Gardening, oh boy.. I have a commercial garden and sell organic vegetables and herbs. I've had my garden for 10 years now and have expanded quite a bit during this time. I started selling veggies on the side of the road two summers ago. I put stuff in y stand every morning, people buy and leave money in a bucket. It works very well. Just this week, I got a call from an organic farmer's market about 20 miles north of here. They wanted to know if I'd be interested in providing vegetables and herbs to them. Now I might have to expand the garden even more.
As one of the above posters mentioned, DO NOT PLANT MINT. I didn't believe that when someone told me this a few years ago, and planted mint in the garden, thinking I would be able to keep it under control. HAHAHAHAHAHA. I should have listened.
I grow just about every vegetable you can think of, and also have black raspberry bushes, strawberries and a bunch of other berries. I planted asparagus from seed, it took about 4 years to my first harvest, and now I have plenty every year.
Here are a few general gardening tips.
Do not weed when the ground is wet, especially around your beans. If you plant cucumbers, put tomato cages over them and let the plants grow along the tomato cages. You will have a better yield and you will save lots of room. For plants such as peppers, tomato plants, any kind of cabbage, cucumbers, squash, etc.. when the plants are still little, take 1 gallon mayonnaise jars or 1 gallon milk jars, cut the bottoms out and put them over the plants. (also cut the tops off the milk jars). This will discourage bugs from eating the plants and they will grow a lot faster. It also protects the plants from the occasional late frost. Build a trellis for peas, the yield will be better. When harvesting peas, cut them off, don't pull them off. It encourages the plants to keep producing. Unless you live in a very dry area, NEVER water your plants. Their roots will go deeper in the ground to get water and the plants will be stronger. A good storm won't hurt them at all. It you want to keep birds away, hang pie tins on your fence, it is more effective than scarecrows. Especially in the beginning of the growing season, I actually go in the garden after each heavy rain to pick up the slugs and throw them out of the garden. Slugs can do a lot of damage to your young plants, and just picking them up is more effective than anything else. To keep moles away, cut the bottom out of plactic water bottles and put them in the ground upside down. (the cut out bottom showing). This creates a noise when the wind blows and it scares the moles. It really works. I have never had a mole in my garden and they are numerous up here. Always rotate. Don't plant the same item in the same spot every year. Certain veggies take certain nutrients out of the ground. Especially cabbages should never be planted in the same spot 2 years in a row.
Well, I hope you will enjoy the garden as much as I do.
Better go to bed now, it's getting late.
Cheers
