Gardens In The Playground

[Kid Jake]

I've always wanted to start a vegetable garden, but for one reason or another I never have. Most years the urge comes on too late to grow anything, other years I've just flat killed my crop before it even had a chance, others I just didn't have the time or resources to set aside for it.

This year I've jumped in with both feet. I started setting a little cash back last year and bought a couple hundred bucks worth of seeds and garden supplies as a Christmas Present to myself. I now have shelves of peas, broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes and peppers growing in my windows with a bunch of melon, onion and radish seeds waiting to sow directly once I finish setting up my raised beds.

I'm closer than I've ever been to an actual garden, but I keep worrying my black thumb is about to strike...

Any advice for an enthusiastic beginner? Want to share your own garden plans for the year? Looking for a place to just gush about your growing skills?

[Peelee]

I love gardening!

Initial setup fees are going to be pretty high. Every other year will be much cheaper, on the plus side. Are you planting in the ground, did you buy planters, have you made your own,....?

[Rockphed]

Growing up my family always had a vegetable garden. My dad still sometimes manages to get crops (mostly zucchini and tomatoes which are pretty much unkillable). We always planted the last week of May, but could probably have planted earlier. The big things to remember are that you need to keep up on the weeding and the watering or you will regret it. Also, use good fertilizer. Also also, get a compost heap started. If you do it right, you will be throwing dead plants in the top and getting rich, black humus out the bottom.

[Peelee]

We always planted the last week of May

Great googly moogly! I was feeling bad about waiting so far into March this year!

Then again, I do most likely have a bit longer growing season than you. Even if I am cursed to still be too cold a land for my beloved citrus trees...

[Rogar Demonblud]

Being cold-blooded would be more of an issue, I thought?

Planting gardens around here is a mid-April thing, in part because of late snows.

[farothel]

A lot of what you can do with your garden depends on your soil. I remember that when I was a kid, in my parent's vegetable garden we used to grow a lot of things, but never leek, as that wouldn't grow. On the other hand, we had enough beans to supply the entire family. With my grandparents, who lived about 2 km away (as the crow flies) the leeks grew like you wouldn't believe and the beans wouldn't even come up.

So soil is a very important part, as is fertilization. The best way to get this done is to make your own compost out of your kitchen and garden waste, but it takes a while to get that going. Here in Belgium we have in a lot of villages a functionary from the village who is trained in giving advice on this (this is a way to try and get people to do their own composting, therefore limiting the amount of garbage). If you have something similar, I would suggest going to see that person to get information.
We also used to put horse manure on our plot of land every two-three years as extra fertilization (if you know someone who has horses, they mostly have lots of manure they have to get rid of)
Make sure you rotate your crops. I don't know what the recomendations are for this, but I'm sure Dr. Google Ph.D can help you there.

We also used no pesticides (except in very rare cases), but used natural ways of removing pests, or nets in case of flying pests. I know that certain plants put in between carrots make that carrot flies don't come near them, although I'm not sure which plants they were. Things like that can also be useful to know.

[Kid Jake]

I love gardening!

Initial setup fees are going to be pretty high. Every other year will be much cheaper, on the plus side. Are you planting in the ground, did you buy planters, have you made your own,....?

Making my own planter boxes at the moment out of untreated scrap wood. The soil here is pretty poor according to a neighbor and I've got persistent hip and knee injuries that make it difficult to kneel; so I'm building them at about waist level for ease of use. The same neighbor has given me a few 50lbs bags of potting soil and various other odds and ends that should hopefully offset some of the cost.

Growing up my family always had a vegetable garden. My dad still sometimes manages to get crops (mostly zucchini and tomatoes which are pretty much unkillable). We always planted the last week of May, but could probably have planted earlier. The big things to remember are that you need to keep up on the weeding and the watering or you will regret it. Also, use good fertilizer. Also also, get a compost heap started. If you do it right, you will be throwing dead plants in the top and getting rich, black humus out the bottom.

My grandfather had a 100 Acre potato farm, but I was like six when it was divvied up and sold off so I never got to really experience it. My dad talks fondly of it; but he somehow knows less about gardening than me, so he's no help.

I've got a compost pile going, but doubt if I get much use out of it this year; it's still a wee thing.

Still trying to get the hang of watering. My biggest fear is that I'm either going to severely over or under water because of my noobishness and just kill everything at the last minute.

We also used no pesticides (except in very rare cases), but used natural ways of removing pests, or nets in case of flying pests. I know that certain plants put in between carrots make that carrot flies don't come near them, although I'm not sure which plants they were. Things like that can also be useful to know.

I'm hoping to avoid pesticides (as much for cost reasons as health) but even more the usual pests, I'm trying to figure out how the hell to keep our local sneaky-ass deer out of my garden once it starts to fruit.

[Rockphed]

Making my own planter boxes at the moment out of untreated scrap wood. The soil here is pretty poor according to a neighbor and I've got persistent hip and knee injuries that make it difficult to kneel; so I'm building them at about waist level for ease of use. The same neighbor has given me a few 50lbs bags of potting soil and various other odds and ends that should hopefully offset some of the cost.

Still trying to get the hang of watering. My biggest fear is that I'm either going to severely over or under water because of my noobishness and just kill everything at the last minute.

Raised beds are both a blessing and a curse. They make it easier to work with the plants and water drains away a little easier, but they also mean that your water will almost invariably drain away.

I'm hoping to avoid pesticides (as much for cost reasons as health) but even more the usual pests, I'm trying to figure out how the hell to keep our local sneaky-ass deer out of my garden once it starts to fruit.

One year we had beautiful bush beans growing. Then we woke up one morning and they all had their tops nibbled off. We initially blamed rabbits, but I found a deer print a couple days later, so it was probably a deer or three.

[Melayl]

My wife loves her garden! It's mostly tomatoes and peppers, with some green beans and cucumbers. She does have quite the green thumb, and it always produces well. It helps that we till a bag of compost and a bag of miracle grow moisture control potting soil into it every year...

[Peelee]

Making my own planter boxes at the moment out of untreated scrap wood. The soil here is pretty poor according to a neighbor and I've got persistent hip and knee injuries that make it difficult to kneel; so I'm building them at about waist level for ease of use. The same neighbor has given me a few 50lbs bags of potting soil and various other odds and ends that should hopefully offset some of the cost.

I did the same thing a few years back, though mostly due to laziness in the "not wanting to bend or kneel" area. Just pine two by fours, drilled a 1-inch hole every 12 in the middle of the central floorboard for drainage, then coated the whole thing before moving em out and filling and planting.

Then the year later I went ahead and used my electric tiller to get some rows in the ground. Found out last year my little baby loves cherry tomatoes as much as I do, so I got several more this time. They had colored round cages at 6 bucks a pop, or the plain metal for less than two. Got 'em painted up myself with what I already had on-hand, so the yellow tomatoes, red tomatoes, and black tomatoes are all clearly marked without having to look at the small tag in the ground. I'm pretty pleased with myself.

[Themrys]

Still trying to get the hang of watering. My biggest fear is that I'm either going to severely over or under water because of my noobishness and just kill everything at the last minute.

It is pretty hard to overwater in a garden. Only thing I have heard of is that if you water a tiny bit every day, the roots will grow only on the surface. Better water a lot every couple of days, so the roots have some motivation to grow deeper.

Actually, it is hard to overwater in pots, too. All you need is a pot with drainage holes and the wisdom to not just let the water stand in the hole-less overpot. Works for most common house plants, though perhaps a cactus requires a little less.

With potted plants, a good rule of thumb is: If the plant wilts, don't immediately water. First check if the soil is wet. If the soil is wet, you have probably overwatered, or something else is the problem.

[Kid Jake]

It is pretty hard to overwater in a garden. Only thing I have heard of is that if you water a tiny bit every day, the roots will grow only on the surface. Better water a lot every couple of days, so the roots have some motivation to grow deeper.

Actually, it is hard to overwater in pots, too. All you need is a pot with drainage holes and the wisdom to not just let the water stand in the hole-less overpot. Works for most common house plants, though perhaps a cactus requires a little less.

With potted plants, a good rule of thumb is: If the plant wilts, don't immediately water. First check if the soil is wet. If the soil is wet, you have probably overwatered, or something else is the problem.

I'll keep that in mind; very handy!


I was a little worried I may have overwatered my peas; but I'm starting to think I just started them too early. They're falling over into a formless clump and I think it's because they need supports that I don't have room to give them inside. Should I rig something up or go ahead and transplant some of them outside, maybe cover them in plastic to retain heat at night?