Got Inspired by some pictures of gardening using raised beds. :) I think Jeff posted them last season. Our soil here in South Florida is sugar sand and all though may grow some vegetables, I opted to haul some Top soil from a Nursery. The wood has been in the garage taking up space for long enough and time to put it to use. I am figuring our season is best now until June. It is too hot past June. Seem to have got some good seed with great germination percentages. :)
My next project is to screen them in to protect from bugs, snakes and heavy rain(if it ever rains again ::))
Posted a 2 minute video on youtube instead of pictures. ;D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQFsZll6iF4
Thanks for posting movies instead of pics, Glenn. Now I won't have to look at them. ;) ;D :D :D :D
That topsoil will help a lot. I've grown some really nice gardens in sugar sand, by adding oak leaves to it...bunches and bunches of oak leaves. Just cruise the neighborhoods and pick'em up by the bagfull. Start by using them for mulch around your plants, then dig more of them in during the off-season. You will soon have soil that you wouldn't have believed possible.
Glenn,
That is quite the ambitious project. If I was a plant, I would want to grow in that soil! Keep us posted on the progress and the tastiness ;D.
Thanks. cool video.
Need updates every week. ;D
Looks like you might have to do some thinning to reduce your basal area
as WDH would say :D ;D ;D
8)
8)
Nice looking beds! This year we're looking for a haywagon to use for our raised beds. We put pole beans to grow up the deck rails.
We're gonna need at least bi-weekly updates!
Beans sure do grow fast. :D
DanG, you sure people ain't gonna mind me stopping by to rake up their leaves? :D
Got a Fire Ant problem already in the center bed. Gotta be careful how this'il play out.
They tore me up when I stepped on some of the little rascals while weed wacking. :(
My ankles aren't very purty right now. >:(
I put some of them poison sugar drops on pieces of cardboard. They all gather around the drops like cattle.
Fire Ants need to die! This is War.
We have 4 raised beds in our garden now and hope to add more as time goes by. We find them much easier to work all the way from planting, weeding and harvesting. My plan is to someday have all the vegetables except sweet corn, potatoes and the big vines like winter squash & pumpkins grown in raised beds.
Nice video, Moose! ;)
.
Fire Ants need to die! This is War.
[/quote] :D. :D. :D.
Thanks Patty. My wife picked up another load of Top soil for the 4th bed.
Guess what I'll be doing later. :D
Waiting till dark because it is too hot. ::)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/4th_Bed.jpg)
I will send you some cold weather Moose....it was 3°F this morning when we came to work. ::)
Quote from: Mooseherder on March 10, 2009, 09:50:22 PM
Got a Fire Ant problem already in the center bed. Gotta be careful how this'il play out.
We've got the same problem. :o :o Can't use the sprinkle\pour on poisons. Any suggestions ::) ::)
Tony 8)
I've been using some drops on the tops of the side boards that kill ants. Also put some drops on cardboard to start with. Have since removed them. They gather around and feed around the drop like cattle.
I didn't see as many of the bed tonight. Hopefully it is working.
re: fire ants in the garden.. Poison sweet stuff justs kills a few of the workers. The only way to get did of the buggers is to give them something they will take back to the nest and feed the queen. Best stuff I have found is a grayish white powder called heptachlor. Half a teaspoon full on the mound and they are DEAD. I found out about the stuff from the phone co. linemen. They use it to kill the fire ants in their terminal boxes.
Pineywoods, only problem with heptachlor is it was banned in 1988, by the EPA, from all use except by the power companies. That would make it very hard to get.
Got a couple pictures of the progress. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Lima_Beans.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Green_Beans.jpg)
First place I go to when the work clothes comes off is the Garden. Here is a little update. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eht1gfgJGzE
Geez Glenn.....I was kinda happy today that all the snow has melted from my garden and I can see dirt ::) ::) ::)
All yer friends are gonna hate you when them zucchini start producin'
Yer gonna be drownin' in 'em :D :D
Quote from: Burlkraft on March 17, 2009, 07:03:14 PM
Geez Glenn.....I was kinda happy today that all the snow has melted from my garden and I can see dirt ::) ::) ::)
All yer friends are gonna hate you when them zucchini start producin'
Yer gonna be drownin' in 'em :D :D
I heard tell you Wisconsonites got some folks in an uproar over your new State slogan. ;D
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090317/ap_on_re_us/rebranding_wisconsin
Yeah......That's real clever ::) ::)
They actually paid someone to come up with that lame slogan >:( >:( >:(
I want my money back :D :D :D
They coulda saved some money and stimulated the economy at the same time by simply going down to all the piggly wigglies, buying cases of a certain product, peeled the labels and stuck them on all the stop signs around the state.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/1916975-Cheez_Whiz-Philadelphia.jpg)
Ya, Dats a good motto dare dat one "Live like you mean it"
More better dan before da old one "Life's So Good." eh? ;D
our governor is a real expert at wasting my money He also wants to raise background check cost four hundred percent for an honest person to buy a gun and then let crininals out of prison early.
A little Garden update. The Bean Bed is having some issues with Fire Ants. Looks like they are eating the leaves and sprouts as some are looking bad while others may be just fine. They maybe thinning the herd for me.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Beans.JPG)
The Cantalope Bed has to be replanted because when I transplanted from the Cups it exposed the roots and I don't think they liked being transplanted. The Watermellons started after the Cantalopes are doing great and from starting right in the bed looks like the way to go. I bought another package of Cantalope seed to try again.
The carrots, cucumbers, zuccini, onions are doing good for now.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Squash_Watermellon_Carrots.JPG)
The Tomatoes started in the Bed aren't doing well either. The ones started in Cups inside are doing great. We transplanted them in Pots instead of the bed for another experiment later. We have about 10 of these pots.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Tomato.JPG)
I'll have to post a picture of my new vegetable trellis i'm going to use for one of my raised gardens this year. When I look at it, I see the perfect trellis. I've got a sneakin felling when my neighbors look at it, all they see is what is left of the old set of box springs I threw on a bonfire last fall. :D
That does sound like a great idea. :)
We had some very windy days here where the Peas could have used that type of stabilization. :D
Your tomatoes look a lot better then the ones I have started. I have a puny grow light on them, and they just look weak.
I could use my fancy-dancy burnt bed trellis in two different configurations, although I think the pup tent looking version might make it hard to harvest the snow peas I plan on growing on it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/2/DSC00577.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/2/DSC00579.JPG)
That just gave me a idea. There is a piece of plastic lattice hanging around here somewhere. :)
Harvested my first Pea tonight. My wife and I split it. :D
It was DanG good and sweet. Today is day 55 of them planted. Got a few more days to maturity.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/First_Pea.JPG)
Then I brought a couple more with me in my shirt pocket and told the folks we were at dinner with that I had a special announcement. ;D :D
I pulled out 2 fresh Peas. :)
I have my snow pea seeds right here between me and my monitor. I'm not to successful so far with my gardening this year. I took all of my tomato plat starts outside two days ago, for a coupke hours when it warmed up and got sunny, as they really looked like they needed some real sunlight. I dont have any south facing windows, so the pitiful grow light I have is all they get.
What I'm getting at is. I killed em. All of em. :-\ I didnt mean too. :'(
Like Lenny and the rabbits :D
Quote from: Jeff on April 13, 2009, 11:31:39 PM
I. I took all of my tomato plat starts outside two days ago, for a coupke hours when it warmed up and got sunny, as they really looked like they needed some real sunlight. I dont have any south facing windows, so the pitiful grow light I have is all they get.
What I'm getting at is. I killed em. All of em. :-\ I didnt mean too. :'(
Wow, you must have some sissified tomatos up there. A couple of hours of sunlight and there gone? smiley_headscratch
Mebby it was the 28° that got 'em :D :D
It was 50 that day. It was probably the 20 degree temp shock.
Lost all of my tomato seedlings and now my peppers are dying. No idea why.
Quote from: Paul_H on April 14, 2009, 12:09:36 AM
Like Lenny and the rabbits :D
Paul,
You are a well read man ;D.
Bugs Bunny :D
Tell me it wasn't bugs :).
We have been out of town for a few days and I was anxious to check on the garden when we got back this afternoon. The newest edition is the Butternut Squash have flowered and are taking shape. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Butternut_Squash_Sprout.JPG)
Dang, I'm just getting ready to move stuff into my garden
I just finished setting up a greenhouse a few weeks ago
Cold frames will be built for next year
I'm just getting ready to go fetch some 2 x 6 to make 3, 8x4 beds down the edge of the lawn on a SW facing slope. I don't really need to buy any soil, but maybe get a few bags to mix in my own soil and few maple leaves stirred in. I won't plant until May unless I get a couple packets of carrot, peas and parsnip and put under plastic. It's going to be almost 80 degrees today. 8) Unfortunately short lived, back down to 40-50's by Sunday afternoon I think. :( I've done tomatoes along side my barn with a window frame this time of year before. They were like trees by mid May and had 'maters in July. Mom's uncle, who was in his 80's and still gardening at the time was flabbergasted. Gotta give them old timers something to talk about. :D :D
I bought some more Pea seeds yesterday to start over with that commodity. :D
2/3 of my Pea transplant isn't doing good. 1/3 is producing just fine. I'm thinking the transplant might have been the problem. That or the high winds we had a few weeks back.
The production isn't keeping up with my consumption. ;D
I just put my peas in the ground yesterday. We got a nice rain this morning and it won't be long and the wabbits will have peas to eat :D :D :D
Well, I constructed my frames and then hauled them off to my garden site. I took the grub hoe and tore up all the sod and picked the rocks off. Hauled that off. I felt like Harold when I was dinging up lost iron treasures. I just tossed them right into the wheel barrow with the rocks. :D Now I have to take the shovel and shave some more sod along the edging and sink the timbers a couple inches in the soil to keep stuff from growing under and into the beds. That sure is a work out. Time for a long break bub. ;D :D
Norm planted peas in one of the raised beds earlier this week, his greens (we call it the salad bed) were planted last weekend. The raised beds seem to be warmer than the soil on the ground, so we are able to plant in them earlier in the spring. I checked our other beds, my rhubarb is up, and the asparagus is up 8) It looks like my strawberries came up too early and were wiped out by the blizzard we had a couple weeks ago. ::)
Does anyone have a suggestion for really good strawberry plants?
Quote from: Patty on April 25, 2009, 11:42:14 AM
Does anyone have a suggestion for really good strawberry plants?
Toss them in balsamic vinegar with peas and tomatoes :D :D :D
Dat were funni right dare. :D
I wish I knew the variety I had years ago. I had dug some plants in the fall and stuffed them int grocery bags and put them in the freezer. I forgot about them for 3 years or more. :D I found them in the bottom when we were cleaning the freezer one spring and planted them in the garden. WOW, they took. 8)
Dad grows some under floating fabric this time of year, and they are ready in late May. Regular uncovered ones fruit in late June. Don't know the variety.
Well I got the 4'x8' frames buried into the soil. Just need to put a sprinkling of maple leaves and new soil in with them to mix. Too windy today to deal with leaves. Some of the old soil is fairly gravelly but lots of dark loam to. Never know where your going to strike the gravel around here. Sure was a mess of rocks in that soil to. I'll be sore for a couple days, gotta get whipped into shape to cut brush. ;D
Well, once a fella gets going....
I went and got some compost manure and mixed it with my soil and a few leaves. I also picked up my seeds for this year. I'm going to wait and see what the long range weather looks like and plant some root crops maybe next week. I have some floating fabric to lay on the seed bed for awhile, keeps the warmth in and the frost out. Sure is hot today, 78 F in the shade. ;D
Might as well toss in some pictures. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_raised_beds-001.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_raised_beds-002.jpg)
I'm thinking of putting some of that black fabric down and some bark mulch over it to keep any weeds away from the frames and a nice neat looking walkway around and between them. Seems like it's going to be mild all week 60-70's starting tomorrow. if this wind ever stops I'll plant some root crops and put my floating fabric over them.
Anyone grow celery? I know you have to hill it so the stalks don't go woody. I have not tried it in years. Need some boron for my rutabagas to, to keep the root maggots away.
The neighbor's dog has already tried out one of the beds this morning with a walk through. I wish people knew enough to keep their animals at home. That ain't gonna happen. :D
Donk! That is pretty country where you live, it could pass for places in Iowa that I have seen.
The recent rains have greened things up substantially in the past 2 or 3 days around here. The oats are just popping up out of the ground, the alfalfa fields are up, and I bet in a week or so we will see new corn. Ahhhhh, springtime in Iowa is very exciting. :)
Burl, you are going to wish you had given better answers when you come visit this summer. :D Paybacks are brutal!
Yeah, I'll have to mow down around the barn/shop this week. Don't want to. :-\
There is almost no snow left now, but way out there you can see a patch of snow in "Harv's Hollow" and along a line fence. Be gone this week. In the back country there will be snow 'til mid May. The fields here are drying out good, soon be scratching the soil on the farms.
I got the itch and planted by root crops, then put my floating fabric over the seed beds of two frames. The soil feels some warm on those beds in the sun. There is a slight slope to the beds so it really warms up the soil. It's not all that hot today, about 56 and NW wind. Nice and sunny though. Been outside soaking it up. Even did some painting this morning. ;D
Patty,
What are you talking about? :D :D :D
Sounds like you guys are a couple a weeks ahead of us. Most guy's around here just started corn.
My rhubarb is lookin' good. Other than that we're still waiting for a few warm sunny days to make things really pop. 8) 8) 8)
I am in need of some mushrooms too !
And there they were. ;D
I had given up on expecting any Green Beans a while ago because of the Fire ants and wasn't even paying much attention to the plants up until tonight. Was down looking at how pathetic the Green Bean plants were looking and saw some of these hanging down. :)
They tasted good too.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Green_Beans.JPG)
Two beans. Not too bad. Did ya find the knife while in there pickin? ;D ;D
I ate one on the way up to the house. :D
Are they pole beans or bush beans? We do pole beans.
They are supposed to be a bush type plant.
SwampDockey,I grew celery a few times.I never hilled it up,but I put a dam around the plants and I would flood them once a week or so.Seems like they like water.A guys father at work puts roofing paper around the plants to keep them together,so it looks like the stuff at the store.I just let might grow out.I found it very easy to grow.But maybe I was just lucky.
Cfarm, I'm wondering if I pack some leaves around the stalks it will keep them from going dark green and woody. As far as growing them I think they are easy, as far as I remember, as well. I'm not going into the celery business, just some to pick once in awhile from the little garden. ;D
I have orders for tomatoes for salsa, so celery might be a good thing to add. Peppers will be added to the beds later as well. Might need another raised bed for all this stuff. ;D Surprising though how you can fit a lot of stuff in a small space. ;)
Got up to 63 here yesterday, suppose to be near 80 again today. But then cool down in the 40's and 50's until the weekend. Sure is a challenge being a farmer. ;D
I did use newspaper and hay around them to keep the weeds out.What we liked about growing it,you need a stalk or two,just go out to the garden and break some off.
I had a redo/replant of the Cantaloupe and Pea Beds tonight.
Hopefully will have a better outcome. ::)
Plant and leave it alone until it's established. :D :D The only thing I had luck transplanting was tomatoes, cabbage, rutabaga and cauliflour.
Got some new sprouts from the second round of Peas and Cantaloupes. :)
Some Hot Peppers are starting to show. smiley_fireman_hat
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Hot_Peppers.JPG)
How long (days) does it take those hot peppers to flower? I'm going to plant some bell peppers this year.
We never grew peppers growing up.When I started my own garden I grew them and they never did much until someone told me to use black plastic.They really like the heat.Wet down the ground,don't make it real muddy,but get it wet.Lay down the black plastic,weight it down with rocks,dirt,boards or something,to keep the wind from blowing it.Cut an X in the plastic,big enough to transplant the pepper plant into,about the size of your fist.I plant mine about 2 feet apart.I try to find the biggest pepper plants I can.Most greenhouses around here plant them late and they are about 3 inches high.There is a small one that plants early and hers are about 6 inches high.I grow the Ace ones.Have real good luck with that kind.
I never have troubles with the bell peppers growing, grew them for years in the garden just as they are. But I was curious about those hot ones, some stuff needs a longer growing season than others. I am using floating fabric right now, but we need rain bad the ground is dry. Maybe if I find some of them hot ones, I'll put some black plastic around them. Folks use them in pickles, like to have some turn fire red. ;D
My peas ain't even sprouted, just like I took them out of the package. I think I'm going to soak the beds down today. Suppose to be showers the next couple of days. Showers don't amount to nothing. ::)
Quote from: SwampDonkey on May 05, 2009, 04:09:16 AM
How long (days) does it take those hot peppers to flower? I'm going to plant some bell peppers this year.
These were started in Cups on Feb. 21st. and transplanted later. I didn't keep track of when they flowered but my best guess is about 50 days. They are a Hybrid called Biker Billy.
The Peppers and Tomatoes seem to have handled the transplant the best. I cut the bottoms of the cups and put in the bed leaving the top rim of the cup.
If I find some hot peppers I am going to try to make a tent of plastic around them so rain can get down to the soil. Use a tomato wire cage I think. I'd start them without it so they could adjust to the garden site first. Otherwise they might burn up.
At $2.00 apiece for bell peppers down here, I am definitely growing a bunch :).
My rutabagas and carrots are coming up now. 8)
I watered the beds good today, so hopefully the peas will be up by Sunday. :)
My peas popped their heads out yesterday. 8) I have not seen anything from my potatoes yet.
I start my tomatoes, peppers and broccoli in the basement under lights. They are all doing well. Put my tomatoes on a cart in the shop so I can roll them outside during the day to harden them off.
I usually don't plant my plants until after Memorial Day. We could get some snow yet :o :o >:(
I grew Billy Biker's last year. They were the last thing to come out of the garden. I think they were 95 day peppers.
Ours is up and looking good...1/8 acre...not exactly a raised bed though..unless you count the whole thing...corn, bushbeans, potatoes, peas, radishes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, onions, and more tomatoes than you can shake a stick at...all up and doing well..wifey bought me that
4 stroke honda tiller the other day..so it will get weeded.
I'm trying a coupla raised beds this year since I've given up on growing anything in what passes for soil around here. The only I can grow here is nutgrass and I'm tired of fightin it. I made beds using mushroom compost and a little two year old composted cow manure. Planted tomatoes,bell peppers,eggplant,squash,cucumbers,okra, and watermelons. I'm not a gardener by any means but I'm trying to learn. We'll see.
bd,
I am a champion at growing nutgrass as well :D.
An oldtimer once told me the only way to get rid of nutgrass is to move off and leave it. Trouble is I brought the nutgrass in with some so called good soil I thought would help the garden. Oh well, at least I don't have sandspurs................... yet.
My apologies for the hijack Moose, I hope my raised beds turn out to look as good as yours. What zone are you in?
Here are a couple of my beds.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_garden9_jpg.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_garden8_jpg.jpg)
I put in 3 more beds today with various tomatoes and peppers and herbs I grew from seed. I have a few more beds to plant yet.
Don
Our grow zone is listed as 10b.
I hope you have good luck with your beds also.
Seems my Root crops are the healthiest.
I haven't done enough to control the Fire Ants and my problems with them are growing.
Would have to list the score at Mooseherder=6 points. Peppers, Peas, Tomatoes, Onions, Carrots, Lima Beans.
In the Fire Ant Camp=5, Zucchini, Butternut Squash, Cucumbers, Green Beans and Watermellon. I may be able to slavage some but it sure looks like they are leaning on the Ant side.
Cantaloupes are undecided. :D
I'll trade ya some Ants for nutgrass. ;D
Nice beds Don. :)
I started another bed also. It is half full of dirt right now. Gonna get some more dirt for the weekend.
OK on the trade but I'm sending skeeters too. Worst I've seen in a long time. But this is the first spring we've had a decent amount of rain in a while too. Ants bored my potatos two years ago and ruined about half. I heard they would do that in real dry weather. My wife's grandfather used to sprinkle his seed potatoes with a little sulphur before planting. He swore it kept the ants at bay but of course she didn't tell me that until after I'd planted.
Those are some nice beds Don. Are you using pine for your edging? I pulled three cherry tomatos day before yesterday...they didn't make it in the house though. ;)
Quote from: Mooseherder on May 06, 2009, 10:26:19 PM
I haven't done enough to control the Fire Ants and my problems with them are growing.
Would have to list the score at Mooseherder=6 points.
Get the wife's 10 Mule Team Borax out and some sugar, mix 1:1 and set in the shade of the plants on a jar lid out of the hot sun. ;D
http://www.fireant.net/Control
Don, you have a green thumb for sure. Your beds look real nice. Are those onion or garlic in the first bed? :)
Don,
Those beds are very beautiful. Makes me want to go out and build some ;D.
Those are yellow onions. I haven't had a garden for the last four years due to deer issues and general lack of time. I am a hungrier man now and will be keeping some lead poisoning close by for the deer. I have a good garden helper now that is off all summer. I have more pics in my garden gallery that is testimony to how far I stepped off into gardening this year.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_garden2_jpg.jpg)
This field is planted with colored butterbeans and melons.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_garden3_jpg.jpg)
This field has 10 rows each of pinkeyes, creme peas and green butterbeans.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_garden4_jpg.jpg)
The closer plot has indian popcorn and okra and the plot on the other side of the fence has green butterbeans and yellow meated melons and taters. I have more beds to finish inside the fence as well as finish the fence.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_garden13_jpg.jpg)
I will need my helper if I can keep her out of the shade. She had already bushogged the field and was helping me lay out some rows.
We don't plant garlic until later in the summer for winter harvest and the first beds are red cedar but I switched to pine as they are more abundant and easy to replace. I hope all this stuff makes. Gardening can be a frustrating venture but worth the effort if you succeed.
Don
Wow! Beautiful place and some very nice gardens. :)
Don, that is a fine garden. Hopefully, it will continue to rain this summer. We have had a wonderful wet spring, the first in many years, so if we are lucky, the summer will be too.
Many people do not realize how much work keeping up a large garden can be. I raised up with a large garden, so I know!! I guess I have gotten used to it :).
Yup Don, Them are some beautiful gardens 8) 8) 8)
You guy's got the jump on us. We're just startin' to see some leaves on the trees.
My gardens look good now and they ain't much work yet. Just planted some stuff and the weeds haven't started to grow yet ;D ;D
The bad thing about a early start is that I am already sweating in it.
Don
what type of material are you guys using for the beds?
Well, everyone knows what I did. ;D
That Don, sure likes a lot of work. So I suppose he'll be working up his appetite for a while and be stuff'n himself like an angora rabbit before next spring. :D I'm just exhausted thinking about all that work. ;)
The big fields are hard work picking but I am hoping to fill my parents freezer as well as my brothers and sister. They will have to pick of course except for my parents. We will do most of that. I just supplied the tractor and the manual labor.
We are getting a abundance of rain this week. i need it to stop a few days as I need to run the cultivator down the rows to get the first run of grass and weeds that came with the rain. I hate picking in grassy fields also Mr. Belltail loves to hide in there hunting mice. :o
Don
Brought the master gardener in for some help with our raised beds. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10427/212/IMG_0200.JPG)
Start'm early Norm. ;D
I see my peas, beets, and spinach are now up. The spinach sure grows fast, they are up 2" now in a couple days. :)
Waiting on my parsnip, they are always slow.
Norm, ya'll are starting him out right. He'll make do in this crazy world. I recently gave a friend a dozen fresh eggs as well as her daughter . I found out today that her husband did not know that yard eggs came in the color brown. :D :D He was raised in the big city and has had a tough time adjusting to the country life. He is willing just ain't got no skills.
Don
All this rain has drowned a couple of my tomatoes it looks like...but the corn beans and potatoes will poke you in the eye if you stand too close.
our little ones ate the first radish to come off a couple days ago...they were all excited about it despite the fact that they both hate radishes... :D
The Mule Team Borax and sugar treatment is in progress but I figured I'd better show the Watermellon now just in case it doesn't make it. There are three of these Watermellons now. They're about the size of a quarter. I'm hoping for mercy from the fire ant gods. ::)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Baby_Watermellon.JPG)
The cucumbers are in the same pew. Same situation.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Baby_Cucumbers.JPG)
Planted some more Peas and this time tied some string at different heights to hopefully let them vine up.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/New_Pea_Bed.JPG)
And looks like my specialty right now is the Biker Billy Peppers. They are loaded and make me look like I know what I'm doing. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Biker_Billy_Peppers.JPG)
Looking good. You should be able to grow stuff year round without fear of it snowing on it. ;D
Don
I'm having luck with 2 tablespoons of dish soap to a gallon of water, poured over the ant bed after you stir it up a bit. A gallon per bed, three treatments over a period of a few days. Ants are gone, not run off, killed. Soap solution is also a good natural pesticide for many bugs on your plants, like aphids. ;)
Oh, when it rains, you get bubbles and suds. :D
Sounds like it is worth a shot. They're so bad this year I even have a mound right were my usual parking spot to get out of my car place is.
Gotta be careful in the morning for my feets. :D
Don's out to make hard workers out of us gardeners yet. Now he's suggesting you southerners work a lot harder than us northerners. Some of us northerners that got transplanted are asked to work even harder. :D :D :D
The Ants were all over the Mule Team Borax/Sugar blend in each bed tonight.
I hope they have a tummy ache and croak. :)
If they survive the Mule Team, I may be responsible for altering their DNA makeup.
The new ants will have a "B" on their bodies for Borax proof. :D
Thinned out a carrot while down there. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/carrot2.jpg)
You're doing a great job of thinning. That one is really thin! ;D
How much juice will that yield? ;D
Quote from: SwampDonkey on May 14, 2009, 05:12:29 AM
How much juice will that yield? ;D
About a nickels worth. :D
Initial results on the Mule Team Borax/Sugar concoction look promising SD. 8)
Saw some dead ants in the dish tonight and less activity in the beds. :)
Also tried Radar's Soapy Water on six super duty Fire Ant mounds that are in the yard. They didn't like it.
The survivors are getting washed again tomorrow. bath_smiley
Some Lima Beans posed for a picture. They were good. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Lima_Beans.JPG)
Lost my peas..but everything else is good to go...planted them too late..
i'm never buying another troybilt tiller...nothing but trouble...didn't someone say awhile back that the big hondas were good tillers?
Quote from: zopi on May 14, 2009, 09:34:31 PM
Lost my peas...planted them too late..
Zopi, how is that? You can plant peas 10 weeks before your first frost and still get a crop. You should be able to plant peas every week up until that 10 week before mark. ???
I bought a tiller last fall after doing some online research and had the preconceived notion I had to have a Troybilt.. I bought a Cub Cadet RT 65 instead. ;D I'm not knocking Troybilt, I think the older models are great and tough, but a few dealers that sold both models recommended the Cub. What I like about it is the RT, Reversible tines, The tines will turn both directions. Counter rotating for tearing up new ground and forward rotation for final smoothing and row weeding. After trying the forward rotation in slightly turfy ground I discovered that Troybilt has mislead me all these years with their commercials. In less than finely tilled soils the thing will run away from you. The tiller set me back 700 coin but was slightly cheaper than a comparable Troybilt and I am well satisfied.
Don
Quote from: Radar67 on May 14, 2009, 09:49:55 PM
Quote from: zopi on May 14, 2009, 09:34:31 PM
Lost my peas...planted them too late..
Zopi, how is that? You can plant peas 10 weeks before your first frost and still get a crop. You should be able to plant peas every week up until that 10 week before mark. ???
WEll..that's the wife's opinion...I think they either drowned in all this rain or got too hot..she believes they should have gone in the middle of march...
I don't like peas anyway... :D
Quote from: Don K on May 15, 2009, 12:52:21 AM
I bought a tiller last fall after doing some online research and had the preconceived notion I had to have a Troybilt.. I bought a Cub Cadet RT 65 instead. ;D I'm not knocking Troybilt, I think the older models are great and tough, but a few dealers that sold both models recommended the Cub. What I like about it is the RT, Reversible tines, The tines will turn both directions. Counter rotating for tearing up new ground and forward rotation for final smoothing and row weeding. After trying the forward rotation in slightly turfy ground I discovered that Troybilt has mislead me all these years with their commercials. In less than finely tilled soils the thing will run away from you. The tiller set me back 700 coin but was slightly cheaper than a comparable Troybilt and I am well satisfied.
Don
I was looking at one the other day...seems like a nice tiller..
I may hold out and try to find an old troy bilt horse and drop a white tank honda on it...I had one that was built back when they built them like farmall tractors..THAT was a good tiller...I built a blade for the front of it that would
grade the driveway pretty well..
Except for my peas and spinach and some rutabagas, the other stuff dried up and blew away in the wind. Need to keep the stuff hosed so the seedlings can get established. Been bone dry air and wind behind it. Oh well, I'll plant another crop next weekend and water it to death. ;D
Can't really take full credit for the Borax and I can't even remember from whom I got the idea, but it was someplace on this Forum. Although, I did do some Googling on my own as well. ;)
Ok, so I finally got the drive belts for the big tiller...it's a 5.5 horse troy bilt that I had repowered with a white tank honda...I re-engineered the drive mechansim with a shim
and hammer whack here and there and it seems to be working (crossed fingers) in reliable fashion...good thing, the ground here is absolutely sodden..I opened up the walkways about three inches down to help the water come out of the ground...it's drying nicely..
I obtained some japanese eggplant this morning..hopefully I will get to make japanese eggplant Parmesan.. :D
Thanks for the reminder about soap and water above...got rid of some crawlies I had in a couple tomatoes and potatoes nicely.....Dawn, Takes Bugs...Out of your way....
The Peas seem to like the grid system made out of twine. Most have wrapped themselves around and are alot better looking than the first planting.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Pea_Grid.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Pea_Grid_2.JPG)
Here is the first Tomato. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/First_Tomato.JPG)
my peas choked...the ones that were still coming seemed to drown in these heavy rains...
I've got a pepper, a tomato, and a little sprig of broccoli..and the little girls have been eating the baby radishes right along...
Those guy wires are a good idea to keep the peas off the ground. If not they tend to stay damp in rainy summers and get mold on the leaves. That seem to be what happens here at least. My father used to grow 100 acres of peas and McCain Produce had their own pea combines to harvest them. No one grows peas here now because it attracts a potato disease called Rhizoctonia which infects the roots and tubers.
Found out today why the peas drowned....most of the atlantic ocean is in my backyard right now and the pea patch ain't draining...been out on the rain a bit teaching the low spots to run..
My plants are just starting to get going
I hardly have anything out in the main garden yet
Still in the greenhouse & the sunroom
We had threat of a frost the other night - down to 36
I had a fire going to warm it up in the house
Only 7x10, I also use plastic jugs out in the garden as little greenhouses
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12561/2263/GH09web.jpg)
We had some major wind and rain storm today that damaged alot of my Tomato plants.
Don't have a raised bed garden ,but its on a knoll. Just replanted the corn for second time and will be doing beans tomorrow, along with okra and GRITS. Rain 2-4 inches at a time and the corn and beans had life jackets on :o
I got tomato plants 3 feet tall, dad started in his basement in his sun room. They have blossoms already. I'll bury most of the stems when I plant them. Too early, yet the leaves are pretty much all out on the trees here on the ridge. Except oak, basswood , butternut and ash, they are slow pokes. The sugar maples are way ahead and done flowering. ;D
The Jalapeno plants have produced some nice hot peppers.
They are Hot! smiley_bucktooth
My Son-in-law ate some off the plant right before he left here last night and the heat really got to him while he was on the road. He had to put his mouth in front of the A/C vent until he could stop and get something to drink. :D
His friends had been given some because they supposedly liked hot. They called and said Man, They're hot.
I cooked a Pasta Dish tonight and used half of one diced fine. Didn't really notice it much in the dish.
I'm not real crazy for hot and wish I had planted Red and Green Peppers instead. I saved seed from both red and green peppers and planted the red tonight in a Bed. The Red pepper I bought last week was from Canada. The one I bought today was from Holland. smiley_headscratch
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Hot_Peppers1%7E0.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Jalapeno.JPG)
Anyone ever grow Peppers from the Store bought peppers?
An observation from the last two weeks of saving seeds. There is almost twice as many seeds in a Green Pepper over a Red Pepper.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Red_Pepper_Seeds.JPG)
Now ya got me drooling. Just getting my peppers out today, finally got a break in the monsoon. Corn and potatoes look good, beans rotten in the ground, had to replant. Try some of those jalapenos canned in a bread and butter pickle recipe, cut the sugar by half. They stay as crunchy as straight off the vine. Better do it before they get those little streaks in them, be too hot to eat very many, you will want to eat them by the pint. :D
I would expect that those peppers,from a store, are a hybrid.No telling what you will get.But you could always try it.Been real busy here.I don't even have mine in the ground yet.Would not really matter.Has not been above 70 here since we had a 90° day here 2 weeks ago.That broke records.Been rainy and cloudy.
It's rained 12" in May....jeez...it's a wonder i have a garden left...
Cuty the first broccoli off yesterday, and I'll have slicing cucumbers coming out my ears soon...
Quote from: zopi on May 31, 2009, 08:04:22 AM
It's rained 12" in May....jeez...it's a wonder i have a garden left...
Cuty the first broccoli off yesterday, and I'll have slicing cucumbers coming out my ears soon...
The drought we have been under for several years got wiped out in 10 days.
If not for the raised beds this garden would be history.
I have one Cucumber that made it and it looks deformed. The rest have rotted not long after the flowering stage. Squash and Mellons didn't make it either.
I'll have to try and find a pickle recipe soon WH. Ya got one?
Are the streaks because they weren't taken off the plant early enough?
The seed package said some of them will turn red and be 2 inches at the shoulder. That is what I was waiting for. :D
What makes a big difference in how hot jalapenos are is if you take out the seeds and ribs when you cut them up. I had some frozen ones that I just threw whole in some taco meat I made. Wow I had to eat a big bowl of ice cream to feel my tongue again. :D
I put my hot peppers in a couple of weeks ago but we got three days of high winds and it just shredded them. They'll leaf out again but it really sets them back.
I have some real hot ones. I still am waiting a week or so to stick them in. I have them outside under my birch tree to keep any frost off, but we have not had frost for awhile at my place. But not too far from freezing, just a couple degrees off. I stuck my two tomato plants in yesterday and my celery. My second planting of beets, and rutabagas are up. The beans are just starting and my second planting of peas are just beginning. I noticed some parsnip just beginning to sprout, barely broke the seed coat. We had a nice soaking rain yesterday afternoon and real sunny today. I have not seen any carrots or bell pepper yet, but not two weeks yet I don't think. Next weekend the cukes and squash are going to be sunk in. ;D
Got a couple new roses potted, a yellow and a peach one. I will be looking for a red one for my third pot. The last ones I kept for 10 years and removed from the pots last fall, time to start anew. ;)
What did you do with them during winter SD? This is the first year I've put my roses in pots and would like to keep them until next year and beyond if possible.
I have a rock walled cellar and a cement stairway beside it into the basement of the main house. On the inside ledge of the rock wall along them steps I have about 14 inches of space. I stick them there and make sure they have ample water before I bring them in when the leaves fall off in autumn. I don't add any water to them in winter when dormant. It freezes there, but in the upper teens, not below 0 F in January when it can be 30 below outside. Mine usually show signs of life in March again. I keep a potted dahlia in the basement in the dark until late April as well and don't water that in winter neither. I wait for the fall frost to kill the top, then cut it off.
Here is my very first tomato from this year's garden. It is a Mountain Fresh and we have the plant in a container alongside the deck. The seed said that it matured in 70 days, and it wasn't kidding!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11566/tomatoe.jpg)
We took our container gardening to new heights this year by putting two boxes on the telephone pole in our yard (that holds my clothesline). Our neighbor, who dabbles in wood working, saw those upside down tomato planters advertised on TV, and thought, "why not wood?" So, we've got two tomato plants growing on the pole. I'll let you know how this works out. My neighbor has the whole neighborhood experimenting with these boxes.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11566/tomatoplants.jpg)
Thanks SD, I have a shop that never gets below 25°F so I'm going to move them in there this winter.
Roxie my tomatoes got hit by the wind and cutworms so I'm guessing it'll be 70 days before they even show any red on them.
Just had hail the size of peas an hour ago. On my way to the garden to see if my maters made it. :D :D
Quote from: Norm on May 31, 2009, 08:18:58 AM
What makes a big difference in how hot jalapenos are is if you take out the seeds and ribs when you cut them up. I had some frozen ones that I just threw whole in some taco meat I made. Wow I had to eat a big bowl of ice cream to feel my tongue again. :D
We like 'em hot, so we usually keep the seeds and membranes. Barb also discovered that when they develop "stretch marks" on the outside, they're even hotter.
The heat of chili peppers is dependent in part on how well drained the soil is, and how much water the plant has available..as well as genetic predisposition..
I haven't searched it up but New Mexico State University probably has some info along those lines through their AG Extension office...
Heh...My old man went to college there with the guy that bred the original Numex Big Jim....
Been awhile since anybody has put up some updates. I downloaded a few pics of my peppers and six varieties of heirloom tomatoes. I got a late start on my seed orders and building beds due to rain. I might make a few tomatoes before the heat gets them, but I have a bunch of suckers rooting that will go in the beds late July for my fall tomatoes. First time I have tried them in the fall. I hear they do better then down here as they like nights below 75 while producing fruit. We'll see.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_tomato2_jpg.jpg)
A yellow tomato and a yellow orange mix tomato and orange bell pepper.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_tomato1_jpg.jpg)
The tomato in this pic is a heirloom seed I got from Iraq. Yellow squash in the background and some herbs and marigolds mixed in.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_tomato6_jpg.jpg)
This is a heirloom zuccini (sp?), my first time to grow them.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_tomato5_jpg.jpg)
The yellow squash is just coming on. I picked the first five today.
I spent the last three days sweating down as I tried to recover the garden from the spring floods. Everthing is in good order now. I have to replant the okra and I lost half of my melons and must replant the creme peas and speckled butter beans. Pink eyes are blooming and should soon furnish some fresh peas. I have a few more pics in my gallery for anyone interested.
Don
I'm getting Cukes...coming out my bloody ears...neighbors like them so it's ok...broccoli coming off steady now, picking a few green peppers..Jalepenos mostly..some hungarian wax, butternut is blooming, beans are bloomed and fruiting..'nother couple weeks and i'll be buried in string beans, tomatoes coming nicely, some should start to ripen next week or so,
corn is weak..too wet for it...might make, but it will be late..might hit it with another dose of fertilizer...radishes are done, rutabagas are huge and my potatoes could give kudzu a run for it's money...have told the wife she is not to plant more than four cucumbers next year..had to transplnt the onions..might make but they are going to be late..pickling cukes are beginning to bloom, I have many gallon jars and a case of vinegar standing by...and I will make at least two crops of shallots this year..gonna put in a couple varieties of garlic for giggles...but it will have to winter over, not a big deal here, it;s warm enough I can bury it in straw and they will be ready in the spring.
I love my tillers. :D
I didn't have any luck with Squash, Cucumbers, Watermellons or Cantalopes.
The Carrots are getting bigger. I picked a couple out tonight to show my daughters when they were over for a BBQ. The Jalapenos are producing a second crop and almost ready. I haven't used all of the first crop even giving some away. They are turning red. teeter_totter
We cut one up tonight in small pieces for some fun. My SIL and I are the only ones who would try them. These have gotten a reputation around here for being too hot. I put one in some stir fry yesterday, it was good.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Carrots_Red_Jalapeno.JPG)
I pulled the first tomato off the plant today. It isn't big but looks almost ready to eat.
Looks like we'll be making salsa as soon as the onions are ready. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/First_Tomato%7E0.JPG)
The Red Pepper seeds I dried and planted from Store Bought Peppers are growing. :)
I'll post a picture soon.
Had my first feed of spinach yesterday from the garden. Everything else will be a long time, I'll be pretty thin by then. :D I should see squash and cukes this week, germinated not ready to eat. ;) My parsnip are finally up, they took 3 or 4 weeks to germinate. Had to plant carrots over, Vesey put that coating on them and they never do very good, so I got some McCormics seed, which I have better luck with.
My wife and I each had a Tomato today and they were good enough for a high five. smiley_thumbsup_grin
Pulled a few Onions tonight before their harvest date because they were pushing out of the ground.
The Harvest date was suppose to be 170 days. They were in for a 108 and were self thinning. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/onions.JPG)
170 days! That's from one sledding season to the next sledding season here!
My raised gardens aint much to look at other then the new ones. One is in a bio-mizer ash can, and the other is in a chunk of hollow stump. I got tamaters planted in those and they are growing like crazy. I've got some heritage tomatoes that were started from seed this past winter in one of last years beds and they are coming slow. They are "Ox Heart" tomatoes. I worked up some ground to try and grow some potatoes for the first time. The goal is to have them for the friday boiled dinner pigroast weekend. If they are growing under the ground, like they are growing above the ground, we'll have lots of taters.
expect to pick the first tomato tomorrow...picked green beans for the first time yesterday..20 x 30
patch yielded about 10 lbs of beans. had a couple pounds of garlic kicking around, so I cleaned out the lettuce bed and put in a couple rows of garlic...might work might not..
Yesterday's 80 degree heat encouraged the squash to emerge, no sign of the cukes yet. Should have beat greens in a couple weeks. I found some chilli pepper seed a couple weeks ago and sunk a few in. My bell peppers are up. My beans look sick so I interplanted another couple of rows and then 3 short rows in another area. I even planted peanuts. I told the cashier I coulda bought 3 pounds in the store all harvested and roasted for the price of that seed. :D
My Zuccini and Butternut Squash both rotted soon after emerging. Same with the Cukes and Mellons. We were having too much rain.
At least that is what I think happened. ::)
We have five tiny watermelons emerging...the little buggers are DOOMED! We've never made a watermelon worth anything, but keep trying out of pure pigheadedness....
Here's part of what I have growing this year.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/2/DSC00846.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/2/DSC00848.JPG)
My cukes started up today. 8)
I've gotten squash and cucumbers three times so far and one eggplant. Bell pepper once and banana pepper once. Tomatoes are gettin there. Okra are just beginning to bear.
First planting of bush beans drowned out, just enough left for a mess or two, second and third planting looking good. Horticulture and pinto beans looking good. Will be making kraut in a few days. Don't know if the tops are any indicator or not, but the potatoes are waist high and loaded with bloom. Have some tomatoes just starting to bloom. Cuke seed was old and did know if it was any good, so we just sowed them, they were all good, just got done cutting down about four out of every five plants.
I didnt get around to gardening this year , but i plan to experment with raised beds. I am having to build again and the new code wont allow me to use my old septic. I gotta use one of those that spray the gray water all over the yard through a sprinkler system. I aint crazy about that. I wont to see if i can pump it into above ground tanks and have it gravity feed into raised beds through soaker hoses.
I've gotten two pickings off my green beans so far. I have three 20' rows and got almost two grocery bags full 8) Canned 6 quarts (about one grocery bag full). Cooked a bunch for father's day and gave the rest away. The radishes and broccoli are done. Cucumbers and potatoes will be the next thing to come in digin1 I can't wait!
Should have cole slaw and cukes by the end of the week. Will have to wait on the rest of it.
My garden is producing okra, cucumbers, green beans, green peppers, hot cayenne peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash. Expect for the tomatoes which are just starting to get ripe, everything else has hit its stride.
I got up at 5:30 this morning to pick what I thought would be a coupla buckets of my Pink Eye Peas. First picking ya know. ::) Picked 7 buckets, 3.5 bushels.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_peas1_jpg.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_peas2_jpg.jpg)
Fortunately I borrowed Mom's pea sheller, I wish this thing would have been around when I was young. The peas were shelled in less than a hour.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_peas3_jpg.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_peas5_jpg.jpg)
Put 16 qts. of peas in the freezer. They will be good this winter.
Don
That's a nice haul Don. I wish my tomatos would start doing something. :(
Prune some leaves off Radar, that usually entices them to set fruit.
Here's a good forum for the tomatoheads in the group..all you ever wanted to know about tomatos..
www.tomatoville.com
Now that's the way to shell peas!
Mine bit the dust when our temps hit the 90's last week. They turn hard and bitter so into the compost pile they went.
I've never seen that variety before Don, how do they taste?
I assume you're referring to English peas, Norm. Don's are pinkeye purplehulls are a variety of southern peas, and they taste a lot like black-eyed peas (which is another variety of southern peas). I planted purplehull cowpeas and zipper peas, but pinkeye purplehulls are my favorite musteat_1. The local farm store just didn't have any.
I've never grown the southern variety of peas before and am curious about how they are processed and cooked. Also how long of a season are they?
Norm, they are a great pea and come in several varieties. These are called Top Pick and the peas develop more on the top of the plants for easier picking. This is my first year to grow this variety. They are a pinkish red hull. I usually grow the traditional purple hull or the improved variety. The hulls will get the color of a eggplant when mature. My daddy says during the lean years when he was a boy they would boil the hulls and add sugar to the juice and it was a substitute for grape jelly.
To process for the freezer I put my big pot on on my turkey fryer ( don't heat the house up ) and cover the peas with 2-3" water. Bring to a rolling boil and skim the foam that develops as that has all the little bits and pieces you don't want. ( My mom has always done that ) Boil for about 10 minutes to blanch then cool and put into whatever container you like with enough juice to cover for freezing.
Now as to the way to cook, that is preference. I like to put a few strips of bacon or hamhock in with them, any smoked meat is good. Cook slowly until tender and then hurt yourself by adding cornbread, with some fried okra on the side or some diced onion in them or whatever suits your fancy. If you aren't into seasoning meat a couple of chicken buillon cubes and a dash of oil make them light and tasty.
Down here you can make two crops a season. This batch should be finished this month and I will plow them in and replant a fall crop. They usually make between 60 and 90 days. You will usually get 3-4 good pickings on a 3-4 day skip for ripening. I think they would do well up there. If you would like to try some Norm, let me know next year and I will send you a few pounds to try. I will get some pics of the plants and post. They are a little weak due to the drought we are experiencing, but they do pretty good in our hot, dry weather.
Don
I agree with Don on all counts about how to cook them! I always add bacon and diced onions and when there's cornbread to crumble into the peas there's nothing better. They are a heat-loving crop, unlike English peas, and they don't germinate very well until the soil is warm. I can't plant them in my area (southern Appalachians) until the first of May. We used to plant them the first week of April when we lived near the coast in South Georgia. As a rule of thumb, plant them the same time you would plant corn or okra. The nice thing about southern peas is that they store so well frozen - no need to can them. I process them the same way Don does.
Thanks guys, boy they sound like a good crop to grow.
I always have trouble with my pea crop. Seems about the time they start producing the heat sets in and they turn tough. I'm going to try a fall crop this year to see if they will do better.
Don thanks for the offer, if I can't find a source I may take you up on that. :)
Alright, pics for the ones not fortunate enough to have pinkeyes. Not the prettiest specimans, but they are producing heavily. That is the beauty of this species. They are like the special forces of the pea world. They will come through when the going gets tough. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_peas7_jpg.jpg)
This shows the blooms.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_peas8_jpg.jpg)
You can see why they are called Top Pick. These are immature.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_peas9_jpg.jpg)
These are ready to pick.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_peas10_jpg.jpg)
Next day or so this pea will be too dry.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_peas11_jpg.jpg)
My rows are 212 ft long. Frazzling grass took them when it was to wet to plow and spray. You can see all the peas on the tops. They will be picked Fri. morning.
Don
Yummnm. Now that is some good eating with the hamhocks and cornbread 8) 8) 8).
They sure look like string beans to me. What makes 'em a pea?
Seems peas have a different (shorter, fatter) pod. But who'm I to say what goes on in the south. ;D ;D
your weeden looks way better than my weeden
Quote from: beenthere on July 01, 2009, 10:13:13 PM
They sure look like string beans to me. What makes 'em a pea?
Seems peas have a different (shorter, fatter) pod. But who'm I to say what goes on in the south. ;D ;D
I see I didn't have to speak my mind. ;D
We'd call that a bean here too just going by the look of the leaves and the fruit, but I think they are all (beans and peas) legumes.
Our peas grow like our kudzu, so fast they don't have time to get fat. :D
Don
Quote from: beenthere on July 01, 2009, 10:13:13 PM
They sure look like string beans to me. What makes 'em a pea?
Seems peas have a different (shorter, fatter) pod. But who'm I to say what goes on in the south. ;D ;D
What makes a string bean a bean? Well, that's what they are called, so that's what they are. These things we're talking about are called peas, so that's what they are.
The peas that are commonly grown in the North, what we call "English Peas, Garden Peas, or Green Peas, are actually the seeds of a plant named Pisum Sativum. Next time you're in the grocery store, ask the stockboy where you might find Pisum Sativum seeds, and see if you get anything other than a blank look. ;D
While we're nitpicking the semantics of legumes, in what way is a green bean green? Well, they are green as in not ripe, rather than green in color. They are simply immature seed pods of a bean plant that would be inedible if left to mature. The pods of southern peas can be eaten this way too, and frequently are, though not usually alone. Any immature pods that find their way to the sheller's fingers are just broken into pieces and thrown into the pot with the rest. We call them "snaps" and they are mighty tasty.
There is no strict taxonomic difference between a bean and a pea. They both refer to many different genera of the legume family. However, the term "string bean" is an old term that refers to plants of the of the species Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean) with an edible pod that has a tough, fibrous "string" running along its length that must be removed before eating. Well over 100 years ago, breeders developed improved varieties that did not have the fibrous string, and since practically all of our modern varieties no longer contain the string, what was once referred to as the string bean is now more often called a green bean or a snap bean (or a pole bean, if it happens to be a climbing variety rather than a bushy variety).
In general, the garden plants that are called "beans" in the U.S. are members of the genus Phaseolus. Green beans as well as all of your common dry beans (kidney, black, pinto, navy, etc.) are Phaseolus vulgaris. Butterbeans (Lima beans to you Yanks) are members of the species Phaseolus lunatus. As DanG already mentioned, English peas (AKA garden peas or green peas) are members of Pisum sativum. Our southern pea (Vigna unguiculata) occupies another genus completely. To confuse matters, however, there is a relatively common variety of Phaseolus lunatus known as a "butterpea" due to the round shape of the seed, and there is a variety of Vigna unguiculata known as a "yard-long bean" because the entire pod is eaten like a green bean, rather than shelled like a pea.
Now I'm certain you fellas have heard of black-eyed peas at some point in your life, but for some reason I've never heard an objection to the term until now. I think it's because the average person's perception of what constitutes a bean is based on the shape of the seed more so than the length of the pod (peas are more spherical, beans are longer or flatter), because quite frankly, the average person is a lot more familiar with the 14.5 oz can that they come in rather than the pod that they grow in.
smiley_clapping smiley_clapping smiley_clapping smiley_clapping
Great class Dodgy!
Now what about waxed beans and soldier beans, two varieties consumed in excess in these parts at times. :D
As near as I can determine, wax beans fall under the color vs. ripeness category. I have no idea what you would have if you left them to mature, then cooked the seeds. I have a feeling they would be good to eat, though.
I never heard of soldier beans, but I've had enough military experience to know that I don't want any personal experience with them. ::) :o
Libby's Pork and Beans are my favourite peas :P
Just called my wife from work. Her and the stepson got up this morning and picked 8 buckets of peas. We're rolling now. 8) When I was inspecting the patch yesterday afternoon, I warned her what was coming. I expect another haul like that Mon. or Tues. morning. Will be eating good this winter.
Don
When did you say it would be a good time to visit? ;) :)
My choice would be any day right around supper time. :)
Black eyed peas....didn't listen the first time. :D
What about yellow-eye beans? ;D
jaundice...
The Tomato plants have been producing and are good. The seed was from Ferry-Morse, "Roma VF" and disease resistant. The carrots are good too. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Tomatoes.JPG)
My peanuts aren't going to make it. My beans are being targeted by ground hogs. My tomatoes are sick and my cukes slow. The new spinach planting is growing like weeds and my root crops are flourishing. The peppers are very slow as are the parsnip. Too much borax I think on the garden and cool and damp weather. I'll have to dilute it this fall with leaves and Miracle Grow soil.
Is there some volcano that blew up that took summer away? :D
The whole summer migrated south to Georgia :).
Hey Donk, only thing I can help ya with is the whistle pigs. Need some 22 shells?
Has anybody ever grown any broomcorn. I planted some Red this year for my wife. Wierdest stuff I've ever grown.
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I assume the plants turn red at maturity. The seed was blood red.
I'll post a few melon pics as well.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_broomcorn10_jpg.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_broomcorn8_jpg.jpg)
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I have about six varieties of red and yellow melons this year. Good luck with the deer so far. Throwed in one of some red okra I am trying this year. I have a few extra pics in the gallery if anyone is interested.
Don
Your pictures are making me hungry, especially the melons.
Yep me too. Those melons are small yet, but I look at them every day with slobber dripping from my lips. :D
Don
Boy your garden is awesome Don. I got my melons in late and they are just starting to bloom. I have never had any luck growing them and this year I am determined to get a melon.
I've never grown broom corn, what is it used for?
Dad started some corn in the house before planting in the garden. He set it out and it is now flowering........at ground level, instead of growing 8-10 feet first. :D :D
Used in making good old house brooms. The straw is what you see hanging out in the pictures. You remove the seeds and what is left is what makes the broom.
I got a late start on everything this year, but hope to do much better next year.
Don
Don, your garden looks great. I say we have a FF melon cutting :D ;D How do you keep all the weeds out?
I don't guess I ever seen that broom corn before. Looks like it will make a fine broom. Where did you find the seed? Don't let the dust bunnies eat it. :D ;D
Your wife must be a Crimson Tide fan to want okra like that. Have ya aet sum yet?
I ordered the seed from a heirloom seed outfit, don't remember which one as I ordered from 4 different companies this year.
The spots that look weed free are deceptive. I tilled during dry weather and the sun burnt all the little helpless weeds, but after our last rain a new batch is coming on and I better get after it or they will take over.
Actually my wife is a dye-hard Auburn fan as well as my stepson. I love to rile them up every fall. I've had one small batch so far. It is just coming on. I just liked the looks of the red in the catalog. Tastes like okra. It turns back green when you fry it.
Picked my first cantaloupe of the year yesterday. It actually ripened about a week prematurely, because the end split open. It was not the sweetest melon I've ever eaten, but it was still full of flavor :). I've got lots of melons planted this year: cantaloupes, crenshaws, honeydews, two varieties of charentais melons, and five varieties of watermelons. Hopefully I'll have several ripe melons to bring to the pig roast 8).
Scored big last weekend...Southern stated gave me their entire stock of Veggies..400 plants or so..I've got a couple hundred peppers and atl least 150 tomatoes in the ground..don't know how many of them will make it, but I've got them mulched and keeping them wet...come about september I may be buried in produce...
I don't get much morning sun at my house, due to being located directly to the west of a small peak. This makes gardening pretty challenging. I've determined so far that onions, tomatoes, winter squash, cantaloupe and sweet corn do not do very well without full sun. I've had better luck with my potatoes, broccoli, green beans, black-eyed peas, butterbeans, and carrots. Fortunately, I anticipated the difficulties I would have, and I got 800 ft2 of space at a community garden to plant in addition to the 500 ft2 that I planted at my house. I finally got around to taking some pictures of my plot at the community garden today.
The setting is beautiful. My pole beans (Kentucky Wonder) are just starting to produce heavily.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15533/garden.jpg)
My black-eyed peas are doing nicely and I have been picking them every few days for the last week and a half now. Between the two rows of peas is where my bush beans were planted earlier this year. When they stopped producing, I planted another crop of peas, which are just coming up. When my first crop of peas stop producing, I'll plant green beans in their place.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15533/black-eyed_peas.jpg)
My tomatoes are packed with fruit, but I'm still waiting for the first ripe one. It's a determinate variety (Fletcher), so when they start coming, they'll come all at once!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15533/tomatoes.jpg)
I planted North Georgia Candy Roasters, which is an old heirloom winter squash. These things are about 18-20" long right now, but they'll be 25"+ by the time they're ripe. Here in the mountains, it used to be traditional to make candy roaster pies for Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pies.
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I'm trying the Moon & Stars heirloom watermelon, just like Don. It's coming along nicely.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15533/moon_and_stars.jpg)
The honeydews are doing nicely also.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15533/honeydew.jpg)
There are two varieties of French melons in this picture. The dark ones are Petit Gris de Rennes, which is a 400-year-old heirloom. The light ones are Edonis, which is a modern hybrid. The Edonis are developing more quickly, but the true test will be the taste test ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15533/charentais.jpg)
This is a cantaloupe (Sweet Granite) that is planted primarily because it matures earlier than most melons. It is, by far, the least vigorous of my melons, though, and I have been unimpressed so far. I will not be growing this one again.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15533/cantaloupe.jpg)
Looks great! I wish my garden was mulched so nicely 8).
Swampdonkey's peanuts won't be ready for the pigroast, so we may have to procure some from local sources ;D
Thanks, Danny. Mulching the garden was a big job, but totally worth it. I've done very little weeding since putting it down, and I haven't had to water even during the dry spells.
I talked to Nathan and he said that if any peanuts are big enough to pick, he'll bring up a load the weekend before the pig roast :).
That is a beautiful garden DL!
I've never had the pleasure of traveling to your part of the country but by the pictures of the countryside I'm going to have to make sure I do.
The mountains around Clayton, GA are beautiful. Much cooler there too! Within 15 miles, there is some of the best trout fishing in the Eastern US.
The heat here is rough on a garden, but mine is doing pretty well all things considering. The tomatoes are prolific and tasty. Good cucumbers and eggplant. The green beans have not done so well, and the squash is middling. Okra is doing OK. Having fresh tomatoes, squash, okra, and cucumbers with supper tonight.
Let me know when you're planning a trip, Norm. I'll be happy to show you around ;). The scenery is the reason I took my job here ;D.
I've been eating so much fresh produce lately, I've just been craving a greasy burger and fries (although I hate to admit it ::)). Last night we had a potluck with the members of the community garden, and I had squash prepared two different ways, roasted Italian potatoes, green beans cooked with carrots and potatoes seasoned with garlic and fresh Italian herbs (that's what I brought), boiled sweet corn, and fresh cantaloupe and blackberries (the cantaloupe was mine, too). I've had green beans almost every day for the last month. I only cooked them to get rid of them :D. I planned my gardens so I would have fresh produce throughout the summer, but that means that I've hardly had enough at one time to put up any for winter, save for 6 quarts of green beans!
Thanks DL I appreciate the offer.
We eat pretty healthy for the most part but our dirty little secret is to pig out at McDonalds. I know most will laugh but I love their hamburgers and fries. :D
Dodgy, that is some beautiful countryside. I know the real reason you mulched is so you can spend your time looking up at those mountains and not down at a hoe. ;D I am always very envious of people's mountain views. My part of the country is so unimpressive to me.
Nice garden, well laid out. It is good for the county agent to have a good looking garden.
Don
Mine sure ain't much to look at. The peanuts burnt up along with most everything that ain't a root crop. Got too liberal with the Borax. :-[
Quote from: Don K on July 15, 2009, 09:27:36 PMIt is good for the county agent to have a good looking garden.
My dad was skeptical when I told him I was going to have a plot at a community garden this year. "Most county agents hide their gardens back where no one can see it, in case they don't have time to take care of it," he said. I've been really careful to manage it well so people will actually take me seriously when I offer gardening advice :D. I've been offering gardening classes to the public at the community garden every other week this summer, and they've been pretty popular, with anywhere from 15 to 35 people attending. I think there's been a resurgence in interest in gardening the last couple of years.
Donk: As you've found out, you must be really careful with the borax in your garden. We recommend adding one to two tablespoons per 100 feet of row, and adding it only to the crops that need it: broccoli, cabbage, turnips, rutabagas, mustard, kale, brussels sprouts, and other cole crops. It can be evenly distributed by mixing in a gallon or two of water and pouring it out when you will be planting these crops. Borax is not considered nutritive to most garden plants.
I only used it for root maggot. :-[
Kept most weeds away to. :D
To kill subterrainian insects like your maggots or mole crickets and nematodes, sow a whole bunch of mustard greens in your garden. Before you're ready to plant, till the greens into the soil as deep as you can. As the mustard leaves rot, they emit traces of cyanide, which dissipates in a few days and the leaves just compost in the soil.
Quote from: SwampDonkey on July 16, 2009, 05:12:59 PM
I only used it for root maggot. :-[
Oh. I'm not sure what the environmental regs are in Canada, but it would be a violation of federal law to use boric acid for that purpose in the U.S ;). DanG's suggestion to cover crop with mustard to reduce soil pests is well-founded. Mustard and related crops contain significant levels of glucosinolates, which, when broken down enzymatically in the soil, release isothiocyanates (compounds related to cyanide) and nitriles. IdaGold Mustard is a commercially available variety that was selectively bred to contain high levels of glucosinolates. Although there has been much research that proves the efficacy of a mustard cover crop for control of nematodes, I'm not aware of any that has been done to investigate its use to control soil maggots. That's not to say it won't work though - I suspect it would be pretty effective.
I use bifenthrin, a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide available at any farm & garden store, to control soil pests.
Quote from: Dodgy Loner on July 17, 2009, 11:29:47 AM
Oh. I'm not sure what the environmental regs are in Canada, but it would be a violation of federal law to use boric acid for that purpose in the U.S
That may be technically true, but they sell it as a plant food supplement around here. Remember when we were talking about using Solubor for treating wood, rather than Timbor? Well, that's what the Solubor is sold for, and Barber Fertilizer Co. in Bainbridge sells it by the truckload. The label does state that it is only to be used as a plant food supplement, and is not to be used as a pesticide, but it does whatever it does once you put it out. ;)
I'm sure the chances of a homeowner being prosecuted for improper use of a boron supplement in a garden are infintismally small, but boron is applied to cole crops and fruit trees at a rate at of about 1/2 to 1 lb. per acre. That rate is far too small to be effective against insect pests. If applied at a rate high enough to kill insects, boron becomes toxic to plants. That is why it is not used as an agricultural insecticide. Works well for lumber and pests in the home, though! :)
Actually, you could always buy boron based powder for Water-Core or Brown Heart in rutabaga, added with fertilizer. That's even on the PEI government web site. I remember one product that said it controlled the root maggot and wire worms. Always got it at the hardware or nursery with application instructions. This time just got the borax and added it a bit too liberally. I know it killed the wire worms, they pop to the surface of the soil and expire. :D
Dodgy, are you mulching with just hay? If so, how thick?
You got me thinking about planting a few things in a spot covered with a good layer of hay after the cows broke thru a fence and ate the majority of ten old round bales. Is it too late for watermelons? Or maybe pumpkins.
DanG, you teeched me sumtin new agin, about them musturds. One of these days I am gonna try that.
Zopi, watcha gonna do with all them plants?
Gonna Watch 'em grow.....
Quote from: zopi on July 18, 2009, 08:14:54 AM
Gonna Watch 'em grow.....
Ok, I asked for that.
Did you get any plants you normally would grow? Like okra? Or something.
fishpfarmer,I use to put down newspaper,4-6 layers,than put the hay to it.The way I was told to do it,is to wet the ground,don't make it real muddy,put down newspaper,wet it a little,than the hay and give it a real good soaking.Before I lived here,with no running water,I did it with no water.Blew around some.Water seems to hold it all together.Than just till it all in at the end of the season.But be warned to do a good sized garden takes A LOT of time.I did id 3 years,but it is time consuming.But it does keep the deer out of the garden.Must be the noise of the newspaper the deer don't like.
Quote from: fishpharmer on July 18, 2009, 09:45:18 AM
Quote from: zopi on July 18, 2009, 08:14:54 AM
Gonna Watch 'em grow.....
Ok, I asked for that.
Did you get any plants you normally would grow? Like okra? Or something.
Been good like that all week...boss asked me where he could get a digital camera....uhh.."Best Buy."
Tomatos and peepers are cool...got some cukes as well, plus all the other stuff already growing..no okra..i'm the only one to eat it.
Quote from: fishpharmer on July 18, 2009, 09:45:18 AM
Quote from: zopi on July 18, 2009, 08:14:54 AM
Gonna Watch 'em grow.....
Ok, I asked for that.
Did you get any plants you normally would grow? Like okra? Or something.
Been good like that all week...boss asked me where he could get a digital camera....uhh.."Best Buy."
Tomatos and peepers are cool...got some cukes as well, plus all the other stuff already growing..no okra..i'm the only one to eat it.
Tried to load some pics but evidently I don't have the hang of it yet.
354, there is a photo tutorial in the Behind the Forum section that is pretty easy to follow step by step. It is the one that got me started. second thread from the top when you open the board. Don't give up, we like pictures too much. Would love to see what you've got.
Don
Quote from: fishpharmer on July 18, 2009, 04:41:05 AM
Dodgy, are you mulching with just hay? If so, how thick?
It's some very poor quality hay. I wouldn't even feed it to goats. But it's perfect for mulch! I also put newspaper underneath the hay. The newspaper really helps keep the weeds down. Anything that germinates under it won't get any light and will die a deserved death :). Be sure to till the newspaper and hay into the soil in the fall, though. If you wait until spring, the decomposition process will rob the soil of free nitrogen and you'll have some sorry-looking plants. If you till it in the fall, it should already be well-decomposed by spring.
It's definitely too late for watermelons and pumpkins in my area. Both take 100-110 days to mature, and we're only 85 days or so from the first frost.
Thanks DL. I may try a few if i can find some big started plants. I think our first frost averages Oct. 19
Harvested fresh this morning: pole beans, black-eyed peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, and my first French melon!!!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15533/Fresh.jpg)
The melon was delicious musteat_1. I picked 15 more tomatoes today, a few more cukes and a few more handfuls of black-eyed peas. My next melon is just starting to turn yellow 8)
Turns out I may have one mellon that makes it. It is almost the size of a Baseball right now.
Mooseherder, this has been a great thread you started. I have enjoyed it immensely. I hope you haven't minded me plowing thru it from time to time.
Don
I haven't minded at all and enjoyed your input Don. Your Garden is awesome. :)
I made a batch of Salsa with the Vine Ripe Tomatoes. It was more better'n good. ;D
Mmmm.
Mooseherder, this has been a great thread for us gardeners. Nothing like the satisfication of growing your own food, with or without shoes :D.
Yep, I have enjoyed gardening, the experiments along the way and hopefully will become better at it.
Really have enjoyed everyones input and pictures. :)
My wife and I did some weeding last night and we are down to just a couple things left. We really had some very wet and hot weather the last couple months that threw us a few curves.
I would have to say the Fire Ants won the War this season and got me good on the hands and feet again last night. :-\
The Red Peppers seeds I dried and planted from Store bought peppers are growing but severe rain/wind wreaked havoc on them as they were only six inches high and fragile. The Hot Peppers have produced good and I thought that was it but they now have new flowers on them and appear to be producing new buds. We'll see what happens.
My onions appear to be my latest casualty. Next time I'll follow instructions. ;D
Just took a gander at the gallery, and noticed some great looking gardens growing and posted by Burlkraft. I didn't realize he and Jill have been so busy. Must a fought off a lot of skeeters to get that much garden in this summer.
Hope he posts a walking tour.
You galley peeker you! :D :D :D
The eggplant parmesan tonight for supper was about the best that I ever had, eggplant-wise that is.
I tried growing them once, but the potato beetle moved right in for lunch. :D :D
Potato beetles must like parmesan too :D.
Picked two cantaloupes, thirty tomatoes, several peppers, and a hefty amount of pole beans and cowpeas yesterday evening. I spent the rest of the evening canning 6.5 quarts of peas and 6 quarts of beans. I'll be putting up some spaghetti sauce later this week. Those 89-cent canned vegetables at Wal-Mart are starting to look more attractive! ::)
Some things taste so much better right out of the garden instead of right out of a can or from the store. We prioritize those, like tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash, and that is what we focus on. We buy peas from local producers because they sell them for an attractive price versus the expense and effort of doing it yourself. We do that with corn too.
Well, that sounds very logical, but I don't like fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, or squash ;D. I will be formulating a new gardening plan for next year, though. I think I'll just try to keep a steady stream of produce coming throughout the season, instead of getting a big harvest all at once. Green beans and tomatoes will be the exception. Green beans are not too much trouble to can, and the store-bought tomato sauce just doesn't compare to homemade. I will plant more peas in the future if I get a separate freezer, but right now they take up too much space to freeze them, since I've only got the freezer/fridge combo.
Homemade tomato sauce is wondermous.
Fed one of my lady friends a homegrown Brandywine tomato today...and all these years I though it was tequila that did the trick..go figure.
I wouldn't know...hate raw tomatoes...luvs me some homemade sauce though!
Dodgy, you need to upsize to a full blown chest high freezer. :D
Well, I finally got to eat one of my melons. A yellow fleshed Black Diamond. No I don't have pics as I was too busy eating. good times ahead.
Don
Anybody have any ideas how to keep coons out of the sweet corn? Have caught 2 in the trap, have 2 strands of electric fence around it, 6" and 14". Told the neighbor with the coon dog that if he is not going to shoot them, don't hunt them, just gives them more of an appetite. So far the DanG things have got more corn than I have. >:(
About the best thing I ever found for keeping critters out of the garden is to have six or eight dogs running loose on the place.
Quote from: Don K on August 04, 2009, 05:20:06 AM
Well, I finally got to eat one of my melons. A yellow fleshed Black Diamond. No I don't have pics as I was too busy eating. good times ahead.
We got a couple melons this year...They were awesome! For some reason we never have much luck with watermelons....
Don
WH
Eat coon 11 months outta the year so's you can have one month of eatin corn. :)
I've always used an electric fence but only one strand low to the ground. If they aren't paying attention to it my guess is that a stronger fencer is needed. The one I use is good for 6 miles of fence.
Most mornings when I go out to check on it there's a lingering odor of hair burning. ;D
Is that just a single strand by itself, or in conjunction with another fence, Norm? I've been thinking that a strip of 2ft chicken wire on plastic posts, with a good strong charger should be just about foolproof for coons. I just don't have a coon problem, so no reason to try it for myself. I know that coons can be pretty cagey, but do they tend to jump over things like that? I just don't know much about them. :P
Cagey coons.
If caged, they become caged cagey coons.
Quote from: WDH on August 04, 2009, 05:20:28 PM
Cagey coons.
If caged, they become caged cagey coons.
Booooo, that was bad, very bad. ::) ::) ::) ;D ;D ;D
DanG served up a slow fastball down the middle that I could not pass up :D.
Y'all probably don't even appreciate the skill it takes to serve up a slow fastball. ::)
Oh no, I appreciate it ;D. Not everyone can throw a slow fastball. To most people it would be a plain old slowball, but not with you DanG :D.
Quote from: WDH on August 05, 2009, 08:48:21 AM
Oh no, I appreciate it ;D. Not everyone can throw a slow fastball. To most people it would be a plain old slowball, but not with you DanG :D.
You ain't seen nuthin yet! I used to pitch in a softball league. You should see my fast slowball. ;D :D :D
Been awhile since anybody put up a pic, so I thought I would throw one in of what I gathered in yesterday.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_produce1_jpg.jpg)
These are part of the two FEL buckets of melons I pulled. Put some of the cukes up in a dill brine to make Claussen refrigerated pickles. We'll see how they turn out, should be ready to eat in ten days. Garden is winding down, so I am preparing for the fall garden.
Don
Those are some nice looking melons and vegetables. The trees are coming along nicely too. ;)
Look at those beautiful clolors! Very impressive, Don.
The peppers catched my eye. I likes peppers. Cayennes or Thai?
Very nice Don. :)
As an avid gardener I know how much work you've done to get such great crops. Way to go.
Lee, those are cayenne and jalapenos. I'm going put some up in vinegar for pepper sauce and dry the cayennes. The orange bell pepper is for my wife. She loves them.
Don
I like cayennes for eating raw and jalapenos for cooking with. I like pert near all peppers, the hotter the better. Serannos are a good eating pepper and the Thai peppers I like in sauces. I make a Habanero sauce thats about 90% peppers and a few other goodies that'll blow your socks off. Did I mention I like peppers? Lindy gave me a gallon of garlic Tabasco and a gallon of Habanero Tabasco for Christmas. By the way, I really like peppers.
Aw, c'mon Lee, tell us what your opinion of peppers is. :D
My peppers look like they just germinated. :D :D
My cukes are just starting to flower. Been eating beats and spinach (second crop), I have had one or two cherry tomatoes now and then, I see 3 ready now. :-X The squash look sick as ever with a couple flowers. :D
Lee, sounds like you like peppers, shame though, sounds like you haven't been able to taste your other food in quite a while. :-X :D :D ;D
Don
Nah, the peppers make the taste buds super sensitive. Bad part is that it makes the other end super sensitive too. Certainly can't pretend to be a bear. They put you in jail for setting the woods on fire. :D
:D :D :D :D :D :D
Don
Mexican heartburn!!!
The one Mellon I thought was gonna make it didn't. It was rotten when we got back from vacation.
The Biker Billy Peppers have produced a second crop. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Peppers.JPG)
The Red Pepper seeds I took out of Store bought Peppers are doing okay even after torrential wind and Rain knocked them down for a spell. Looks like we may have some production coming.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Red_Pepper_Plants.JPG)
Those plants are looking good.
Don
My uncle has lots of hot peppers coming on now to. He doesn't even know what they are and probably won't use them unless in Lady Rose or Ashburn pickles. Mom gave the hot ones to him. He might have some sweet bells, I never looked them all over. His garden is like a vineyard with more stuff than he'd eat in 5 winters. My peppers look like they just sprouted. :D :D
Quote from: LeeB on August 08, 2009, 12:45:35 AM
Nah, the peppers make the taste buds super sensitive. Bad part is that it makes the other end super sensitive too. Certainly can't pretend to be a bear. They put you in jail for setting the woods on fire. :D
I know it's an old joke, but that's what ice cream is for :)
:D :D :D
It don't work. You ever tried to put out a forest fire with ice cream? :D :D
My melons made despite the flood and then the drought. Here is the first truckload.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_jaymill1_jpg.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_jaymill2_jpg.jpg)
My grandson Jay loves watermelon. 8)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_jaymill4_jpg.jpg)
I still have about a truckload left to gather.
Don
Ole farmer Jay is growing fast. I see the old dozier retriever is still pulling it's own weight.
Great Pictures Don. 8)
I'll bet Jay loves coming over to Grandpa's House.
We eat again. 8) This is about the time when visiting relatives used to arrive and stay all season to eat. ;D :D Not so much this day in age, but my grandfather had relatives who came every summer and too lazy to pick anything or wash dishes. He was always mad about that. :D :D
Wow yours turned out great! Can you tell me what varieties you grew and which was your favorite for eating?
There will be plenty of cold watermelon in the K household. Really nice, Don.
Looking great, Don! I just picked my second, third and fourth watermelons of the season yesterday afternoon. I planted about 1/6 of an acre, but most of them are about a month from ripening. I planted 5 varieties: Jubilee (long, striped, red-fleshed), Sugar Baby (miniature, red-fleshed), Moon & Stars (red-fleshed heirloom with yellow spots on the rind), Gold Flower (long, yellow-fleshed, very thin rind), and Sorbet Swirl (medium-sized, round, multi-colored pink and yellow flesh).
I would be interested to hear which varieties you planted, Don! I can see that one of them is Moon & Stars.
I have Kolb's Gem (red flesh, greenstriped) Best by far,heavy and sweet all the way to the rind. Will be planting mucho bunches next yr. Round Moon and Stars (red) very sweet also, Long Moon and Stars (red), Yellow Moon and Stars (yellow), Black Diamond ( yellow with dark green rind) and a yellow flesh with a light green rind that I got last year from my wife's grandfather. Don't know the variety. I have Charleston Greys coming on for fall.
Kolb's first, Moon and Stars second, Black Diamond third.
Don
Our first Red Pepper popped out and there are a lot of flowers on the other plants. :)
It is the first one from the seeds harvested from Store bought peppers.
I guess it'll get red later. :D ???
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1st_red_pepper.JPG)
Hopefully before Christmas. ;D ;)
I don't know if my Red Peppers are gonna turn red but one appears to be turning yeller.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Green_Pepper_1.JPG)
Here is a smaller one.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Green_Pepper_2.JPG)
The Jalapenos are out of control. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Jalapenos.JPG)
And I have some scary red ones that are hot to the touch. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/Red_Hot_Jalapenos.JPG)
Those are about the most juicy looking jalapenos that I have ever seen.
I'm sweating just looking at them. smiley_sweat_drop
Does anybody have a fall garden going? I got a late start, about a month. I should be eating lettuce and greens by now, but it won't be long. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_fallgarden1_jpg.jpg)
I have about 6 varieties of lettuce and 3 different mixes as well as collards, cabbage, broccoli, and turnips and mustard. I am trying carrots for the first time.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_fallgarden2_jpg.jpg)
Okra in the background is still producing. First frost will nip it though.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_fallgarden3_jpg.jpg)
My lantana is covered with these orange butterflies.
We have had some beautiful weather this week, but it clouded up this afternoon as the hurricane Ida gets closer and a front comes in from the west.
Don
I've had intentions and bought the seed but was waiting for it to cool down a bit.
Now that it has I'm finding plenty other things to do.
My Jalapenos are still producing all though they aren't as pretty and I had a couple Tomato plants from the spring that produced a few Tomatoes. Got some serious weeding to do. :D
Don your garden looks fantastic. :)
Those beds have done some growing since I was over last. They're looking good.
DonK, very nice.
Don,
I appreciate seeing a garden like that this time of year.The only thing still growing in ours now is Brussel sprouts and the few frosts we've had have sweetened them up well.
We had a feed of them tonight along with spuds we grew this year and some of the last tomatoes in the roothouse,served with one of the chickens we butchered yesterday.
I also picked the last of the apples from the trees today and put them up in the roothouse alongside the spuds.
Well, we are having a bout of Indian summer this week. Up to the mid fifties during the day. It still ain't growing weather. One thing I noticed though it's been dry since the potato harvest is over. The road up to the woodlot is dry and hard even with previous morning frosts on it. The trail leading off that road is dried up to, when there is usually 6" of water on it by now until you go back a few feet to a rise. The only thing we winter in the ground here is parsnip and garlic. I don't grow garlic, but my few parsnip I have are still in the ground. Not to grow, but to sweeten up for spring harvest. They have a lot better taste and texture in the spring time. They sure are expensive in the stores right now. About $3 for a handful.
Boy once again I'm humbled by your gardens Don. :)
The last thing I have going is a raised bed off our east patio. I've got some greens and turnips that refuse to die from the frosts we've had. Problem is that last week I looked out just at dark and there was a doe feeding on them. :D
If she'd moved just a little slower we'd be having venison. ;D
I wish I had some croutons, a bottle of thousand Island dressing and a plane ticket.
:D :D
You'd think he'd want a rest sometime in the year. That's what winter is for up here, to hibernate like a bar. Don't wake me 'til sometime in May. :D
That's what happens when you live down south. When you don't have snow piled up to the trapdoor on your Union suit, you don't get much of a chance to hibernate. :D I haven't grown a garden in 4 yrs so I am catching up. I am getting ready for retirement in about 20 yrs. ;)
Actually the beds are very little work. I might just take down one side of the fence and keep expanding.
I should have taken a picture of my supper tonight, but I didn't want to be responsible for anyone biting their screen. ;D I picked some of the young mustard greens, rutabuga and radish tops and cooked them down in a pot where I had fried some salt meat, added some cut green onions and one of my dried cayenne peppers and cooked real slow today after the rain set in. Layed that next to a fried pork steak and some buttermilk cornbread. It was fittin to eat.
Don
Quote from: Don K on November 09, 2009, 07:27:53 PM
buttermilk cornbread. It was fittin to eat.
Don
:) Any to spare?
I usually go the cream of tarter route since I don't use enough buttermilk to keep on hand. Buttermilk sure makes good biscuits to. ;)
DonK, with that description, I can almost smell it from here :D
Don could you tell me the dimensions of your raised beds?
Norm, they are 3X16. I think they are 6" tall. With the 3 foot you can easily reach to the middle without a huge stretch. I filled them with screened topsoil from my grandaddy's old pasture where a timber company cut a access road. They skimmed the soil off into little piles. It was already full of worms so in they went too. I added some partially composted leaves and the worms love it.
Next spring I am going to saw some 2-3 inch strips and nail on top and increase my depth. I will fill with the compost I have been making all summer. I have a pile I turn with the FEL on the tractor. It is about six feet tall. I will post a picture of it next week when I turn it.
With the beds the soil is not compacted so the roots grow quite large. I had some tomato roots as big as my pinkie. :o Weeds just pull right out. ;D Yes I have weeds. :D I have to watch moisture though as they dry out faster. That was a bonus this yr with all the rain we got.
Don
Thanks Don. :)
I turned the compost pile today to cover some leaves I got off the lawn. This pile will turned all winter and will be added to my beds next spring to feed next years worms and plants.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_compost1_jpg.jpg)
I love how black this stuff gets.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_compost2_jpg.jpg)
Turned pile about 7 feet tall. I hope I have enough next spring. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_compost3_jpg.jpg)
Does anybody else make their own compost? How do you do it?
Don
Is that the sawdust from your first sawing on there Don?
I go out behind the barn, put a couple hundred loads of manure in a pile and wait about ten years. no labor and lotsa compost.
Stonebroke
i'm using rabbit droppings from under my pens...shred and turn previous crops under otherwise...althoug if i had a front end loader i'd sure have a big pile....
yea, I mix a little in every now and then.
Don
We have had compost piles for years, and they really do have a positive impact on the garden soil when tilled into it. In the spring we use the straw off our well head, plus the chicken bedding, plus the horse and donk paddock area, and mix it with the stuff from the house that I throw into big barrels all year. This mixture is rich and perfect for the garden and flower beds. In past years we have covered the compost pile with black plastic to cook it, but every snake in the county seemed to enjoy the heated bed and we would have dozens of them laying around. :o I hated that, so the black plastic had to go away.
I bet that would turn a person's hair white when you peel back the plastic. :o
Don
Quote from: Don K on November 15, 2009, 09:17:12 AM
I bet that would turn a person's hair white when you peel back the plastic. :o
Don
Jeff's anyway :D :D :D
I do anywhere from 100-300 yards of compost a year all done in heaps 20 to 40 yards each turned with tractor weekly until heavy frost... then they set for the winter and cook....
to date 3 new heaps 40 yards of cow manure and wood chip. 50 yards of horse manure and garden/yard waste
100 yards of leaf/yard waste, mill waste, mixed cow and horse manure this is my current work of art and will most like end up as three seperate 50 yard piles - still having leaves brought in !! averaging 10 yards daily, suppose to end this coming Thursday !
Snakes love open manure piles to. I've seen a good many snake sheds on manure piles. ;D
Amazingly the Pepper Plants are still producing. They aren't very nice though and I have neglected the Beds for quite some time. ::)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1173/Jan_Red_Peppers.JPG)
The Jalapenos.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1173/Jan_Hot_Pepper.JPG)
I can't understand how these Tomatoes made it.
You can also see the nice Fire Ant mound. >:(
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1173/Jan_Tomatoes.JPG)
14 nights of below freezing weather last week really worked on my beds. Time to pull out the lettuce and broccoli to get ready to plant early peas. Hope my collards and cabbage survived. It is time to start my seedlings indoors. Getting close to that time of year again.
Don
We make compost. But nothing like dad, he does about like bull. I have a couple of horseshoeing clients with big places and we pull in with a 10 wheeler and the backhoe to clean them up, taking several loads from each.
For us, we have 5 horses and mules so there's that, then throw in the chicken coop manure, a little from the cow, and whatever else. Pile it and turn the pile a few times is the basic procedure. Anything you want to throw in it that is made of plant material is pretty good. Having 2 piles going is easier to keep turned, and then you can really let it age better, a usable pile and the one you are adding to. I make about 8-10 yards for our garden, after it's done it has shrunk a lot. Probably starts out as 15 yards. Our garden is about 30x50 feet, so it gets a pretty good dose every year.
That ammonia smell is nitrogen being lost to the air, covering your pile will slow that down. And washing it out with rain will be lessened as well. Makes a lot stronger compost if you cover it. Of course all those snakes.... :-\
Who says you can't grow anything up here this time of year. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10427/212/IMG_0455.JPG)
That is a nice one!
It's getting close to that time again.....
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12911/2235/ant3.gif)(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12911/2235/anttall.gif)(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12911/2235/anttall.gif)(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12911/2235/ant_side.gif)
I'm trying to get motivated.
Just had to cut down about 300 ft. of Ficus Hedge because of White Fly infestation.
Bugs sure do take a lot of the fun away from it. ::)
Spent yesterday and today planting onions and sticking my english peas and tomatoes. Was gonna take some pics to post but my wife has hid the camera.
Don
Quote from: Mooseherder on April 08, 2010, 09:33:42 PM
I'm trying to get motivated.
Just had to cut down about 300 ft. of Ficus Hedge because of White Fly infestation.
Bugs sure do take a lot of the fun away from it. ::)
My Son is putting in some raised bed gardens this year.
Nothing about raised bed gardens but my citrus trees are going south fast. Leaf drop, dead branches. A couple of them don't look like they are going to survive.
Our Beautiful privacy hedge took the brunt of the White Fly infestation.
I also cut down an Orange tree that had been struggling for years after the Hurricanes.
The Garden was also affected during the end of the season with Whitefly and the DanG Fire Ants.
Treating them didn't work and we were advised to do this to them by several people. ::)
These hedges were pristine a year ago. Hopefully start over from just a bunch of sticks.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1176/Whitefly1.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1176/Whitefly2.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1176/Whitefly3.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1176/Whitefly4.jpg)
One problem with living down south, you have all the bugs in the world.
Stonebroke
Here are a few pics to motivate you Glenn. I finally got a few to post.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_garden18_jpg.jpg)
Two beds of English peas and lettuce.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_garden19_jpg.jpg)
Some lettuces. So much better than that stuff from the store.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_garden20_jpg.jpg)
Mixed lettuce.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_garden21_jpg.jpg)
I have two tomato beds like this.
As if I didn't have enough to do, the wife and I are venturing down a new food avenue.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12960/donk_garden22_jpg.jpg)
We are picking up two nucs of bees May 1st. I hope this is a successful venture for us. It looks like tough but enjoyable work. I will tell about the bees in another thread when we get them.
Don
No raised beds..but the garden is up to about 3/8th of an acre...Potatoes, five or six breeds of beans, five breeds of pumpkin (Atlantic giant included) several different lettuces, collards, this spring's cabbage last winters cabbage, spinach, watermelon, four kinds of cucumber, three kinds of summer squash, artichokes, beets, radish, two types of onion, three types of gourd, broccoli, brussels sprouts, artichokes (like that's gonna work) eggplant, three kinds of peppers, and of course tomatoes....
so far..more to come.
Don, when do you find time to sleep? Those beds looks like they're doing real well. The bees should love their new home to. :)
I won't be sticking nothing in the ground until June. :-\ It's an early spring and dry, but the ground ain't warm enough for vegetables and we still get frost down in the high 20's at night or around 32F some nights.
Zopi, you got more stuff than a grocery store. ;D
Don your an inspiration with your nice looking raised beds. Did you make the beehives? They look good.
Donk, I find I never get enough sleep. I am in the first week of a 22 day marathon of 12hr shifts and if I am lucky I might get 6 hrs a night at the most. More like 4 hrs but hey if I don't slow down, the moss won't have time to grow. ;D
James, those are bought hives but I did make the cedar stands to get them off the ground. I am seriously considering making my own boxes as they are simple box joint joinery made from 3/4 pine or cypress. One box will set you back for $10 to $15. Incentive to make my own. ;) I need to find a couple of good cypress logs as it is lighter than pine and when a super gets full of honey it could weigh close to 80 or 100 pounds.
Don
As they say, can't keep a good man down. ;) I've done them 22 day shifts straight to, (seemed like 16 hour days though and paid for 8 :D ) in the remote bush on the west coast, so I know. ;D
I know someone with a great big old cypress stick in the back yard. ;D
Don, You've been a very busy man!
It did motivate me, Looking real good over there! 8)
I have the seed and know if I begin, the rest will be easy.
I planted my garden last weekend. It has turned dry here, which is a big change from the monsoons. Funny how wet it was in the off season and now that it is time to till and plant the garden, the dust is flying ???.
Wow! Your gardens are truly an inspiration Don, they are just beautiful! As a gardener myself, I know how much work you have put into these, and boy does it show.
Mine look pretty meager now, I guess I need to get to work..
Good Job!
Quote from: SwampDonkey on April 15, 2010, 04:09:03 AM
Don, when do you find time to sleep? Those beds looks like they're doing real well. The bees should love their new home to. :)
I won't be sticking nothing in the ground until June. :-\ It's an early spring and dry, but the ground ain't warm enough for vegetables and we still get frost down in the high 20's at night or around 32F some nights.
Zopi, you got more stuff than a grocery store. ;D
Add a row of french salad greens, and rhubarb...yeah..we grow alot...If you've ever left a bag of squash on someone's doorstep, knocked and run away..you might be a gardener...
1st year I've gotten Atlantic Giant pumpkins to grow...
rhubarb grows around these parts like burdocks. I have a patch over 100 years old and the neighbors planted about , well... a very big garden of it. Uncle grows a few clumps to and the only ones that use it are the local natives, they like it raw with sugar on it. ;D
Zopi, those Atlantic Pumpkins are really fun. We grew one up to 600 lbs in 2008. We lost our vines to the excess rain of 2009. Be sure to sterilize your scissors when you cut the vine or extra pumpkins off. Keep us posted on your progress!
Roxie..that is probably good advice..I had not thought of it..I'll keep a commentary up..one of the few things we get to do together is gardening...
I'm gonna chop up a bicycle in the next week or so and turn it into a high wheel cultivator...much better than hoeing..
Although, I AM a pretty good hoer.... :-X
:)
Please pardon the interuption, but this looks like a good place to ask....we got one of those Hav-A-Hart traps trying to catch a ground hog. We tried apple and nothing. So we tried corn, and we got a coon. Boy was he mad. Has anyone here had luck baiting a groundhog? If so, what did you use?
I know a bullet would be quicker, and normally that would be our response, but this one has positioned himself in direct line with the neighbors house. Also, our neighbor across the street has one behind the bushes in the front of his house, with the tunnel going against his foundation.
Please, resume planting....
It is hard to catch a ground hog in a havahart. I did. You have to put it in a place and block up all around it so he has to go in. As I said it is not easy but with persistence and some luck it is possible.
Stonebroke
Fill in one hole...back the truck up to the other..run a hose down the hole, the other end on the exhaust....let it run for awhile...groundhog goes to sleep and no carcass to cope with...
unlike that skunk I shot out of the chickens the other day...
Have you tried home made box traps? I trap squirrels that way and rub an apple on the cage wire as well as place one inside. Make sure the wood of the box inside is lined with wire or the critters chew out, got sharp buck teeth. ;D I would use a carrot for a ground pig. Just rub a carrot on the wire to scent it up and put one inside. Place by hole. A coon probably won't bother a carrot. Toss a piece of raw cabbage in to. ;D If you think you can catch one of them pigs, with him cornered away from his hole, he can climb like a coon. ;D
They are tough to catch in a box trap Roxie. I use a foothold but only if it's where a dog or cat won't get caught accidentally.
The area is right on the property line between us and a neighbor who happens to have three young children, in addition to the fact that CB's cat is out most of the day. We're gonna try the live catch trap for a week, and if that doesn't work, we'll gas the hole.
's funny...there was an old whistle pig living here when we bought the place...lady said she had a deal with the 'hog, he didn't get into her gardens and she didn't shoot him...I don't do squatters...the dust hadn't settled in the drive from them leaving...<CRACK!> No more whistle pig...
Gonna have to water the garden in a bit...I hope this summer isn't going to be this dry....
It's a good thing I'm not a Pineapple farmer cause we would starve.
I don't know the exact date we planted this Pineapple top we sliced off a Store bought Pineapple but I think it is over a year ago. It's about the size of a Coke Can, maybe a lil' fatter. My wife stuck her finger in the picture for scale. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1173/pineapple_2.JPG)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1173/pineapple_1.JPG)
:D :D :D How long does it take to grow'm? I suppose there is a reason they come from Costa Rica and Hawaii. Must be the volcanic soil. Maybe you'll have better luck on Iceland. :D
Well this year I waited until June to put the garden in. The old saying in these parts is a June garden will be as good as any planted early subjected to cold nights and possible frost. ;D
I will have to see in a couple weeks how things come along this year. As you remember i burnt the garden up with borax that summer. :D I have a lot of vegetables inter planted and won't remember what is where until in breaks ground. ;D I have parsnip in flower, so I broke the flower tops off, hopefully they won't go woody.
Just got it in and got the mowing done this morning before the big rain set in.
Got a nice pork roast with veggies cooked in with it coming along for dinner. :)
This is only the first week of June and the lilacs and apple blossoms are long gone bye. :/
We have almost perfect growing weather this year. I moved some things around in the raised beds near the house.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10427/212/IMG_0595.JPG)
This is a bed of shallots, red onions and some pepper plants mixed in. The peppers will get some room as I use up the onions and shallots.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10427/212/IMG_0596.JPG)
I grew some spinach and greens in with the herb garden. In a couple of weeks it will be too hot for them so I'll clean it out and add in fresh soil and compost.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10427/212/IMG_0597.JPG)
Here's a couple of the roses' we grew in big ceramic pots and over wintered in our shop thanks to SD's suggestion. We are just getting the first blooms of the year.
Looking good Norm. ;D :)
Wow! Looks good Norm. I got a late start to the garden this year due to hectic work schedule. To tired it feels like to post pics. I have a new hobby which is beekeeping. Have 4 hives and they are keeping me busy. I've got some pics and will try to put some up later.
Don
I have given away about 30 lbs of squash in the last four or five days...my zucchini is about four feet tall at this point....already picked the first batch of green beans and some young onions..
Gonna be buried in punkins this year.
We're talking square foot raised beds not fields. :D :D
Quote from: Don K on June 05, 2010, 05:05:43 PM
I've got some pics and will try to put some up later.
Don
Bee sure that you do ;D.
Just in case he breaks out in hives, here are some I took last time I was over. There are more in my 2010 album.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12911/2865/20100526_Bees__005.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12911/2865/20100526_Bees__034.jpg)
I also have to mention that he had no gear on while showing me these hives. 8)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12911/2865/Bees0012.JPG)
This was from 2000, we had a wild swarm at the neighbor's house.
Aside from the swarm, they look like they are happy in their home. ;)
Had over an inch of rain. That will make stuff sprout as soon as the sun comes out for a few days. ;D
Hey Terry, next time you see a swarm, scoop them in a box and I'll come get them. That's free bees.
Don
Everybody loves freebees :D.
The Pineapple is Growing up. The sauce is for scale ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1173/Pineapple4.JPG)
Grill you up some of that Pineapple sliced, and then carmalize that sweet baby rays on on it. DELISH! :)
That sounds good. :)
I'll have to get a picture this weekend of my raised beds. Growing much better this year. One thing I wasn't satisfied with however was my spinach. Must be the variety, as they just went to seed as soon as they got their true leaves. Last year the variety I had, had nice big leaves. I'll have to pull them and plant some more I guess. The variety last year grew as fast as lamb quarters, which I think tastes the same actually, and just a weed. ;D
The leaves on my earlier cucumbers are as big as squash leaves. ;D After the leaf beetles subsided the beans are beginning to look like something. Those things fleece been leaves. No cucumber beetles yet, but I think I have slugs on some lettuce and cukes, makes white spots where they feed on the skin of the leaf. And they'll chew up marigolds. :D
My raised beds are 8 x 4 feet. I have three sections. There is white clover growing between the beds and I can't get near to mow or clip. I'm thinking of red cedar mulch next year. The garden has been in 6 weeks, the beets are 4 weeks since I replanted them. The carrots are in there somewhere, they seemed to be slow to germinate and grow. I resowed some spinach, the variety I have seems to go to seed early. I pulled the last crop. Soon be eating beets anyway. Everything in is blossom, so about the time I'm at Jeff's the harvest should begin on peas and beans. Maybe I'll have a feed the weekend before. :-\
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_garden-beans-peas-cuk.jpg)
Beans, peas, cukes, beats.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_garden-beets.jpg)
Beets, cukes.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_garden-bell-pepper.jpg)
Bell pepper
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_garden-cuk-tom-jalp-let.jpg)
cukes, tomato, jalapino, lettuce (romaine), parsnip
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_garden-squash.jpg)
Buttercup squash.
Good looking plants. Ours are burnt to a crisp.
Don
Quote from: Don K on July 18, 2010, 02:37:31 PM
Good looking plants. Ours are burnt to a crisp.
Don
Mine too except for 1 pepper plant that's supposed to be "the worlds hottest pepper". It's actually looking pretty healthy but no flowers yet.
I don't eat hot anything but thought I'd try to grow it to give away the peppers .
Those squash leaves will go limp in 85 ° sun, but I stuck my finger in the dirt and about an inch down it's moist. So we are getting just enough rain. They say peppers like the heat, especially jalapinos. I have a lot of fruit just beginning to set on them.
It's 85 ° again today. Looks like the cold front last night didn't amount to beans, and no water from it. Maybe showers tomorrow. I don't water no garden except 4 flower pots maybe once or twice a week by hose, mostly just rain barrel water (a scrub pale in my case) if we get some rain.
If I did not water my garden, it would be toast in no time at all.
From flower to fruit since Sunday July 18th. 1" rain and 85 ° northern sunshine. 8)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_peppers-bell.jpg)
Bells
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_peppers-jal.jpg)
Jalapinos
Boy are you gonna have some Peppers mister! :D
That looks like my stack last year. :)
I still have some in the Freezer.
Give some to neighbors you may or may not like. ;D
I probably use about 8 or 10 or them little babies a week. ;D Maybe two bells. My tomatoes are just forming now and about the size of your thumb. I don't know the variety they were given. They could be grape tomatoes or beefsteaks, who knows. :D Most people up here hate anything hot and spicy. One grandmother I saw in a store with her grandson said "those are the most awful DanG things I ever ate." And DanG wasn't the words she used neither. I guess she won't be coming to dinner. My mother says I'm immune. :D
Here's some of my roses. No one will say they are small. A little top heavy maybe. :D It's partially shaded there under a birch tree so the stocks aren't all that robust. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_red-roses.jpg)
These ones aren't true red ones, kinda orange-red.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_yellow-roses.jpg)
Those other flowers grow like weeds around here. :D
I have one other pot on the end that is past flower, but a whole new stock grew up in the last week or so full of new beginnings of buds. It's a rose color.
My garden is limited to a couple beds and a garbage can this year. ;D Because of my war with slugs, I never was able to successfully raise peppers until this year. Via the garbage can! Also is pictured our first bread and butter pickles from the garden this year jared a few minutes ago. We are growing squash tomatoes pickles and peppers and some onions in our limited garden this year. Also notice by the garbage can, my new golden Raspberry plant is growing nicely.
Posted with the first time use with my birthday present from Tammy and Stacy. A new little HP laptop to take with me to the cabin when I go.
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(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/2400/DSC02098.JPG)
DE (diomotatious earth) will solve your slug problem. Not sure of the spelling, but it is close.
I had a serious slug problem, until I heard about drowning them in beer.
Take a large jar lid (or similar shaped container) and put it in the ground with the rim of the jar at ground level. Fill it with beer. Empty the container of dead slugs and keep it out there (with fresh beer) until they are gone.
Like moth's to a flame........
Thank goodness we don't have slugs here...we'd never be able to trap them. Patty's pretty protective of her beer stash. :D
I like it when they crawl out onto the water spout on the water jug in the bushes.
You've been slimed. :D :D
Believe it or not, they are only in hardwood and aspen ground near the settled areas and come out on wet days. When we go 50 miles in the deep bush I never see a one.
Nothing I have tried stops the slug problem, It only slows it. With the beer, I can catch a hundred in a night, while a half dozen still strip the plant. Short of an island in a sea of beer, its only a stop gap. The raised metal container seems to have fooled them for now though.
Quote from: Jeff on July 23, 2010, 08:17:50 PM
Nothing I have tried stops the slug problem, It only slows it. With the beer, I can catch a hundred in a night, while a half dozen still strip the plant. Short of an island in a sea of beer, its only a stop gap. The raised metal container seems to have fooled them for now though.
What about the other method of thinning them out that you showed Jill last year?
That looked like it would work good ;D ;D
That only works when you want to disgust somebody's girlfriend. ;D
Earwigs seem to like romaine lettuce too. ::) Never had them until far off green houses sent them here in their plant material.
I had never even heard of an earwig probably as recent as 4 years ago. We now have them everywhere.
Same out here in Utah. Never been bothered by earwigs until this year. Now there are hundreds of them somehow getting into the house. Worse than the boxelder bugs that hang out at my front (south-facing) door.
I have always had earwigs around here, and they never really hurt anything. I have even heard they are beneficial in some respects(they eat decaying vegetation?). But this is the worst year ever I have seen. Literally dozens all over everywhere I looked with a flashlight after it got dark. They don't seem to like the tomatoes much, but lettuce, chard, beans, some flowers, and a few other things were getting massacred. DE was the answer. Now most everything is doing great.
Today picked yellow string beans, a jalpino pepper (immature still), beets, lettuce and peas from the garden. I have had lettuce (romaine) for a couple weeks now. When I get back from the pig roast, there will be a pint full of cherry tomatoes ready and my peppers will be a whole lot bigger by then. ;D Got salad all made and the rest on cook'n for dinna. :)
I've never tried to grow squash where I live here until this year. The plants came up and looked quite healthy. I planted Butternut and zucchini. They blossomed beautifully but there is a problem. After the blossoms wither, no squash forms. I've had dozens of blooms on 4 big separate plants and there is not a squash on them. Any ideas what would cause that?
No pollination is what it sounds like.
Tomatoes are right there to and they have fruit.
Jeff I'd try hand pollinating some to see if that helps. I find bumble bees are my main bug for that, but it's odd that your tomatoes are setting fruit and the squash are not.
I think tomatoes have a better chance of pollinating without the help of insects, due to their vertical growing habit. The squash blossoms are all at the same level, way down by the ground where the breeze can't get to them.
I also believe there are both perfect (male/female) and male blooms on squash and cukes. If you have all male blooms you'll never get a squash. The perfect bloom comes out with a ovary attached that becomes the fruit. I've probably got about a dozen or more fruit growing on my tiny patch. Haven't noticed a cucumber set any fruit yet though, all male blooms.
I've had cucumbers from the plants only a few feet away. We've made bread and butter pickles for dummies a couple times now. I have noticed the pickles have not been as prolific as in the past though.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_squash.jpg)
Need these type of buds to bloom. If you don't than your out of luck. If your getting these coming out then it's probably a pollination issue. But good grief, with all the hymenoptera and dyptera in the air I can't see how that would be the case. We don't have anyone with honeybees nearby here anymore and I had to kill a colony off last fall in the flu.
Last year was very wet and cool during the blossoming of our winter squash. We got lots of blooms but very few fruits.
Its been very wet and warm here. I just went out with a q-tip and found bees all over the blossoms, so no sense trying it myself.
Our Butternut Squash and Zuccini Squash came out strong and then withered away last year.
I think extreme rain and heat did them in. :(
On a I don't know if this is good note. ;D
Da Pineapple turned yeller ever since dat picture wit da Sweet Baby Ray's sauce!
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1173/yeller_pineapple.JPG)
He may have to come to da Pigroast ride in da back of da truck. ;D
For the polination problem I would first take a soil test to make sure you have what is needed in the soil for proper polination . Here I use cement or egg shells for calcium, milk of magnesia and chicken manure soaked in water for a few days and then pour the water sparingly around most everything. Our soils are horrible.
http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=57&bhcd2=1280627202
Do a google on "soil nutrients" .
Calcium deficiency causes blossom end rot. Really prevalent in tomatoes, so if your tomatoes do not show rot at the bottom end of some of the tomatoes, that is probably not the problem. Sounds like a soil test is in order.
This has been my worst garden year by far. Got a late start due to a shutdown at work, coyotes have cleaned out 64 hills of melons. Even my okra is only waist high.
Trying for a fresh start for fall. I started 4 varieties of lettuce and 6 cabbage plants in a flat. I'll start some more in a couple of weeks and then more succession after that. Gotta get some broccoli and cauliflower seeds and watch for some collard plants.
Don
The extremes in climatic expression (new term that I just made up :)) down here make it tough to grow a garden. With the blazing heat and no rain, it is tough to just keep plants alive, much less producing bountifully.
WDH, For blazing heat and no rain, I recommend a sprinkler ;D
I have had squash act like that Jeff, and a lack of male flowers was why, not a lack of female. The weather may have something to do with it, I'm not sure, but after a while they kicked in and were fine. This year those have done good for me.
Quote from: ErikC on August 03, 2010, 12:59:06 AM
WDH, For blazing heat and no rain, I recommend a sprinkler ;D
I have a well, so I have to be judicious with supplemental watering because I cannot risk running out of water, otherwise the woman would leave me (I have learned that the #1 stressor to a marriage is no water, but that is another thread some day). Plus, supplemental watering keeps things alive but not maximally productive. We are managing to do OK in spite of the climatic expression. I am still getting a little squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, and okra. The cucumbers are burned up history.
Quote from: WDH on August 03, 2010, 09:01:52 AM
(I have learned that the #1 stressor to a marriage is no water, but that is another thread some day).
I'll be looking forward to that thread! ;D
I'm thinking its not no water, but perhaps broken water.
When the water is broke, that is the same as no water, at least while it is broke :).
Folks on city or county water may not realize how much you can take good reliable water for granted. I grew up on a dug well (there is another thread on here somewhere about that), then as a young adult, I moved to a place so far off the road that we had to drill a deep well. I am still there (here).
Well, today many of the leaves on the squash are dieing and falling off, exposing some of the 6-8" diameter blossoms, that also just drop off. I think its to wet. The soil is terribly wet and its been so hot and humid.
We probably take water for granted here. If you look at an aerial view of our place, you see we have lakes everywhere, and for a well, you don't have to seek out a vein as Harrison sits above a huge aquifer. Anywhere you drill, you will hit water. Just depends on weather your on a hill or in a valley on how deep the well will be. Right here its about 85 feet. Some areas its 30 feet and other over 200.
We have a good well also, and the water is cold and tastes great. However the problem with a well, is that when the electricity is off, the pump doesn't work and you don't get water. That is an awful feeling. A few years back we lost power for about a week in the middle of winter. The worst part wasn't the cold or the ice or no lights, the worse part was no water. :-\ By the time they turned our power back on, I was ready to kill for a shower!
Quote from: Patty on August 04, 2010, 05:12:10 PM
The worst part wasn't the cold or the ice or no lights, the worse part was no water. :-\ By the time they turned our power back on, I was ready to kill for a shower!
I make my case........ :).
No water is definitely a problem causer, here as well. We have a gravity run system, and if there is no water coming down I am out there fixing it pronto. :D
I seen Jeff's squash plants and there was a lack of female flowers except just a couple that were still in bud form. Shade is also a factor I believe as his yard is almost forest. ;D
I always get yellowing of plants in August, it's just the way it is. I have not ventured down to the garden today and it's now dark. Just got back home at 6:30 tonight. If I get a dozen off mine, it's a bumper crop as 1 fella can only eat so much. ;D
I expect to see a lot of peppers and much of everything else ready to pick. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_veggies2010.jpg)
Pics a bowl of veggies this morning. Cuke, 2 bells, 6 jalapenos and 8 cherry tomatoes. I have to get down again when the dew dries up to harvest some lettuce, peas and beans.
Some good. :)
Well the dry weather and 80+ heat up here (more than 30 days worth) has had an effect on the garden. Anything that isn't a root crop is dying off. Doesn't look like the squash made it and the cukes are pathetic short fat buggers. I also think there is a little blight. It's been pretty dry for a month.
My garden is a heat blasted shock zone, gone for another year.
Nothing made it through he last flood we had, 2 of them this year. An acre completely cooked.
We got back home last night from camp.
It was a 3 day ride. My daughter pulled the pineapple and put it in the fridge a few days ago.
I'm glad she did cause it was ripe and sweet.
Got about a fourth of the meat you get with a regular pineapple.
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(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13635/1173/Pineapple6.JPG)
Looks mighty tasty. You going into pineapple business? ;) Do they grow any in south Florida I wonder? Any we get in stores up here are Costa Rica.
How's things at camp?
Quote from: Roxie on April 17, 2010, 04:17:20 PM
:)
Please pardon the interuption, but this looks like a good place to ask....we got one of those Hav-A-Hart traps trying to catch a ground hog.
:D :D Was just outside to toss some fruit peelings and there was a brave old ground hog out there nibbling away. He wasn't scared neither. I think I surprised him and he was standing his ground, being far from his hole and such. He chattered and ground his teeth to act brave. Tossed a pineapple top at'm. Didn't like that so much, but he didn't run off. So I said to'm I got something that'll
change your thinking cool you off! I grabbed a pale of rain water and tossed that on'm. That moved him a might quick. If I would have had a shovel handy that would'a finished the show down, but the shovels are in the shed. ::) A good firm thunk on the noggin does them in quick.
They sure can be aggressive! :D
We had to give up on the Hav-A-Hart trap and resort to good old snap-their-neck-so- hard-it-flings-them-outta-the-hole traps. Got both of them within four hours. We gave them to a neighbor who uses the meat for stew. Problem solved.
2011 Edition ;)
This year I mulched the borders with red cedar and underlayed some black fabric. I need some more mulch some day and to deal with the grass around the frames. I've put down 25 - 2 ft3 sacs already. The frames are 4'x8', and in between each is about a 3 foot space. The mulch is roughly 3 feet wide around the outside as well.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Garden2011-005.jpg)
The peas are all up down below, planted earlier than the beans which are just coming up now.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Garden2011-006.jpg)
Tomatoes, peppers, lettuce planted last weekend from sets, but several rows of romaine from seed.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Garden2011-007.jpg)
Spanish onions......mmm onions and carrots, beats, and spinach.
==========================================
Some back yard plants...wiggelia, and stripe maple. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Wiggelia-2011.jpg)
White oak from NH, from Uncle Percey's camp 25 years ago.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_White_Oak2011.jpg)
Red peone, orange poppy, yellow iris, and various begonia in the pot. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Flowers2011.jpg)
Looking Good SD, nice work :)
I'm taking the season off. :D
I took this year off too. I found out that with the newly repaired arm, I can not lean into my garden area, brace myself and still do anything. Next year. :)
Quote from: Mooseherder on June 16, 2011, 08:23:02 PM
Looking Good SD, nice work :)
I'm taking the season off. :D
You have a new preoccupation with that new grand baby. :)
So far in 2011 Spinach tonight, been eating onion greens for a couple weeks. :)
Beans and peas should soon be blossoming.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_garden_goods-001.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_garden_goods-002.jpg)
Jalapeno coming along. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_garden_goods-003.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_garden_goods-004.jpg)
Cukes, 3 weeks in. I have a ways to go yet Jim. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_garden_goods-005.jpg)
So far, not much for bugs and lots of water. 8)
I'm green with envy. :) smiley_bounce
Yep MH, me too. My veggie plants are about done and burnt up for the summer.
Good job, SD. We are getting a whack of tomatoes, squash, and cukes.
Well the grapes are in bloom. They are an edible grape, I know because I planted them 25 years ago. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_garden_grapes.jpg)
Closeup
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I've never picked a grape from them yet, but they sure thrive where they are at, all tangled by raspberries and growing up a nearby spruce tree. I'd like to move them some spring and build a south facing fence wall for them to do better. Just don't know where. And get them up off the ground on some type of rack to grow onto. ::)
I plan to get serious about raised bed gardening once I get to our place in SC. I see nothing in this thread about what to make them out of. Our area is considered 'extreme' for termites, so untreated wood is out, unless I want to rebuild them every year (I don't). Is it safe to plant food crops in containers made of PT wood? They tell you to wear gloves when ya handle the stuff, so I'm not sure I want it leaching into my veggies. Maybe a plastic liner on the sides? I thought of concrete block, but then you have the problem of concrete leaching, which is very alkaline. I can get cypress pretty reasonable- is it really rot and termite proof?
I'd like to make my beds pretty tall. We stayed at a place that had beds about 30" tall. They were great- no bending for working in the garden. They were bolted out of PT 4X6's- I bet that cost a few bucks! Our land slopes, so raised beds would be a good way to terrace an area for gardening. I'd like to try drip irrigation to save water- anyone using it?
I'm with you that I wouldn't want to leach Pressure treatment into my vegetables. I believe that I would lean toward the Cypress, a fairly rot resistant heartwood, or the heartwood of juniper (ERC), or maybe white oak.
You could build the thing out of concrete, but the good thing about wood is that it can be recycled as it rots. You might even stave off the "rebuilding" of the bulkheads by just adding to their thickness with a new wall every couple or three years. The inside walls would just become more garden. With a sawmill handy, you should not have any problem with building material, even if it's slabs.
heart cypress is very rot resistant, but termites love it. ERC would probably be best if you can get it. As rot resistant as cypress and bugs won't touch it. Ask around for some black locust
Yep, I would use ERC. Plenty of it around here.
Are you sawing any? You're probably 75 miles from me- I'd drive that for a load of ERC. I need some for various projects, actually.
I would lean toward ERC or preferable Black Locust. You would be disappointed with Cypress because termites love it.
Not sawing much right now, too much going on.
What time frame are you looking at, we could line something up.
Or, I know a guy down the road that cuts cedar every week.
We could place an order if you can't find anything closer.
I know he used to sell full dimension 4"X4"X8' for $5 each.
Quote from: Wick on July 18, 2011, 03:52:24 PM
I know he used to sell full dimension 4"X4"X8' for $5 each.
Wow, that is cheap.
Why is it that everything that I need to buy is expensive and everything that I have to sell is cheap ??? :-\.?
Danny that's the way of the world. Buy high sell Low, story of my life.
Quote from: Wick on July 18, 2011, 03:52:24 PM
Not sawing much right now, too much going on.
What time frame are you looking at, we could line something up.
Or, I know a guy down the road that cuts cedar every week.
We could place an order if you can't find anything closer.
I know he used to sell full dimension 4"X4"X8' for $5 each.
I might get something going next spring. I have to build a barn and a house, so gardening will be way back on the stove.
Beans
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_beans_Aug-11.jpg)
Bells, a little slow this year.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_bell_Aug-11.jpg)
Cukes in flower and later romaine lettuce from seed. Ate all the sets already.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_cukes-lettuce-Aug-11.jpg)
Tomatoes, tiny Tim. I like the way they form on shoots instead of clusters. Kinda like the vine ripe packaged ones in the store. :D There must be one or more in there ripe, I didn't look too hard yet. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_tomatoes_Aug_11.jpg)
Volunteer tomatoes from 2010 in the carrot-onion patch. I must have pulled 30 of them things out by now. :D Planted the three sets before-hand, but still. LOL :D Hey, don't laugh too quick, the sets where free. ;)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_volunteer-Aug11.jpg)
Jalapeno
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_jalapeno_Aug-11.jpg)
Onion is sizing up some. We always harvest ours the end of August. Notice another weed tomato by my arm. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_Onion_Aug-11.jpg)
It's early to be thinking of gardens but I will be building some raised beds for a freinds father . It is more like Horticultural Therapy because his father loves talking about gardening but has not had a garden in years . Hope it's ok to tag it into this posting
Quote from: Don K on July 13, 2009, 01:41:33 PM
Has anybody ever grown any broomcorn. I planted some Red this year for my wife. Wierdest stuff I've ever grown.
Don
I'd like to see the ears off of it and your opinion of the taste.
it doesnt make ears it just grows a fan shaped seed head. it is a type of sorghum if i remember correctly :)
Quote from: sandsawmill14 on February 11, 2016, 07:41:45 PM
it doesnt make ears it just grows a fan shaped seed head. it is a type of sorghum if i remember correctly :)
My dad just told me the same thing.
He said people used to use them to sweep their yards.
smiley_thumbsup
There's always a straw broom, probably for less than the cost of seed. :D
Quote from: red on February 11, 2016, 03:07:55 PM
It's early to be thinking of gardens but I will be building some raised beds for a freinds father . It is more like Horticultural Therapy because his father loves talking about gardening but has not had a garden in years . Hope it's ok to tag it into this posting
I like it when someone brings up an old thread and adds to it.
Our raised beds from last year. We used PT lumber and stapled plastic to the inside. I don't think there will be any leaching.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10233/raisedbed3.jpg)
Those are classy Jon. smiley_thumbsup
Some of my students started making raised beds out of donated blocks yesterday morning. They made another this morning. Eventually, they will build eight of them. These will be used by the first year ag students to plant their spring gardens in. Our school farm is on top of a sand hill and the only way that I have been able to have a good garden in the ground is to bring in dump trailer loads of manure to till in with the soil (the nutrients leach out quickly).
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/image~19.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/image~21.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/image~22.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/image~23.jpg)
We will see how these work. We should have planted our spring garden last week.
Quote from: Tony on March 14, 2009, 07:59:38 PM
Quote from: Mooseherder on March 10, 2009, 09:50:22 PM
Got a Fire Ant problem already in the center bed. Gotta be careful how this'il play out.
We've got the same problem. :o :o Can't use the sprinkle\pour on poisons. Any suggestions ::) ::)
Tony 8)
Melt a couple gallons of aluminum and pour it down their entrance. I don't know how effective it would be but it would be fun.
Caveman, those kids did a good job! :)
Anytime young people can learn hands on projects......its a blessing. :)
I think that's a great idea! You can even plant in the block holes around the edge.
Very nice. It's also good to see youth getting a hands on education. They will never for get it.
Jon
My parents started a raised bed garden sometime in March (about a month late for our climate). It is growing vigorously and is not appropriately spaced but is fun to watch grow. I dumped about a tractor bucket and a half in there from our compost pile.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/image~78.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1463084798) We should be eating squash very soon. Not a fan of tomatoes but they should be producing soon as well. They were started from seeds from some tomatoes that my wife bought in the grocery store that came from Canada.
Caveman
Finally got my new raised beds filled. I've had a few containers at home and wanted something bigger to supplement the large regular garden I have at my woodlot 50 miles north. ( last year rodents of various kinds caused problems)
My house and driveway are on a high pile of fill and there is no even flat-ish land with sun.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/SBraisedbeds.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1463089299)
Lined with plastic and geotextile.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/SBraisedbedsview516.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1463089299)
bunny,
Those look great.
Very nice Joan,
I was planting peppers in mine last night
Nice job on the beds Joan. I like what you did for a base around them to.
Locust for wood?
I have not planted anything yet at the farm garden beds, but I do have taters and onions in the garden here in town. ;D
Thanks ! I just used PT 2x6 and lined it and there is some of the ¾" crushed stone under the edges of the boxes for drainage.
Last frost was June 8 or something last year so no planting, yet . Need to start work on the big garden, though. Have lots of seedlings started indoors.
I want to build a cover/windbreaker of some kind over them but haven't decide how exactly.
Some day I will probably stack some timbers like you did for my 3 beds. For now I can still bend down to pull weeds. Actually I don't get many weeds anyway. But being upright is more human than being close to the ground. That's why I like raspberries, pick'm upright. ;D
What I did one year early was used old windows against the barn on the south. I had beefsteak tomatoes in early July. I had them out in Late April, already in blossom. Kind of like this year since farmers planted fields this year in April. The field across the river is all green with wheat I assume.
I try to hold off with most planting until first weekend in June.
My wife loves flowers. She is confined to a wheelchair full time, so flower beds fall under the category of honey-do's. In a stroke of genius, I built her a couple of raised beds for flowers. Installed them on a concrete porch for easy access and filled with composted sawdust from my sawdust pile. She spends some time every day attending HER flower garden.
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Beds are just the right height to access from her wheelchair.
Made from eastern red cedar cut on my woodmizer.
those look great Piney, glad she has work to do and purpose. God Bless!
Yesterday my mother asked me if I would build her a raised bed in my spare time. Lately, there has been no time to spare but I sat around on Easter until around 2 p.m. and decided to hook up the $50 CL dust collector to the mill and see if it would keep up. I cut a 21' log down to 16'6" yesterday to make some 2x4's and decided to use the rest of it to test the dust collector and was going to make stickers out of it and realized it would make some nice 9" short boards. The dust collector kept up and in about 20-30 more minutes, my mother had a planter to grow sweet potatoes or whatever else she chooses.
She has been in a wheelchair or a walker since Thanksgiving so the raised bed will give her an opportunity to exercise her green thumb. My two year old grandson was enjoying it for a few minutes this afternoon.
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We spent a good bit of today putting fenceposts around the raised beds Michelle and some friends had built at the elementary school. She has been doing afterschool gardening zoom meetings with the kids. Hopefully the treated 4x4's will dry pretty quickly, they would like them painted white and then the kids can paint them with decoration. She picked up 7' deer fencing this past week and will get a screen door for the entrance. Apparently the deer herd in town is something else. I still need to make about 100' of picket fence to surround the net fencing down low.
I went to 5-gallon pails for Tomato plants 2019 season after seeing the process from an old guy on Youtube wanting to share his wisdom before it was too late. It worked good so I tried it with Bell peppers also for the 2020 growing season. Maine has grow your own other stuff so this system was successful also.
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I moved them closer to my waterline and elevated them on some dunnage. It was great not having to haul water. As they grew rope twine was used to wrap up the vines to the verticles. The verticles were great at the end of the season if the plants had to be covered for frost.
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Just potted my red bells this morning. 8)
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Awesome tomato vines there Mooseherder. 8)
Talk about nice. You're on it SD.
Gardening is great for the soul.
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I kinda jumped into it a little early, but I want some nice big bells to set into the ground in June. Our season as you know is tough to eek out 120 good heat days, but last summer was sure hot enough. I did have to haul water from the creek and I never water from well. It's amazing how much water a small garden can eat up. :D
Looks like your weather is a month ahead this season.
It is certainly possible that grain will go in this month. Snowed an inch last night but raining now and warm all week. I looked at the potato fields around here yesterday and no big muck holes on the best ground and no snow on the edges, so certainly possible to plant in 2 weeks. Not garden stuff though. ;D
we have some Bermuda in one raised bed. I do not use herbicides in a garden. I think I will cover with plastic and see if I can germinate weed seeds so they do not come up in the garden. any trick for grasses.
I put a piece of clear plastics over a small section of grass. Don't really know the correct name, but has white roots. Can and does shoot out a new plant along these white roots about every 4 inches. Break those roots with a tiller, each broke off piece will grow. :( :o >:(
But I could not grow anything in that area for a season. I cooked the ground. I put rocks around the edges to hold the plastic in place. Does not take long for things to turn brown under it.
I did work on one area that has the same grass, I just dug it up and threw it on an area that I was filling in. That stuff does grow!! I had to go back and re-dig in places that I had dug it out. Took me a few years to get rid of it. I tried the plastic and that seem to work in one year.
A high content of vinegar will slow it down too. Not the canning type, need a higher content of vinegar to really work.
Use that black poly to increase the yield of peppers!! Think I said this before. The guy I got this idea from laid black poly down than ran it up against the pool and than put the peppers in black buckets. First time he did this, he was gone for a day and cooked the peppers plants.
swampdonkey is right on big peppers plants. I buy mine, but have put them into the ground blossomed and having little peppers on them all ready. I get stocks the size of my thumb and woody. I have to put tomato cages around my peppers plants to keep them from falling over from the weight of the peppers.
Da garden got planted this morning.
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Six Mater plants. materhead
Quote from: thecfarm on April 07, 2021, 06:44:06 AM
I put a piece of clear plastics over a small section of grass. Don't really know the correct name, but has white roots. Can and does shoot out a new plant along these white roots about every 4 inches. Break those roots with a tiller, each broke off piece will grow.
We call it couch (kootch) grass. If ya have trouble getting green, just grow that stuff. :D
Barn yard grass is a menace to, I have one bed that keeps germinating in, don't let that stuff seed. I think one plant must make 1000 seeds and the plant can be small and seed to. :D I like peat mulch around plants, have hardly a weed around the onion bulbs.
My bells have doubled in 3 days. :) The place smells like tomatoes. :D
I've been using old fridges/freezers for raised beds for a couple of years now. We just changed the layout this year. We used to have Rabbit fencing on metal stakes (you can see it rolled up) and no stones in the garden area. We had a low 12'x4' raised bed as well but grass clippings and weeds would get in there so we made it bigger (24' x 36') added weed guard and stone, put in cedar posts and 2' high galvanized panels. The rabbit fencing will go above that. I will most likely add the low bed in there again as well and I have plenty of room for more frezzers/fridges!
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Brilliant!
Great idea with your freezer beds. :)
Now that recycling!! Good idea.
The chest freezers are better because:
1. They have less stuff inside them to remove
2. They are made to be in this position
3. They are taller, and therefore easier on you back
The guy at the transfer station keeps an eye out for me when they come in and he puts them aside. Ideally I wait until the guy from the transfer station home office comes out to recapture the refrigerant. I take them home, strip out all the electrical and condenser, plumbing, etc. and return the parts to the transfer station for disposal/recycling. The doors are removed as soon as they come in so I never have to deal with those. I drill a bunch of 1/2 holes through them for drainage.
We paint them so they don't look so red neck. Can't get much freer than that for a good raised bed!
Great idea.
When pressed for time or feeling lazy i use tires temporarily. A bottletorched box cutter plunges through easy and sawzall zips the sidewall out.
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Thinking about doing raised bed gardening next year!
I plan to use Plastic 55-gallon barrels, cut so to use top and bottom (similar to 5-gallon pails only bigger).
Looking for ideas on layering the material used to fill the barrels.
I'm thinking some holes drilled in the bottoms and gravel for the bottom layer in the barrel for drainage!
I have lots of grass clippings on hand for blending soil.
Now, looking for any/all suggestions!
I'm planning on placing the barrels on a bed of 5-6 inches of gravel!
These "could" be put together this Fall!
This year I laid old timbers down and put the soil in between them. Very little effort with good results. The soil is the most important part and you use less this method. :)
you could also split them the long way and get more area, if you do not need deep soil. (barrels)
I would leave the bottoms open to allow the worms to go deep in the winter. You really need worms for best results in raised beds.
Living soil is critical for anything to grow well and resist pest and drought stress. Once soil microbes and flora/fauna whatever start dying off youll just be adding more and more synthetic fertility for a declining harvest.
Become a dirt nerd and itll get easier and easier. "Lasagna gardening" is a good intro.
The barrel halves would end up being about the same height as the 5-gallon pails!
This to me seems like a good working height!
I plan to drill lots of 1" holes in the bottoms, this way, if I decide to move them some day I don't lose everything that's in them!
Got some good inputs so far looking for more, thanks!
The fastest and cheapest raised bed stuff i have done was just sawzalling the sidewall out of a tire and pouring in good rich composted dirt. A pickup tire is enough for 4 big maters if your dirt is good. And again, quality dirt was the hardest part.
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Potatoes grew like crazy and i kept stacking higher. At 3 tires i started having very vigorous plants die back hard. I had not considered that a tire doesnt breath, it pools water and the sun doesnt penetrate the tire. Id overwatered them to stem rot by not knowing tge base was sopping wet. 2 high did okay. Tomatoes did good in just one tire.
Nice part is you can just keep moving this, even while plants are growing if you really had to.
I am able to make compost very fast with grass and sawdust during summer in a 2 bay pallet bin by layering and turning often. However that mixture alone does not support good growth, in fact it will hardly sprout a seed. But when that compost mix is thoroughly tilled in to my poor native clay and sand mix, with a dose of triple 10 or what have you, growth is very potent even with excessively dense stocking.
Its hard to see the log perimeter but this is kind of a raised bed. The yard slopes so the logs are holding back dirt as a retaining wall on the thick side only, 8 to 10 inched deep i guess.
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I planted the corn way too close and still had good harvest of cukes, squash and tomatoes from between them plus the corn we are reaping now. Despite lots of bug pests. Living soil makes all the difference.
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Michelle harvested taters and maters with the school kids yesterday. They each got to take home a few taters and a few maters. Not too bad. The garden suffered through the summer as time was summer tight and we were focusing on getting the bazillion pickets made and installed, and then the kids are gone during summer. But a good start. They had harvested spring stuff before school let out and have started some fall stuff and those beds from yesterday's harvest are now open.
She got home and said "I have no disciplinary control". Well, did anyone get hurt? No. Did they have fun? Yes. Sounds good to me, hopefully something rubbed off for later.
At Tractor supply the other day, I noticed they have some feeder troughs for livestock!
They are elevated about 2 feet, and about 1½ ft wide and about 8 ft long.
I think I'll get a couple of them rather than using half-barrels!
I used leaky old livestock water tanks for raised beds. Most are about 8' diameter, and a rear tractor tire turned inside out also. For dirt, used straight compost from my cow corral. It is not straight cow poo, has lots of spoiled hay and bedding mixed with the poo. All winter I put out bales for the cows to eat, then move the feeders around so cows can lay on the leftovers. Then I put the feeder back on top and another bale in it. There is always some feed the cows don't eat, and they then use it for bedding. Also put out some straw in bad weather, they eat some and lay on the rest. Gets covered with poo and wet, packed down and creates pretty good compost. In the spring I scoop it all up and pile it, then in the fall I haul it out and spread it on my poor grass. This stuff is very effective at helping farmed out ground. Tried it straight in the raised beds, and tomatoes and green beans and squash just went crazy. Kathy watered just about every day. We have been furnishing tomatoes for the neighborhood.
you can slit a tight top steel drum into left and right sides then lay them down to make feed troughs or raised beds too. id put some garden hose or something for sharp edge protection. pop in a few drain holes for downpours.
In a raised bed garden made with a trough, barrel, etc, what would be an adequate depth of soil!
I realize that the shallower the soil depth, a more frequent watering would be required!
ours are about 2 feet. depends on if you are talking root crops I think, vs above ground like lettuce ect.
Just fill it up with good rich soil. Roots will go wherever they need to. Ive grown big tomato plants in car tires where the root ball after is like another tire inside. Solid with roots.
Not planning on carrots, beets, etc.
I plan on planting string beans, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers.
if there is no bottom in the container then it matters less, although if it is compacted soil underneath, they may not journey there. Ideally you would have drip irrigation on a timer. that was our issue, remembering to water when everyone was working.
The raised beds that I plan to use are about 10-12 inches deep!
Youll be fine if its good nutrient rich soil. I grew many cukes in 4-5 inches of depth on a portable sort of palletized arbor i built with a wooden base and wire racking over the top into an arch for them to climb.