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Garden Gate:  I need advice on large garden gardening.  |
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farmeratlast
Farmgirl in Training
35 Posts
Jana
OR
USA
35 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 07:01:10 AM
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Hi ladies. I am new here and my husband and I are in the process of purchasing some acreage in Oregon that has a traditional large farmer's garden. I know from an aerial photo that they garden it traditionally with long rows.
I think they till it also based on the tools I saw in one of the barns.
We don't close until the last weekend of May which is when they always planted their garden. It is going to be a bit of a rush to get things accomplished in that schedule but I think they will let me over there to work the garden a bit. Okay some questions - and please send over anything you have in advice or links to good sites - this garden is beyond my scope a bit.
I have only gardened in raised beds. I am intrigued by this large rectangle garden area and would like to do it in rows but how do I do this? Is is possible I might use up a packet of seeds? :)
I thought tilling was bad for the soil. But the owner has been spreading things on it so it has to be turned I guess. Or do I just sow my seeds directly into the top as it is now? Ash and grass clippings are on top of it now.
How much room between rows?
Is there an easy tool to plant many seeds?
Do you really have to thin? I never have but I never had more than 8 of any plant.
Crazy as it sounds I plan on using the entire garden space. I have been waiting three years to have a garden and I am going to get my vegetables! I will succession plant I guess.
Here is a link to a picture of the garden (and my new farm). I don't know yet how to get the picture here directly but I will go look it up for the future.
Thanks for anything you have to share. I won't be able to do my own starts so I will have to buy tomatoes and peppers and eggplant starts from a nursery. But I think I can sow everything else as long as I am decisive and do it right away.
Thoughts.
Jana
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asnedecor
True Blue Farmgirl
1054 Posts
Anne
Portland
Or
USA
1054 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 07:32:58 AM
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Jana -
Wow, what a wonderful location. Sheridan is such a pretty area too. I assume the large green square in the front of the house is the garden area. I would till the stuff in that is laid on top of the garden right now. If you have it, use a rototiller. Then rake to smooth it out. It has been years since I planted such a large garden spot, but I think to help at least with small seeds is make seed tape so it will be quicker and easier to lay out rows. You can Google homemade seed tape on the web. You may also want to think about dividing the garden into sections - possibly plant items that come up every year. Say berries, rhubarb, artichokes and asparagus. This might make it easier to tackle the large area. No one says you have to plant in rows, you can have bean and pea tepees, lay an area for the squash family, that usually needs a big space.
Hopefully this helps some.
Anne in Portland OR
"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them" Eyeore from Winnie the Pooh
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Ms.Lilly
True Blue Farmgirl
826 Posts
Lillian
Scotts Mills
OR
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 07:55:53 AM
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Oh Jana, you don't sound crazy in my world. We have a huge garden and I put up all of the veggies to get us through the year. Yes, you will need to till ( or turn under) the ash and grass. As far as how many seeds, you will really need to decide how much you want to grow. I guess it would be easier if I just told you what we do and you can get and idea to work with. Our garden is a row garden with 4 raised beds and 2 permanant beds. 2 of the raised beds hold asparagas and the other 2 are my carrot beds because we have rocky soil. The permanant beds at the other end of the garden are home to 9 blueberry bushes in one and the other has hostas and a japanese maple. Everything in between gets tilled and put into rows. When I mark my rows they are usually around the 40' long by 4' wide size with 2' walking rows in between. To give you a small example of what we grew last year, 47 tomato plants, 114 pepper plants, 22 brussel sprout plants, 5 varieties of beans and over 200 pea seeds were planted. I could go on and on, I really love my garden! We grow everything from a to z that will grow in this climate. Do you need to thin? My theory is get down on your hands and knees and plant those seds the right distance apart so you don't waste seed! Also that is a smart move to buy your tomato and pepper starts because you wouldn't get any tomatos here if you put seeds of them in the ground. I will stop here for now because I could go on forever. Feel free to ask questions any time. I am sure we will talk again.
Lillian |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 08:17:50 AM
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Hi Jana! What an exciting venture! I recommend getting Crockett's Victory Garden (the book). It is very helpful and shows you how to plant a cyclical garden so it produces for as long as possible throughout the growing season. Do you get to keep the gardening equipment that they have been using and is there anyway you can call the current owners and ask them what they have been doing? In that one photo their garden looks very lush and fabulous.
A big garden can be a bit commitment, but the rewards are amazing! Especially if you would like to can some of the produce (like tomatoes). Another good sector to look at is companion gardening. Sometimes you can plant things together and they help each other and keeps the weeds at bay.
Hope that helps a little.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjournies.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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NudeFoodFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
433 Posts
Heide
Benton City
WA
433 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 08:48:25 AM
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How exciting! I saw a fairy doll carrying a sign that said "If you aren't killing plants, you are not living up to your gardening potential." Being it your first season their, my advice is to enjoy and know it's experimental. You might be surprised with what already comes up. I would advice shopping for the largest tiller or something you can attach to your garden tractor (lawn mower). It saves on your back (when we got our new tiller, all the sudden my husband was interested in helping weed) and is good for the garden.
Have fun planting your entire packet of seeds (find out where your local food bank so when you harvest your plethora of veggies you can share with the people who need it the most).
Best,
h
Nude Food Farm
~Grown so good,
Dressing is Optional. |
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lovelady
True Blue Farmgirl
533 Posts
Toni
Indiana
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 09:36:23 AM
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Hi Jana!
Here is a link to a gardening forum where I have gotten loads of information. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/cornucop/
This is the link to their vegetable forum. They also have forums on tomatoes, what to do with your harvest, beans/legumes, herbs, and many more. I found it to be very helpful because there is such a wide range of gardeners there, from large market gardeners to those with one or two plants in containers.
This will be my second year gardening. Mine is about 50' by 150', so I have big ambitions, too! At least in the spring I do...when August rolls around I wonder, what was I thinking? But it is fun to do, especially teaching my son while we are out there. Good luck! There are plenty of ladies here with great advice when you have questions! |
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farmeratlast
Farmgirl in Training
35 Posts
Jana
OR
USA
35 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 12:09:52 PM
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Thank you all for your advice.
Anne - I like your idea about planting my rhubarb and asparagus etc in a certain part of the garden. They have been there twenty years and the farmer did not like those two veggies so they never had them. Imagine!
Lilly thank you. That is exactly what I need - things spelled out for me at the start. I know once I get my hands in the garden many things will come back and be intuitive for me. I feel stunted here at the start. I am heading to the extension office tomorrow to talk to the queen of gardening (as I was told). Sounds like your garden is huge - I love peppers. Those are sweet though right not hot?
Alee thanks for the book title. I will certainly put it on my library list. SOmewhere I have a companion gardening book I need to find it.
Nude - that is a great little phrase. I thought briefly about just throwing handfulls onto the soil and walking away just to see what happened. But no, since I have been away from the garden for so long I am afraid I would not know the difference between food and weeds.
Thanks lovelady for the link. Yes I know August will be a nightmare which is too bad since it is birthday month for my boys and I know they will want a party this year. Maybe a canning party might be in order?
:)
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SuzieQ
True Blue Farmgirl
175 Posts
Suzie
Texas
USA
175 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 2:31:02 PM
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| Jana, will the former owners let you "have" "barrow" or offer to store them if they let you use them. That will keep your expenses down for the first season. I am so excited about your place. I just signed up for a plot in an orginal victory garden and can not wait until they let me "play" |
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farmeratlast
Farmgirl in Training
35 Posts
Jana
OR
USA
35 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2009 : 2:51:06 PM
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SuzieQ I think that the owners are very open to letting us get in there. DH was just there this morning and they had a long talk. The owner offered to do all the tilling and prep for us but DH asked if he could come help so he knew what to do. At the very least to make sure it is done is a way we want it to be done.
We will be storing some boxes and furniture in the garage in late April because we have to move (nightmare) into a different place for one month as the place we are renting has owners who want it back and will not give us that month until we close. Crazily DH said the owner of our property had concerns that they won't have a place to go at the end of May. I knew this would happen. So rather than make them move out to some place for a couple of weeks or a month we would probably stay in our little rental place we have for that month for longer. We don't want bad blood and we understand tying to find something for one month is hard and harder still to find something to do with all your stuff.
So given all this...I may be driving to our property to work in my garden and do my planting even after we own it. I hope not. But bad luck comes in three and this would be the third thing in our mind and it is a doable bad. I wouldn't want to hope for something else and have karma bite us in the behind and make a worse third.:)
Somehow I will have my garden. It just is looking like it won't happen as easily as we wish darnit!
j |
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Garden Gate: I need advice on large garden gardening. |
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I need advice on large garden gardening.
