here are general grass tips and such from Auburn http://www.ag.auburn.edu/agrn/turf/homelawns.php because fuck clemson aka auburn with a lake
also paint the wood that you use, my 1st go round I didn't and it rotted and replaced it. This time I painted it and it's going on 6 years now
I bought treated wood. So far I haven't seen any negative effects from it. At the time I didn't even think of the fact that the chemicals could seep into the soil.
I debated doing that but then though of the chemicals etc... I am sure it's not enough to really do any harm though. I wonder how the fake wood they use for decks now would be
Some people close the bottom. Mine are open and after three years of yearly use, The soil is amazing a foot below the beds. I filled mine with 50% top soil, about 30% organic compost and manure, and about 20% peat. I also add Foxfarm fertilizer before turnover and my soil is pretty awesome. Each shovel full usually has about twenty earth worms and everything grows amazing in it.
I use the cheap shit for a base, but the organic matter has to be added regularly. After a year or two, the soil really starts to come alive (literally).
that better be a picture from last year........ damn southerners. anyways I started with the bagged top, really didn't get good growth so read up on it Started composting, also trips to the local horse farm and even added some sand. It took me a good 3 years before it was perfect. Now it's thick, dark and full of worms. I plan to fire up the mantis and turn it all over this weekend. I had in the fall put manure on top of it, covered it in leaves and the last lawn mow and through the winter threw all my organic scraps on it. Now I want to get out there.
This is what I will replace all of mine with. Definitely the way to go. Also, wood treatment these days has almost zero harmful chemicals. They stopped using Arsenic and Chromium in '03 and use much safer materials now. If I die of some really obscure cancer in the next few years, immediately stop eating vegetables from any garden with treated lumber. As it can contain shit that caused me to die and probably have diarrhea, cramping, insomnia, mood swings, and other side effects. My erection lasting over four hours was a birth defect and shouldn't be worried about.
Mel Bartholemew is the guy that pushes square foot gardening and has a nice book on how to do so. He is very big on getting the right soil type and he advocates a mixture of 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost and 1/3 peat moss.
no, not at all. As a rule I put mine in mothers day. As I said a few posts up I have not even turned the dirt yet. So if I am lucky I will get the early crops in this weekend or next.
Alabama may suck in certain ways, but still picking tomatoes and okra in late October isn't one of them.
Vontaze Burfict Some things to consider is what you plan to primarily grow and whether or not it can handle the afternoon/evening sun. That's the hottest, most brutal sun and some things thrive in it and some don't do well at all. Try and make sure your garden gets plenty of early morning to noon sun. Laying it out correctly from the start will help down the road.
If you hate okra, you're not doing it right. I'd bet you a bill that I can cook you some okra that you'll love. Fucking commie bastard...
Cut in half vertically. Brush with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in oven or throw on the grill. Done.
We do okra at lease once a week. Olive oil and jalapeno salt and then bake/broil until they have shrunk and are crispy. Completely different than the steamed okra my mom used to make that grossed me out as a kid.
Yeah steamed okra doesn't sound even remotely good. Love it grilled but good fried okra is the tits as well.
it's only in the 50s here now and although we have had some warm days it's not like we have had a few weeks in the 70s Tomato plants like warm nights what I do for mine is bring them home and I will harden them off. Don't plant them the moment you bring them home but put them somewhere for a few nights where they will not get destroyed or stunted by the cooler nights.
this will be our second year planting, but our first at our new digs. I plan on just squaring off a small section in the yard (10x10?) Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers. . .Basil, Cilantro. . .all grew nice last year.
I probably won't have anything in the ground for another 6 weeks or more. Still too cool up here in CT.
Black Krim tomatoes are easily one of my favorite tasting and they do terrific with cool nights. Extremely hardy, but they are not bush plants. They will run for days!
this years project is turning my sons sand box into a herb garden for the wife. It will work out well because it's right out the back door and off the kitchen. Always had some herbs in pots in the garden but it was too much work for the wife to have to walk all the way around the house to use them. Really it was like 20 feet
The problem with 10'x10' is that you have to walk through the garden to access the middle. That's why I made mine somewhat like a maze so that you can get to everything w/o actually having to walk through it.
looked them up, they look good. In the past I always did better boys or early girls and then something small like grape toms this year I ordered heirloom plants that will be delivered late april so kinda excited to try them
Have built a couple- don't have pics though. I used landscape timbers for both. One was 20' long, and 4' wide.... 4 timbers high. Drill a hole in them, use rebar to hold it in place, then long as screws to firm it up. Took a few hours. The other one is 2-tiered. Same basic principal though. Really easy, looks good, holds up for a while
Checked on one of the sets of bees it put in this weekend. They had released the queen and she was laying. You can tell a good queen by the bees forming a circle around her facing her, like in the second photo. You can also see some eggs in the cells.
Checked on my other new hive and the swarm I caught today. Both queens are doing good and laying. Here are a couple of pictures of the queens and one of eggs, pollen, and honey.
Took a couple pictures of some bees on my apple trees today. I like the first picture because I think the different color pollen on the flower above the bee is interesting.
Made a new box this weekend and loaded it with top soil from one of the cow pastures from our farm. It smells so good. Pretty excited to see how it does compared to the regular dirt I had last year.
Damn. And here I am hoping the snow and freezing weather we got yesterday and today didn't kill everything that was about to bloom. Temps had been in the low 60's and things starting to get green then all of a sudden we get snow and highs in the mid 30's.
Someone school me on what tomatoes to plant. I normally just pick out some random varieties without much thought.
glad to see your showing out. nice to see others providing for theire families . I was beginning to think nobody liked gardening anymore. raised boxes are the bomb especialy when your ground had nemotoads . you can tell that when you pull the plants and see the deformity .
depends on what climate zone you are in and how much you are willing to spend on your water bill ? plant parkers whoppers , big boys , yellow salad ) becarefull large plants , what ever you do if your ground is not acceptable ph balance . then plant in either a hanging planter or at least 14 inch deep tub . but if you do plant in a planter make shure the ph is right . if you are ever in question go on-line to the farmers almanac for your zone it shows when to plant what , and what veggies are compatible with the others . your welcome. p.s. if you hav problems with summertime bugs , I have some tricks to use . hard to plant in Orlando in summer - why ? sugar sand and cost of summer watering .
I went to the 2016 planting guide for Orlando, there are only three veggies from march and beginning of april. pumkins eggplant sweet potatoes for our area we were supposed to plant tomatoes in feb.
Should I be worried about my blueberry plants? Leaves were beginning to open up then wegot a sudden cold snap and about an inch or two of snow. Everything outside looks dead again.
that is a tuff one . I actually one year cut my mulberry tree back late and it did not produce for a year . it is about to produce right about now. the buds are green , just waiting to start picking and jarring . might refer to the old farmers almanac . just got off it . edit add on : in the planting guide punch in your local town and state it will then give the guide . also other stuff you just have to search . if not google it ? all my fruit and berry trees are blooming .- now ! I planted 4 diff tomatoes in 14 inch deep planters one salad tomatoe took over the other 3. I would venture to say right now I have about 300 salad tomatoes on the vine . the other end of april thru august is the photo - period, so if your near me in Orlando get your automatics ready .