Should I forget about a garden? (Albuquerque/zone7 advice)

It's been a mess this spring so I'm behind and don't have anything to transplant into the garden at the moment beside a couple pepper plants I overwintered. One tepin plant is doing good but the other, a scotch bonnet is looking pretty iffy.

I assume most of what I plant will still be productive if I get the seeds in the ground this week (corn, squash, beans, melons, cucumbers,) but since I basically have nothing to transplant is it possible to direct seed some of the shorter season peppers and tomatoes? Will local nurseries still have any stock left? Should I stop worrying about it and just get the seeds in the ground and do a little dance in anticipation of all the delicious vegetables I'll be enjoying in a couple of months?

I guess what I really need to know is if it's just too late to start from seed.

Also, how does our current 100 degree weather factor in to my situation?

This message was edited Jun 6, 2010 12:50 AM

I'd go ahead and plant. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and you just might be very glad you did.
If you don't try, they can't possibly grow *G*

For sure, seed and plant a couple of early bearing tomatoes - Fourth of July has been very dependable for us here. Your timing is perfect for a fall crop. You'll have big mature plants ready and waiting when the heat subsides enough that fruit will set.

BTW, what's you average first date of frost?

I'm thinking it's not too late to sow seeds of cucumbers, and beans. Next month you can sow broccoli seeds and transplant them later for a fall/winter crop.

tarheel: average first frost is Oct. 26, but I'm at the bottom of the valley near the river so it's probably closer to the first week of Oct. for me, and could potentially arrive mid September. Unless my pencil is broken that gives me about 100 days although peppers start hating it well before first frost. I guess that will be cutting it close for some things but we'll find out in a few months I guess. I figure Jalapenos should work, even though that's not really want I wanted to grow but I'll take whatever I can get at this point. I should also mention that last year I was also behind (shocking!) and literally threw together a "lasagna garden" in what I thought was a less than ideal place. It doesn't get much full sun but my tomato plants hit the 6 to 7' mark and were producing tomatoes from mid July into September. Squirrels carried them all off, but that's a different issue ha.

It's never to late to garden !!

I'd go for it with tomatoes. Were in the high desert also, our average first frost is slightly later. I routinely sustain plants for weeks after actual frosts arrive by just covering with a sheet on the cold nights. Some of the leaves touching the sheet may get nipped, but the plants carry on.

In this circumstance, forget about OPs, the fruits are just too large and take too long to ripen for this window of time. Fourth of July, Applause, Celebrity.

The only temperature consideration I'm aware of is the necessity for constant attention to soil moisture when the seedlings are small.



This message was edited Jun 7, 2010 7:30 AM

Well the local nursery was light on stock as expected but I went ahead and bought a few Jalapeno and tomato plants. Last year Spring was cooler so I didn't put anything out until the first week of June (transplants from seed started indoors) and did okay with them except for some late season varieties but I moved them inside (peppers) and harvested in October. I may try to cover them this year as fall sets in to buy a little more time. I already have a caged area for squirrel control so it will be easy enough to cover it with plastic as temperatures start to fall. It's a little depressing but I'll try to remain cautiously optimistic. If all else fails I'll just plan on lots of lettuce and chard in the fall.

Dork- I had grandparents that lived in ABQ...it really is such a small world....what we grow here needs more water, and y'all have the dry heat and we have the wet heat, but at this point in the season I would think you can still do transplants for tomato, peppers, cucumbers, some squashes, and some mellons.

I know I'm not going to do any serious planting again until Sept. or Oct.

I planted cukes, cantaloupe, and zinna (from seed) three weeks ago and we've had most days over 90f for two weeks now and they're all doing good to great.

But it's also rained most of those days.

Dorkasaurus - I live in the Heights, across from the foothills. I don't
grow from seed but two years ago I planted my veggies in mid-June
because of the weather and everything thrived. This year because
of the winds I didn't plant until May 22nd and things are beginning
to grow quickly now. I grow in big containers and am only doing
tomatoes and peppers this year.

It's always a case of working with the weather here, isn't it? If it's not
a late Spring freeze, it's the windy season, followed by the monsoons. ;-)

June I've decided not to worry about it. Peppers are always my primary goal but my seedlings planted way back in March never really grew. I still have them but they only have their first set of true leaves and I highly doubt they will do much. Initially I suspected I was over watering, but easing up on water killed a few. So now I have seedlings that are about 90 days old and maybe 2" tall. Of course I knew something was wrong within a week or two of germination but failed to correct it. To put this in perspective here's a pic of my first attempt at starting from seed, and these are what I had after 39 short days from the time the seeds went into the soil. One leaf off of any plant in the picture probably has more surface area that all my current seedlings combined =(

I'm kicking myself now because I had plenty of time to start over and the weather this year was looking good for an early start (compared to the last few years here) but I dropped the ball completely. So now I get boring Jalapenos instead of what I really wanted. (Jalapenos are my favorite all around pepper but my local grocery always has a mountain of them for sale so I usually don't grow them) Thank goodness for local grower's markets.. they ensure I'll get some fresh veggies even if I can't grow them myself this year lol

This message was edited Jun 9, 2010 2:09 AM

there are still a lot of veggies in nurseries or farmers market. I know it is a lot of work to garden but after everything in the garden is settled you can relax and just harvest. If you enjoy gardening then it is a must for theraphy!! LOL!!! belle

"but after everything in the garden is settled you can relax and just harvest"

I wish that would work for me *G*. I find I still need to chase after bugs, trim damaged parts, keep the demanding little GreenKids fed and watered, and hunt the edible things that are hiding under abundant leaves....

I like your way better :)

Field Garden Has Come To Life ,

Ok Folks I Have had time to clean the field Garden up and Get it looking good for it’s presentation so here it is hope you enjoy it . Myself and my Neighbor have put together a “Market Garden and it is cleaned up and weeded I have put photos in my Blog take a look and let me know what you think . It is a 80 X 150 Plot

Thanks ,

The Sarg and Friends

Never really works out for me that way. First year at this location hail storm followed by heavy rains killed 99% of my seedlings so I bought plants at the nursery and something uprooted and carried off every single one of them overnight. Next season hornworms (all 5 of them) ate 40% of my pepper plants in a 12 hour period. Last year grasshoppers were out of control as early as May, and after surviving their onslaught I found out the ground squirrels are excellent at harvesting tomatoes, and for the first time birds decided to attack my peppers.

I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it and despite all the problems I do consider it therapeutic but I haven't had a lot of time to relax in years past. This year I have the garden completely enclosed in 1" chicken wire to keep the squirrels and most of the birds away so hopefully some of your relaxing will rub off on me. Now if I just had anything growing in it....






This message was edited Jun 9, 2010 4:35 PM

third times the charm ! and a lot of Praying to the Good Lord Above I would Say.

Sarge,
Your garden looks like a farm.!!!My garden is small compared to yours. Our lot is not even 1/2 acre. I had not finished animal p[roofing my garden because it is golf season and I have to play. DH always reminds me that he pays a fortune to belong to a country club and so I must play LOL!!!

Yes after I put stakes, there is not a lot to do but water and harvest. i do talk to them every time I make my rounds!! LOL!!! Belle



This message was edited Jun 9, 2010 8:21 PM

sorry Ms.Bell i dont play golf but i'll let ya hit the ball and stand by the hole and holler pull and shoot skeet with a few fellers from up here if thats ok LOL but ya got to use orange and pink balls so their easy too see. ~;{>) ....Just Kidden their are a few folks up here that play golf i just aint one of them i can drive a ball far enough ya cant find it but thats about it naver shot one to a hole thou . The 4 of us also have our own home garden that we tend too.

most of the Big fields that are planted in corn, beans, taters, and maters are about 2 1/2 acres each and they will be sold and given to famliys around here.

Well everything's planted. Jalapeno, Scotch Bonnet, Tepin, Shipka, and Barker's Hot peppers... zucchini... lemon and some other misc cucumber... yellow taxi, brandywine, tumbler hybrid, and siberian red tomatoes... sugar baby watermelon... pole beans... sweetcorn.... opal basil.... oregano... and parsley.

Pretty darn late to the ballgame but unless there's some major disasters I'll get to pick something someday haha. I'm only about $20 into it this year so no big loss.

good luck bro . dont for get to weed them and weter them ;>) they will make it . God Bless you .


The Sarge

sarge i'm lucky here because there's horses on the property and it wasn't until last year that i discovered where the landord has been dumping the poop and stuff when the stalls are cleaned. Turns out the pile is over a decade old and consists mostly of aged horse manure, hay, and something that looks like kitty litter or finely crushed gravel they line the stalls with. (It's not kitty litter so it's not treated but I forgot what they called it... it's like a little sand and crushed rock of some sort) That pile is more like a mountain and worth it's weight in gold as far as my plants are concerned. Last year was the first year I used it and everything in it grew really well. To test it I grew some peppers using my pretty expensive Fox Farm soil in a few, some in a bed I worked very hard on amending and getting "just right", and some in just the stuff from the mountain o' poo. The landlords pile of poop grew plants almost twice as big as the ones in the pricey soil and the bed I worked the hardest on produced pathetic results. The only weed problem it gave me was some hay and alfalfa seeds that sprouted but they were not a big problem.

If anything can save me this year, it's that big pile of crap lol

LOL and a good Prayer Brother

trust me I have seen the Good Lord Do More than a mountain o' poo. He has healed folks from cancer (Saved My Daughterat 18 Months she is 13 now & cancer free), made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the given the dead life like Me( yep been dean once-- Iraq came back was not fun was not my time Brother).

so a little prayer th the good Lord may not seem like much to you but it's my everything to me my garden is a blessing and a small reward for my hard work and dilagence to him.

yry it sometime brother he is alway home and loves to talk to folks ~;)

Dorkasaurus - I know how beneficial aged horse manure is. We had a load of it delivered each season when we lived in south Florida. The soil where we lived in Palm Beach County was mostly grey sand. I doubt we would have had much of a garden without that manure.

Now we live within the city limits of Charlotte NC - no horses :(

HB

was not Dissen the Horse manure he knows its good . every one that has put a plant in it knows it and bunny po knows it will put a plant growing fast. i would try any thing to get some veggies at this point if i did not have any if you know what i mean ,LOL

Sarge

HB the soil here is "caliche", which I think is Spanish for "clay", or if it isn't it should be because it turns into a sticky slippery mess when it gets wet. Because of the clay I think the crushed gravel and sand mixture they line the stalls with that eventually ends up at Poo Mountain is almost as helpful in my situation as the poo itself. What surprises me is that in all the time they've owned this property my landlords have never done anything with it. People would pay for it, or at the very least be happy to come load up their truck and haul some away.

When I said my plants grew well in it, I mean my tomato plants were pushing 7', compared to 3-4' in the other bed and my containers. I had read that it was good fertilizer but never really thought it would be as magical as it appears to be. The price is fantastic too in my case.

Now, who knows how I can use fish guts? (I have a pretty steady supply of them too if I want them)

Those can be added to the poo pile on one end and covered and let to rot or pot at the base next to the plants themselves maters go wild on them melons, peppers just about anything ..but make sure you have the garden guarded or they are rotted a lil first the critters will dig for them !

Sarge

Yes, horse manure is great stuff. I never added any fertilizer when I used it in south Florida - just kitchen scraps. I tried composting, but it's so hot there that the stuff I threw in the pile disappeared almost overnight. Then a friend put me on to "trench composting" where you just put kitchen scraps in the dirt and cover it up.

I do that here in the summer when I think of it.

So Sarge you're saying fresh fish guts can go right next to the plants? I understand critters would dig for them if I use them fresh but the area is enclosed with 1" chicken wire so the only critters I know of that could get in would be lizards, small birds, mice, and maybe a baby squirrel...but I don't think any of them would be too interested. On the other hand I don't really need them this year so maybe I'll dig a nice hole in Poo Mountain and start adding them to the pile for next year.

*g* my Dad told me (so it must be true) that the Indians planted a small (dead) fish with each corn seed (kernal?). We did that several times. Nothing much ever grew, but then, I may have been a bit enthusiastic in my weeding and watering....

There was the Cantalope That Ate The Yard while we were on vacation. It didn't have me to "care" for it, so it did very well. Unfortunately, I came home in time to make sure it never actually fruited....

So corn has sprouted, along with some cucumbers, watermelon, and peppers. Tomatoes should be popping up soon. I expect the corn to do ok, and probably the cucumbers too. I don't have a lot of hope for peppers but I still think the Jalapenos should be ok since I won't be waiting for them to ripen before picking them. Since spring planting was a bust I'm planning on planting some things in about a month for a fall harvest. On my list is:

Basil
Beans
Cilantro
Onion (green)
Swiss Chard
Carrots
Assorted leaf lettuce, arugula, etc

Given that our average first frost date is late October and I'll cover stuff in plastic to try and squeeze a couple extra weeks out of the season do these sound like decent choices?

Dorkasaurus - I'm hoping our monsoon season doesn't start
early here in Albuquerque. As mentioned before, I planted a
bit late because of the weather and then the early hot temps
didn't help. The monsoon winds always cause a lot of damage
to my plantings here in the foothills.

June do you grow lettuce and other leafy crops? I'm not sure when to plant lettuce since it tends to bolt so easily and to me it seems like August is too hot and even September risks bolting.

Way too hot in my yard for lettuce. It just bolts no matter
when and isn't worth trying to do in containers, at least for me.
I reduced my plantings this year to just tomatoes, red and
yellow bell peppers. With just two of us, that's plenty and
I freeze all the extra for winter use.

I won't be planting lettuce in containers, and I have a partially shaded spot but it still seems like the weather here would be too hot in August/early Sept. The weather seems to go from too cold to too hot here in a matter of days. Oh well, the worst that can happen is end up with a lot of flower stalks in the lettuce garden. Maybe a cold frame and October/November are the key.