I may not be a certified farmer by the time this is over, but I’m going to attempt to grow a vegetable or two. And, I’m actually building the raised bed for my little garden.
image: Lazy Sunday Cooking
Lowe’s asked me to try one of the Craftsy videos now available on their site, and if this is successful, it should be a true testament to just how easy-to-understand the instructions really are. Want to try it with me? There are a couple of free courses (including the garden) available now.
The online class includes video instruction + printable lists.
Right now, I’m in the planning phase of gathering my supplies and deciding what to plant. I would be thrilled to be able to make a little salad from my efforts. I’ve also been researching about how to keep our deer friends from eating it. I’m fine with planting marigolds, but I draw the line at dirty socks or spreading “predator urine” as suggested by a couple of articles I’ve read. . .
Illustration by Melissa McFeeters
Any suggestions from you seasoned gardeners are welcomed. :)
Try bars of ivory soap to keep the deer away. I drill hole in each bar and put it on a stake and then put the stake next to whatever you don’t want them to eat (baby fruit trees in my case).
Well, that would smell better than dirty socks. Thanks :)
You will do just fine! I built a raised bed in our old house and raised lots of herbs – the kids used to run around with fennel or basil leaves hanging out of their mouths – hilarious! Lettuce is easy to grow as are red peppers and herbs. It will be lovely – because you did it and I’m pretty sure it’s impossible for you to do something that doesn’t look fab.
I just planted my first raised bed this year! While I don’t have a lot of qualified advice, I would encourage you to look into what plants do not grow well together so you might save yourself some frustration. My biggest payoff has been tomatoes. It’s so thrilling to pick a ripe tomato off the vine. :) After some research, I also decided to make my own potting mix using the recipe by themicrogardener.com. So far it’s been great. I also really wanted to compost so I could have my own worm castings. I didn’t want to invest in anything, so used a large pot I already had, some potting soil, both earthworms and red wigglers from my own yard, and I occasionally put kitchen scraps down under the dirt.
If you put a little bowl of beer level with the ground beside your basil, it will keep the slugs from eating it. For some reason, they love basil. You will probably have to do this two or three nights in a row, and any slugs you have will get drunk in the beer and drown. I know it sounds crazy, but it works. (That tip was one of our most popular blog posts – ever.) Go figure.
Drunk slugs = summer entertainment :)
I literally laughed out loud at the dirty sock and predator urine part; along the same lines, I think I have read that human hair can repel animals or pests (I don’t know which because it will never ever happen.) Anyway, so fun! I’m excited to follow along because I have always wanted to try raised bed gardening. Good luck! :)
Lowes sells Deer Stakes and they keep the deer away from our garden and flowers. You can also get them on Amazon, if Lowes is sold out, which is the case a lot at our Lowes.
Never heard of these…
irish spring soap! they hate it!
When I started my first kitchen garden 20 odd years ago the most interesting thing was that the children would eat anything they planted and harvested. Spinach , fresh peas/ mange tout Beetroot ( occasionally the golden variety) , spring onions , lettuce, purple sprouting broccolli, cabbage, courgettes(zucchini ?)Have absolutely no advice about deer apart from my sisters neighbour has a completely caged kitchen garden with doors and everything ! This also protects the brassicas from the pidgeons. Have fun!
I would ask your local Lowes about good soil to use! I think that makes a HUGE difference in the quality of the garden. The dirt we got this year is sprouting more weeds then last year and we went with a different company for dirt then when we did last year.
Tall fencing is the only thing that has kept deer out of our garden! I’ve learned that our Deer can easily reach over normal fencing or low growing plants to get to my tomato & other tall plants. This year, our friends are trying a mobile, vertical garden. They planted everything in containers. Wheel it out into the sun during the day & then inside at night. All in an effort to not “feed” the local deer!!!
I think ours might end up as a deer buffet…
You’ll be singing a different tune when the deer, bunnies and raccoons eat your entire summers work overnight.
My husband has always done the raised bed building, but we’ve had great success with this kind of gardening. It’s so fun and our kids love being involved with the planting, watering, and harvesting. There’s such a sense of satisfaction when the majority of your summer dinner is fresh from the vine. Also, I bet your boys would be happy to supply the predatory necessities ;)
That thought already crossed my mind ;)
I’m a newbie vegetable gardener myself (just started our last year) and absolutely love it – it’s something fun to work on with the kiddos and there’s nothing like a salad from the garden with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers! We have TONS of deer where we live and didn’t do anything but mesh fencing – they did get some of our tomatoes that were at the edge of the garden but everything else did just fine without resorting to predator urine :) I’m looking forward to following along with your new garden and picking up some tips!
Country Gardens, a BHG special interest publication, Summer 2015 issue, has an article beginning on page 60 about fending off deer in a Sturbridge Village, Chapel Hill, NC garden. Lots of good info about thwarting the critters. There is also a homemade deer repellent recipe. I subscribe to the magazine but you may be able to find it at a big box bookstore or home improvement center.
We created our first raised bed garden this year, too, inspired by a class I’m taking at Longwood Gardens. We enclosed ours with plastic fencing to keep out the bunnies, dog, and deer – so far our veggies have been growing beautifully! We have more lettuce than we can eat and are expecting broccoli and peas any day now. Happy gardening! http://daisydogdiy.com/2015/04/18/digging-in-the-dirt/
My parents have a serious deer problem. They sleep in the front yard and even come up on the patio to eat the plants and flowers. They’ve fenced, used the predator urine, even human hair and nothing works. However, in recent years they have noticed that purple flowers tend to be their least favorite. Now they plant mostly purple and still have some left at the end of the season.
I first read this and thought you meant your parents slept in their front yard. Ha!