first vegetable garden

My apples.

I just moved an hour out of town and inherited a garden. My biggest task will be harvesting rain water and irrigation for the summer.

But no deer, bears or anything bigger than a rabbit or birds here.
 

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My apples.

I just moved an hour out of town and inherited a garden. My biggest task will be harvesting rain water and irrigation for the summer.

But no deer, bears or anything bigger than a rabbit or birds here.
Wasps like apples!!
 
BERT,
How do you keep the deer out of there...or do they end up in you freezer? ;)
I have to enclose and then net my wifes garden to try and keep out the squirrels, birds, raccoons, deer etc.
She has blackberry, strawberry and raspberry plants along with the vegetable plants and if not covered, the birds especially, along with the rest of the critters will devour any and all attempts at growing food for the table.
Lineslinger,
I have never had a deer set foot in the garden in the 9 years it's been there. When it was first prepared I followed a friend's suggestion to put 3' high chicken wire fencing around it as supposedly deer cannot see it and it scares the shit out of them when they touch it. I followed her advice and it also kept the dogs out of it until the plants got sturdy. The fencing job was done very quickly as the bugs were ferocious and has long since been removed and not replaced. Deer are presently at a low cycle around here so no problems. We have lots of moose around but I have never heard of them being a nuisance in a garden.
 
My apples.

I just moved an hour out of town and inherited a garden. My biggest task will be harvesting rain water and irrigation for the summer.

But no deer, bears or anything bigger than a rabbit or birds here.
Watch the possums. They love our apples, and our pears. We never get any cherries off our two dwarf trees - the birds get them all just before they are ready - or maybe first thing in the morning the day of. Wife doesnt want to put up bird netting, to avoid clearing the nets of dead ones. Me, I would rather have my cherries at least once.

We also grow cooking peaches, strawberries, corn, rhubarb (when I was little grandma said I was found under a rhubarb leaf), beans, tomatoes, chilis, asparagus, potatoes, lettuce, chives, parsley, oregano, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, tarragon, lemons...and whatever else we try in a given year.

The best is the fresh herbs. I use those just about every day.
 
Watch the possums. They love our apples, and our pears. We never get any cherries off our two dwarf trees - the birds get them all just before they are ready - or maybe first thing in the morning the day of. Wife doesnt want to put up bird netting, to avoid clearing the nets of dead ones. Me, I would rather have my cherries at least once.

We also grow cooking peaches, strawberries, corn, rhubarb (when I was little grandma said I was found under a rhubarb leaf), beans, tomatoes, chilis, asparagus, potatoes, lettuce, chives, parsley, oregano, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, tarragon, lemons...and whatever else we try in a given year.

The best is the fresh herbs. I use those just about every day.
Havnt got this organised yet.

Possums are pretty much gone around here in the Wairarapa I think.

My grapes go the same way of your cherries. The second they are ripe the birds get them. Netting next year I hope.

Pears grapefruit and mandarins also do well. The lemon was neglected and frost tender but I think I have rescued it. Fejoia grow like weeds. But nectarines, peaches and plums are a total right off. Don't know what the issue is yet.

I have yet to start a vegetable garden but the tomatoes and some herbs also grow like weeds.

My problem is no water over summer so working on rainwater tanks.

A mate down the road has been here over 10 years and he grows pretty much everything on your list plus garlic artichokes peppers and even saffron. He is an NSU motorcycle nut so likes unusual stuff.
 
Havnt got this organised yet.

Possums are pretty much gone around here in the Wairarapa I think.

My grapes go the same way of your cherries. The second they are ripe the birds get them. Netting next year I hope.

Pears grapefruit and mandarins also do well. The lemon was neglected and frost tender but I think I have rescued it. Fejoia grow like weeds. But nectarines, peaches and plums are a total right off. Don't know what the issue is yet.

I have yet to start a vegetable garden but the tomatoes and some herbs also grow like weeds.

My problem is no water over summer so working on rainwater tanks.

A mate down the road has been here over 10 years and he grows pretty much everything on your list plus garlic artichokes peppers and even saffron. He is an NSU motorcycle nut so likes unusual stuff.
We have a bore for the last 10 years. Would be brutal without it even with two 25k liter tanks and a 1500L one off the shed for the horses.
 
We have a bore for the last 10 years. Would be brutal without it even with two 25k liter tanks and a 1500L one off the shed for the horses.
My section is only quarter acre and these days you can't get a bore for that size.

I'm aiming for about 15,000 litre storage just for garden. I'm on town supply but can only use hand held hoses over summer

I'm going to have to install some kind of irrigation system that works off town supply and then I can switch to pump and tank water over summer.

Two years ago there were rimu and beech trees and hedges dying here from lack of water. I had to replant 15 hedge trees that the previous owners neglected to water.
 
My section is only quarter acre and these days you can't get a bore for that size.

I'm aiming for about 15,000 litre storage just for garden. I'm on town supply but can only use hand held hoses over summer

I'm going to have to install some kind of irrigation system that works off town supply and then I can switch to pump and tank water over summer.

Two years ago there were rimu and beech trees and hedges dying here from lack of water. I had to replant 15 hedge trees that the previous owners neglected to water.
If you are opting for a 15kL tank, might as well go 20kL. Not that much bigger or expensive, install costs will be the same. And you can wash the bikes...
 
If you are opting for a 15kL tank, might as well go 20kL. Not that much bigger or expensive, install costs will be the same. And you can wash the bikes...
Unfortunately because of access and location of the house, sheds trees underground plumbing and some local body rules etc I can't get a single big tank in. I have a 7500 squeezed in already and will probably get two more 5000 litre ones. Definitely would have gone for a big tank if I could have.

If someone had planned it from day one it would have worked but not now. People are starting to instal in ground tanks here before house construction. I think rainwater tanks are now compulsory for new builds on the Kapiti coast but not here yet.
 
Gardening is a big part of my day. I look at the garden several times daily. It is like therapeutic zen, observing growth of the plants and savoring the freshness of what (hopefully) is to come. My garden is halfway between the house and the shop where I am working on the 72 which makes it perfect location to think thinks over there and back. Grapes,red cabbage, tomatoes,basil,peppers,asparagus and of course hops, where the stumps and bar are. I call it the beer garden.View attachment 80326View attachment 80327
Bert-are hops a shade tolerant crop or do you have good southern exposure where you planted? I've wanted to try them but I don't have too much space that is not shaded for at least part of the day.
 
Bert-are hops a shade tolerant crop or do you have good southern exposure where you planted? I've wanted to try them but I don't have too much space that is not shaded for at least part of the day.
MikeG, these are growing in partial shade and get full sun for about 2-3 hrs in afternoon this time of year. I believe they would do better in full sun, but this where they are. I was given a plant in a pail years ago and kept dividing the roots every other year and repotted the rhizomes in pots. These are year 2 in pots and they will go in the ground this fall. From my limited experience with hops, it seems easy to grow. For me, I enjoy drinking beer in my beer garden looking at the plants grow. I am pleased at how they are doing. It has been more of a learning experience for me.
 
Anybody try one of those bird scarecrow things, like the plastic horned owl that you can perch in the garden? I have raspberries growing and I know the birds will get them if I don't do something.
 
Anybody try one of those bird scarecrow things, like the plastic horned owl that you can perch in the garden? I have raspberries growing and I know the birds will get them if I don't do something.

Yup.
Used the plastic owl until the birds got used to it. They would fly right past it giving it the birdy finger on the fly-by straight into the raspberries. I ended up building a a simple structure around the garden and hanging netting over and around. I also ran a couple of strands of 80lb test monofilament around the perimeter which would confuse the deer and helped to keep them out.
I ended up putting the owl on the bed cover on my Tacoma to keep the Robbins from attacking their own reflection in the rear window and crapping all over the place...its a black truck of course.
I was then able to have berries on my breakfast again.
 
Deer hate chicken wire. Their small cloven hoofs get stuck in the stuff. I spread it around loose in the shrubbery garden to keep them out of the Azaleas which they love in the winter. And if they do get near the garden, I just step out with the 1899 Savage 300 and shoot them in the head like I did last Christmas. Then I called Philippe, the garden keeper, and he comes over and gets it. I hates deer meat but I've got no problem shooting them in the head. My vegs are all on the deck, about 20' above the ground with no steps. Too many wild animals around here to supply them too.
 
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