Advice on Starting a Pollinator Garden
mybrownthumbz6
2 years ago
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mybrownthumbz6
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Advice for starting a garden mid-season (in Austin)
Comments (16)Yes...what everybody said above. I have great luck with a fall garden and THEN a winter garden. The fall garden consists of pole snap beans planted in early to mid August (harvest until frost), summer squash planted in late July to early August, peppers planted in late June to early July, okra planted in early July, and this year I am going to try winter squash to be planted in late June or early July. I am still working on the right timing for fall tomatoes. I start collards, kale, cabbage,broccoli etc from seed in mid July for planting out in late August. These will all produce through the entire winter. (Broccoli side shoots, of course.) And then, I direct sow turnips, mustard, Asian greens, and carrots in late August. These also produce all winter. During the hottest part of the summer (July and August), plants will live as long as you water, but many of them will stop producing because the blooms fall off or fail to pollinate: tomatoes and beans being the biggest culprits. However, cowpeas,melons, okra, peppers, etc. do great during that time. We can grow and harvest food nearly year round here, but timing is absolutely crucial....See MoreI'm starting to grow a small herb garden. I need help and advice
Comments (10)basil can start from cuttings in water so, if you are in a hurry, or low in seed, you can try that. sometimes you can extend the life of basil and other herbs by cutting off all of the flower heads. generally, they dont last longer than 1 year but, i have ad some go 2 and a half so far. most herbs will grow in pots or in the ground as long as you have good water retention. think about putting some mulch around the base. i do that for potted plants as well. i would not try to look at the roots, it could disturb them from growing. do you fertilize them ? i use urine (my own pee) 1 part urine, to 5 or 10 or 20 parts water i usually go with 1/8 to 1/10 urine is high in nitrogen, and has P + K, and other micronutes as well...See MoreNeed Advice on starting garden
Comments (8)How deep is the mix on top? I agree with the others about some of the story depending on the mix they used BUT assuming it is something that is suitable to grow plants, and it is reasonably deep, you are probably fine. Think of it like a raised bed (I've got a couple that are both about 10 inches of soil deep). Some people recommend digging under their raised beds first. I didn't really do much of that. In fact, I only removed the grass under one, and they basically performed the same. Similarly, it seems like lots of folks are advocating for no dig beds (haven't tried it myself) in part because when you start mucking around stirring stuff up, you are bringing up less desirable stuff from under your topsoil (as well as monkeying with a complex soil system). If the planter mix is decently thick (and decent stuff), I'd probably leave it as is and just start planting stuff. That said, if it is only like 2 inches deep and you are wanting to grow carrots or something else deep rooted, you might need to reconsider....See MoreNeed advice for garden tractor implements to start new garden
Comments (7)It all depends on your current soil conditions and how big the garden is. A vegetable garden doesn't have to be tilled or plowed every year. If it has grass on it, the biggest job will be breaking that up. If the soil is poor - low in organic matter - you'll want to incorporate a lot of compost up front and more each year to maintain the levels and build a better soil. Sounds like you are ready to do that. I had my garden plot initially tilled by a guy with a tractor, not sure of the size (of the tractor) but it was finely broken up (tilled) rather than plowed. I would recommend a tiller rather than a plow for gardening. I don't know of any rock-removing implement. Your own two hands is pretty much it. If you pick a spot to toss them into a pile and do that whenever you see them, over time there will be fewer and fewer. I keep a small pot in the corner of each raised bed for rock pieces - mine are gravel about 1-2" across and there are not many at this point. Re planting, you don't HAVE to plant in rows. You probably do want to establish some paths to walk on and beds that you don't walk on. If you plant tomatoes, peppers or other plants that are not grown from seed, you can plant them in a grid rather than rows. You might want to start small with one bed rather than a huge area the first year. Expand it each year as you have time and materials....See Moremybrownthumbz6
2 years agomybrownthumbz6
2 years ago
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