I figured I'd document my failures and hopefully successes here with you. Any feedback is welcome.

I started by grabbing a few packs of seeds at Home Depot and a seed starter tray:
I've got bush beans, peas, a four pack of tomatoes, plus a four pack of herbs for the wife... And eventually corn because the kid wants it.

I'm short of pictures at the moment but will take and upload more.

I planted an assortment of each a week or so ago, this was yesterday:

They grow fast, this was this afternoon:



My little A-gunner helped me prep some of the future garden site, I figure raised containers for peas and a couple tomatoes will go there, with moss ground cover and a wire fence to keep out deer and rabbits.

Semi prepped:



We also have two blueberry bushes in large pots that are getting stronger, plus some pots being prepped for tomatoes. I'm glad the previous homeowner left so many.




We have two fruit trees in the yard already but I have no clue what they are, judging by some old pits is guess maybe apricot or peach but I don't know what grows here. We want to plant cherries and maybe a plum.

Looks pretty good.  Keep the soil good and moist in your seed beds.  If you have multiples germinate in one pod then thin those down to just one and you can transfer the others out to new pods or just cut them at the base.  I saw something neat today where seeds were started in egg shells that were used and opened at the top.  Maybe a small fan on them to help make them strong.  Blueberries like a lower ph to do their best.  There are some good articles in here on seed starting and how to deal with damping off that go into more detail.  Good for you for teaching the kid to help in the garden, make it fun!

Tagged for updates.

Be careful planting that close to your house.  Lots of contractors simply cover up construction materials and debris with fill dirt.  Roofing nails, metal straps, bricks, concrete crumbles can all be a hazard for the little helper.

It also affects your soil's ability to produce a crop for you.  

TRG

Good to know and thankyou. I think I'm going to put a ground cover down and just use planter boxes for the area, it'll make it easier to be flexible as I learn.

For first timers I usually recommend buying the seedlings at the store than trying to go from scratch. But since you've already started some seeds I recommend googling "hardening off" of seedlings before transplanting so you don't nuke the little guys when you transplant them.

The biggest thing to remember is that your gonna make mistakes and plants are gonna die. It took me two or three seasons before I started to really get a good grasp of things. Perseverance will be rewarded.

I still, on average .... kill more than I grow.  I plant 2-5 times as many plants as I really need.  This covers the spread on the damage that I self-inflict.

TRG

If I manage to anything alive this year I'll be happy. Also thanks for the reading suggestion, I'll take a look at it!

Anyone have suggestions for keeping deer and rabbits out of a garden area? Will mesh type fencing screen work or will they tear through the plastic like it ain't shit?

Got my ghetto planer box built and peas in it. I used scrap wood that otherwise would have been burned. My four starts are planted along with six more seeds sown in.



I bought more pots and cages for the tomatoes... Seahawk colors!


And the beans are doing well.

Anyone know what these flies are? They are all over my damn beans and might be eating them.

No idea what they are. Try something yellow covered with vegtable oil as a trap. A Prestone bottle works. If you want keep it afterwards cover it with a clear plastic bag first then wipe on oil. Little flies like those stick very well.

Will do, thanks!

my boy and I planted on of our two cherry trees today.
Now to wait three years for fruit and learn how to prune them.


Second will go where the stake is.

You can plant those beans and peas much more densely.  I broadcast mine and some seeds land side by side.  They don't need precise spacing.

Remember, they are legumes and draw their nitrogen from the air, not the soil.  You can put a nitrogen lover in the ground by them for them to climb.  

You can also add a few squash plants in the same bed.  Butternut is a good choice for growing with beans and peas.  Butternut tends to stay lower to the ground.  Yellow/summer would work too if you prefer it.

You have a lot of space available in those smaller beds if you plant non-competing crops and increase your planting density.

TRG

Gordon's Garden powder will stop that bug from eating your beans.

TRG

Damn good information, thankyou!

I need to find a good resource for pruning the trees, I have no clue how old they are or what stage of pruning I should be in.





ETA: should I have bark or some other top cover over the soil?

This stuff??

I don't want to be a downer but if you live on the west side your cherry trees will probably die of psuedomonis or gummosis before your three years are up.  Now in case they do live. What varieties did you get?  Do you know what root stock they are on? Go look up cherry fruit fly, spotted wing drysophila, and powdery mildew, these will be your biggest pest issues.

I am indeed on the west side, the trees I got were Black Tartarian and a semi-dwarf sweet Prunas species.

Yup.

TRG

I don't grow black tartarian, the semi dwarf is probably a lapin or Lambert. If you can, replant the one on a mound or in the highest spot in your yard. Cherries don't like wet feet especially in the spring. Try and prune them on a dry day with a few dry days after. Generally you want to prune for vigor in the dormant period. If you prune while they are growing you tend to lessen vigor.  Google Columbia gorge fruit growers, MCAREC, and WSU prosser tree fruit research center and they will have great info on pruning and pest management.

How do you get them from climbing all over each other? Or does it not matter? I've always tried to make sure they don't come each other out

I'll check em out. The area they are planted on is actually a bit of a hill, my driveway is about three feet lower than the level of the grass they are in, I'll take a picture to show and maybe it is high enough for drainage.