Titus 2 Homemakers
The Barn and Fields => Gardening => : greyhoundgirl April 11, 2016, 06:45:43 AM
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Wow, can't believe we made it till April without starting this thread!
Last fall, I planted and overwintered, new for me. I planted garlic, kale, spinach, beets, sugar snaps, and leeks, and left the chard growing. Right now I'm harvesting loads of kale and spinach, the beets (didn't grow a whole lot, but they're ready), and sugar snaps (enough to snack on in garden).
Growing still are the garlic, leeks, radishes (planted by Morgan a few weeks ago), and carrots. Volunteer tomatoes are up and I have many other plants started under lights inside. The chard is going bolting and going to seed, which I'll collect because it does so well here. Hoping to also have volunteer plants of it come up. Oh, and I also have lettuce planted outside and doing well.
Need to get my green beans in this week, and replant summer squashes. I have planted the squashes a couple times already and am not sure why, but they have not come up. Maybe too cool still, though I usually plant them quite early.
So what's going on in your gardens or inside?
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Wow, sounds like you never even quit for the winter!
We are still going, but just not spending near as much time as we should be with it. Right now have lots of kale, lettuce, tomatoes, all at a constant harvest state. Peppers and cucumbers planted, but not ready yet. Not sure what all else just got planted cause I didn't help with it. Tilapia on the aquaponics side are about as big as they are gonna get, so we could start eating those anytime I guess.
Working on making sure the compost tumblers are full and doing their thing inside. We keep forgetting to add moisture. Hubs talked to a gardener friend who told us to make sure we added some of the dirt from the beds to them, so hope that helps.
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Well, we didn't quit for the winter per se, but there were probably 3 months or so where those planted things were simply slowly growing under the frost blanket. The plants were still tiny when we took it off, but quickly shot up as the weather warmed.
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Well, we had snow all day on Saturday so not much gardening going on here! 😊 Our generally "safe" planting time is after Mother's Day so we often don't put much in until then. We do have a few lettuce plants in the ground. They seem ok after the snow, but aren't growing very quickly. We have had an odd winter and spring. We had 70 degree temperatures in December and off and on all winter long. The fluctuation in temperatures has been wild. It will be 80 on a Monday and be in the 40s by the end of the week. Some orchards nearby lost their entire peach crop because of the frost last week. I hope the cold is finished and the growing season can recover.
Denise
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I got my garden in last week and we got the blueberry bush and orange tree planted. I am starting to get a few sprouts coming up in the rows.. the weeds grow great in between the rows, of course! LOL
Its been raining here so that has been nice.
I have Meyer lemon seeds sprouting and hope to get a couple trees started.
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We planted 45 vines last night, 15 more to go. These are Cabernet Vine grapes. We will plant the rest by this weekend
I want to plant sunflowers - I'm pretty sure I have the seeds
I will buy a tomato plant, herbs
I bought 20 strawberry plants - they need to go in
I have bought 2 fig trees - they need to go in
I need to buy rose bushes to plant by the grape vines
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Go Cathie! You should be eating (and drinking) well before long! I mean, I'm sure you do already but from your own crops.
It's been 2 or 3 weeks, but we planted out the three blackberry bushes. Also, about 44 of the 50 strawberry plants I'd ordered. Earl built me a planter out of pallets inspired by one I'd seen online. Looks like a manger to me, but with strawberries growing from the sides and top. The bare root plants have greened up and are doing well.
Got my beans planted last week before the rain. A few are poking up and more should be shortly. I did a small area of bush beans, then we did a pole bean teepee and also an archway made from a 16 foot cattle panel.
Still harvesting kale and spinach. The first of the Romaine is about ready. Sugar snaps had to be pulled due to powdery mildew after all the rain, but I planted out a few tomatoes in that spot.
Planted out some storebought pepper starts last Saturday, too. I have some homegrown ones but they are still small, so will wait a bit on those.
My biggest garden chore this week has been pulling the weeds from all the "helicopter" seed pods from a tree. There are thousands of them sprouting up. I spent a long time yesterday working on them with plenty more to do today. :( We're supposed to climb into the 80's this weekend, though, and I don't want those to continue growing.
Oh, fun thing! Next to my little apple tree, some other plant was coming up. At first I thought the apple tree had sprouted another plant from the roots, but on closer inspection, the leaves were different. So I pulled it up, only to find it was a little pecan tree growing from a pecan either a kid or squirrel had put in the bed. So with roots intact, Earl planted it elsewhere for me. Hoping it flourishes!
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We can't plant anything here till after the long weekend in May lol. Never fails when people plant their flowers cause it's so hot out we get snow :o As tempting as it is I always wait. I say that as our temps here this week have been as high as 27 which is hot trust me lol
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I have some seeds sprouting in the garden. About 7 of the corn seeds have started, a zucchini is up, I think a watermelon plant is poking through, I see lots of carrots starting, a few tomato plants are coming up and a couple pea plants. Right now its hard to tell what is a plant and what may be a weed since I started all the seeds in the ground, LOL. It should become more clear soon. Everything is in rows but with the rain and some watering, I wonder if some of the seeds shifted and its hard to tell whats what when they are just poking up so thats why I am waiting to pull anything. This is my experimental year so we'll see what happens this year and go from there for next year.
I do have the Meyer lemon seeds that have sprouted so I am going to get them in pots soon. I have 5 or 6 seeds that I will plant. If they all come up and do well, I will plant a couple and give a couple to my inlaws and a couple to friends.
Today, I bought a couple tomatillo plants at Home Depot and put them in the ground. We got a thornless raspberry bush and I'm deciding where to put it. Not sure if I should plant it or put it in a large pot. It will get to be about 3x3.
My blueberry bush has quite a few berries on it. Its a VERY small plant but there is a good amount on it and I am hoping that it grows more now that its in the ground and as room to expand.
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If the rain holds off we will be planting some today. We have tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and peppers ready to go in the ground. We will plant the pole beans, peas, and okra too.
I've got cabbage, 3 varieties of lettuce, onions, and garlic planted. Last fall we planted cabbage, broccoli, and collards. They did great all winter. The broccoli kept producing after I cut it and we were able to get quite a bit more from it. My cabbages made smaller heads after being cut, so we got 2 crops of those. The collards lasted all winter. We finally mowed them down because they were beginning to bolt.
We've added 2 plum trees, gooseberry, a goji berry, and more raspberries to the fruits we already have. I need another cherry tree but am having trouble finding one. My peach trees are loaded with little peaches and my strawberries are coming along. The thornless blackberries are spreading. I have a grape vine that is doing well and have 2 different muscadines. I'm hoping to get a lot of blueberries this year too.
Herbs - I replaced my sage that I had for a long time. I have a few chives, but they're not looking so great. I've bought basil, oregano, parsley, and dill. I also grow lemon balm, lemon thyme, mint, catnip, yarrow, and tansy.
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Its raining! A lot!
Garden is getting free water ;)
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I've weeded on four days the past few days, and finally have most of the seed pod sprouts up. I'm sure there will be more out there today, though.
Earl hooked a hose to one of our rain barrels so I was able to water with that yesterday, mainly areas where I planted more seeds on Saturday, but also some of the other plants. We'll set our totes out to catch the predicted rain tomorrow and then use buckets to refill the rain barrel I took out of. One of these days, if there is extra money, we'll get it all set up to automatically fill the barrels, but we have to install gutters first.
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Garlic is still going strong, and yesterday I put in herbs on the deck (cilantro, 'Red Freddy' basil, Apple Mint, dill, and rosemary) and marigolds around the perimeter of the square foot garden. I also put in some freesia and gladiolus bulbs in the front yard.
Mandy
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The spinach and kale are now mostly pulled up and fed to the chickens and ducks. Just a few more kale plants to go. They were turning bitter from bolting.
I planted the new cherry tree last week, where the previous one was. :/
Last week, I planted out my tomato starts that survived the cat upset, as well as more basil seeds and some fresh cucumber seeds I just purchased. My others mostly did not come up so I decided to get newer seed and replant. Those are up now.
Yesterday, I planted the rest of the peppers I'd started from seed. They weren't doing well in their flats, so despite being tiny, I felt it was best to put them out. Also planted another 3 tomato plants I'd bought, along with 2 eggplant plants and some verbena and chives in the herb and flower garden. Got my tomato plants caged (those that need it) as well. Between the volunteers and what I've purposely planted, I think I'm up to about 30 tomato plants--more than I intended, anyway!
Oh, and corn is up! This is an early variety and I'm going to scout out where I might tuck a later variety as well.
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Our garden is also coming along nicely. Zucchini, yellow squash, pumpkin, watermelon, corn, green beans, carrots, peas, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, tomatillo and artichokes are all up and doing well. Some are slower starting than the others but I am pleased overall.
We planted all of the new fruit trees this weekend so now we have orange, plum, peach, pomegranate, Fuji apple, Gala apple and fig. Looking forward to watching them grow and hopefully getting lots of fruit.
The Meyer lemon seed that I started are doing well too. I have 7 started. I'll keep several and give a few away.
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Sounds like you got a lot put in, Erica!
This morning, I went out and pulled the rest of the kale. I used that space for a later variety of corn, then tucked in more onions and beets in a few empty spots. Also replanted just a few beans in spaces where one didn't come up or else was eaten off by some little critter. It's actually considered too late to plant beans here due to our hot summers, but I'll see. Maybe they'll grow extra fast and catch up to the ones planted earlier. :) The heat of July and August keep them from producing normally, so they have to be in full production mode by June to get anything. I keep trying, though. Old timers have told me the best thing to do here is plant in late July/early August for a fall crop, so I hope to try that this year.
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I've been working in my garden today.
Our squash plants are loaded, and we will probably get the first picking of them in a day or two. I am looking forward to that. The zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, okra, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and beans all look good. We've planted corn two times now, but no luck. We've tried two different kinds and I don't know what the problem is. We still want to plant more beans, but we were waiting on the corn to come up so they could run up the cornstalks. I guess we'll get those planted this week, with or without corn. I have been eating lettuce from the garden for a few weeks now. I've pulled up the early lettuce because it was bolting. I still have some deer tongue lettuce growing in another place. It won't last much longer as the weather gets hotter, and I dread the day when I don't have fresh homegrown lettuce. Almost overnight it seems the worms ate my cabbage leaves, but I picked them off and fed them to the chickens. I think I've won that battle but I'm sure they'll be back.
Early this morning when I was weeding, I saw signs that the neighbor's peacock had been in my garden. It came back twice while I was out there. I ran it off but it came back. I hope they'll pen it up because I don't want to do all this work just to have that dumb peacock tear up my garden. I don't understand how some people can be so inconsiderate.
Our peach trees are loaded this year. I hope we finally get a decent amount of fruit. The apple, pear, cherry, and plum trees are still too young. We have a lot of thornless and wild blackberries. My muscadine vine is huge and loaded with tiny fruit. My grape vine is loaded too. We've picked a few strawberries, but we're still trying to get a good bed of them established.
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Mandy do you just have your herbs in pots?
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Went out to the garden earlier and caught a rabbit eating the green beans. He better be glad he can run faster than I can! :D
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Went out to the garden earlier and caught a rabbit eating the green beans. He better be glad he can run faster than I can! :D
Uh oh! Time to work on your sprints? ;)
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Ha!! I'd never catch him! Guess I'll have to plant enough for all of us. ;D
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The bean eating rabbit has been a busy little fellow. We've replanted our beans but we can't keep up with him, and now he's bringing a friend along to help him eat. I chase him away whenever I catch him, but he's not very afraid of me, and if you could see me yelling and flapping my arms chasing a couple of rabbits, you would probably be scared! ;D
During the past week we have picked nearly 50 pounds of yellow squash and zucchini. I gave away over half of that to my mother, sister, and a niece. I just picked another dish pan full of squash and cucumbers this morning. Making refrigerator pickles and some relish is in my near future.
Except for the bean fiasco, our garden is doing well. I can't wait for the first ripe tomato.
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The bean eating rabbit has been a busy little fellow. We've replanted our beans but we can't keep up with him, and now he's bringing a friend along to help him eat. I chase him away whenever I catch him, but he's not very afraid of me, and if you could see me yelling and flapping my arms chasing a couple of rabbits, you would probably be scared! ;D
During the past week we have picked nearly 50 pounds of yellow squash and zucchini. I gave away over half of that to my mother, sister, and a niece. I just picked another dish pan full of squash and cucumbers this morning. Making refrigerator pickles and some relish is in my near future.
Except for the bean fiasco, our garden is doing well. I can't wait for the first ripe tomato.
I'm sorry about your bean-eating rabbit. That must be frustrating! But wow on the squash and zucchini!
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Well, though I was gone and obviously not actually working in the garden, I did take along my Baker Creek catalog and my "everything" moleskine book (I use a modified bullet method so it's my planner, calender, and financial tracker all in one) and spent some downtime, mostly early one Sunday morning when I was awake before everyone else and went down to the breakfast area at 6 AM, figuring out what seeds I "need" and want. Several years ago now, a friend who worked with school gardens in CA as her job, sent me a big box of seeds. Many are Renee's Seeds, heirloom ones, and I really appreciated it as things were tight and the selection was amazing on some items. But now what are left are getting quite old and germination is not good, and somehow, some packets got damp. :( So, I am replacing must-have items though I will probably still keep trying to use some of those for fun experimental things and flowers.
As for the garden, I left tomato plants just above my knees, but apparently it rained and rained and rained while I was gone. I came home to tomatoes above my waist which are now chest-high. Quite a few plants have tomatoes on them (some were even before I left) but all are still green for the moment. I have NEVER EVER had a good green bean crop, but since balancing my soil nutrients last year things are growing that I never had luck with before, so I'm trying again. The green bean plants are thick and lush and have loads of blooms, so we'll see what happens. The trick here is getting them to produce before it gets too hot. Once we hit mid-90's, they quit and then you have to replant in late July/early August and hope for a fall crop.
Cucumber plants are finally growing (got fresh seed for those locally, Seeds of Change organic seeds sold at TSC here), but not near size to produce yet. My squashes that took forever to come up are doing well. I have seen one tiny zucchini out there but haven't had anything to pick yet. May go look for blooms and hand pollinate in a bit. Onions are coming along well, strawberries are running like crazy, and some new Swiss chard is growing great (last year's bolted and I'm letting them go to seed to collect).
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Haven't posted about the garden in a couple of weeks but it's in the wild and crazy stage. :D Tomatoes and various squashes flowing out of the beds. Just did my third picking of the green beans today--have been picking every other day since beginning. The first pick yielded enough for dinner for my crew with generous leftovers. Second picking was smaller and I took them to a disabled older friend of mine who loves fresh veggies. Should have been enough for generous portions and maybe leftovers for her and her husband. This morning yielded enough for a dinner, or maybe a couple of quarts. I am just amazed at how things grow since balancing the nutrients in my soil per Steve Solomon's protocol. Now I just need to increase the number of raised beds and work on my succession planting to be able to grow more for preserving.
Picked the first two eight ball zucchini and one Romanesco one last week and fixed them all together to go with a dinner. I see yellow squash forming on two other plants (yay, those are our favorites!). The tomato plants are heavy with green tomatoes. The corn appears to be forming well (from the early variety) and there is a bell pepper on one of the plants. Some of the plants appear to have had some damage, possibly from excessive rain, but the new growth on them looks good so I'm leaving them for now. Onions are tall and strong looking.
Last week I planted some spaghetti squash and some Sweet Meat squash, hoping for a late summer crop to eat on in the winter. Right now I'm at the stage of waiting for something to be done so I can take it out and replant something else. :) Also working on my fall/winter garden plans.
What's going on in your gardens?
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My garden is keeping me busy. I have spent the morning making squash pickles, refrigerator claussen clones (we love these!), and now I'm making sweet pickle relish.
Our yellow squash is doing well in spite of the squash bugs. I'm picking about a 5 gallon bucket full every other day. I have so much of it in the freezer already and we eat it a couple times a week. I have been giving it away when I can because we've been blessed with so much of it.
The first planting of cucumbers is starting to show signs of dying back, so we planted more yesterday. Our corn finally came up but I don't know if we'll get any from it because it's so puny. Tomato plants are loaded and I've been eating a few cherry tomatoes every time I go to the garden. Our pepper plants look good and I've already picked some peppers. The jalapenos are the hottest ones we've ever had but I don't know what variety they are because I thought I was buying cow horn pepper but these were mislabeled.
The rabbit finally left the beans alone, but the damage was done. We replanted but a lot didn't come up. Maybe it's not too late to get some more in the ground. I gave up on my cabbage. The worms won that round. I have a few decent size heads that I'll cut sometime soon.
The okra is only about knee high, but is blooming and has little pods on it. Maybe we'll pick at the end of the week. Our cantaloupes are loaded and doing great. Can't wait till they are ripe. The watermelons are just sitting there, not really growing at all.
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In the week or so since I last posted in here my garden has changed.
The squash is gone now. I picked the last of it yesterday and added 10 more bags to the freezer. I left one zucchini plant because it had a couple of little ones on it.
I have only picked a handful of beans (thanks, rabbits! >:() and my cukes are turning bitter from the heat. It hasn't rained here in a while and even though we are trying to keep it watered, the garden is looking fried.
The worms got more of the cabbage than I did. Maybe we'll plant more in the fall. The tomatoes are hanging in there and I'm picking a few here and there. We have a couple of cherry tomato plants that are over 7 feet tall and producing like crazy. They are called Super Sweet 100 and are so good! I highly recommend these if you like cherry tomatoes.
Our peppers are doing ok, just not producing very much compared to other years. Of course the okra is doing great since it's my least favorite vegetable we are growing. :)
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Mmm, Cheryl. I LOVE Super Sweet 100's. They are the only hybrid tomato I make an exception for. :) Super delicious!
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Mmm, Cheryl. I LOVE Super Sweet 100's. They are the only hybrid tomato I make an exception for. :) Super delicious!
I wish I'd known about them sooner. They are delicious! We bought 3 plants from a greenhouse we'd been to only a couple of times, just to try something different. I'm very pleased with these.
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Last weekend, I spent some time pulling up some plants that weren't doing so well, probably from getting so much rain in a short time in May and June. Some of the tomato plants and green bean plants were yellowing and I spotted squash bugs on some squash plants. So those came out. Harvested green beans one last time before pulling them and got enough to can 5 quarts. Also, the chard had gone to seed and I was waiting to collect seed, which I did, then pulled those.
After that, or rather during that, Earl was expanding one of our 4' x 8' beds into a 4' x 12' bed. We used a large cattle panel to make a sideways arch in it with about 6-9 inches on either end. I planted spaghetti squash on one end and sweet meat squash on the other end. Just inside the arch next to the panel, I planted Chinese red noodle beans to grow up the arch. On the south long side of the bed, I planted basil and okra. Behind the basil, I tried direct sowing a couple of tomato plants. Beyond that, some lettuce in hopes that the shading from the other plants and those growing up arch will shade them and allow them to mature despite the heat (this is an experiment!). And on the far other side, north side of the bed, more zinnias.
In a few other empty spots, I tucked in sunflowers, patty pan squash, more yellow squash (our favorite), jicama, and more Chinese red noodle beans, as well as more zinnias. Oh, and lemon cucumbers!
I bought some large faint-gridded poster boards last week and drew my garden beds on them to scale in order to start planning out the fall/winter garden and what I need to be starting inside. This is a new thing for me, but being a visual learner and loving seeing garden plans in books, I thought it might be fun and helpful. Really wanting to take advantage of the cooler growing seasons even more this year.
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I am interested in hearing the results of your lettuce growing experiment. I would LOVE to be able to grow lettuce in the warmer months.
We planted some lemon cucumbers and so far we've picked a grand total of 2! I am so disappointed because I love these, but this year they were a flop.
Last year I was picking green beans on Halloween, and this year we barely have enough to eat. I think my tomatoes are already slowing down. I hope to get enough to make some spaghetti sauce and a couple batches of salsa. I've made fresh salsa with some already, but I need to can some.
We did great with cantaloupe. We are giving them away and keeping a few for ourselves. My peppers aren't doing as well as I'd hoped. I'm already planning my fall garden in my mind.
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I am interested in hearing the results of your lettuce growing experiment. I would LOVE to be able to grow lettuce in the warmer months.
We planted some lemon cucumbers and so far we've picked a grand total of 2! I am so disappointed because I love these, but this year they were a flop.
Last year I was picking green beans on Halloween, and this year we barely have enough to eat. I think my tomatoes are already slowing down. I hope to get enough to make some spaghetti sauce and a couple batches of salsa. I've made fresh salsa with some already, but I need to can some.
We did great with cantaloupe. We are giving them away and keeping a few for ourselves. My peppers aren't doing as well as I'd hoped. I'm already planning my fall garden in my mind.
Have you ever tried planting bush beans after your hottest weather is through to harvest in Sept/Oct? An old-timer here at the farmer's market told me that's what he does. In fact, the last time I canned a substantial amount of beans they were from him, in October. I am planning to do that this year as well.
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Several years ago we planted the yellow wax beans. They seemed to produce a lot. Have you ever grown pintos? I think I'd like to try them.
One time I planted yellow squash in September. We didn't have to worry about those bugs on the plants. Tomorrow I'm going to plant some peas where we had our squash. I need to be thinking about what to plant in the space where the cabbage was. Maybe that's where I'll put more beans.
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Several years ago we planted the yellow wax beans. They seemed to produce a lot. Have you ever grown pintos? I think I'd like to try them.
One time I planted yellow squash in September. We didn't have to worry about those bugs on the plants. Tomorrow I'm going to plant some peas where we had our squash. I need to be thinking about what to plant in the space where the cabbage was. Maybe that's where I'll put more beans.
No, haven't tried pintos yet. Our space is just so limited. :/