2023 Garden Seed and Starts

[SwampDonkey]

From the plant on the left (second photo down)





You can see more tomatoes on the plant to the right and lots of blossoms.

[newoodguy78]

Won't be long now. How is the flavor of those compared to ones you grow outside? Is that the same variety you grow in the garden?

[SwampDonkey]

I think they are Scotia, a medium sized tomato I have grown for years. I'm not sure about flavour yet with these. I do know last winter I had tomatoes and they have more flavor than hydroponic ones due to being in dirt. But I'm pretty sure they are not exactly like the flavour in my garden dirt. Nothing beats Carleton county dirt for flavour. You'll notice that about your own dirt to, nothing compares to stuff in your own dirt. ;) But the verdict is still out on flavour, a tomato has to be totally ripe on the vine to be any good. A half plucked tomato isn't any good no matter where it grows. ;D

[Firewoodjoe]

I don't start anything in a tent. But this year i left all my potatoes in the basement. It's is finished so not the best. But I'm going to use the small ones for seed potatoes this spring. They have long tillers or eyes already. I'm actually canning the reds and goldens now. They dont store as well compared to the russet. Has anyone ever used there own potatoes as seed? 

[SwampDonkey]

I never have for the garden because of possible diseases. But it is possible to grow from your own potatoes, yes indeed. If it wants to grow, it will. Some potatoes in stores have growth inhibitors applied to them before harvest. But even those will often grow anyway.

My dad grew seed for sale, it was always tested and walked row by row to cull disease in the field and had to be certified for sale. There was always a booklet each year for the area listing who has seed and varieties for sale. New Brunswick is the largest exporter of seed potatoes.

[Paul_H]

I'm on year 6 growing from my own Sieglinde potato seed. Last spring I bought some seed Sieglinde seed from a market gardener and planted 7 rows of his and another 11 rows of my own and mine fared better(much larger) although his seemed to have less flea beetle damage. We store the spuds in a roothouse.

[newoodguy78]

@Paul_H have you ever tried planting mustard as a trap crop for flea beetles and other pests? The high level of glucosinolates is something they are drawn to yet can't handle is my understanding.  I started using it last year and was happy with the results I saw. Needs to be managed but isn't bad at all. If it's something you'd like to try let me know I could send you some. 

[Paul_H]

@newoodgguy78 I didn't know about that but have a pack of Yellow Mustard seed here,would that work? It was sold as seed for greens but my plan was to try to harvest more seed for mustard powder which I really like.

Thanks for the tip!

[newoodguy78]

Im no expert on it but would say yes and highly doubt it would hurt. The actual variety may affect the overall outcome however depending on its strength. Glucosinates are what give brassicas their zip so to speak. The more they have the "hotter" the taste. 
The mustard mix I used was a blend of Kodiak brown,White Gold yellow and Pacific gold. All of which are supposed to have high levels. 

I stumbled on to this after looking into growing potatoes and alternatives to using heavy amounts of sprays.  Growing mustard and using the whole crop as a biofumigant for the ground has showed to be effective in potato production and an alternative to some conventional methods. I did plant about 4 acres simply as a cover crop to be used for biofumigation. 

My curiosity then got me interested in other possible uses/benefits it may have. It's an outside the box cover crop but managed properly a very beneficial one. 

[SwampDonkey]

An Alaska couple I watch on Youtube makes yellow and brown mustard for spreads. They can enough for a year's supply. They said the brown stuff is hotter mustard. Judging by all the honey and vinegar they used I'd say it's pretty hot. It was pretty much on the fly, no recipe. :D  Around these parts mustard grows all over the place wild, so can't be too hard to grow. ;D Used to be horse radish everywhere to, but that has died out over the last 100 years. Anywhere there was an old homestead  had that stuff around it, just like there was rhubarb. We had one field we called 'the camp' field. Dad's uncle lived there and raised a family. The horse radish was all around where the buildings stood. That got plowed for years and still grew. :D

[SwampDonkey]

I've only got this one iceberg started, but another 4 or 5 breaking ground to transfer to bigger dishes once up with their first 4 leaves.





I'm drying my onions now for sets. I'll plant some for green transplants later this month.

[thecfarm]

Even I have to say how good that looks!!!!

[Wlmedley]

I have about 1 bushel of kennebac potatoes left over from last year that are getting pretty soft .They have plenty of sprouts and I plan on planting them in the next few weeks if I get another dry spell.

[newoodguy78]

cfarm are you feeling ok?  :D Next thing we know you'll be having some of the southerners send you more grits.
I do agree though that lettuce does look good 

[thecfarm]

No need to send grits!!! 
I have a lifetime supply.  ;D

[SwampDonkey]

An update.

That iceberg head and have been eating those radish. Will pick those soon and start some new radish.



Dill fern. Those things use a lot of water a day. Sometimes I see them limp after watering twice a day. Wish it was dill pickling time. I do have a couple bottles left from last summer. ;)



Tomato beginning to turn. I got the soil a little hot and had to transplant the tomatoes. One didn't recover. :D Too much kindness. ;) This one is recovering with new shoots and flowers starting. I also started a new plant, 'Bobcat', a beefsteak variety.



Happy gardening. ;D

[Wlmedley]

Had around 3/4 bushel of potatoes left over from last year.Had plenty of eyes and were sprouting.Garden pretty dry (supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow) so I figured might as well put them in the ground.Worked up ground and layed off.Got four rows around 50' long each.This is the earliest I've gotten them planted in a long time so I'll be anxious to see what happens.Around here we always shoot for St Packtrics day but it's rarely happens.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Should do just fine as long as the ground doesn't turn to mud and cold. ;)

[SwampDonkey]

Picked 3 ripe maters Wednesday. Taste pretty decent to. These are 'red alert' variety, and they seem a little bigger than the package suggests, they are a large cherry tomato. I have a bunch of green ones yet to ripen and see a few more blossoms opening up.

[JonathanPace]

I'm blown away by what people are planting. I'm too busy seeing livestock. Veggies don't incur high vet bills; I may need to consider this route instead!  :D

[Firewoodjoe]

I just got my garden worked up. I already have left over potatoes that sprouted a lot. I'm going to try them for the first time. Plus seed potatoes just incase. Shooting for at least 55 mounds. That was perfect last year. Doing corn carrots cucumbers cantaloupe and beans. My garden soil looks great. Every year the cows are on it it greaty improves. This year I tried not feeding as much hay in that pasture and it's much nicer not dealing with the left over wet hay. I prolly won't plant for a couple weeks yet. Going to be in the high twenty's a few nights again this week. I still have to run chicken wire around the bottom of the cattle fence. Darn rabbits about cleaned me out last year. 

[thecfarm]

I planted peas today. Could of did it week ago, My garden dries up quick.

[Firewoodjoe]

Are t you worried about frost?

[SwampDonkey]

I planted my pepper seeds the other day in the grow tent, they won't go out until the middle of June. I don't start mater sets until May, they grow a lot faster than pepper sets. I've got parsnip to dig in a day or two. The first stuff I plant out in the gardens here is onions, carrots, and parsnip at the end of May. The main garden here has snow, but will be gone in a couple days, but won't dry enough for a while because a huge snow drift feeds water through it for awhile yet. The snow drift is probably 2 feet deep still, blows in off the field during winter. The rhubarb is not up yet, so not garden weather yet. Ground here is ice cold, but no frost. ;D

Peas are tough, dad always tried to plant some in April every spring. Beans on the other hand are not tough, cold will kill them even if not freezing. They will dampen off and rot.

Up here some folks get fooled by an early warm stretch, then the frost will later nail their plants every time. My uncle always said a June garden is better than one planted too early. I've never seen the first week of June be frost free since I've been here. Only takes one. ;)

[thecfarm]

Not concerned about frost with peas. 
Peas are hardy.
We use to have a veggie stand, so I always planted things early. Made more money if I was the first one. 
One year we had a snow storm, maybe 4 inches. I had snow peas!!  ;D
They were just about covered, did not bother them at all.
Now tomaotes would be dead after that weather.