BeardedMech's Backyard

[BeardedMech]

Welcome to my backyard! Its nothing special but its mine. It needs some work, but its workable. Quick garden recap since Ive never actually documented it anywhere. I left my garden that I worked for 6 years. We moved into a bigger house with a smaller yard. Old garden was a 25x 25 foot plot that I dug, tilled and amended. I never grew any cannabis there for legality reasons and my yard ran along three other peoples yards. Although in retrospect I could have easily gotten away with it. Were in a new place now and its time to get this garden and yard in shape. This diary will be about my garden and backyard in general. I grow all types of things and this is a fresh start so follow as I ramble on about nonsense and try to make my backyard garden oasis! I didnt see an outdoor growroom diary so Hopefully this is ok here.

We moved here in 2020 but didnt start my garden back up until last year. Things were rough when we first moved here. Our daughter was just born then We had lost a lot of family unexpectedly. Gardening was the last thing on my mind. But last year had lit the spark for me again. I had started a small garden in two raised beds and some fabric pots. I grew a bunch of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, herbs. It was great. I built my own soil the same way I used to and it worked just the way I remembered. I started most from seed indoors. The feeling of growing something of value from nothing, watching it thrive under your care is just rewarding.

One day my long time friend and supplier of affordable premium smoke offered up some clones he had left over. I was hesitant at first but was easily convinced. He later confessed he shot himself in the foot by giving his best customer the keys to the store. But it was probably inevitable. I have always wanted to grow cannabis. So I had 4 clones that we were unsure of what was what. The possibilities were crescendo, raspberry boogie, and purple mango. I ended up with what we determined were two Crescendo, 1 purple mango, and one raspberry boogie.

The plants thrived! My buddy, lets call him Jerry. Jerry was impressed, and I took that as a huge compliment as I have been smoking his product for years. I took and trusted a lot of his advice along with my own experience and it all paid off. I ended up with more pot than I have ever had at one time. A dry weight of 550 grams not including the stuff I saved in the freezer for bubble hash. I didnt weigh any of that. It unfortunately it probably wont last me until next harvest. I have a few jars left but I gave away more than I probably should have to friends. What can I say it made great Christmas gifts, and I got nothing but rave reviews. The disappointed look I would get from people when I told them it was home grown was flipped right around after they tried it.

While things turned out pretty well, better than expected really. I did run into some seeds in every plant. I didnt notice any “nanners” anywhere. that was a new thing for me, didnt know I needed to look out for that so there is a good chance I missed it. OR there was some ditch weed growing near by and I got pollinated. I didnt find a mass amount of seeds. probably less than 30 all together. Either way I dont have enough experience to guess. I plan to grow one or two of these seeds this year.

On to this years garden plans!!! I always wanted a green house, I ran across those cheap tent ones on amazon. Then noticed the hoop houses. Did a ton of research and decided to go for it. $200 for a 20x10x7 foot hoop house. well I put it together today, the frame anyways. im impressed? its about what I expected for 200 bucks but I planned on reinforcing it anyhow. I have yet to inspect the quality of the cover but expect to have to replace that in a couple years. I already have a plan for that. I was graciously given some beans in trade for some veggie seeds from @Kasper0909. He gave me some Afghani autos, Frankenstein x Blue sunshine, and some “mystery beans”. Im super excited for all of them. I plan on starting the autos early and setting them out in the hoop house mid to late april. I know the sunlight isnt ideal for them at that time but im trying to get some yield before my stash runs out. lol. I have 10 seeds. I may pop 5 first then 5 after 1.5 - 2 months. Ill plan to have my photos in the soil by june.

so the current to do list is:

1. finish the hoop house
2. move a raised garden bed( also decide where to move it)
3. Build and fill a new bed.
4. plan garden plotting and spacing

Thank you all for joining me on the start of my cannabis quest. I hope you all enjoy your time in my backyard. Pics to follow.

[Kasper0909]

Awesome man, this is what it’s all about! Set to watch and super excited to follow along.

[BeardedMech]

Here’s some pics of what my garden produced last summer. Not top quality but great smoke. Let’s just say I haven’t missed having to pay for the stuff. It gets the job done just as well.

Cresendo: I smoked all the really nice-looking nugs. Most of the plant was kinda larfy and airy buds. I’ve gotten it from Jerry many times before. It’s never been a dense bud mines especially airy compared to his. These came off my biggest plant that i affectionately named Big Girl. Nice daytime smoke but too much and I’m in the fridge then on the couch knocked out.

Raspberry Boogie: The smallest of the 4 plants but by far the healthiest and probably greatest yield to size ratio. Wise I had more if this. These are the last two nugs I have. I wasn’t impressed at first. Was just ok, then I cracked open the grove bag I stored all the top quality buds and man, I’m sad it’s almost gone. It’s supposedly mostly induce but it feels all sativa for me. Just a calm relaxing energetic high. I do a 50/50 blend of boogie and crescendo and I forget about my troubles.

Last but not least we have Purple Mango: this one knocks me the fug out. It’s strictly nighttime or nap-time smoke. Great for my back pain and sciatica. Nice long colas with dense nugs. Still more airy than what I was getting from Jerry. I over-dried this one. Not much smell until you break it up. The taste is great but a bit harsh in the background due to the extra dryness. This was the best quality bud I got from all the plants.

[blowdout2269]

I’m excited for this one!
My veggie garden is 30×45ft.
Best of luck friend.

[BeardedMech]

Thanks! I’m super pumped for this year. I miss having a big garden. 30x45 is huge!

[blowdout2269]

I feel like it’s not big enough!

I had 31 pepper plants last season.
Seventeen varieties. Along with everything else.

[BudLarfy]

Good luck this year on your outdoor projects! Something really cool about making something from nothing!

[Kasper0909]

Working on tomatoes peppers and some squash mostly this year @BeardedMech , along with some herbs. Had tomatoes last year that were so so good that I harvested some seeds from. Super stoked they have all sprouted.

[BeardedMech]

Forgot to show the progress in the garden so far. Not much don’t yet. Just got the hoop house frame up and used some wire to reinforce the cross sections. Need to get some anchors before I put the cover on otherwise I’ll have a 20x10 insurance claim flying through the neighborhood. It’s been windy.

Then here’s the line up so far of what’s getting planted this year. I unfortunately lost my seed stash somewhere so I had to buy new seeds. Territorial seed co has been a favorite of mine. Always have had good success with their seeds and all are 100% guaranteed.

[mota]

Who’s your supervisor?

[ABushOfKush]

Yay some good old outdoor growing! Could you share a link to the hoop house kit you bought? I agree it doesn’t look like a bad start for $200.

[Kasper0909]

Looks like a Good line up! My tomatoes just sprouted, now working on peppers. Have to kinda take it a little at a time.

[Kasper0909]

These Dream Blush are cruising pretty good.

First Afghani autos. One I broke and the other is well, still small. It was not a smooth transplant as i had them sprouted for some silly reason in a weird pot. . But I’ve popped a couple straight in the soil in there and they should be sprouting soon.

[Kasper0909]

Sorry I thought I was in my thread🤣 wups

[BeardedMech]

no worries! I’m following there anyhow. Interested to see how the autos go. Have you grown any of them yet?

[BeardedMech]

Quictent Upgraded 20’x10’x6.6’ Large Walk-in Greenhouse Outdoor, Heavy Duty Galvanized Steel Frame High Tunnel Green House w/ PE Cover 2 Zipper Screen Doors, Gardening Plant Hot House 20 Stakes Green https://a.co/d/1hxTbxi

Putting the cover on this weekend so hold onto your money until we see how the rest ends up

[BeardedMech]

Hoop house update I got the cover over the hoop house today. The directions suggested 2-3 people but Im stubborn and resourceful. All in all it wasnt too bad to put together. If your mechanically inclined at all you should be fine. I do recommend at least one person help out if only for your own sanity. More than a few choice words were thrown around as frame poles collapsed, nuts and bolts were dropped and walked into the horizontal poles more than once and whacked my face/head. Wind decided to pick up at choice moments. as soon as i would have the thing nearly in place a gust of wind would try to send it over the fence into the neighbors yard. spring clamps and last seasons fabric pots filled with soil served well as ballast for my 20x10 wind sail.

Eventually I got the thing on and secured. I drove 6 trampoline anchors into the ground and wrapped paracord zig-zagging shoe lace style over the whole structure to keep it from taking flight and becoming an insurance claim. I think im gonna get more and secure it even better. Its a bit flimsy but i had expected that. I plant to frame it at each end for a door as I expect the zippers to fail pretty quickly and it will provide some rigidity and weight to the structure. also going to add center poles for support so i can actually use the frame to hang plants and things without fear of the whole thing coming down. If all goes well and it performs and makes it through a winter im going to build a lower frame and lift the whole thing up a foot or more. its 7 feet tall but im 6’1 and I wouldnt mind the extra head room.

I forgot to take pictures as I went. Ill be back out there again tomorrow. I didnt get as much done as i wanted to yesterday. Ended up taking a much needed nap, this week was a rough one at work and my body just doesnt take the beating it used to.

[Gpaw]

I like your plans.

I’ve been thinking about a similar setup…
The thought came to me about pouring a pad first. Primarily I’m wondering how much the added thermal mass would contribute to evening out the temperature swings. etc.
You have obviously thought your way through this, what’s your opnion on a pad?

Cheers
G

[BeardedMech]

I think a pad would work great. I would incorporate a way to anchor the structure to the pad. The largest issue with these things is they are light weight with a ton of surface area, so basically a giant kite. From what I gather from other peoples success the important things are to make sure structure is secured well to the ground and the cover is tight to prevent excess flapping causing premature wear and tearing. The best way I’ve found to do this is a wooden frame under the metal and the cover stretched tight and secured with thin boards and screwed to the wood frame.

The problem I’m going to have is with drainage. Soil is clay heavy and holds water in the top inch creating muddy puddles. A concrete pad would solve all this but zoning issues, cost and time make that a non option for me.

[BeardedMech]

I need to figure out a better way to secure the cover tightly until I can build a frame. I’m thinking bricks or possibly staples in the ground but I’m afraid it may cause it to rip. The temp in here is nice. I haven’t brought a thermometer in here but it has to be at least 55F or more in here. It’s 45 outside but I’m sweating in here with my hoodie on.

Deciding if the other raised bed will stay in here or if I’ll move it outside the hoop house.