Huachuca Experiment

[Webstral]

I'd be very interesting in seeing the schematic.

My son and I have added corn and pumpkins in the new plot. Once the corn sprouts, we'll add beans next to the corn. Pumpkin seeds are very expensive, we've discovered. 14 seeds were $3.00. We're going to keep all those seeds for the future rather than buy any more of the same variety.

The sunflowers are doing great. The clover is not. I'm going to have to keep adding clover seed. I've got to figure out why some clover sprouts while most of it doesn't.

[natehale1971]

It's a PDF that i've got, i'll get it and the other thigns i've been reading uploaded into my public folder in Dropbox... and then give you a link to it!

[simonmark6]

You might want to plant dill and oregano with your pumpkins. They'll deter pests and go well with your garlic.

Corn and pumpkins grow well together so that's a good choice. You might also want to companion plant marigolds and nasturciums if you have the time. Both are good bug deterrants. Whatever you do, don't plant potatoes in the same plot.

[Webstral]

I put in marigolds yesterday. Once the corn and pumpkins sprout, I'll put some marigolds in the open spaces. Hopefully, they'll do okay in the gaps. I also put marigolds along a strip at the back of the plot and more in the corners where I'm growing sunflowers.

Potatoes... I want to plant some, but I don't have the space. I'd also like to put in basil because basil is so danged expensive. $3.00 for a bunch that will make just enough pesto to cover four drumsticks. Highway robbery, that. What I really need is more containers (and, of course, soil to go in them). With containers I can make better use of the deck, which gets lots of sun and otherwise serves no good purpose. Then I can move the contents of the herb garden and use that plot for potatoes, onions, and garlic. I'm trying to look ahead to Thanksgiving. It would be nice to have potatoes from my own yard for the occasion.

[simonmark6]

We have very little space in our yard but we have grown potatoes inside old tires filled with earth. that might be viable for you. As for dill and other herbs, do you have walls with decent sunshine?

If so, buy some plastic piping as long as you can reach (we used drain pipes). Cut vee shapes half-way through every 6-8 inches (you might ask a vet gardener in your area about the best for your climate) and screw to the walls about two feet apart. Fill with earth and grow stuff out of each pocket.

We use them for strawberries and they're fantastic. When we really work at it we put trellises between and grow climbers like peas and runner beans in between.

Another thing you might consider is asparagus peas: great flowers, edible leaves when they're young and peas which taste of asparagus later. The peas can be dried and rehydrated later or ground up (I hear they make a coffe substitute but when we grew them we ate them as they came out of the pod-yum).

[natehale1971]

Also remember that depending upon your roof, that is area that can be used for growing some smaller veggies or more commonly used for solar pannels. I read somewhere that a family had installed solar pannels on their roof, and in the area between the pannels they set up some root veggies since they didn't need to be watered every day, or could be watered with a hose creating a 'rainfall' like effect.

Also layering and stacking some of the plants is a good way to go, it can double or tripple your growing space. Also if you're growing a more vine like veggie (tomatoes and green beans) you can create a lattice work that will draw the plant upward... this has the benefit of keeping the veggies grown from touching the ground. and allows them to grow even bigger with all the space to grow and expand without something getting in the way.

if you have pictures of your back yard, we could give more informed suggestions for how to set up the growing area. when i go to mom's for Saturday Night dinner & game night, i'll take a few pics of the garden areas we have on the homestead.

[Webstral]

I'd be happy to have suggestions. I can't promise they will get put into effect anytime soon. Money is VERY tight, so new containers and that sort of thing are unlikely to appear this year.

Yesterday, my son and I redistributed the pumpkins that had sprouted and a few corn seedlings. Then we planted beans next to the corn sprouts. It should be interesting! I remain disappointed with the clover. There must be a technique of some sort to get clover to sprout. I notice that clumps of it are coming up, though I distributed the seeds as evenly as possible.

Next on the hit parade are potatoes and carrots. I cut some older potatoes and let the exposed surfaces develop a skin. I bought carrot seeds and some little planters. I'll plant marigolds in the planters, too, since none of them came up when I planted them in the ground. The potatoes will go in next to the driveway. I don't expect a bumper crop, but I'd like to have enough for mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. Maybe in the future I can acquire some containers and develop a nice soil for container potatoes.