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Whistler, BC, Canada

Howdy, was wondering what everyone's dream garden would be like? Where is it located? How big is the patch? What would you use in the patch? Everything that you have always wanted in a patch, what would it be, or how would you do it? etc.....Kyle G

2/6/2003 9:57:51 PM

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The temp's ranges between 68*-85*. It rains 1" every other day gently just before dawn. The wind never gusts above 5 mph & yet is rarely still.
The only insects are Bees, Butterflies, & harmless Ground Beetles. Fungal infections are things we go to the doctor for. The sun shines everyday everywhere except for where I've shaded the 6 or 8 1500-1800 #'ers that are still growing in Sepetember. The all weather computer has a waterproof keyboard & never locks up even when downloading images of the severe growth in the patch to BP.com. The piped in music self edits all but the sports scores & the always near perfect weather reports. The irrigation water is warm in the spring, cool in the summer, & the growers tap runs cold all the time & the ale never loses it's head....did I mention that the French Maids like using their polished & chromed short handled hoes because cultivating is good exercise & keeps them in tone for the modeling shoots the have to do when the grower is sleeping?

2/7/2003 5:33:04 AM

ipswich, ma usa

Thanks Tremor!! Now I don't need to type as much!!

John (5150)

2/7/2003 8:48:31 AM

Timewell Il

tremor, that sounds more like heaven, and french maids, WOW Tim

2/7/2003 10:59:37 AM

Whistler, BC, Canada

Come on, bit more input would be nice...Whats your perfect garden like? Do you still like to stay with a challenge of the bugs, weeds, diseases???

2/9/2003 5:22:56 PM

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OK....reality is we have to deal with pests in whatever form they take.

I guess perfection is having the tools to deal with the trouble makers & knowing how to use them. That I have. What I'm missing is very important stuff though. This thread may HAVE to dwell on the negative to get it's point across. So I'll spill my guts.

1.) Space. I don't have much of it. About 1200 sq until I rip up some more turf. It's a good thing my neighbor & I get along. Half our patch isn't is what one might call "tax exempt".

2.) Sun. Suburbia doesn't lend itself well to Giant Pumpkins. The stuff that makes old nice neighborhoods nice is also what makes pumpkin growing tough. Big honkin mature native deciduous shade trees. Lot's of them. I draw a mental picture of the summer sun's path across the sky. I own two forms of blockage & a chainsaw will correct that. But a house that isn't mine & some branches that might as well be will require a bit more tact.

3.) Soil. Pretty bad 8 years ago. Much easier to fix. Haven't stopped since I started. Never will.

4.) Time. You have what you take from everything else.

Fire away______________Steve__________________

2/9/2003 7:56:35 PM

Montoursville, PA

I live in Suburbia. I built my dream patch this year, in my back yard. It is reported progressively as we move from last August to the present and into workable ground again this spring. Go read the diary of docgipe. The patch was worked up from an existing garden.

2/9/2003 8:48:03 PM

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Oh yeah. My tiller only goes as deep as good tillers ever do. With modifications, maybe 10" if I feel like eating Advils like Jelly Beans the next day. So this year, after we harvest the 1500 lber (HA!), I'll be using by buddies Kubota with backhoe attachment to REALLY till the patch. I like a deeply loose soil. But when I dig down about 20", I hit some pretty tough stuff that no tiller made will ever see. I'd have never reached it at all, but I've added about a foot since we started. So I know it's there. Plants do too. But that knarly little Jap-Hoe will let me really "Deep Till".
I think every grower should have or aspire to attain a good 18-24" of loose quality topsoil, but in Utopia, it goes even deeper!

2/9/2003 9:34:37 PM