# How does your garden grow? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244 "2009-05-21T22:02:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/41 "2009-05-23T18:49:44Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > That, or you’re just being cautious in case of a late frost. I couldn’t do my herb garden until Monday, because there was a frost warning here for Sunday night. I like this explanation better. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Cream\_Conquest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@Ice\_Cream\_Conquest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Cream_Conquest)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/42 "2009-05-24T02:57:11Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Zucchini is a vegetable of mass destruction. > > One plant can feed your entire zip code. (Ymmv) That’s certainly true. I can either grow 1 plant and have too much zucchini, or put out a yard sign saying, “We accept zucchini” and have similar results. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/43 "2009-05-24T05:05:06Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > **Savannah** , have you ever tried moth balls around the edges of your garden? It seems pretty effective at keeping off the bunnies for us, and I’ve heard other people say those and strongly scented bath soap in a net bag is good for keeping away deer. Or if you had a weekend and were at all handy, I’ve seen people make what look almost like roofed dog runs out of 2x4’s and chicken wire. Most of them were on the order of 10’x10’, and some folks even terraced the ground inside because they didn’t have a flat spot to work with. > > Alternatively, I’ve seen little greenhouse kits that are essentially lean-to’s. They just go right on the side of the house and are really tiny. You couldn’t get much in one, but you could grow enough veggies for one or two people. All great suggestions–thank you! (The moth balls might keep the neighbour’s cats at bay, too.) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/44 "2009-05-24T15:35:25Z")
> [@Ice\_Cream\_Conquest](#): > > That’s certainly true. I can either grow 1 plant and have too much zucchini, or put out a yard sign saying, “We accept zucchini” and have similar results. I really like the sign idea. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/45 "2009-05-24T15:58:10Z")
> [@Ice\_Cream\_Conquest](#): > > That’s certainly true. I can either grow 1 plant and have too much zucchini, or put out a yard sign saying, “We accept zucchini” and have similar results. I’m looking to fill up some unused space in the garden. What other good high-yield crops are there? I like zucchini quite a lot, so a zucchini plant looks like a likely addition. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/46 "2009-05-24T18:29:28Z")
I’ve been doing mostly container gardening. So far I’ve planted: Thumbelina carrots (all eaten, and hardly worth it, they were so small) Radishes (on my fourth try, I finally got good radishes) Yellow wax beans, from seeds Roma tomatoes, still ripening Cat grass My only flowers got hijacked by [finches](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=517001). I’m looking to plant something in the bug-infested bed near my mailbox. I tried radishes there, but half got eaten to death and the other half came out tasting like burning. I’d like to plant something bug-resistant. (I’m not planning on using any insecticides or drastic measures to keep them out.) Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/47 "2009-05-24T21:12:04Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > All great suggestions–thank you! (The moth balls might keep the neighbour’s cats at bay, too.) I hope one of them helps. And if you still can’t grow veggies, our local Lowes has a lot of flowering plants that are labeled as “deer-resistant.” ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/48 "2009-05-24T23:20:15Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Re: composting. > > Every so often, go poor a beer or two on your pile and mix it up. > > The yeast in beer is what helps break down the compost pile. Can’t I just pour dry yeast on the pile, and wet it down? I’d hate to waste a perfectly good beer on my compost pile. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/49 "2009-05-25T11:29:03Z")
I finished planting this weekend. I have sweet corn, three kinds of tomatoes, three kinds of peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow summer squash, swiss chard, beets and scallions. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/50 "2009-05-25T11:46:35Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Can’t I just pour dry yeast on the pile, and wet it down? I’d hate to waste a perfectly good beer on my compost pile. You don’t _need_ yeast – if you want to rev up your pile, go find a bucket of cow or horse manure, as suggested above. If, however, you’ve got a few flat partial bottles of beer, like after a party or something, pouring it on the compost pile is a perfectly good thing to do with it. Experienced composters get used to throwing just about anything that’ll nutrients onto (into) the pile. The other day, I was defrosting frozen spinach to use in a pasta dish, so I put the strainer over a bowl, saved the lovely dark green water that drained off, added the tail end of a pitcher of iced tea that had been in the fridge too long, and poured that all into the pile. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/51 "2009-05-25T11:52:33Z")
Eh, I’m the only one who drinks beer around here, and I don’t particularly feel the need to rev up the pile. However, I have saved the cooking water from pasta, let it cool down, and pour that in the bin. I’ve developed the habit of cleaning out the fridge every Tuesday night, as our trash gets picked up on Wednesday morning, and so I look very closely at what I throw away. Last night, the corn husks and silks and cobs got thrown in the bin, as well as the corn boiling water, and the onion skins and roots. I’ll put some manure on the pile if I come across a free source. Everyone here wants me to pay for it. I can put newspaper in the bin, right? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/52 "2009-05-25T12:12:50Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I can put newspaper in the bin, right? The B/W sections only – color inks can have toxins – and make sure you shred it and fluff it (sic) before adding it – if it mats down, it will bring things to a crawl. Newspaper is an okay substitute for brown materials when you’re lacking them (e.g., in midsummer when you’ve got green yard waste coming out your ears but have used up the last of the brown leaves you bagged up last fall), but I generally just put my newspapers out for recycling. ETA: corncobs, though theoretically biodegradable, take for-freaking-ever to break down, so I personally throw them out as trash – ditto with pineapple skins and leaves. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/53 "2009-05-25T14:13:05Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I can put newspaper in the bin, right? Yeah, you can put pretty much anything that’s plant-based and not contaminated with toxins or oils in a compost pile. It’s the sort of thing that can mat down if you don’t handle it right–shred and fluff it as **twickster** notes, and keep it turned heavily and often–but it’s just as useful as shredded leaves. Or you can use it as mulch, either shredded or not. I like putting hugely thick layers of it or big cardboard cartons over the beds in late winter or early spring to smother out the early weeds that will take the place over by planting time. It’s also awfully useful for making new beds–just do the same thing in early fall and by spring it’s all cleaned up and ready to go. Or you can use it as bedding for your worm composter. Shred it into 1" strips, moisten it down, put it in a plastic tub with a loose lid, fluff it up, and chuck in some worms from the yard. Bury some kitchen scraps in every day or two. When the whole thing looks like dirt, pull out all your adult worms, make them a new newspaper nest, and start over. Dump the old bedding into the garden. Fine stuff. Most of the books and articles I’ve read say you need to buy special fancy composting worms, but further reading reveals that these worms are actually an invasive species, and if you let any of the eggs or whatever out into your garden they’ll outcompete your native crawlies. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/54 "2009-05-25T15:36:07Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Most of the books and articles I’ve read say you need to buy special fancy composting worms, but further reading reveals that these worms are actually an invasive species, and if you let any of the eggs or whatever out into your garden they’ll outcompete your native crawlies. I’m curious where you read that. From what I’ve read, the common earthworm is the invasive one (from Europe I think) and is capable of altering local ecologies, making the soil too alkaline, etc. The Red Wriggler, which is the popular composting worm I think you’re talking about, isn’t a soil-dwelling worm nor considered invasive, unless you’ve got tons of compost all over your yard. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/55 "2009-05-25T17:08:49Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I’m curious where you read that. From what I’ve read, the common earthworm is the invasive one (from Europe I think) and is capable of altering local ecologies, making the soil too alkaline, etc. The Red Wriggler, which is the popular composting worm I think you’re talking about, isn’t a soil-dwelling worm nor considered invasive, unless you’ve got tons of compost all over your yard. In the most recent issue of _Make_ is where I first found it, but a google search for “red wriggler invasive” turns up lots articles. Some list it as a invasive species, some list it as non-native but not problematic except in Northern forests. All of them list the Red Wriggler as a European species. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/56 "2009-05-25T19:19:14Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > In the most recent issue of _Make_ is where I first found it, but a google search for “red wriggler invasive” turns up lots articles. Some list it as a invasive species, some list it as non-native but not problematic except in Northern forests. All of them list the Red Wriggler as a European species. I actually had a job as a worm farmer when I was 19. A guy I worked for at an appliance repair shop raised red wigglers on the side, and I did most of the heavy lifting, maintaining 4’x8’ beds that sat right on the ground, no barrier at all. He said so long as you kept the beds full of fresh compost, the worms would stay where the food was. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/57 "2009-05-25T20:38:43Z")
Woo hoo! I’ve got the first little tomato fruits starting out! It’s even on the plant that had a slight yellow tinge to the leaves. I think I’m underwatering it a bit because it’s on the last leg of my drip irrigation system and It’s been a real bitch to try to adjust all the flows correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/58 "2009-05-26T14:23:47Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > You have SPACE TOMATOES !!!? That’s why we bought them 🙂 I’m not a terribly good gardener. I have managed to kill mint in a pot (though the mint in the yard is doing well). A tomato plant that can survive in space is probably a pretty good thing for me to grow. > [@Darryl Lict](#): > > I’ve got the first little tomato fruits starting out! I miss living in California, though my herbs do better here. We get rain all year round, so I don’t have to be as diligent about watering. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/59 "2009-05-26T15:18:22Z")
Speaking of rain, this looks like it’s going to be a wet week. At least the herbs and the Space Tomatoes will presumably like it. The sage and thyme did take off like crazy with all the rain we had this spring. (Space Tomatoes would be a good band name) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244/60 "2009-05-27T11:54:49Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Can’t I just pour dry yeast on the pile, and wet it down? I’d hate to waste a perfectly good beer on my compost pile. I would think that buying some regular yeast and mixing it in a bucket of warmer water, let it froth up a bit , then tossing it onto the compost pile would work just the same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-your-garden-grow/497244.md?page=4)