Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Yeah it already busted through the lattice underneath once and it grows like CRAZY. They trimmed it and replaced the lattice, but seriously people - common sense.

I got some of the roots out but mostly I just made a bigger mess - it's a disaster. Other items found include:



And more of the roots.

No, seriously. I found all that stuff buried. Plus one more brick, one more huge concrete blog, and some more concrete chunks

Wow, those are pretty big pieces buried under there! Largest thing I ever found was a rock the size of my head.

Could all that stuff be what is called fill?
If I recall correctly, the mushroom manure I bought didn't have any ingredients listed, so after buying many bags at the garden centre, I finally asked what it actually contained. That is when I was told it contained manure, and it was actually the poorest quality (npk) of all the manures, but it contains more lime (?) which is why people buy it.
When I mentioned trench composting, I meant more just digging a hole in your garden and burying your kitchen scraps. If it is a large amount of scraps, layer soil, scraps, soil, etc. Dig in scraps at as many different locations throughout your garden, without disturbing plant roots. Things break down quite quickly this way, and will feed your soil.

I'd say with the amount of seeds and plants you have you may need a 70'X100' patch. Cucumber plants get pretty huge, and strawberries are invaders. They will shoot out and strangle everything else in your patch. I would grow them in a pot seperately.

That sounds like my whole backyard! I'll put the strawberries in a pot - thanks :D I do also have a few pots.

I'm waiting on maintenance to save me from those roots, so I guess I have a few days to figure it out.

Thanks!!

Okay. So the maintenance guy hasn't come. My gardening equipment isn't strong enough to cut the roots, I guess I'll try the bolt cutter?

My real problem right now is my new seedlings. I bought a different kind of seedling grow thing, and look -



Mold. Can I still use them or should I trash them? They're thyme and oregano and lavender and I forget what else. Cukes too.

I have the opposite soil problem as you do (solid clay, rather than sand), so I'm not sure how to advise you there, but I can help with seed-starting stuff! Also, I love your neat black leaf fencing! You can train beans, peas, and cucumbers to grow up onto fences. Now for the fun stuff.

First, use Dave's freeze/frost date calculator to figure out how long your growing season will be.
Then, enter the frost-free date that you get into Johnny's or Skippy's seed-starting calculator to figure out when to plant, indoors and out.

In general, these seeds are sown directly into the ground rather than started in peat pots, especially in a lovely climate like North Carolina's:
* carrots, beets, and all other root crops
* cilantro
* dill
* kale, chard, lettuce, and all other leafy greens
* watermelon (only if it's a few weeks after your last frost date)
* cucumber (ditto)

Cilantro, dill, kale, lettuce, and lavender can be planted out right now. Just chuck some seeds in a pot full of dirt and stick 'em out there. Everything you're growing except root and vine crops can be grown in pots (tomatoes and peppers do great in those bright orange 5-gallon buckets you can get at Home Depot -- we spray-painted ours with earthy matte colors and they look fabulous! only $2/bucket) if your yard work gets to be too overwhelming.
You could also make a no-dig, no-till lasagna garden. Actually, given your tree root situation, this is what I would recommend. I gardened in a yard suffuse with wretched mulberry tree roots and ended up throwing in the towel and using containers after having to saw through like five dozen roots in an afternoon.

Dill is a self-sowing annual, which just means that if you don't harvest your seed heads at the end of the growing season, you'll end up with a large patch of new dill babies next year. Strawberries, as mentioned, will take over -- some people even use them as ground cover!

If you were starting in plastic pots, I'd recommend scraping the mold off and putting a small oscillating fan on the seedlings, but it looks like the mold has invaded the peat pots themselves, so I would chuck those and start over. No worries, though, as thyme, oregano, and lavender are perennials that will happily overwinter in your climate (and cukes don't need to be planted yet), so you can plant those whenever and, with a little love and a lot of water, enjoy the results for years to come.

If you'd like more advice, or just want to check out who's growing what in your hardiness zone, I highly recommend Folia. Any more gardening questions, feel free to drop me a PM. Good luck and happy growing!

PS: Here are a few North Carolina gardening blogs, to give you an idea of what to expect in terms of soil conditions, plants that grow really well and/or don't like growing where you are, etc.
http://www.tarheelgardening.com/wordpress/
http://statebystategardening.com/carolinas/index.php
http://gardeningwithconfidence.com/blog/

Thank you so much! I trashed the moldy seedlings and I got my order from Seed Savers today.

I'll read through all those links after the kid goes to bed. Also, I hacked the tree roots apart with the bolt cutter - pics tomorrow!

Also, they're saying maybe a frost tonight, but it's 69 right now, so I'm not sure I buy that.

You know, I hate to suggest it after all the work you've done...but raised beds seem to best for inadequate soil or yards that are on top of fill.

The last house I lived in had tons of fill, garbage and all kinds of stuff in the ground. (I found a crackpipe!) Not to mention really old trees that had far reaching roots. It was a pain in the asparagus. We rent and ended up moving 2 years laterr (if you're in military housing does that mean you move often?) so I felt it was not worth it in the end.
In my current house I have raised beds and they are awesome. They look nice and are easy to build too! Oh and they are easy to move!

Careful about throwing the seedlings away just because they look moldy. That happened to some of ours as well, and turned out after looking it up, for crucferious vegetables, there should be white fuzz on their roots, because it is part of their roots at first. The plants you have seem to be in a different situation, but if you move them closer to a flourecent or natural light space with a fan blowing on them or some air flow the mold should die down in a few days. just try to separate them from the other trays.

-Also, carrots can take several weeks to germinate, so not to worry if you dont see something soon

thanks! too late on the moldy ones though.

i moved stuff into pots so i could use my "greenhouse" to plant more seeds. and then it got cold and rainy and we've had 2 nights near freezing, so i've had the pots on my kitchen floor. sigh.

tree roots cut out. rocks, bricks - removed. ready for it to be a tiny bit nicer.

Good luck with the rest of the ones that did not get moldy then. Also, do you have problems with your seedlings not standing up very well, or falling over? Most of mine are healthy seeming, and growing fast, but they are not thickening up at the stems, the cabbage and broccoli seem to all be falling to their sides. I have read that maybe I was supposed to put a fan on them when they sprouted to toughen them up, but I just put the fan now, so maybe it will still help.

The fan thing is certainly true for all seedlings (it's how I strengthen my tomatoes) but what I found with my broccoli and cauliflower is that if they are reaching for the light even just a tiny bit they will grow too tall and thin and fall over. I have a flat of broccoli and all the ones in the middle stand up perfectly straight but the few on the edges that have to reach just a slight bit to the side for light are all droopy!

yes.

Okay! I abandonded some potted seedlings, moved some stuff into the ground, and put more stuff in my "greenhouse" just because I had the supplies to do so. I did it today because it's supposed to be no colder than the 50s at night for at least the next week, so...hoping.

Glad to hear you are still moving forward. Gardening can be so rewarding, after all of the initial hard work; especially eating what you have grown.

I would be super proud :)

You'll do it, don't worry.

are you okay with using worm castings-(worm manure)? that's a great way to amend sandy or clay filled soil. another thing you can do is container garden--if you're using recycled plastic containers, make sure it's food grade plastic and has draining holes. that little space is perfect to grow some veggies! if you have any questions, you can always PM me--i work in the gardening industry.

Thanks Jewy:)

The garden where I tried, overtaken by tree seedlings (oak and maybe acacia and whatever else) and drowned in the schmutz the guys who cleaned out the gutters rained down on the plants).





Tomatoes, clearly overcrowded. I just dumped seeds in a pot and covered them with soil. Aside from overcrowding, clearly having other issues.




Herbs like me okay!


Lettuce.

The fan is great to toughen them up. When seedlings start to get long like that I repot them up to their bottom leaves (the first ones sprouted) which also helps them grow better roots. When they start getting too big for that pot I transplant them to the garden.

Appi your garden spot looks great! Your basil is kicking butt.

Have you seen these posts for strawberries? I got one yesterday.


I can't believe all the debris you found, I watched BH&G the other night and they re-did a garden like that, they got rid of all the builder's waste and added good soil & compost to improve the sandy soil.

kitteh - it's super adorable but they tend to be kind of expensive and strawberry season is over here in crazy land - too hot! maybe next year! we grew a few strawberries but i'd see they were almost ready and the next day they'd be nibbled away.

i'm going to weed today or tomorrow - there's actually a decent sized tomato plant in there and i'll transfer stuff from pots.

i forgot to mention that I HATE the heat, and it gives me migraines, hence the serious garden neglect.

Our heat, I'm sure, ain't nothin' compared to yours but I don't tolerate it well either. I tend to garden early in the morning or in the evening when the sun is setting!