My 1st garden

[Elijah Gunn]

This year was my first time to try a serious garden. It was a real learning experience! I'll now give ya'll a basic rundown of what I did .
Blackberries, Raspberries, Strawberries...
I didn't get very many berries as this is their 1st year too. Same goes for the Rhubarb I planted,won't get any till next year.

Green beans...
I planted pole beans. About 18 poles with 1 plant at each pole. Well, next year it'll be at least 3 plants per pole! The beans were good. I really expected each plant to be bigger, and produce way more than what they did.

Corn...
The deer were a BIG problem. I asked around at work for ideas on how to keep them off the corn. I ended up taking a "shotgun" approach to the problem.(not literally) I used a "highly sophisticated" series of deer countermeasures such as....
What I call my "deer sachets" they are a pouch made from some old window screen that I fill with either human hair, or soap. I use the cheaper store version of Irish Spring. The pouches are hung up in the garden along with a aluminum pan. The pan is hung up so that it will be able to tap against the post it's hung on. I also did a "fishline fence". I made the fence posts by cutting some 8' long 1"x2" furring strips in half ,and cutting a point on one end. Stake the posts around the corn, and then use a staple gun to fasten the fishline to the posts. I was told the deer can't see the fishline in the dark, and when they brush up against it it freaks them out. Any way, doing these things kept them out of the corn until right at the end of the season. The corn that was left by then wasn't worth eating anyway,
The corn I did get was good,and I intend to plant twice as much next year.
 Have to go right now. I'll be back later to finish.

OK I'm back.
Cucumbers...
I grew the kind you make pickles out of . They produced very well for most of the summer. I made some really good dill pickles with them. They are very much like what my grandmother used to make.
 
Tomatoes...
 I wanted to grow a ton of tomatoes to make salsa,and tomato sauce so I planted a whole flat of them... 2 days before our last hard frost which killed them all.

Hot peppers...
The frost got most of them as well but the survivors made some great chilli peppers.

Herbs...
I grew some Dill which helped in making the pickles. I also grew some Cilantro, and Parsley. I tried some Spearmint too but it never came up.

Sunflowers...
I did about 40 mammoth sunflowers, they did ok. I want to triple the amount next year.

Melons.....
The watermelons came out being small but most tasted good. It was the same with the muskmelons except that there were fewer of them that made it to be ripe. I'll try more next year ,but  I want to grow seedless watermelons this time.

Hopefully I'll get tooled up better over the winter so it will be easier next go round.
Thanks again to everyone here for your help.
Sincerely, Mark

[CannonKrazy]

Congrats on the success in the garden. When I was a kid my folks always had a garden and we grew everything. Now that I'm older and work all the time it's hard to find time for gardening. I usually have a few tomatoes,pepper and different spices I can grow indoors. I used to hate the garden growing up but now wish I had more time to spend with it.I have a friend that lives in Vidalia Georgia that gives me all the onions I want and another friend that lives in Reidsville Ga that I get sweet potatoes from.We swap out different things so it works good for everyone.

I always wondered what rhubarb was used for. I have never seen it cooked or used in any prepared food that I know of.

[Old Syko]

E Gunn since you seemed to enjoy the experience you might want to try starting your own plants from seed next year.  About the 3rd week of February I start with greenhouse trays with clear plastic covers.  Just fill them with a good starter medium (no soil) and plant your seeds and let them stand indoors in a south facing window while only watering occasionally.  Do not over water.  Around April or May when weather allows planting you have your own plants.  Save your seed from year to year and your garden becomes much more self sufficient.  I start my own tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe and much more.  Also if you lose some to weather or other reasons you have replacements at hand unless you foul up your starts like I did this year.

[jvs]

I only had Deer in my Garden once in the early Spring this year.  A fence kept them out after that.  I was hoping I wouldn't have to place a .22 in a ear, and it worked.

I may be able to help you a little with Pole Beans, I grow them every year.

I exclusively use Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans.  Over the years I have found that they produce the best in my area and climate.  Usually I get not less than 2 packets of seeds, unless I had let the pods grow big the year before and use the 'beans' for planting the following year.  Try them out next year and see how they produce for you.

Any old wooden stakes will do as long as it about 8 ft tall, because that's how high Kentucky Wonder grow here.  Plant about 8 seeds around the bottom of each stake, about 2" out.  My brother built a Grape Vine trellis type of thing this year for beans and it worked out fine.  He planted 2 packets and ended up giving alot away because he had way too many string beans.

You can also pound a stake in the ground and nail a flat, round piece of wood to the top of the stake and run cord, string or fishing line down at an angle to the ground and plant a couple of seeds around each string or cord.  Space the strings about 1 inch apart around the wooden disc and about 4 inches apart at ground level.  You will need to drill small holes in the wooden disc to tie your strings to and have something to attach to at ground level.  Your Beans will grow like Shrubs and look like trees in this manner.

Stagger your planting about 2 weeks apart in the Spring (after the danger of frost has gone) and early Summer.  That way you will have beans producing all summer and fall.  Once they start, they keep going at a fast pace until the plants mature.

I only fertilize pole beans early in the year with 10-10-10, after that I make sure they don't go dry.

If you can find a local business that sells bean seeds by the pound, a quarter pound should be plenty.  Or just buy packets.  Figure a packet per person in your household per year that likes string beans.  More than that if you really, really like string beans.  The following fall you can let some go to seed and save them for the following growing season.  The Pods will turn fat, brown and paper-like when the seeds can be taken and stored.

**********************

Even though I only plant the equivalent of 2 packets every year, I usually get plenty of beans.  Most of the time I am walking in the house with a handfull of string beans every day.  And that goes on for weeks. 

We blanch and freeze them for later use.  We have plenty to last us through the Winter and Spring and didn't have to buy any fresh beans at $1.29 a lb in the Supermarket or $1.50 a qt at the Farmers Mkt.


 

[Old Syko]

We substituted Blue Lake bush beans for the Kentucky Wonder pole beans a lot of years ago and have never looked back.  Nothing wrong with pole beans if that is what you like but the bush beans are much simpler (no poles or strings) and produce just as well.

Canned a large supply this year since the future may not bring forth a normal year.

[kiddekop]

This year was my first time to try a serious garden. It was a real learning experience! I'll now give ya'll a basic rundown of what I did .
Blackberries, Raspberries, Strawberries...
I didn't get very many berries as this is their 1st year too. Same goes for the Rhubarb I planted,won't get any till next year.

Green beans...
I planted pole beans. About 18 poles with 1 plant at each pole. Well, next year it'll be at least 3 plants per pole! The beans were good. I really expected each plant to be bigger, and produce way more than what they did.

Corn...
The deer were a BIG problem. I asked around at work for ideas on how to keep them off the corn. I ended up taking a "shotgun" approach to the problem.(not literally) I used a "highly sophisticated" series of deer countermeasures such as....
What I call my "deer sachets" they are a pouch made from some old window screen that I fill with either human hair, or soap. I use the cheaper store version of Irish Spring. The pouches are hung up in the garden along with a aluminum pan. The pan is hung up so that it will be able to tap against the post it's hung on. I also did a "fishline fence". I made the fence posts by cutting some 8' long 1"x2" furring strips in half ,and cutting a point on one end. Stake the posts around the corn, and then use a staple gun to fasten the fishline to the posts. I was told the deer can't see the fishline in the dark, and when they brush up against it it freaks them out. Any way, doing these things kept them out of the corn until right at the end of the season. The corn that was left by then wasn't worth eating anyway,
The corn I did get was good,and I intend to plant twice as much next year.
 Have to go right now. I'll be back later to finish.

OK I'm back.
Cucumbers...
I grew the kind you make pickles out of . They produced very well for most of the summer. I made some really good dill pickles with them. They are very much like what my grandmother used to make.
 
Tomatoes...
 I wanted to grow a ton of tomatoes to make salsa,and tomato sauce so I planted a whole flat of them... 2 days before our last hard frost which killed them all.

Hot peppers...
The frost got most of them as well but the survivors made some great chilli peppers.

Herbs...
I grew some Dill which helped in making the pickles. I also grew some Cilantro, and Parsley. I tried some Spearmint too but it never came up.

Sunflowers...
I did about 40 mammoth sunflowers, they did ok. I want to triple the amount next year.

Melons.....
The watermelons came out being small but most tasted good. It was the same with the muskmelons except that there were fewer of them that made it to be ripe. I'll try more next year ,but  I want to grow seedless watermelons this time.

Hopefully I'll get tooled up better over the winter so it will be easier next go round.
Thanks again to everyone here for your help.
Sincerely, Mark

If you don't want deer  feeding in your garden build an exclosure to keep them out.Here's my favorite sources for seeds www.superseeds.com everything I've purchased from them has germinated in S Calif;another source for pepper & tomato seeds is www.totallytomato.com lots of good pepper seeds a favorite is Inferno Hot Banana good in salsa and sandwiches. .My favorite climbing beans are Kentucky Blue they are high yielders

[Elijah Gunn]

I would love to fence the garden , but don't have the money. What I did worked ok. Thanks very much for the seed links.

[Totenkopf]

 Mark, good job on the garden.
 A little tip that might help. Pick up a sprinkler like this with timer.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/4KG80?cm_mmc=Google%20Base-_-Outdoor%20Equipment-_-Lawn%20and%20Garden-_-4KG80
Then turn your water spicket down as low as it will go and still cover the area. Water twice as long as you think it needs. I usually water one time a week for 2-3 hours if no rain. You are using less water than watering on full power for 20-30 minutes. By doing it this way you are encouraging the roots to grow deep. It makes stronger more productive plants. This way the plants reach maturity earlier and produce full size food, and more of it.

A good dog will keep those deer away. I always just plantted enough for them and us. My wife got two dogs last year. Now the poor little fellows can't slip into the yard. I was looking this morning, no tracks in the garden with all kinds of brassicas planted for a manure crop. Any other year it would be down to dirt level, they are 2 foot tall without a leaf missing.

[bilmac]

1  If you want to keep your seeds from year to year, you need to plant heirloom varieties. These are pure strains and will make the same type plant consistently. If you plant a seed from a hybrid, you never know that might show up the next year. True if you plant a hybrid tomato seed you will be a tomato plant, but it could have the characteristics of any of the plants that were crossed to produce it.

2  Get a fence as soon as you can. I like the 2x4 welded mesh. 4 or 5 feet high works for me. Sooner or later the coons will find you and they will make the deer look like pikers. Deer don't cross this height in my small garden, I don't think they like the small space. They might jump this high to go into a large garden, but you can always add single strands on top later.

3  Beets are good food, and very easy to grow. Eat the tops when you thin.

4  Swiss chard like a is a mild form of spinich, easy to grow.

5  I never could find an acceptable way to make sunflowers edible, too much work to make good ones. I still grow them for the birds.   

[DDelle338]

  I found out I can keep the deer out of the garden with a single strand electric fence. I use the thin black and yellow poly rope. It's about 1/8" dia. and has wire twisted in with the poly cord. Run it around the garden with some plastic or fiberglass poles, use a battery powered fence charger and your set. I think you can get everything you need for under $150.  I also ran another strand around at about 5-6" off the ground to keep out the rabbits and groundhogs. I don't know why they don't just jump the fence to get in but they haven't done it in 4 yrs. Many nights I forget to turn it on after I've been out there and they still stay out. I guess they have been conditioned.

[kiddekop]

This year was my first time to try a serious garden. It was a real learning experience! I'll now give ya'll a basic rundown of what I did .
Blackberries, Raspberries, Strawberries...
I didn't get very many berries as this is their 1st year too. Same goes for the Rhubarb I planted,won't get any till next year.

Green beans...
I planted pole beans. About 18 poles with 1 plant at each pole. Well, next year it'll be at least 3 plants per pole! The beans were good. I really expected each plant to be bigger, and produce way more than what they did.

Corn...
The deer were a BIG problem. I asked around at work for ideas on how to keep them off the corn. I ended up taking a "shotgun" approach to the problem.(not literally) I used a "highly sophisticated" series of deer countermeasures such as....
What I call my "deer sachets" they are a pouch made from some old window screen that I fill with either human hair, or soap. I use the cheaper store version of Irish Spring. The pouches are hung up in the garden along with a aluminum pan. The pan is hung up so that it will be able to tap against the post it's hung on. I also did a "fishline fence". I made the fence posts by cutting some 8' long 1"x2" furring strips in half ,and cutting a point on one end. Stake the posts around the corn, and then use a staple gun to fasten the fishline to the posts. I was told the deer can't see the fishline in the dark, and when they brush up against it it freaks them out. Any way, doing these things kept them out of the corn until right at the end of the season. The corn that was left by then wasn't worth eating anyway,
The corn I did get was good,and I intend to plant twice as much next year.
 Have to go right now. I'll be back later to finish.

OK I'm back.
Cucumbers...
I grew the kind you make pickles out of . They produced very well for most of the summer. I made some really good dill pickles with them. They are very much like what my grandmother used to make.
 
Tomatoes...
 I wanted to grow a ton of tomatoes to make salsa,and tomato sauce so I planted a whole flat of them... 2 days before our last hard frost which killed them all.

Hot peppers...
The frost got most of them as well but the survivors made some great chilli peppers.

Herbs...
I grew some Dill which helped in making the pickles. I also grew some Cilantro, and Parsley. I tried some Spearmint too but it never came up.

Sunflowers...
I did about 40 mammoth sunflowers, they did ok. I want to triple the amount next year.

Melons.....
The watermelons came out being small but most tasted good. It was the same with the muskmelons except that there were fewer of them that made it to be ripe. I'll try more next year ,but  I want to grow seedless watermelons this time.

Hopefully I'll get tooled up better over the winter so it will be easier next go round.
Thanks again to everyone here for your help.
Sincerely, Mark

I've been gardening for years and here's where I buy my seeds www.superseeds.com & www.totallytomatoes.com with lots of pepper & tomato seeds I start my seeds indoors then plant them when frosts aren't likely in southern calif foothills of the san bernardino mtns we're about 2500feet.My favorite hot peppers are: inferno hot banana ,cherry bomb(from totally tomatoes),tabasco,bird chilies(I have the seed they are small & HOT & take a long time to germinate,I have a 3+foot plant in a large pot I moved in to my patio)I make a seasoning sauce by putting dried tabasco in a 12oz bottle with a plastic  shaker top & filling it with either gin or vodka & letting it set until the peppers become turgid(swollen) we add it to soups,stews,sauces,drinks like beer or bloodymary alcohol brings out the best in hot peppers & it doesn't degrade as long as you keep the cap on tight my father told me it was Mulligan.To keep deer out build an exclosure around your garden high enough to keep deer out.There were lots of cattle & deer exclosures I visited on field trips in Az when I was getting my degree in wildlife mgt.

[Cornbelt]

Rhubarb: Makes good pies and wine.