Did someone say garden

[Onestep]

Here are our gardens (well some of them as the south is not in use yet).

This is our east garden. It was enlarged to 50' x 50' this year.
This was originally a triangle shape and had 2 palm trees in the middle of it as well as an oak tree to the right side.
We had the trees removed and the palms stumps ground down a good foot and squared up the area. There was also a clump of palmettos and a couple of scrub oaks that were to the left side which also blocked the naval orange tree from getting sufficent sunlight.
Killed/removed the grass and tilled and tilled and tilled....
Rearranged/added sprinkler heads.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Newgarden1.jpg


The front center trellis is garden peas and the back one is sugar snap peas.
The collards are still doing great and are the ones in the center on the angle.
Far right is onions and garlic in front, romain lettuce in the front left with white potatoes planted behind them.
The rows to the right of the lettuce is red potatoes planted last weekend.
To the right of them will eventually be roma and contender green beans.
Four rows of silver queen corn will go to the right of the trellis and in front of the collards. Sweet potatoes will be on mounds behind the collards. Between the corn and peas will be cucumbers and lima beans (3 tomato plants are already in the back of the row)

Here's an herb/starter table I built for mama.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Starterbox.jpg

The north garden has been our producer this winter.
Here we have carrots in various stages, texas sweet onions, some romain, great lakes lettuce and broccoli to the right.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Northgarden2.jpg

Here's campari tomatoes (trellis in background has since been moved to the east garden).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/tomatoesnorth.jpg

More broccoli, spinach, more romain and the tomatoes. Garden peas just starting are barely visible to the back left.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Northgarden1.jpg

[Sniper-T]

That's awesome!

I envy your growing season!

I don't have any current shots of my garden, but this is one of my front yard/driveway. Just close your eyes a little and imagine tomato stands, garden boxes, and pots...

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/0121121335c.jpg

[Onestep]

I feel for ya Sniper, I don't know how you all do it up there in such a limited time frame.

[realist]

Can you grow Popsicles???

[Sniper-T]

^

yep... but we call them icicles

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/NFLD/nfldday6232.jpg

and...

and, we can even defy gravity with them:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/NFLD/nfldday6234.jpg

[realist]

You are one hearty sole, it is about 45 degrees out and now I have to go outside and work. I would much prefer to stay inside by the fire.......

[bacpacker]

A little wind huh? I seen them looking like that up in the mountians around here in a "GOOD" winter. Pretty neat.

[Evolver]

Dang dude your turning into a true farmer! :) your 50x50 looks great, It's abit different from when Justa and I were out to your place and I like your layout with the pea trellis divider.

[ladyhk13]

Welcome Onestep.....your garden looks awesome!!! Almost makes me want to move back to Central Fl. myself......NAH....LOL! But my garlic is looking really good already!

[bacpacker]

I like the bed layouts Onestep. Good variity, I'm sure it produces a lot!

[Dropy]

That's awesome!

I envy your growing season!

I don't have any current shots of my garden, but this is one of my front yard/driveway. Just close your eyes a little and imagine tomato stands, garden boxes, and pots...

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/0121121335c.jpg

O wow!!! Where can i buy seeds to grow my own snow machines. you got a nice crop coming in there.

[Patmark]

OS, I'm aspiring to be like you man :D God I miss riding snowmobiles.

[LUNCHBOX]

Nice garden. I wish our growing season was longer also.

[Onestep]

I know EVO and Justa are laying low on their gardening so I figured I'd give ya'll a taste of what's happening down here.

Things are looking up.

This is the garden overview:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Eastgardenoverview.jpg

Beans, potatoes and peas

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Beans_peas_potatoes.jpg

Corn, soybeans, cukes and others:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Corn_soybenas_cukes_limas_beans.jpg


Onions in the north garden

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Onions.jpg

[bacpacker]

Sweet garden OneStep. How big is your garden's? Looks like you've got some good sized beds and a ton of stuff growing in them. Very nice.

[Evolver]

Very nice Onestep and boy am I jealous. I'll have ours ready for the fall crop though. I'm just waiting for one more good harvest of collard greens then I'm going to cover the beds with two layers of 6mil plastic with a 1'' space between layers to get all the heat in the soil that I can. For killing Nematode eggs they recommend several days of 130F soil.

Dang your potatoes are taking off. Didn't you just plant them three week ago?

[Sniper-T]

wow!

just... wow!

[Onestep]

Yes Evo, some of the potatoes are only 3 weeks old. The larger ones to the far left are about 6 weeks old.
The collards just won't die so we just keep harvesting, cooking and freezing.

'Packer, this garden is 50 x 50 (2500 sq. ft) our largest and a pretty new garden at that. We just enlarged it this past winter. Took down a few trees around the perimeter to allow more sunlight. It still only gets sun from about 9:30 until 4:30 due to trees on adjacent properties.
We also have a 8' x 40' (320) garden on the north side of our property that still has carrots, onions and tomatoes but the onions and tomatoes will be done in the next couple of weeks. The carrots are in their own section (dirt sifted and cleaned extensively) and they will go for another month & half.

We also have a 20' x 40' (800) garden on the south side but it is just now getting sun due again to trees right on the property line. This is our summer garden as it will get less sunlight than the others. Right now, it's planted with blackeyed and Texas 40 cream peas as well as a variety of tomatoes and peppers in the back.

[JustAPrepper]

Ya Know...

I have a serious love/hate relationship with you.

Your garden is just too awesome for words.

By the way, we're doing a good job at growing DIRT right now. We allow the occassional weed for some greenery but if you're in the market for some DIRT let us know. I'll pack some up for you when you drop by. Probably after you have an awesome day of fishing in the Marsh.

Some people are just "touched" with awesomeness. I think I was "groped" with mediocrity.

You suck. But I love ya anyway. :p

Tell Mrs. Onestep I said hello and I'm looking forward to your AWESOME visit, LOL!! :cool:

[ladyhk13]

HELP!!!! I was planting stuff today and found these tiny wormy kind of things all over the place under the decomposing straw and grass clippings. Does anyone know what they are? I sprayed bug killer on them and thought they would die but they actually didn't. I saw reddish beatles around but I also saw earth worms so I don't know if they are baby grubs or earth worms. They are in pockets and everywhere. Hope this pic comes through, using photobucket now.

http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w465/ladyky13/102_5035-Copy.jpg

[Taz Baby]

I am looking at this guide right now for your bug lady. Thought I would give it to everyone. Seems to be a good bug guide.

Welcome to BugGuide.Net! - BugGuide.Net (http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740)

[ladyhk13]

Great, thanks!~ I was spraying all this bug killer and then thought maybe they are good bugs when they didn't die but then I don't want to leave them out there if they are bad ones!

[Taz Baby]

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=white+worms&view=detail&id=D4BB20B819A5AE0AEA9EC61D9219ED50A85FDD70&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR


Grindle worm
http://tntaquatica.com/images/food/grindleworms.jpg
Enchytraeus buchholzi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grindal_worm)

[ladyhk13]

nope, that ain't them. but thanks. guess the search continues.

[Taz Baby]

http://www.redwormcomposting.com/images/white-worms1.jpg

I’ve Got White Worms! (http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worm-composting/ive-got-white-worms/)



http://www.happydranch.com/articles/images/clip_image001_012.jpg
Pot Worms, known as enchytraeids (en kee tray' id), are very small, little white worms that can reach densities of 250,000 individuals per square meter. The highest populations are found in acid soils. They feed on bacteria and fungi. They eat dead organic matter and small feces. They ingest small mineral particles and probably play an important role in mixing organic matter into the mineral soil. They have no enzymes for digesting complex polysaccharides and thus do not digest the organic matter they ingest. They are good for your compost system and harmless to you, your worms and plants. Enchytraeids are sometimes raised as fish food. Enchytraeids are also predators of some nematodes.

[ladyhk13]

Taz I'm going to go and search their "life cycle" and see if I can find out what they look like every step of the way. Today they look a little different than yesterday. The insect killer that is supposed to kill everything bad in the garden (to include spiders, grubs, beetles...) didn't bother them at all. They are all still alive today after I totally doused them yesterday. I did kill a bunch today after putting them in a canning jar to bring them in the house to study them...oops, I forgot about them and left them in the glass jar in the sun while I was working out there all day. It would be nice if they are the enchytraeids! How they got there though is a mystery...they have never been there before this year.

[Taz Baby]

Until you find out what they are I wouldn't try and kill them. Just get them out of the compost. If they are good bugs then you might need them for your garden.

[ladyhk13]

Ok, I found it. They are fungas (gnat) worms! Gotta get rid of them for sure. I found them while they are still in the larvea stage.

http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w465/ladyky13/fungnat_larv11.jpg

[Taz Baby]

What are Fungus Gnats … and How to Get Rid of Them | EdibleContainerGardening.com (http://www.ediblecontainergardening.com/what-are-fungus-gnats-and-how-to-get-rid-of-them/)

How to Make an Organic Insecticidal Soap Recipe | EdibleContainerGardening.com (http://www.ediblecontainergardening.com/organic-insecticidal-soap-recipe/)

There you go. How to kill them and how to make the stuff that does.

[ladyhk13]

Thanks Taz, also I found that some say ya can use coffee grounds or apple cider vinegar....so I guess tomorrow will be an experimental day for me!!!!!

[Sniper-T]

I got a truckload of manure on Friday, and topped off all my garden boxes, and had enough to almost fill the first of my cylinders.

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/0407121420a.jpg

[Onestep]

LOL Justa, thanks for the compliments...I think:)
We'll be calling you two in the next couple of months so be forewarned.

Sniper, is that just a large piece of special pipe? THAT is pretty cool. I do like the "S" on the side too, nice touch.

[Sniper-T]

It is called a Vane tube. and something we manufacture, it has the center opening and 13 angled openings around. I figured that they'd work well as dividers for different crops of herbs and stuff.

The S stands for Scrap. The customer changed the specifications on the order after they were built, and I bought them for a song (I have 4).

[ladyhk13]

Thanks Taz, also I found that some say ya can use coffee grounds or apple cider vinegar....so I guess tomorrow will be an experimental day for me!!!!!

Ok, well NOTHING kills these things!!!!! I even tried amonia/diswashing fluid and water. They still lived. AND now they are changing into the next stage and moving so I am having a hard time finding them. I went around and started digging them up and put them in a plastic zip lock bag. Filled a gallon bag already and I only got a tiny part of the garden done. I'm doomed. I'll never find them all and I can't find the only thing that is supposed to kill them...NEEM. ARRRRRGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[carly]

Try boric acid. It dehydrates insects and worms. Usually works pretty good.

[JustAPrepper]

Ok, well NOTHING kills these things!!!!! I even tried amonia/diswashing fluid and water. They still lived. AND now they are changing into the next stage and moving so I am having a hard time finding them. I went around and started digging them up and put them in a plastic zip lock bag. Filled a gallon bag already and I only got a tiny part of the garden done. I'm doomed. I'll never find them all and I can't find the only thing that is supposed to kill them...NEEM. ARRRRRGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DE...Diatomaceous Earth. You should be able to find it in any garden section/store...just don't get the "pool" kind...a totally different kind of DE. DE is the skeletonized remains of prehistoric sea creatures. Almost powder like but the granules are like glass shards. Anything that crawls over it will die...death by a thousand cuts. It's totally organic and can be used in the yard, inside the house if you have fleas or ticks. Lots of farmers even supplement livestock feed with it to kill off parasites inside the intestines of their herds. It's also pretty cheap. You can even add it to food storage if you're storing grains to kill off any bugs that may hatch over time.

[ladyhk13]

Thanks Carly and Justa. Justa will the DE also kill all of my good insects and my earth worms? I have a lot of worms that come to the surface every evening and are really close to where those gnat worms are .

[msomnipotent]

What are Fungus Gnats … and How to Get Rid of Them | EdibleContainerGardening.com (http://www.ediblecontainergardening.com/what-are-fungus-gnats-and-how-to-get-rid-of-them/)

How to Make an Organic Insecticidal Soap Recipe | EdibleContainerGardening.com (http://www.ediblecontainergardening.com/organic-insecticidal-soap-recipe/)

There you go. How to kill them and how to make the stuff that does.

Good to know, thanks. I saw a lot of the flying gnats last year because I planted the tomatoes too close together. I never saw any of the larvae but now I know what to look for.

[ladyhk13]

Taz I got that recipe but by the time I found the "organic" stuff they would have already grown up and gone. I thought about just using normal stuff and crushing the peppermint/spearment from my mom's plants and infusing them in the oil but again it would take time and a lot of it to do my whole garden. I guess I'm going to just see what happens for now. Got a lot of them out by hand. thought about taking a torch and burning them. might work!

[Katrina]

OOH, bonfire, Who's got the marshmallows? Sorry couldn't resist. We had to do the soap thing a few years ago, those buggers were stubborn. Did not see any last year, will see what turns up this year.

[Taz Baby]

Taz I got that recipe but by the time I found the "organic" stuff they would have already grown up and gone. I thought about just using normal stuff and crushing the peppermint/spearment from my mom's plants and infusing them in the oil but again it would take time and a lot of it to do my whole garden. I guess I'm going to just see what happens for now. Got a lot of them out by hand. thought about taking a torch and burning them. might work!
That was going to be my next question, if you could burn them out and then disc the garden up really good.

[ladyhk13]

I'm gonna just have to wait it out now and see what happens. We had some cold weather so I don't know how much stuff will survive and we are going to be super busy over the next week or 2 so by then it'll be too late to bother with anyway. Time will tell.

[Sniper-T]

I snapped a couple pics of the garden while out the other day.

a couple of 8' boxes. one with last years strawberries, which I will divide and fill both boxes.

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/0411121410a.jpg

Then I have two banks of 24X48" boxes:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/0411121410c.jpg
http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/0411121410b.jpg

Another 8X8' In another area:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/0411121411a.jpg


I haven't worked out what is going to be planted where... I am going to cut a few trees down, and allow more light in, so I'll decide then

[Taz Baby]

Lady do you still have that worm problem? If so I just had a blonde brain fart, use Baking Soda or salt to kill them. Just sprinkle it on them. Here is the differance in using salt verses baking soda.

When you use salt it makes a mess and it is hard to clean up! USE BAKING SODA INSTREAD!!! It takes about 1/2 cup depending on the size of the slug. Baking soda dehydrates them & absorbs the mess! *KEEP THE SLUG COVERED UNTIL IT NO LONGER TRIES TO GET OUT!* The slug looks like dough, and you can just sweep it up!!!

[ladyhk13]

I actually haven't gone out digging in the garden (they are actually in the walkways, not where the plants are) to see if they are still there but I'm sure they have matured by now. We don't have a slug or snail problem except when it rains a lot and then they (snails) come up near the back door and I do throw salt out there, not too worried about them, they are more of a pain to walk on than anything.
We lost about all of our apples to the frost. There are a few apples on the trees but most of them were just in the post blossom stage so they were very tiny and did not survive. We will not get apples this year boooo hoooo! I'm not happy.

[bacpacker]

That Sucks! I lost at least 1 row of potatos. The other 3???, they may pull through. Onions, Blueberries, ^ Cherries all look pretty good so far.

[Evolver]

That Sucks! I lost at least 1 row of potatos. The other 3???, they may pull through. Onions, Blueberries, ^ Cherries all look pretty good so far.

Hail again?

[Taz Baby]

Don't know what I lost yet. But when I left home everything was doing good. I had planted, potatoes, tomato's, peppers, corn, strawberry, mung bean's, bean's cantaloupe, honeydew. I am hoping it is all good. I even did a testing on some plants. Put some in plastic baggies with holes and closed them up to see if they would stay watered with the moister from the sun. Some plants are in food can's with hole in bottom in trays of water with wicks going from tray into each plant. when it rains tray fills up wick soaks up to water the plant. We will see if it worked or not. Maybe the frosted didn't get to them.

[bacpacker]

No hail this time. We got down to 29 last week and a decent frost. Glad it hit when it did looks like blueberrles are good.

[Taz Baby]

I saw this on Homesteading / Survivalism. Think I'm gonna try it. It looks like it would be great for herbs.




https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/562814_10150747042362436_104062822435_9559043_1263 091237_n.jpg

[Taz Baby]

Another good idea. This is using gutters, you just hang them on a fence and tilt them so they slope down a little bit for drainage.


https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/564326_10150741862677436_104062822435_9540341_7353 13839_n.jpg

[Sniper-T]

Here's a thread from last year for ya Taz...

http://www.shtfready.com/food-water/gutter-gardening-856.html

[Taz Baby]

Never thought of this one. What would you plant in it? I bet it would work for potatoes and peanuts.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/403179_10150452118666059_125563091058_9045880_1440 485097_n.jpg

Fill the legs with straw and the butt with dirt.

[Taz Baby]

here is a great idea to get kids interested in gardening. It is in an old tackle box


https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/s320x320/522342_10150749756587436_104062822435_9566050_2413 96918_n.jpg

[Onestep]

Sorry to hear about the taters BP.
Sniper, looking good. I don't know how you all get all your gardening in before and after frost & freezes.
Down here, we have more bugs than you can probably name though due to warm winters compared to yours.
Here's an update on our garden. We have been harvesting the green beans at a rate of a good handful or two per day this past week. Sugar snap peas are about a dozen or so a day as well. 6 cukes have been harvested and many more on the way.
Our corn is not doing very good and has been our problem child the past 2 seasons. The earworms hit them early and after some BT and Sevin dust treatment, they seem to be gone but the plants suffered. The center of the stalks seem to had rotted and the plants are stunted now. I may just give up on it. I'm very happy we planted about a month early as the heat and bugs are stating to show early as well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Potatoesandbenas.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Cornandcollards.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Soybeans_limas_cukes_blackbeans.jpg

The Texas sweets drying out.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/Dryingonions.jpg

Last weekends harvest. The tomatoes became 8 pints of salsa. The beans outputs have doubled or tripled since then.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SC53/4_14_harvest.jpg

[Taz Baby]

One step that looks really great and your hard work does show in it. I can't wait until I can get my garden going. Keep up the good job.

[bacpacker]

Nice work One step. That stuff looks great. I can't belive all the stuff you have coming in. I don't have hardly anything planted yet.

[Onestep]

Taz, it's a "labor" of love. It isn't the hard work everyone thinks it is. Yes there is a lot of maintenence but that can be done in less than an hour a day. The hard work is getting the area prepared but once that's done, you just wait on it to grow.

BP, we planted early this year (about 3 weeks) due to the warm winter and projected warmer temps earlier then expected and I think we got lucky. Down here, the bugs come early (aphids and caterpillars are already attacking) so you need to get the plants strong enough so they can do some of the fighting themselves. If you don't, you'll lose the war.

Plus this year I planted EVERYTHING by the Farmer's Almanac, based on my farmer friend suggestion and my reading. It has made a HUGE difference in production and the plants health.

[bacpacker]

I totally agree on using the almanac. I have for years' parents and grandparents for years before that.

when i get home i'll post a link to a companion book to use with the almanac. It explains to theroy behind it. It also explains the moon phases and the difference in the signs. It was very helpcful to me.

[ladyhk13]

I have a question about tomato plants. I put them in and they were doing fine but now there are some yellow blotches on the "trunk" area of some of them. Do any of you know what could cause it? I have fertilized them (when planted) and when the yellowing started I found that coffee grounds are good for them so I added some around them but that hasn't really helped. There is no sign of insect infestation....thoughts?

[bacpacker]

Lady, what kind and how much fertilize did you use? Almost sounds like they are burnt just a little. If so they should grow back out of it.

One Step, I use Blum's Farmer Almanac and inside it I found a article for this book:

"Raising with the Moon, The complete Guide to gardening and living by the signs of the moon."

It explains the reasoning behind using the moon phases and the signs and how they work together. I keep them both handy during gardening season.

Tonight we planted 29 tomato's of the following varities, Marglobe, Celebrity, Rutgers, Mr. Stripey, Lemon Boy, and German Johnson. We also planted 9 California Wonder Bell Peppers, 3 Sweet Banana Peppers, & 1 Eggplant. After 2 hours of 90 degrees and 90% humidity we called it a night and came in to eat supper. Maybe we'll get a little rain tonight

[ladyhk13]

It was Miracle Grow all puropse plant food (was actually too lazy to go out and get the tomato food...yeah I know). Made it according to directions. Oh, I did put a little goat poop (dried for about 3 years) in each hole...maybe that did it.
We've had rain all day...sounds like you had a very busy day indeed!!!
My sweet potato things are getting little green leaves on them more each day so I hope to plant them next week, maybe they will be big enough for the ground.

[bacpacker]

Fertilizer is not the issue for you. Unless you way over board on mixing MG ot's hard to burn any thing with it. Poop composted that long should be as well. Not sure what else would do it.
I think we finally got a little rain here after we went to bed. Probably not much though.

[Grumpy Old Man]

I have a question about tomato plants. I put them in and they were doing fine but now there are some yellow blotches on the "trunk" area of some of them. Do any of you know what could cause it? I have fertilized them (when planted) and when the yellowing started I found that coffee grounds are good for them so I added some around them but that hasn't really helped. There is no sign of insect infestation....thoughts?

Here are some links I used last year when I was having problems.

Tomato Problems: Pests & Diseases (http://www.tomatogardeningguru.com/pests-disease.html)

Tomato Problem Solver | Aggie Horticulture (http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/tomatoproblemsolver/)

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/selectnewpest.tomatoes.html

Tomato Plant Leaf Curl Virus: What Causes Tomato Leaves Curling? (http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/vegetable/tomato-leaves-curling.htm)

[ladyhk13]

Thanks for the help guys...will check out the links and see if I can figure it out.

[Sniper-T]

I got a good portion of my onions and garlic into the ground, transfered all my seedlings into pots, and started another batch of seeds

[ladyhk13]

Sniper is it normal for your zone to start them this time of year? Here in the states we are supposed to put them in the ground in the fall. When do you harvest?

[Sniper-T]

I assume you are refering to the garlic... We, and I'm sure you can too, can plant garlic either in the spring or in the fall. If in the fall, we would be harvesting in about mid summer. If in the Spring, then late summer/early fall.


If we have a particularly harsh winter though, even covered, fall plantings can freeze. I could have had them in the ground a couple weeks ago, but I just didn't have everything ready yet.

It will be a couple weeks yet before I can get all the seedlings into the ground and not have to worry about frost... well not worry too much. If it forcasts frost after they're in, I have to cover them.

[Taz Baby]

Just bought the book "Backyard Harvest" by Jo Whittingham. Great all around book with lots of info and pictures. Absolutely a must have book.

[bacpacker]

We planted okra, cucumbers, ruhbarb, yellow squash, zuchinni, cantaloupe, 3 types of water melon, 4 types of winter squash, and an open pollinated corn I got from baker Creek to try out. Worked up our onions and 1 row of potatos.

I also sorted thru most of my seeds and got rid of some that were very old. Also sorted stuff by type and when they get planted. I was able to figure out what I have plenty of for now and more importantly what I need to buy to fill in some gaps in my stocks. Decent day all around.

[ladyhk13]

Ok, idiot of the week award goes to..................................Ladyhk13~ Wanna know why? The tomato plants that were dying died because of my own stupidity I think. Ya know that little plastic band around the top of Bonnie plants (you plant the whole thing other than that)? Well I forgot to cut it off and every plant I pulled out of the ground had the plastic still on. I guess I killed my own plants. I'm such an idiot...DUH!:confused:

[Taz Baby]

Ok, idiot of the week award goes to..................................Ladyhk13~ Wanna know why? The tomato plants that were dying died because of my own stupidity I think. Ya know that little plastic band around the top of Bonnie plants (you plant the whole thing other than that)? Well I forgot to cut it off and every plant I pulled out of the ground had the plastic still on. I guess I killed my own plants. I'm such an idiot...DUH!:confused:
is that like cooking a turkey with the bag still in it? SIL did that once and we still tease her about it
;)

[mollypup]

Our garden this year is about 4 times bigger than the previous 2 years. I haven't sat down and made a list of all that we are growing but here's a stab at it:

okra, corn, eggplant bush beans, pole beans, lima beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell pepper, watermelon, and various herbs - all heirloom from Baker Creek.
Then I have some pumpkin, butternut squash, summer squash, zucchini, carrots and radishes - hybrid, and a lot of various flowers to attract bees.

We have 4 raised beds and I'm really packing the plants in, and the old garden area with corn. I'm going to plant more pole beans if and when the corn get tall enough to support the vines. I'm really into this intensive planting this year and hope it works out.

[ladyhk13]

is that like cooking a turkey with the bag still in it? SIL did that once and we still tease her about it
;)

Haha funny, did that one time too.

[Sniper-T]

setting up for an expansion next year. Neighbour came over with his sprayer, and we killed off some grass/weeds in a few places around the property. next step will be to disc it and then till it. I don't know if I'll get anything planted this year, but it'll be set up for next year.

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/Pantry/0512121046b.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/Pantry/0512121046a.jpg

[Taz Baby]

Well we started a garden this year and because of the critters that have invaded us, I decided to have a garden up on a table and in hanging baskets. I have, 13 stevia,2 blueberry, 1 peppermint, 8 burpless cucumber, 9 leaf lettuce, 5 marconi peppers,1 chocolate mint, 1 tham pepper,8 pickle cukes,4 cheery tomatoes, 4 butternut lettuce, 3 sweet basil, 1 greek oregano 1 rosemary, 1 spearmint, 2 citronella 10 potatoes. 12 sweet baby watermelon so far. pics coming soon.

[Taz Baby]

here is my garden so far.

http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s395/Taz-Baby/Picture044.jpg

http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s395/Taz-Baby/Picture043-1.jpg

[mitunnelrat]

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn165/mitunnelrat/SU1HMDA0NTgtMjAxMjA1MjItMTYwNy5qcGc.jpg

This is mine, if it comes up. If not I'll fix it when I get on my laptop again.

[ladyhk13]

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn165/mitunnelrat/SU1HMDA0NTgtMjAxMjA1MjItMTYwNy5qcGc.jpg

This is mine, if it comes up. If not I'll fix it when I get on my laptop again.
Let me know how you like those topsy turvy's I had one last year for tomato's and it did fine but it gets really heavy and since the water runs down the stalk every day it can get somewhat wet so it can become a problem, had another fro strawberries and it didn't do so great but for some reason I just can't grow good strawberries. I want those nice big ones like ya get in the store and not these puney ones that grow in gardens.

[mitunnelrat]

Will do. If they do good I'll try strawberries myself next year. Thanks for the idea.

[piranha2]

onions

http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/6843/20120523152600440.jpg
By avjohnson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/avjohnson) at 2012-05-23

squash
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/8492/20120523152540340.jpg
By avjohnson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/avjohnson) at 2012-05-23

tomatoes
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/793/20120523152532599.jpg
By avjohnson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/avjohnson) at 2012-05-23

peppers

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/7440/20120523152525907.jpg

shade cloth frame
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/549/20120514153945150.jpg
By avjohnson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/avjohnson) at 2012-05-23
By avjohnson (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/avjohnson) at 2012-05-23

[Grumpy Old Man]

pirahna what did you do to piss imageshack off? Or are they anti-vegetable as well as anti-gun? LOL

[Evolver]

Yeah Piranha we can't see your pics. There is a WARNING message in place of the photos. It's says that you broke the Imageshack law and we are FORBIDDEN to see your pics. :p

You might need to check a share with others box or something.

[Evolver]

I use free Photo Bucket and like them ok.

[Sniper-T]

If you use photobucket, you can make your files & folders protected, so only the links you post are able to be seen. ie, people cannot just browse all your files just by knowing your account name. Further, as private, you do not get images censored at all.

[piranha2]

I might check out photobucket. Seems like the gun pics pissed off imageshack.

[Sniper-T]

photobucket is gun friendly and plant friendly, but not nude friendly.

[mitunnelrat]

Well, my container garden already died, including the tomato plants in the topsy turvy's.

I'm going to replant, and set up a micro drip irrigation system on a timer this next time.

[Evolver]

Well you have the right attitude... Try and try again. :)

[mitunnelrat]

Well, its all I can do. I came into this expecting some failures to learn from.

At least seed is the inexpensive part. ;)

[Vodin]

I read somewhere someone had a small area to plant in (couple of feet) they were asking about possibilities for that area with the best use in mind. I have this for those people www.cultivate.towergarden.com
I am currently running 2 15' raised beds with strawberries, peas, beets, tomatoes, spinach, potatoes, cantaloupe, jalapenos, cilantro, dill, chives, garlic and oregano. I gotta small pond that has water celery growing like a weed. I am working on Aquaponics (Using the fish water to water plants and have the plant waste water go back to the fish). We dont have a large plant foot print in our back yard but we can our produce if we dont eat it at that moment. I live in Colorado so the growing season is a short one. We didnt have a late frost this year so all is going better than usual.

[Sniper-T]

I put the second layer on my tater towers:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0526121255b.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0526121243b.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0526121255a.jpg



Didn't get anything more done, due to the torrential rains (wtf??)

[Evolver]

I love the design of your boxes!!! Simple and easy interlocking stacking. :)

[Sniper-T]

Thanks Evolver. That's some reclaimed wood I had kicking around. with some 2x2's in the corners. I've got them set up for about two feet high, but can easily add a couple more layers if things look like they're going well

Before I put the next layer on, I might put in a pc of pvc, with some holes drilled in it, to help water the lower layers

[Sniper-T]

So it went down to -3C last night. I brought all my pots in again, so although somewhat waterlogged, they should be fine. Potatoes are underground, and should be fine, and I'm hoping the onions and garlic are hardy enough to survive.

That's it though... tonight everything is hitting the ground, for better or for worse.

[Sniper-T]

Waterlogged and frosted, but in. I still have some seeds to direct sow, prob today/tomorrow,

Onions and garlic:
http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0530121833b.jpg
http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0530121833a.jpg

Peppers and squash:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0530121935a.jpg
http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0530121935b.jpg

[Sniper-T]

cukes and peas, plus a couple watermelon:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0530122012a.jpg

And a couple cherry tomatoes (I'm not sure if they'll make it :( )
http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0530122019a.jpg

[Vodin]

Bought tomatoes a week ago laid em on the side they started growing up 3 inches then buried the whole horizontal portion. That part will turn into roots. Been watering em with my pond water. Also planted Jalapenos and Cantaloupe.

Gonna go to the farmers market and buy some cucumbers to make into pickles. As well as apples for applesauce. Gonna get into canning food for prepping.

Fight the ever ticking clock....

[DFWprepper]

Wheres the best place to get a good seed bank for those of us getting started.

[bacpacker]

I buy 80-90% of my seed from Baker Creek. Ithink their website is
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds - 1400 heirloom garden seeds! (http://Www.rareseeds.com)
They dont sell seed bankd but i prefer to pick out exactly what i want as oppsed to someone else doing the selecting for me.

[Evolver]

Ditto to what BP said and also... if you what to buy a packaged seed bank make sure that they are verities that grow well in your area. I haven't seen any of the seed banks that sale by "Hardiness Zones".

http://www.completebamboo.com/Pic%20Assets/Other/2006_Hardiness_Zones.jpg


I'm in zone 9-10 and at the other side of the spectrum is Sniper T in 2-3 so the same seed bank for the both of us just isn't something that I would want to depend on.

[Sniper-T]

Been a busy week of planting, sowing, and relocating. Here's how I'm looking so far:

Taters, showing new growth, ready to be covered:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0606121732a.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0606121732b.jpg

An example of my seed potatoes:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0606121736a.jpg

[Sniper-T]

My 'new' Strawberry patch, transplanted from that crazy full one:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0606122010a.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0606122010b.jpg

And the crazy full one... still needing work:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0606122011a.jpg

[Sniper-T]

Peppers, these have single beets between each one down the sides, and a line of carrots down the middle:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0606122011b.jpg

The back one has the store bought tomatoes (Oxharts), with beets planted in the 4 directions around each one:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0606122011c.jpg

And a shot of the Onions and garlic. The garlic took a beating in that last frost, but the onions seem unaffected. I will add more garlic to fill the voids:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0606122011d.jpg

[bacpacker]

Looks good sniper.

[Evolver]

Looking good there T. I can't wait for Sept so I can get some seeds in the ground.

[bacpacker]

I have misplaced my camera so no pics right now. I went thru a tilled everything tonight. I found a lot of small tomatos, peppers, onions are bulbing up, & when I pulled a stalk of rag weed out, it brought up a nice red potato with it. I'll start diggin a hill or two for a meal now and then. Squash, melons, cucumber, pumpkins, and corn is doing well. On the down side, I am going to have to replant the okra. Last years seed never came up. Hopefully the old seed I planted last year will do well.

The wife went thru our blueberries tonight and picked a nice mess. Should be lots more by the weekend.

[mitunnelrat]

I got my micro drip irrigation system set up tonight. Now that I know what it entails I wish I had planted things a bit differently in my containers.

It'll work for now, but I'll make sure to set it up before planting next year.

From the tap I've got a splitter to keep the line open, a timer (currently set for every 12 hours so it starts watering tomorrow morning. I'm working a double shift so I'll reset it for every 24 hours after its cycled.) From there I've got a filter, a pressure regulator, anti-syphon device, and a 3/4" to 1/4" hose adapter.

From there I have two branch lines so I can run one to the topsy turvy's without any drippers attached.

Now I just need to figure out a water reclaimer for the TT's. It'd be nice to use it on a lower container, and LHK was right, the dripping does a number on the tomato plants.

[Sniper-T]

like to see some pics of that mtr!

sounds awesome!

[bacpacker]

We dug a few hills of little new potatos for supper tonight. Man were they good. Finally finished the wheat harvest today also.

[ladyhk13]

Picked some summer squash and pulled up some garlic that I was so worried wasn't going to grow this year. I'm so happy since it came from my dead father who was supposed to teach me how to grow it this year but he died before he sent the box to me so his wife mailed it to me 2 weeks later...I thought for sure I killed it all but it's actually good enough to harvest and I think I'll keep the bulbs that didn't split into cloves but just grew large and replant them later this summer, maybe they'll be really awesome cloves next year. Have cukes growing and the white ones (plants) are doing very well. Broccoli plants are getting huge and so are the artichoke plants which I have never tried to grow before.
I have something next to the artichokes that I thought were the same thing but now I have no idea what it is...guess I need to take a pic and post it, I have probably been mulching a very exotic weed all this time!!!
Tomatoes are going to be wonderful this year! I can never grow them but yahoo they are still alive and have lots of tomatoes! Now if I can just keep them that way. Probably should give them some food.

[mitunnelrat]

like to see some pics of that mtr!

sounds awesome!

I'll try to get some pics with my phone today, T. One of these days I need to invest in a new camera though. I like talking more when I can post pics.

Hey, btw, my dad stumbled onto something similar to your potato boxes. He's using 5 gallon buckets.

[Sniper-T]

Sounds interesting MTR, may as well grab some pics of that too.

[ladyhk13]

Got a great birthday present today! Dh bought me a great greenhouse!!! So I can use this one for my hydroponic experiment and then the one we build out of our old windows I can use as a normal greenhouse/potting shed. I was soooooooooooooooo surprised, it is totally awesome!!!!

[Onestep]

Sorry I haven't been around for awhile, life's gotten in the way.

It's so funny to me down here to see ya'll just starting your gardens. We're pretty much done until fall.

Here's a recap of our spring season.
I have some pictures but don't need to bore you with the same old veggie photos.

We ended up with 67 pounds of red potatoes and about 25 lbs of Yukon golds.
Cukes were short lived but we ended up with about 12 pints of BB pickles.
Tomatoes where plentiful and we canned salsa, roasted tomatoes/peppers, stewed tomatoes and pickled tomatoes.
Green beans produced a good 10 gallons of beans from each variety (2).
Out of the 3 varieties of lima beans, we had about 2 gallons of frozen beans and a quart jar of dried beans.
We actually had a pretty good corn harvest this year. We ate corn till we were tired of it and have a few gallon bags of frozen ears. They were small but very tasty.
Our first attempt at black beans resulted in a quart and half of dried beans. Not bad for the first time.
Carrots were finally finished up less than a month ago. They weren't the length/size of the winter/early spring ones but carrots still the same. I'll pass on the late plantings next year.
Blackeyed peas are about done but we have a quart of dried peas and a couple of gallons fresh/frozen and we gave quite a bit away.
The zipper & cow peas are almost a daily harvest requirement right now. We have about 5 gallons fresh/frozen and about a pint dried. This doesn't include what we've eaten.
The blackberries are full and we are getting about a dozen ripe ones daily now.
The apples were a pleasent surprise this year. The Dorsett only had about 6 on it but they were bigger than last year. But the Anna came on strong this year. We probably had 30 off it although they were very small. Most were pretty tart but some were pretty sweet. I expect only better fruit from these in the next couple of years.
The peaches were the cream of the fruit crop. We have a lot and they were just off the chart sweet. And a couple grew to 3" diameter so we are getting close.
The peppers were crazy this year. The Costa Rica and Big Daddy's sweets probably produced 5-6 gallons each and are still producing but slowly dying. Jalepenos have so many that we are pickling them as well as eating as many as possible on everything.
Okra are being cut on an every other day schedule.
The sweet potatoes will be cut in the next couple of weeks and the cuttings planted for the fall crop.
Green peanuts went in the ground (as seeds) a week ago and are popping up daily.

[bacpacker]

Sounds like things are going well OS. Lots of good harvesting.

We have been picking green onions for about a month and are starting to get some slicing bulbs. Gravelling red potatos as needed. We got our first tomato's and peppers last week. We also picked about a gallon of blackberries last Saturday and are getting a pint or so of blueberries every day or two. I had to replant our okra, it never came up. Hope it does this time.

[Onestep]

BC, the okra does really good here in the summer, so maybe it just needed to be a little hotter. Good luck with them.
If you (or anyone) would like some of the Costa Rican Sweet pepper seeds let me know (PM if you'd like) and I'll send some your way. I have WAY more then I'll ever use.

[JustAPrepper]

I'm late to the party as usual Mr. Onestep. Sounds like you had another awesome season. You are my (and Evolver's) hero. :)

[Sniper-T]

Everything is doing well. I've got my first two tomatoes on the vine!

[Taz Baby]

still pickin ccumbers and the baby sweet watermelons are lookin goooood

[Sniper-T]

My potatoes are flowering like crazy... what now? just leave them? for how long? do I have to do anything else with them?

-spud-newbie

[Onestep]

Pretty sure you wait until the plant starts to wilt Snipey. Flowers are good but not an indication they are ready.

[bacpacker]

Sniper, The flowering means the taters are starting to form. It will take some time before they develop any size. Give it a month and start diggin one hill at a time to check the size, or how many you need for a meal. They are wonderful at the early stage. Downside is the skins are very tender and will tear or split real easy. It takes a little while for the skins to toughen up. That is usually closer to when the vines start dying back.

It is very important to get them out of the ground before you get e heavy frost on the vines. You'll lose you whole crop if you don't. I know that will be a tricky endeavor for you.

When did you plant your crop? When is your typical last frost free date?

[Evolver]

Ditto on the above... Wait until the plant dies before harvesting. It's about 3-4 week after flowering. :) You can harvest now for New Potato size and larger but if you wait until the plant dies the potatoes becomes dormant and will store longer.

[Sniper-T]

Thanks for the tips!!

Started planting May 28 finished the last layer around june 18, first frost is expected Sept 20.

[bacpacker]

You are gonna be close on them. But i suspect they will be ready. Just let them go as long as you can.

[Sniper-T]

I dug up my taters yesterday... I would have to say that I am disappointed with the results. I got about 10 pounds out of my three towers, but it looked like it could have been so much better. I blame the lack of success completely upon myself.

For convenience, I used straight potting soil, from bottom to top, and it didn't allow the water to get down to the lower levels. All my potatoes were in the top 1 foot, getting progressively smaller as I went deeper. At the bottom, there was a fantastic root structure, along with a pile of little tiny potatoes (marbles). The soil at the bottom was powder dry, even though we have had some decent rain lately.

I am definately going to try these again next year, as it was an extremely convenient way of gardening, and I had exactly ZERO weeds .

A couple changes for next year are going to be:
Mix some regular soil/manure in with the potting soil.
Add watering pipes (like in the global buckets) to help water the lower sections

[Onestep]

How many plants total in the towers Sniper?
What variety potato were they?
I only got a few potatoes off each plant. We planted red potamic and Yukon golds.

[Sniper-T]

I started with 5 in the bottom row, and added 3-4 plants on each subsequent layer. I had three varieties, 2 like yours, and a third white potato that the name escapes me now.

The plants all grew well, and I had little marble potatoes all over the roots, but I'm sure I didn't have enough moisture down deep, and it would have been nice to have another few weeks without frost

[Evolver]

1 1/2 years ago I hosted a "Potato Growing Challenge" on a local preparedness forum that I frequented. The challenge was to see who could get the most net out of the amount of seed/potatoes planted. There was eight different methods used from store bought just planted into the ground, seed potatoes planted in towers or just straw, container planting to making your own "Seed" potatoes then planted in the ground then "hilled".

The winner of the challenge used store bought potatoes that he put in a paper bag to let the eyes grow, planted in a raised bed using the "hilling" method where you plant in a trough/valley then eventually work the soil into a mound/hill as the plant grows. I used a container method kinda like you would do in a tower and he kick all of our asses.

[bacpacker]

The hilling method is typically how I grow mine. I dig a trench, usually with a large hoe or mattox. Dig down about 8-12" and drop the seed taters in. I then come back and pull in the dirt from the lower side of the row (our garden a slight slope), then as the plants come up about 4" or so I pull in the dirt from the uphill side, if the rain hasn't already washed it in. As the plants grow I run the tiller between rows and then pull the dirt up around the plants as I weed them. Usually we have a shit load of taters (one year we got 5 bushels from 5 100' rows. The last 3 years we probably haven't gotten 3 bushels combined. This year the drought got em, last year the hail beat them back.

I'm thinking about doing a fall planting this year like we did several years back. I dug my trenches and filled them about 1/3 up with leaves and planted the taters on top of them after we had already had our first frost and covered them about another 1/3 with dirt. It had gotten cool enough that the taters never came up that fall. In early March they started poking thru and made some nice plants that were so strong the tater bugs never bothered them. We got a great harvest that year and the tubers came out just as clean as if you had washed them from being in the leaves.

Just writing that made my mind up, I will be planting in late Oct along with garlic, onions, shallots, and leeks. Spring should be nice next year!

[Sniper-T]

taters in the fall??? How cold does your ground get down there? I'm thinking that 5 months of frozen solid wouldn't be too good for them up here

[Onestep]

I just planted a row of red taters yesterday. As long as you get 120 days frost free you are golden.
Even if you get an early frost in Dec., you'll still get some but they may be small.
I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

[bacpacker]

If our ground freezes, its only a few inches down. I wont plant until Nov so nothing will happen other than some good root growth till spring. I doubt it would work for you very well.