Somne woodworking .... some gardening...

That sure is "from the tree to the dinner table" approach:eek: Some year I would like some raised gardens for the ease of an old back:p Nice job John and nice project:thumb:
 
Great stuff John!:thumb::thumb:

All I managed this year was 1 green pepper and lots of grape tomatoes...they're still coming too. I left for a week that was suppose to be wet, but instead we got temps of over 100 and most plants got fried! I plan on expanding next year (I'll also will have someone water for me when I leave town. :doh:)
 
That looks great John. Very jealous of the beans. They look pretty good.

We've had a tough gardening year here. 90 day growing season, and coming from the midwest I need my homegrown tomatoes every year...

We put in 9 4'x8' raised beds a few years ago and I love gardening in them. This year we finally got a water line run out to the garden and have everything on it's own drip system.

We had several late hard frosts that made it hard to get anything growing this year. But things are looking ok for the tomatoes.

I need my BLT's, and I need them now! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
We're USDA 6a/6b. 4410 elevevation. Last frost is about mid june, first frost is mid september.

We put up the raised beds because we had to. No real dirt to grow things in around here, just too rocky. The raised beds were easy compared to digging the holes for the fence posts that go around them. I can't go outside without seeing at least 5 rabbits looking wistfully through the fence wanting to get at the plants. In fact we had a breach in the fence and some little rabbit was able to get in earlier this year and nailed a lot of the plants till we got the fence fixed.

Now I'm in a battle with the ground squirrels...

Thinking about getting a green house for next year so we can get an earlier start on things.
 
Brent, I applaud your efforts to grow anything where you are. A greenhouse would probably help a lot! Better start planning now...maybe you could buy one now and store it in the shed until you have time to put it up......oh wait....nevermind... :rofl::D:wave:
 
Not to hijack the thread, but here's a picture of what we are working with out here....

Simple 2x12 beds using metal straps to keep them together. I figure when they rot, we can easily build new ones...

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You guys got some great looking beds. I've been considering those myself. The ground is mostly clay here, so would probably bring in some garden soil anyway. I've got some flower beds I've managed to plant a few herbs in. Would help if I would remember to water, the only thing that survived so far is my basil. Will consider a drip system if I go with the raised beds.

Brent, I can see having issues with ground squirrels, but how do you keep the snakes out? ;) :D
 
Heck, if I could find any gopher snakes I'd do my best to catch them and put them in there! (And I'm extremely snake-o-phobic).

But honestly, this year is weird. I haven't seen a single snake yet. Lots-o-lizards, rabbits, ground squirrels, and sort of normal like squirrels.

I think there's so much snake food out there they just aren't roaming that much.

I used to have the garden on the same circuit as the trees, and that just didn't work out very well. We ran a water line out there and I hooked up a little battery controlled timer valve for the garden. During the hotter days, we actually have to water the garden twice a day, where folks in other parts might only need to water every 'x' number of days...

But while the plants are kind of small this year, there's a lot of tomatoes on them... :thumb:
 
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Very nice beds John. I think you were wise making them high and putting the seat around them. Thats a nice touch. Much more conducive to working on the planting and weeding when neccessary.

John you mentioned cost is significant but i see you had the wood so where was the big cost. Is there something i am not seeing that i should take note of?

I like the idea so much i might add it to our house too. We have such bad clay that the builder left behind. Dont know where the legal 3 inches of top soil is.

Brent cant you just put a cover over the whole lot for frost or is it so bad that it needs a proper greenhouse.

If the rabbits eat the veg then make them into stew. You surely got a critter gun no?
 
Brent cant you just put a cover over the whole lot for frost or is it so bad that it needs a proper greenhouse.

A cover over the whole thing would be kind of hard. Plus with the winds and heat around here when it is summer would make it a pain. A green house to get things started a month or two earlier would really do the trick though...

If the rabbits eat the veg then make them into stew. You surely got a critter gun no?

I can't walk out of my house without seeing a dozen rabbits. Most of them are still very small. But some of them seem to be fattening up nicely...;)

I did renew my hunting license a few weeks ago, so lets just say that once fall gets here, and these little guys get fully grown and fattened up, in the words of the immortal daffy duck, It's Wabbit Season...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-k5J4RxQdE
 
The garden looks great, John. I'm not much of a veggie eater, but I do like home grown tomatoes. At my last house I would plant 6 plants and end up with more than I could eat or preserve. I was always popular at the office when it was tomato season.

LOML has virtually no interest in growing her own food. (That would imply she was going to also cook food, which is not gonna happen.) As a result, I've not bothered to plant any tomatoes at this house. Yet. ;)
 
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