Couple questions.
First, can i start any of these plants indoors a few weeks before planting
to get a head start?
Potatoes, do you cut the eyes from old potatoes and do you plant the eyes
up
or down?
Do I need to build any make ****ft plastic green house over the bed?
--
Steve
"cloud dreamer" <Stop@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:13kn9frqasr4te3@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> SteveC wrote:
>> Looking to start a back yard garden this spring. Any pointers,
websites,
>> advice would be great.
>>
>> Looking to plant Lettuce, Carrots, Potatoes, Turnip, Broccoli,
>> Cauliflower, cabbage and might try green peppers and tomatos. Also
some
>> spices as well.
>
>
> First thing...start off small and grow. Start with things that are easy
to
> grow like carots, turnip, cabbage, tomatoes and potatoes. They're easy
to
> care for and will grow just about anywhere. I built some 4x8 raised beds
> using simple 2x8s. Three 8 foot lengths and a few nails will built you a
> bed...then add about 30 bags of soil, 1/4 or so of a bail of peat, some
> composted manure, bone meal and compost.
>
> With that, just add the seeds (carrots, turnip, cabbage). Turnip (and I
> believe cabbage too) needs to be covered by a floating row cover for the
> first few weeks so that the flies won't lay their eggs on the plants.
When
> they hatch you get root maggots that feed on the roots of the plants.
I've
> never tried cabbage, but believe it is also a victim).
>
> Potatoes get buried about 8 to 12 inches down and hills made above them
> (you can get two rows in a 4x8 bed). Tomatoes are best planted in
(cedar)
> pots filled with potting soil. Potatoes and tomatoes share diseases so
> they can't be planted together or follow each other. Yukon Gold are my
> favorite spud and Scotian my favorite tomato.
>
> You can try lettuce. Just be aware that the slugs like them and when
they
> reach a certain point, they'll bolt and will be pretty well useless.
>
> I tried broccoli and cauliflower but found they needed more care and the
> results were not worth the effort. I tried green peppers and got nothing
> worthwhile except a lot of aphids.
>
> Peas (Little Marvel) are an easy crop and what you don't use can be
frozen
> for a couple months. You can pick them for three weeks or more and have
> fresh peas every night (pick them just before they get to full
size...once
> they get big, the pod gets ****ny and the peas are bitter).
>
> Onions are another easy crop and like the others I mentioned above, they
> are easily stored. Just buy a pack of onion sets and stick them in
> (pointed end up) about an inch down and watch them grow. Yellow onions
are
> my favorites.
>
> Slugs are your biggest pest and are best controlled with mulch (which
> tears up their soft belly so they don't cross it). You can also surround
> your 4.8 beds with some copper. They won't cross that. (Bait and traps
are
> messy and costly and only partially effective). The slugs loved the
> cauliflower, broccoli and lettuce I planted. They don't touch my
carrots,
> potatoes, tomatoes, peas, onions or turnip.
>
> That's just some info off the top of my head as I watch the
> Miami-Pittsburgh post game....
>
> :)
>
> --
>
> We must change the way we live,
> or the climate will do it for us.
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