Edibles - '09 - Part3
looking great Willie... wish I could say mine look 1/2 that good... but they don't
wow Louise that is some big broccoli!!
Your gardens are looking great! My tomatoes are starting to look good and have fruit on them. I finally have a few peppers too. Eggplant is so-so.
Question for all of you. Do you rotate your crops or just amend the soil. It seems that I enjoy alot of nightshade family veggies and there seems to be alot of 'chat' about what it does to the soil. I'm on limited space with raised beds and sun exposure.
Those are beautiful heads of broccoli. He must be so proud, I know I would be!!
we rotate the t-plants every year and put salt march hay down during the season to keep the weeds down and i rototill them in with chopped of maple leaves in the fall - in the spring we just plant - i also dump in lime as sherrie - either wood ashe or pellet lime or the newer lime you spray down or all three - can't have enough lime
dnut did you plant more articoke seeds? I did outside and they have come up quickly - since they will fruit on next years plant (i hope) all you need is a good sized plant by the end of this season
No I didn't plant more artichokes wha. It was too late and I think the seedlings would have burned up in the greenhouse. I'm definitely going to try again next year though!
not too late just put the seeds out in a pot - no greenhouse required - i have 6 in one pot and will be transplanting them into their own pots soon.
Anita - I planted tomatoes in the same raised beds for many years without any obvious problems. This year I switched to the other one.
I try to switch the crops around, but some need more sun than others, so I'm somewhat limited--- I also lime heavily in the spring---I just relimed--word?---because of all the rain & side dressed cukes with manure, as they are heavy feeders.
It is interesting to read how the rest of you plant your crops and prepare the soil. I was glad to hear Bill say that you can't have too much lime. My garden is near a row of pines and every spring we have lots of pine needles on top of the garden soil. I think I should be adding more lime, especially for the asparagus? I don't lime the area where I'm going to plant the tomatoes and peppers, but I think the onions could use more lime too.
Today I harvested several heads of broccoli and gave some to friends up here. With broccoli it all comes in at once, and if you wait, it isn't nearly as good.
Pixie - yes, Mike was very proud of his harvest!
Sherrie - that was hysterical....."brocheads attack!". LOL
stupid chipmunks stole my squash plants... too late to start more??
Bummer, Allison....maybe not too late in your zone. It would be too late here, but hopefully not for you. I also forgot to tell you that I love your new bird cam. Terrific present!!!
thanks!! it's been fun messing around with it
Sherrie those look great!
That's one huge brock, for sure!! Should have had that one entered in the county fair, Louise!
Sherrie, your tomats look awesome! I think you got yours in ahead of mine. How big are the fruits?
I rotate my crops, as best I can with the limited space / sun.
This past year, however, the veggie garden grows in areas that sat fallowed for three years, as I was unable to maintain veggies with all the hours spent working for someone else. Weeds grew, but they were pulled and composted or tilled (hand dug, actually) under.
One week before planting, I scratched in 10-10-10 at a rate of 1# or so per 100 Sq. Ft.
One month before planting I used round-up on all the perennial weeds in the veggie patches.
Oh, how sad this is! We put up those red sticky balls in our apple & peach trees to attract the fruit bugs away from the fruit. I went out to check on them, and I just felt sick. Look at this beautiful moth (???) stuck dead to the horrid sticky ball!!! I am just sick over it. I felt like a murderer in the worst sort of way. What a horrible death for such a lovely critter. I don't know what this is exactly, but it sure is pretty. Sad sad sad. Now I want to take these things down and just give our fruit yet again this year to the pests. Imagine a little hummer or some little bird getting trapped like this. Oh, No!! I think they must come down.
Oh - bummer. There is a product that is supposed to make the fruit unattractive to pests. You just wash it off before eating. Supposed to be natural, safe, etc. Can't remember the name, but I think it has 'fruit' in the name.
That is always a difficult task dear Donnie; protecting your fruits/veggies from badguys without hurting goodguys.
Looks like a type of Buckeye moth, Louise. I know how you feel---when I grew strawberries, I'd cover the rows with netting, & birds would get trapped & die.
Long view of my veggie patch
peppers , lots of flowers few fruits
couple of cukes
My sad tomatoes
Sherrie your tomatoes look great
so sorry Louise... poor baby... and don't feel bad Lily killed a sparrow yesterday... I know it's what yorkies are supposed to do... but I keep telling her only the chipmunks... she doesn't listen
Peoniae your tomatoes look better than mine!
Thanks for the info everyone. I agree that it is interesting to hear what others do and possibly pick up a few good tips.
louise that "was" a lunar moth i believe - great pic
DH built this extra space bed for a 'few' extra things. lol
4 or 5 different types/kinds of lettuce, radish's, red & white onions, nante carrotts, Oregano and Rosemary.
nice "little" bed there for your extras Celeste! What's the white stuff in your soil? Perlite?
Louise, you have my sympathy over the moth. That was a beauty.
Everyone's gardens look so good!! My son and I have finished building our raised bed. We lined the bottom with tripple layers of hardware cloth to keep the digging rodents out. It's 20" high, so we tossed in a lot of junk and then some gravel. Soon the soil will come. The tall 2x4s on the one end are for a trellis we're going to build.
Nice job Harper!!
Yes, he mixed perlite, and soil, compost, ect...all together. To the smaller section he add a bag of sand for the carrots.
Should I put perlite in my soil since I'm making a raised bed, and just treat it like a container? Why sand for carrots?
I used composted manure exclusively, Harp.
You did Victor? I have my own compost farm here. There's very little manure in it. I gotta make a friend with a horse or cow. Whatever soil I need after this goes in will have to be purchased.
BOTH of you! Very nice "little" beds! I like the idea of that for a separate greens / herb bed, Celeste. That was a good idea to add the trellis, Harper! I bet that will come in quite handy.
Sorry to hear of that accident, Louise! I think I would try something else, too! Hate to see things like that happen, but .... it is nature .... horrible stuff around every corner for critters! I couldn't imagine living with such constant stress.
Looks good, Peoniae!! Nothing sad there! Most of my peppers are only flowers, too. Your cukes are way ahead of mine.
Thanks Willie!
I bought mine from HD. Great stuff. You can plant directly in it. Still nice and black after many years.
Do you do anything extra to the soil in the spring before planting?
Nice composting, Harper!! That stuff looks great! I just started mine back up .... I have piles of things everywhere now just waiting to be added. I'll have to get a shot of that area. I am lucky to be using the area behind my property to stack stuff to decompose and add to the compost piles. Very spoiled with that.
One pile for smaller branches, and brush. Another for larger limbs. Another for pine. Another for weeds, etc. Must be 9 or 10 fairly large piles of different things.