Still under construction do not mind the mess as it is updated.

In my youth I always remember having a family garden. I remember it was square so a wigwag sprinkler could cover the garden in a single watering. Dad saved lawn clippings and dug them into half the garden as his yearly rotation program. Half the garden grew corn and the other half grew the other vegetables.

My gardening adventure started when I purchased the current property in 1992. Prior to that I was renting and did not garden but grew plants for research. I was definitely excited and over optimistic.

First limitation. Water. It is all about water in Idaho. Expect no rain June 1 to September 30 so either you pump or haul water or both if you want a garden.

Second limitation. Short season. Garden weather in Troy Idaho can only be described as cold and wet for 10 months or hot and dry for 2 months with the potential of snow and frost all months of the year.

Garden Layout

Optimism of a new land owner and a field researcher drove my choice of a strip design. I knew the well is rated at 7 gallons per minute and producing less than 3 gallons. Sprinklers use 3 to 7 gallons per minutes and when tested soon pumped the well dry. Drip irrigation was the only alternative. Many local farmers grew dry peas and sunflowers for seed production so half the garden could be without irrigation. The other half could be watered using a supplemental system I had seen published in Horticultural Science. The drip irrigation article used a central water tank feeding long drip lines in a wagon spoke design. Research was done at Oregon State University and I like the results. I decided to adapt the idea of a tank feeding the drip lines.

A 40 gallon plastic apple juice drum was purchased and stand built so drum was 4.5 feet above the ground. A half inch garden hose was attached and drip lines attached to the hose in 32 inch intervals. The tank was used for one year and found it really did not provide enough water pressure for the drip lines to work. Not sure how the researcher got the system to work for the article but mine failed to meet the standard of good.

The plastic barrel was turned into a compost hoop and stand relocated to hold a bird house. A hose timer was purchased to feed the drip line at a specific time of day and duration. Early years of gardening the strip were 8 feet wide and 100 feet long to allow the use of two 50 feet hoses for feeder line. In retirement the garden has shrunk to a 8 feet wide strip and 44 feet long. The spacing of the drip lines has also shrunk to 22 inches.

Greenhouse/Potting Shed.

The garden is not adjacent to the house because the house is on a hill and the property has bottom land for pastures and gardens. The greenhouse/potting/tool shed needed to be a general purpose building. I looked at several designs and thought about purchase a ready to use shed but could not find one that fit needs. Idaho counties have full control over building construction except for agricultural buildings used in farming or a freestanding solar collectors not greater than 200 square feet and no higher than 10 feet above grade. The permitting process for a self designed building is a nightmare and I avoid at all cost. My design was L shaped with the long leg of the L measuring 8.4 by 16.8 feet and the short leg of L measuring 5 X 8.4 feet for a total of 181.44 feet footprint. Overhangs were not included so with overhangs the building measures 16.5 by 19 feet. This provides a green house 4x8 feet, covered area 12x8 feet, and an enclosed headhouse for green house 8x16 feet. The covered area stores lawn mowers and other gas powered tools. It has benches and shelves for storage and work space. There is a anvil stand and vise for metal work. The headhouse stores pots, garden tools, potting mix and stuff. The green house is accessed through the headhouse. It has two benches measuring 18 inches by 7 feet plus a little more bench space for plants.

The shed was built on a concrete slab using 2x6 on 24 inch centers and t111 siding. Metal roofing was used because of the low pitch to keep within the 10 feet height requirement. It is insulated with 2 inch foam. The headhouse is accessed through 32 inch storm doors. The doors act as a gate for our electric fence so the headhouse has two to allow garden access through the headhouse.

Compost

I spray herbicides for weed control. After all I worked in Weed Science for over 35 years and spray my share of research plots. Many herbicides have longer than expected life in Idaho. I expect herbicide carryover from compost and few vegetables are immune to damage. Compost is a necessary part of gardening in Palouse clay soil so it needs to be managed to reduce injury from herbicide residues.

To test for herbicide residue in the soil use bean seeds planted in a pot of soil from the garden. If leaf is cupped or curled the soil has herbicide is present.

Thoughts and hacks.

1. Set aside a low spray area and harvest grass clipping from this area. Spot spray with a short residual herbicide when you need to spray in the no spray area.

2. Split garden into a first and second year. First year is for the compost and second year for planting sensitive vegetables. I usually only dig compost into 25% of first year strip and do not plant anything in it (fallow). The remaining first year section is planted to peas.

3. Plant tomatoes and other super sensitive crops in the space that will have compost dug in next year.

When to start plants in the Greenhouse.

Plants sensitive to freezing are started 40 to 50 day prior to June 15 transplanting into the garden. The starting mix is 2/3 Sunshine mix 4 and 1/3 perlite.

Sensitive plants are not planted until June 15 and expect will need to be harvested in early September before the first freeze. Ideally the plants need to be ready for harvest 45 to 55 days after planting. This limits vegetables to beets, carrots, onions, peas, summer squash. Swiss chard and early tomatoes.

Fertilizer

preditors

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