Yes, I know not to add phosphorus. You should see the soil analysis I got from Texas A&M. Phosphorus off the charts! That's why we mostly plant in compost in that county.
I try not to use anything for bugs...except fire ants...and for them I use permathrin. I put it in a watering can and drench the mound. It kills them dead. As far as other bugs I haven't had a problem since I shut down and disposed of my greenhouse. The only time I would use a pesticide on my crops would be if it was very severe. I would try soapy water first...and if that didn't work my last resort would be permathrin. But for some reason bugs seem to leave healthy plants alone. I have even seen one plant almost totally destroyed and the ones around it unharmed. But the secret to gardening is in the soil. Good soil will cure a multitude of problems...even bugs.
Please forgive me for posting all the pics but I like to show that I ain't just blowing smoke...and I like to brag. I also grow flowers and it may help to keep insects at bay......check out the soil under my tire planters nuthin but hard gravel. It would take a jackhammer to break the stuff up. my rescued rose. my fig tree from cutting. Got nine I know that made it. More in pots that haven't come out yet. my 46 inch high iris...more on the way. azalea with creeping phlox. And many more. I don't know much about a lot of things. But I know a little bit about plants.
I really don't know how many people this garden will feed. But I do know the picture is wrong. No vegetable is going to grow well under the drip line of the apple tree. As far as storing vegetables they can be canned, frozen, salted and dried. And some will keep in cool storage. The yields will depend on soil, sunlight, rainfall, and general weather conditions. Oh ya, veggies can also be pickled.
Well that garden will not feed the four people working it year round I am fairly certain, but as for apple trees, I can personally attest to blackberries doing well under them in my area whether you want the thorny SOB's there or not I feel like a true gardener today. I planted one cherry tomato and 4 Christmas beans in the pot at my clothesline. I use the post of the clothesline to hold up the wire cage that protects the tomatoes from deer and allows the beans to climb up it. I also tilled about a quarter acre but ran out of daylight to put anything down except a quick half-row of yellow onion sets and pound in some metal fence posts to anchor my tomato weave when it gets to that point. I am about tuckered out. Got 29 tomatoes and 8 zucchini to go in round one, then comes the dreaded seed crops.
This fall put down cardboard and cover it with leaves. They like to eat the glue. Of course some people freak out and say the glue is toxic and kills the worms, but mine seem to be happier with it.
I mulched a I don't have blackberries any more. My goats eat them up. But any Gardener should know not to plant under drip lines. Some plants do okay under trees. Marigolds do well as does creeping phlox. I have only planted 17 tomato plants. 7 determinant and 9 indeterminate. My soil temp is 58 degrees today so soon I will be planting my beans, squash, okra, mellons, etc. I google Alabama soil temps and they tell me the soil temps here.
You're in 'Bama and have no bug problem? You got to be kidding me! I thought bugs were crawling all over the south. I grew up in Louisiana and we had tons. I take your point that they won't eat healthy plants, but why wouldn't they? What else are they going to eat? Maybe healthier plants are tougher to chew or something and they move on to weaker plants (?) I never heard of Permethrin but it sounds pretty lethal. Will research it .... I see that it kills honeybees. Yikes! Also, why did you have a greenhouse? Don't you already have a pretty long growing season in Alabama?
Actually it is used on humans to treat scabies and lice. It is approved for use in infants over two months old. But keep it away from bees and cats.
I don't really do blackberries. The birds sit in the apple trees and poop them out. I leave them when I can for the deer and such, but sometimes I get my scorched earth thing going on them.
Food-grade diatomaceous earth will work okay if you want to be organic and don't mind reapplying after rains. You can get it as tractor supply among other feed store type places. Just call and make sure they have it before you make the trip and have a dust mask because you do not want to be inhaling the stuff because of the silica. Some people feed it to their livestock. Some people mix the stuff up and drink it because it is supposed to be good for keeping your bowels free of parasites.
Thanks. In my experience it is ineffective against ... Whatever it was that wrecked my bok choy. I have a pool and a big barrel of DE.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/companion-planting-guide-zmaz81mjzraw Try companion planting. I dont follow it exactly but I do like to have flowers in my vegetable garden.
I just take the marigold seeds I harvested last year and spread the around on the mulch. I have a lunch sack full of seeds. If they come up fine...if not fine. But usually a few come up. You can do that when the seeds cost you nothing. I am picking up spoiled hay and goat manure and placing it in my Mellon beds. I feed the goats, they eat and spread the hay around, and then poop and pee on it. So I use it for my garden.
Marigolds for the looks or to repel bugs? BTW, here is my country garden. Be it ever so humble, I am profoundly happy with it after just 2 months of effort, on never before cultivated ground. https://www.dropbox.com/s/tpmyjc1kcdblymb/VID_20170412_120241294.mp4?dl=0
I have never heard of a winter Mellon. But I do like the beds. It looks like you bought your soil. And that is okay. It looks to me like your winter Mellon patch has potential. I probably won't make any videos, just pics from the phone. I also pulled the mulch back on some of my garden for okra, peas, beans, Cuke's, etc. I have a fairly large garden. It grows every year.
I had to buy compost because of the phosphorus. It was a big dairy pasture for decades. Had the soil tested, phosphorus off the charts! I have a Chinese wife and Chinese friends. They're nuts about wintermelon soup, though I don't see the big deal to be honest.
I just wonder if you could mix your native soil with something neutral like peat moss or better yet well rotted sawdust. You can even use fresh sawdust but you have to add a lot of nitrogen. I sometimes plant marigolds in my garden for pest control but I like the look. I even resisted pulling up a dandelion today just because I like the flower. I make soil for my raised beds by mixing peat moss and builders sand. When you wet the peat moss add a little dish soap to the water. Mix the sand and peat in a wheelbarrow with a hoe. You can also stretch this mix by adding your yard dirt...and hay..and any decomposed or decomposing organic matter. But to wet the peat put some soap in the water. You will have a hard time getting it wet without it. In my area topsoil cost more than peat per cubic yard. The tulips and daffodils in the pictures I posted were grown in peat moss and sand. The tulips were mulched with sawdust and the daffodils with pine needles. I know I kinda long winded...but I hope this helps.
It DOES help, and I accidentally followed your advice before even hearing it. My "soil" is 70% peat moss and the rest is perlite and tree bark (your sawdust). My stuff is made by Berger, a Canadian outfit that sends Canadian peat moss to Texas, where it is mixed with ground local tree bark and perlite and shipped all over the world. I bought a super giant bag of the stuff (fills up a whole pickup) that weighs about 450 pounds. $75 for 450 pounds. I am going to grow melons directly in it in giant pots that I'll show you in a few weeks, after my melons sprout. The rest I'll use to build my existing beds. But please keep the ideas coming!
Like Deckle said. I have killed my share of plants. But 2 things I am sure of. Mulch reduces weeding, especially on hot summer days and you can never put too much organic matter in your soil. PS. When you cut your potatoes for planting let them dry for a couple of days before planting. This gives them protection from rot. I cut mine and place them cut side down on a paper towel. Then move them to a dry spot when the towel gets wet from the potato.
Let's discuss thinning. I have a real aversion to plucking perfectly good seedlings out of the ground. I know it's necessary, but it's so unfair. Today I had to thin some melon sprouts, so I scooped them out carefully with a spade and put them in various old pots I have lying around. They won't produce any trophy melons, of course, but it's better than just throwing them in the compost heap, morally at least.
I very seldom thin. That is why I make my own seed tapes and seed mats. I also start a lot of my own seeds and then set them out with proper spacing. But I have found that most gardeners buy too many seeds anyway. So thinning isn't that much of a problem. But it always goes back to the soil. I consider the plant and soil as one. The soil is the plants stomach. The better the soil the closer you can plant and that reduces thinning.
These are some gourd seedlings I started. They have a poor germination rate and they are supposed to be spaced five feet apart. They also have to be nicked. The little plants are coneflower for my flower beds and chickadee birds. We have all kinds of bird visitors.
