My first garden

[Beth221]

if anyone needs help, i can teach people how to start a garden, for city folks, I have learned a tun of new and fun things working for a master gardener this year! 

[MaineShark]

if anyone needs help, i can teach people how to start a garden, for city folks, I have learned a tun of new and fun things working for a master gardener this year!

Can you make our composter work?  This thing does such a poor job that I think it should be used for food storage.  There's stuff I dumped  in there over a year and a half ago, that's still recognizable.  Things go bad faster in my fridge.

Anyway, as Kate mentioned, we have gardening space available.  Not looking for payment, really - a share of the crops would be appreciated.  Or help with the maintenance, for that matter.  Organic does take a bit more work, if you want high yields.  We've been doing the OBN (organic by neglect) thing, but actually planning might help things go better.

There's over an acre that's available, depending on how many folks want to garden, and how big they want to make it.  If we're going to go that big, we definitely need to know in advance, so everyone can chip in to rent a decent tiller for the day.  The soil is really silly-good; when we moved in, we found some random tomato plants that were in horrible spots for tomato plants, but were right where someone might have been standing while eating a tomato during a cookout and dropped some of the seeds.

We also have some herbs that we can share.  Chives and Thai Basil, I know for certain.  The basil is a weed, and will fill in a patch from only a few plants, if left alone.  If you actually help by spreading the seeds, it will do it quicker.  We need to thin it when it starts growing again in the spring, so we can either trash the extra plants, or share them.  Mmm... fresh pesto...

There are wild strawberries in amongst the lawn.  I expect they could be dug up and transplanted into an actual strawberry patch.  As-is, they never get to grow much, because the mower chops them down.

We're also going to be planting some bushes and trees for fruit/nut production.  Any advice on particular species that are useful and tolerant of our weather would be helpful.  I think we'll definitely be doing high-bush cranberries, hawthorne, and adding more apple and pear trees to the three we currently have of each.  I'd like to plant a black walnut or two, but I've heard that they don't get along well with apple and most other plants, so that probably won't happen - some other sources of EFA's and protein would be good, though.

Joe

[Beth221]

try adding lime, if your soil is too basic, adding the lime will help the bacteria grow, and that helps in breaking down your stuff.  Add good grass clippings, when they break down, they heat up, which makes a good environment for bacteria.  I like he powdered lime rather than pellets for this application. 

sometimes that works.

stiring it up a bit, once a month or so helps add air to it, and keeps it nice and fluffy. 

Add worms to it in the spring, which help eat everything.

if adding eggshells, grind them up first. 


Compost is the end product of a complex feeding pattern involving hundreds of different organisms, including bacteria, fungi, worms, and insects. What remains after these organisms break down organic materials is the rich, earthy substance your garden will love. Composting replicates nature's natural system of breaking down materials on the forest floor. In every forest, grassland, jungle, and garden, plants die, fall to the ground, and decay. They are slowly dismantled by the small organisms living in the soil. Eventually these plant parts disappear into the brown crumbly forest floor. This humus keeps the soil light and fluffy.


Ok, i didnt write that above, but it got my same point across better than i could have.  The key is having a proper balance of heat, moisture, air, materials and bacteria.  You may need to add water, (in the spring) you may need to turn it, you might need to add straw which helps keep everything moist, because we are trying to do what nature does.

Do you have just a pile of compost or one of those fancy composting units?

Oh, and by the way, organic gardening does not take more work, just more patients because it take time to produce good strong plants instead of shocking your plants with "miracle grow" 

anyone know what the Ph of the soil is in NH?  Ideally it should be about 7 for most garden plants. 

[MaineShark]

Do you have just a pile of compost or one of those fancy composting units?

Fancy composting unit.  Which I actually have to move, in the spring, since it is in the middle of the lawn.  It used to be next to a tree, but the tree was dead and I cut it down, so now there's just a composter sitting in the way of my tractor.

Oh, and by the way, organic gardening does not take more work, just more patients because it take time to produce good strong plants instead of shocking your plants with "miracle grow"

Not the gardening itself.  Just dealing with predation by critters and bugs.

anyone know what the Ph of the soil is in NH?  Ideally it should be about 7 for most garden plants.

I think it varies pretty dramatically from place to place.  I could probably pull several different pH readings on my property.

Joe

[J’raxis 270145]

Oh, and by the way, organic gardening does not take more work, just more patients because it take time to produce good strong plants instead of shocking your plants with "miracle grow"

Interesting Freudian slip, coming from a dentist...

[Beth221]

lol i appreciate it!


Oh, about the black walnut trees, nothing grows well under them because they turn the soil very acidic and they "poison" the soil with the oils from the tree. 

I have three on my property, and the critters eat them before the nuts are ripe....


horse chestnuts are good growing trees for around here.
high bush crans are good, let a first frost hit the berries to sweeten them up, or they will be sour as all hell!

[RD]

Can you make our composter work?  This thing does such a poor job that I think it should be used for food storage.  There's stuff I dumped  in there over a year and a half ago, that's still recognizable.  Things go bad faster in my fridge.

Do you turn the material regularly?

[MaineShark]

horse chestnuts are good growing trees for around here.
high bush crans are good, let a first frost hit the berries to sweeten them up, or they will be sour as all hell!

Hmmm... what sort of nutritional value to the chestnuts have?

Any good sources for the cranberries?  I know there are a few different species, and one appears to be the best, but it's rather immaterial, since I can't seem to find any for sale.

Actually, a general source for interesting plants would be useful.  Lots of nice plants that the local garden centers don't seem to carry.  Particularly when you want a certain species, rather than just (for example) "hawthorne" in general.

Joe

[Beth221]

let me do some digging and get back to you!  haha i made a funny, get it, digging!  gardening!!  hahhaaa