Quote:
Originally Posted by FMCoug
Space is not really an issue. We have another another 50' or so to our property line BEHIND where we ended the back yard. And the lot is 150' wide. So from a space standpoint it really would come down to maintenance / starting small because we're rookies, etc.
Sounds like corn might be a good start though. Plenty of room and we love fresh corn on the cob during the summer. The pumpking thing IS interesting due to the potential to get the kids involved in growing their own pumpkins. How much space would you need to be able to do a good sized one per kid (4 kids). Again, there is plenty of room back there. Also, I have all the soil that was dug up for the pool to work with. To spread out / build up a garden spot, whatever. And I've gotten reasonably good on a rented Bobcat. 
What about critter management? We're out in the sticks so I imagine that would be a pretty big issue. |
- You are on the tail-end of the corn-planting timeframe. As the old saying goes: "knee high by the fourth of July" (you won't even be close). You may still get some corn if you plant now but you probably won't get a very good crop. I usually plant corn in early May ("after Mother's Day" is a good rule of thumb to be safe from Utah frost - although this year I think we had a post Mother's Day freeze). Barbara's recommendation about getting late-starting hybrid varieties is a good one.
- You can still plant pumpkins now but they won't be very big come Halloween. I would say a 3'x3' space minimum per plant.
- If you are going to try to do tomatos now, pick out the starts with the thickest stalks. I can usually get tomatos until late October. You won't have a great year this year because you started so late but you'll still be able to get something out of them because I suspect you have a later freeze date than I do.
Critters will likely be a problem but I'm not sure what kind of critters you'll be dealing with.
Deer? good luck - they're a huge pain - no good way to deal with them without major fencing. All that stuff about wolverine urine or bobcat urine or sonic pest preventers or electric strips in the ground - anything like that is pretty much hogwash in my experience.
Gophers? Manageable if you stay on it. You definitely want to trap and kill; anything less will not work. Let me know if you have gophers and I can make specific recommendations about the best way to kill them.
Insects? Not that much you can do here without being more specific. Get hybrid varieties that are resistant to disease (often spread by insects). If you know you have a specific insect problem then you can try a pesticide or two but I prefer to not use pesticides (except to prevent earwigs in the corn). For every pest there are a variety of techniques you can use. For example, you can cut the bottom and top off #10 cans and then plant each stalk in a can if you have problems with worms. Same for tomatos if you have cutworm issues.
You'll pretty much just have to learn as you go - learn how to identify which specific pests you have and how to counteract. There are many, many books about gardening and you can get specific information about your area from the agricultural university in your state (I think Texas has one of those Aggie-type schools don't they?)