When are you planting out your taters, Linda? Do you think Sept would be a better time or late late Aug? Sounds like your seed potatoes are ready to go.
Looks like Ronnigers merged with another company and they have a new website. I didn't know about this until they e-mailed me regarding my question about available seed potatoes. Looks like they only have 1 mid-season and 4 late-season varieties in stock, so pickin's are slim as they anticipated.
I will have to e-mail that place Sapphire talks about from time to time, can't remember the name right now. Hopefully I can find a supplier, so right now my potato plans are in limbo.
ZONES 8-9 FALL/WINTER 2010
Hey, John,
I have my soil ready to go, so I'm probably gonna start cutting my seeds up maybe tomorrow, and try to plant out Saturday or Sunday this week. Next weekend at the lastest. They need to go in, already!
Linda sorry, I am still trying to learn the new computer. Here are some pictures of what I have in my grow light system right now.
Here are cabbages and Broccoli up closer.
Here's the other side of the light system.
Last picture
All I can say is "wow!" You put me to shame.
Did you start the seeds in the cups or did you transplant to the cups?
Linda, I started the seeds in flats and then transplanted to indv plastic cups, they were leggy as well when the little plants were small so I went ahead and bury them as deep as possible. They are however growing big and fast. I have 1 bed that is ready for them, my corn and melons have already produced and now they are just waiting for me to take them out. Hopefully I will be installing 2 more raise beds by sometime in September.
Will potatoes winter over? They can be planted NOW?? (Our low this past winter was 17°)...
We just harvested the ones that I planted late this spring.
Planting this weekend would put us at 120 days on December 7th. D-Day.
I think I can keep my soil warm by putting my hoop over the containers.
Linda
Yes Linda the hoop house will definitely help a lot, better to plant than to let them rot.
Well, Ya'll. Looks like I'll be back into MY real home by mid-October. My tenants have decided to move out, and for no good reason...I'm trying to be excited about being back in my beloved little house, however, after reviewing my finances, I find that there will be very little "cushion" once I get back over there.
Right after I married the DH, I gave up a parttime position that afforded me all the little extras and cushion a single girlie needs. So, I'm going to have to be really, really $$ conscious (not that I'm not already), and become a consummately skillful budgeteer!
Tossed between trying to pick up that same position again (more stress involved), or try to get on with my DREAM parttime job: working in the HD or Lowe's garden center!
"And, my God will supply all your (my) needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
Well, Linda, please keep us posted...OK?
Best of luck to you!
Evelyn
It's all good, Evelyn! Compared to some others in the world, I consider myself truly blessed to have what I do have right now.
Hi, zoners! Just thought I'd give an update on my new (first!) garden box.
I transplanted all my tomatoes and peppers from this spring. The tomatoes looks scraggly but have a lot of yellow flowers so I'm hoping they'll produce when things cool down a bit. I cracked two stems of the peppers in the transplant process but quickly 'bandaged' them up with a piece of nylon and both plants are doing okay. (The picture is of peppers I picked the day of transplant). Unfortunately I also brought tomato worms into the box or they were there waiting for the new residents --I pulled 8 of them off the plants over the course of a couple of days - yuck. I am using an old Christmas tin to drown them in, so now I have my own catch phrase: "Merry Christmas, sucka!!" I bought some BT and sprayed all around and I haven't seen any since. Only one of the peppers was really decimated by the tomato worm but it is still putting out new leaves, and it was one that also had a broken stem! What a trooper! I am becoming attached to the war-ravaged guy and feeling like I ought to give him a name or something. "Lucky" comes to mind!
Back to the box. Beside the transplants, I have put in some new maters and peppers I bought at a nursery (I will tear out the old scraggly tomatoes if I find things looking too crowded, but so far, everyone is happy). One of the peppers is a very cool "chocolate" sweet pepper and another is a bright red banana-type pepper but it is also sweet. I love having new varieties!
Additionally, I've put in some marigolds in the corner of the box and 1 cucumber transplant, and planted just 1 scallop squash seed, which is going great guns. I have the cucumber trained up a tomato cage. I've seen that you can train them to grow vertically up a trellis, but am concerned that there are not enough support wires on this cage and the stem will break over time. Still thinking on that issue. I'm wondering if it's better to leave it growing up the cage or take it down and let it sprawl outside the box.
I bought a few transplants of broccoli and cauliflower and a couple more squash, but am leaving them in the shade and/or inside right now because it is about 95F outside.
And I bought organic potatoes but haven't gotten around to sprouting them yet. Will do that today and hope it's not too late. They will go into a couple of tubs, rather than the garden box, though.
Anyway, I'm sure having fun.
Hiya peeps - sorry I've been MIA... I am currently in Maine on vacation enjoying some nice cool weather. When I left the garden was still alive, but DH has watering duty while I'm away - lol. It did rain last night and today so I'm hoping all is well when I get home next week. The fall garden will be planned and executed in the next month and I will let you all know what's up...
Welcome to deb - you will learn a lot here. Welcome!
Kelly
Looks like LiseP is the first one outta the shoot!
And, they're off!
Go LiseP!
Kelly, enjoy that cool weather!
Just lost my entire post - grrrrrrrrr! Let's try this again...
It was 43° when I woke up this morning - brrr............
Lise, sounds like you have a good plan. The only advantage I find to trellising cukes is that the fruit grows straighter, so I usually just let them trail over the side of the bed. Except the Armenians - I trellis those as the vines are monsters!
Thanks, locakelly, for the advice. I think I'll follow it, so have the cuke trailing outside the bed now. And yes, enjoy your cool weather!
Yeah, I'm a quick shot out of the box, Gymgirl, but that's maybe not such a good thing in this heat? I hope I haven't jumped the gun too much, the peppers are really melting in the heat, the other plants seem not to mind. Hope you get your job in a garden center, by the way. My son worked at the Home Depot Garden Center for awhile but he's a 20-something kiddo into video games and not plants, so the job was not the best fit for him. It would be great to go to Home Depot and find someone that is enthused and knowledgeable! One bad thing is that thieves seemed to like to use the garden center to exit from, with various scams, but you do get training for dealing with that.
Lise
I will be planting for fall/winter as soon as I get back to TX (zone 10). Before we left the last week of July I planted some squash. I'm still getting lettuce to germinate and it is sweet when harvested. We grow for upper end restaurants, so will be planting graffiti and cheddar cauliflower, broccoli, heirloom and hybrid tomatoes, all kinds of squash, all kinds of greens (we grow 25 different kinds), cucumbers, carrots, beans....I will be planting 31 beds that are 34 x 4 modified raised beds the first week back, with successive plantings every 2-3 weeks of the same amount. We are putting in a high tunnel for tender things as added insurance in case of a rare frost in January.
Hope to be home the last of August.
Sounds like you've got a great plan, Cala! I'm guessing you're on your annual visit to family in cooler climates, so have a good time!
Can you say, "throw a cactus at a thief?"
Stephanie, yes we're on our second visit this year. Class reunion for Bud and visiting friends for me. We went out picking agates on the shores of Lake Superior for my birthday!
I'm baaaacccckkkk! Fresh in from a vacation in sunny, cool North Dakota.
Thank goodness that it is time to get fall crops started because my hubby did not pay attention to the gardens like he was supposed to while I was gone and they are either fried or filled with weeds. I've got a lot of work on my hands to get them straightened out again.
I did bring back rhubarb roots and seeds while I was at it for some serious experimentation. I also have a small fortune's worth of frozen rhubarb too...hehehehe.
LOL, gymgirl, you're hired!
We're on day 11 of a string of 100º+ days. Who wants to be outside in this horrid weather?!? Blech!
UPDATE:
Hey Ya'll.
THE TWO RAISED BEDS ARE ALMOST SUCCESSFULLY RELOCATED!
I filled, hauled, and dumped 28 buckets from the 1st raised bed Sunday night. Yesterday, I filled them again with the half of the 2nd bed that I'm taking (the half the cats DIDN'T poop...), and loaded them on the trailer this morning. Waiting for either sundown or a cloud...
It took me 1.75 hours to dig up the 1st bed, and then I rested. I loaded up the trailer after sundown. It was tricky carrying 28 buckets through wet grass in the dark, after the rain, but we dumped them Sunday night into the RB.
The last area to be dug up is my compost bin full of decomping leaves and earthworms. I'm a bit concerned about the organic content of the RB veggie blend, cause I didn't find one worm in the whole thing, which lets me know it is seriously depleted of good organic matter. So, I'm thinking I might need to dump the decomping leaves into the mix, and up the ante with the coffee grinds and as much veggie peel slush as I can find. I might need to find a 40 lb bag of some good organic compost, too. My brassicas are organic-loving, water hogs!
The veggie blend was very dry and sandy, so I'll also need to add some of the mechanic shop absorbent to the mix to hold some water. Finally, I'm dumping as much of the old peat potting mix and coir as I can put my hands on. It's gonna be some kinda gardening mix this season!
It's been hard work, but I'm resolved. It actually felt cooler this morning and right now, than it has in the last 4 days I've been home. The DH keeps the theromostat on 84 and it saps all my energy for moving around packing boxes. Last night I changed gears and my new strategy for getting packed up is to go to bed by 7pm from now on, so I can begin packing in the mornings around 4 a.m. when the house is still cool. I'd feel guilty about not feeling like moving in the heat, except I noticed the DH finds a cool spot and SLEEPS all day long. Then, he's up late after dark.
So, I'll adopt that same strategy from now on. It sure felt good this morning, moving around in the cool (he turns the air off at 7 or 8 a.m.), and I got another load boxed up to move today.
Melissa,
I felt so good with what I packed early this morning, that I was actually outside in the yard by 9:15. My concrete launching pad corner is shady, and it actually felt nice being out. I sorted through the last of the gardening items I intend to take with me. Unfortunately, the DH put the puppy in the dog pen where I was storing some more of my gardening containers, but it smells like a sewer back there, and he can have whatever is left. I'm not inclined to venture too far in.
Either I'm hallucinating or something, cause I am actually a lot cooler inside today than the last 4 days....maybe cause I'm almost packed up...uh, lemme go check that thermostat....
Linda
Can you believe there's actually greenery holding on out in that heat? These are 5 of my 10 spring bell peppers, still alive, and with blooms.
Cool weather is right around the corner. But it's a long block!
I was impressed that my peppers were hanging on too, considering the drenching and then frying they got. That is this afternoon's project. Getting those poor souls some help. They looked pathetic yesterday.
They should make it to the cool weather, and throw another flush of sweet bells. Credit the self watering eBuckets that kept the roots watered, even when I didn't! The reservoirs obviously trapped the rainwater. Today I hand watered for the first time since around May? Definitely was not out there in June. So there you have it. EBuckets work!
Linda
My bell peppers, okra, and jalapenos are going like gangbusters and should make it through to the fall. The cucumbers are hanging in there, but I discovered spider mites on my Marketmore 76 vines. The White Wonder vines are covered with cukes of varying sizes.
Garden on the move!
This is the final load of the RB veggie blend destined for a new location.
Wow Linda love your set up, glad that it is almost finished though. I am not sure how you can do it with this heat though, I just transplanted about 4 cucumbers today and I was really sweating, still have to do some basil and trellis the tomatoes, I also have some compost tea brewing that I need to put out, gosh the list goes on and on but I just keep piling thing up and not doing them.
Yes I am impressed with the pepper, mine are the only thing right now that are producing in the garden, I did see a few small tomatoes that are popping out in one of my tomato plants though so it wont be long before I can enjoy some.
Take a picture once all your set up is done O.K I am sure it will be great.
C,
We dumped the buckets and the new RB has taken approximately 1.5 yards of veggie garden soil. It measures 4x17' or 18', and has a depth of about 11".
I really need heavy organic amending tho. Anybody found a compost better than Black Kow composted manure? I wasn't pleased with it this time. It was more like globby mud. Not nice at all. LMK.
Linda
I have tried a mix sometimes of cow manure, mushroom manure on mine but yes I agree not as nice as the stuff you can make. I do however always dig some alfalfa hay in my beds when they are newly set, this not only helps with aeration but it also gives the beds some nice decomposing material.
Linda forgot to mention, have you tried craighlist and searched for manure? Some people like to post there when they have horses and cows and want to get rid of their extra manure.
This message was edited Aug 11, 2010 6:24 AM
If you can afford it, get some from that place you got it last time. Do you remember the name of it? I'm drawing a blank right now. I'm at work and don't have all my bookmarks, but can post it when I get home.
Steph,
That would be Living Earth, but I've gone in a totally different direction based on a recommendation by Tapla over in the Soil and Compost forum. Napa DE Part #8822, SHOP ABSORBENT to help retain moisture in the RB!
Based on the discussion on the "Miracle Grow Garden Soil Problem" thread, the size of the particles/particulate in the RB make a tremendous difference in the soil's ability to provide oxygen to the plants as well as to adequately drain/hold water. I'd been sifting my homemade compost for the beauty of the uniform particles, but I've since stopped that 'cause those chunks and bumps I was sifting out actually help aerate and drain the RB soil.
Additionally, the RB is notorious for drying out. Which is where the DE comes in. Added to the soil, it will absorb and hold water for the bed to stay moistened. The NAPA product is between 1/8" 1/4" diameter, and looks sorta like small pebbles. It absorbs and holds excess moisture and doesn't break down or collapse into a clayey (Melissa, that's your bona fide word!) mess. Once introduced, it should last a coupla years or so.
So, I'm on the hunt for several 50 lb bags (at the right price) to add to that RB. Al's also reviewing a product called "Oil Dri" available at Sam's Club that supposedly does the same thing. It costs $4.62/50 lb. bag. I may head over in a minute to check out whether it's DE or not, and I'll let you guys know what I discover.
The addition of the DE to the RB precludes the need to add vermiculite.
BTW, the relocation is complete. Will be going over Saturday to work with leveling the soil and (hopefully) adding the absorbent and some of the homemade compost. General bed preparation.
Ya'll please help me not panic or be discouraged over not having all the seedlings I hoped to have started by now for the fall plantout. I truly don't have $$$ to spend on established nursery seedlings (Wabash has cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower seedlings now for $2.49 apiece). I do, however, have TONS of fresh seeds still.
My cabbages are still very, very leggy, but, they're getting true leaves. I may just transplant them to tall cups and bury them up to their leaves and see what happens. They're under fluorescents at home now (in a closet with the tomato seedlings that are doing fantastic!) I run the lights all night and turn them off when I leave for work.
I'm also inclined to spread some more seeds in a seed flat to see if I can get a jump start in a hurry!
Linda
If I can find a spare minute, my goal is to get to the store this weekend, get the stuff I need and start my seeds.