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Re: Mourning the passing of this list/learning experience

Square Foot Gardening List - http://myweb.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

I guess I am going to have to put something up - my two squash plants which were in pots were both uprooted the other night :(  Well, this is my "learning" year I guess - next year I will have a better idea of when to start planting and how much I need to water.  We have two kids from church who need to earn money for camp who are coming over on Wednesday to work.  I am going to have them cut the wire for the cages.  Maybe the fall crops will have a fighting chance.

I have seen something interesting.  I did my second bed entirely in beans (3 kinds).  For one of the varieties I soaked an extra square by accident, so I put it in an empty square in bed #1.  I watered everything and a day or two later I pulled a plastic sheet loosely over bed #2 because I was going away for a few days and didn't want the birds to get anything that might sprout.  When I came home I removed the plastic and watered it all again.

Well, the beans in bed #1 came right up and look terrific.  In 
bed #2, only the plants around the perimeter came up (and not all of them), and one or two in the middle.  They are not as big as the plants in bed #1.  Aside from the plastic (which did not seem to help keep the moisture) the only difference is the soil: bed #1 is approximately equal parts of cheap topsoil mixed with compost, and some perlite thrown in, while bed #2 is topsoil, compost, peat moss, cow manure and vermiculite.  I am thinking that the bed must have dried out too much in the three days I was away.  In replanting the empty spots last night, I found two sprouts which were about to break through the soil, and two or three seeds which had a root and a shoot but had the top nipped off at ground level.  I couldn't even find the other hundred seeds!

Jen in PA


------Original Message------
From: "Cathy Crome" <ccrome@quixnet.net>
To: Square Foot Gardening List <sqft@listbot.com>
Sent: July 11, 2000 8:42:41 PM GMT
Subject: Re: Mourning the passing of this list


Square Foot Gardening List - http://myweb.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Boy Jen! Sounds like you need to borrow my dog!!!  So far I've been
extremely lucky that all the "wildlife" has stayed out of the garden.
(Knocking on wood as I speak!)  I know there are rabbits, groundhogs and
deer and who know what else out there, but I guess the sight and smell of my
dog is keeping them at bay.  The rabbits live not 20 feet from the garden,
under the shed and the only thing they have bothered are my morning glories
and begonias.
    This is our first summer here so our garden is new, in raised beds about
8 inches in depth.  This may be keeping the rabbits out but next year I want
to add at least another 6 inches to them so they are easier to reach.  We
are in Zone 6-7 (MD)and I'm still picking peas and spinach.  The lettuce
didn't come up at all (maybe too late getting it in), tomatoes are still
small and peppers are slow getting fruit started.  Cukes and zukes are
flowering but only tiny fruits.  We've already had potatoes, broccoli,
beans, spinach, radishes and a few peas, oh and cabbage.  Can't believe the
critters are staying away.  You may want to consider putting some kind of
fencing around your garden to keep them out.  I know it's not real pretty
but if it saves your veggies it may be worth it.
    I know this may sound like a dumb question, but how do you tell the
difference between male and female flowers on cucumbers?  Zucchini?  Never
really thought about it before.  We have plenty of bees and other flying
critters so pollination isn't a problem.
    What does Swiss chard taste like?  I've never had any and I'm not sure
if anyone here would eat it.
Good luck keeping things growing,
Cathy

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jennifer M. Struwe" <jmstruwe@juno.com>
To: <sqft@listbot.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 11:43 PM
Subject: Re: Mourning the passing of this list


> Square Foot Gardening List - http://myweb.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
> Hi,
>
> I am a lurker, mainly because I am brand new to square foot gardening
> (actually to gardening of any kind).  I also got a rather late start, so
> whereas I see others posting about what is growing I am still looking for
> something to sprout.  I have been reading the conversations and gleaning
> what I can from the rest of you, as I have little to contribute.
>
> So, in the interest of drumming up some conversation, I will tell you
> about my gardening attempts.  My back yard is small and full of roots,
> and the soil is hard clay, so I decided to try making raised beds.  My
> husband built the first one out of old patio pavers we had laying around,
> and there are four more made of concrete block.  I am mixing my own soil,
> but I am not using any particular recipe.
>
> I found one female blossom on my cucumber plant last week and
> hand-pollinated it.  Two days ago it was growing nicely.  Today I went
> out and some critter had picked it and gnawed at it.  At least if they
> were going to take it, they could have enjoyed it.  Do squirrels eat
> cucumers?  Something is also eating my pepper plants.  I only have one
> left out of 10 that still has leaves.
>
> I have four surviving tomato plants that I bought - two surviving
> peppers, though I am waiting to see what happens with the rest of them -
> two cucumbers in a pot, two summer squash in pots, two cherry and two
> Roma tomatoes in pots.  The squash and potted tomatoes don't seem to be
> doing much.  There are lots of male blossoms on the cucumbers but I have
> only seen two female blossoms - both have been picked by a critter.  I
> see a blossom starting to open on one of the bed tomatoes.  I had planted
> arugula and bunching onions but the birds got them.  I planted radishes
> but they did not bulb for some reason.  I pulled them (fed them to my
> rabbits) and replanted the square with bush beans.  Then I did the entire
> second bed in bush beans.  They just started sprouting and already I can
> see where something has been pulling them up (I presume birds).  I pulled
> a sheet of plastic over them until I can make some cages.  I was hoping
> to get by without them but it doesn't look like I will.  I also replaced
> the arugula and a pepper with New Zealand spinach, which still hasn't
> sprouted.  I replaced the onions with Swiss chard which just sprouted.
>
> Since I got such a late start I am planning a fall garden.  Weather
> permitting, we will mix the soil for at least one more of the remaining
> beds on Saturday and start the July sowings.  I also plan on
> overwintering some veggies (like kale and cabbage for my bunnies).  I
> figure I have nothing to lose but a couple of seeds.
>
> Jen in PA
> Zone 6
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