Vegetable Gardening

[OakLeaf]

I use dug beds rather than constructed beds. I can amend the soil and till the whole garden at once in the spring rather than having to fool with individual beds. It's a lot of concentrated work each year before planting time, but lots less for the rest of the season.

I'm not sure raised beds are any help with rocky soil unless you truck in an entire load of fresh topsoil. If you take good care of you soil it will improve year by year, and pulling out rocks is one of the simpler things that you can do. It was the fourth year of my garden before I could really grow carrots. The first year I pulled out the 20 cm rocks ... the second, the 10 cm rocks ... the third, the 5 cm rocks ... after that, I could grow carrots.

My soil is very clayey, so I pretty much need raised beds for drainage.

I have a friend who's having very good results with lasagne gardening. It seems to be a really great way to go with a small patch. I'd think it would be too much if you have more than a hundred square meters or so, though. She also grows all kinds of things indoors in pots in the winter, including baby carrots!

[mudmucker]

Raised beds? Yes.
Rocky thin soil? Yes.
Many rocks? Yes.
Truckloads of topsoil? No.
My own composted soil annually? Yes.

Here's my garden.

By the way, a couple of months ago, I tried that butternut squash recipe off the Mother Earth News lasagne gardening. It is out of this world and one of my new favorite ways to use butternut squash. I modify it though. I don't cook my lasagne noodles anymore. Plus I don't bake in a oven, I use a crockpot. Plus I remove the white sauce part of it. So it goes like this:

Spoon in pureed squash (don't even season it) at bottom of crockpot. Place uncooked noodles on top. Just start layering squash, noodles, and cheese just like you would regular tomato sauce lasagne (As I said, no white sauce). Crockpot on high - it's ready in an hour and a half or two. Put it on low, a little longer. Comes out perfect every time, not runny, not dry. I really like the combination of sweet squash against the salty cheese.

[tulip]

I'm with mudrucker. I have very rocky soil and was not willing to injure my back by digging down. So I built raised beds, put down a thick layer of newspaper, and loaded them up with compost. I add about a wheelbarrow of sifted compost from my bins to a bed a month. Seems to work great.

I also make my lasagne in the crockpot, although a more traditional recipe with lots of spinach. That butternut way sounds delish, though.

I love your garden, mudrucker!

[skhill]

Ok, so it rained 2.3 inches yesterday. And it was 31 F when I stepped out into the garden at dawn today. But it's March, I'm jonesing for fresh veg, so I went ahead and planted a row of peas in the very cold mud. Maybe they'll come up, maybe not... If the rain holds off this weekend, I'm planning on cleaning up the garden and deciding what goes where this year. And planting some more too...

C'mon, spring, we're waiting!

[spokewench]

Lucky you! you can actually see the ground. I'd have to dig down through at least a foot of snow to find my beds right now. I've got a long wait for planting anything.

[NbyNW]

This is what my raised beds look like today. Our high temp today is expected to be about -22℃/-8℉. Around here they say danger of frost lasts through Memorial Day.

I really need to get myself back to Seattle!

[badger]

mudmucker, I LOVE your garden!!!

I'm contemplating a raised bed this year on my concrete patio, but I'm afraid it's going to make a huge mess. I wonder if I'll be able to keep it for years, or if I'll have to take it apart annually at the end of the season? the best thing to do is to move to a house with a yard... *sigh* one day.

[tulip]

Two weeks ago, I planted plants of bok choi, lettuce, arugula, and kale (spring--I've already had kale and collards growing through the winter--and eating them). They are all doing very well, as are my overwintering leeks, which I have to trim and replant to (hopefully) keep them growing and prevent them from blossoming like last year.

I have to plant potatoes, peas, shallots, and onions this weekend, as well as start seeds for summer veggies. I'm a bit behind on that task.

The daffodils and crocus are blooming, and I expect to see some strawberry blossoms in a few weeks.

This year my challenge will be to use my beds wisely in terms of space. Last year I was not very efficient and I could have grown alot more if I had planned better for seasonal plantings.

I am very, very happy to live in a mild climate.