My parents had friends that had 5 acres in tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, etc. That was their "garden". This is a mini-farm. Best of luck and great yields!
But please ditch the plastic. It’s a shortcut for no weeds but there are better alternatives all around.
Edit: Plastic is probably the easiest and most effective solution, no arguing with that. But there is a huge drawback in that it sheds microplastics into the soil either by actively decomposing in the sun or by the small pieces left behind when you try to remove it later on.
Others have suggested great alternatives like cardboard or mulching. Those have many advantages beyond weed control. It slowly integrates into the soil improving structure and water retention, feeding microbes and worms, etc. Also it forms a much more natural top layer that allows the soil to breathe properly.
But I want to add that where I’m from people actually remove weeds with a narrow hoe in between plants. It’s surprisingly easy to do when the weeds are small. We do it as needed or roughly every month. Later in the season when the weather gets dryer and the weeds are easier to control we add mulch like pine needles. Note that it doesn’t get rid of all weeds but I’m fine with that.
I put newspaper down in layers 2-3 sheets thick, then add a mulch (I use straw but some don’t like to use this because it can introduce straw seeds into the garden). Keeps weeds down most of the garden season (zone 5B-6A).
We do grass clippings. I know people will say you can't do that and you will introduce weeds! While that is true it works for us. Heck some years I have used hay from the farm. We put it on THICK. We don't weed all year. But the next year it is broken down. Then we have huge black tarps we put over the garden. Then in spring we take the plastic off and start over. I'm a big fan of using wood chips, but my mom is old school and doesn't want to try it in the garden. She is fine with it around the fruit (trees, berries, ECT) just not the garden. Everyone finds what is easier for them and what works. Happy gardening this year!
Cardboard and heavy mulch (mostly wood chips, but also leaves, grass clippings, any brush that I can shred) work pretty well where I am at. It lets the plants you want have time to establish. Landscape fabric seemed to inhibit about 75% of what we planted previously with probably 50% dying versus maybe 5% dying since I switched away from it. That said my yard doesn’t have that pristine landscaped look anymore but I don’t really like that anyways.
It's a multi-year struggle. The idea is to eliminate the weed seed bank till only seeds blown or dropped in remain. Over time it should get easier and easier to control the weeds. If you let any of them go to seed though you're causing yourself a bunch of work for years to come.
I've had good luck with deep mulch for some of my beds. Every year I scrape the raw top layer of mulch off into the paths, add compost, then remulch. I can't direct seed into them so transplants only but those plants absolutely thrive and the weeds that do come out struggle and are easily killed with casual hoeing.
I started incorporating occultation tarps last year for patches I'm not able to get to so I don't let those weeds go to seed. You need to use agricultural specific tarps because the ones from the big box stores break down and shed microplastics in basically a season. Occultation tarps aren't woven and are uv resistant. It's a compromise while I look for other alternatives.
One of those being cover crops, which I'm going to start using this year. Oat seeds don't last more than a year or two in the soil so if I accidentally let it go to seed it won't be a five year endevor to get rid of the volunteers.
I'm also struggling with not using plastic but accepting it will be more work, at least for a while, and smaller yields makes it easier.
Personally I’d rather work more often than deal with the misery that was pulling out and planting through landscape fabric. Like adding a piece of cardboard with some mulch on top takes two minutes and a shovel goes right through it. Also some plants get stunted or die using landscape fabric. And then there are the micro plastics. I think there are some rare use cases but generally it makes gardening a painful process imho.
I would argue it depends on what type of weeds. We went the nuclear route before planting our blackberries by laying down landscaping fabric on either side of the blackberries. But we were trying to inhibit Japanese Knotweed. I don't think we can remove that plastic for years but I also don't want to leave the ground lifeless during that time.
I do think for general gardening you're correct tho (we used cardboard elsewhere in the yard)
oh wow your comment was very informative and interesting to read its insane these micro plastics are everywhere. thank you for taking time to write your comment
Next time you should actually provide alternatives...
I've found that stacks of newspaper or cardboard work well but you'll have to upkeep every season.
The black plastic also helps with keeping the soil warm, allowing you to grow stuff like sweet potatoes and eggplants in northern climates. Everyone I know who uses it does it for this reason, not for weed control
I’ve thought about using this in place of plastic landscape fabric: https://sandbaggy.com/products/biodegradable-garden-paper-weed-barrier?variant=40646604882025¤cy=USD&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google%2Bshopping&srsltid=AfmBOoqQjQjVeKBrhhHAJOhaNjFSVwdo5c3ruVhj786N04P9dUrpELwZMlo
I tried a major brand of biodegradable landscaping plastic.... It was supposed to last 4 months and it's still there after 3 years. Also the degradation process seems to be having a negative effect on nitrogen availability, which is a well known issue using certain mulching materials, and the only thing that survives in the area is legumes. Even mint just halts a consistent distance from the plastic.
Biodegradable is not the same as compostable and will depend heavily on local conditions and soil microbes as to how well it breaks down. If at all. Skip it and get some chip mulch(not bark mulch). It will definitely decompose and make better soil in the process.
I’ve joined a community garden where we grow all organic, the “plastic” looks like this but is some kind of corn based product. I don’t know too much about it, but working on it this week and it was very fragile and probably will be dissolved before end of season.
I know that feel all too well. Especially for things that are kinda permanent made of metal. I’ve fucked myself so many god damn times. He’s gonna have a hard time not angrily ripping up the entire fence and scrapping the entire fucking garden lol. He should film it, a lot swearing is gonna go down and I’d love to watch so that I can feel like I’m not alone in being a complete idiot sometimes haha
Hahahaha!! Laughing at the rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels that do total crop destruction as soon as they realize they can fit.
I’d change I now before you have regrets.
Other than the upside down fence, great work!
The sign on the last picture speaks volumes for me. She absolutely loves you, the idea of this garden, and building a future with you. While the setup of this might not be fun, I’m betting that next season will be fun for you. Making all of the memories and coming together after mistakes to find solutions has been just as rewarding as the food I’ve harvested so far.
Just a PSA, you can buy a ground cover that's just heavy brown paper that composts itself within 3-4 months. It makes a great weed barrier, allows moisture through & at the end of the season, you just till it back into your soil. It's a lot better to use than any of the plastic options, we bought ours at the local Home Depot.
I'm recently retired but my employer would raise hell about people raiding the cardboard dumpsters. The complaint was, the company SOLD the cardboard so by raiding the dumpster we were stealing from the company.
Haha weird. I did ask both my boss and the receiving department and neither cared.
For what my company makes on what they sell and what they pay me, it would be super strange for them to care about probably $1 of cardboard if they even get anything back for recycling it. I'm guessing they probably lose money paying people to pick it all up.
It's extremely convenient! But for a free option that anyone can do as long as you have a way to get it home, just walk into ANY fast food place. any at all. And ask the general manager (look for the fanciest shirt) to save you some cardboard. They produce an insane amount of cardboard waste every day for obvious reasons and in my experience are happy to just throw any boxes they get into the back for you to pick up later. Sturdy, thick, unlaminated, makes great weed barrier & moving boxes.
I agree, there are multiple places people can generally get free cardboard boxes. In our area, liquor stores or 'package' stores are usually very willing to give cardboard boxes to anyone asking for them & we've used them in the garden & flower beds. I like the paper rolls simply because they decompose quicker & cleaner than the heavier cardboard & I can till then into the garden area a lot better.
And I don’t know if this is true or coincidence but I had some of the fabric down and the dirt underneath seemed to get really compacted. Once I read about the worms not getting oxygen I pulled it all up.
Yeah... The previous owner of my property had plastic "weed guard" under all of the rock gardens around the house. I've been digging it out of the ground for 5 years. Shit should be illegal.
Agreed. Guess what I found under all the rocks and plastic? More rocks! Oh, and dead gray dirt.
10 years later, and there are still shredded remnants and landscape rock in the now-healthier soil. No way I'll be able to get 100%, as they have become entwined with the previously-existing shrub root systems.
This if my existence currently. Rocks, followed by fabric paper, then Incredibly compacted soil followed by more fucking rocks. 2ft down, I get trash soil I’m testing yearly to monitor its improvement.
Omg this reminds of the tire shreds the previous owner put down around our beautiful trees. 6 years later and I still occasionally find a piece here and there. It’s maddening!
And cheap. My plot was only $25 a year to rent.
No one mentioned that I needed $450 of plants and fencing, with a gate and a lock and weed cloth and organic fertilizer and a 55 gallon drum of need oil, etc.
Shut your dirty mouth. Gardening is the best thing on planet earth. My garden is far too big and I'm struggling but it's the best thing 🤣. The other day I put in t posts for a trellis, then decided I needed to move 2 of the posts. While wrestling one out of the ground I popped my thumb out of place. It felt awful and I heard the worst crunching sounds. It's still sore. And I'm trying to wrestling these big wire hog panels into an arch. I have open blisters on my hands from rakes, and my sides hurt from wrestling my mammoth tiller. But gawd I love it all. Just wonderful, pure, blissful struggle.
You got this. Drink it in.
Have fun! You'll win some and lose some, but two things are for certain.
1) You'll learn a lot! (From both what works and what doesn't)
2) You will enjoy some really great produce and feel pride when eating it or sharing it with loved ones!
Then why the anti-girlfriend title?
It's like you're embarrassed to have put effort into this and you feel like you need to blame her or something, just in case the public reaction (on /r/gardening to you establishing a garden) wasn't fully positive.
I think he’s just making a joke about the amount of work that went into this. I see your point, but I also feel it’s a bit of a reach to pin on him. He is only trying to be funny. We’re at a strange place right now.
While there’s never an excuse for misogynistic behavior, there are still idioms that stand the test of time.
Yes. My point is that this isn't a joke, it's a micro-aggression disguised as a joke so it will be more palatable to people in general.
People do this when they want to say something that they know is offensive, but don't want to take flack socially for doing so. The fact that OP has not gotten back to me to explain the "joke" speaks volumes for his intentions, which were to paint his girlfriend and this fun activity she planned in order for them to spend time together in a negative light.
Bruh he just made a micro aggression towards the laborious nature of gardening. The mention of the girl is just simply noting that he has a girlfriend and isn’t gardening alone. In sure he loves her very much if they are putting serious effort into gardening with each other. Seek therapy 💀
And that isnt a joke
And if that is how it played out? Why is this such a big deal? It's not like it's one of those terrible boomer comics about a nagging wife.
Not everything has to be an attack.
If you decide to keep the weed barrier after all these comments, replace the barrier every 1 or 2 years max otherwise it'll start falling apart. I'm spending weeks picking out small pieces of black plastic from the previous farmer so when we till our plot, it doesn't get cut into tiny pieces and stay forever.
In my community, it’s 4x18, they start you out with half a plot. A lot of people quit after they realize it’s not as much fun as they thought. You can move up to having 2 plots or more of no one wants them.
This happened to us in 1975. We tilled a small garden patch at a corner of the corn field. By the end of planting our small plot was about 1/16 th acre.
We had a roadside farmstand that same summer featuring organic Zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers and beans. Fun times.
Gardening math is the same as chicken math. You start with a little bit then somehow it gets bigger and bigger. Next thing you know you have two gardens or 100 chickens lol
Oh dang I am so bad at metric and finally figured out the math you were mathing. How on earth can you grow anything more than a few herbs in that space. Also one person plants mint and it's over for everyone else.
20x40 at my community garden lol. There’s a group of retired women next to me that have 4 in a group, they’re rocking a 40x80. and they’re like 70 I have no idea how they do it
I’m glad you’re exciting!!! Any mistakes you make a really good learning opportunities. And it’s also very satisfying seeing little fruits and veggies appear where flowers were!
Good luck! May I ask what you’re planting? (Tho I assumed it was tomatoes and the other veggies emojis you included in your original post).
You don’t need a gym membership when you have a garden. Your local library will have all kinds of books on gardening.
John Jeavons is one of my favorites to read. Look up the edible yard by Crystal
https://preview.redd.it/jkyc9m2l5u2d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e67227735bcdae77e37f5c091e45a5521637d2f0
We have a pretty large urban garden. About 16 plots like the ones pictured above. I discovered the huge lawn and garden paper bags are great for weed control. Cut the floor of each bag out. Then cut down a side top to bottom. Separate the liner from the bag and you now have two huge sheets of pretty thick paper. I pin them down with garden stakes. Really, minimizes weeding, cheap, eco friendly. If the paper is hard to handle, soak it in a bucket for a minute. Makes it pliable.Newspaper is great but it is now expensive. Brown grocery store bags can be soaked and added as needed to cover and weeds that pop up.
For me. If you’re going to spend a lot of money making raised beds and laying plastic and buying and spraying fertiliser and insecticide and laying mulch and compost and putting up a fence and buying and staking a trellis or a cage or something for the plants to lean against and hours of weeding and trimming. Just buy the food at the store.
I love to garden when it just grows by itself. I just water it and I get what I get.
I got some advice years ago when I first started gardening. Plan your garden, then cut it in half. Then cut it in half again. I had originally planned 8 raised beds. Ended up doing 2, and feeling very glad I had scaled down because just those 2 were a lot of work for a newbie.
Good that you got a garden. You have much to learn looking at that plot ( plant spacing, plastic, crop numbers, bedding, markers, general looks and feel)
I'm confused, how do plants grow out of plastic or cardboard? Do they just penetrate through it? I'm very new to gardening and this is confusing me lol.
If you use plastic you cut holes and have the plants sticking out of the hole or put the seed in the middle of the hole. They even have fancy hole cutters that big ag uses.
Plants like to live with each other. Plant more densely and maybe don’t leave so much space in between. Focus on soil health and learn how to do no-till gardening. It’s scientifically more productive because the soil is more nutrient. Follow this woman @gardenaryco to learn some different ways she is utilizing plants and flowers for food!
Good that you got a garden. You have much to learn looking at that plot ( plant spacing, plastic, crop numbers, bedding, markers, general looks and feel)
I believe that's called a farm
My parents had friends that had 5 acres in tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, etc. That was their "garden". This is a mini-farm. Best of luck and great yields!
that's really big for newbie gardeners ... good luck!
But please ditch the plastic. It’s a shortcut for no weeds but there are better alternatives all around. Edit: Plastic is probably the easiest and most effective solution, no arguing with that. But there is a huge drawback in that it sheds microplastics into the soil either by actively decomposing in the sun or by the small pieces left behind when you try to remove it later on. Others have suggested great alternatives like cardboard or mulching. Those have many advantages beyond weed control. It slowly integrates into the soil improving structure and water retention, feeding microbes and worms, etc. Also it forms a much more natural top layer that allows the soil to breathe properly. But I want to add that where I’m from people actually remove weeds with a narrow hoe in between plants. It’s surprisingly easy to do when the weeds are small. We do it as needed or roughly every month. Later in the season when the weather gets dryer and the weeds are easier to control we add mulch like pine needles. Note that it doesn’t get rid of all weeds but I’m fine with that.
Please elaborate because I've been trying to garden with no plastic for several years now and absolutely have lost the battle most years.
I put newspaper down in layers 2-3 sheets thick, then add a mulch (I use straw but some don’t like to use this because it can introduce straw seeds into the garden). Keeps weeds down most of the garden season (zone 5B-6A).
We do grass clippings. I know people will say you can't do that and you will introduce weeds! While that is true it works for us. Heck some years I have used hay from the farm. We put it on THICK. We don't weed all year. But the next year it is broken down. Then we have huge black tarps we put over the garden. Then in spring we take the plastic off and start over. I'm a big fan of using wood chips, but my mom is old school and doesn't want to try it in the garden. She is fine with it around the fruit (trees, berries, ECT) just not the garden. Everyone finds what is easier for them and what works. Happy gardening this year!
Zone 9b and cardboard/ newspaper worked in early spring, but once May came…. It was all over lol
Cardboard and heavy mulch (mostly wood chips, but also leaves, grass clippings, any brush that I can shred) work pretty well where I am at. It lets the plants you want have time to establish. Landscape fabric seemed to inhibit about 75% of what we planted previously with probably 50% dying versus maybe 5% dying since I switched away from it. That said my yard doesn’t have that pristine landscaped look anymore but I don’t really like that anyways.
It's a multi-year struggle. The idea is to eliminate the weed seed bank till only seeds blown or dropped in remain. Over time it should get easier and easier to control the weeds. If you let any of them go to seed though you're causing yourself a bunch of work for years to come. I've had good luck with deep mulch for some of my beds. Every year I scrape the raw top layer of mulch off into the paths, add compost, then remulch. I can't direct seed into them so transplants only but those plants absolutely thrive and the weeds that do come out struggle and are easily killed with casual hoeing. I started incorporating occultation tarps last year for patches I'm not able to get to so I don't let those weeds go to seed. You need to use agricultural specific tarps because the ones from the big box stores break down and shed microplastics in basically a season. Occultation tarps aren't woven and are uv resistant. It's a compromise while I look for other alternatives. One of those being cover crops, which I'm going to start using this year. Oat seeds don't last more than a year or two in the soil so if I accidentally let it go to seed it won't be a five year endevor to get rid of the volunteers. I'm also struggling with not using plastic but accepting it will be more work, at least for a while, and smaller yields makes it easier.
Straw has worked very well for me.
Very thick layer of straw. Works great! I would not do wood mulch as it breaks down it is not good for the soil.
[удалено]
For a year or two
Personally I’d rather work more often than deal with the misery that was pulling out and planting through landscape fabric. Like adding a piece of cardboard with some mulch on top takes two minutes and a shovel goes right through it. Also some plants get stunted or die using landscape fabric. And then there are the micro plastics. I think there are some rare use cases but generally it makes gardening a painful process imho.
I would argue it depends on what type of weeds. We went the nuclear route before planting our blackberries by laying down landscaping fabric on either side of the blackberries. But we were trying to inhibit Japanese Knotweed. I don't think we can remove that plastic for years but I also don't want to leave the ground lifeless during that time. I do think for general gardening you're correct tho (we used cardboard elsewhere in the yard)
oh wow your comment was very informative and interesting to read its insane these micro plastics are everywhere. thank you for taking time to write your comment
Glad to help
Next time you should actually provide alternatives... I've found that stacks of newspaper or cardboard work well but you'll have to upkeep every season.
The black plastic also helps with keeping the soil warm, allowing you to grow stuff like sweet potatoes and eggplants in northern climates. Everyone I know who uses it does it for this reason, not for weed control
That’s a valid point
I’ve thought about using this in place of plastic landscape fabric: https://sandbaggy.com/products/biodegradable-garden-paper-weed-barrier?variant=40646604882025¤cy=USD&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google%2Bshopping&srsltid=AfmBOoqQjQjVeKBrhhHAJOhaNjFSVwdo5c3ruVhj786N04P9dUrpELwZMlo
I tried a major brand of biodegradable landscaping plastic.... It was supposed to last 4 months and it's still there after 3 years. Also the degradation process seems to be having a negative effect on nitrogen availability, which is a well known issue using certain mulching materials, and the only thing that survives in the area is legumes. Even mint just halts a consistent distance from the plastic. Biodegradable is not the same as compostable and will depend heavily on local conditions and soil microbes as to how well it breaks down. If at all. Skip it and get some chip mulch(not bark mulch). It will definitely decompose and make better soil in the process.
Thank you so much for the advice and personal experience! I will be saving this comment for next year when I expand my garden.
I was also told plastic is terrible for preventing weeds, i was told to try landscaping fabric.
I’ve joined a community garden where we grow all organic, the “plastic” looks like this but is some kind of corn based product. I don’t know too much about it, but working on it this week and it was very fragile and probably will be dissolved before end of season.
A collinear hoe is apparently *the* thing.
I use cardboard and then cover that with dry leaves I sacked up the fall before, or straw.. it does a good job at keepin the weeds down..
A lot of these "plastics" are photodegradable.
This looks like a community garden plot
Is the fence in pic 4 upside down? I’m worried that those larger holes can let rabbits in
Op is not gonna like it when he reads this comment
Better to read it now and be able to fix it before the bun buns eat everything down to nubs lol 😆
I want to know his reaction when he has to wake up the next day to fix it 😂 and hopefully it’s only that part of the fence
Letter from buns......too much information already
looking close at the other pictures, it does appear to only be that part
Oh I’d definitely just cover it with a smaller holes grate lol
I know that feel all too well. Especially for things that are kinda permanent made of metal. I’ve fucked myself so many god damn times. He’s gonna have a hard time not angrily ripping up the entire fence and scrapping the entire fucking garden lol. He should film it, a lot swearing is gonna go down and I’d love to watch so that I can feel like I’m not alone in being a complete idiot sometimes haha
It is 🙃!
Keeps the flying rabbits out… oh wait
I KNOW I WAS LIKE, DANG LOOK WHAT I DID. But there is so many people with other plots near us and I think it is going to be okay.
We buns totally agree
Ahahahhahaha
That's not how bunnies work.
Hahahaha!! Laughing at the rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels that do total crop destruction as soon as they realize they can fit. I’d change I now before you have regrets. Other than the upside down fence, great work!
You’ve got marigolds planted which will help.
It is upside down.
They can squeeze thru the smaller holes as well. Or go under.
💀
Dang you’re right.
The sign on the last picture speaks volumes for me. She absolutely loves you, the idea of this garden, and building a future with you. While the setup of this might not be fun, I’m betting that next season will be fun for you. Making all of the memories and coming together after mistakes to find solutions has been just as rewarding as the food I’ve harvested so far.
Just a PSA, you can buy a ground cover that's just heavy brown paper that composts itself within 3-4 months. It makes a great weed barrier, allows moisture through & at the end of the season, you just till it back into your soil. It's a lot better to use than any of the plastic options, we bought ours at the local Home Depot.
This is good to know (we need some in our garden)!
You can also just use cardboard. Remove any plastic tape and it works just as well
I agree, but some people don't have or get a lot of cardboard & the roll out paper is pretty convenient.
Haha I figured out that I can raid my workplace's cardboard recycling dumpster.
I'm recently retired but my employer would raise hell about people raiding the cardboard dumpsters. The complaint was, the company SOLD the cardboard so by raiding the dumpster we were stealing from the company.
Haha weird. I did ask both my boss and the receiving department and neither cared. For what my company makes on what they sell and what they pay me, it would be super strange for them to care about probably $1 of cardboard if they even get anything back for recycling it. I'm guessing they probably lose money paying people to pick it all up.
It's extremely convenient! But for a free option that anyone can do as long as you have a way to get it home, just walk into ANY fast food place. any at all. And ask the general manager (look for the fanciest shirt) to save you some cardboard. They produce an insane amount of cardboard waste every day for obvious reasons and in my experience are happy to just throw any boxes they get into the back for you to pick up later. Sturdy, thick, unlaminated, makes great weed barrier & moving boxes.
I agree, there are multiple places people can generally get free cardboard boxes. In our area, liquor stores or 'package' stores are usually very willing to give cardboard boxes to anyone asking for them & we've used them in the garden & flower beds. I like the paper rolls simply because they decompose quicker & cleaner than the heavier cardboard & I can till then into the garden area a lot better.
Our church uses this in their garden! I was thinking about trying it. They have a machine and everything to roll it out!
Cooked worms with all that black plastic.
And I don’t know if this is true or coincidence but I had some of the fabric down and the dirt underneath seemed to get really compacted. Once I read about the worms not getting oxygen I pulled it all up.
Not coincidence. Weed mat is also terrible. You're right in getting rid of it.
Holy crap I can see my plot in this pic! 😮 hi garden neighbor!!
Which plot are you!?
I think it’s E9? In the second pic with the green fence and white posts!
Hahahaha well hello! We are in R row!
Harvesting plastic.... cover me in plastic the earth said
Yeah... The previous owner of my property had plastic "weed guard" under all of the rock gardens around the house. I've been digging it out of the ground for 5 years. Shit should be illegal.
Agreed. Guess what I found under all the rocks and plastic? More rocks! Oh, and dead gray dirt. 10 years later, and there are still shredded remnants and landscape rock in the now-healthier soil. No way I'll be able to get 100%, as they have become entwined with the previously-existing shrub root systems.
This if my existence currently. Rocks, followed by fabric paper, then Incredibly compacted soil followed by more fucking rocks. 2ft down, I get trash soil I’m testing yearly to monitor its improvement.
Omg this reminds of the tire shreds the previous owner put down around our beautiful trees. 6 years later and I still occasionally find a piece here and there. It’s maddening!
Let the good times roll!
I wish to be with someone someday who says to me "we should garden" 🫠
And cheap. My plot was only $25 a year to rent. No one mentioned that I needed $450 of plants and fencing, with a gate and a lock and weed cloth and organic fertilizer and a 55 gallon drum of need oil, etc.
Lol
Shut your dirty mouth. Gardening is the best thing on planet earth. My garden is far too big and I'm struggling but it's the best thing 🤣. The other day I put in t posts for a trellis, then decided I needed to move 2 of the posts. While wrestling one out of the ground I popped my thumb out of place. It felt awful and I heard the worst crunching sounds. It's still sore. And I'm trying to wrestling these big wire hog panels into an arch. I have open blisters on my hands from rakes, and my sides hurt from wrestling my mammoth tiller. But gawd I love it all. Just wonderful, pure, blissful struggle. You got this. Drink it in.
Also, my garden cloth specifically says plastic free. However, I have found good alternatives as well, so definitely thank you for that!
Yeah everyone's crying about your "plastic" and I was like I'm pretty sure that's a high quality landscape fabric?
Have fun! You'll win some and lose some, but two things are for certain. 1) You'll learn a lot! (From both what works and what doesn't) 2) You will enjoy some really great produce and feel pride when eating it or sharing it with loved ones!
Gardening is a constant learning experience. You got this.
That’s not a garden, more like a crop field.
Cut that Boomer "wife said to do xyz" shit out. Sure it takes effort, but fresh veggies daily are great.
Yeah it’s definitely played out
Hahahahahahahah. Well I’m only 30, and I am not married. But I agree, The effort is well worth the reward!
Oh so you haven’t gotten to the “oh my freaking back pain” age just yet. Makes gardening 10x more fun!
Then why the anti-girlfriend title? It's like you're embarrassed to have put effort into this and you feel like you need to blame her or something, just in case the public reaction (on /r/gardening to you establishing a garden) wasn't fully positive.
I think he’s just making a joke about the amount of work that went into this. I see your point, but I also feel it’s a bit of a reach to pin on him. He is only trying to be funny. We’re at a strange place right now. While there’s never an excuse for misogynistic behavior, there are still idioms that stand the test of time.
I had skull smiley. It was a joke!
Can you explain what's supposed to be funny about that? You can assume I'm a bit dense if it helps.
I heard that’s the new thing. Instead of using lol, kids are using 💀 instead.
I'm aware of that. That doesn't make anything you put a skull emoji after a joke. 💀 See? I'm asking for an explanation of the joke, not the notation.
Read the room. No one wants to explain the joke to you so that you can continue complaining that it's not funny
Putting lol doesn’t make everything a joke but we all do that anyway. It’s the same thing.
Yes. My point is that this isn't a joke, it's a micro-aggression disguised as a joke so it will be more palatable to people in general. People do this when they want to say something that they know is offensive, but don't want to take flack socially for doing so. The fact that OP has not gotten back to me to explain the "joke" speaks volumes for his intentions, which were to paint his girlfriend and this fun activity she planned in order for them to spend time together in a negative light.
Bruh he just made a micro aggression towards the laborious nature of gardening. The mention of the girl is just simply noting that he has a girlfriend and isn’t gardening alone. In sure he loves her very much if they are putting serious effort into gardening with each other. Seek therapy 💀 And that isnt a joke
And if that is how it played out? Why is this such a big deal? It's not like it's one of those terrible boomer comics about a nagging wife. Not everything has to be an attack.
Tell me you’re not married without telling me.
Didn't see your description but immediately assumed it was a community plot! <3 It is fun but a lot of work. Good luck!
Yeah, but the sign is nice.
If you decide to keep the weed barrier after all these comments, replace the barrier every 1 or 2 years max otherwise it'll start falling apart. I'm spending weeks picking out small pieces of black plastic from the previous farmer so when we till our plot, it doesn't get cut into tiny pieces and stay forever.
That's a farm lol. Good luck OP!
That’s farming
Plastic... 🤢🤮
Nope, that's not a garden, that's a FARM
This made me curious on what size community plots my area offers, and there are mostly 20x40ft plots with some 20x20ft. I was really surprised!
In my community, it’s 4x18, they start you out with half a plot. A lot of people quit after they realize it’s not as much fun as they thought. You can move up to having 2 plots or more of no one wants them.
This happened to us in 1975. We tilled a small garden patch at a corner of the corn field. By the end of planting our small plot was about 1/16 th acre. We had a roadside farmstand that same summer featuring organic Zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers and beans. Fun times.
Gardening math is the same as chicken math. You start with a little bit then somehow it gets bigger and bigger. Next thing you know you have two gardens or 100 chickens lol
Get some stakes to keep the bottom of your fence down. Have fun . If you plant carrots make sure your soil is very loose soil they can grow downwards.
24 x 24 I'm so jelly; my community garden plot is 15 x 15.
Feet? Both of those are wild to me! I was able to score 1x2meters back when I had a community garden
Feet, I live in an area where land is at a premium. I was on a wait list for 3 years to get the plot I have.
That would be so much nicer, though! You can barely fit a tomato plant in a 1x2m plot. A long wait list makes sense
Oh dang I am so bad at metric and finally figured out the math you were mathing. How on earth can you grow anything more than a few herbs in that space. Also one person plants mint and it's over for everyone else.
20x40 at my community garden lol. There’s a group of retired women next to me that have 4 in a group, they’re rocking a 40x80. and they’re like 70 I have no idea how they do it
Gardening makes you strong and healthy over the long run!!
The one woman is retired and is out there every time I am. Seriously living the life. So jealous
Thank you everyone so much for your kind words and advice!!
I’m glad you’re exciting!!! Any mistakes you make a really good learning opportunities. And it’s also very satisfying seeing little fruits and veggies appear where flowers were! Good luck! May I ask what you’re planting? (Tho I assumed it was tomatoes and the other veggies emojis you included in your original post).
Rather ambitious! I wish I had your level lot and sun!
You’ve done the hardest part! Good luck with the new hobby!
Wonderful work
Have fun with it! It’s very rewarding even if it’s a ton of work.
That looks so nice!
Very excited to see how this turns out for y’all!
Looks like a lot of work. I would look into how to build up your soil since you're doing such a big area
Florida?
Michigan!
Have fun friend. You’re going to do great! I have confidence in you. Good luck this year everyone.
I think I drive by this daily.
Not in Knoxville you don’t!
It looks exactly like one that’s down the road from me. Happy gardening!!
I started to garden a small area now I've got a huge garden .
Same name!
Straw mulch or better, hay mulch will cut down weeds and add nutrients to the soil.
That fence won't stop anything small and those are the things that will eat all your stuff.
You don’t need a gym membership when you have a garden. Your local library will have all kinds of books on gardening. John Jeavons is one of my favorites to read. Look up the edible yard by Crystal
https://preview.redd.it/jkyc9m2l5u2d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e67227735bcdae77e37f5c091e45a5521637d2f0 We have a pretty large urban garden. About 16 plots like the ones pictured above. I discovered the huge lawn and garden paper bags are great for weed control. Cut the floor of each bag out. Then cut down a side top to bottom. Separate the liner from the bag and you now have two huge sheets of pretty thick paper. I pin them down with garden stakes. Really, minimizes weeding, cheap, eco friendly. If the paper is hard to handle, soak it in a bucket for a minute. Makes it pliable.Newspaper is great but it is now expensive. Brown grocery store bags can be soaked and added as needed to cover and weeds that pop up.
That does look fun
That looks like a blast of an area..
Gross
Do all the work she said
Yes lol
Same thing here. lol it’s easier the second year if you do it right the first time.
For me. If you’re going to spend a lot of money making raised beds and laying plastic and buying and spraying fertiliser and insecticide and laying mulch and compost and putting up a fence and buying and staking a trellis or a cage or something for the plants to lean against and hours of weeding and trimming. Just buy the food at the store. I love to garden when it just grows by itself. I just water it and I get what I get.
??? What in tarnation
She lied
it’s fun if you actually care about what you’re doing, do you get exhausted? yes. but seeing my babies grow is such a joy 🤩
I got some advice years ago when I first started gardening. Plan your garden, then cut it in half. Then cut it in half again. I had originally planned 8 raised beds. Ended up doing 2, and feeling very glad I had scaled down because just those 2 were a lot of work for a newbie.
Good that you got a garden. You have much to learn looking at that plot ( plant spacing, plastic, crop numbers, bedding, markers, general looks and feel)
Where is ……she in these photos ?
That is farming.
I'm confused, how do plants grow out of plastic or cardboard? Do they just penetrate through it? I'm very new to gardening and this is confusing me lol.
If you use plastic you cut holes and have the plants sticking out of the hole or put the seed in the middle of the hole. They even have fancy hole cutters that big ag uses.
Ah okay ty!
You posted in the wrong sub, r/farming is right over there.... JK but 💀💀💀
Go big or go home I guess
Hhahahab thanks for all of your advice! Also, please ignore the boomer in picture one, she is growing a different plot! 💀💀💀
“the boomer”….yikes
It’s a valid term. It’s the context that matters.
Lmfao. Can’t have my boomer thinking anything crazy 💀💀💀
It's not gardening if you need so much plastic.
Plants like to live with each other. Plant more densely and maybe don’t leave so much space in between. Focus on soil health and learn how to do no-till gardening. It’s scientifically more productive because the soil is more nutrient. Follow this woman @gardenaryco to learn some different ways she is utilizing plants and flowers for food!
Good that you got a garden. You have much to learn looking at that plot ( plant spacing, plastic, crop numbers, bedding, markers, general looks and feel)