Lets see your garden !

[main_cogg]

Our’s is doing pretty good so far this year, just the usual battles with weeds and bugs and critters.

 

[francist]

Our garden is a total flop this year, has been for the past three years. We think we have a soil problem as our lot used to be a farm and we understand from neighbours that the previous owner used to dump used oil etc directly onto the ground

As some consolation mine is pretty much a bust this year too. Turnips seem to be happy enough but I think I only got about 1 in 10 beets to even germinate this year. Just too cool for too long, I think.

 

[DavidR8]

As some consolation mine is pretty much a bust this year too. Turnips seem to be happy enough but I think I only got about 1 in 10 beets to even germinate this year. Just too cool for too long, I think.

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Thanks Frank, I think you're right. The only plants we have that are doing ok are pole beans that are in a container beside the south wall of the house.

 

[WobblyHand]

Getting to be time to harvest garlic. Hopefully the cloves will be bigger than what I put in the ground last fall. Will plant some green beans there since I need a short season crop. Sad to say, cooler weather isn't that far away. Hopefully I will get a decent amount of green beans before it gets cool.

 

[mmcmdl]

Sad to say, cooler weather isn't that far away.

I know it's cold in August up in the Adirondacks at night . I take it NH is the same ? Aug , Sept and Oct is camping time !

 

[homebrewed]

Here's a photo of our garden with my wife for scale. Full disclosure: she's 5 ft tall



This has been the coolest, wettest spring/early summer I recall so the garden is considerably behind its usual schedule. We're hoping for a long Indian Summer. The garden is close to 2,000 SF and in addition to tomatoes we grow the usual suspects. Not shown: a 4 x 20 foot strip behind the main garden for the winter squash. They want to spread out a lot so they don't play nice with the rest of the veggies.

I made the tomato cages out of concrete reinforcement mesh. It has a 6" x 6" grid so large enough to reach through and harvest the tomatoes. To save storage space they are made to fold up when not in use. I made a bending jig to bend the cut ends of the wire and they form the hinges. The jig is driven with a socket wrench to wrap the wire around a mandrel, and happens to be one of the first practical things I made with my lathe. It's been loaned out to a number of gardening friends so they could make their own tomato cages with it.

If unfolded the cages also can be used as a trellis for growing cucumbers and pole beans. I also have used the same scheme to make smaller cages for our pepper plants. For them it seems to work out better if the cages are triangular rather than square.

So far we have bought two 120 foot rolls of the mesh for garden-related stuff (but a number of cages have been sold or gifted to other folks). I'm about halfway through the second one. When rolled up it can be in considerable tension -- i.e., it initially wants to escape! I use carabiners to restrict its wanton ways so I can release just enough of it to cut into panels.

 

[mmcmdl]

Where are your weeds ? Guess I have some work to do .

 

[WobblyHand]

Where are your weeds ? Guess I have some work to do .

I was wondering the same. Looks like there's plenty of room to weed without falling over things. Not true in my garden. It's like 10 lbs of stuff in a 1 lb bag. Consequence of over stuffed garden is it's hard to weed.

 

[WobblyHand]

Here's a photo of our garden with my wife for scale. Full disclosure: she's 5 ft tall

View attachment 413516

This has been the coolest, wettest spring/early summer I recall so the garden is considerably behind its usual schedule. We're hoping for a long Indian Summer. The garden is close to 2,000 SF and in addition to tomatoes we grow the usual suspects. Not shown: a 4 x 20 foot strip behind the main garden for the winter squash. They want to spread out a lot so they don't play nice with the rest of the veggies.

I made the tomato cages out of concrete reinforcement mesh. It has a 6" x 6" grid so large enough to reach through and harvest the tomatoes. To save storage space they are made to fold up when not in use. I made a bending jig to bend the cut ends of the wire and they form the hinges. The jig is driven with a socket wrench to wrap the wire around a mandrel, and happens to be one of the first practical things I made with my lathe. It's been loaned out to a number of gardening friends so they could make their own tomato cages with it.

If unfolded the cages also can be used as a trellis for growing cucumbers and pole beans. I also have used the same scheme to make smaller cages for our pepper plants. For them it seems to work out better if the cages are triangular rather than square.

So far we have bought two 120 foot rolls of the mesh for garden-related stuff (but a number of cages have been sold or gifted to other folks). I'm about halfway through the second one. When rolled up it can be in considerable tension -- i.e., it initially wants to escape! I use carabiners to restrict its wanton ways so I can release just enough of it to cut into panels.

Commercial tomato cages are not very good. I like your idea. I need 5-6 foot cages to keep the tomatoes from flopping over. I seem to like indeterminate type tomatoes - the kind that keeps on growing. The cages you buy are too short and take up too much room to store. A fold up cage sounds great.

 

[7milesup]

How about flower gardens? My wife has done a great job of decorating (flowerscaping?) our new house. I didn't get pictures of the terraces on the North side of our house yet.