Janine

I have a vine of some sort that goes hog-wild in the summer. It has a trellis but it keeps right on growing, wrapping itself around it's neighbors and the tree above. I'm tired of having to cut it back constantly, and would like to replace it with something else in the spring. Since the trellis is already there, it would seem to make sense to put in something else that climbs, just not quite as aggressively.

Is it possible to find a flowering, climbing vine that grows slowly, or stops at about 5 feet above the ground? Or, to put it more broadly, where would you go to search for plants that fit certain criteria?

Good question. I'm not really sure what the best plant for this would be. Give us more details though: what is the light like there? Soil?

Do you want edible or not? Climbing roses are pretty and not necessarily aggressive (depending) but would need to be cut back. I'm building trellises for berry vines. I love climbing hydrangea and that might be a good fit. I think I posted that recently.

Anyone else have recommendations?
Jade
Dec 16, 2010

It's under two trees, but I think there's still a fair amount of light.

Soil... this was all brought in by the landscapers, so I would imagine it's pretty good.

Edible is probably a bad idea in this location, because the dogs can get to it. The garden we plan to put in will have to be behind a fence, because I had major problems with one of the dogs stealing tomatoes off the upside-down-hanging tomato plants I foolishly hung within his reach.

Flowers would be lovely - I'll look into both of those. Thanks!!
Janine
Dec 19, 2010

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I want to turn most of our back yard into a vegetable garden next spring (that's not as vast an area as it sounds... I think it will end up being about 20' x 7' at most). I am not a very experienced gardener; I have managed to keep the plants back there alive mostly via benign neglect. So I'm going to need to do some prep work.

I'm planning to take the online Master Gardener course in January, but I expect that will be more theoretical than practical. I will also have the help of my next-door-neighbor's mother, an avid vegetable gardener of many years, but her way of doing things is old-fashioned (her first advice was about renting a tiller) so I don't want to rely entirely on her. She also spends summers in Maryland, so her knowledge is East Coast-centric.

Can anyone recommend their favorite resources - books, websites, videos, etc - for learning how to do this properly?

Thanks!

My favorite book on vegetable gardening is Growing Vegetables East of the Cascades. He is very opinionated, but it's absolutely packed with good information.

And of course you can ask here! Post photos, ask questions, show us what you're thinking, even post your plans if you like!
Jade
Nov 13, 2010

Oops, WEST of the Cascades!
Jade
Nov 13, 2010

You know, I have tons of books, and I end up always going to this one and my Sunset Western Garden guide. This one is the veggie gardeners bible, and it has tons of great info. This is a link to a review:

http://www.compostguy.com/books/the-vegetable-gardeners-bible/

(And I know he's from VT, but the info is universal) Are you going to till your soil in the spring, or maybe do raised beds? With that clay soil, like mine here in Battle Ground, without raised beds it would have been a fight to get any kind of decent yield the first couple of years, even after tilling it up. We have 2 raised beds, 8x6 and 6x6 and we rotate the crops within them. I also do containers for herbs and peppers, and tomatoes in half wine barrels to save room.

I hope it all goes well and would love to see your progress!! Happy gardening!!
ShannonTomey
Nov 15, 2010

You know, I have tons of books, and I end up always going to this one and my Sunset Western Garden guide. This one is the veggie gardeners bible, and it has tons of great info. This is a link to a review:

http://www.compostguy.com/books/the-vegetable-gardeners-bible/

(And I know he's from VT, but the info is universal) Are you going to till your soil in the spring, or maybe do raised beds? With that clay soil, like mine here in Battle Ground, without raised beds it would have been a fight to get any kind of decent yield the first couple of years, even after tilling it up. We have 2 raised beds, 8x6 and 6x6 and we rotate the crops within them. I also do containers for herbs and peppers, and tomatoes in half wine barrels to save room.

I hope it all goes well and would love to see your progress!! Happy gardening!!
ShannonTomey
Nov 15, 2010

Sorry about that double post!! Dang phone.
ShannonTomey
Nov 15, 2010

Nothing wrong with being from VT - I used to live in New Hampshire and folks from the Northeast take their gardening very seriously! The Gardener's Supply store near Burlingame, VT is a destination unto itself (as is King Arthur Flour, but that's another blog entirely ;).

I will get both of these books and start reading now. Should be a nice change of pace from my usual technical (computer) reading.
Janine
Nov 16, 2010

Oops, forgot to answer your question. The plan is for raised beds. I have lots of cardboard (I got lucky - next door neighbor is having a baby and I got all the huge cardboard boxes from the baby furniture) and am planning to put the cardboard down over the grass, and then place raised beds on top of it. I want to avoid tilling unless absolutely necessary (there are lots of nice earthworms down there already).

And while I'm at it, a couple of questions about this:
- when should we do this? I imagine it will take a little while for the grass to die and decompose, but I don't want to do it too soon and have my nice fresh dirt sitting out in the rain getting waterlogged and harder to plant.

- how deep should the raised beds be? I plan to order these corners to make the beds:

http://www.gardeners.com/Raised-Bed-Corners/VegetableGardening_RaisedBeds,11892,default,cp.html

(see, I told you I was a fan of Gardener's Supply !:)

And they come anywhere from 6" to 12" tall. I'm guessing we'll want 10" or 12", but not really sure.
Janine
Nov 16, 2010

If you're able to, I'd wait until the spring to lay out the cardboard and lay down the new soil. The cardboard tends to break down over the rainy season, and the grass may get through. It's more likely to be successful if you do it in the spring. That said, if you want to do it now, I'd just lay it down extra thick (a double layer might do).

In general, it's often better to prepare beds in the fall, but if you're doing raised beds, and have grass currently there, I'd wait until the spring.

As to how deep to make them: they probably are on clay soil, so the issue is mostly around drainage. I have one bed that is a good 3 feet deep (for asparagus), and others that are just 6 inches to a foot deep.

You'll probably get better results if you do around 12-18 inches of soil. The more the better, but you do get diminishing returns after a while.

Anyone else have an opinion?

Steve Solomon, in Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades, says you don't need raised beds a lot of the time. For another point of view, it's worth reading his section on raised beds.
Jade
Nov 17, 2010

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I read somewhere (I thought it was here, but I can't find it now) that when the weather gets cold, tomato plants can be pulled up and hung upside down in a garage or other relatively warm place, and that the tomatoes will continue to ripen somewhat.

My tomatoes are already upside down, as they are growing in inverted hanging planters. So assuming this actually works, would I just move the whole planter inside? Should they continue to be watered and fed as usual? Or is being out of the soil part of what makes this work?

I've had quite a few cherry tomatoes so far, considering it's just one (very large) plant, but my full-size Willamettes are still completely green. :(

Yep, that was here, or at least from me. I did that last year, and had tomatoes up until December.

It does work, and I didn't actually water them or feed them in any particular way, although if you did, they would probably last much longer.

I wouldn't worry about them dying just yet. Although the nights are getting towards their lower range. I think they need temperatures in excess of 55 degress at night, if I recall correctly. Friday night, it is supposed to get down to 51 degrees, so that's getting pretty close.

Tomatoes are perennials. They would actually grow for a very long time if they were in a tropical climate. I've considered digging up the roots and bringing them in to a sunny room, and just trimming the plant down to a small shrub. It might grow through the winter and be big and ready for the spring. But not sure if that's a good idea or not. I've never heard of anyone doing it.

What do you all think? Crazy? I might just have to try it. :)
Jade
Sep 06, 2010

I should add that the tomatoes don't taste as great when you do it this way. They're good, but not height of the season fresh tasting, of course. I made a lot of tomato sauce!
Jade
Sep 06, 2010

Also most green tomatoes will eventually ripen if they're mature otherwise (full-size).
Jade
Sep 06, 2010

Sorry, another comment: I think it's actually above 40F that they need to be kept. So we've got a fair amount of time still.
Jade
Sep 06, 2010

Our nights fall below 55 degrees many many nights, all summer long, and although tomatoes grow more slowly because of it, they certainly don't die until killed by actual 32 degree temperatures. Last summer's (2009) tomato harvest was unusually high because of an unusually warm summer, so it really does make a difference. We are currently experiencing night-time lows near freezing here (35-38) and tomatoes are still doing their thing, though slowing down. Jade, I'm going to try pinching off flowers and small fruits.

But when a hard frost does threaten, I pick all my tomatoes and divide them into 2 categories. First, any that are really, truly green (you know, that candy apple green) will never ripen -- they go into fried green tomatoes or are given to a friend who pickles them. Second, everything else, from faint pink on down to just barely yellowing, go into flat containers in my cool garage, and they will continue to ripen well into December. Not fabulous-tasting, but far better than the pink golf balls you get in the average grocery store.

Also, Jade, you definitely can carry tomatoes over from year to year. I kept one cherry tomato vine in a pot over 2 winters and it was still plugging along when I chucked it, but it was pretty ratty. I find that whiteflies are a problem with tomatoes in my cool greenhouse so I mostly don't bother. But it can be done.
earthsong
Sep 13, 2010

Oh, I forgot to say that one possibility for winter tomatoes is to take cuttings from your healthy, summer-growing plants and root them for fall/winter greenhouse crops. I imagine you need some heat for this -- not sure how cold a Portland-area unheated greenhouse gets?
earthsong
Sep 13, 2010

This just in from Cooks Illustrated: tomatoes stored stem side down increases their life expectancy. (Who knew?)
earthsong
Sep 14, 2010

Great tip, thanks, earthsong!
Jade
Sep 16, 2010

I'm going to try the cuttings AND the transplanted tomatoes this winter and see how it works. I'll keep you all in the loop!
Jade
Sep 16, 2010

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