Calling all gardeners
Anyone else out there into gardening? I’m into growing my own food and have recently amended my gardens. Trying to go no till although I’m dragging my feet somewhat. I just can’t help myself and enjoy the process of amending annually.
I try and stick to all OMRI certified nutrients especially for all of my veggies. I’ve been really happy with the Down to Earth brand nutrients. I’m going to try and get a compost pile started this year, that’s the ticket for sure.
I’m going to be working on zucchini, 3 kind of tomatoes (super sweet 100, Roma and beefsteak), tomatillos and 3 types of peppers this year (Serrano, Jalapeño and Pablano/Ancho). I’m also trying an herb garden for the first time w/ basil, oregano, thyme and sage. I try cilantro every year but I always seem to fuck them up somehow.
I’m still learning but I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve when it comes to my soil and pruning but I love to learn as much as I can about growing my own food. Was hoping there were a few others on the site that share the same interest and might have a few tricks I can learn.
So, what’s in your garden this year?
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Damn.. I almost got "got" with this. Excited for nothing. Well either way. Trying out the jadam method and making my own fertilizers following the gardening with the griffins channel https://youtu.be/OOseADKMavw?si=0r3xIBScb3SXalf1 . And David the good, both basically do alot of the same with soaking weeds and other plant materials.
AnonI'm not growing anything this year. But I do have a green thumb.
Compost teas are cool. They're a great way to get beneficial microorganisms and nutrients to your plants.
There are compost tea recipes online to fertilize, cure plant diseases, fix nutrient deficiencies, and fight insects.
You use a bucket and aerator and add different ingredients like worm casting or composts.
The aerator oxygenates the water so microorganisms can breathe and reproduce. The compost teas take a day or two to brew. Then the compost tea is poured into the growing medium or sprayed on the plants depending on what compost tea you've brewed and why. I brewed compost teas for garden plants in the past and grew some great tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, banana peppers....
What are folks using to attract bees for pollinating? I went with a bunch of lavenders and Salvias. I went w/ Marigolds for pests. Even though they serve a purpose all three types look fucking awesome! Lots of bright blues, purples, yelllows and oranges.
I was in the back watering and stopped to actually look and I had to take a second and appreciate the view. I immediately rolled up a chop and did my best imitation of Ferdinand the Bull.
StevebAre you gonna dry the Salvias and smoke them afterwards?
I do that with my indicas lol
StevebSalvia is hundreds of times stronger
I’ve seen videos of folks seizing on that shit. No thanks man
StevebI just saw lots of lights and weird shapes. It only lasted 5 minutes but it was kind cool to try once.
So is Sativa... Indica is more relaxing.
StevebInica(kush) is more relaxing. Sativa(chronic) seems to give you motivation and energy. Some of these new strains of kush make it so you don't want to move or get up.
lol.. nice ... I m starting small this year ... and am planning on building up to the point where I can just go to the garden instead of the grocery store.
I’ve always enjoyed growing things but not the kind of stuff you can eat;)
These last 3-4 yrs I have grown to love it. It’s a safe place for me and peaceful. According to the wife it’s made me a better husband. Sometimes when I’m grumpy she sends me out to the garden to go unwind. Works every time!
Not sure if you’re new to gardening or just starting over in a new place but If you want to grow something that just takes off with very little experience I’d recommend growing a squash variety like zucchini or crook necks. They just explode and you are harvesting literally almost every day. You’ll grow so many you might get burned out on them towards them end and have to give them away. I love them sautéed with onions and stewed tomatoes or speared w/ a a little EVOO drizzle n a little salt n pepper over the grille. Mmmm yummy for the tummy.
Cherry tomatoes ( I love Super sweet 100’s) are another one that just gets ridiculous to try and keep up with their growth just by eating them.
My favorite tomato is Romas. They taste the best to me and they grow in abundance. Mine grew all season and I ended up sharing loads of them with friends family and coworkers.
My ultimate veggie these last two seasons have been my peppers. Yeah the stereotype fits with this SexyMexy. I love my salsa. Serrano and Jalepeno peppers all day. I’ve got those two down and the harvests are heavy! I still need to figure out the trellising for my Pablanos. I think I overcrowded them last year and some ended up with spots on em. I’m trying out a 6ft tall stake with string trellis my mom showed me to let them climb and get additional airflow. Hoping that does the trick cuz I love Chile Rellenos!
My first experience with gardening was with fruit... tomatoes and garlic... LOL .... I didn't know that you were supposed to separate the garlic cloves .. so.... anyway.
I grew blueberries raspberries and blackberries.
Blueberries are just hard ... and need special treatment .. way more than I am equipped to give lol. (read that as you need patience and I have none) the raspberries and blackberries took off like gangbusters.
I did not know that blackberries would rule the world so I made the mistake of letting them get crazy... it turned into a bramble ...
I really want to do a herb garden and find a way to do lettuce year round .... I do like my damn salads
Peppers... unless they are sweet everyone else can have at them
If u got got access to a farm get some cow and chicken shit, mix that shit into ur garnden soil u will be able to grow anything and ur neighbors and friends will wonder if ur veggies are on steroids instead of u oh and it makes the veggies taste amazing. Love gardening man only way to go also raising ur own beef and pork, all the best brotha hope u have a great garden this year.
StevebCow shit is full of weeds you have to compost it first to kill all the bad stuff off.
Fuck bro lol no doubt I figured people knew this but once all the compost is done it’s pure gold.
I leach it and pasteurize it.
Got my field ready for sweet corn. And I picked asparagus today for the first time this year. Got about a pound. I think it's gonna be a good year
Got about a pound and half tonight. The sun helped out a lot. Hopefully the wild stuff I pick is popping. I'll let you know thursday
Congrats on starting your gardening journey. There truly is nothing quite like being able to provide for yourself. Not knowing your region , climate, nor soil characteristics my advice would be to grow a as much of variety as you can attempt. Some will flourish and others well, not so much. These type of experiments are necessary to gauge just what flourishers in your area and what does not. For example I once had a garden where for the life of me I could not grow beefsteak tomatoes but yet the plum and grape tomatoes flourished.
Two things for thought. If possible where you live I always recommend composting. If you can eliminate waste from the bin and turn in to super fuel for your plants that is the optimum scenario. Second, I like to grow foods I can pickle and ferment. Cucumbers, cabbage, carrots , garlic ..etc.
All of these techniques one can find with a little research.
I always recommend home fermenting foods. They taste great, are low in calories, and are filled with essential probiotics to help with gut heath.
Well I’m about half way through my gardening journey. I’ve grown “other” crops for about 15 yrs but I just really have been enjoying growing veggies these last 6 yrs I finally am open about how much I love it. I’m trying to figure out set recipes for my soil to make them as organic as possible with the end goal of having a 100% Biodynamic garden in the next 1-2 yrs. No till is the end goal bro.
I dig me some fermented food like onions and carrots they make for good additions on a charcuterie tray with some good meat cheese and bread. My sister also brews her own kombucha and has had her mother mushroom for almost 10yrs and makes me batches all year long. I can’t live without my kombucha!
Plant a good nitrogen cover crop like field peas or clover..... I use turnips on my field corners and waterway edges....helps with erosion especially here in the windblown area I’m in .... the deer and pheasants like them especially when they flower up so u may want to put out a motion activated scarecrow such as Rusty that yells out “ STATS PRIORS! ( jk rusty, nothing but love for you ... half homo )... keep a good moisture content yr round and a cover crop the growing season before should help out greatly if you’re going no- till
Everyone keeps saying clover to me. I think that’s going to be the one.
Wish I lived in an area where I had deer and pheasant on my property. I’d grow turnips everywhere and eat good hahaha!!
That would be the life man! I’m jealous
RustyhookerIm too short to scarecrow ... :(
Lol
I need to talk to you og. Pm headed that way soon
The woman and I use an organic seafood compost.We have a 20x36 plot and a 12x16 plot.We have an asparagus row.In the other rows we will be planting zucchini,yellow squash,mixed lettuces,purple snow peas,purple green beans(the purple makes it easier to see the snow peas and beans),yellow tomatoes,broccoli,salt and pepper cucumbers and maybe beets.There could be other things,we haven't decided yet.
Most of the plants are bought as seedlings.We planted a fig tree last year,purchased from Tractor Supply.It survived through the winter.
Last year we tried planting ground cherries from seed.That didn't work out well,so we bought seedlings.The ground cherries are very tasty and addicting.We will definitely be growing more this year.We bought some seedlings labeled as tomatillos,but they ended up being ground cherries.We hope to find tomatillos this year.
In early fall we plant annual rye grass to help with no till.We also covered the garden in mulch to help with weeds.
Edit:We use cages for the tomato and ground cherry plants and we use a trellis for the snow peas and cucumbers
Hell yeah.
I’m diggin how many members share the same love for gardening. Does anyone have a proven recipe for compost teas? I’ve done some w/ worm castings and kelp before but I eyeball mostly and never write anything down.
Me too I always though it was rare to be a weightlifter and be Into gardening. As for a good compost I use 7 year gold. It grows good portobellos too. The sawdust holds water very well. Then I’ll use gypsum as a ph buffer.
I typed out a long response but it gives away too much info. The answer is yes. I garden.
Lmao! Yeah same here! I left out all the cool stuff:) But the older I get and the bigger my boy gets I’ve toned things down drastically.
I don't have a garden but on my windowsill I got chives for my baked potatoes
Hey bro that’s how to improvise. My mom has a hanging herb garden in her kitchen and she loves it
I converted my old gas grill into an herb garden. Just walk out on the deck and pick some fresh herbs when I need them. Works great.
Haha that’s actually genius man!!
Rosemary is always a good addition to any herb garden, you can add that stuff on just about anything- especially if it's on the grill... this year I'm wanting to get into tomatoes too, I'm building a greenhouse this weekend for them since it's too cold on the coast here for them to grow in the open. I really like the meatiness of heirloom tomatoes.
Really nice to see so many others growing their own food too, my garden is a raised bed 30 feet x 5 feet and I take full advantage of all the space with artichoke, carrots, squash, zucchini, cucumber, bell peppers, rhubarb, and this year tomatoes. Can't beat that sense of fulfillment that you get from tending a garden, plus I feel it helps me keep my diet in check as well having such good food just a couple steps from the kitchen.
I was close to getting some rosemary but they didn’t look to good. I was going to take a look again this weekend
Tomatoes are my fay garden crop, cherry, roma and better boys. I love to slice roma's in half and dip them in sea salt and black pepper ! the best!
Cucumbers, and jalapenos of course but I also grow some chili peppers to act as a deterrent for larger pest like rabbits and dear. I also love to grow mint mainly just for the smell in the mornings, I grow both petunias and marigolds for insect pest control. I hate to use any kind of chemical for pest control but sometimes I have no choice, I typically use seven-dust. I always water at night, never water in the heat of the day it fries the roots, If your up early enough maybe a light watering in the morning .
I always use organic garden soil, I don't like the soil with fertilizer in it. If I do use fertilizer, I add it my self at the opportune moments during the growth process. Fertilized soil in my opinion is just to rich, while some plants thrive in it , not all though.
What kind of mint do you have? I got me some spearmint the other day. I was told to pot it because they can be invasive. I love mint in iced tea with a little peach simple syrup or with strawberry slices! Oh man that shit is so good.
plant it as ground cover along a fence line or hedge row. Smells good when you mow, you'll have plenty to use as a balm, jelly, or garnish.
That actually sounds like a damn good idea. I just might try that.
I’m still curious about that savory jelly.
I had to comeback and edit this because that didn’t sound right. REAL JELLY THAT IS PUT ON BREAD.
Mint jelly - goes nice on grilled Lamb or Pork chops.
I don’t think your ready for this Jelly!!
it can be very much so, I had to learn that the hard way it took over the top part of my garden the first time I planted it.
I use spearmint also
StevebLook up how to Hugelkultur and buy some Mycorrhizal fungi for your soil. That's best of you're doing no til soil. That fungus will make everything grow bigger and faster.
I used to buy Mykos but the Bio-live is 10$ cheaper and has it in their. The difference in the roots was night and day once I started adding in mycos, I’ll never not include it in my soil. It’s a game changer for sure. My “girls” are in 100gallon pots and by mid season the roots wrap around the entire wall of the pot.
Here’s what biolive has inside
NITROGEN TOTAL (N) 5.0%
0.4% Water Soluble Nitrogen
4.6% Water Insoluble Nitrogen
AVAILABLE PHOSPHATE (P2O5) 4.0%
SOLUBLE POTASH (K2O) 2.0%
Derived from:
Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Crab Meal, Shrimp Meal, Langbeinite, and Kelp Meal
ALSO CONTAINS NON-PLANT FOOD INGREDIENT(S):
2.5% Humic Acids derived from Leonardite
Endomycorrhizal fungi: Glomus intraradices, G. mosseae, G. aggregatum, G. etunicatum – 0.2 prop/gm each; Glomus deserticola, G. monosporum, G. clarum, Paraglomus brasilianum, Gigaspora margarita – 0.16 prop/gm each. (725 prop/lb total)
Ectomycorrhizal fungi: Rhizopogon villosulus, R. luteolus, R. amylopogon, R. fulvigleba – 300 prop/gm each; Pisolithus tinctorius – 5,500 prop/gm; Scleroderma cepa, S. citrinum – 575 prop/gm each. (3.5 million prop/lb total)
Trichoderma: Trichoderma harzianum, T. koningii – 13,750 CFU/gm each. (12.4 million CFU/lb total)
Saccharomyces: Saccharomyces cerevisiae – 18,250 CFU/gm. (8.2 million CFU/lb total)
Bacteria: Bacillus azotoformans, B. coagulans, B. licheniformis, B. megaterium, B. pumilus, B. thuringiensis, Paenibacillus durum, P.
Stevebhttps://www.amazon.com/Plant-Success-Granular-Mycorrhizae-12/dp/B077RKLF...
This is the brand that worked well for me. Although I mainly eat meat and not much fruits or vegetables anymore I still grow some stuff for different reasons like to give to my Tortoises.
What do you use for pest control? Have you looked into Neem Oil Extract?
Yabuddy!! I use Neem oil for pest but the tomato caterpillars which I use BT. I mix the neem and BT into a gallon of water and keep each of them separate. I treat them each a week apart ( I was told to treat with each separately as to not overload the plants) and put them into a paint spray gun and hook it up to my compressor and go to town. The spray gun works like a frickin champ bro. Puts those pump stayers to shame.
Last year aphids invaded and I took it as a personal insult and made it my life’s mission to destroy them bastards:) I’m top of the food chain baby! I got thumbs yo!!
As far as my compost i use wood chips . The soil around here is mostly clay a brown shale, some sand. I also own a tree service so i have an unlimited supply of wood chips. I give dump truck loads away. Find the guys trimming around the power lines in your area.They will be a good source and will give you a truck load. Let it set on the ground . Mix with a little nitrogen to help it break down and cover it so the rain doesnt wash the goodnes out. Mostly my "garden" is about an acre.