veggie gardens

[Lavender Lily]

My dh goes out every evening to do stuff. I'm not a gardener so I have no idea if this is the way things are done. He's trying to get his fall stuff ready. Does it have to be everyday to the point that you can't think or do anything else? :scratch

[Punkie]

I "tend" about twice a week, but that's usually just to turn the water on. I pick weeds here and there, but we did raised beds so that's not really an issue.

I am currently picking/cutting fruits and veggies daily, but that only takes a minute or two.

[Macky]

Does it have to be everyday to the point that you can't think or do anything else?

For me? Absolutely! :)

It all depends on how big your garden is. Mine requires attention every day. The pumpkins need to be pollinated and guided. The corn needs to be hilled and the silks oiled (if you have borers). Beans and peas need to be picked every day or else they get old and tough (some beans "hold" well in heat but most do not). Potatoes have to be hilled, but most root vegetables need little tending otherwise. Tomatoes are big - they need to be checked at least every other day to be tied and/or pruned if they're staked indeterminates; caged determinates still need guidance here and there or they get out of their cages. My broccoli needs either row covers (pain in the butt) or powders such as rotenone or BT to control cabbage loopers (every three days or after every rain). Daily checks for insect pests and disease can drastically reduce the need to pull out the big guns (be they chemical or organic) because you can nip them in the bud. My garden is right in the ground, so needs regular - near daily - weeding. If I've kept up and the (annual) weeds are tiny, it can take two hours to hoe my garden and that has to be done every 5 to 7 days. If the weeds have gotten ahead of me (like after a big rain where I can't get into the garden for the mud), it's hard to get caught up, even on hands and knees pulling for a couple hours a day. Seriously. I have big honking dandelion roots and horrible thistles (both perennial weeds that mulching doesn't smother). Harvesting? Well, I've been harvesting lots of beans these past few days. It takes about half an hour to 45 minutes to pick all three rows and another 20 minutes or so to pick the row of peas. Then it takes a couple of hours to trim the beans and shell the peas and another hour or so to blanch and bag them for the freezer. I'm already planning next year's garden and looking around for heirloom tomato seeds. My grandfather passed away recently and I'll be inheriting his favourite 30-year-old (or thereabouts) clematis in the fall when we go to Calgary, so I've just bought a clematis book (arrived in the mail yesterday) that I'll be reading every chance I get. Erin "helped" me start the seeds in March and April and still cries to go down to the basement (where my lights are set up) to see the "plants" even though they've been outside since May. She doesn't get that they're the same plants. :giggle She "checks" the tomatoes every day and picks raspberries when I'm working in the garden or gets her little mini tools out. Today she put the beans in the bucket as I picked them and handed them to her, which of course made the whole thing take even loooooonger! My hubby does the watering for me because we pump water from our neighbour's lovely dugout and I have no clue how to prime the thing. Watering takes 45 minutes per section (four garden sections plus the berry, asparagus and rhubarb beds) once a week to make sure the garden gets 1 inch of water a week (at least) if it hasn't rained. I'd have a drip system, but it's too expensive for us.

That answer your question? ;)

[Macky]

In fact, I'm on the internet right now with two gallons of beans waiting for me on the table. I'm sick of trimming beans. They're soooo good in the dead of winter though...

Btw, if your hubs is getting ready for a fall garden, you must live in a pretty warm zone. I'm in Saskatchewan (zone 2a) and totally JEALOUS here!

[Lavender Lily]

sort of. my dh's garden is just starting out, all the veggies are still very small, with the tallest being 6 inches big which I think is the tomato plant. He's working on making more beds for more stuff.
we did start out with a good size bed which we rented a tiller to go through the dirt. We planted some stuff and they did fine. But some of the stuff didn't grow right b/c half was in the shade. I think all the plants there are don'e giving any veggies, we do have a It parsley plant that still is good along with a chili plant too.
So now he's starting to slowly dig some 2x2 beds on an area that has lots of sun. Since we don't have a tiller he's doing it with his shovel. Its still in the small scale. Most are barely sprouting.

[Macky]

Oh heavens... if you're just getting started, it's still a LOT of work, even on a small scale. From the sounds of it, your hubs is quite new at this and is probably overwhelmed with the desire to get it right. That said, a 2 by 2-foot bed shouldn't take long to dig or even double dig, even in tough soil. How many is he planning? Is he having to sit there and pick grass and/or weed roots and/or stones out of the soil, too? I could easily see that taking some time.

I'm getting the idea here that you might be a tad resentful of his time in the garden. Is that the case?

[Lavender Lily]

Oh heavens... if you're just getting started, it's still a LOT of work, even on a small scale. From the sounds of it, your hubs is quite new at this and is probably overwhelmed with the desire to get it right. That said, a 2 by 2-foot bed shouldn't take long to dig or even double dig, even in tough soil. How many is he planning? Is he having to sit there and pick grass and/or weed roots and/or stones out of the soil, too? I could easily see that taking some time.

I'm getting the idea here that you might be a tad resentful of his time in the garden. Is that the case?


sort of b/c I didn't know it could be involved. I thought it would ba an every other day thing but I guess I was wrong. :scratch
We have clay like soil and yes alot of rocks. the grass is trimmed and may even be dry. I wondered if he could be using that as an excuse to get away or something. :blush You've opened my eyes to this now...thank you.

[Macky]

Flower gardens can be a lot less intensive. It might be that you're more familiar with people who are perennial gardeners perhaps... very little maintenance in comparison to vegetables.

I don't know you well enough to say for sure that your DH isn't going out to his garden to get away and have some time to himself. He very well could be. He could just as likely be simply caught up in a new hobby. That's something you'll have to judge yourself. Now that you're armed with a bit more knowledge about vegetable gardening, that should be a bit easier. :hug2

And for heaven's sake... if he hasn't already, don't let him discover the GardenWeb site or you'll never see him again! ;)

[Hermana Linda]

After the initial work of getting the garden started, it takes a lot less work. I only spend about 1/2 hour to 45 min a day now. Maybe you could help him do it. :think It would make a nice project for the two of you.

For breaking up hard soil, I found a pick ax useful. The flat edge mainly. Also, a garden claw is helpful for getting out grass roots.

[Psyche]

I have an itty bitty SFG and I still go out every day to do something to it. Either I water or pick off Japanese beetles or I weed or I check the progress or I help pollinate the corn or something along those lines. Other than weeding or watering, I never spend that long out there.

[Raspberries]

Spirited Duo...can I see a pic of your garden? It sounds great!

[Lavender Lily]

Flower gardens can be a lot less intensive. It might be that you're more familiar with people who are perennial gardeners perhaps... very little maintenance in comparison to vegetables.

I don't know you well enough to say for sure that your DH isn't going out to his garden to get away and have some time to himself. He very well could be. He could just as likely be simply caught up in a new hobby. That's something you'll have to judge yourself. Now that you're armed with a bit more knowledge about vegetable gardening, that should be a bit easier. :hug2

And for heaven's sake... if he hasn't already, don't let him discover the GardenWeb site or you'll never see him again! ;)


your right I was thinking moreon the lines of flower bed keeping. My grandmother did this and she would go out just to pick out weeds and water. She had tomato plants but that was it.
I would go out and help him but I'm pregnant and suffering through the heat. Its about 99 degrees out and even in the evening its still warm but I still feel like I'm sitting in the oven. :phew Thats why I switched to keeping indoor plants instead. I do help him out with his seedlings which are inside, I do help take them out during the day when they pop out of the soil but thats it.

[Macky]

:hug2 Rachel. I hope to be preggers next summer, so I might be in your boat this time next year. :)

For Jessie...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41568&l=bcab6&id=673290779

[Raspberries]

Great pictures! Thank you for sharing!