My Garden

My Garden

I know next to nothing about gardening. I’ve grown sage and (with limited success) tomatoes, but the earth we live upon is still pretty much terra incognita to me.

This year, I’m going to get closer to my food by growing it in some quantity, and I’m going to chronicle my adventures here, in hopes that some greener thumbs will offer advice and corrective criticism.

So, I started with an empty plot in our backyard where a child’s trampoline once stood. This is a shot facing west.



Notice the bunny hutch in the lower right corner. I felt a little guilty about wrecking it, but I never read Watership Down, and after all, who's at the top of the food chain, you know?

Anyway, what I’ve got is an 8’ X 18’ stretch that gets sunlight from 8:00AM to 4:00PM, with somewhat spotty coverage from 4:00PM to 6:00PM. There’s a portion next to the garage that is largely shaded, but I’m thinking I might grow something there, too (there must be some plants that are okay in shade…right? Tubers?).

I want to grow a few rows of corn, maybe some exotic purple carrots, but that’s all I’ve got so far.

Here’s how the patch looked at end of business today:



I pulled the weeds, turned the soil, roughed it up with a Garden Weasel, and stood back to admire my work.

...Oh, and I ran into the bunny tonight. She is so comfortable with The Wife and I that she does not flee when we approach. I squated and looked at her. I said, “I’m sorry I had to wreck your house, but, you know, you could have picked a place other than my garden for your warren, or den, or birthing room, or whatever you guys call it.”

She twitched her nose and ears in contempt. She was silent. I came to realize there was no way she could have known my plans for the garden. I went inside and got a Genesis Farm carrot from Farmer Vicky. I threw it to her. She didn’t eat it. In fact, she turned her ass to it.



Okay, if that’s the way you want it bunny; I’m fully prepared to go all Carl Spackler on your cottontail. Who’s on top of the food chain…hunh…who? Nothing to say… that’s right…I thought so.

Anyway, we’re scheduled to have rain for a few days, but next weekend, I’d like to start fertilizing and/or planting. Any suggestions? I need help.

David “Not a green thumb, more like chartreuse” Hammond

PS. Now that I'm a farmer, I'm already getting more sensitive to my food. Like, I'm SO SORRY I left those fish heads at Palace Gate -- I could have used them to nitrogenate the soil in preparation for corn!

So, let me be specific about some of the gardening guidance I need.

I need some recommendations for good, general purpose organic fertilizer (and where to buy), as well as suggestions for an interesting type of corn I might grow (I saw a white variety that looked promising, but I'm open to suggestion).

Any input you might have regarding one or both of these queries would be appreciated.

David,

Not to be a cold wet blanket, but corn is a very non-efficient crop to grow. It is a nutrient hog, to the detriment of other crops planted near it, takes up a great deal of space compared to its yield as well as blocking the sun from your other crops. Here in the midst of corn country where even the Jewel has an abundance of good cheap corn during season, I choose not to grow it in favor of other veggies.

I'm also a big advocate of the square foot gardeningmethod.

stevez wrote:David,

Not to be a cold wet blanket, but corn is a very non-efficient crop to grow. It is a nutrient hog, to the detriment of other crops planted near it, takes up a great deal of space compared to its yield as well as blocking the sun from your other crops. Here in the midst of corn country where even the Jewel has an abundance of good cheap corn during season, I choose not to grow it in favor of other veggies.

I'm also a big advocate of the square foot gardeningmethod.

I'm sure that's one of the reasons why so few home gardens grow corn, but I'm not really interested in growing a lot of anything else (in fact, I could devote the entire garden to corn and be just fine with that). I don't have a vast amount of space, but should be able to grow enough to keep my family of three (current size) in corn.

There is a good amount of corn at markets in the summer, but my motivation is to experience growing the stuff...and to enjoy it right off the stalk, which I understand is quite something.

Wet blanket deflected.

Hammond

Corn Warning Number 2:
I wouldn't advise against growing it, but I've grown corn twice in the past 3 or 4 years without a great end result. The plants were robust and healthy but the cobs were ravaged by a vicious pack of Fox Valley squirrels, the worst kind indeed. Friends advised that a good preventative measure is to sprinkle some cayenne or spray a mixture of hotsauce/water on the silk to make the corn unappetizing for the filthy rodents. I used to have an amicable relationship with these animals, but that has been destroyed.

On a side note, two years ago I was blessed with one cob that had the prized huitlacoche fungus. It's a frightening looking growth to be sure, and I did not posses the bravery to scrape and cook the smut.

On another point raised-did the carrot have it's greens attached? That's what miss bunny would have wanted. Real bunnies, unlike Bugs, don't mess with the carrot itself so much(I've heard). Regardless, given your involvement in her housing shortage, turning her own furry bum to it may well have been a way of suggesting what you might do with it.
Hope this helps...

David Hammond wrote:So, let me be specific about some of the gardening guidance I need.

I need some recommendations for good, general purpose organic fertilizer (and where to buy), as well as suggestions for an interesting type of corn I might grow (I saw a white variety that looked promising, but I'm open to suggestion).
.

I'm a big fan of composted manure. I buy the stuff that has been sterilized, so it's not so fragrant. I also amend the soil with mushroom compost.

I buy both at the local garden center in Bloomingdale (name escapes me right now), but I believe you can get it at any good center and several Ace Hardware stores.

I've used it in my garden for three years now and had good results. My sweet peppers are large, my tomatoes are bountiful, and my strawberries... well, the squirrels and birds get to most of them before I do.

Kim

I do hot peppers every year. Highly recommend for the first time gardener. Serranos, habaneros, and jalapenos. Love full sun, and only like to be watered every few days. One plant = 20 - 30 fruits

Zucchini, although boring since everyone does em, are fun for kids if you have them because they grow at an alarming rate. One day they are one inch long, next day, they are three inches long etc..

I also recommend cherry tomatoes. Sweeter than most things you can grow. Excellent right off the vine. They will take over everything (get bushy)if you don't control them tho.

I agree that corn is a tough one.

Suggestion: strategically placed marigolds will deter the neighboorhod bunnies.
Suggestion #2. A few milk jugs with small holes in the bottom buried near your plants are a cheap way to ensure they get watered during your summer trips. Simply fill up the water jugs and let the water seep out.

David,

-- Just in case you didn't know about this, I heard yesterday on WBEZ that it is important to get a lead test for your backyard soil if you live anywhere in Chicagoland. Seems like a good idea, since you want to go organic, to know as much as possible about the growing medium and then you can amend your soil as needed.

Also, do you have a compost heap? This seems like another important step. This year I passed up a garbage disposal as a small step towards a greener life, but I have yet to arrange for composting in the small space available to me-- I need an efficient and contained compost arrangement. Any suggestions would be welcome, though I can start another thread if this seems like a hijacking.

I just heard about perennial peas. They propogate by sending out runners under the soil. Seems like a great time-saver, as annual peas take awhile to get going.

Anyway, good luck on your garden. You will be well-rewarded!

This is all very solid advice -- I'm particularly intrigued by The Square Foot Garden approach actively endorsed by SteveZ (even though I cleaned out a large space, I don't need to use all of it). I'm picking up the book this afternoon.

Corn...well, maybe that's not such a hot plan.

Josephine, any idea where to get the lead testing done?

David Hammond wrote:I'm particularly intrigued by The Square Foot Garden approach actively endorsed by SteveZ

Based largely on Steve's thread, I purchased the book a few months ago, and have finally purchased the requisite materials to get started (minus the fifth kind of compost).

The guy's a bit of a quack...he really, really, really loves his method and contribution to humankind. But it does seem to make quite a bit of sense.

Looking forward to seeing how it goes.

He also suggests a "cage" you can make and put over your crops (e.g., corn) to protect it from squirrels if you choose to go that route.

I thought for a minute you were going to grow your own tortillas, which I would love to have documented.

Re: lead testing. Just a guess, but my friends in Evanston have called the county agent -- the guy from the extension service, you know, like the know-it-all character on Green Acres that was always dropping by to give unwanted advice and undermine our valiant hero, Eddie Alpert. What was his name anyway? On second thought, the Chicago Botanic Gardens can probably suggest a source for the testing or test kits.

HI,

If you call U of I Extension or the Botanic Gardens, you will get nearly the same response from Master Gardners: they will forward you to a 3rd party who does it for around $15-20. I got my last kit via the Soil and Water Conservation Service in Lake County, then I mailed it to somewhere in Wisconsin.

While you need to do soil evaluation now. It is best to do it again in the fall, when you can add lots of supplements to the soil to overwinter.

Regards,

There is a sample square-food garden at the Garfield Park Conservatory, outside the children's area. Though I don't use this method, I've taken some of the ideas which work pretty well. I'll second the Cook County Extension office, which offers info online as well.

There are a number of organic fertilizers available at any hardware store; I use Plant-Tone. I also mulch everything with newspaper and cedar mulch. I started a worm bin this year, as I have no space for compost. It's going pretty well, but I need to get more worms. I've found that the Gardens Alivecatalogue is worth having, not for the organic concoctions, but for the info on plant diseases that comes with. I use Blood Meal along with marigolds to deter the critters, which works pretty well - sometimes leaving the bitten veggies on the ground helps.

I did a series of multicolored carrots a couple years ago, including Purple Dragons which were pretty good. I also liked pattypan squash, because although it doesn't yeild the way zucchini does, it's pretty easy and cheaper to grow than to buy (I stopped because we kept getting squash vine borers and powdery mildew) I have never gotten corn to come up, much less fruit (I wanted to try popcorn.)

I'd also add to those discouraging growing corn. Unless you plan on hand-pollinating, you'll have very low yields. Fields of corn need at least three rows to get enough density to pollinate, and then mostly the inner rows of the group.

Last time I tried, I got pretty low yields (of colored popcorn), and a fair amount of it was covered with fungus, that later I found out was probably hiutlacoche and more valuable than the popcorn.

I stick to herbs, tomatoes and peppers mainly, and the occasional row-of-something like beans, peas etc.

One other suggestion: one strategically placed dog will keep the rabbits and squirrels away.

I'm constructing my square foot garden today (it's very easy, of course).

Mhays wrote:I did a series of multicolored carrots a couple years ago, including Purple Dragons which were pretty good. I also liked pattypan squash, because although it doesn't yeild the way zucchini does, it's pretty easy and cheaper to grow than to buy (I stopped because we kept getting squash vine borers and powdery mildew) I have never gotten corn to come up, much less fruit (I wanted to try popcorn.)

Multicolored carrots are a definite possibility, and I like the idea of pattypans.

JoelF wrote:I'd also add to those discouraging growing corn. Unless you plan on hand-pollinating, you'll have very low yields. Fields of corn need at least three rows to get enough density to pollinate, and then mostly the inner rows of the group.

Yes, I have sought the wisdom of the board and have taken it to heart. Looks like corn is not going to be on this year's crop list.

Yesterday and today, in a fit of good weather, since it's not scheduled to get below 40 in the next 10 days, I got 2 tomato plants (red and yellow) 3 pepper plants (red, green and habanero) a river birch to replace last year's that died, lettuce seeds, a grape to replace last year's that died in the freeze after our warm snap, a semi-dwarf cherry (moving the extra dwarfed cherry - top died - below the power lines) and fencing to keep the dog out (only one dog goes in, the one that pulled all the tomatoes off the bush last year) some herbs (I have seedlings, but just in case...) and flowers. I have 4 smaller grape plants that I might plant somewhere random - there's a telephone post behind us in the alley...

Guess what vegetable from my garden I'm having for dinner tonight:


Fiddleheads!

nr706 wrote:Guess what vegetable from my garden I'm having for dinner tonight:


Fiddleheads!

That pic fills me with envy.

Hey, anyone some random tomato plants? Every year I start out way too many tomato seedlings and usually have to compost the bulk of what I start (I'm always paranoid about germination). I also have a ton of seeds I won't be using again.

I've stopped labeling tomatoes, so it really is a mixed bag...take your chances, ladies and gents.

I also have a lot of extra tomato seedlings - mostly these varieties:
Dr. Wyche's Yellow Tomato

seedsavers.org wrote:Given to SSE by the late Dr. John Wyche, one of SSE's earliest members. Dr. Wyche used to own Cole Brothers Circus which overwintered in Hugo, Oklahoma. He fertilized his terraced mountain-top gardens with elephant manure and scattered lion and tiger waste to keep out deer and rabbits. Heavy yields of 1 pound tomatoes with nice smooth shoulders on healthy plants. Meaty and rich tasting for a yellow-orange tomato. Indeterminate, 75-85 days from transplant.

and Stupice Tomato

seedsavers.org wrote:One of the four original Czechoslovakian varieties sent to the U. S. by Milan Sodomka. Potato-leaf 4' plants loaded with 2½" by 2" diameter fruits borne in clusters. Extremely early, great flavor. Heavy yields all season. Produces well in northern climates. Indeterminate, 55-70 days from transplant.

PM me if interested.

Lately, as I've been planting my garden, I've been pulling out a lot of weeds. It occurred to me - what is a weed, really? It's just a plant that innocently decided to establish itself somewhere people don't want it to be.

So, as I was planting my borage, in hopes of the edible flowers (also the reason I plant nasturtiums), I came across this site:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFl ... rsMain.htm

And I noticed it mentioned violets. I've grown violas, and Johnny-Jump-Ups, and I know their flowers are edible, but I never thought about their close relative, the violet.

Violets seem to grow wild in my garden. Growing up in Glenview, I remember that many of our gardens had violets - no one planted them, they just appeared. And that's what happens in my Evanston garden, too. But I didn't want the violets there - I wanted to grow the stuff I was planting.

So I had been pulling up the wild violet plants and tossing them away.

But tonight, after seeing the web site, I looked at those violets in a slightly different, somewhat more gluttonous way. In the garden, they looked like this:



So I picked as many as I could find (still in the "weeding" mode) - [note that, as weeds, there were no pesticides, fertilizers, or other stuff on them].

Yes, I must confess I have very ugly orange-red laminate in my kitchen.

According to the site, the leaves can be treated as spinach - the great disappearing vegetable. So I rinsed the leaves and threw them in a pot with a little bacon fat for flavor, plus S&P. Then used a few of the flowers as garnish.


The leaves are probably a little blander than spinach, but they're not bad. The flowers don't taste like much, but they add a nice visual appeal - at least for me.

Maybe I need to eat more weeds.

Do they transplant? I have one violet in my veggie garden, and would love to move it into my flower garden. In the flower garden only one of the violet-ish plants survived from last year (I think a pale blue/white johnny jump up).

Also garden related, how do I keep my dog out? I put up so much fencing that I have trouble getting in, and he just jumps up and dives into the top level, knocks it down, which pulls the nails out of the posts, and goes in.

I don't know what he's chasing, maybe a rat? But it's driving me crazy, I can't watch him every second he's out there.

leek wrote:Do they transplant?

I don't know - like I say, they grow wild here, and up until yesterday I was just pulling them and tossing. But I do have some violas and johnny-jump-ups that I started from seed, I know they'll transplant just fine. Plus, they'll reseed themselves for next year.

No dog here - can't help you with that.

Yes, violets transplant - they will multiply quickly! My mom uses them for ground cover, in some areas of her yard.

Candied violets are very tasty. Violet flowers actually have a very lovely flavor that is enhanced by sugar. Violet was once a very popular flavor for sweets, and Flavigniy and C.Howard's both still make violet candy (cany flavored with violets, as opposed to candied violets).

Hi,

Several things about violets:

If you neglect your yard, they will come. If you care for your yard meticulously, they will come. Once they have arrived, then they become quick groundcover. I would caution you about introducing violets to a flower bed, because they are pretty aggressive.

A friend who has a vast perennial garden has a plant sale every year. Initially, people asked for violets. The subsequent years, she has potted her violets and sold them much to her amusement.

I bought several plants recently without too much knowledge. I checked their habit out when I got home to find while lovely, they are an aggressive groundcover. They are still sitting in their pots, though now I don't quite know what to do with them.

I bought some grasses last year. I did a lot of reading to make sure they clumped instead of wandered. I find checking these issues in advance will save you headaches later.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:If you neglect your yard, they will come. If you care for your yard meticulously, they will come. Once they have arrived, then they become quick groundcover. I would caution you about introducing violets to a flower bed, because they are pretty aggressive.

Blue Violets, our state flower, are evil. Have you ever seen 'Day of the Trifids'? Once they get a foothold, they will take over the whole area. A neighbor of mine once thought they were "cute" and encouraged their growth. Ten years later, her infestation has spread to every lawn in a 4 square block area. Their root systems spread everywhere, lurking beneath the surface, just waiting for the earth to be disturbed so they can pounce. I have pulled up roots that looked like trans-atlantic phone cables. I once asked the Scott's "hotline" what I could do to rid myself of the violets, and they basically told me to dig up my entire yard, replace the topsoil, re-sod and pray.

I'll trade you violets any day for the thistle that reappears, Jason-like, on an almost daily basis. Fail to get the foot-deep taproots, and they'll send new shoots up quickly. The vile stuff has punched through the recently-laid sod (I disliked the idea of sodding the lawn, but I disliked the thought the dog's muddy paws through an entire spring of attempting to seed said lawn more).

Our other nemesis, stinging nettle, unfortunately has looks when small midway between the raspberries and the Queen of the Prairie, so it gets missed easily. It also sends rhizomes across an entire yard which will send up painful little stalks when you least expect it.

All -

In regards to the square foot gardening approach, do you think I could put one on a deck?

I have a nice large deck (that is above another deck) that I am thinking about using for it. Anyone tried this?