ZONES 8-9 FALL/WINTER 2010
Linda I completely forgot about this wonderful program you showed us a while back. I personally think it actually looks good, maybe I would change just the turnips to a closer location so you don't have trouble reaching and grabbing them and also leave the taller and easier to get veggies in the middle so it does not shade the smaller growing veggies in the center. I will be using this program as well to layout my garden this winter. By the way what are you going to use as the divider so you know where to plant the veggies?
C,
I'm a little confused @ your reply. Could you clarify for me? Thanks!
You gal's are truly amazing. I have just learned so much from all of your posts and Dave's Garden in general. I just had to let you know. Was looking around and saw your posts on the winter garden. I am in no way as talented as any of you.
I planted my first garden this year and am having one of the best experiences of my life. I have never had a past time that I would say is a true hobby until I decided to plant a garden.
I have a saying which is "anything worth doing is worth doing well". I hate getting up early in the morning but I will do it for my plants. I learned early that you can't garden at midnight.
I hope you don't mind if I look at some of your posts from time to time. Looks like you have a very tight knit group and you learn from each other. What a nice thing you have going.
I am going for a winter garden myself but nothing like you girls. I'm looking at some ideas this week for my winter project. I have a 4 X 12 raised bed and looking at adding 2 more. I am very fortunate this being my first year and nothing earth shattering has happened. I'm eating beautiful tomatoes and making some really good sauces with my basil, sage and french terragon. Can also tell you how to make zuchinni 101 ways. Not gonna do more than one plant next year.
Hey Deb,
Thank you for your kind comments!
We ladies and gents hooked up when we all planned to grow potatoes at the same time. So, we banded together and shared our respective experiences. And you're right. We learned so much from each other!
There's been a warm, growing comradarie and support that has drawn us close, but we're by no means exclusive!
We're happy to have everyone who desires join us and jump right on board.
Linda
Welcome Deb-just want to let you know that you can garden at midnight, or close to it. I'm not a morning person either so a full moon and a flashlight work wonders.
1Lisac,
In my next life, my veggie garden will be lit up for night gardening...
Ewww! Imagine all the flying bugs that would attract!
Welcome aboard, Deb!
Deb, Where's Clovis? What Zone?
I am in Clovis Ca. It is a bedroom community outside of Fresno Ca. I am in Zone 9. We have quite a few micro zones just in my zip code. To the east of me a few miles are orchards of orange trees. A half mile to the west of me is peaches, peaches, and more peaches. The orchards that grow the peaches can't grow the oranges. It's too hot or to close to the foothills and not enough air in the winter to circulate so they freeze easier. Something like that. Avocados grow south of me but you can't grow them where I live. But I do have a little cado tree on my patio that keeps me up nights trying to make sure it has everything it needs to be sucessful.
I live in the central valley. It is the bread basket/farm basket of the United states. I have lived here going on 6 years. I have grown attached to the people and the land. The communities, families and businesses are all intertwined in history, sucess and hardship. So much is based on weather, water, politics, and god's good grace.
I started my garden to experience first hand what these hard working folks go through each and every day. Also I've gotten to experience the joy of a harvest. You can buy just about any thing here.
I buy my veggies from a community supported organic agriculture group. Last week my husband and I went to Gilroy (home of garlic) and Watsonville. Oh the fresh berries. Acres and acres of them.
I sell real estate for a national builder in Fresno and have gotten to meet some very interesting people in the agriculture industry. At least now I can talk a little of the lingo. I have met folks in the fertilizer business, fruit brokers, vegtatable brokers, ranchers,wine makers, raisin farmers, you name it. It is a community with so much to offer and such wonderful people. If you watch TV they are always making fun of Fresno. I did too, until I found out how truly blessed I am to have a family, job and home I absolutly love. It all came together for me here in the central valley.
My days off are coming up on Wed. & Thurs. I should have my plan for my winter stuff. I will tell you of my big plans! I'm really wanting to grow some baby romaine and arugula. The pretty little multi colored carrots are on the list as well.
Till then,
deb
Linda sorry I have not been able to write sooner, my big computer is infested by bugs, and my DH is trying his best to clean it up so I have not been on the net much. I am not sure if you are going to place a grid on your raise bed or not, but what I meant on my last comment is that the best way I found to organize my plantings in my beds is to place easier to harvest and also tall veggies on the inside of the beds or inside squares that way the not so tall veggies are easier to get to and do not get shaded by taller veggies, that is my opinion though.
debsorensen welcome to the forum, it looks like you have had a wonderful harvest, also looks like you live in an area where I would not mind mooving at all. I love California and the weather there is very similar to the weather in Spain where I come from not as humid and hot as where I live now, plus the houses there are beautiful.
Carm-What part of Spain? I compare my climate here to Spain also, usually its not THIS humid.
Lisac I was born in Seville Spain, but having a military father has taken us all over, I also lived in Madrid for quite some time. It does get pretty hot in Seville but I just don't think the humidity is quite as bad as here in Mobile so it tends to be more bearable.
I know Texas is huge and climate tends to probably change quite a lot, I lived in Corpus Christi for about a year and I do remember it being really hot and humid and also remember huge mosquitoes as well,LOL.
Thanks, Carminator1!
I revamped the layout. Is this better? I'll have two beds.
Raised Bed #1 (4 x 10')
http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KitchenGardenDesigner?gn=Gymgirl%27s%20Fall-Wtr%202010%20RB&rows=4&cols=10&cropstoplant=Beets-3%2cBeets-3%2cTurnips-51%2cTurnips-51%2cCabbage-6%2cCabbage-6%2cCabbage-6%2cBroccoli-4%2cBroccoli-4%2cBroccoli-4%2cBeets-3%2cBeets-3%2cTurnips-51%2cTurnips-51%2cCabbage-6%2cCabbage-6%2cCabbage-6%2cBroccoli-4%2cBroccoli-4%2cBroccoli-4%2cLeaf%20Lettuce-14%2cLeaf%20Lettuce-14%2cSpinach-23%2cSpinach-23%2cCabbage-6%2cCabbage-6%2cCabbage-6%2cBroccoli-4%2cBroccoli-4%2cBroccoli-4%2cLeaf%20Lettuce-14%2cLeaf%20Lettuce-14%2cSpinach-23%2cSpinach-23%2cCabbage-6%2cCabbage-6%2cCabbage-6%2cBroccoli-4%2cBroccoli-4%2cBroccoli-4%2c
Raised Bed #2 (4 x 8')
http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KitchenGardenDesigner?gn=F%2fWtr%20%2710%20RB&rows=4&cols=8&cropstoplant=Garlic-29%2cGarlic-29%2cOnions-17%2cOnions-17%2cCauliflower-8%2cTomatoes-26%2cBasil-1%2cTomatoes-26%2cCarrots-7%2cCarrots-7%2cOnions-17%2cOnions-17%2cCauliflower-8%2cBasil-1%2cTomatoes-26%2cBasil-1%2cCarrots-7%2cCarrots-7%2cOnions-17%2cOnions-17%2cCauliflower-8%2cTomatoes-26%2cSage-45%2cTomatoes-26%2cCarrots-7%2cCarrots-7%2cOnions-17%2cOnions-17%2cCauliflower-8%2cSage-45%2cTomatoes-26%2cSage-45%2c
Linda that looks wonderful, I can see you are going to be planting maters on your second bed, are those going to be Det type maters or indet? The reason I am asking is because I have found out that ind type maters take a lot of room, I am only able to grow about 8 plants in 8X4 bed max 10 plants altoguether, if not it gets like a jungle and it tends to be difficult to harvest.
Also have you ever tryed to rub sage on your skin to deter mosquitoes? I saw it in one of those survival shows, if it works I'll be planting lots of sage from now on.
C,
Those will be indeterminates (Pruden's Purples). I know they'll grow close together, but I'm taking a calculated chance since I don't really expect much with such a short window. They need 90 days, so, I'll just keep praying.
Hoping to plant the seedlings out by August 14th.
And, looks like I'll be direct seeding EVERYTHING with the rest of you, so LMK when ya'll start scattering those seeds.
C, my cabbage seedlings will probably need to be resowed. I'd rather start again than try to get anything decent from these scraggly seedlings.
When are ya'll planting potatoes again?
WHERE IS EVERYBODY?
I think my brother Ron (Greengobbler) joined DG today! If so, he'll be joining us soon as he figures it all out. He's here in Houston, too.
So, ya'll help me take care of him, ok?
I'm inside trying to stay cool. :)
Linda is he friend of yours?
By the way collected all my melons yesterday, they were tiny in size and the worst part they were bland tasting, my mother in law mentioned that you have to plant them really far away from cucumbers of they will cross polinate, is this true? I actually planted my cucumbers in another bed that was about 15 feet away.
Yeah,
He and I are both in the Christian Counseling ministry at our church. He's also the test case for my portable garden "Loaner" project!
Hey,
What's with the ads below on this page? Actually, kinda convenient and cool, LONG AS THEY STAY UNOBTRUSIVE. (Big Brother may be watching...)
Just don't scroll down that far and you won't see them! LOL
How long have they been there? I never noticed them, I click on "skip to new" and never go any further.
See what this are doing to me, now I must try that poona kheera cucumber, never enough seeds.
Quick, someone grab the computer mouse from Carmen's hand, before she can click on the "purchase" button!
Those are great cucumbers, right now with all the rain the only thing I can manage to grow is MOLD. I'm going to go back to not knowing those ads are down there. : )
I just looked and there were no ads this morning...??
There wasn't yesterday either, I thought it was just me?
no idea what happened.
O.K I am totally and officially a WUZ, today I went to my composter because I wated to throw some of the food I had been collecting for about a week, it stinks by the way, and so I was on my merry way to the composter and I see tons of dragon flys all over the place, flying all over my composter, as soon as they see e coming they start flying towards me and so I panicked, needless to say I ended up bringing all the rotten compost back and hope for best results tomorrow, my question is why in the world are they all over my compost? I have lots of grass clipings, veggie scraps, coffee scraps and chicken manure, no meats, grease or anything else. Can they bite?
They're probably munching on something ELSE that's hanging around your compost bin. Check the net to see what Dragonflies lilke to eat. That's probably it.
This was my project for this week, in preparation 4 moving to my Temporary Abode (TA). Thought ya'll would appreciate it.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1119603/
Yesterday, we moved approximately 45 five-gallon buckets of garden medium and dumped them into the new raised bed at my TA. Barely made a dent. Will be retrieving and refilling these buckets with the existing veggie blend from my old RBs to dump until the bed is filled, or I keel over.
I'll try to remember 2 take pics. In any case, my target plantout date starts August 14th.
With all this transition going on, I'm gonna really need yalls help. Just posting a shout out of what you're planting or direct sowing, and when, would be a true assist.
Hugs!
GG ~ good luck to you...I wish you all the happiness!
Evelyn
Ok. what's the weekend update from everybody? Who's doing WHAT right now, (besides hiding inside from all the heat)?
I am sitting at my desk at work counting down the minutes till lunch. An yes, I hide from the heat as well and I can do so at home now since we bought a new a/c recently. So, I am feeling a little light in the wallet as well :(.
On the garden front, there is lots going on but yesterday I fertilized my corn crops with fish emulsion, and no matter how many times I shower or wash my hands I still seem to smell it on my fingers.
Well I really have not been in my garden much but just to water and collect peppers which is the only thing producing as of right now. I do have tons of projects that I need to do but with the heat all I want to do is put them off. It is very weird but my lima bean bush plants have loads of flowers but no limas at all, they have been like that for a month or so and nothing, then my soybeans have small soys all over but they are very small and are just taking forever to get bigger, I am wondering what is happening here as well, any ideas? I still have the pesky leaf footed bugs but they have seem to have declined since I took my squash out, I have not been good at keeping them under control.
Linda I really think you'll enjoy your raise beds, I definitely enjoy mine and for some reason things just grow better on my raise beds that in containers at least for me, I just can't seem to grow anything in containers, the last things I tried lettuce, parsley and dill just died on me.
Hey, C!
I'm looking forward to working with the RB for the first time. It's gonna take several trips to reload the buckets with the existing soil and move to the new location, and working in the heat is treaturous, at best!
I was soooooooo tired yesterday, I laid down from exhaustion. Then, I just tossed and turned for thinking the neighborhood cats would be having a field day using my RB soil as kitty litter, so I jumped up (Half asleep, mind you), went outside in the heat and pulled a tarpaulin over the one bed I know they haven't gone in yet. I think the yapping puppy in the dogpen next to the other RB has kept them outta that one for awhile, so I'll cover it soon enough too. I KNOW they had a misstep or two or three in at least one half of that bed.
Either way, though I hate working in the dirt with gloves on, I think I'll have to. At least the latex aren't as bulky as the fabric gloves. And I can still sort of "feel" the soil...
So, Carminator1, when's your timeframe to start planting things?
Oh, BTW ya'll, I REALLY need to put down my seed potatoes. They're WAY rooted in the office cabinet, and one is leaking. Gotta get it out soon, cause it's starting to reek!
Look! These are the Shepodies.
This message was edited Aug 2, 2010 2:58 PM
One more. These are the Yukon Golds.
And, my poor little cabbages are being troopers. They WANT to live!
They just keep on reaching, and trying to crank out some leaves.
Linda sorry to hear about your taters hopefully they can make it for you to plant them out. I still have mine inside in a egg carton and waiting for more sprouts. I am wondering if the humidity is the reason why they are just rooting out so early.
O.K my cabbages and broccoli are monsters, they are growing big and I am hoping they will make it until at least the beginning of September so I can plant them out. I am definitely running out of room in my growing light system so I really don't know whether or not I even have any room to plant anymore. I still have to start some kale seeds but where to put them.
I have some limas and soybeans but they are taking their sweet time to produce and for what I am hearing they kind of shut down until the temps get a little cooler, hopefully September will be a better month.
Carminator1,
Could you post a pic of your cabbages and broccolis? When did you sow the seeds? Wonder if I have time to start again from seeds?