Feeding: Broccoli pumpkin, blueberrries and herbs

[Marie2020]

One of the Master Gardeners on Mid American Gardener was talking about the 30 (yes, he bought 30 of them) wild blueberry plants that came back to IL with him from, I THINK he said, South Dakota (or Wyoming.)
He said they are literally NO CARE, and produce very well.
The fruit is smaller and, he said, sweeter.
I liked the "no care."
I have the 2 blueberry plants I bought this Spring still in a tree pot.
I Intend to dig them each a hole big enough to bury a dog, them fill it with a combination of garden dirt and used stall bedding including manure.
I also intend to put in a stake and tie a used milk jug with the top and holes at the bottom so that I can drip water them.
We'll see how it goes...

https://www.willisorchards.com/category/blueberry-plants#.YNyZUOhKiM8

 

[Marie2020]

@Everyone. Thank you all for your ideas. I certainly have much to look through

I'm a little afraid all my efforts will come to nothing this year, being such a late start I'm still waiting for wood.
But not giving up. I will just work with what I can salvage and compost into the clay what is lost.

At least I have directions too work on.

 

[Marie2020]

I'm thrilled to say after 2 years I'm finally getting my long awaited raised bed on Thursday.

I hope I'm doing the right thing by planting broccoli and a pumpkin. I hope to place some other little veg of some kind to confuse the insects . Apparently this was an old Aztec trick. Told to me by a wise old girl a long time ago.

At the top of my garden I've planted a chive at the bottom thyme and some Italian herb, I'm hoping to find an oregano from somewhere soon, it's one of my favourite herbs.

So not all is lost. I was ripping my hair out with all the constant cancellations

My slabs are now under my old bench at long last. I can see a light at the end a a completely dark tunnel. Plus my blueberry bushes are starting to take off around my bench

Thank you too all of you for sharing your ideas in here. I will be falling back on all this as I go forward.

 

[Marie2020]

I wrote that planting various plants together was an old Aztec trick in here somewhere but can't find my old post to correct it.
How embarrassing. As I should have written the Mayan way.

My raised bed is together and I took on @baymule advice with the cardboard as well as @flowerbug pointer with the wood.
I sprayed everything with my tea spray, good old @digitS' that worked a treat on my busy lizzies. But I used a little garlic too in hopes of keeping the slimy devils away.

Then I piled in a load of clay and compost.

But being desperate I had to get my broccoli in fast because they were suffering in my greenhouse, those dreaded slugs got past all my efforts and traps .
The pumpkin is placed in the middle of the bed with few lemon coriander seeds and a bit of fennel.

God knows how it will all turn out but fingers crossed something will survive.

Please don't all laugh too much .

 

[flowerbug]

I wrote that planting various plants together was an old Aztec trick in here somewhere but can't find my old post to correct it.
How embarrassing. As I should have written the Mayan way.

My raised bed is together and I took on @baymule advice with the cardboard as well as @flowerbug pointer with the wood.
I sprayed everything with my tea spray, good old @digitS' that worked a treat on my busy lizzies. But I used a little garlic too in hopes of keeping the slimy devils away.

Then I piled in a load of clay and compost.

But being desperate I had to get my broccoli in fast because they were suffering in my greenhouse, those dreaded slugs got past all my efforts and traps .
The pumpkin is placed in the middle of the bed with few lemon coriander seeds and a bit of fennel.

God knows how it will all turn out but fingers crossed something will survive.

Please don't all laugh too much .

congrats on getting it done! how i learn the most is by doing so you are at what i consider the prime stage of gardening lore accumulation. good luck.

 

[baymule]

Got your raised bed done! Yay for you!

 

[Marie2020]

@Everyone. Thank you all for your ideas. I certainly have much to look through

I'm a little afraid all my efforts will come to nothing this year, being such a late start I'm still waiting for wood.
But not giving up. I will just work with what I can salvage and compost into the clay what is lost.

At least I have directions too work on.

@Ridgerunner

As you can see I had no choice but to plant this broccoli, they were being devoured in my make shift greenhouse. They have only been in the raised bed about 18 hour's.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You have to stay flexible and do what you need to do. As I often say, I usually don't have "ideal" conditions, I have conditions "I deal" with. Your broccoli plants look small but after 18 hours they are standing upright, not wilting down and dying. You are certainly still in the hunt.

To me there are three main dangers when you transplant, each are magnified when the plants are small. The sun can cook them, they can dry out since their root system isn't established, and the wind can dry them out. Where you are the sun is probably not that bad, especially compared to Texas or Alabama to mention a few. You can always water if you need to. The sides of your raised bed may provide a lot of wind protection while they are small and vulnerable.

My biggest problem with growing a fall garden is that the plant predators have had half a season to grow and multiply. In Arkansas if I tried growing broccoli, cauliflower, or cabbage for the fall I'd have to set it out in August for it to grow and mature before freezing. The grasshoppers were so bad they'd eat that stuff to the ground, it didn't have a chance. Interestingly further south in Louisiana grasshoppers aren't a problem. My fall gardens are pretty successful. There are some pests but they are manageable.

We all have our conditions we deal with. I wish you luck with yours. Sometimes trial and error is the best teacher.

 

[flowerbug]

You have to stay flexible and do what you need to do. As I often say, I usually don't have "ideal" conditions, I have conditions "I deal" with. Your broccoli plants look small but after 18 hours they are standing upright, not wilting down and dying. You are certainly still in the hunt.

To me there are three main dangers when you transplant, each are magnified when the plants are small. The sun can cook them, they can dry out since their root system isn't established, and the wind can dry them out. Where you are the sun is probably not that bad, especially compared to Texas or Alabama to mention a few. You can always water if you need to. The sides of your raised bed may provide a lot of wind protection while they are small and vulnerable.

My biggest problem with growing a fall garden is that the plant predators have had half a season to grow and multiply. In Arkansas if I tried growing broccoli, cauliflower, or cabbage for the fall I'd have to set it out in August for it to grow and mature before freezing. The grasshoppers were so bad they'd eat that stuff to the ground, it didn't have a chance. Interestingly further south in Louisiana grasshoppers aren't a problem. My fall gardens are pretty successful. There are some pests but they are manageable.

We all have our conditions we deal with. I wish you luck with yours. Sometimes trial and error is the best teacher.

+100

 

[Marie2020]

congrats on getting it done! how i learn the most is by doing so you are at what i consider the prime stage of gardening lore accumulation. good luck.

Thank you for your support.

Thanks too all if you. You gave me the gumption to keep going.