune the so-called suckers that grow out the sides and don't bear fruit.

We had better luck with potatoes than with onions and garlic. Of course, your results will vary. It's a fun activity; I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Good luck. I look forward to your photos.

[Vaquero]

Haven't had one in several years now, but I am going to do one this year, and similar size.
Those potatoes will be your biggest challenge, they need to be in mounds.
We usual just made that row one long mound, never tried carrots.
The others you have are pretty simple and straight forward.
Good luck, and enjoy.

RP

[GunnyGene]

I've had a backyard veggie garden here for about the last 20years. Since our climate and soil is much different than you have up there, the only advise I'd offer is to take a soil sample and have it tested. Most Co-Ops will do that for you for pocket change, and you'll get a read out about PH & what you need for fertilizer, amendments, etc. Well worth it. Give your local Co-Op a call and ask them about it.

[Ernie]

Haven't had one in several years now, but I am going to do one this year, and similar size.
Those potatoes will be your biggest challenge, they need to be in mounds.
We usual just made that row one long mound, never tried carrots.
The others you have are pretty simple and straight forward.
Good luck, and enjoy.

RP

Bought bags from Walmart to plant potatoes in that make sense (to me) in which you add soil and raise bag as they grow. This contains the potatoes which can be harvested through a flap in the side for young potatoes or just dumped out when done instead of trying to dig them up. I guess I will find out if this really works. Going out to pick up some tomato cages and compost this afternoon before they close down Lowes garden center.
Thanks for all the comments, need all the help I can get.

[Mags]

.
Used to do a garden for many years. Adding the above advice. For carrots, they grow best in sandy/loamy/loose soil for length. Otherwise they can end up short and squat. They are sensitive to over watering and can rot in the ground. We grew them in a raised box with brought in sandy loam, raised so that excess water quickly drained away. Similar for turnips and radishes.

We typically grew corn, bush beans, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkin, squash, cucumber, carrots and turnips with marigolds on the perimeter to draw away the bugs. Growing zucchini was forbidden by choice. Too prolific and invasive.

[Ernie]

Mags thanks for the advice on the carrots and radishes. I have no motivation to plant zucchini. CT I appreciate you input on everything you covered. In Michigan all garden centers are now closed but the local hardware store is apparently exempt so I picked up enriched gardening soil at 2 for one pricing for raised beds.
Thanks again to everyone for your help, maybe I will end up with something.

[GunnyGene]

Mags thanks for the advice on the carrots and radishes. I have no motivation to plant zucchini. CT I appreciate you input on everything you covered. In Michigan all garden centers are now closed but the local hardware store is apparently exempt so I picked up enriched gardening soil at 2 for one pricing for raised beds.
Thanks again to everyone for your help, maybe I will end up with something.

I really don't get why Michigan, and I suppose some other States, have shut down garden centers. Or maybe I'm confused by the terminology. Is a Farm Co-Op considered a garden center? If it is, how does the State justify shutting down the ability of residents to grow their own food? All our Co-Ops here are open and selling all the usual stuff - including ammo.

[Ernie]

Michigan is trying to keep people home. Stores now are limiting how many people can be in the stores. They will admit one person only (no couples or families) when someone else leaves once the quota is reached, they want you to get what you need and get out. No wandering around just shopping and landscaping was determined to not be essential. Since that is what the majority of plants at the box stores are about the state shut them down for shopping in as well as the paint departments. Saw where one of the local nurseries starting today was offering curbside pick up for phone in or internet orders. Don't know what the Co-Op in Cass County is doing.

[markiver54]

After you get your planting done, consider rabbit fence.
Looks like it will be a nice garden. Just make sure you benefit from it more than the critters Ernie.
BTW, our Co-op is open because they sell some groceries.

[Ernie]

First no rain/warm day in a couple weeks so I and my sister racked the sod out of the new garden, added some enriched soil, composted manure and tilled it in. Supposed to rain for the next 4 days so I will get some tomato plants, onion sets, and seed potatoes around Thursday to start planting next week end. Gardening centers opened yesterday so I will give them a little time to slow down some before I attempt to buy.

[CT_Shooter]

You're going to have fun with your garden, Ernie. Just a heads up on the tomatos; they can go in the ground as soon as the last frost has passed, but they won't do very well. You should wait on planting them until the ground warms up.

Tomatoes should be planted when the soil temperature reaches a minimum of 60°F in the daytime. If you plant too early in cold soil, tomato (and pepper) seedlings sulk and will not be happy. Root development is very slow and the roots have difficulty absorbing nutrients. The plants could show phosphorus deficiency which shows up as stunted plants with purple leaves on the underside.
https://giantveggiegardener.com/2013/05 ... -tomatoes/

First no rain/warm day in a couple weeks so I and my sister racked the sod out of the new garden, added some enriched soil, composted manure and tilled it in. Supposed to rain for the next 4 days so I will get some tomato plants, onion sets, and seed potatoes around Thursday to start planting next week end. Gardening centers opened yesterday so I will give them a little time to slow down some before I attempt to buy.

[Ernie]

Thanks CT, heard this today at work too. Going to ask questions at the garden center as well. I will wait on the tomatoes.

[Ernie]

We finally had what I hope is the last frost and will be planting today. This is a perfect time to show off my ignorance. Have some tomato, pepper, melon plants and onion sets. The seed potatoes were sold out but I have plenty of seeds for other things. Have the posts in and building a gate, then hanging the fencing soon. I seem to be good at the mechanics of getting the garden ready however we shall see if I have any talent for actually growing food.
Everyone around here is out of seed potatoes, word is they all sold out this week. I will check on line.

[Ernie]

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Got the garden in except for potatoes. Seed potatoes sold out in a week and had to order some online. Now have chicken wire installed and building a gate tomorrow.

[markiver54]

Lookn' good Ernie!

[Ernie]

Tomatoes, squash, bell peppers, hot peppers, cantaloup, beans, peas, carrots, onions, scallions, and radishes ( oh and zucchini of course ). Going to plant potatoes when they arrive next week in some garden bags I read about. Tilled in 25 bags of composted manure and my sister is predicting the garden will take over the world in about 3 weeks.
I bought a book on composting in case I wish to continue this next year. Thinking about strawberries and blueberries on the out lot.
Local farmer is selling off 75 hogs and I am trying to buy 2 to process for our family. Suggested my sister buy another 20 for her back yard but she did not find that appealing nor amusing.

[dave77]

Are you going to keep the hogs for awhile or have them butchered right away? Years ago I let some FFA kids raise some pigs on my property and while my neighbor and I got a free hog out of the deal I will never have pigs on my property again, the last year the kid had about a dozen and you would not believe how many flies a dozen pigs will attract. Left my car window down one night and I'm not exaggerating, there must have been a thousand flies in it the next morning.

I have a good friend staying in her 5th wheel in my backyard and she's a big gardener. We built a raised bed for strawberries a couple of weeks ago and can't wait for them to start producing, the strawberries you get in the stores can't compare to home grown.

She's planted some annuals to fill in but other than the maple and the rosebush it will be all strawberries.


Here's her garden (she's been busy but did a lot of weeding today, the only weeding I do is with my weed-eater or Roundup/2-4D), her Chicken Condo and goats in the background where the greenhouse will go when we can get a backhoe to level a spot for it.

[Ernie]

Your friend has more ambition than I do, nice garden. Thinking about a greenhouse next spring.
The hogs will be delivered to the processor by the farmer so I do not have the pleasure of their company or their friends.
He has sold off about 120 so far because of the current situation. I am trying to do business with the locals as much as possible.