Mothering Forum banner

Zone 3-5 Gardeners Early 2010

13K views 214 replies 52 participants last post by  lovermont 
#1 ·
Hey there! Wasn't there a zones 3-5 gardener thread? Want to start one up with me?

I'm in zone 5a, I believe. I'm beginning to start thinking about planning the garden again. I think I'm going to shoot for growing in the garden beds, only direct-sow plants. I don't know if I will be able to start the seedlings like I did last year, and I'm curious as to whether I can even do something like this. I might grow 2 tomato plants in a pot, I don't know. I didn't have a whole lot of success with the tomatoes last year, well, I didn't have success transplanting anything I started indoors last year.

Anyone ever try this?

Also, now that our gardening area has been through one garden season, I notice that much of it is shaded. Meh. Probably should pick a different spot, but it is what it is. I've read that certain cooler temp crops (lettuce, spinach and other greens) might do ok in that sort of area. Any feeedback on that.

One thing I've discovered is that carrots and radishes either really like us or are just easy to grow. Heh.
 
#152 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by HeatherAtHome View Post

Even still, there's plenty of stuff that got tilled in and has to be raked out. I was told (by my dad, an old school gardener) that I should wait 2 or 3 years before building raised beds because the whole garden will need tilling during that time to get rid of weeds.

My line of defense: weed, use deep mulches and or ground covers/weed barriers and also do a lot of raking to get out roots before anything is planted.
Sound ok? Or should I hold off on the raised beds?

ETA: I'm supposed to rake through it then in a week or so he'll be back to till once more before planting.

Lucky you - you have someone who comes and tills!

That being said, I think, if your beds are deep enough, weeds should not be a huge issue. Maybe build the beds, put something on the bottom (newpaper) water it, add some compost or even things that are to become compost in alternating green and brown layers, then a good thick layer or soil. If the beds are deep enough the weeds will be smothered by all the stuff on top, so to speak.

I am curious: why do you want raised beds? They are fun - but a lot of work - and you have a huge area in which to grow stuff.

How is the soil in the eastern townships? Is it rocky? I grew up in the Laurentians and man was that hard soil to work!

Kathy
 
#153 ·
Hey everyone.. I'm new to this thread, I just moved to a 3-5 zone area (I am pretty sure) in Northern Utah and I put some starters in the ground yesterday. Now, I see that the weather is saying it's going to SNOW?! My DH went out of town for the rest of the week... Quick, what do I need to do?

My weather report
 
#155 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by HeatherAtHome View Post

Even still, there's plenty of stuff that got tilled in and has to be raked out. I was told (by my dad, an old school gardener) that I should wait 2 or 3 years before building raised beds because the whole garden will need tilling during that time to get rid of weeds.

You could weed your raised beds by hand, and leave enough room around them to till, or if you are strictly gardening inside the raised beds, you could plant a ground cover around them.
 
#156 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Hibou View Post
You could weed your raised beds by hand, and leave enough room around them to till, or if you are strictly gardening inside the raised beds, you could plant a ground cover around them.
Wedding a raised bed by hand is super easy! This will be our third year with our raised beds (they are very raised, 3 feet from the ground!). We added in one new bed this year, it will be our last one. I was hoping to get my seeds and seedlings in on the weekend but we ran out of time
maybe tonight or tomorrow! Last year, this time of year, we had snow!
 
#157 ·
kathymuggle- I did try the tiller for a bit, but that made me more grateful to have someone else do the majority of it!

I want raised beds (in some areas) to have permanent growing spaces that won't be tilled or walked on etc. I'll have potatoes, corn, squash and some others in the 'wide open' area.

Soil in the townships? Not bad but I think it varies a lot. My parents have massive amounts of clay on their property, but apparently we have really nice soil here.


I'm glad to hear that beds are manageable. It's still up in the air on whether it will happen this year. Not only is our fence not even up yet, we haven't even bought the materials. At least I've FOUND where to get them. I've been away a lot lately and still need to finish raking the garden. It will be tilled again this Thursday if all goes according to plan.
 
#158 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by LizzyQ View Post
Hey everyone.. I'm new to this thread, I just moved to a 3-5 zone area (I am pretty sure) in Northern Utah and I put some starters in the ground yesterday. Now, I see that the weather is saying it's going to SNOW?! My DH went out of town for the rest of the week... Quick, what do I need to do?

My weather report
I'm probably too late for you, but my answer is that it depends. What starts did you put in? If it is hardy stuff like brocolli and kale an onions and sweetpeas, they'll probably be fine. If you already put in your warm-weather veggies, you'll need to cover them and hope for the best. Good luck!
 
#160 ·
It is so hot here right now. 32C, feels like 38C (90F, feels like 100F)Trying to get work done but it's impossible. Need to switch over to getting up early to work and resting around noon/early afternoon. Odd seeing we were dealing with the odd inch or two of snow every other day just a couple weeks ago.

If my garden space was actually ready, I'd think about planting... We have a last frost date of June 1st, so that's what I've been aiming towards as a finish line for garden prep.
 
#161 ·
We've had rain and more rain here! Rented a tiller over the weekend too, to reclaim some overgrown spaces on our land, where I'm hoping to start some new gardens, or just seed to cover. I figure, it's cheaper for us to rent a good tiller once in awhile when we need, rather than buy one, since the ultimate goal is to not till (or to till only very infrequently). Luckily there was enough mulch on the soil that when it did stop raining we could go out and work without getting stuck in the mud.

My boys and I picked up our garden helpers yesterday. They are very cute, but messy! It will be our first year with ducks. I hear they're awesome in the garden, so they'll be housed in the chicken tractor when they get a little bigger.
 
#162 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Owen'nZoe View Post
I can't believe I'm complaining about heat this time of year, but it was 90 yesterday. 90!!! My peas are barely a foot tall, and I'm worried about them getting too hot this week. Unbelievable.
It is crazy how hot it has been. I still have some things I need to get planted, but it has been miserable out. Today is a bit cooler, so I am hoping tonight to get the garden finished.
 
#164 ·
Hibou, ducks?!??!?!?! that is so wonderful! I can't wait to check out your blog this evening!

We have had very wet and windy weather 57+MPH! so I was only able to plant our seed crops (a bunch of different lettuce, beets, carrots, kale, collards and turnips).

Does anyone have pictures of their gardens? I would love to see them!!!
 
#165 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Hibou View Post
My boys and I picked up our garden helpers yesterday. They are very cute, but messy! It will be our first year with ducks. I hear they're awesome in the garden, so they'll be housed in the chicken tractor when they get a little bigger.
The ducks are adorable! How did you pick the 3 breeds you chose? And will they really take to a chicken tractor?
 
#166 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Owen'nZoe View Post
The ducks are adorable! How did you pick the 3 breeds you chose? And will they really take to a chicken tractor?
We chose the 3 Pekin ducks for meat- they were also the most economical bird at $3.75/ea. We may keep the Rouens for egg-layers. The crested duck, we bought for a lark, because we liked their 'hats' (but they're supposed to be good egg layers too!)

According to Four Season Harvest, Eliot Coleman recommends ducks for the garden (says they're gentler on plants than chickens), and keeps his in a chicken tractor called 'Duckingham palace'. (I won't let them out to range until the seedlings have grown up.)

It was supposed to rain this week, but the sky is clear so I'm heading out with the boys shortly to plant 80 hills of potatoes: Russian blue, norland, Yukon Gold, and banana fingerlings (20 of each).
 
#169 ·
There is a downside to all the wonderful gardening - sorry about the snow you guys are having.

I'm going up today to find out if any of the stuff I planted at the beginning of May has sprouted. The only thing so far has been my peas
Carrots, greens, beets, leeks....nothing...not even half a sprout.
No green thumb here apparently. I'm fairly certain it's b/c I planted them too deep, and they may not have had enough water - it's been a dry month.

So I'll be doing some replanting....double sigh......

I got beans, bok choy, zucchini, sunflower (for DS's sunflower house) cucumber, melon, butternut squash in a few days ago....fingers crossed I've got the magic touch now


I've made pole bean teepees (need to make more today), got the trellis up for the peas. Made a slanted trellis for the cuc's and need to make 2 more for the melon & squash. I'm going to plant some greens under the slanted trellis where they will get a little shade and see what happens. Replant the carrots today too.

Happy gardening and grow plants grow - to everyone!

I
 
#170 ·
Major advancements on the gardening front!
  • The garden had it's second tilling and I'm almost finished raking it. (Was up with the rooster this morning!)
  • We have fence posts and fencing. We're using cedar fence posts and omg some of them are HUGE! They're not posts, they're LOGS! So the fence should last a while.

  • I finally measured the garden. (And found out we'll need double the fencing!) The garden space is roughly 32x40' and 18x20'.
    Ok, I guess it's big! It's sort of odd shaped because I left in a bunch of wild raspberry bushes that I was too lazy to pull out.
    I guess it's L shaped with the 18x20 as the 'foot' of the L.
Now we "just" need to put in the fence and I'll be ready to plant. I know I could plant first but I'm afraid of people messing up the garden when putting in the posts. I also have some old windows to make a greenhouse with.
 
#171 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by HeatherAtHome View Post
Major advancements on the gardening front!

Now we "just" need to put in the fence and I'll be ready to plant. I know I could plant first but I'm afraid of people messing up the garden when putting in the posts. I also have some old windows to make a greenhouse with.
Just do not wait too long. We could have frost in September, and some things take a long time to ripen. I was harvesting tomatos and squash well into September last year, so you want to give them the longest amount of time to grow as you can...

You are doing so much prep work, though, I bet you have a rockin garden
 
#172 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by kathymuggle View Post
You are doing so much prep work, though, I bet you have a rockin garden

Right now it's still more of a rock garden.
I crack myself up.

Yes, I'm trying to remind myself that a lot of this prep work is due to it being the FIRST year and having been wild for at least 7 years previously. Next year it will be a breeze.

We seem to be doing fine weather-wise and if everything was ready, I'd think about planting. We do have a last frost date of June 1st here so I guess I'm still good. And I chose seed varieties that require shorter growing periods.

I'm SO excited over the idea of actually planting soon!
 
#173 ·
Does anyone grow corn for drying? I put in some beautiful multi-coloured dent corn this week (when it wasn't raining). Hoping the chickens will leave it alone long enough to get growing. They sure loved hanging out in the garden when we were planting potatoes- all those juicy worms being turned up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by springmum View Post
No green thumb here apparently. I'm fairly certain it's b/c I planted them too deep, and they may not have had enough water - it's been a dry month.

So I'll be doing some replanting....double sigh......

I
If it's really dry, I find that watering the seed trenches or holes when sowing helps to kick-start things. Do you have access to water? I often just take a 5-gallon bucket out to the garden with a watering can, and refill the bucket as necessary.

Then again, sometimes it's just the weather. I was reseeding into June last year.
It happens- don't take it personally. It seems like every year is both a good year for some things, and a bad year for others.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeatherAtHome View Post
Right now it's still more of a rock garden.
I crack myself up.

 
#175 ·
Hope the snow is gone, bugs & critters stay away, and things are growing for all


I've got things growing finally!
Things doing well (up about 3-4 + inches)
peas
beans (pole & bush)
sunflower
beets ( a little smaller - they are a stugglin' but going to make it I think)
transplanted spinach sprouts that are still alive
zucchini (although it looks like it may need bone meal)
cucumbers
broccoli (also struggling, but might get a few decent plants)
strawberries - in a pot
pepper seedlings - need to pot them soon
Watermelon & butternut squash not up yet, but feeling hopefull

Reseeded
carrots

Planted
eggplant
More zucchini

Giving up for now on
collard & kale & swiss chard (too hot now I think)
chinese cabbage - I had them shaded, but I think some bug at them all!
leeks - will plant some already sprouted instead

Mammoth task of weeding my very large space is done for today.
Need to put up the rest of the poles for the bean teepees so they happily climb.
Sprinkled some coffee grinds by the carrot seeds. Where else can I sprinkle the grinds? Do all plants like it - or will it keep bugs away from anything else?

So, since I'm noticing a little yellowing on my zucc's I know that means they probably need bone meal right?
Is there an organic version, or is this something that I can buy anywhere and not worry too much about?

We're getting some good rain here for the next few days, which is definitely needed!

How is everyone else doing?
 
#176 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by kathymuggle View Post
It is early days yet, but so far I give upside down planting a

Yes, I am surprised at how well my crazy black cherry tomato is doing upside down. Though it's desperately trying to right itself. I assume it will give up at some point when it gets too heavy.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top