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RE: Gardening: Compost for the Cabin Terrace Garden Beds
Looking pretty good.. Are you tihnking about taking any measures for pest control / animals eating the crop?
As time goes by the soil will probably get better i should imagine..
Great work man.
Thanks, I'm not too worried about pests so much with the tomatoes and peppers - the cucumbers should be ok too for now. Next year I'll be starting those crops in a greenhouse so they'll get protected that way - though i'm sure they'll develop their own set of bug problems, i'll most likely go with lady bugs if need be. The main crops I would worry about would be any of the lettuces, greens, root veggie tops, cabbage, etc - those i'll be covering with poly-clear plastic low tunnel row covers that i'll most likely swap out for but netting in the hot part of the summer to keep them cooler. I have a 100 ft x 10 ft wide roll of 8 mil poly plastic on hand, and two 10 ft x 50 ft wide rolls of netting on the way - deciding if I want to go with the rebar for posts and electrical conduit for row hoops, or if i'll try to make something with tripods lol :)
My experience has been if the soil is brought into balance, the pests and diseases disappear. Then there is no need for barriers or other remedies... Now is the time to start thinking about amending the soil and planning soil tests, to be done in November or the end of the growing season.
Food for thought...
The poly low tunnels are to help extend the growing season, help protect from wind, the odd hail storm, and the netting will act as a shade cloth to keep them cooler in the summer. I dont have a garden fence, so the covering will help prevent Rabbits from eating their favorite crops.
I agree, fencing of some sort is crucial to having undamaged crops. I thought I had read, in the response, a swap out for bug netting when it got hot. That was what I was responding to....