Vegetable Garden tips? (Gray: how much, Home Depot, buying)

[Sam Baker]

I know this doesn't have much to do with Nashville but I have a question.

Does anyone recommend a certain brand of soil for a small vegetable garden. It's my first year. I was thinking about just buying top soil and manure compost at Home Depot/lowes.

Are there any experienced gardener's who have an opinion. I don't own a truck, so going to a farm and getting real manure really isn't an option for me. I wish it was!

thanks.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by Sam Baker

I know this doesn't have much to do with Nashville but I have a question.

Does anyone recommend a certain brand of soil for a small vegetable garden. It's my first year. I was thinking about just buying top soil and manure compost at Home Depot/lowes.

Are there any experienced gardener's who have an opinion. I don't own a truck, so going to a farm and getting real manure really isn't an option for me. I wish it was!

thanks.

Do you know what kind of soil you have now? Heavy clay? Clay with organic matter? And how much do you need? If it's not a lot, then just the ordinary topsoil sold at garden centers will be okay. Then add a little fertilizer recommended for whatever the vegetables you're growing.

If you need a lot, the topsoil places will deliver.

[Sam Baker]

OK, that sounds good. We've got clay mixed soil, but I'm doing a raised bed. It's a 9ft X 5ft oval. I bought this book called The Postage Stamp Gardening Book. The chapter on soil is a little overwhelming, so I think I'm with you, I'll just get bags of soil from home depot. Thanks!

[alleycat]

Are you planning on growing tomatoes?

[Sam Baker]

yes, tomates, cucumbers, cantelope, banana and jalepeno peppers, lettuce and spinach.

If the postage stamp method works, it will be great.

[alleycat]

I assume you haven't grown tomatoes before?

Anyway, when you buy tomato plants, get those with a study, thick stems. Don't get the ones that look "leggy". Some people like Bradleys. I like Early Girls myself (of the more common varieties available in garden center; there's some other tomatoes that are even better) Sweet 100 (or is it 101?) is a nice cherry tomato if you want to try those.

When you plant them, put the plant in an inch or so deeper than the soil level of the container it's growing in when you bought it. Each of the little hairs you see on the stem will turn into a root which will help the plant establish itself.

Protect against cutworms. Wrap a piece of aluminum foil LIGHTLY around the plant stem for an inch or so above the ground. Cutworms come along the ground and when they run into a tomato plant . . . (surprise) cut it almost in two. It is probably less of a problem with a raised bed, but it won't hurt to make sure.

I hope you grow some fine Tennessee tomatoes. Don't tell anyone else on here, but while Grainger County tomatoes are just fine, other areas grow just as good a tomato in my humble opinion (and I've been eating Tennessee tomatoes for a long time).

By the way, good luck with those cantaloupes. I don't know how you're going to grow those in a 9x5 oval garden. Cantaloupes spread out like crazy. Ditto watermelons.

[mbmouse]

I have had a very strange experience when it comes to gardening here in TN. When I lived in Greene County I had the BEST garden soil, nice rich black dirt. I grew the best tasting tomatoes you ever had! That ground also gave me more veggies per plant than we could possibly can, freeze or eat. We were giving the veggies away. Then I moved to Gray TN in Washington County. Even though I like living here better than Greene County, I can't grow a thing in this dirt! It is more clay than anything and even when I brought in rich top soil and added the manure, everything was miniature and I only got 1 veggie or so per plant. The tomato plants seemed to be stunted. They didn't grow even an inch in 2 months. They didn't die, but they didn't grow, no tomatoes. What a disappointment.
We also have troubles getting nice grass to grow in our yard, sure it is green, but necessarily with grass.
I am still debating trying something else with the veggie garden this year or to forgo it completely and try blueberries instead. Any thoughts and advice would be very much appreciated.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

I have had a very strange experience when it comes to gardening here in TN. When I lived in Greene County I had the BEST garden soil, nice rich black dirt. I grew the best tasting tomatoes you ever had! That ground also gave me more veggies per plant than we could possibly can, freeze or eat. We were giving the veggies away. Then I moved to Gray TN in Washington County. Even though I like living here better than Greene County, I can't grow a thing in this dirt! It is more clay than anything and even when I brought in rich top soil and added the manure, everything was miniature and I only got 1 veggie or so per plant. The tomato plants seemed to be stunted. They didn't grow even an inch in 2 months. They didn't die, but they didn't grow, no tomatoes. What a disappointment.
We also have troubles getting nice grass to grow in our yard, sure it is green, but necessarily with grass.
I am still debating trying something else with the veggie garden this year or to forgo it completely and try blueberries instead. Any thoughts and advice would be very much appreciated.

You might want to get a soil test. You can get a special envelope (a cardboard container) and send it off to the state with $6 or $10 and they will send you back a report on your soil. It might be missing some essential mineral. Or the pH is way off.

[Sam Baker]

Well, this postage stamp garden book shows you how to grow cucumbers and cantelopes Up, instead of out. You support the cantelope w/ a mesh back like what a bunch of oranges come in at the store, and attach that to your trellis/pole or whatever your using. It's neat idea. So we'll see if it works! I might wind up w/ a big mess, but it will be an adventure!

I've been growing all our stuff from seed inside. I'll be planting this weekend. I think our tomatoes are Best Boys or something like that.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by Sam Baker

Well, this postage stamp garden book shows you how to grow cucumbers and cantelopes Up, instead of out. You support the cantelope w/ a mesh back like what a bunch of oranges come in at the store, and attach that to your trellis/pole or whatever your using. It's neat idea. So we'll see if it works! I might wind up w/ a big mess, but it will be an adventure!

I've heard of growing other things like that, but not cantaloupes. Hmmmm, might work. Personally, I find cantaloupes not worth the trouble unless you've got a farm and got room for them. There's generally too much loss . . . bird peck at them, or they rot on the ground, etc. Good luck with yours. Let us know how it turns out.

Originally Posted by Sam Baker

I've been growing all our stuff from seed inside. I'll be planting this weekend. I think our tomatoes are Best Boys or something like that.

You know to harden them off, right?