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urbanfarmer
04-19-2012, 06:50 AM
One of my 4' x 8' raised beds. I have 6 of these. Plumped them up with irrigation on a timer. Experimenting with different types of irrigation and schedules. All beds are inoculated with mycorrhizae and worms. I planted legumes in all beds to promote rhizobia to culture. So far so good. I dare say there are around 1000 tomatoes in the works between all my plantings. Sugar peas taste great, but they are turning yellow and then turning dead (probably a fungal wilt disease, I can't figure it out, never grown peas before, old lady likes 'em). Got peppers, watermelon, etc.

2 Weeks After Planting
[attachment=2:1utc5tcx]3-13-2012.jpg[/attachment:1utc5tcx]

3 Weeks After Planting
[attachment=1:1utc5tcx]3-21-2012.jpg[/attachment:1utc5tcx]

7 Weeks After Planting
[attachment=0:1utc5tcx]4-19-2012.jpg[/attachment:1utc5tcx]

bsfman
04-19-2012, 09:22 AM
Lookin' good there, Urban! You're gonna have a butt load of tomatos! Are they determinant or indeterminant?

You might want to dry dehydrating some to preserve them. I cut a bunch into 1/4" slices and laid 'em on the trays in my dehydrator and ran it until they were dry and crispy. They'll keep forever and you can munch them like potato chips or crumble them for recipes, etc. Plus, they are absolutely delicious! Drying them concentrates and intensifies the tomato flavor! :o

commander
04-19-2012, 09:36 AM
Try rehydrating your dried tomatoes with a little olive oil and basil~

urbanfarmer
04-19-2012, 09:51 AM
OOOO, very nice ideas, I WILL have to try that, I love tomatoes! These are indeterminate, but a few determinate varieties were just suggest to me by a lady in the store and I will have to check it out. I have never bought my plants before, but I JUST GOT SOME! Oh man I feel like a cheater, but they had some really cool varieties of peppers; so, I had to pick them up!

Sadly, this is all I have for gardening so far. I just moved, and I only had the time/money to build 6 of these ($50 each including everything). The AP system I have planned will take up the whole backyard... still saving up for it, but I think I need 32 tons of gravel or something... already got a decent quote, just waiting for the $$$ to do it! :lol: 10,000 gallon system...

I feel as though I get much better growth in AP than soil. This is VERY CHEAP top soil, VERY CHEAP (80 cents a bag 40#). I'm using my knowledge of soil to try to make the soil excellent (out of the bag it's crap). My next crop will do better than the first because I should have the soil biology, chemistry, etc. up to par by then. I have been working so much I haven't had much time in the garden. I spent 4 hours out there today. Oh that was fun! :-)

urbanfarmer
04-19-2012, 09:56 AM
http://www.tropical-plants-flowers-and-decor.com/images/OrnamentalPepperPurpleFlash.gif
(Stock photo)

That's one of the ones I bought. It's already a foot and a half tall. It looks great. I have no idea WHAT it is. WallyWorld doesn't do so good on labels, but the price and quality was surprisingly good!

commander
04-19-2012, 09:59 AM
We are playing the same game this year with several new beds. This year is a soil conditioning year and hopefully next year will be a much better yield. We got our soil from a local company that composts cotton burs, cow manure and other organic material into a really nice mix. It is lacking bacteria and worms so that is our focus this year. However, the squash is looking good so far and the tomatoses seem to like it as well.

foodchain
04-19-2012, 10:25 AM
Commander, I have nearly 50 rabbits....concentrating on Flemish Giants. I can provide you with rabbit waste. It's not hot, and can go directly onto soil without burning plants.

Urban, concentrate on your legume plants. These fix the nitrogen typically faster than your other plants pull out. Tomatoes in my experience and peppers are heavy feeders. I interplant sugar peas, and bush beans of varying varieties all throughout our veggies and ornamentals with lots of success. And the squirrels leave them alone which is nice. Try companion planting peas/beans with corn as well and let the climbers climb up the corn stalks. Plant corn 2-3 weeks earlier than the legumes to get them a headstart on the stalks.

Plant annual flowers around the tomatoes to attract bees to aid in pollinating. Probably don't need it, but I have noticed stronger yeilds when there's a surplus of pollinators around, even on "self pollinating" plants.

urbanfarmer
04-19-2012, 11:07 AM
Commander, I have nearly 50 rabbits....concentrating on Flemish Giants. I can provide you with rabbit waste. It's not hot, and can go directly onto soil without burning plants.

Urban, concentrate on your legume plants. These fix the nitrogen typically faster than your other plants pull out. Tomatoes in my experience and peppers are heavy feeders. I interplant sugar peas, and bush beans of varying varieties all throughout our veggies and ornamentals with lots of success. And the squirrels leave them alone which is nice. Try companion planting peas/beans with corn as well and let the climbers climb up the corn stalks. Plant corn 2-3 weeks earlier than the legumes to get them a headstart on the stalks.

Plant annual flowers around the tomatoes to attract bees to aid in pollinating. Probably don't need it, but I have noticed stronger yeilds when there's a surplus of pollinators around, even on "self pollinating" plants.
I just spread out a cover crop of white clover. I take my trowel and crush some into the soil every now and then or cut some up from the top. It's a "green manure" process. White clover are legumes as well, they fix nitrogen (bacteria of genus rhizobia).

I have a Datil Pepper plant that is 3 years old! The 2 bad record low winters we had back to back kills it back, but it just barely survives (comes back from the base of the stem). I have it HEAVILY planted in WHITE CLOVER and RABBIT POOP. Yea, it's awesome, really awesome. I dug up some of the soil and guess what I saw? LOTS OF FUNGAL DEVELOPMENT. This is the peak of soil health. It's in a 5 gallon bucket with 3-4 inches of plant cover. I'll try to take a pic real quick.

[attachment=0:2qtbfr2t]IMAG0641.jpg[/attachment:2qtbfr2t]

This plant is just coming out of a HEAVY aphid infestation. But, you know me, I let it go. I have TWO species of ladybug laying eggs. I have seen 3 bunches of eggs hatch. Today, the first set of pupa have turned into full ladybugs! The infestation is down to the lower leaves, but it's under control and the plant is starting to boom and recover its color.

The plant was a stub of dead looking 3 year old datil pepper stem about 3 weeks ago. It looks rough, but it's doing pretty good and it already has 2 dozen peppers coming out. I love growing this way :-)

foodchain
04-19-2012, 12:13 PM
Where do you find clover seed? I would like to plant some as forage for my honey bees. Clover isn't common around my area.

urbanfarmer
04-19-2012, 12:28 PM
Where do you find clover seed? I would like to plant some as forage for my honey bees. Clover isn't common around my area.
It took me a while to find it, but it seems to be more common now to purchase. I bought a 5 pound bag. I was planning to plant out the yard with it for forage to raise rabbits... but then I did research into how much a rabbit needs to graze on to bring it to harvest size... my yard ain't that big. Pellets it is!

I don't like the taste of rabbit on pellets though. Tastes like chicken. I want it to have more of a gamey flavor.

keith_r
04-19-2012, 01:13 PM
your chicken need more natural food.. lots of bugs, even mice.. this will make a difference in the eggs...

urbanfarmer
04-19-2012, 01:28 PM
Hm, good to know. Mice too huh? I plan to have a couple of chickens once the fencing is up.

davidstcldfl
04-19-2012, 04:27 PM
This is VERY CHEAP top soil, VERY CHEAP (80 cents a bag 40#). I'm using my knowledge of soil to try to make the soil excellent (out of the bag it's crap).
The raised beds look nice... :)
Have you considered trying the mushroom compost from Zellwood ? It's 'really cheap' if you buy it right from the mushroom farm. Even on craigs list, it's about $20 for a cubic yard.....I've even seen ads for it to be delivered at that price.

Eleven11
04-19-2012, 05:52 PM
Really nice growth rate. Looks like whatever you're doing to the soil is working great.

I've never heard of mushroom compost. I'll look into it.

urbanfarmer
04-19-2012, 10:01 PM
Yea, they mentioned that a while back in a Master Gardner meeting... I actually forgot... It was a truck load delivered for $25 (not sure how big a truck, probably a yard). I can't believe I forgot that's a great idea, and it's really good stuff.

Basil1
04-20-2012, 04:57 AM
Looking good UF, but one question. We live in pretty much the same zone but I have been told by all the local nursery experts that it's too hot here for clover except for maybe short growing periods during cooler months. So what's your secret?

bsfman
04-20-2012, 06:37 AM
I have never bought my plants before, but I JUST GOT SOME! Oh man I feel like a cheater, but they had some really cool varieties of peppers; so, I had to pick them up!


I cheated too when I planted my new growbed yesterday. I bought 4 bell pepper plants and 5 tomato plants because I didn't want to mess with starting from seed and waiting for them to get big enough to start sucking nutrients out of the water. I did seed butternut squash and cukes though and set out some tomato plant cuttings.

One benefit to buying plants is that you can experiment easily with different cultivars and your wait time to harvest is significantly reduced! :)

foodchain
04-20-2012, 07:32 AM
We run our rabbits on hey, and pellets. But to keep the costs down, and to make more effecient use of our weeds we feed them 3, 5 gallon buckets of weeds from the raised beds a day. Pellets can get expensive. Some people use cattle cubes as cheaper, but these have higher protein levels so be careful, also helps in keeping teeth wore down.
They consume enough weeds, fast enough that we don't have to use any preemergent on the lawn or beds. Just requires 10-15 minutes an evening pulling weeds. Nice break from being in office all day.
The amount you need will depend on the variety of rabbit you have. Stick with the Californian or new zealands and you need as much. I am am running Flemish Giants and lionheads. So...they eat everything. FG's can top out at about 52 lbs from what I have googled. Mine aren't that big, but we are trying.

commander
04-20-2012, 08:18 AM
I have considered rabbits, but the only problem I anticipate is my wife. You know, the "OHHHH they are so cute, I just cant stand for you to kill them. I could never eat one after I have watched it grow up."

foodchain
04-20-2012, 09:07 AM
Yup. Dealing with that now.
Even though she knew from the get go it was dinner....so...I don't know a cure for that one yet. I will let you know when I figure it out.

urbanfarmer
04-20-2012, 11:08 PM
Looking good UF, but one question. We live in pretty much the same zone but I have been told by all the local nursery experts that it's too hot here for clover except for maybe short growing periods during cooler months. So what's your secret?
Funny, I didn't know that, but after a little research it seems to be true: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa198

I have no idea what type I have... I just bought some on a whim. It was really cheap.

I don't really have a secret... haha, but this comes to mind:


The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.

urbanfarmer
01-29-2013, 01:33 PM
Looking good UF, but one question. We live in pretty much the same zone but I have been told by all the local nursery experts that it's too hot here for clover except for maybe short growing periods during cooler months. So what's your secret?
So, almost a year later and I have an anecdotal answer for you! The clover that was not getting a lot of water died easily in the hotter weather. I use them as a cover crop, for nitrogen, and as a green manure (about to go till some in actually). Anyway, the ones in the AP system SHOULD be fine especially if they have other plants providing shade.