How is your gardening going? Of course people in different climates begin and end at different times. I got my corn planted Monday, and beans, okra, and watermelons yesterday. No time to work on it today (had an accident and not feeling too great). Still need to get cucumbers in and a few oddities-- I like to plant peanuts, cotton, and stuff like that too. I wanted to get going earlier this year but I never had time to get the pigs out of the garden until a couple weeks ago when I finally got the new pig pen built and the porkers moved. Unfortunately the pigs had become hogs over the winter (well, that's a good thing in its own right, but) and had compacted the soil in the garden. A friend rented a tractor and 3ph rototiller to break in his new garden, and he let me borrow the tractor since his time hadn't run up, and I got it tilled Sunday afternoon. (I don't usually do stuff like that on Sunday, but my ox was in the ditch, so to speak, or there was a non-repeatable opportunity to do what needed to be done).
Last year I planted a single row of okra along the inside of the garden fence and the blamed sheep stuck their heads in and ate it all! >:( But I sold the sheep in December, so that problem is eliminated. Three short rows of Star of David okra this year, Stowell's Evergreen corn, Royalty Purple Pod beans, and Mountain Sweet Yellow watermelons.
Who's doing what? Ok, some of you Michigan people are still looking at melting snow, right? Well, be patient, you'll get your chance!
Planted mine on March 26. Forty tomatoes, two 50' rows of okra, cucumbers, green peppers, egg plant, straight-neck squash, cantaloupes, and carrots. No corn or onions. Corn is very cheap to buy, and I can't do any better than the sweet Vidalia onions that are grown close by.
25 degrees here tonight. Won't be much warmer tomorrow night. It will probably be at least a month before anything goes in the ground here.
You could plant peas, Woodcarver. They used to say poke them down in the mud as soon as you can't see any more snow, up in Maine.
Woodcarver I am about 70 mi east of you and my peas are in and aspargas is up also but it seems our temp are a bit warmer being closer to lake michigan even though it is still 40 mi away.
marv
I had about 19 degrees this morning with heavy frost and thick Ice on all the standing water and animals waters. Be a while before I plant anything.
Peas do like cool weather. They don't do well in hot weather. The problem with our weather in this area is that it can swing from one extreme to the other abruptly. We sometimes have a snowfall followed by eighty degree temperatures a couple of weeks later.
We planted peas early one year when we had an unusually warm spring. We had a beautiful stand. We had a frost on Mother's Day and they froze all the way to the ground. We replanted. It turned hot and we didn't get much of a crop. That's generally been our experience with peas here. If we plant early they freeze and if we plant late the weather turns hot and they don't do well.
Peas are grown commercially in Wisconsin, but most of the production is a hundred miles south of here where I grew up. Potatoes are the big commercial crop in this area. To the east of us it's cabbage. Just south of us it's snap beans and sweet corn.
Potatoes will regrow if they freeze off. That said I haven't seen any potatoes going in the ground yet. I have seen a few fields sown to grain. That's about all in this area.
The lake does make a difference Trapper. Our asparagus isn't up. We are directly west of Appleton. I have acquaintenances in the Appleton area who have zone 5 perennials in their flower beds. We have trouble growing some of the more cold tender zone 4 perennials here. We are in a little narrow valley between two moraines. That adds to the problem a little because cold settles in our little valley.
It's too late for peas here. I'm not even going to try. I wanted to get them in a month or two ago.
Well today I planted some odds and ends-- black-eyed peas, Minnesota midget melons, mystery cantelope seeds (don't remember where they came from), cotton, peanuts, amaranth, buckwheat, and kamut wheat.
Amaranth was grown by the native Americans. I have never had it before. How do you prepare it?
I got a few things planted about 300 tomato plants in the green house and 80 pepper plants, I have 100 more at a friends place. about 300 cucumber plants Market more, Lemon, and pickling. I have a few watermelon transplants. 1/4 pound of okra seed, 1 pound of straight neck squash, 1/2 of zuccini, and 1/4 of patty pan squash. I have a few pounds of peas and beans and sweet and field corn to plant.
I have a pepper/tobacco planter to put out my transplants and a covington planter for the rest.
Quote from: WDH on April 05, 2012, 10:13:42 PM
Amaranth was grown by the native Americans. I have never had it before. How do you prepare it?
I'm learning as I go, WHD. If I get any to grow to maturity this will be the first time. I do have a book somewhere ::) that tells what to do with it. ::)
Well it's been a sprinkling of snow here for 2 days. ;D The garden has been bare for 2 weeks, but it's not planting time. Harv's Hollow over on the ridge still has snow. That has to go first. ;D
16 degrees out there with crunchy frost and ice, talking snow on Monday and Tuesday. Garden is going to have to wait a little longer. Got a field all prepped and ready to go into Oats, but going to wait just a while longer.
While we haven't been doing any planting, we have done some harvesting. We've dug our parsnips and a little horseradish.
We usually do a fall planting of spinach for spring harvest. Didn't get it planted last fall. May not have worked well this season anyway with the sparse snow cover we had this winter.
I have pretty much everything in except tropicals...tomatoes and peppers wil go in in a week or two...my first planting of beans failed, so I just resowed them...but everything else is ok.
Okra, You are a few miles north of me and the temps tonight are to be in the mid 30s with a chance of frost which is very posible with light winds. Also below normal temps for the next few days. I don't plant summer veges till mid April and at least the 1st of May for Okra. My experience is that it needs warmer soil to get started.
Woodcarver the spinach I planted last fall is about ready to cut.
Marv
Road Runner, you're right, I probably jumped the gun. Well all I have up right now is six corn plants that I transplanted. I may have to reseed some things later, especially the okra and cotton.
Actually, they are calling for a low of 37 tonight. Hope they're right.
An anomaly in the weather has caused more than one to loose their britches. ;)
We haven't even had any rain yet this spring.
Peas,raddished,lettuce,corn in the ground. Tomatoes.cuc's, summer,Zuchinni,&pattypan squash,lettuce,cabbage,cauliflower,broccolli,and more in the greenhouse..... Pic's on facebook and @ Pineofamilyfarm.com...
We are behind on rain here, too, Donk. We've had a little, but well below average for this time of year and that follows a winter with very little snow. Might be one of those years when we plant the garden and then water to get germination.
I planted part of my row crops Monday. Field corn pinkeye peas, zipper creme peas, texas creme peas, rattlesnake pole beans. Sidedressed my sweet corn and plan to plant some more items this week. I will grow the majority of my tomatoes this fall again. Late starting my seeds. We have not had any cold to speak of since first of Feb. Very unusual year. I was swimming in the gulf last week while on vacation.
Don
Got my potatoes in and transplanted 6 tomato plants I started from seeds-- don't know if they'll make it, though. They were quite small, maybe too small.
The tomatoes should be fine if they get adequate moisture. My mother-in-law who lived in the southwestern corner of Wisconsin never started tomatoe plants; she sowed her tomatoes directly in the garden. I wish we could do that here. It would be a less work.
I probably could do that, but it's frowned upon. :( Come to think of it, when has that ever stopped me from doing something? ???
Down in the 20's again last night and tonight. The neighbors pear trees were in bloom. No pears for them this year. I'm not sure what the cold has done to our apple trees. They were budding out before the weather turned colder.
Not much planting going on. I did see a farmer planting potatoes today. I would think soil temperatures would be a little cold, even for potatoes. The farmer must be anticipating a warm up.
Sure enough, now they're putting us on a freeze watch for the next few nights. :-[ Even the old timers would have planted corn on Good Friday around here-- maybe their corn will still be underground for the next few days-- mine on the other hand is just poking through today. :-\ They would tell me--- you should have listened to us. >:(
We got our 1st frost for the season 2 days ago. Only have silver beat and kale in to feed the chickens through winter.
You must be at fairly high altitude to be getting frost so early, Wild Dog?
The corn's growing point should still be underground so it will be fine if it's just poking through the soil. It will knock it back hard though.
Quote from: Okrafarmer on April 11, 2012, 08:38:01 AM
You must be at fairly high altitude to be getting frost so early, Wild Dog?
WildDog may also have a very southern lattitude. :)
I'm sure he is at a rather southerly latitude, but I spent 4 months in Victoria, which is (generally) farther south yet, and I didn't think it would be normal to get frost there for another month or so.
I have a very fine stand of nutgrass in my garden :). It is almost impossible to get rid of because of all the little nutlets on the roots. Do y'all get nutgrass in the Frozen North?
Nope, we get what we call cooch grass that you can never get all the roots of. One little strand of root will grow 100 fold. ;D
We are all plagued in some manner :).
My garden is plagued with maple seeds, some of which are becoming maple seedlings. :-\ :-\
QuoteYou must be at fairly high altitude to be getting frost so early, Wild Dog?
Okrafarmer our farm is at 1120m (appologies for the metric) At times Glen Innes can be one of the coldest towns in the country, it sits on top of the great Dividing Range. We normally get our 1st frost by ANZAC day April the 25th. I have had a farm adjoining the Western Tiers World Heritage Area in Tasmania which had a lot more snow but not the frosts we receive here. I like the cold, its dark here and I am rugged up sitting on the verandah typing this, having a beer to finnish the day and listenening to a rutting stag just below me on the creek and a Water Hen that just fell prey to a fox.
Sounds like a beautiful place, Wild Dog. I remember going on the train from Melbourne up to Shepparton in Victoria and seeing that part of the GDR, it was beautiful. Sounds like yours is too, and you have one of the coldest parts of Oz, there. It's no wonder they named it Glenn Innes, isn't that a place in Scotland?
I finally finished planting my garden yesterday. I am neck-deep in a bathroom remodel that has a fast-approaching deadline (my wife has a friend coming to stay the last week of April), so free time has been hard to come by lately. Sometime in the beginning of March, I planted red potatoes, then on April 1 I planted peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, and green beens. Yesterday, I finished the garden off with buttercream peas, black-eyed peas, wax beans, acorn squash, and sweet corn.
It will be very interesting to see what my tomatoes and peppers do this year. I started all of them from seed, and wrote the varieties on a little wooden stick that I put in each pot. Unfortunately, the pots stayed outside for about a month before I got them in the ground, and the sun and rain bleached the ink out, so there was no way to tell what variety was what ::). So there was no rhyme or reason to order of the varieties, and I won't know what's what until the fruit starts to mature :D.
From what I remember, my pepper varieties are red bells, colored bells, bananas, cubanelles, jalapenos, Jamaican yellows (similar to Scotch bonnets), Kung Pao (similar to cayenne), and some others that I know I'm forgetting.
My tomatoes include sweet grape, Better Boy, romas, and probably something others that I can't remember.
Dodgy don't feel bad, I did the exact same thing 3 years ago, what's worse is I had my 2 young girls helping and this was for a 4-H project of theirs, my ink didn't even last long enough for the plants to emerge :D. Doesn't matter though, it all still tasted good in the end.
Glad I'm not the only one. Maybe a Sharpie will hold up to the elements better than a pen? Guess I'll find out next year. I don't anticipate that the peppers will taste any different, so it's all good :D
My biggest crops are peppers, onions, beans, spinach, beats, carrots. And I inter-plant cukes and tomatoes. I like to grow a wide variety of peppers. I can't grow romaine lettuce because the earwigs come by the hundreds to invade it. It won't be until about June before I plant anything. ;D
You Canadians pull the combine behind the planter to save time, don't you? ;D
Helped my friend today. He is putting up a 30X70 hoophouse to grow vegtables in.
The Kale has failed to take hold, down to only silver beat.
QuoteGlenn Innes, isn't that a place in Scotland?
Yes mate, It is, a lot of the farms and locations around here are named after Scottish places, our town is known as the Celtic capital of Aus, we have a Celtic Festival each year and have a replica of the "Standing Stones." My surname is Munro, the family originates from the Isle of Skye, our youngest fits the theme well he having red hair and named Angus. :) Okraf... if your ever back down under head up this way and i'll give you a tour.
QuoteFrom what I remember, my pepper varieties are red bells, colored bells, bananas, cubanelles, jalapenos, Jamaican yellows (similar to Scotch bonnets), Kung Pao (similar to cayenne), and some others that I know I'm forgetting.
Dodgy thats a swag of peppers, I'm envious we can't seem to grow them here out in the open, my dad can but he's 5hrs away.
Okra, with the younger generation farmer these days I see all kinds of things I scratch my head about. Corn being cut in December in snow storms, and weedy grains that when my father grew grain had to be rogued out or no one would buy it. To me, it indicates an underground economy or the farm would be lost. ;) ;D
Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 13, 2012, 05:12:33 AM
Okra, with the younger generation farmer these days I see all kinds of things I scratch my head about. Corn being cut in December in snow storms, and weedy grains that when my father grew grain had to be rogued out or no one would buy it. To me, it indicates an underground economy or the farm would be lost. ;) ;D
Ha, well, I was just making reference to your short growing season. ;)
I guess, like my pop always told me, "If you have to explain it, then it isn't funny" :-[
In Maine, our growing season was about mid May to mid September, some years a little longer than that.
And about the weedy grain, that could be grain that is being grown organically with no herbicides, and / or it could be being raised for local animal consumption, and / or cover crop, in which case some weeds in it would not be the end of the world.
My corn and tomatoes passed the frost scare. No frost. 8) A few beans are popping up and I think I saw a watermelon. :)
Quote from: Okrafarmer on April 12, 2012, 09:12:12 PM
You Canadians pull the combine behind the planter to save time, don't you? ;D
I had to chuckle a little when I read that Okra, I think around here, before too long it will be the opposite, they'll be pulling the planter behind the combine ::).
Okra, didn't need to explain it. We might be half frozen and tough, but we aren't thick headed. ;D
As to the farming you make valid points, but I don't see their input costs being covered in what they produce. That's why I get suspicious. ;)
Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 14, 2012, 05:07:35 AM
As to the farming you make valid points, but I don't see their input costs being covered in what they produce. That's why I get suspicious. ;)
They may not be making any money, but just like anything else, it depends on the markets. Also, when it is a farmer raising feed for his own animals, there are often things done in desperation that would not have passed in the old days. A lot of this is because of a lack of money for farmers due to bad markets, bad advice, govt interference, etc, and just fighting to survive many farmers' backs are against the wall, trying to get more years out of each piece of equipment, scrimping on inputs like fuel, fertilizer and 'cides, and not having enough money to pay for as much labor as in years past. It's a sad thing. When I was a toddler, there were 2,000 dairy farms in Maine, and now there are somewhere around 300, I believe.
I finished bulding mine today...filled the bottom with creek sand and topped it off with composted horse manure...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18028/100_2452.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18028/100_2453.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18028/100_2456.jpg)
planted 6 tomato plants this evening...If Taylor is planting that many, I shouldn't have bothered...but these will be handy...The deer won't be able to bother anything...all I have to do is figure out how to keep the bulldog out of it...There is a Holdem 57 that still works in the barn.. ;)
This takes care of a drastic change in grade in that back corner...There is two 17inch tall bridge timbers stacked there...took a lot of sand. Banjo
Whatever you have to do. I wish I had some sand in my garden-- my soil packs hard when it dries.
Quote from: WildDog on April 13, 2012, 04:59:45 AM
QuoteFrom what I remember, my pepper varieties are red bells, colored bells, bananas, cubanelles, jalapenos, Jamaican yellows (similar to Scotch bonnets), Kung Pao (similar to cayenne), and some others that I know I'm forgetting.
Dodgy thats a swag of peppers, I'm envious we can't seem to grow them here out in the open, my dad can but he's 5hrs away.
Yep, my wife and I
love peppers. The two things that I grow that will never go to waste are peppers and potatoes. It's a good thing, too, because both peppers and potatoes seem to do OK in the shade. My garden only gets two or three hours of direct sunlight a day, so I suspect that my tomatoes and sweet corn will never be spectacular unless my wife lets me play "lumberjack" on the trees in our backyard ;D
Yeah I have a neighbor whose garden only gets morning sun. He has it right in close to a stand of cedars and of course his house lot is a stand of cedar all around the south and west.
Compared to you guys my city garden isn't much but I am already eating from it!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14445/IMAG1354.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14445/IMAG1355.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14445/IMAG1356.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14445/IMAG1363.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14445/IMAG1364.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14445/IMAG1369.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14445/IMAG1370.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14445/IMAG1371.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14445/IMAG1372.jpg)
Beautiful garden Bill!
WOW! Looks great Raider. I know how much hard work has gone into that garden!
I missed the chuck roast plant! :D
Wow, it's a bigger garden than mine and 5 months ahead. I won't be planting until June. ;D
Quote from: Norm on April 23, 2012, 04:11:12 PM
I missed the chuck roast plant! :D
Sirloin tree! Actually I grew all the herbs I used to marinate it in. A juicy tender 3 pounder!
Sirloin was my second guess... :D
If Patty ever leaves me your in my top 10 list Bill....in a non-denominational way of course. :D
Anyone know a good type of spinach to use instead of lettuce? The earwigs get into my lettuce every year, not too appetizing. :-\
Bill!
That is a fine garden ;D. I like your weed control plan, too. You have put a lot of work in that garden and it shows!
Nice garden, Bill!
And here they are calling for frost again tonight. :(
Nice pictures. And what was that rock with moss on it in the last picture??? :D It looked a little out of place with the garden pictures, but I'm sure you were going to tell us something about it?
Quote from: Okrafarmer on April 23, 2012, 11:00:06 PM
Nice pictures. And what was that rock with moss on it in the last picture??? :D It looked a little out of place with the garden pictures, but I'm sure you were going to tell us something about it?
Oh, sorry, I missed seeing some posts. Silly me. I know better than that.
Okra, I hope you missed the frost last night. We had mid 30's here this morning, but no frost because of wind all night. Hope you had the same luck.
Was 21* here this morning. Gardening is still a few weeks/months off UP here. ha
Got chilly here too, I had to put socks on under my sandals and a t-shirt instead of tank top ;D
Quote from: Road Runner on April 24, 2012, 11:12:25 AM
Okra, I hope you missed the frost last night. We had mid 30's here this morning, but no frost because of wind all night. Hope you had the same luck.
Thankfully, everything still looked green out there today. :) It was a close one, though.
I wish my okra would come up though. Think I have about 7 plants up in three rows. :-\ Might have to replant it, it's been cool the last couple weeks and okra likes warm soil to pop up.
We planted our potatoes yesterday and today begins planting season on the farm. WhoooHooo! What an exciting time of year.
We planted sprouted supermarket potatoes, and they are growing very nicely. ;D
We are going to try and grow potatoes in stacked tires this year using straw as the medium. City farming has it's challenges.
QuoteWe are going to try and grow potatoes in stacked tires this year using straw as the medium. City farming has it's challenges
The upside on that RB is no digging ;)
The leaves are coming on the trees now and this means warmer nights on the high ground. I also got some new seed today. Just some spinach, peppers and onions for now. Spinach and onions can actually go in now. But I'm not quite ready. Grass is getting mighty green after that rain to. Bought some Muskol today as I bet the flies will be out next week in force. ;D
You should be able to get those spinach in there as soon as your ground is suitably dry and there is little danger of deep deep frosts. Don't know about the onions. But you should be able to plant them before June.
It's few weeks too early to set out plants in these parts unless you want to cover them at night .You really don't gain much by setting plants much before the second week of May .
I have around 3 dozen tomatoes sprouting nicely from seeds and half a dozen Burpees burpless cucumbers on the window sill .I prefer the cukes with the burps left in but Mrs Smith says I have enough gas already and don't need additional help in that area .
Whoa. That's good to know Al. :-\
Yeah Okra those kind of frost are gone for this year. But believe it or not we may have some snow up in the hills tonight. But that's not a cold that will freeze the ground, it's up above the ground. Leaves and woodland flowers are coming on now. Onions will survive winter cold, much like a parsnip. Parsnip is best left in to over winter to sweeten up. The store bought parsnip and turnip is not even good to eat because they are harvested before hard frost.
Do you remember, circa 1984, there was a huge snowstorm near the end of April? We got 23 inches at our house in central Maine. My little sister was floundering around in the snow and couldn't make headway, so I flopped a piece of plywood down into the snow for her to climb out on.
Ground was white here this morning. In the shade it took a good majority of the day for it to melt. In fact there is still a little left in the woods out back.
I have good luck with wall o water plant protectors for early tomatoes. Most online seed companys have them.
Seen lots of late April snows. Back in 2007 it set us back a couple weeks from thinning. Snow seems worst than rain, everything slimes up and it might only be an inch of water in the snow.
Ninety-two here yesterday, 58 degrees this morning. Easter Sunday I conned my grandchildren into planting some garden. I had bought carrots and lettuce in those 'tape-rolls',[Easter Bunny loves it} also onion sets. All we had to do is make a little furrow, roll out the tape, stretch it down in the furrow and cover. Too easy, but they were fascinated.
Well, as of today, the carrots have not showed up, the lettuce is very thin; I would suggest in doubling the tape per row. I knew it was too easy but kids now are 'gardeners.'
Mid-twenties here last night. There was a thick layer of ice in the dog's water dish this morning. Will definitely put a dent in the fruit crop. Pears are blooming and the apple trees are starting to bloom.
Was 19* here last night with lots of ice on the watering troughs in the barn. Luckily our apple trees haven't started to bloom yet, but they should start anytime. Just hope that once they start blooming these cold cold nights stop.
Never an apple bloom much before late may-early June here. Although the apples have broke bud, the flowers will just sit there for weeks before opening. I saw an old time crab apple tree almost all leaved out this week. No blooms though, and I bet when it does bloom it will be snow white. It's not dwarf.
First squash from the garden today. My daughter sauteed them with onions in olive oil, and they were wonderful.
My word ...when did you plant them? I thought Debs looked pretty good...but no where close to being able to eat....Banjo
March 26. I have two 40' rows, so we will soon be covered up in squash. My wife puts up a lot for us to have in the winter.
What kind? Buttercup and acorn are commonly grown up here and take all summer. :D
We will plant acorn and crooked neck squash in the next few days and will be lucky to be eating squash by the middle of August.
Has to be a summer squash to be ready so fast OR you have a really fertile garden!
Straight neck summer squash. We just started about 2 - 3 weeks early this year because of the early Spring. Here is a pic of the squash in full flower. On the far left is a row of cantaloupes, then a row of tomatoes, two rows of squash, and cucumbers on the center fence.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14370/IMG_0748.JPG)
This side of the garden has two more rows of tomatoes on the left, peppers and eggplants in the center, two rows of okra, and on the far right, a row of carrots.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14370/IMG_0747.JPG)
I can barely stay ahead of the nutgrass. That is gnarly stuff. The fence is to keep the deer and hogs out.
I'm eating cukes, squash, peas, beans and tomatoes. corn has tasseled and ears are forming but I dunno what happening cause it's stunted at about 3-4 ft high again. I seem to never have luck with corn. Melons are looking good. Beets never came up. I think maybe I was too late planting.
Your garden looks great there Danny. :)
I won't plant anything until June. Well maybe the spinach this weekend and the onions, beats and carrots and peas. Beans later. The neighbor planted on the day I was busting up that hard maple in the yard. All I see up is his onions. Ground's too cold yet. Today was fairly warm, but it's been cold the last 3 weeks. Today the black flies came out so we are beginning to get enough heat. Lots of bumble bees in the woods today on the woods flowers. ;)
Nice garden Danny!
Bill it might be worth it to check the PH level of your soil. Stunted corn most times means it's not right for corn, 6.5 is ideal for it.
Quote from: Norm on May 15, 2012, 07:08:17 AM
Nice garden Danny!
Bill it might be worth it to check the PH level of your soil. Stunted corn most times means it's not right for corn, 6.5 is ideal for it.
Roger that Norm. This is a new area for my garden and I have not yet done that. Most all we have here is sand with some sand mixed in. ;) I till oak leaves in over time then add lime to sweeten it up but have not got it tested yet as the leaves have not had a chance to break down. My corn cobs are going to be the size of a little finger.
I bet that your soil is strongly acid.
still picking peas here...and starting to pick green beans...
pinheads at the southern states sold me one half of my beans, advertised as flat bush...so of course they are pole beans. sure is a good thing I have a sawmill.
It's all planted .Just a small raised bed for salad stuff ,fresh tomatoes etc .The earliest the tomatoes will be is mid July .Those are the early girls ,usually small .The larger ones ,big boys and beef steaks not for 3 weeks ,a month after that .
The poor garden survived my lengthy absence largely intact, thanks to my dad coming by and weeding it once for me. Some things just aren't going to do well this year, but the tomatoes and potatoes are killing it. The amaranth is looking good. This is my first year to have amaranth come up and grow at all successfully, so we;ll see how it continues.
I grow mostly weeds, The zoysia grass is such a pain to deal with.
I did get in 4 rows of corn, 2 rows of black eye peas, 2 rows of cream peas and one of string beans, 44 tomato plants, 4 hills of crookneck squash and 4 of zucchini. All this weekend and whew was I tired!
We just picked a batch of yellow banana peppers. Think that it might be time to make some pickled sweet banana pepper rings ;D.
I'm experimenting with some of my tomatoes this year, whacking the plants off about two feet off the ground. I've heard this makes them sturdier and produce better. We'll see. obviously I won't have to worry about them sprawling all over the place as usual. Won't have to stake them or cage them.
Let us know how that works out....I don't let any more than 2 main branches on my tomatoes ...I break off any suckers that come out...its a constant battle...the whacking off at 2 ft. would be easier....Banjo
I used to keep only one main leader, but now, I just let them do their thing and make as many tomatoes as possible since we can them for winter use. The more the merrier. The tomatoes are not as big, but the yield is maximized by keeping as many flowers on the plant as possible at all times.
I did that last year, WDH, and my stakes and cages weren't strong enough to hold the 6' plants. It gets tiresome looking for bigger stakes all the time. :-\
I use 6' T-posts and tie the branches of the tomatoes to the post with flagging tape. The knobs on the T-post make it easy for the flagging to stay put on the post and not slide down. One roll of flagging can tie up a bunch of tomatoes.
Ok, I have to ask....what is flagging tape?
I have used tie-wraps to bind the tomato plants to t-posts, and I have used twine, but I have never heard of flagging tape.
It's the bright colored marking ribbons you see in the woods or on job sites on stakes. Usually pink, red, orange,or blue.
My gardens pretty much shot for the year. I have tomatoes and cukes left.
We got back from a weekend trip to Pensacola, FL last night and the garden needed a picking. A bunch of green beans and wax beans were ripe. Also a half dozen cherry tomatoes and one zucchini. We had zuchinni hashbrowns with blackberry pancakes for supper last night. Looking forward to some steamed green beans tonight!
I will be covered up with tomatoes before long, but my squash and zuchinni are just limping along. Squash borers got them real bad before I caught it and sprayed. I don't even like squash and zuchinni that much, but it's sad to wait a month and a half for fresh veggies, only to see the leaves wither and die, one by one :-\
Dodgy,
Usually, the squash borers show up here about in July. I am covered up in squash and about to be buried in tomatoes. That is OK! The cucumbers are very good this year. The okra will be ready soon, and it will produce all the way to November.
Patty, here is a link to flagging tape. Some people call it ribbon. It is a mainstay for us Foresters.
http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/search.asp?stext=flagging%20tape
Thanks for the info Bill & Danny. I know what that is, just never knew the name I guess...
Yesterday while Norm side-dressed the field corn, I planted watermelons, cantaloupe, winter squash and pumpkins. Today I hope to get the popcorn planted. Our sweet corn just came up, Norm planted enough for the entire town, so everyone is welcome to help themselves if you are in the area! Give it a few weeks though. Our spinach and onions are up, and the spinach is ready to be picked. The tomato plants look healthy and need to be caged soon. The asparagus is all done, and the strawberries are ready to be picked. I have a lot of trouble with mice eating my strawberries, grrrr!
I am still trying to get my flower beds planted. The wind and heat are just shredding the few that are out there. Summertime in Iowa....hot and windy.
Our taters, onions, beans, lettuce, radishes, sweet corn, peas, cucumbers and squash are UP. But we have a frost/freeze warning for tonight so we will see what survives. We are going to try and cover what we can but 3/4 of an acre is a lot to try and cover....
Quote from: WDH on May 29, 2012, 09:34:07 PM
Usually, the squash borers show up here about in July.
Yes, I didn't expect them so early, and I really didn't expect them at all this year. Unless you have a lot of squash (I only have 3 hills this year and 2 last year), they usually don't become a big problem for 3-4 years. Once they find your garden, they pupate in the ground and will come back year after year. They sure found me this year, so I will be on high alert in the future! I need to start spraying for powdery mildew this week or my squash and zucchini won't have a prayer.
Well, I have been growing squash for 30 years in the same plot, so the squash borers have surely found me. All in all, they are not too bad because before they can become a real problem, the heat wipes out the squash before August, anyway.
I've had poor luck spraying for squash borers, seems they will lay their eggs even with a dose of insecticide. I've had my best luck with diazinon but of course it's been outlawed and now I use sevin. It doesn't last very long and I'm not sure if it's even effective against them. What do the rest of you folks use?
I use the sevin, too.
I used a commercial bifenthrin insecticide on my squash, and it appears to have done the trick - my plants seem to me doing okay. But unfortunately, I'm afraid I've killed off my bees in the process. All my baby squash and zucchini are withering and dying, indicating inadequate pollination :(
I've done some research and I've decided that next year I will use a spinosad insecticide on my squash. It's highly selective for caterpillars and once it's dry, it's completely safe for the bees and wasps that I need to pollinate my garden.
Well, I'm happy to announce that my garden is 100% organic this year, as it has been the previous three years. The pigs tilled and fertilized it all winter, and then when I took them up I rototilled it and planted it. A few things died, but most of it is doing fairly well (rabbits and chickens ate all my green bean leaves, they're pretty much toast). Until yesterday, I hadn't added any fertilizer whatsoever this year, but I broke down and added some bagged organic fertilizer from Home Depot. Only to a few select plants that didn't seem to be doing too well, as well as a few others at random to see if I could notice any appreciable difference in how they look in a week or two. We should have potatoes soon, and the buckwheat is forming seeds, so we should have buckwheat soon, too. Tomatoes are flowering, and the black beauty squash. The first planting okra is really starting to make a good showing now, and the second and third planting okra is making up for lost time. Within a month, we should have a lot of stuff, including several different kinds of tomatoes.
My tomatoes are starting to come off. We are picking squash, cucumbers, green and banana peppers, and okra. Only waiting on the cantaloupes and carrots.
Lucked out last night with no frost, had frost the previous two nights. Hopefully that is the last and we can get tomatoes and such in the ground.
The spinosad looks interesting, I'm going to order some to try out. I try to be as organic as possible in our garden sans the sweet corn. But sometimes it's a matter of whether I eat or the bugs do so I have to use insecticides. We have cutworms bad and certain things like tomatoes and watermelon have to be treated or they get every one of them.
Our sweet corn got put in a little over a week ago after finishing up with the last pass spraying field corn. My buddy stopped and had the ag place put in 20 gallons of uan28 in his big sprayer. Called me up and asked if I wanted my sweet corn patch sprayed, well heck yes! Turned out his 80' booms were just the right width so all he had to do was drive up and back three times to put on the fertilizer and herbicide. I told Patty that it wouldn't be truly organic this year and her comment was "oh well you have to die of something!". :D
Mine is organic if you don't count a little sevin dust...something was eating on the okra...Really not big enough to count as a garden at all...but it is doing well...Its been took over by the squash and zucanni...evediently they love horse manure...Banjo
Here is a pic I took this morning.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18028/Deb_Garden.jpg)
Not much room to get around, but we are limited on space. Banjo
Your squash looks like mine. One nice thing is that they shade out the weeds, somewhat.
They also shade out the onions and the cucumbers if they can...but the cucks have found the wire...I did lop off a couple of leaves on one of them this evening...hope it don't hurt it too much...First time I ever pruned squash...But its the first time I ever staked okra either...had a pretty good wind the other day and blew 4 or 5 of the little fellows over...We tried the zucannie gratted and fried like salmon patties for supper...it was very good...Banjo
Quote from: Norm on June 02, 2012, 07:36:39 AM
The spinosad looks interesting, I'm going to order some to try out. I try to be as organic as possible in our garden sans the sweet corn. But sometimes it's a matter of whether I eat or the bugs do so I have to use insecticides.
Well you might be happy to know that spinosad can be obtained that is completely organic. The active ingredient is derived from a natural bacterium (just like Bt), but the carriers may or may not be "organic", which determines whether or not the insecticide is considered organic. Either way, you're getting a very safe and highly effective pesticide that is much less risky to non-target insects than most insecticides. We used it for armyworms when I worked for Bartlett, and it worked very well as a low concentration spray. I have high hopes for my squash next year :)
My garden is in slow motion-- corn, tomatoes, okra, potatoes, all are almost, almost, almost ready. And have been for a week. :-\ I think I can pick the first few okras tomorrow. Star of David variety, I love that one. Stowell's Evergreen corn, this will be the first successful run for that variety for me. Rutgers and Golden Jubilee tomatoes are looking nice but haven't begun to turn color yet. At least I got to harvest some of my Kamut wheat today. I have tons of volunteer tomatoes popping up all over, and about 20 more that were given to me to plant. Those are behind the Rutgers and GJ's timewise, but from soon to the end of the season we ought to be swimming in tomatoes.
Not much happening in our vege patch, only Fordhook Giant silver beat ( I left the gate unlatched, my horse got in and trimmed/ate/squashed a lot including the last of the Kale :() We've had a couple of minus 10 deg celcius here this last week, shortest day of the year today (I know because its my wife B'day).
On th positive side, we have been collecting cattle, horse manure, piling it up on the vegetable beds and adding compost worms and covering in lucerne chaff so should have some nice beds when spring comes.
Happy solstice, WildDog! May your days grow longer for the next 6 months!
We've have been on a steady diet of freshly grown produce for the last 6 weeks. I get a handful of tomatoes every day, the first two rows of snap beans have bean pulled up more more will come in next week, the peppers are finally starting to produce, the squash and zucchini are producing again after being attacked by the squash borers. Last night my wife and I froze 30 ears of sweet corn. We saved two for later this week and had two for supper last night. In a couple of weeks, my black-eyed peas will need picking and the acorn squash will start to ripen. I love gardening season! Especially in South Mississippi! In North Georgia, I would just now be thinking about digging up some potatoes :)
Any of you folks ever grow round zucchini. They look like mini watermelons. We are covered up in them. I have eat them every way you could think of.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/27999/0.jpg)
Apparently it's definitely zucchini then ;D. I prefer mine sliced thin and cooked on the grill after marinating for a few hours. I lost my uncles recipe for the marinade and haven't needed it yet this year, need to give him a call.
I grew the round ones a few years back. I was picking them about the size of a baseball. I grew a bunch of different types. But I found out out customers like the old stand by of the narrow green zucchini. I'm in Maine,mine are just starting to blossom. Looks like the string beans are ready.
No need to grow zuchs myself. The neighbors are always trying to bless me with their over abundance every year. Of course being a good neighbor I never say no.
I like zucchini sliced up and sauteed with onions, garlic, and olive oil. That is a summer treat.
Quote from: WDH on July 06, 2012, 08:22:30 PM
I like zucchini sliced up and sauteed with onions, garlic, and olive oil. That is a summer treat.
That's my favorite way too, pretty DanG good breaded and fried though.
Quote from: WDH on July 06, 2012, 08:22:30 PM
I like zucchini sliced up and sauteed with onions, garlic, and olive oil. That is a summer treat.
My favorite also. :)
My favorite is zucchini cake and zucchini bread. Man they are some good!
Patty my wife makes what she call zucchini pie, it is delicious. :)
I picked the last of our green beans last night we ended up with 17-18 gallons picked, not sure how much that will be once they are broke and put up. Not much on canning, we freeze ours.
Frozen zucchini works really well. Just grate it and put it into baggies. I premeasure it in the amounts needed for my recipes, and that makes it simple to use throughout the year.