Raised Vegetable Garden

i’d like to start with something easy that produces quickly i’m an ‘immediate gratification’ kinda gal…

Good on you! I love vege gardens.

Although it’s now autumn where you live, you can follow this guide:

http://www.palmers.co.nz/gardening_calendar/march.cfm

It is from New Zealand, so the seasons are six months out. September is our spring, so you can follow the March instructions, which is our autumn.

Probably carrots, lettuce, and beetroot are going to be the quickest growing, but you can find varieties of pretty much anythign that will perform quickly.

I have small lawn, about 3500 s.f. There are large trees that are the edge of woods in the back. I have a small raised vegetable garden in the middle of the lawn. I also have a few small blueberry and raspberry bushes amongst the lawn.
I am using the scotts program. I am looking for some alternatives. Basically, after using step 2 weed control I noticed the bluberries look like they were damaged by it. I didnt spread it right at the base of them, but maybe gave them an 18" buffer. This wasnt enough. I am thinking that I may want to just spread turf builder by scotts for the lawn, and aplly seperate products for weed and insects. I will be applying grubex in the next few days. In mid july I plan on applying an insect control product. And would like to apply another weed application. What tips do people have on a weed application that won’t harm the bushes and garden?

What does everyone think?

For insect control, use Diatomaceous earth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

or Beneficial nematodes:

http://www.suburbanhabitat.com/pd_beneficial-nematodes.php?gclid=CM_J1Mnt6owCFRNTgQodCSoj2Q

For weed control, the best solution is to dig them up by the root. You can also pour boiling water on them. Do not use salt as this may harm your existing plants. Vinegar may work, but again, it may do harm.

I can’t seem to grow anything to full size because squirrels (or maybe even rats, gross!) are eating all of the tomatoes, eggplants and zucchini in my raised bed garden. The only veggies that seem safe from munching are my sweet banana and cayenne peppers. They haven’t found the cantaloupes yet, but I am sure it is just a matter of time. Any suggestions? Chicken wire?

We have thin fence posts around our garden with plastic grocery bags attached (breeze blows them about), coyote urine holders, two fake owls and four (one at each corner) plants called Angel Trumpets. We see deer tracks around the garden, but not through it. After woodchucks, skunks and raccoons the first year with just the fake owls out there I added everything else I noted and have had no visitors. I do believe the coyote urine really helps, however some folks think it attracts predators.

A gun works well, esp for the frustration, but takes much patience while waiting for the critters to appear. I don’t do this as I just can’t kill the durn invaders.

I have one thats 28 x 70 feet,,with aspargus,blueberries,rasberries,onions,collard greens,green beans,tomatoes,squash,purple hull pink eyed peas,watermelons,cantalopes.& sweet potatoes—-whats in yours & how is it doing? –mine is comming right along

Right now the temperature is 107 degrees at mid-afternoon. So I grow items which like the heat. Chili peppers, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, zinnia’s. In the winter I grow lettuce, spinach, all types of Chinese vegie’s, chard.
Tomatoes and cukes do very well between March amd mid-May. Once the temps get in the mid 90’s then the fruit won’t set. If one has the energy and the time you can have a year round garden.

We planted our first garden this year and it is growing pretty well but we’ve just noticed a ton of ants in our raised garden. How do we get rid of them?

Ants hate the smell of mint and cinnamon. So sprinkle some cinnamon in your bed and see if that helps. I wouldn’t recommend planting mint because it will grow uncontrollably but maybe in pots around your garden? Also Borax mixed with sugar around the plants. Ants will eat that and they’ll take it back to their nests and they’ll all die.

Ants also like dry spaces. Is your garden maybe too dry? Make sure you keep the soil uniformly moist and see if that helps too.

Happy Gardening!

First time I have ever had a garden. I am doing a raised vegetable garden (2 of them at 4X5 feet). I am not sure what to put in it, as far as dirt goes. I bought bags of soil from Home Depot. I also have a big bag of Peat moss and a couple bags of manure. I have dirt from my back yard that I can mix in (but it is pretty "clay-y". I also have sand if I need it. I dont have any "composted stuff" yet. I am starting a compost but have only had it going for a month or so so not a lot. This sounds weird to me but my neighbor said I should use all the "yuck stuff" (hay, poop etc) that is decomposing under my bunny cage to throw into the mix as well?!? So do I need all the stuff listed and if so to what ratio and do I need anything else? Please and thank you so much!!

You are definitely on the right track. For vegetables I would use a mixture of potting soil and compost, both of which you can buy at gardening supply stores. You can 2/3 soil to 1/3 compost, or even up to half and half if you want.

I would not bother using clay or sand, vegetables really like soft, very rich soil to grown in. You can use some of your "yuck stuff" but I would also recommend you buy at least one bag of organic compost.

The one last note I would like to make is about peat moss. This is not necessary in gardens, and in fact should never be used. It shouldn’t even be sold. Peat is a very valuable, non-renewable resource that is harvested by destroying our much needed peat bogs. Bogs, marshes, all sorts of wetlands are vital and fragile ecosystems in our environment, and when a peat bog is destroyed to get the peat moss it is gone forever. Please don’t use this in your gardening.

Happy planting!

Something in my soil munched on my radishes. I am a new vegi gardener and I was very disappointed to see little worm holes in them.It is a raised garden bed.

Are you sure it’s worms? Earthworms are not the culprit, they eat dirt and dead leaves. They aerate your garden and the manure they produce, called "worm castings" are sold for $1 a pound.

It is most likely snails that is eating your plants, they prefer live greens. Get the product called "Deadline" and use it according to the directions.

I dug a pit where I throw all my dog waste. I dump some water in it every so often and hope that it breaks down naturally into the soil. The pit is a gross slug of dog poo that I am sure is crawling with bacteria. It is about 5-10 feet from a raised vegetable garden bed. Do I need to worry about dangerous bacteria making its way from the pit into the garden via the soil?

dog poo is finest fertilizer there is when we used to have dogs we always put poo in water butts and kept lid on them this way we used it as liquid feed breaks down in few days

I wanted to plant a veggie garden but may have waited a little too late. I want a raised garden. I also wanted to plant from plants not seeds.If it’s not too late, does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can plant at this time. Any other suggestions would be helpful.

I am sure there are still vegetables you can plant. Check with your state’s agricultural extension office and they can provide you the information that you desire.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4948114_rid-of-grasshoppers-garden.html

I was thinking a raised garden bed with plastic sheet with holes punched in separating the soils. I would then add store bought soil and manure. Anyone got any other tips or sites i can check out? Cheers!
to rgdet, how about if i dug about 50 – 100 cm and replaced the soil in and at about a 40 cm perimeter around and then added the plastic sheeting and raised garden?

Ill look into containers now, i like the idea of plant bags !

that’s good, but the roots could still get through and absorb lead.
how about using containers? I did a container vegetable garden last year for similar reasons and it worked out well. Some things I used: half barrels, a 4×4 wooden container on legs, lots of 5 gallon food grade buckets (free from grocery stores). I grew beans, lots of zucchini, squash, tomatoes, herbs, blueberries, raspberries, brussels sprouts, and a bunch of other things.
there is a book about vegatable container gardening (don’t have the title right now) and another great book called square foot gardening that can help out.
can’t wait for spring!
good luck!