What Are You Planting Today, This Week, This Month?

[ducks4you]

I soaked some 3yo peas. About 5 had sprouted, so I stuck them in potting soil, put them in a clear carry out container, with a lid, and put them on the porch. I will check them this weekend, bc the rest, STILL in a little plastic container are ALSO sprouting.

 

[Marie2020]

@Marie2020, consider some other options! Im sure there’s people in your area who’d help you out. First thing that comes to mind would be a youth group from a local church, maybe an inquiry on a local gardening site would get a response. The fence guy sounds like a logical choice and if not he may know someone?

I’ve read about raised row gardening, eliminating the box! Looks like the dirt is mounded up and leveled on top before planting. Width and length would be what ever worked conveniently for you and of course the height probably wouldnt be more than a foot or so, if that is workable?Probably something on here if you do a search.

My beds are all the same dimensions and having built 11 of them, they go pretty quick. Dimensional lumber is high around here and a consideration but once you got em, you got em!

I'm not grasping what you mean yet, but please give me time to absorb this. The higher the better for me. Thanks for your help

 

[ducks4you]

@Alasgun, I know what you mean about "raised row gardening,"
The whole idea is to mound soil that you Promise yourself never to walk on/compact.
Good luck with that!
Boxes or cement planters have been used back to Roman times, at least, never called "Raised Beds," Now that raised beds are a thing, the gardening consumption industry has made prefeb ones, but none of them are cheap.
I go to Lowe's when I need wood. They have a circular saw in the back along a wall, and you pay 25 cent for every cut. I had them cut my loft door, the one 9 ft high where my hay guys empty out from the trailer. The old door was rotting when I moved here, I replaced it with particle board, which rotted, even though it had been heavily painted. I measured for a new one made from plywood this time, they cut, and the fit is perfect, so it is well worth paying for this at Lowe's. People that do this don't always take all of the wood, so they have scrap, which they sell for 50 cents/piece.
Last year I got almost ALL of a 4' x 6' 1/2-inch plywood board bc the buyer only wanted a small cut.
Go figure why somebody would pay for the entire board and leave most of it, bc that Was what Lowe's charged them, the cost of the Whole board.
Anyway, you can pick up nice 2 x 4's, 4 x 6's, even 12 x 12's sometimes, suitable for raised beds and cheap this way. The wood will rot out in about 5-7 years, but it's cheaper that the prefab ones. You can always used one or two of these to screw together pieces to make your length.

Zoro Select Plate, Mending, 4 In 4PB68 | Zoro

Order Zoro Select Plate, Mending, 4 In, 4PB68 at Zoro.com. Great prices & free shipping on orders over $50 when you sign in or sign up for an account.

www.zoro.com

 

[digitS']

I don't walk on my garden beds, that is a no-no. The paths on this rocky soil are soon like concrete.

Dad had an old cedar fence with 1 x 10's. (I don't know if they cut cedar that size now .) We pulled that down and built him a new fence. The old boards were good enough for a few years for framing beds. When they began to deteriorate, I pulled them off and didn't replace them.

But, I have had beds with no framing for years and years. It just isn't possible to walk close to the garden plants without horribly compacting the soil. Even weeds tend not to grow well in my paths.

Steve

 

[Raptorix234]

I thought this would be a super fun thread to start! Let's all keep posting what we are planting when we are planting it!



Of course, what one person is planting won't necessarily apply to everyone, especially with all the different zones we all live in, but I thought it would be a great way for us all to explore other zones and see what all our friends are up to.

Let's see if we can keep this thread running for the life of this forum! I want to look back on 100 pages of simple posts that start with "Today I planted ....."

So, here is the format I propose for your post. Let's keep the posts really short and simple. If you want to share more details on what you planted please start a new thread and link to it from your post here.

Today I planted:
Link to my thread with more details:
(Optional link with details and pictures (of planting process and / or what the plant will look like in bloom)

This week I germinated a kidney bean.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Go figure why somebody would pay for the entire board and leave most of it, bc that Was what Lowe's charged them, the cost of the Whole board.

Plenty of possible reasons. Maybe their vehicle could not transport it, no place to store it, maybe even no way to cut it if they got it home. Even people living in apartments may need a piece of wood. Living in the city comes with a lot of limitations you don't have in the country.

My garden in Arkansas always had a raised bed in it. My row spacing varied depending in what I was growing but 32" was pretty standard. I would rake up a raised area 32" wide and plant my root crops in that, things like beets, carrots, turnips, and radishes. I'd take a piece of wood, maybe a 3' or 4' long 2x4 to make a straight line across to help space the seeds, then back it up an appropriate distance for the next row. I'd have room left over so I'd do a loose leaf lettuce bed. I'd often use some more of that row to plant kale and chard instead of having them in a row.

I didn't grow that much of any of those things but I had a 40' to 45' raised bed through the middle of the garden. No sides, just raked up with a garden hoe. After the growing season when I tilled it got spread back out. I like a raised area for root crops and considered growing the leafy stuff that way was an efficient use of space.

 

[Alasgun]

And that, @Ridgerunner is what it’s all about! You adapted something to work in your situation, no fuss, no rocket science and it worked.
if i were giving out gold stars today, you’d get two

 

[ducks4you]

@Raptorix234 , thanks for the "bean porn."
On Mid American Gardener recently, a Master Gardener suggested right now to use milk jugs cut in 2 pieces, plant cold weather vegetables in potting soil, wet the soil, duct tape back the top and simply put outside. He said to leave them for about 3 weeks, then go check on their progress. If you have healthy seedlings, transplant them.
I have done that with sugar snap peas and leeks, except I haven't used any of my saved milk jugs yet. I used 2 containers that had lunchmeat, and an aluminum tray that I enclosed in a 2 gallon ziplock bag, which I labeled.
I have put them in my window wells right next to the house, to help prevent them from blowing away in our occasional gusty Spring winds.
Btw, "In like a lion, out like a lamb" has been said to refer to Leo the Lion constellation, waning in the east (at sunset) at the beginning of March, and Aries the Ram rising at the end of march, northern hemisphere.
We have certainly had "lamb" weather This start of March.
I saved a very small plastic container with a lid to presoak my peas. The first batch was left in for 3 days and there was significant sprouting. THAT was encouraging, since they were 3yo seeds.

 

[ducks4you]

Planted my 3 x 6' bed with over 200 French Breakfast Radishes. The soil was in pretty good shape and didn't require amending. Of COURSE, radishes are known for "tilling" up the soil for you.

 

[Marie2020]

Planted my 3 x 6' bed with over 200 French Breakfast Radishes. The soil was in pretty good shape and didn't require amending. Of COURSE, radishes are known for "tilling" up the soil for you.

That's really good to know. That will help the soil.