What's going on with your Vegie Garden Today, part 2

Some updates:
#1 Sweeties are taking to the Rubbermaid Tub. Got a second batch of cuttings and will start a new tub.

#2 My KY Wonder Pole Beans have some sort of rust fungus going on. Should've moved them from under the carport weeks ago...

#3 is cabbage stem regrowth. I cut the head off about 4 months ago and left the stem.

#4 is the Beefmaster Tomato plant Digger9083 dropped off from Rockport. There are many golf ball size green tomatoes on it.

#5 is the homemade seedling PVC plug tray I made. The Bell Peppers are picking up steam, and so is the chamomile. Only one Rosemary is up, but I've heard they're slow.

Hope to construct the Squash Teepee in the next day or two. Will put the ONE squash seedling into a pvc tube in a patented Earthbox. Hoping to thwart the SVB, like HoneybeeNC does!

Ciao!

Gymgirl - please remind me how I thwart the SVB. I don't remember knowing how. LOL

Linda, I love the pvc plug pots. That makes my brain wonder in many directions.

I am growing a few pumpkin plants and plan to wrap the trunk base with nylon stockings to prevent svb at that point. The rest will be buried vines. The only way i know how to protect a squash plant from the svb is to grow it in a screen cage.

I start my squash later after the SVB are gone. But ever area is different for SVB activity. I actually had the best and most pumpkins/winter squash when I direct seeded in August. They didn't have to acclimate and the vines grow roots all along the vine. It took some space but it worked well.

Here's a dumb question. What does SVB stand for? Is it a disease?

Hey neighbor, first of all there are no dumb questions. Just regular questions : ). It means Squash Vine Borer. You can google it to get all the info on their lifecycle and such. According to my A&M paperwork they are active around here between May and June.

This message was edited May 1, 2012 9:04 AM

Okay, yes your close by. Just a stones throw away. Hopefully they won't effect my Melons I'm going to plant. Aren't they in the same family as the Squash?

SVB = Seriously Viscious Bug!

Some pics around the garden yesterday....
1. Black Cherry
2. Cherokee Purple - very large tom, I should have placed a quarter on it for comparison
3. Hungarian Heart
4. San Marzano - the star of the tomato garden this year
5. Lrg Pink Bulgarian

I'm pest-free to date....knock wood!

The onions (Candy Apple Sweet Reds)
The raised beds as of yesterday
A pretty sunflower

The bed on the left has 2 Black Plum and one Hungarian Heart, the bed on the right has 2 San Marzano and one Cherokee Purple.

The plants in the beds are MUCH more productive than the in-ground plants. The soil was better amended, by far, at the start of the season. Now I can clearly the advantage of turning in some amended soil.

The left bed had the azomite added (remember that discussion??), the one on the right not. Can tell no difference in that particular experiment.

This message was edited May 1, 2012 5:13 AM

Thanks Dean. The garden gives me much pleasure, pulling food for the table right from my yard - well you guys know - can't beat it....or beet it. ;-))

What are the temps in your area Mary? You plants look great!

Mary,
Coupla things:

1. Your pic reminded me what I need to do to keep my RB from becoming a kitty litter box!
2. I can come get that stainless steel washtub anytime. Just LMK when. Was it you who posted the firepit pic for me? Nice! The firestarter wasn't shabby either!
3. When did you plant you onions out? Seeds or plants?

I worked like a DOG Saturday, reclaiming my yard that was, "tore up, from the floor up!" If it looked like it didn't belong, it had to go! I had tree trimmers pruning the two huge oaks on the front side, a handyman working on the back side, and I tackled the garage on the inside!

I made a very big dent...

Yesterday, I bought hardware to make two birdbaths, and the squash trellis. It's encouraging to know I can hold the squash until mid-July to thwart the dreaded, "Seriously Viscious Bug!"
I may even sow a few more seeds inside, since I only have the one plant growing. Does the SVB attack cukes, too?

Although I only have the 5 tomato plants, and the Rubbermaid tub of Sweeties going on now, I'll have the bell peppers, eggplants, okra, squash and cukes out in the next few weeks. I've accepted that I truly prefer starting seedlings for the spr/summer veggies, to actually growing them, so, I'm about to accept my calling.

However. Come September 1st -- LOOK OUT! The yard will be chocked full of every cool/cold weather veggie God will allow to grow between then and April 1st!

So, as I said on another thread, I'm not late. I'm being fashionably early for the fall/wtr season! ^^_^^

P.S. Fall/wtr Seed starting is targeted to begin in mid-June! The press is on!

Pic #1 No, that is NOT a body -- it's the sand for my RB garden mix...
Pic #2 My peaceful corner...
Pic#3 Three Matt's Wild Cherry tomato volunteers I was gifted with...
Pic #4 VA Sweets tomato blossoms. The tomato plants are about 3' tall now. I'm excited because I'm hoping to see the Sioux do what they did in last summer's drought!

Hugs



This message was edited May 1, 2012 11:34 AM

Nice kozy backyard Linda. And your Sioux blooms and plant look really good too.

Mary...I like your raised beds. I been making 14 4x10. I am slightly over half way done. Hubby disturbs me. I told him I needed a day off. He said I get time off when I am working on my hobbys. He thinks because gardening is my hobby that I don't need a day off from anything. he apologized for thinking like that but ........still bothers me that he was thinking that way to begin with. Apologies don't change how he is thinking.

Do watermelons count in the subject of veggie gardens?
Does anyone have experience with the Carolina Cross? Do they taste good? Is it possible to get about 8 melons on one plant? I Know nothing about melons.

Thankss, Cricket!

The SVB leaves?? When?? I planted pumpkins in July one year and they were attacked by the evil little thing.

Watermelons count as that here, I don't have as to carolina cross, and hearing from succesful growers that 5 to 8 melons is not unreasonable. As to myself 3or 4 is usually about it.
I'm usually growing an older cultivar or two, this year it 's looking like orangeglo and kleckly's sweet,An occasional success at growing moon&stars in a container ,two about 8 pounds last year,(with a note that I wasn't always here or taking care of them)

I'm with you stephanie. i don't think the svb ever leaves here. It's here from May until Aug.... really sucks!


In the beginning there was a seedling called Carolina Cross and she was planted in 100 gallons of soil mixture containing 15 gallons of rabbit manure, 1 gallon of chicken manure, 6 cu ft of promix, 3 cu ft of peat moss, 1 cu ft of vermiculite, 4 cu ft of commercial compost manure, 4 cups of lime, and 4 cups of bone meal planted in a wooden pallet crate lined with commercial ground cover.

and then there was 2 crimson sweet melon plants in the same type soil mixture in a 25 gallon pot.

Does the SVB attack cucumbers, too?

Linda, I have never seen svb attack cukes. I know their favorite attraction is squash plants.

I took 50 pictures of all the garden beds today...............wow. there is no way I can post them all.

Let me start out by showing you my big gardening mess while trying to get these grow beds set up in the garden plot.
It is sooooooo ugly. No body likes to show the ugly stuff. I am all over the place right now. I have messes everywhere and I must take time to clean them up!!!!!!

The big view ......clutter.
The Better Bush tomato plants. Okra seed sown in the middle............dang it.......I need to water those!!!!!
Blue Lake Pole beans and crookneck squash
Celebrity tomato plants

I did not take pictures of the corn. Merit and Silver Queen in two beds.

Tomatilloes
Better Bush tomato plants, Pepper Plants, and Alibi Cukes
A 4x4 Table Top Garden with Eggplants, peppers, and wave petunias, and vinca
Better Bush tomato plants, vinca, marigolds, hosta, zinnias, tiger lilies

My first eggplant this year. finally.
Some of the Big Bertha Bell Peppers
Some of the Super Heavyweight Bell Peppers
Super Heavyweight Bell (huge)

#1 small section of the raised beds and table top gardens in the back yard. What you don't see are= young seedless grape vines, garlic, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, squash plants, and behind and out of site is a fig bush and raspberry plants. and im sure i forgot to list something.

#2 scarred cucumbers. had a lot of wind the past two weeks. Lots of veggies are scarred. Even the leaves.

#3 and a pretty hanging petunia basket

Very nice, cricket!!

Awesome Cricket! Your gardens are very nice. Must be lot's of work?

Cricket, aha, your the one with table top garden. I couldn't remember where I had seen them. I got some old green house tables I want to convert to growing tables. Won't get it done this year, so I keep all my questions till winter ;0) Your garden is looking awesome!

Steph, yay, for peas and I love your new plot of happy new dirt.

Mary, bummer, about the Azomite. I'll still add some, since I have very liilte in the way of minerals in my soil, but I had hoped for more immediate results.

Today in the garden. Peppers and tomatoes are growing, cucumbers and zuchinni are going nuts. The freshly gnawed okra is flowering despite it's lack of any leaves. The motion sensing sprinkler should be here tomorrow to hopefully deter "Bugs Bunny". Have another flat of okra germinating inside to replace the ones previously eaten.

-Vaughn

My okra is blooming too. Little nubs of okra everywhere. Bounce Bounce. But i cheated. I started okra in the greenhouse cause I was hungry and didn't want to wait for warm weather. And I like munching on raw okra while I work. Makes a nice lunch.

thanks for the compliments.
I hope I can keep up with everything when summer heat sets in. I better start setting up some semi automatic watering systems.

Cricket,
You inspire me! And that my PVC tray is giving YOU ideas is a total compliment!

I LOVE figs! Please Tell me about your fig BUSH when you get a chance. My neighbor's old fig tree fell over last Thursday and, while I desperately want my own fig source, a BUSH in my yard is more appealing and less of a commitment than a full grown tree. I have a gazillion birds, and a bazillion squirrels. Easier to cover a bush!

Linda

PS could you post a full size pic of your 4x4 raised table?

This message was edited May 2, 2012 9:21 AM

Everyones gardens look great. Regarding the SVB all I can say is the squash/pumpkin seeds that I direct sow in late July/August don't seem bother by them in the least.

From what I've read/experienced they don't bother cukes or anyother vines. I don't know how they can tell the difference but some how they do. But sowing seeds in toliet paper rolls or PVC pipe seems easy enough. I just don't care for squash that much. I'm don't know where I'm going to plant everything that I have now.

Ye gads you peeps were busy on here yesterday...

Lisa: temps have been 60's/90's for the most part. Garden looks very happy. Once I have lots of green tomatoes, how long to they take to ripen? I'm about ready to put the mosquito netting back up before the birds discover my tomatoes are 'blushing'.

gg: for that wash tub, if you can find an old washing machine, just take it apart to get to the tub. Yes, it was me that posted the tub-converted-to-firepit. We don't use it in town, not as much heat comes through as an open firepit. It's great for camping when spark control is important. We've been trying to figure how to get one to my brothers in NY and Vermont. Shipping costs kill the idea.

Onions: from transplants I got through Dixondale Farms. Don't remember exactly, last fall methinks. My planting calendar says Dec/Jan so that was probably it.

cricket, your gardens and plants look grand as always and no, it's not a day off when you are working to provide healthy food, or a pretty landscape, for yourself and the family. Silly man, where did he come up with *that* idea??

Usually I go out to the garden tasks early in the morning - 6'ish - put off breakfast sometimes if I get going on a project, then come in late morning, putter around and, especially on weekends, find time for the hammock, a book and an adult beverage. It's good to lie about in the hammock and just gaze around at what my hard work and labor have accomplished. Rewards are an important part of labor.

cocoa_, no worries on the Azomite. Those beds were so well amended with soil and compost that the azomite was probably not needed anyway. I continue to sprinkle it around on other beds. It's got to help, even if to just add porosity to the soil by teeny-tiny air pockets. It's all good.

Sorry for the long post but I think I'm caught up to the lastest here now. Carry on.....we found 'ET' out in the desert one time, looks like he was used for target practice. I sometimes use him for a scarecrow.

This message was edited May 2, 2012 4:30 AM

Linda. My fig bush is a bush cause it hasn't grown up yet. BUT, my grandfather had the same variety which is the Brown Turkey and he would prune it down and keep it a bush so he could cover it to keep the squirrels out of it. He use to live in the city and squirrels were over populated there. Yes mam, I will take a full view pic of the 4x4 table top today.

My neighbor gave me a work table out of their shop when they were moving out. It had 2x4 slats across the top of the table. I just put 4 4ft boards together like you would for the garden and sat it on top and filled it with soil . I painted it so it would last longer.



This message was edited May 2, 2012 7:16 AM

To give you a different take on it, here's mine. Inspired by cricket about a year ago. I used it to grow lettuce last winter. I have another one but we put a board over it when it was not being used and now it's a table. You've seen it in other pictures....pic 3.

Thanks cricket, it works great. Both as a growing table and otherwise.

What kind of soils do you use for the table tops?

I did my garden walk this morning, lots of tiny stuff...tiny green beans, tiny okra buds, tiny tomatoes forming :0)
Must be a lot of tiny bugs too, the keep killing my cucumber and melon seedlings, the ones that I direct seeded. I'm going to start some more inside, this year, transplanting seems to be working better for me.

Still no signs of SVB, but a bazillion squash bugs! I squished as many as possible. Last night I broke down and purchased some insecticide soap, made from potassium salt. It made quick work of killing them!

Mary,
Did you convert a largedrawer into that table? Just added legs and the screen on the bottom?

INGENIOUS!

Lynea, one of those long nosed lighters works well on squash bugs.

Thanks, Stephanie! I have a long, novelty, rifle shaped lighter...this could be fun.lol