Raised Bed Gardening - Cement Blocks > Greenhouse!

[DrkAngel]

Will be planting tonight, and Friday evening, too hot during the day, but should cool nicely... and no mosquitoes ,yet.
Weekend forecast is for a nice warm soaking rain = perfect!
Pantry beds prepped and ready.


Fence bed enriched and tilled, thanks to CB.
Moved tomato towers to fresh beds, rather than trying to work around them. ... thanks for the help LL.

I did repair the bed end caps that had sagged or separated.



Rhubarb is flowering already, need some advice on pruning? or care.
Am going to break up my onion bushes and serve as Green Onions.


Other fence bed, ready for compost and final till..
Family beds are being tended an prepped.


Alternate view of family beds.
Should be seeing a lot of green in a couple weeks.
New washing station, thanks to JM.


Sacrificed a bit o the fence bed towards a recreation area.

 

[DrkAngel]

Someone caught me "in the act".

YOOOO Grandad's got guns!

10 years ago ...
... when I was old and feeble.

 

[DrkAngel]

/
... Traditional planting day
Been planting all week.
Planted:
Corn - 80' of row;
Tomatoes - 5 dozen
Summer Squashes - 18 hills
Onions - 30', every 4"+ replanted 200 green onion gone bad
Lettuce - 3 dozen started plants
Delayed
Peppers - more time at 80℉ w/16hr led light
Lettuce - 2nd batch of started sets
Beets - big enough for transplant
Carrots - still early enough to start some more
Winter Squashes - tilled and fenced an old compost bed and later, with the 3 Sisters, after corn and beans of proper size


Did 'er up this morning, in the rain.

Replaced the wooden Garlic bed of yesteryear.


Planted a couple dozen Tomato plants and started distributing some Basil plants.
Did not take picture, but have 2 Garlic Scapes started!


Planted the bed end fence with Snap Peas, they will compete against Morning Glories from outside of fence.

Laid out the drip irrigation lines.

 

[DrkAngel]

.
... Week 3 2022 growing season


Beets, Radishes and Onions ... and a 5' Sunflower.

Far end is a Rose Geranium, kept it alive through the Winter.

(Oops really need to clean and shine this tire!)


Volunteer #1's plots
Already harvesting Green Onions , Radishes and nibbling on Lettuce.


28 of 30 Family beds, prepped and mostly planted.


#3 Volunteer gardener surveying her work.
#3 to make an appearance this year.


Squash, plus Tomatoes and Peppers donated at just the right time.


Wide view
You can still see green everywhere.

Oops, standing in the Strawberries and Rhubarb.



Beds are all planted. Will be adding extra plantings of Lettuce, Onions, Radishes etc.

Drying Parsley on blocks in bed #3



Closer view



Alternate angle of the Pantry beds.



HT Sweet Peppers



HT Tomatoes
Onions on end will not flower and should push 1lb+ each, by Fall.

Will finish harvesting Dill plant tomorrow.



Eggplant, will get 1 crop of Radishes in between.



Ginger is finally throwing up "spikes"



Various, leftover Hot Peppers.



Healthy Tomato plants.
About time for 1st pruning of "suckers".

Side of Basil.



More Tomatoes



Hot Peppers



South beds nearly filled.
2nd bed, thought was Parsley, turned out to be a field of started Celery!

 

[calab]

Front hub, pas only perhaps, small battery behind the bag at the front in the triangle. Interesting 1/2" of rubber cushioning for the rear.

19.jpg (550.71 KiB)

 

[DrkAngel]

Front hub, pas only perhaps, small battery behind the bag at the front in the triangle. Interesting 1/2" of rubber cushioning for the rear.

19.jpg (550.71 KiB)

Crappy old pedal bike.
Went from 5' 10½" 200lb to 175lb.
Trying to rejuvenate my one legged deep knee bends ability.
Trying to impress my kids, grand kids, and soon, my great-grand kids.

Not! giving up my e-bike dedication! Just a couple extra pedalations every day. (turned 63)

 

[DrkAngel]

.
... Week 4


Peppers growing, slow but sure.
Pruned suckers from 2 beds of Tomatoes and tied up the taller varieties. Possibly, about a 20% mass loss from pruning. 1st of June next year.


Peppers, seem to get their growing spurt in July.


Squash starting some noticeable growth!


Beets recovered noticeably, Sunflower taking off.


Tomatoes got a nice weeding, thanks!


Cucumbers starting some noticeable growth!


Some room for non-edibles.


Gardener #1, been harvesting.


View from the raised beds.





Everything growing great, Corn and Beans cooperating nicely, time to harvest some Rhubarb.





Large Dill crop this year.

 

[CONSIDERABLE SHOUTING]

How the hell did you get all your guys to grow so well? My sunflowers didn't take at all this year, I have only one growing and he's little more than a seedling.

 

[DrkAngel]

The 7 footer just popped up in the High Tunnel in April?
The others are volunteers were something that Chipmunks planted and I transplanted, maybe something in Chipmunk saliva?
Last year we had one expected to hit 14 feet, but hail storm mangled the main stem, folded over the top few feet.

 

[DrkAngel]

.
... Week 5

Let the pictures do the talking.













H, see how the mighty have been brought low.

 

[DrkAngel]

.
... Bonus

Just enjoy this little grouping.


Better illustrates Tomato growth and vitality.

I tend to allow 1 mid-height sucker on the end plants.


Ginger is starting to accelerate growth.


Just love the multi-functionality of Nasturtiums.





Checking the macro function of my phone.

Oh, a Pea blossom.


Borage, I believe.

 

[Matt Gruber]

my LOWERED bed is working good so far
i dug out 20x2 - removed the crushed shell in my driveway about 8" deep. i added a layer of weeds then composted leaves from the woods. so now it is 4" below grade. i planted 8 tomato plants that were 2 weeks old during storm Ian and when the big winds hit, they didn't mind it. and purple sweet potatoes along the edges, a few weeks ago. no storm damage
plants up high were damaged or destroyed

 

[nicobie]

I miss the garden updates, especially now that it's harvest time.

 

[Matt Gruber]

My neighbor gave me a 1/2 ton of dirt 8)
I plan to use it to make a FREE raised bed
Now i like cats even more :lol: Will pick up Tidy Cat buckets on trash day. might have 50-100 a year from now. Will store rain too. Very dry here half the year.
plan is to drill holes 4 inches above the bottom, to give the roots plenty of water. Not sure if this will cause a problem?
and when there is a frost, i can bring them in the garage 8)

 

[Matt Gruber]

my neighbor put out six 18 gal bins, said they are taking up too much space in her closet. This could be great for a quick and free bed They may rot quickly in the sun, but well worth carting them home on my bike (you try this stunt made 2 trips, 4 miles total.
also three 7.5 gal bins :thumb:
and a 2qt bin for seedlings :thumb:
The cat lady changed brands so no more close by Tidy cat buckets

 

[Matt Gruber]

Dutch bucket raised bed hydroponic system. page down for pic
https://whyfarmit.com/dutch-bucket/#:~:text=A%20Dutch%20bucket%2C%20or%20Bato,tomatoes%2C%20peppers%2C%20and%20eggplants.
i could try this easy. anybody like it? Main advantage is way less water, and fertilizer is reused instead of washing away. i would just bury a bin in the ground to collect the water, then scoop it up to reuse, or put the bins on the free tables i got on trash day (was a shelving unit)

 

[e-beach]

...
i could try this easy. anybody like it? ..

https://www.archisacres.com/

Defiantly worth the watch.

[youtube]KK56_u7GSjo[/youtube]

 

[Matt Gruber]

i'm sold on the raised bed. Because it KILLS nematodes that were stunting my tomato plants. all those are now dead, but the 1 test plant is doing fantastic. it is in an 18 gal bin that gets over 95F on an 85 day. the heat kills the nematodes and i'm not using dirt,;
stuffed with weeds, leaves and grass. and no drain holes, just a dipstick to check the water level. bin is on a cart, so can move it easily, if necessary. You can tell i'm a car guy, plant on wheels and has a dipstick

 

[tomjasz]

i'm sold on the raised bed. Because it KILLS nematodes that were stunting my tomato plants. all those are now dead, but the 1 test plant is doing fantastic. it is in an 18 gal bin that gets over 95F on an 85 day. the heat kills the nematodes and i'm not using dirt,;
stuffed with weeds, leaves and grass. and no drain holes, just a dipstick to check the water level. bin is on a cart, so can move it easily, if necessary. You can tell i'm a car guy, plant on wheels and has a dipstick

Rotating high nitrogen cover crops, is incredibly effective.
High temps, solarization, is effective but can reduce fruit loads in raised
beds. VFN cultivars are a good idea. Cole crops (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower) are antagonists. Tagetes species, suppress root knot nematodes. I had a disasterou infestation in the new plantings at Treasure Island. I brought in a nematologist from New South Wales and won using least toxic interplantings and using cole crop waste from the garde manger at The Mirage and T.I.

Cole crops and marigolds!

 

[tomjasz]

My favorite beds. Stackable stable concrete bricks. Spendy, but 15 years later they re easily reconfigured super stable. Set at chair height with an easy reach from both sides. https://www.menards.com/main/buildi...7.htm?tid=2507476076021169950&ipos=1&exp=true

 

[tomjasz]

i could try this easy. anybody like it?

Currently setting up my new “medical” grow using this method. Auto watering, air injection and auto flower seeds. Perfect IME. Clay balls are so easy.

 

[Matt Gruber]

Rotating high nitrogen cover crops, is incredibly effective.
High temps, solarization, is effective but can reduce fruit loads in raised
beds. VFN cultivars are a good idea. Cole crops (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower) are antagonists. Tagetes species, suppress root knot nematodes. I had a disasterou infestation in the new plantings at Treasure Island. I brought in a nematologist from New South Wales and won using least toxic interplantings and using cole crop waste from the garde manger at The Mirage and T.I.

Cole crops and marigolds!

tom
i was just about to put broccoli in the nematode spot. glad that is a good idea.
my test tomato does not seem to mind the high temps so far. Also trying a cherry tomato that just came up.
i may put some styrofoam on the south side of the bin to keep it under 100F.

 

[tomjasz]

south side of the bin to keep it under 100F.

The tomato root mass?

 

[Matt Gruber]

i could shield the bin from direct sun if the high temps stop tomatoes from growing. bin could get to about 115-120+F i guess. The south garage wall gets to 130-140 on a 50-60F day. i go there to warm up. At some point plants will die, but one year i had a cherry tom against that wall and it liked it. Roots i don't know.
Had 21 mph wind yesterday and moved the bin to the north side of the garage. Noticed a dramatic slowing of water usage as the bin was in the shade, while the plant was in the 87F sun. So the hot bin causes fast evaporation. Not surprising as any plant in a pot here needs water added frequently. i rarely use pots for this reason. But without holes, at least the water is not pouring out the bottom. Also i heard on tv that the humidity was 37% very low for FL. so maybe that with sun causes quick evaporation.
Having a dipstick to check water level is more interesting than i expected. i'm also checking fertilizer strength with a DVM

 

[Matt Gruber]

skip ahead and check out how she keeps critters away