Gardening Tips

I want to share some things with you that I have found very helpful in my gardening. Particularly, my vegetable garden. My raised beds are 4 feet by 12 feet. I have a couple that are 14 and 16 feet long. The important thing to remember in building your raised bed, you want to be able to reach the middle of the bed from both sides. We used untreated lumber that was 2x16 or how ever long you want your raised bed to be. We didn't buy cedar which is supposed to last forever. We built our first raised beds 15 years ago and this winter we have replaced our first raised bed. The wood had decayed but the rest of the beds are ok. I think 15 years is pretty good for replacing a raised bed. We live in the country and we do have our battle with moles and gophers so we staple chicken wire to the bottom of the raised bed before we fill it with dirt. After you have positioned your raised beds buy a couple of bundles of roofing shingles. Depending on the size of your garden you may need more. This is a little expensive but it is worth it. Lay out the shingles between your raised beds and be sure and overlap all sides. Then take straw and cover the shingles. You will not have to worry about weeds. For me, my biggest enemy in my garden is weeds. In the spring, all I have to do is freshen up my straw. Some people put tiny gravel between raised beds. I would suggest not leaving grass because it will grow under your raised bed.

I usually plant my tomatoes in a section of my garden not in my raised beds. After I have all my tomato plants in the ground (this takes two people) I cover the area with newspaper 3 or 4 sheets thick, covering all the ground around the tomato plants, making sure I overlap the newspaper so the ground doesn't have a chance to see the sun. I cover the newspaper with water as I go so it's wet and will stay to the ground and the wind won't blow it up. After the ground is covered with newspaper, I go back and soak the newspaper again with water then I cover that area with straw also. It does a good job of keeping the weeds out plus it helps keep the plant from drying out so quickly.

One of my favorite things for the garden is my Mantis tiller. It's a mini tiller that is easy for me to handle and its great for tilling your raised beds and for tilling between the rows of your garden. It's easy to start and handle. Believe me, I can never get our weed eater started but I can start the little tiller every time.

I know a lot of gardeners use Miracle Grow and I do use that on my flowers but I use fish emulsion on my vegetable garden. It really does great. If you have a compost pile that is the best thing you can use on your garden. It truly is black gold.

Speaking of a compost pile. Just start a small one. I found a mini metal trash can with a lid and I put it under my sink for all of my scrapes (coffee grounds, egg shells, vegetable clippings and fruit skins;oranges,lemons etc.)then every day or so I empty it into my pile outside. Be sure and put your compost pile where it will get the most sun. It needs to get hot! You can't put grease or any kind of meat into your pile. If you go to the OSU extension center they have a good handout on building a structure for a compost pile as well as how to start one. I haven't checked on line but I'm sure you can get detailed information on composting on line. You really can't even imagine the difference your homemade compost makes in your garden. I really didn't realize it myself until I did it and saw the difference.

Also, one more thing. If you haven't planted any bulbs yet be sure and do that. You will love seeing those tulips and daffodils blooming in the spring. I think you would be safe in planting bulbs until the end of January after that I wouldn't do it. Check TLC because they usually sell a huge box of bulbs for $50.00. It's a great buy. I can't remember exactly but I think there are over a l00 bulbs in the box. One tip on planting bulbs, don't plant them in a row plant them in groups. You may not want to plant 100 bulbs now but say you plant 10 plant them in a round circle not in a line. Personally, I like the look of a group of flowers more than a line. Most of the time, a line of flowers looks a little needy not bountiful!

Oh, don't forget the garden show at the Fair Grounds this month. My husband and I always enjoy going and looking at the latest garden tools, new plants, landscaping ideas, etc.