My garden 😞

[Xerocles]

The garden is progressing. I installed the bathtub for the ducks....though they won't need it for awhile. They are supposed to arrive today. Day-olds. Their night time sleeping box is almost finished. Still got to fence in the garden, but will have that done before they're big enough to go outside.
Started some tomatoes and peppers two days ago. On the heating mat, in the plastic germination thing. Got the light in place for when they germinate.
I'm intimidated. 500 sq ft of garden. WAY to big for what I need or want. And no idea of what or how to lay it out. Graph paper done with outlines made...but staring at a blank otherwise. What to put where? Sigh!
Yippee! At least the worms are excited. I had to dig a 6 inch square hole associated with the bathtub. 3 inches deep. Found 12 worms just in that little hole. They' re working their butts off, if I ever decide to get busy doing MY part.

 

[thistlebloom]

This is your first year for this garden. I wouldn't lose any sleep over the layout. Unless you are completely dependent on it for food, (probably not the case, right?) this year is going to be a learning curve. Don't put a lot of pressure on yourself. Nobody expects you to be Martha Stewart.
So just plant it and tend it and enjoy the process. Next year you'll have a better idea about what things work.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

What to put where? Sigh!

Vining plants will spread far and wide. Most respond well to a good trellis.

Tall plants will shade short plants. Sometimes that's a good thing - sometimes not so much.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Add some strawberries and blueberries okay all things berries, and fruit trees make it a paradise then also you can sell some as organic. Have fun with it oh and add some nice flowering plant to increase pollinators visits more of them mean more veggies

 

[Xerocles]

I knew I would catch mortal heck if I didnt do pictures, so here are the newest additions, the runner ducks. 5. Oh, and yes I know they're on cardboard. And I know it's bad for their feet. I learned a couple of interesting things about ducks today. For the 1st 2-3 days, you need paper over the litter. Otherwise they will eat the litter instead of their food. #2, I put rocks in their waterer, because otherwise they put their whole bill underwater and drown. I guess ducks aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer?

 

[Baymule]

When I have had ducks, I used a plastic gallon milk jug to give them water. They are so messy, it cuts down on the mess. Cut small holes (baby duck head sized) in the sides of the milk jug. Then the duckling can stick their heads in but not climb in and splash the water all over places you didn't even know existed. You can use the same jug idea for a feeder for ducks and chickens too.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm intimidated. 500 sq ft of garden. WAY to big for what I need or want. And no idea of what or how to lay it out. Graph paper done with outlines made...but staring at a blank otherwise. What to put where? Sigh!

If you study the sunlight patterns in your garden, you might want to consider taller veggies in the "back" so they won't over shade smaller veggies....or use their shade to provide for things like lettuces and greens that tend to bolt in hotter weather.

Filling space is easier if you intersperse strips of flowers within your veggies, which provides pollinator attraction and cover for beneficial species, as well as a sacrifice area for those that are not so beneficial.

Vines always take up way more space than you could ever imagine, with some vines traveling 25-30 ft across a garden, so consider that as well. Corn will take up a lot of space if you are planting that, but you can plant your squash and pumpkins, even your pole beans, within it, if you want to.

If you like asparagus, consider planting that now, as you need to let them grow for a couple of years to let the roots strengthen before you can get a good crop off them. I'd dedicate part of your space to perennial veggies such as those, which will narrow your space considerably. If you plant raspberries, remember they spread each year and take up a lot of space in that way too.

Pretty soon you'll be thinking you don't have enough space!

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

I knew I would catch mortal heck if I didnt do pictures, so here are the newest additions, the runner ducks. 5. Oh, and yes I know they're on cardboard. And I know it's bad for their feet. I learned a couple of interesting things about ducks today. For the 1st 2-3 days, you need paper over the litter. Otherwise they will eat the litter instead of their food. #2, I put rocks in their waterer, because otherwise they put their whole bill underwater and drown. I guess ducks aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer?
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You can use puppy pads from dollar tree for their bedding. Works great and makes clean up a snap. The rocks are great. I did have one duckling drown once, and he was quite old....only thing we could figure, he got trampled? We was 4 weeks. As for the bath tub. Are you planning to have a small filter for it? Let me warn you. When you put clean water in for ducks, the very second they get in it the6 will poop, a lot. Within an hour it’s gross, and that it asking for bacteria in their eyes, etc. I could tell you stories of how I had to treat eye issues. You could get a small pump for a fountain, in expensive..and it should filter the tub just fine, and keep the ducks healthy and you won5 be scooping dirty water. This is just a bit of what I’ve learned from experience. When I had to trap the snapping turtles out of th3 pond, the ducks had to use many many baby pools. I was changin* water like crazy. Drove a Chris nuts. But, the ducks knewit was dangerous in the water and didn’t touch the pond until loooong after th3 turtles were gone. We will have to fish them out again before I get some ducks. What kind of runners are they? They are cuties!! Please keep taking pictures. I miss my ducks!

 

[Beekissed]

I knew I would catch mortal heck if I didnt do pictures, so here are the newest additions, the runner ducks. 5. Oh, and yes I know they're on cardboard. And I know it's bad for their feet. I learned a couple of interesting things about ducks today. For the 1st 2-3 days, you need paper over the litter. Otherwise they will eat the litter instead of their food. #2, I put rocks in their waterer, because otherwise they put their whole bill underwater and drown. I guess ducks aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer?
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You simplest water solution for ducks is a bucket with duck nipples on the bottom of it....and that bucket can be anything, a milk jug, pop bottle, etc. You can get duck nipples on Amazon. Unless you are feeding wet feed, they won't need to rinse their bills this early on in the game, though they love to.

For bedding, I generally use what's in the chicken coop....leaves and such. They will dabble in them but they won't consume them. Make it nice and thick and there's no cleaning necessary, just give them plenty of space and they will move the bedding enough that they bury their own poop. I've had these ducks here for a year now and I've yet to see any of their poop...seriously. Not a single one.

Or even cup nipple drinkers, where they get to rinse a little but its not such a huge mess....these are my favorite for ducks. Fresh water, clean all the time, easy to dispense..even for the dim witted ones. Either of these can be screwed into any water holding receptacle and sealed with calk to prevent leaks.

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

this was my set up for the first few days when I got my runner ducks back when. You’ll notice the cardboard and newspaper, as long as your changing it regularly you’ll be ok. Mine graduated to a Rubbermaid tote with hay and newspaper with a heat lamp over it and they did just fine as long as Ichanged it daily. Like @Baymule said, a milk jug with holes cut in it works great. I cut two holes they could get their little heads in and at a height they could get to water, and I just cut the holes bigger as they got bigger. That jug was with them up until they could safely drink from a rubber feed pan I used as my water trough. I’d read somewhere that ducks need to be able to submerge their whole bill in water to clean their nostrils so I chose that pan because it allowed that.