The change to raised beds: Wow!

[jcrous]

I am linking here to a post I made on another forum. It is too big to do over.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ter_76879.html

I can honestly say that I should have done this years ago. Everything grow so much faster and better and in our heat the soil remains damp. There are no wilting from heat, except the newly transplanted seedlings, but I take care of them with sun covers.

Tomorrow my second bed get filled with compost. Then I can plant some more.

[Ken4230]

They're really nice. I can see that a lot of thought and work has gone into your garden.
That's a good looking little trailer you have.

Ken

[jcrous]

Fibre glass body, galvanized chassis. No rust after ten years of service.

[peppero]

Welcome to T'ville Johan. You have some great pix and have something to be proud of. I wish you well in your gardening endeavours.

jon

[ginger2778]

Very interesting post for me. Several thoughts came to me from reading your introduction. First is just how hard the urge to garden drives us! I think you have lots of courage to do all that work while in so much pain.
Next thought, wow, 105.8 degrees F. That is incredibly hot! That is even hotter than it gets here in South Florida. So you are gardening against tremendous natural " foes".
We also get pretty bad insect pressures here, and a great deal of fungal/bacterial too,
And Nematodes that are probably the worst on earth! So even raised beds don't stop them.
We all understand the gardening "urge". I have a friend who gets extremely happy when her husband buys her a yard of dirt for her birthday!
Great work, the new bed looks so nice. I look forward to reading about your further gardening. I also hope you will heal quickly.

Marsha

[jcrous]

@Peppero:
Thank you very much.
@Ginger2778:
I have had years of propblems with nematodes and I just couldn't get rid of them.
I have tried commercial remedies like Nemacur, and Basamid, but it were too expensive and dangerous.
I have tried Jeyes fluid without success.

Then one day I read about a sugar byproduct called Cropguard (organic)
I bought a can at high cost and within one season I got no sign of nematodes. It is now several years later and I never had to do anything about them again.
There is always the risk of importing nematodes when you buy in compost as I have done, but I think it will be safe as I used mushroom compost.
The Cropguard however can burn your plants if made too strong and your can eat the veggies the next day.

I have now gone over to organic way. I immediately had success with spraying baking soda for powdery mildew and it worked. It burned my cucumber leaves, so now I spray at half strength ant it works like a charm.

Another pest that destroyed my crops in the past was red spider mite but an organiuc mix of canola oil and garlic is killing them without problems. So Organic gardening is getting fun. New stuff to explore, and it works.

[luigiwu]

Way to go, Johan!
I was just reading this morning that nematodes are spread by earthworms...
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/comm/news/2...earthworms.php

[MissS]

What an amazing job that you have done! You have certainly put in a great effort. May you soon find your rewards. The compost you acquired is just beautiful. I love how you garden is screened in from top to bottom. I'm sure that is helps with pests and the blaring sun there.
I look forward to following up on your progress.
Patti

[jcrous]

Originally Posted by MissS

I love how you garden is screened in from top to bottom. I'm sure that is helps with pests and the blaring sun there.
Patti

It is 40% shade net that I installed in September 2005, just after I had a Hiatus hernia surgery. It is suppose to last from 5 to 7 years, and it is almost 9 years old and not yet brittle. Very good quality.

Yes it helps a little for the sun, but the main reason was to keep out birds, cats and butterflies. So I have almost never any worms. I do get aphids, red spider, thrips and fruit flies. The last is my biggest pest. the traps however are working. I catch a lot of these buggers. Unfortunately there is still some damage. The net does not stop the wind however but I never had serious damage ever so far.

[debles]

Wow Johan, your setup looks fantastic!
My garden area is not as protected as yours is.
Brother rebuilt it for me last spring and put a fence around it using screening to keep the rabbits out and keep grass clippings from being thrown into the garden area.
I'm using rubber backed carpets (used) around the raised beds and heavy duty landscape fabric under all of it and lining each raised bed to keep the bermuda grass from creeping in.
There are a few photos of it last spring on my profile page.
If I could only keep the squirrels out, but they spend most of the summer stripping fruit from the fruit trees and only go into the garden to bury pecans in the fall and dig for them in the winter.

That compost looks wonderful!

[jcrous]

Debles, Your garden is so neat! Stunning.