# Garden Begun



## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

Installed the solar-powered electric fence Saturday and began planting Sunday. Onions were planted a month ago and are doing well. Garlic seems to be a flop for the most part, because winter weather took out over half of it.

The garden size has been expanded to 25 yards square, but not all is fenced (pumpkins will be outside the fence).

Watermelons, cantaloupe, peppers, tomatillos, herbs, but no tomatoes this time.

Pic shows our tracking dog tracking a small snapping turtle. He couldn't leave it alone but he did learn about the business end of the snapper.

He also learned about the electric fence the hard way. At least we know it works. Or, at least we hope it works on rabbits. Planted some broccoli to see if the rabbits can get to it before we plant more stuff.

Another improvement this season is the water pump - right there in the garden. How cool is that? For about $150, I won't have to depend on Mother Nature and better yet, won't have to haul water to the remote site.

I'll get the rest of the plants in the ground by tomorrow, because rain is expected later this week.


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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Looks really good, no hauling of water is a big plus. Garlic should have been able to tough it out. We need some warm weather now to really get things going.


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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

Lost all of the Italian garlic and half of the German red. The warm weather after planting caused it to sprout last fall, so we added mulch. But, the mulch had gotten matted and my guess is that the garlic eventually smothered and rotted.

We are getting warm weather this week. Lows in 60s and highs around 80.


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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Ya you had real warm weather last fall, check out some garlic farms around your area and see when they plant. Don't give up on growing garlic as the rewards are well worth it. Any home grown products are far superior than store bought.


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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

I hear ya, Rick. When I find out, we'll try again this fall.

No sneak attacks inside the fence as of this am. Looking forward to some rain to kick off my buckwheat plot.


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## sneakygroundbuzzard (Nov 1, 2012)

i envy those of you who have he room to plant your own eats

some day i hope to be able to do the same

i know its work maintaining a garden,but the end results are well worth it

good luck with the home grown groceries and keep us updated at harvest time


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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

Hardening off the plants by bringing them in and out for a while. Peppers like soil warmer than we have now. Same with watermelons. Got the itch but have to wait. We've done what we could to combat past deficiencies. Should be a good ride this year.


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## pokeyjeeper (Sep 5, 2013)

looks good glen !!!

how far did you have to drive that hand well down ?

did one when I was a teen and we had to go down 40 feet first 15 went fast then we hit a hard pan wow what a work out


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## Agney5 (Sep 28, 2013)

We did one last year nothing real big, mostly do to limited time to take care of it. This year there was no way, with the wife a couple weeks away from having the little one and me working 6 days a week it just want in the cards. Hopefully next year we'll be able to do another one.

You're going to have a heck of a garden for sure.


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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

We are only use veggies that produced well with little care last season - and, that can be sold to fund next year, etc. Shouldn't be a lot more expense in the coming years.

Pokey, I just poked that thing down 9 feet. Started with a post-hole digger to about 4 feet and already hit liquid. The reason I chose this site is because it is low, thereby having naturally more organic matter in the sandy loam top soil. So, the drive point is 2.5 feet, and two 5-foot lengths of drive pipe with about 4 feet of it above ground. When I drove it in the short little bit that I did, it got easier as it went lower. The well pump has allowed me to water some nearby Colorado blue spruce trees that I moved in the fall with a machine. Otherwise, they'd be on their own.

Cheap Chinese pitcher pump works better than expected. With about 50 short pumps, a 5-gallon pail is filled. Good in case of emergencies, too.

I'm in it mostly for the entertainment. Last year the rabbits beat us, so it's always an adventure heading out there in the morning to see if they've gotten the message.


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