2020 Garden Project ( SunnyVale Farms )

Seed2Need

Member
May 1, 2020
19
65
Hello all! Last year i grew in buckets and had a great time. So this year i decided to do a full garden. This is the first one i have ever attempted and i hope to have even better results. We did everything by hand with no machines. I completed it yesterday, so Yaa!!

Here is what i started with. This my back yard and it was stumped about 14 years ago and we have never done anything with it. It gets plenty of morning sun and receives it until night.

before.JPG

The ground here is really rocky and not much grows in the area i put the garden. These rocks and soil were removed from under the beds. Each bed is about 14 inches deep. It was a lot of days of moving rocks.

soil_rocks.jpg

Here is what we have created in this space. All of the wood i had already so i did not have to buy any at all. Also the space is laid out so i can expand the garden very easy.

  1. (3) 4X12X14 inch deep beds
  2. (3) 4X8X14 inch deep beds
  3. (1) 2X4X14 inch deep bed.

I have placed 2 types of soil or media in the beds. Most of the beds are done with with a soil mix from a local cannabis dispensary. The cost for them to de-root it is too much so i can get the soil for little to no cost. In addition i also gathered some coco fiber media from them. 2 of the larger beds have a coco end. So about 1/4 of the bed is coco and the other is soil. These are separated as well so they do not mix.

The areas between the beds and around is wood mulch. I received 10 yards of wood mulch for a low cost from a local tree trimmer. This is made up of ground up trees. No chemicals, and no foreign critters. So this will stop grass and weeds from invading my space.

I also have a rain barrel. I believe its 35 gallon. I still need to raise it up higher but will need to add blocks and even out the pad. I did run a hose from the house, under the mulch to the barrel so i may just fill it up. Eventually i want to move it by the shed and put a gutter on it to help fill. So this is a W.I.P. :) I have also a old swing i kept the frame of to grow some vine type veggies.


main_area_1.jpg

This area gets a good amount of sun and is in the back side of my land so its pretty secluded. Id like to put in a solar system for the shed and possible use it for more than what i do now. Maybe put in a pump for the rain barrel system, some small lights, and get some music.

main_area_2.jpg

I know i wanted to put some stuff directly in the ground and let it vine out. Like watermelons and maybe some pumpkins. Maybe a few other things. So i did these areas with a decent spreading space.

main_area_3.jpg

So all the soil has been flushing for a while, and im about 14 days from being able to use it. I do have some questions about what do add to the soil to improve the quality before i plant. I plan on burning some wood, and getting the ash to spread, i heard that's a good thing to do. And i am going to use my grass clippings for bed covering to prevent the soil from hardening and drying out too quick.

Should i get anything and put in it? Or should i just say run it this year and see how it goes, and then next season do something based off this years experience?

Im all for science, and im all for the experiment, but maybe there are some common things i'm missing as i am a new grower.

Thank you all! I hope to share more as this project progresses~!

Panda
 
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Sunshine

Organic Fanatic
Aug 7, 2017
3,814
7,150
Cool project Panda! Looks like you've made a great start. I'd consider getting some Down to Earth brand Organic All in One fertiliser (its on amazon but i cant embed link for some reason) to dig into the beds and maybe some of their (Down to Earth) Dolomite Lime.

I love the idea of upcycling the swing frame for runners! You've put in a lot of hard work and it looks like it's really taking shape. A little deck in front of that shed and it would be a fantastic spot for a couple of refreshing beverages and a joint while you watch over your crops.

I'm looking forward to following this project Panda, thanks for sharing and good luck with it. I'll be following along on your adventure!
 
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Seed2Need

Member
May 1, 2020
19
65
Thanks! I cant see the pictures in the post of what you put. Yes the swing frame i have twine to do the runs vertical from the lower bed. Yes i am out there a lot. Last year i was in the "Garden" twice a day to check on plants. Learned a lot of things along the way. So this year i tried to take that into account. For me the the goal is to do better. So for this years garden ill have some cannabis, some veggies and flowers.

Yes ill post updates every week or so as i know things move quickly. For those that have offered me some beans, ill make sure they are marked so you can see the progress of them. I also love seeds of all sorts since this is a full garden. I just received some pablo pepper seeds from a place called pex peppers. I cant wait to get these in the ground.
 
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Alphatoy

Humble Helper
Oct 7, 2018
1,974
3,911
?How many plants are you placing in each box outside they will be growing like trees tall and beautiful.. you sure have done a great job on your units is that a real or false well I see in the picture will be waiting for your updates. :mask:
 

Seed2Need

Member
May 1, 2020
19
65
?How many plants are you placing in each box outside they will be growing like trees tall and beautiful.. you sure have done a great job on your units is that a real or false well I see in the picture will be waiting for your updates. :mask:

Im still figuring out what to plant and where to plant. I read the article about mixing veggies, cannabis and flowers. So im figuring that out now. And its a false well. It covers my deep well so i dont get close to it with the lawn mower. i even just added mulch around and under it so i didn't have to weed wack it. :)
 

Alphatoy

Humble Helper
Oct 7, 2018
1,974
3,911
?with the forest the way I see it you will have to put some distractors around your garden I am sure you have some dear or wild animals around and they love cannabis and veggies I used to use pie tins to keep them away of my garden when I lived on the ranch just hang them in the trees and if you get good wind they work great :mask:
 

Canadan

Active Member
Jan 29, 2020
91
250
Nice Garden Panda ! I just put in a raised bed myself 5 x 10 and its a lot of work after the frame is built just putting in the soil I can't imagine making seven of them. I used 1 part composted well aged horse manure , 1 part spagnum peat moss , and builders sand . When I add my veggies I will give them a sprinkle of kelp meal and alfalfa as a top dress . Then I will periodically feed them a nice dose of aerated compost tea once or twice a month. Be careful using fresh grass clippings because when it decomposes it can really heat up your soil burning your plants and alfalfa will do the same thats why I use small doses at first . If you want to grow cannabis in the garden put them all in the same bed together but space them out 3' from each other believe it or not but the plants do communicate with each other. Good luck
 

Seed2Need

Member
May 1, 2020
19
65
Nice Garden Panda ! I just put in a raised bed myself 5 x 10 and its a lot of work after the frame is built just putting in the soil I can't imagine making seven of them. I used 1 part composted well aged horse manure , 1 part spagnum peat moss , and builders sand . When I add my veggies I will give them a sprinkle of kelp meal and alfalfa as a top dress . Then I will periodically feed them a nice dose of aerated compost tea once or twice a month. Be careful using fresh grass clippings because when it decomposes it can really heat up your soil burning your plants and alfalfa will do the same thats why I use small doses at first . If you want to grow cannabis in the garden put them all in the same bed together but space them out 3' from each other believe it or not but the plants do communicate with each other. Good luck

Do you think that i could offset the heat with additional water? or do you think hay is a better alternative? Maybe mulch?
 

Canadan

Active Member
Jan 29, 2020
91
250
Can't go wrong with straw and its cheap. Thats what I use be careful with hay because you will be introducing unwanted weeds into your raised beds depending on the type of hay you use. Straw is a great mulch Also I forgot to mention use worm castings for your aerated tea or the best compost you can find : 2 cups worm castings or compost, 1/2 cup unsulphured molasses, 3 Tbspoons of kelp meal to 5 gallons of rain water and bubble away for 24 hrs.Use immediately. A good website to research organic soil growing is KiS Organics and listen to some of the podcasts with Tad being the host if it very informative and Tad will answer your questions too
 

Seed2Need

Member
May 1, 2020
19
65
Yes, i have seen a few tea mixes and diy stuff. I was thinking of building a worm warm to help refresh the castings. Is anyone doing this? Id love to read a diy build worm farm.
 

Canadan

Active Member
Jan 29, 2020
91
250
Im using an old chest freezer for my red wigglers just got it started but I had started with a pound of worms in a wooden box I made 24 x 24 and 8 " deep with 1/4 " hardware mesh as a bottom and a wooden top with holes. Filled it with aged horse manure and kept it in my basement over the winter and moved them to my garage last week it gets cold enough to freeze the worms up in Ontario in the winter 40 degrees soil and your worms are dead and your castings are only as good as what you feed the worms. Malted barley ground up, cornmeal , whole wheat flour , ground up oatmeal, crushed egg shells, and neem cake . Mix a cup of each in a container and give the worms a quarter cup every few days along with water mellon rinds or banana peels any fruit that is not citrus because its too acidic for the worms. Lots on the internet about feeding worms and worm bins . If you get on the KiS Organics web site listen to Clackamass Coots podcast about vermicomposting I use some of his ideas for worm food
 

Jason

Well-Known Member
Mar 16, 2019
567
1,442
I also started a worm bin by researching on the internet. I found a friendly local gardener that shared some starter red wiggler compost worms. Made mine from a Heavy Duty plastic storage bin. Pretty simple and they have multiplied over time. I have still yet to make aerated tea but it's on my to do list.
 

Seed2Need

Member
May 1, 2020
19
65
Yes!! I did as well. I have the containers (4) of them so i can stack it. Ill post my DIY in anther thread when i build. I'm waiting on worms now. And yes, i did get the red wigglers as well.
 

Alphatoy

Humble Helper
Oct 7, 2018
1,974
3,911
?
I also started a worm bin by researching on the internet. I found a friendly local gardener that shared some starter red wiggler compost worms. Made mine from a Heavy Duty plastic storage bin. Pretty simple and they have multiplied over time. I have still yet to make aerated tea but it's on my to do list.
? I also have a worm farm but I use them for fishing :mask:
 


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