#growyourownfood
I am so happy to be back in the garden! At least until the crazy heat and humidity set in. 😉
What’s growing in your garden today?
xoxo,
Carter
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well it’s 68° in my middle Tennessee Garden today I am thrilled to be out in the garden and I have so many things to show you happy to bring you along for the first garden tour of 2024 welcome to G preserve I’m Carter and I’m so glad you’re here today all right I have lots of things to talk about not the least of which is my crazy new sun hat but I I got read the riot act by the doctor about all my sun damage so I am going to at least try to be much better at that so if you have some wonderful Solutions or a great hat I’m not sure how practical this is going to be when I’m actually working in the garden uh but we’ll see this is my first attempt at trying to behave and follow doctor’s orders so let’s talk about where I left off last fall early winter uh it was a mess it was it was a mess I did not do a very good job of putting the garden to bed but that’s okay you know ideally you would put it to bed in the fall and you would do all of your amendments and cover it up and it would be just enjoying a nice break over the winter well you know now it’s going to get a nice refresh in the spring so I did that maybe four weeks ago I’m going to show you a little bit of footage from when we were first getting started we did a little bit of construction in here David helped me build uh a trellis for the blackberries we just built a DOT of scrap wood as as you’ll see it’s some some funny looking pieces of wood but I think it’s going to be covered with Greenery here pretty soon and you won’t even notice that but I am excited to have some sort of structure on those blackberries this year because last year they just looked like creatures I mean creatures with these like 50ft legs that went out in every direction it was it was really crazy very hard to contain and the birds and the squirrels got pretty much everything on there that was ripe because I it was not a containable type situation for me so I’m going to take you around and show you what we’ve done I did a bunch of amendments uh this spring because last fall I did not do a good job putting the garden to bed I had intended to and some things came up and a lot of my time was taking up so I didn’t get it done and that’s okay because I did a really good job I think I hope we’ll find out if I did a good job this spring but I I put some thought into what I was adding I did it very differently that I have been past years I’ve always just added since we’ve been here in this Garden I’ve just added a big load several yards of compost to my eight garden beds and then the smaller little barrels and Herb beds and things that I have around this year I decided not to do that for a couple of reasons number one my landscaper is getting married and he’s much more occupied with other things rather than going to pick up several yards of compost for me and wheelbarrowing it down the hill so I have that issue and then I didn’t like the compost that I got last year I felt like it was just really you know dead dirt I I don’t feel like there was any life in that whatsoever I spent all year really fighting to get the growth I would normally expect from a bed freshly amended with compost right so I added a lot of fertilizer throughout the year and that’s not how I’m used to Growing I’m used to really setting things up well and then doing sporadic not sporadic but planned fertilizations throughout the growing season not trying to fight it and catch up every single week right so I’ve added some asite this year because I feel like I have no minerals left in these beds so I added some asite did I do a soil test no I didn’t that was another thing that was on my agenda it did not happen maybe it’ll happen next year but for now I’m I’m guessing and I am using things I have not used before so this is not a how-to by any stretch of the imagination this is a this is what I did and we’re going to see if it turn not to be a good decision during the season and and at the end of the season when we see how productive the garden is so I added azomite for minerals I added biochar just for some diversity in the soil I added caar just to loosen things up a bit help retain some more water my beds drain um really well but they get compacted at the same time so it’s it’s kind of this strange dichotomy that I I I’ve been kind of battling since the very beginning I did a hook culture beginning on these beds so there were a lot of tree limbs and branches and things and so it was draining extremely well but yet being compacted every year so I I don’t know so this year I’ve done a couple of things with that so one was the cocoa cor and then second I did basically a broad forking technique without a broad Fork I have a I don’t know what you call it maybe more it’s more like a pitchfork kind of thing and I just treated that like a broad Fork so that I could get some air channels down into the soil and to get not only some of the Amendments that I was adding but actually some oxygen down in there and then I did turn up maybe the first two or three inches after I added all the Amendments just to get everything worked in so I’m hoping that I have set it up better to be a much better growing medium and density for this year but again as I said that remains to be seen so I also added some black cow I have never used black cow before you know I’ve always as I said used you know bolk compost but you know Hollis and Nancy use it and Hollis can grow pretty much anything so I’ve never used it it may be a mistake it may be the smartest thing I’ve done in a while I don’t know but it was easy for me to have that delivered from Lowe’s and then to just bring down a bag at a time so I put two bags of that in each of my beds along with the azomite and the cooker quar and the biochar and then I also added um Al alfha pellets for some nitrogen and then I added a general vegetable um fertilizer you know garden and tomato kind of thing so I added a good bit of that to each of the beds so I’m hoping that I have set up a good basis um for growth this summer so we’ll see I do not yet have my um irrigation turned back on you know we turn it off here in the winter because we freeze so we’ve got another couple of weeks probably before it’s safe to have that turned back on and not worry about anything any pipes busting so I’ve been handw watering and as you’ll see as we go take a look at the beds there are a couple of beds that that that really would appreciate more water than they’ve been getting so I going to take care of that today but anyway welcome to the Garden I’m so glad to have you here let’s take a quick look around and talk about it and if you have suggestions for me along the way because I’m I’m just doing things differently this year I don’t know I just felt it just felt right because last year I did everything the way I always do it pretty much and I had a really good crop of peppers you know I I seem to have a great deal of luck with peppers but everything else I really felt like I could have done better so I’m going to try to change some things up and I don’t know it either works better it doesn’t or it has no impact so so we will see all right let’s take a look let’s do a little overview first so here are the blackberry vines and this trellis that David built I’ll show you a little bit closer up there shortly my apple trees that made it through another cold winter they are starting to Leaf out I’m not seeing any little buds on there yet but we’ll see they supposedly came to us 2 years old and we planted them in 2021 the fall of 2021 So in theory I was supposed to have some apples by now I do not have any apples but we’ll see how it goes this year uh my herb beds are still kind of a crazy mess I haven’t really done anything with those yet and then here we start I have eight raised beds that are 8 ft by 4T we’ll go through the ones that are planted here momentarily and so I have the same setup over on that side with four raised beds and the herb garden and a couple of barrels here and there okay let’s take a closer look at some of the pieces and parts here so this is my Blackberry trellis we went in and pruned all of the older canes although I can see now that we missed a couple now that things are starting to Green out and other things appear to be dead so I’ll come back and take a look at that as well I’ve done one good fertilizing on these this spring so I am really hoping for a lot of blackberries this year last year there were a lot of blackberries but we we didn’t get to eat most of them I think the birds and the squirrels pretty much did that I put organza bags on them after they had started to turn color and things just ate through the bags so here we go apple trees over here you can see the compost bin there it’s doing pretty well we’ve not been great about turning it but you know I figured that was going to happen my crazy herb bed is is just terrible at the moment okay so this this bed right here this is the first bed as you walk in the backyard and this had all of my indeterminate tomatoes on it last year so I had all my slicers and a couple of cherries but this year I’m probably still going to do in determinate tomatoes in the here cuz I don’t I don’t really have appropriate space to rotate my crops every year so so far I’ve I’ve been okay all right so I have some onions planted here I ordered two bunches of the mixed intermediate date onions from dixondale farms so you get I’ll have to put the names of the onions that you get in there on the screen but I know there’s candy and then there’s a red onion and then there’s a white onion so the candy onions I really love but they don’t store very well so I don’t think the red onions are going to store very well either but hopefully the white ones will so those are a few of my onions here and then most of my onions are in this bed and I probably planted them a little close together but I figured that I will harvest them throughout the season and leave room for some to get bigger toward the end and then this is kind of a fun little end here these first plants that you see right here this is elephant garlic my first year planting elephant garlic so I have some here and I have some in the next bed over what I’m hoping is but eventually I’ll end up with mostly elephant garlic coming out of my garden because I do not like to peel garlic I really like huge giant cloves of it so we’ll see now these little wispy things are shallots I’m very excited about being able to have those I’ve never grown shallots before so we will see and then I have a big batch of Music garlic I grow a hard neck garlic and I love it it does have big cloves but still they’re smaller than elephant garlic cloves so we’re going to see which one I prefer and then down here these are the Louisiana multiplying shallots and again I got these from Travis at Lazy Dog farm and he just did a video on the seed hats of the multiplan shallots so I’m going to go ahead and pull all of those like he suggested and just let them keep multiplying you can see they’ve done a tremendous job I use them all the time as green onions but if you look down here this one plant is now five and it has I have moved them all over that one is also for five plants and they continue to grow and they’ve been super they made it through some really cold weather uh the past couple of years so I’m very pleased with those so over here I have some more music garlic I have some more elephant garlic and then I have some you know kind of leftovers from my spring bed which you’ll see in a minute so I have some kale here everything’s looking a little dry isn’t it my water or water has not been hooked up yet because we still have some freezing days uh potentially on the calendar so I need I’ve been watering by hand here and then I have a lot of um spinach over there which is not looking fantastic I have to say is I’m sitting here studying it and then I have some Swiss chard which you know always looks so good swis chard really does a good job uh at least here in this garden and then this bed that looks like it has nothing in it actually has all of my potatoes in it I thought I was going to have enough potatoes for two beds I didn’t end up cutting them into smaller pieces and they actually kind of all fit really well even with a little bit of leftover room in the bed so I may regret that at some point not spreading them out but I don’t know it’s done so so those are the potatoes for right now okay let’s take a look at the other side of the garden all right this bed which is looking pretty sad right now it needs water again as well not sure any of us expect at 68 70° days right now but I have broccoli cauliflower cabbage in here and a couple of leftover Cilantros and parsleys this bed over here did not get all of the Amendments mixed in we ran out of time and I think daylight on that particular day so you can see all the different things that I added um which just kind of layered in there and then I’ll mix up just a little bit these three parsley plants are left over from a year ago spring yeah a year ago spring they were in the bed with the peppers last year and they have just been Champs through the entire winter and we had a lot of snow we had 8 Ines of snow on the ground for 8 days and they just they just look terrific so I’ve been freeze drying it every now and then it looks like it’s time to do another cutting so I will do that and this my goodness look at all of the grass that’s now growing in that bed this is this is when David comes through and over seeds and it just flies lies with the wind so yeah that’s not terrific I’ll have to work on that I do have some more onions here I think that this is going to be the bed that has my winter squash and cucumbers and possibly melons in it it may have a few uh peppers on the other side of the bed this one may have some sweet potatoes may also have some determinate tomatoes in it this one gets really good Sun the the in fact all of them on this side get full sun pretty much all day the others get a little more dappled sunlight and then great afternoon sunlight say my arches again this year will be mostly cherry tomatoes so I’ll have two on each side of each Arch and then I think at the arch down there at the end on the right hand side of that Arch it’s very hard to get to that’s where I had all those water issues last year so I think I might put Al loofah there so I don’t have to try to access it you know every day for four or five months during the growing season I can just just go get them when they’re done right okay so I have all of my spring veggies in I didn’t get any peas in I don’t I don’t know where my head was but I did not get any peas in I will get some green beans in at some point uh I will get some sweet potato tomes in my slips are not growing as I would like them to grow and I did have a hard time finding them here last year so we’ll see how many sweet potatoes I get planted my tomatoes and peppers are in the growroom getting ready to come out that’ll probably be the end of April beginning of May before I get to do that I’ll give you a quick look at those as well all right so here are my ceilings waiting to go in as it warms up I have a bunch of flowers in this tray Tomatoes here these are my sweet bell peppers here all of my herbs over here these are more Tomatoes down here and then these are all of my hot peppers so I think I’m going to have more than I need which should come as a shock to No One including myself so thanks so much for being with me for my first garden tour of 2024 I’m dying to know what’s going on in your garden what do you have planted what do you have ready to go in did you take care of your beds properly last fall and put them to bed and amend them and everything or are you trying to play ketchup this spring like I am so keep me updated on what you’re doing I’m so glad you were here today and I will see you next time
33 Comments
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You're getting me excited about free food again. Can't wait. Unfortunately I'm in upstate NY so it's still a ways off before we get warm weather. Playing Catch up like you. 🙂
My garden will be mostly container, grow bag. I have potatoes in grow bags and sage and oregano. The carrot and beets are peaking out. I can no longer do a whole big garden. I still love to get my hands in the soil. I planted my strawberries in the greenstalk and they have berries on them.
I have a large garden. I'm going to try the square foot method, this year. Try to max out my garden space. My bell pepers have not come up. I went to home depot and pick up 10 pots. Try to grab as many as I can that have 2. But I replanted the seeds for a third time, in my house with a heat mat covered and a light. I have never had so much trouble. But I have always said I try my best with seeds but something doesn't work . I'm lucky and go to a sypre and get it.
I am so impressed by your gardens. I am doing tomatoes cucumbers and green onions. This is my first time planting anything. I will enjoy your work. Barb
I would think that Alfalfa Pellets would attract critters. I've never heard of that before.
I grew peanuts for first time last year. I bought from grocery and they did very well. They can be labor intensive. You have to make sure bloom are pushed down onto soil. But ordered 10 lbs from Hoss Tools this year!! Good luck! Boiled peanut are great!!!
Your garden looks great
Black Cow is the only manure that isn't sterilized that I know of. It is teaming with good nutrient stuff.
Check out Farmers Defense protective garden sleeves. Tear resistant and have sun protectant. Cute floral colors or solid colors and also garden hats. Yes I redressed beds because we had so much rain.
Added Black Cow, expanded shale to hold water, bulk garden mix with minerals and earthworm castings.
Planted Red Burgundy and 1015 white onions. Green Zebra and Goddess of the Moon red cherry tomatoes and Sweety Pie red pepper. Small local Garden shop who knows everything laughed and said, I just love the name "Goddess of the Moon" lets plant them. Went to Costco for more Envy Apples almost sold out at our price of $3.99. Have a great weekend.
Great! Fun! You’re gonna have a great garden!
Can you tell us what your ground cover is between your raised beds and so on? And did you put a fabric covering underneath?
Thank you! Mary W
Hi Carter,
Looks like you've got a wonderful start to a beautiful successful garden in the works.
Since it hasn't been my best couple of years physically, I went crazy and ordered so many seedlings from Ellie's Eden through Azure, can't even remember how many LOL We will be picking up our order Wednesday. So, we'll pray and get busy. We now have a young man that helps us with all the lifting, shoveling etc. It'll all get done as I am having more good days than bad lately. HalleluYAH!
You look so cute in that hat! 🙂
♥♥♥
Yay, love your gardens Carter! Everything loves so lovely! I'm so ready to kick off this gardening year. Thanks so much for giving us a tour. ❤
I've been told to never plant tomato's and peppers in same place. Maybe move them on the opposite end? Your garden is very large. Love it! What are you supposed to do with the shallots? Mine look the same
Looks wonderful. I usually have a tan by this time of year from gardening. I’m in the high desert of Texas. This is my first year not doing a garden and I’m so bummed out. I’m going to clean everything out and give everything a rest this year. The rats and mice came out like crazy last year and we’re all in my garden. I’ve never, ever had that happen. I don’t want them getting into my house. I have 4 cats on my 2 enclosed patios! I’m going to enjoy watching your garden this year.
Great video , I laughed out loud when you said no one should be surprised I’ve grown too many , as I do it too … every year haha. I’ve just given away 2 trays of turnips and I still have way too many , got way more tomato plants than I need and I’ve just planted 90 potatoes … and there’s only 2 of us! 🤣 . I amended my soil in spring too.. had the stuff, just never got around to it, though to be fair it seems to have rained here since No November!
All the stem must touch ground while blooming. I had to keep piled dirt on stems to hold them. The blooms make roots. and peanuts. I tried to part down middle of plants. Go to Hoss tools university. They have a great peanut instruction video.
I saw a helpful hint to deter birds that I will try this year – chiffon fabric. It is cheaper than anything sold through gardening sites and comes in long lengths that may be a good option for the blackberry trellis. I have high hopes for my grape vine!!
My husband and I are trying to destroy the five vining blackberries in my patch. I cannot deal with anything except the upright variety. (Apache/apraho?) the triple crown vining berries produce beautiful berries, but are just too difficult to keep pruned. I am trying to stay covered up from the sun too, which is hard especially when it is hot. I love your garden beds!
your garden looks amazing! so looking forward to gardening this year. i had swiss chard growing as well but it didnt over winter, neither did my broccoli, or garlic. we will be growing pole beans and peas for the first time this year, so looking forward to that. are the black berries a cultivated variety with no thorns?
Biochar! I am trying for the first time this year. To charge mine, I first hydrated it with my good well water then added liquid fish fertilizer, some alpaca poo, liquid seed starting mix and worm castings. Still need to add some homemade compost and azomite. What did you charge yours with? Cheers 🎉
Parsley envy 😂
4 beds of garlic planted last fall. 2.5 beds of strawberries over-wintered as did the raspberries. Planted onions this weekend. Have a ton of seeds started, awaiting the garden in the cold frame – brassicas, lettuces, tons of pollinator flowers, tomatoes and peppers. Your garden looks so neat and tidy compared mine. I always wait to cut things back in the spring to leave something for bugs, birds, insects, etc. I try not to disturb the soil biology too much with digging, but had to get some Rose Gold potatoes in today as well. Thanks for the great content, Carter. Keep it coming! Cheers 🎉
Could explain please what some of the amendments you mentioned? I as a fellow Gardner have never heard of the ingredients you mentioned before.
Thanks so much my dear friend, for sharing your beautiful garden with us a beautifully put together garden tour. Hugs and kisses from Sandy and Debbie.
So much for reminding us to put a hat on before we go out into the garden to protect our skin
Everything looks great! I have all my plants under the grow light and am super excited! Here's to Garden 2024! Happy Gardening 🫑🌶🍅🍓🥕🌽🥒🥬🥦🧄🧅😀
Last year I bought fine mesh netting from Amazon and draped it along my blackberry rows and down to the ground. I have problems also with birds, especially crows😡. Then I sprinkled blood meal all around the edges of the blackberry rows to deter rabbits and other herbivores that have an aversion to the smell and taste of blood! You won't (or at least I don't) smell it but they do. It lasts through rain and watering as it gets into the ground. I learned this trick in my Master Gardening class here in WA state, where we do get quite a bit of rain at times. I've been doing this for about 20 years now and it appears to work for me, plus gives plants a good nitrogen boost! Happy gardening!😎🇺🇸
Hi Carter. What a beautiful start to your 2024 garden. Even though you didn’t do a full cleanup, your garden was already looking better than mine. 😂
I love how your incorporated your beds along the fencing. I bet it all looks wonderful when grown in.
Those healthy indoor starts will lead to abundance in the garden. Happy Growing.
Carter, I can’t find the link to the little plastic boxes you use for seed storage. They are the bomb. Can you send me the link?
Never mind. I found them. They’re half off!
Your garden is beautiful! We're getting our vegetable garden going here in Missouri, and making videos to share it all. Looking to connect with other gardeners to learn tips and share how it all turns out! 🙂
Where did you find those square garden hoops? I didn’t see them listed on your link of garden items. Thanks
Great garden!! May I ask where you live and what zone you are at? Happy Gardening!!
Where did you get your sun hat. We need one like that