I think it would be good to contact the county extension office. They should have funding/grants available and the expertise to help us get set up.
The fundraising committee has this on their radar.
1 Like
Lol thanks for the reminder, we bought our house last spring and I need the utilities marked.
Hate to hit a sewer line while I’m digging my tomato holes.
1 Like
The tomatoes probably wouldn’t mind.
1 Like
Wife will LOL!
Fortunately this year I may have a little extra help from one of the grandkids.
Who starts from seed and when do you typically start them?
There is a huge debate in the garden communities weather to till every year or not I personally do not I only till to develop an area then I spread fertilizer to boost growth if you deep till you break up and destroy micronutrients and microbes and other micro stuff that is good for growth.
Also like doing gardening in 5 gallon buckets or pots I still got a few pepper plants growing in bedroom from last season and yes I’m still eating peppers off it.
we grew an avocado from store seed too lol
We usually start from seed, then neglect them and then buy seedlings.
We are moving from the hard clay that we have to raised beds. We buy wooden boxes that we find around various places (Yard, Re-Use it Center), and fill them with dirt from Mount Goad (the leftovers from when they did some foundation work before we could move in). We’ve found that raised bed gardening is MUCH better. We use a mix of regular soil, peat moss, and compost.
The newest experiment is that we are going to move our asparagus. We plan on getting goats in the spring, and the goat yard is right where we thought the garden was going to be - so we planted asparagus three years ago. We moved the garden, so now we have this asparagus field in the middle of nowhere on our land.
My yearly tradition is to sit down with the seed catalogs (and now hatchery ones too) and dream about what I should plant. Looking at all that I marked, I have come to two conclusions (a) I need more land, and (b) I may have a problem.
Also, we found that we take better care of our plants if we can see them as we walk from the house to the car.
See my raised beds: https://accidentalhomesteader.blog/2019/05/16/lots-going-on/#more-1519
2 Likes
LOL!
I’ve been there too.you should look up spargel. The germans can’t get enough somehow.
1 Like
And I’d be down with a seed exchange. Looking at my stores today.
2 Likes
I’ll be starting my tomatoes in a few weeks, I’m willing to start some extras if we set up a seedling exchange in April-may? When is a good time to exchange seedlings?
I’m more likely to be successful at a seed exchange. We tend to kill seedlings. I could do any Sunday this month, so it could be before you start your seedlings.
Anyone else besides James and I interested?
I have started tomatoes from seed indoors as early as January, for later transplant outside. And directly in the ground as late as middle of May. Really the soil temperature controls this and I would highly recommend not putting tomato plants where the soil temperature is not yet 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
1 Like
I’ve started them indoors. The hard part was remembering to water them. If all goes well I’ll post when my seedlings are ready and if anyone is interested we can strike a deal.
If all doesn’t go well I’ll get sidetracked and forget about them
1 Like
Also when transplanting with our kansas winds it is ok to plant a large portion of the stalk I usually bury over half of the plant!
Those fuzzy fur on stem will turn into roots.
I have had success both burying vert.or horz.
Sorry, I haven’t looked at the forum in a long while. I would love to garden at makeict new building.
1 Like
Hello!
James gave me the heads up that Make ICT was potentially planning to do something with all that new land you’re going to have. I’ve read through this thread to get myself up-to-date on the ideas so far (i sent a FB message directly to the Make ICT page and the person who responded directed me here).
I’m here specifically as a member of The Oasis Network (Wichita). We have a flower garden there that is mostly my volunteer project and something for our members to enjoy. Last year, we added 3 pallets with vegetables and herbs.
This year, we are looking to either end our produce gardening endeavor, or expand it and find a way to contribute the produce from the garden back to needy members of the Wichita community. We have one Master Gardener who works with the Sedgwick County Extension Office who is enthusiastic to be involved in a significant gardening project. I and a few others are as well. However, the small pallet garden at Oasis just isn’t cutting it, not to mention we have too much tree cover to produce worthwhile vegetables.
James showed me the new location and I asked him if there was a gardening group and/or plans.
Our Master Gardener friend told us about the national program Plant a Row, which partners with our local Kansas Food Bank. Multiple greenhouse/nurseries serve as drop off locations for the produce that they then deliver to the food bank to distribute. In 2018, approx. 65,000 pounds of food was grown and distributed locally through this program.
We would really like to make this a service project that grows food smartly and efficiently to directly combat food insecurity right here in our city.
Would members of Make ICT be interested in collaborating with us on this? Reading through the thread, I got the impression that many people were excited at the idea of a recreational flower/vegetable garden space to grow their personal produce out of. I think we could accomplish that, as well as have a specific plot dedicated to growing food for those that go without. Oasis has a small pool of labor and expertise to offer towards that goal.
8 Likes
This an interesting prospect.
FarmBot anyone?
I love this idea and think it would be great!
One of the groups at WSU were looking to do a farm like that where it also measured the water and the soil and would make amendments and water from the data.
1 Like