2023 gardening thread

[Battle Beaver]

Maybe you should ask the potato when the time comes if it wants to be "in". Spuds got feelings too!

No worries, I'll treat my new potato to a diner date first.

[oilman28]

The neighbor Im doing the fence with doesnt like all the flower gardens the previous owner had. He told me to take whatever topsoil I wanted so I built another 6x2x2 ft raised bed. I need to mix it with some compost or manure though. I only took enough to half fill it for now. If I can get some before we close off the fence completely, I'll mix it as Im filling it. Im putting blueberry bushes in there and apparently they like slightly acidic soil. Ive got some stuff.....aluminum sulfate maybe ??? I cant remember for sure but I think thats it. Anyone know how much of that I should add per wheelbarrow of soil to get the acidity up a bit ?

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I know when my parents planted blueberry bushes on their orchard on the farm, they added a fair bit of peatmoss to the area that the blueberries were planted in. Peatmoss would bring up the acidity of the soil and help to drain.

[M1917 Enfield]

The neighbor Im doing the fence with doesnt like all the flower gardens the previous owner had. He told me to take whatever topsoil I wanted so I built another 6x2x2 ft raised bed. I need to mix it with some compost or manure though. I only took enough to half fill it for now. If I can get some before we close off the fence completely, I'll mix it as Im filling it. Im putting blueberry bushes in there and apparently they like slightly acidic soil. Ive got some stuff.....aluminum sulfate maybe ??? I cant remember for sure but I think thats it. Anyone know how much of that I should add per wheelbarrow of soil to get the acidity up a bit ?

Attachment 50315

Place some of the cheap (free) plastic panels that used to be election lawn signs in your wood plater boxes first before you fill it with soil to protect the wood from rotting or leaching chemicals if treated into the soil.

Your wood planters will last twice as long and not rot from the moist soil being in contact. As a bonus those plastic panels are two layer with a hollow core for drainage and heat retention.

If you can not get/find any buy those cheap thin foam insulation panels instead. Tape them together with red construction tape on their seams to make a waterproof barrier.

Also collect or keep the foam popcorn from packing to place a 3 inch layer at the bottom to aid or improve drainage.

I did the above to a now 10 year old and still in perfect condition wood planter I built in my backyard that I grow Tomato plants in each year.

[blacksmithden]

I know when my parents planted blueberry bushes on their orchard on the farm, they added a fair bit of peatmoss to the area that the blueberries were planted in. Peatmoss would bring up the acidity of the soil and help ot drain.

Yes. I've read that a few times now. Apparently the local soil place has mushroom compost that's made up of a couple of types of manure and peatmoss. I've got one of those cheapy ph meters around here somewhere. Maybe I'll go and stick it in the pile and see what it says. If it's fairly low (acidic) I'll buy a yard and mix it 50/50 with the soil I already have.

[blacksmithden]

I decided to mix my own soil. 2 parts topsoil, 2 parts mushroom manure/compost, and one part city compost. I found slowly pouring it through a 1/2" wire mesh on an a 45 degree angle leaves you with nice fine soil and all those nuggets that dont break up are completely removed.

[blacksmithden]

Blue berries are in. Those should become 4-5 ft bushes in a half dozen years or so.

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[Dewey Cox]

Saskatoons, man.
That's what we do on the prairies.

[blacksmithden]

Saskatoons, man.
That's what we do on the prairies.

I tried to find some, and nobody had them this year. There's a fairly big nursery near here that I'm going to go back to and check to see if they got some in. They're an expensive place to shop but it's not like you buy a Saskatoon every year. My new personal prep is that from here on out, nothing gets planted in my yard that doesn't produce some kind of edible food. If it happens to be a perennial, all the better.

[Haywire1]

Kates got the garden in, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce and a few other things. Just about everything has broken the surface now

[Stealthfall]

I tried to find some, and nobody had them this year. There's a fairly big nursery near here that I'm going to go back to and check to see if they got some in. They're an expensive place to shop but it's not like you buy a Saskatoon every year. My new personal prep is that from here on out, nothing gets planted in my yard that doesn't produce some kind of edible food. If it happens to be a perennial, all the better.

Haha, No saskatoons here and I live around there, but we have a good bit of raspberry plants, a few blueberry's that got just planted and the SO loves to try her luck with some strawberries (that regularly get stepped on by the dogs).

I started my first garden in this place the first full summer I lived here, and have expanded the gardens since, My goal is all perennials (SO does annuals for hanging and wall basket planters), but I make an exception for that: Pelargonium Citrosum (citrosia or citronella plant) It made a difference in the mosquito presence after planting some the first year I did, so I will get a couple new ones every year.