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Re: beans / fireplace grate for cage

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

Jennifer,

Sounds like the same thing I've seen with my bush beans.  I've planted
them three times this season, pre-soaking seeds in most cases, and even
planted 2 per hole one time because I read in one of these posts that
seeds like to have "company" to germinate.  But only maybe 25% of them
ever made it to the point of having full leaves, and fewer made it to
flowers.  Some just never poked through at all, some began to, but the
next day look liked something'd bitten them off at the base, or chewed
the baby leaves off and the stem withers.  

I've had some shiny pie pans and CD's hanging over them to scare birds
away, but this last time I'd also covered them with a "cage".  Not as
many were "bitten off," but some still were, even under the cage.  So I
guess it can't be the birds ... My lima beans, on the other hand, are
climbing all over the place with no protection!

In any case, although it didn't totally solve this problem, I'm still
excited about the "cage" I found.   At a thrift store I saw this large,
wire mesh thingey with a handle on one side that fits pretty well over
about 8 squares, and got it for $1.99.  My husband said it's actually a
fireplace grate made for an extra large fireplace.  It seemed like an
answer to a prayer because I've never figured out an easy way to make
those cages ... 

Judy

On Fri, 14 Jul 2000 08:23:01 -0400 (EDT) Jennifer Struwe
<jmstruwe@juno.com> writes:
> 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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