dreaves>> Know your disappointment, only rained here about 15 minutes today, know we hardly got anything but hadn't checked rain gauge.
Last year when we built the large raised bed, I planned the drip irrigation system. It was very easy to install, modify, and if planned well, you can expand it if your garden size increases. This year have been looking at the hose-timer, just to make the system run a more consistent watering to the plants.
What's going on with your Veggie Garden Today?
Today in my garden the long cold winter wait is over (until the next frost or snow we get in May!) and my garden is waking up! I have a car cover frame enclosed in chicken wire which protects my garden from almost all the uninvited guests.
That is SUH-WEET!
Very nice mountaindweller - how is the chicken wire adhered to the pvc? Thanks.
MaryMcP, that's actually 2" metal tubing, set in concrete. There is fence wire run through holes drilled in the pipe, to give us something to clip the chicken wire to, and to add tension. We wrapped the chicken wire around the tubing at the top, otherwise it is basically attached to to the fence wire. I can put up a better pic if you'd like details.
Gymgirl, thanks for the suh-weet! I am so happy with how it came out, and how it works. And I LOVE seeing it fill up with greenery.
I enjoyed looking at the gardens here. Everything is so pretty. Enjoyed the reading too.
How do you store onions for the winter? If you don't have a cellar or cool area, should you leave them in the ground?
Rain!! It won't be too much, but I'll take it!
Cricket, here's a growing & harvesting guide for onions. http://cdn.dixondalefarms.com/downloads/OnionPlantingGuide.pdf
My pole beans have started climbing!!
I sowed green beans the other day. (blue lake) I have never grown green beans myself. I have always watched others grow them. I read to sow them 3 inches apart and that seems too close in my opinion so I put them 6 inches apart. I did not make TPs. I used reinforcement wire cages and sowed the seed around the cages. I have three cages sitting next to each other. I think I sowed 55 seed. I hope it works out right. I want to dehydrate the green beans. I thought that would be a great way to store them. (blanch, dry off, dehydrate, store in jars)
Corn......I am getting a late start on corn cause the garden bed is not ready yet. I have sown my corn in cell flats for transplanting later. I have done this before and it worked great. I will be planting those one every square foot in a 4ftx10ft bed. (two beds)
My eggplants were doing so well during our early warm spring and then this cold spell came through and their blooms have been dropping off. It just isn't warm enough right now. But I do have bell peppers growing. Some are 4 inches long. (big bertha and super heavyweight)
I am not growing very many carrots right now. I prefer to sow those in late summer. They grow better and taste better in the Fall and Winter and I don't pull them until I am ready to eat them. The store forever in the ground.
so much to do , so little time.
Happy Gardening
Cricket,
Last summer I grew a bumper crop (for me) of bulb onions. I leave in South H _ l l, Texas, and NO root cellar.
So, the only place I had was my garage. I found a LARGE clear plastic bowl, and drill small holes over the whole bowl. Then, I just stacked the onions in the bowl, being careful not to bruise any. I sat them on top of my clothes dryer. They lasted from that July/August harvest, until I reached for the last few around mid-January. Unfortunately, small maggots started in the last ones on the bottom of the bowl. I think if I had put them in a breatheable mesh bag, the flies wouldn't have laid on them toward the end.
But, I had my own onions for almost five months! And, it was hot in that garage at least until November!
Linda
Thank you Linda. That is really nice to know. Is there any such mesh bags that fruit flies cannot get in? My sister is giving me a hanging pan rack but I don't want to use it for pans. I want to hang garlic, onions, and potatoes in bags. I really wanted some burlap sacks but they are very hard to find.
burlap sacks listed at Amazon.com
Cricket,
I'd go so far as to store them in an old (hole-free) panty-hose leg for the smaller mesh. Still breathable?
I've got so tired of this see-saw weather I decided I could wait no longer, so I transplanted some melons and tomatoes this morning. The weather report is for possible FROST next week. If they are correct, the melons and tomatoes are probably doomed! (sigh)
I have more seedlings indoors under lights, BUT if August has triple digit numbers like last year, my window of opportunity for getting a crop of tomatoes before the end of July is closing rapidly.
Climate change has me really befuddled!
Bee,
Don't you have a hoop in place? Make a simple one of PVC bent over and anchored into some 12" pieces pounded into the ground on either side of your bed. You can throw 4-6 mil plastic over, some old sheets, or old lightweight blankets. At this point, your freeze will probably just be overnight or a couple days, right? Run a string of christmas tree lights under to add some warmth, or fill some plastic milk jugs with hot water and shove them under.
(Amazing what I've picked up in Dave's Garden....)
You can protect them, Bee! If I lived closer, I'd come help you.
Godspeed, and Good Harvest!
Linda
You can hang your onions in pantyhose! Just cut the legs off, drop on onion in, knot the pantyhose at the top, and repeat. You can get about 5 or 6 in a leg. Then, hang them up in the garage or laundry room or wherever you can find space. To use, just cut between the top of the onion and the knot (leave the knot on the bottom so the onions don't fall out).
Planted Carrots and Sweet onions last weekend in my raised bed. My snap peas are up 3-4 inches.
I started some tomatoes (Better boy) too early inside. They're nearly a foot tall now. I'll never learn! LOL!
HonneyBee, I put out zuchinni last month, way too early, but when the frosts came I put the clay pots upside down over them, and it seemed to work fine. They didn't thrive in the cool weather, but they didn't get damaged. I even have one struggling sweet potato hanging in there.
If it gets down real low and you use the hoops, get a little ceramic heater with a thermostat. We have one in our bathroom, 1500 watts, and it heats like crazy. Jut run an extension cord to the garden... Our heater is real small, probably about 10" or 12" tall and about 8" wide and deep, it should keep your plants warm and toasty...
Starting a new, continuation thread for Texasrockgarden, since he is taking the summer away from the forum. Continue the discussions we've been having here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1253515/