Starting a veggie garden

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xxxxtom
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Starting a veggie garden

Post by xxxxtom »

This might be a open ended question,how best to start a veggie garden?
Go organic or no dig gardening or get some chemical fertilizers or find and plant easy and reliable plants?If so what are they?
Or do I copy the neighbours which is raised rows ( is it for good drainage) and plastic sheeting with holes in it (is that the same as mulching ) retains moisture and lowers weeds.
There's probably no simple answer or starting point but any info would help.
Cheers

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Re: Starting a veggie garden

Post by Zasso Nouka »

The world is your oyster Tom,

No need for chemical ferts though, you can buy chicken, cow and pig manure from your local garden centres in either powdered or pelleted form and is has generally been composted or fermented, still stinks and it will even have the NPK ratios on the sack. It's pretty cheap or if you have a farm locally you could enquire if they sell their manure. Generally a two ton truck load is around 3,000円 for composted cow manure but prices can vary, we actually get ours for free in exchange for an hour of English conversation once a week over Skype so you may be able to strike a deal of some sort with a farmer.

The black plastic mulch works well on a large scale but if you are doing a small plot and have the time to pull weeds it's not necessary, however it does keep the weeds down. Raised beds are great for anything growing through the rainy season as that's when the extra drainage really pays off but for autumn, winter and spring growing not really necessary.

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Re: Starting a veggie garden

Post by Zasso Nouka »

I should have mentioned cover crops/green manures yesterday. I remember you saying that you might not be at your new place all the time so some of these might come in handy if you are going to be away for a bit and don't want to leave the soil bare, I've included the Japanese names so you can order them online if you want to use them.

Sorghum - ソルゴー
One of our favourites, grows very fast and quickly smothers weeds, not many insects eat it so it tends to clear the soil out of cutworms and other soil pests. Also when incorporated back into the soil it breaks down very quickly putting a lot of organic matter back into your soil. You can grow it as soon as the weather warms up and chop it down once it reaches around a metre or two, will be killed by cold weather. Expect to pay around 1,000円 or less for a kilo of seed

Hairy Vetch - ヘアリーベッチ
A good winter cover crop when sown in the autumn and as it's a legume will put nitrogen back into your soil. If sown fairly thick it will smother weeds but it's not as effective as sorghum, however it will grow through the winter. Average price online is just over a thousand yen per kilo of seeds.

Italian Rye Grass - イタリアンライグラス
Another winter cover crop and quite good at suppressing winter weeds if sown early enough so that it gets established before the winter weeds get going. Again expect to pay around a thousand yen for a kilo.

White Clover - クローバー フィア
A good all year green manure or for use as a living mulch, although it will loose in a battle with grasses. Good for use around tall growing crops it does have a tendency to smother low growing ones. Adds nitrogen to the soil but is a little pricey at around 1,000円 for 500g.

There are others but that should get you started, a quick trip to your local taneyasan may work out cheaper as you won't have shipping charges to pay but some seed shops have rather unrealistic prices. Incorporating most of those cover crops back into the soil by hand could be hard going and much easier if you can borrow a neighbour's rototiller or you could cut them down at root level and use them as a mulch.

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Re: Starting a veggie garden

Post by xxxxtom »

Thanks ZN, it's a good starting point. I've lots to learn ,yesterday a neighbour was planting new chestnut trees and pruning some others and we were told we need to prune ours so my wife innocently said we would do it in spring and we were told it would be to late.
So we went to nafco bought a pruning saw and pruned our trees " job done".
As I said " I've lots to learn"
Cheers

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Re: Starting a veggie garden

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Get all your pruning done before the sap starts rising and diseases become active.

Your neighbours will be an invaluable source of growing information tailored to your area. We found ours to be only too willing to share their accumulated knowledge and seemed genuinely pleased to have someone to pass that information on to as none of their children went into farming.

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Re: Starting a veggie garden

Post by xxxxtom »

Got all the pruning done.
Thought I'd start on the vegetable garden, so I started turning over the soil it seemed like a good idea. I made 6 raised beds and thought it turned out OK. One of our neighbours came around for the first time with some fish as a gift. He noticed that I had started on the veggie patch and after sucking in his breath through his teeth he told me that I should have added manure to the soil.
We thanked him for his advice and the fish.
Around 30 minutes later we heard someone calling out. We went outside and found our neighbour with his K truck loaded up with bags of cow manure, ash , NPK fertiliser and black plastic which he had just purchased at Nafco for us.
He gave me my instructions on how to prepare the soil. So the next morning I was up early and finished by 8. At 8:30 the neighbour was down to give me a hand or supervise I'm not sure but to his surprise and approval the job was done.
ZN I wasn't planning on using NPK fertiliser but what could I do the neighbours kindness was really appreciated.
I have not put the plastic down .
I've been told to leave it until spring as the soil is to hot?
Cheers

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Re: Starting a veggie garden

Post by gonbechan »

xxxtom, you have found yourself one of the most marvelous (and sometimes irritating) things, a mentor.
Great source for information and possibly a very good, life-long friend.
This is also a great foot in the door should you want to apply for farmer license later.

It is wonderful to see you fitting into the community so quickly.

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Re: Starting a veggie garden

Post by Zasso Nouka »

xxxxtom wrote:One of our neighbours came around for the first time with some fish as a gift. He noticed that I had started on the veggie patch and after sucking in his breath through his teeth he told me that I should have added manure to the soil.
We thanked him for his advice and the fish.
Around 30 minutes later we heard someone calling out. We went outside and found our neighbour with his K truck loaded up with bags of cow manure, ash , NPK fertiliser and black plastic which he had just purchased at Nafco for us.
That is absolutely awesome Tom and one of the real treasures of countryside living, neighbours can be so kind. People will have heard on the grapevine that you've moved in and must have also heard that you are friendly and approachable so are willing to extend the hand of friendship. Little things like the gift giving when return from a trip somewhere or vegetables when someone harvests theirs are a lovely way to bind folk together and show appreciation of one's neighbours. Sounds like you've landed in a very welcoming community :thumbup:
xxxxtom wrote: ZN I wasn't planning on using NPK fertiliser but what could I do the neighbours kindness was really appreciated.
I have not put the plastic down .
I've been told to leave it until spring as the soil is to hot?
Well the fertiliser will provide a useful boost to you veggies while you build up the fertility of the soil and won't do any harm and at the end of the day it is a wonderful gesture from your neighbour so why not. Not sure if they mean the soil will heat up from the addition of the manure or if they mean it will be a little rich in Nitrogen from the manure and fertiliser and could burn any delicate roots on young transplants.

Ideally you'll have a seed shop nearby that raises young plants, then you don't have to faff around raising seedlings in a heated poly tunnel or waste most of a pack of seeds if you don't want several hundred cauliflowers or whatever. If you'd like some patty pan (scallop) zucchini I can send you a few seeds, the germination rate is quite variable as they are home made but you might get something.

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Re: Starting a veggie garden

Post by xxxxtom »

I have spent the weekend gardening mainly weeding I think I'd give you a run for your money ZN.
I planted the potatoes 7 weeks ago and they look pretty good to me any idea when I can eat them?
They are covered in ladybirds but I can't see any aphid's for them to eat so I'm hoping they are there because they have nowhere else better to be.
I prepared the soil as stated earlier I have just laid a thick layer of newspaper to stop weeds. To stop the newspaper blowing away and for extra fertiliser I put a bag of cow manure on each row.
I bought all the seedlings from the local farmers co op and planted them following a plant companion list for no other reason than it made sense
My next step is mulch.
I can hear cows mooing when the wind blows in the right direction from over the hill,so I'll go and see if I can't get some manure/ straw for the right price.
I've got a heap of ash should I throw some on the veggies?
Have I missed anything?
I'm clearing an area near our chestnut trees that I'll plant pumpkins, melons and corn.
I also have a nice sunny spot I am planning on putting a trellis to grow Raspberry's or blackberry's any suggestions?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers
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Re: Starting a veggie garden

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Looks like you'll have a nice crop of potatoes Tom. You should be able to harvest them just as the rainy season starts. If you leave them any longer then there is an increased risk of blight or some other fungal disease. Maybe the ladybirds have eaten all the aphids :D

From now until it starts getting cold again it's going to be a full time battle with the weeds I'm afraid, when summer is in full swing it's unbelievable the amount of growth they can put on. Seems like they are growing before your very eyes.

The ash should be good for your soil, don't know what ph you are dealing with there but it should help alkalize the soil a bit and will add minerals. Mind you if your soil has a lot of volcanic ash from Mt Aso it is probably very mineral rich already and should grow strong healthy vegetables.

We grow a native species of raspberry called Momiji Ichigo, it has yellow/orange fruit that are very tasty and sweet and harvests in May before the humidity and heat of summer really kicks in. We tried ordinary raspberries but in our location they didn't do very well as summer was too hot and humid for them, that's not to say they won't work where you are but here in Chiba it was a bit of a struggle.

Good luck with sourcing some cow manure, it shouldn't be expensive, around these parts a dump truck load of well matured manure will set you back around 3,000円.

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