Tips For First Time Gardener's

[JDGreenGrass]

I am going to give raised bed gardening a try.

I am thinking 2 beds, 4' by 6'......Or, 3 beds, 4' by 4'.

Vegetables and herbs with high bush blueberries nearby the beds.

I want the garden to be pleasing to the eye as a landscaped area as well as productive.

I've got loam to start with. Should I mix the loam with compost or manure of some sort.?? Is mulch good for between the rows and around the outside of the beds.??

I am "green." Never done this before so I need all the in-put I can get.....so, thanks in advance.

( hope this thread is ok here....mention your tractor to keep it on topic.:thumbsup

 

[jimmyj]

Loam is good. You can't go wrong amending with finished compost or triple mix though.

Blueberries need acidic soil, so do a soil test if you can. You can acidify the soil by adding pine needles. We have never had much luck with blueberries at our place but if you get them to grow they taste great.

With raised beds, the soil will warm up sooner than the level ground and dry out faster too. You may have to use mulch to keep it from going through a quick wet dry cycle (that will stress plants, tomatoes in particular).

We have made raised beds out of cedar timbers in the past. I have avoided pressure treated or railway ties because in principle less chemicals is better in my book. That said, I'm not judging anyone who has used them, it's just been out choice.

There are some really good gardening pics on this forum.

Here are some links you may find helpful.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/155578-how-much-compost.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/137905-aint-no-garden-eden.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/155465-new-garden-when-add-amendments.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/134522-question-garden-startup.html

There are all sorts more too. Somewhere there is a member who built really attractive raised beds but I can't find the thread.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Ah ha.....So, the blueberries desire a different soil than the garden. In other words...acidic soil is not good for vegetables.??....correct.??

So much to learn.

BTW, great links. Thanks.

 

[jimmyj]

I would not say either too acidic or too alkaline for veggies, but I am not really an expert. For example, potatoes will get scab if the soil is too alkaline. I have a book about gardening by an old timer named "Dick Raymond" and it's great.

We find that adding well rotted compost (made from our manure and that from an adjacent horse farm) keeps everything "just about right" naturally. The compost adds fertilizer, keeps the ph slightly alkaline, adds organic material for aeration and water retention. Our soil here is really sandy so we mulch with compost too as it dries out too fast and also the nutrients leach out quickly. It works great. If I were to show you two garden beds, one with the compost in and as mulch, and another just the soil, the plants in the amended bed would be much greener and more robust. I have not been able to get nearly the same results with chemical fertilizers.

As for the blueberries, you may need something different for them but you won't know until you find out what you already have got. Are there wild blueberries around your place? What sort of wildflowers and trees grow naturally? For example, pines and oaks often do well in acidic conditions. Some flowers, like indians paintbrushes thrive in acidic soil. Study what nature has been successful with and capitalize on it if you can.

 

[955er]

Blueberries are just tough. Need the correct ph in the soil or they fail.

I have strawberry beds, fruit trees, rasberries, asparagus, etc, so I have tried them all. Blueberrieis turn my thumb brown.

 

[greasemonkeyok]

The Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences at the University of Maine just might be a goldmine of information. In the mid-west, the ag schools have offices and programs for gardeners in many county seats, but they probably don't have a lot of insight on crops in your neck of the woods.

 

[rcrcomputing]

I've 15 4x8 beds.
Mulch in between.

If I built them over again, I debate making them 3.5'x8'

I also put a 2x4 raised up about 21 inches on each bed. Makes nice to tie the remesh tomato cages to and for a hand hold.

If you plan to plant this year. Add 2 bags of finished compost to each bed, and 1 bag of manure, and maybe a bit of peat moss. (Easy on the peat as it adds acid, but has little nutritional value). It does help hold moisture. Also add a bit of bone meal. Squash and green peppers love it.

Then, make a "catch" out of waferboard or something and as your helper throws leaves on the ground, drive over them and they land in the catch. Now you have some leaf mulch to put between your plants to eliminate weeds. (Lay the mulch on thick as it will pack way down over time.)

At the end of the year, you turn the leaf mulch over in the bed. By next spring, it has turned into compost so you don't need to buy any more. And your worms will love you. Compost bins are a pain anyway and you don't need them..

Note: In the spring, do not be too quick to add them chopped up leaves to the beds. It tends to keep the ground temperature colder and your plants will not grow as good. Wait a bit to add the mulch. (I tested this and found it to be true.)


I've gotten longer winded than I meant to. But the last thing I'd add to this is, as you get your organic matter built up in the soil, it tends to be the "great equalizer" for soil PH.

 

[NSBound]

Get your soil analysis done. In Maine, I'll guess that your soil is already naturally acidic and perfect for blueberries, as it is here in Nova Scotia. So if you add compost and manure in the raised bed areas for your veggies, you'll have good growing conditions for everything else. And I'll second Jimmy's comments about the importance of mulch. For raised beds the size you're thinking and if you want tomatoes, I'd reserve one whole bed for them, that way you can better control slugs and other crawlies that might damage your plants. Prepare really tall stakes for your tomatoes. Taller than you think. I'd go 5'. Or get a sheet of the 4"X4" wire mesh they use as cement reinforcement and cut it into circles 18" across, tie them together with wire or zip ties, (so you have a circle 18" around by 4' high) and train the plants to grow up inside them, shoving the branches higher as the plants grow.

Good luck, post periodic result pics!

 

[JDGreenGrass]

I am going to get the soil tested. I hear for $7 the local Extension office will test it and give good insight as to what will grow well in that soil.

I'm taking this all in. Thanks.

 

[forgeblast]

we have 12 4x8 beds made from landscape timbers. work great and perfect size to reach across. the blueberrys we have are planted slightly elevated hilled to keep their roots from getting waterlogged. I then mulch them with double ground hardwood mulch to keep them weed free and use Holly tone as my fertalizer. Just dont fertalize to late in the season, and you will be fine.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Well, it's a start, right.?? Two beds...4'x8'. Each bed is 10" high.

I have left some space to throw in some compost and maybe a layer of good top soil (or, should I just add a layer of compost and plant directly into that.??) What you see there now is screened loam. Good stuff.

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[rcrcomputing]

Short pieces of 4x4 and bolts are good for the corners of the 2x12. Keeps the warpage from pulling the 2x12s apart.

If you have burmuda under there, your going to wish you'd have put a couple of layers of cardboard at the bottom.

You do NOT need topsoil. Get as much compost in there as you can stand! Makes it really easy to pull weeds as it loosens up the soil.

I do not put quite that much dirt in. However, you'll find as you need good growing dirt in other places, you can rob it from these beds. I do that often, then just keep amending the beds with chicken manure, compost etc..

 

[rcrcomputing]

I might add, the single biggest reason to do raised beds. Almost eliminates weeding if you use chopped leaf mulch.
You'll like that!

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Short pieces of 4x4 and bolts are good for the corners of the 2x12. Keeps the warpage from pulling the 2x12s apart.

If you have burmuda under there, your going to wish you'd have put a couple of layers of cardboard at the bottom.

You do NOT need topsoil. Get as much compost in there as you can stand! Makes it really easy to pull weeds as it loosens up the soil.

I do not put quite that much dirt in. However, you'll find as you need good growing dirt in other places, you can rob it from these beds. I do that often, then just keep amending the beds with chicken manure, compost etc..

Do I mix the compost in or do I use it as a top soil.??

I intend to sure up the corners with 2x4's.

And, I know...I should have put a light barrier down under the loam. The GF can do the weeding.

 

[rcrcomputing]

Do I mix the compost in or do I use it as a top soil.??

I intend to sure up the corners with 2x4's.

And, I know...I should have put a light barrier down under the loam. The GF can do the weeding.

Thank good for women!

Mix the compost in. Add a little bit of fertilizer like 20-10-10
Note, the compost provides fertilizer, but slowly.. I like to help it out just a bit, but not much..

 

[forgeblast]

There is a soil conditioner that i have been using that helps me. When i fertalize i use 3 scoops of lime to one of bonemeal and 10 10 10. I may mix a bit of blood meal into it also. some recipes of this have different times of lime and cotton seed meal/soy meal mixed in but since i have a hard time finding it i use the bonmeal and 10 10 10. (it is in the book gardening when it counts) I also do throw all my wood stove ashes into the garden all winter long and compost goes in the heap and grass clippings from the summer i use for mulch. I dont like using spring clippings because of all the dandlines. Other then that i would sugggest take notes. write down where you planted everything to rotate the garden, write down who you bough seeds from and if they worked, and if you liked the taste of the vegs. I love and some times hate my garden, last year was a heart breaker with all the rain, this year my asparagus is going great, my blackberries (from nourse) are a 1' 1/2 higher then they were last year and my blueberries have a ton of flowers on them. So i am liking this spring so much more then last. When ever i start a new bed i figure that it will take about 5 years for it to really produce. (that way im not dissapointed).
just have fun with it and keep notes.

 

[rcrcomputing]

There is a soil conditioner that i have been using that helps me. When i fertalize i use 3 scoops of lime to one of bonemeal and 10 10 10. I may mix a bit of blood meal into it also. some recipes of this have different times of lime and cotton seed meal/soy meal mixed in but since i have a hard time finding it i use the bonmeal and 10 10 10. (it is in the book gardening when it counts) I also do throw all my wood stove ashes into the garden all winter long and compost goes in the heap and grass clippings from the summer i use for mulch. I dont like using spring clippings because of all the dandlines. Other then that i would sugggest take notes. write down where you planted everything to rotate the garden, write down who you bough seeds from and if they worked, and if you liked the taste of the vegs. I love and some times hate my garden, last year was a heart breaker with all the rain, this year my asparagus is going great, my blackberries (from nourse) are a 1' 1/2 higher then they were last year and my blueberries have a ton of flowers on them. So i am liking this spring so much more then last. When ever i start a new bed i figure that it will take about 5 years for it to really produce. (that way im not dissapointed).
just have fun with it and keep notes.

Be careful on the wood ashes. To much can really raise your PH. Don't ask how I know..

 

[lakngulf]

I might add, the single biggest reason to do raised beds. Almost eliminates weeding if you use chopped leaf mulch.
You'll like that!

Thanks for mentioning leaf mulch. I was about to start a thread and ask if plan 'ol leaves would be a good mulch for tomatoes. I had so much trouble with tomatoes last year that I am gun shy. I have always had great tomatoes but lost several plants last year. I did not want to add leaves if that was going to bring in any disease.

Must the leaves be chopped? How thick? I like the idea of no weeds. My wife will pull weeds from her herb garden near the house, but the garden weeds are mine.

I have had good luck so far with a raised bed experiment. In the picture below you will see that the bed is really raised, over the water.

 

[rcrcomputing]

Thanks for mentioning leaf mulch. I was about to start a thread and ask if plan 'ol leaves would be a good mulch for tomatoes. I had so much trouble with tomatoes last year that I am gun shy. I have always had great tomatoes but lost several plants last year. I did not want to add leaves if that was going to bring in any disease.

Must the leaves be chopped? How thick? I like the idea of no weeds. My wife will pull weeds from her herb garden near the house, but the garden weeds are mine.

I have had good luck so far with a raised bed experiment. In the picture below you will see that the bed is really raised, over the water.

I rotate my plants to differant beds on a three year cycle. I have used leaves for about 5 years with no problems.
If you don't chop the leaves with the lawn mower or a chipper, they tend to blow away and stay fluffy. I run over them once and sometimes twice. I lay them in about 4" think as they will pack down as time goes on.

Now THAT is a raised bed. I've not done a bed that is completely off the ground. Did you put plastic on the outside or something to help them not lose to much moisture? Or you think maybe they'll have more moisture as the lake evaporates?? Hmm, interesting experiment! Let me know how that works out for you.

 

[jimmyj]

Chopping the leaves really helps. They don't blow away or form soggy mats that the water can't get through that way. We put over 400 bags of leaves into the garden one year and it was great compost.

Different leaves can need aging apparently. I have read that maple leaves have "phenols" in them and they slow down growth if they are fresh vs composted. Composting seems to solve all problems with stuff.

Good luck! Keep the pics coming.