Photos of my first veggie garden
As some may have seen, I am growing my first veggie garden this year. I started with an area that had a lot of dead oaks and cedars that died from the drought. I cleared them all and then dug up the native soil and rocks as deep as I could go. I went through all the dirt and removed all the rocks, then brought in some sandy loam to make up the deficit. I then built 4 raised beds with 2x6 lumber that are 4' x 16' and filled them with mushroom compost. I then used a mini-excavator to dig it all in and mix it all up.
I also had to build a fence to keep the deer out so this was done with 4x4 treated posts the a (2) 2x4 top rail using 2x4 welded wire. I stretched the wire with a homemade wire stretcher and a come-a-long. I put in a main entry gate and arbor as well as a back gate so I can get to my stockpiles of mulch and compost. Lastly, I added a flower garden outside the front of the garden where my wife planted deer resistant flowers. It ran a water line to the garden and put in a complete drip irrigation system.
The amazing thing to me is I started knocking down the trees on April 7, 2013 and this is what I have now, less than two months later!
Here is what I have planted:
5 Porter Tomatoes
2 Black Cherry Tomatoes
1 Celebration Tomato
1 Jalapeno M
2 TAM Jalepenos
2 California Wonder Bell Peppers
1 Red Bell Pepper
3 Burpless Cucumbers
2 Black Beauty Zucchini
2 Crimson Sweet Watermelons
1 Honey Rock Muskmelon
6 8' rows of Ambrosia Sweet Corn
1 8' row of Golden Wax Beans
1 8' row of Contender Bush Beans
1 8' row of Royal Burgundy Bush Beans
2 8' row of Texas Cream Cowpeas
1 8' row of Emerald Okra
1 5' row of Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans
So far, I am 100% organic
This pic is about a week ago and is a general pic showing the arbor from a distance with the corn and beans.
Comments (21)
mesquiteman
10 years agoHere is another general garden pic showing my cucumber trellis I built as well as the zuch and beans and tomatoes in the background.
mesquiteman
10 years agoHere is a pic of the main gate and arbor. We built a small bed on each side of the main gate and planted coral honeysuckle that we plan to train up the lattice and over the top. I built the lattice myself out of eastern red cedar that I milled on my saw mill.
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My First Veggie Garden - Help?
Comments (7)You will need to judge the watering needs according to how your plants are growing and responding and how the soil feels to you (physically). Personally, I believe in watering deeply, but less frequently....but the number of times per week will depend entirely upon the time of year, amount of sunlight, maturity of the crop, and the temperature. We can't tell you how often...that depends upon the conditions that YOU have. Just make sure that when you do water, it's for a long enough time to actually get down into the root system, not just dampen the top. The straw is to keep weeds down and preserve soil moisture, prevent water and wind erosion, aide in water percolation, etc. I'd put it everywhere....See MorePhotos of my first two clematis blooming in my garden
Comments (2)Nice pictures. I'm NOT one of those who dislike Hagley Hybrid. I like it enough that I have two of them. They are in the shade during the middle of the day and even though they do fade I still like them....See MoreMy first GardenWeb photos-Wenk's Yellow Hots & maybe others
Comments (6)naturegirl, when i first started growing peppers, i did it because i loved the plant and flowers of the plant, not because i was such a pepper fan and wanted the heat. i grew up in a family where the only thing spicy was when my dad would get drunk and start pouring tabasco sauce into moms spaghetti sauce. i don't know where he kept the bottle hid(tobasco, not pearl beer--that was obvious), but it always came out on saturday nights at said time. we ALWAYS had spaghetti on saturday night. anyway, after starting to grow peppers for the fun of it, i decided that if i was going to grow the darn things, i was going to at least try them. now after growing peppers for the last 5 years...i can take the heat, or at least much more than before. my wife, who used to be really wimpy about heat, is now saying about peppers she could and would not eat before, "that wasn't so hot, we need hotter?" it just goes to show that you can build up your heat tolerance and will be glad you do. not only that, once you quit anticipating HOW ITS GUNNA BURN.....maybe then you will realize how each different type of pepper has its own unique flavor, and start enjoying peppers more and more. they really are yummy........PLUS, they are great for your health....go for it naturegirl and welcome to the yummy world of peppers---enough said----peas and peppers---bob...See MoreMy First Rose Garden Photos (Continued)
Comments (8)First of all that is one of the most beautiful and healthy gardens I've seen (puts mine to shame...seriously!)Your Jude the Obscure looks like the pictures I've seen that made be ignore thats its prone to black spot, and just go for it! Stunning! And your Twilight Zone is also 5x bigger than mine! I must be doing something wrong haha! Secondly, I'm a little concerned about where I've placed some of my English roses. I thought Jude the Obscure was suppossed to stay under 4ft?? I may have a problem...LOL! Thanks to you and your granddaughter for sharing, Tammy...See Moremesquiteman
10 years agoHere is a closer pic of the gate. I built the gate myself out of Ash Juniper, commonly know as "Cedar" in the Hill Country. I had a 16" cedar that had died from the drought on my property so I cut it down and milled the lumber for the gate with my sawmill. The gate is my own design and is full mortise and tenon construction with no nails or screws. I applied a professional deck stain to protect it from the elements, thus the rich red/brown color. This is not the natural color.
mesquiteman
10 years agoHere is an overall pic from the front showing the flower garden in the front.
mesquiteman
10 years agoAnd lastly, this was taken this evening while sitting in the chair just inside the gate seen in one of the other photos. Looks like a jungle in here!
mesquiteman
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