Cocoa,
If you have a tiller, you should try Sheet composting. I have always wanted to try it, but this year is the first time i have had th opportunity and it is so easy and working so well, i really like it. But i do not put anything in it that might wrap around the tiller. I just spread it out and use the tiller to mix the new with the old, and when i need some compost, i just uncover and use the bottom layers. I use mostly grass and leaves, as afraid of garden waste because of diseases, but if you want to put in garden waste, you may need a chopper.
Ernie
What's going on with your Veggie Garden: Part 3
I'm doing sweeties in a 32 gal Rubbermaid tub. I may set some Irish potatoes in a couple months.
Unfortunately for us in the South, we plant and harvest short season spuds that will only give us a single layer of taters, unlike our brothers and sisters to the north, who can grow long season spuds that will fill whatever they're growing in, in true "underground potato tree" fashion.
Using prime growing real estate for just a few spuds becomes a calculated proposition.
Linda, who may sacrifice a small piece of land, or another tub, or the washing machine baskets (again) for some buttery goodness!
Lynea, you should try growing red potatoes or purple skinned potatoes. Both do well here and don't require tons of compost. A nicely amended bed is all that's needed. I didn't grow taters this year because I couldn't get my act together in time, but have successfully grown red and purple skinned taters very successfully the past couple of years.
That's right, Linda, prime real estate! I have my own agenda for the good soil, but so jealous when I see pretty potatoes.
Ernie, Stephanie, don't be trying to talk me out of a bucket loader, I have my heart set on one :0) Shhh, as far a Dh knows it takes TONS of compost to grow potatoes! lol
Actually, I do a lot sheet composting and still fall short of having enough materials. My neighbor has a roping arena and piles the steer manure. It's too weedy for me to use without hot composting.
The kids just gave me my early Mother's day present, not a bucket loader, pretty cool though! I'll be back later with picture.
This message was edited May 12, 2012 9:47 AM
Ok ya'll. Need set bell pepper seedlings today n heading 2 de fertilizer store. What do I need for de planting holes? ASAP. Thx.
Gymgirl, my whole yard is clay. for in ground peppers I dig out the clay and put in some potting mix. Plant my pepper with more potting mix and side dress with organic Fertrell plant food (3-2-3). Then I water them in with a mix of water, liquid kelp, and liquid fish.
-Vaughn
weed killing day. killed lots of bermuda grass. also planted a row of string bean seedlings and fertilized the peppers, tomatoes, and okra. I have a flat of okra seedlings but have to find a place to plant them lol
-Vaughn
I bought 37 tomatoes a week ago Tuesday. They stayed outside at nights and by Friday the 4th I had those all planted. The new ones I bought are also all outside of course. I usully get my tomatoes in ground by the 8th each year. This year I was slightly earlier than usual.
The slugs ate my cucumber seedlings that I also already planted! I am so mad. I had Burpless. I still have some Salad Bush ones to plant but I am mad about the others.
cocoa - love the mower. We have one but now don't have *any* grass.
I just got home with a load of sandy loam for the garden.....I want a dump truck for mom's day!!
Wow! Happy Mothers Day ~ Cocoa! I am liking your mower. That is uptown ! Have you offered to let the kiddos test drive it for you... lol My reel type mower is all I've use this spring. It and the bushhog for serious business.
A bed of potatoes isn't that inefficient. It makes pretty foliage while you wait for the benefits. I am thinking I'll dig potatoes in the next few days and will replant that bed with miniature melons, roselle and Malabar spinach which are ready to go in when the potatoes are dug.
I consider it a more efficient use of the space available. I did the same with the onions this time. I dug the bed of onions last weekend and planted the okra in the same bed. The potatoes and onions can go in early while still cold and the crops that prefer the warmth can go in next. When they are done, I hope to have the fall plantings of tomatoes and vegies waiting in the wings.
Anyway, that's the plan. Happy Mothers Day all... Kristi
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day!
We'll be enjoying fresh-from-the-garden snap peas with the chicken our daughter will be cooking this evening!
Sorry to hear about your cucumbers, NYRita. I'm having a devil of a time keeping mine from being munched on as well.
Kristi, yep, the kids and I are having fun with the new mower...Dh say's, we are only allowed to play in straight lines from now on..party pooper.lol
Happy Mother's Day, to all the women who guide, nurture, and love us unconditionally!
That sounds good, Honeybee, enjoy your dinner :0)
Happy Mothers Day.
me and sister are having a huge mothers day dinner with mom today. Sister is doing 90% of the cooking.
I got mom a Blue Orchid that was loaded with 16 blooms and few buds.....it was so pretty.
And gotta post an update on this huge bell pepper.
Cricket - I didn't know orchids came in "blue" - it's gorgeous. (Was it dyed?)
Wish I could grow peppers that big!
Here are my peas in a pot :-)
I ran out of space in the garden and planted my peas in a container this year. I actually meant to start seeds early but never got to it so cheated and bought plants at the local nursery. These are Snow Peas. Never tried growing Snow Peas before. I usually grow Sugar Snap Peas.
I went out to two local nurseries today so I got some more cucumber seedling to replace the ones the slugs ate. Put out sluggo and hopefully these will fare better. Not Burpless though like I had. Only Marketmore, not my favorite.
The I bought some GREEN ARROW pea seeds and just planted them in a pot next to the pot of pea seedlings.
I also got bean seeds, Blue Lake pole and tenderette bush beans. Plan to start those seeds tomorrow.
Here are my blue lake pole beans.
Wow Steph, even if you don't get any food from that green hedge, it's beautiful nonetheless. Nice job!
Oh my. That is wonderful. I used to grow them like that in rows and along a trellised netting made to grow veggies up but that was years ago. I used to grow a lot of veggies and I really liked the pole beans. They sure do produce like crazy.
I just planted my last three tomato plants outside, two Fourth of July and one Sugerry (cherry tomato). I have no more room in ground, the rest of my 49 tomatoes are in ground but these three are in this grazy looking patio grow bag container. Sort of container. More like a sack LOL! The hardest part was stuffing the darn thing with potting soil.
This is the first year we've grown pole beans. We've grown bush beans the past couple of years. We didn't plant bush beans this year, tho.
Yesterday, I had my first bean harvest (along with a bunch of peas).
I shoulda starter earlier!
Honeybee......the orchid is blue with no dyes. Walmart.
Stephanie-those bean plants are beautiful, I need to sow my seeds, I just don't seem to have enough time this year. I have long beans. I have sowed bush seeds but I usually grow pole beans but I need to sow them for them to grow.
That is a pretty wall of pole beans and a nice harvest of them too.
Quoting:
LOL Lisa! I am in the same boat. but I need to sow them for them to grow.
Todays' harvest. Wishing for more but not unhappy with the results. It was only a 4' x 5' bed that needs more depth for taters. At least it will make a few messes of them. What amazed me was how clean they were. No blemishes or scab.
Those are beautiful potatoes too. This weather has me so messed up, it seems late to be digging potatoes.
How's your dwarf tomato plant doing? I would have 3 tomatoes if the first 2 hadn't gotten BER, and the 3rd one had a bruise, but on closer inspection I noticed a tiny hole where a tomato fruit worm had gotten in. : (
I then looked at a few of the other tomato buttons (the entire blossom wasn't even gone) and found a few more really tiny worms. I tried to find every blossom and I squashed the worms, but if the season is going to go like this I'll never get any usable tomatoes.
Lisa ~ I love those NBD plants but the blooms are not producing maters. I guess I need to dose them with super bloom fert. The blooms are small and shrivel and die. I don't know the answer...
Lisa,
Same boat, I have several things that I'd like to plant. Plus I have TONS of weeding that needs to be done. I am going to have worms in the corn, since I haven't been able to treat the ears. Still haven't pulled the beets. Some of them are going to be so big I'm afraid they are ruined....
With all that to do, I'm exhausted from a weekend trip to my daughter's college graduation in Kansas. Did dialysis early Friday morning, drove to the airport, flew to Kansas City by way of Denver, then drove to Manhattan, KS. Slept on a college-apartment futon Friday night, went to K-State graduation on Saturday morning and visited with daughter and son-in-law. Drove back to Kansas City Saturday night, slept on a hotel bed, then to the Airport by 7:30. Returned to Austin by way of Denver and, finally, did dialysis Sunday evening, then my own bed.
I picked tomatoes and squash this morning. Hopefully I will feel like doing some work by tomorrow. I have another graduation on Friday night in Tyler-- this time it is my nephew's high school graduation. No flying, but a little more driving.
This photo is cross-posted on the tomato season thread. There are Big Beef, Jet Star, and Indian Stripe. The overgrown squash are the result of the two-days away.
David
dreaves - I applaud your willingness to attend the graduation with your health issues. I'm sure your daughter appreciated it.
Those toms on the left, are they the Indian Stripe
I planted red pepper, lettuce, celery, italian parsely and brocoli rabe (plants). Then I started my pole bean seeds today. I have radish seeds, dill and chive seeds all still to plant. I also have bush bean seeds which I am not sure if I will start or not and I have to plant all my cucumber seedlings and start more cucumber seed.
Mary,
Yes, the tomatoes on the lower left are the Indian stripe.
Well, no gardening today due to rain and its so wet I probably wont be able to get out there for a while. (Oh well...)
David I dont know how you do it all..
Pod- I dont know why your NBD isn't setting fruit. Mine is in a container, on my back deck, so its setting fruit. The BER didnt really surprise me because I have that issue more often in containers but it seems to straighten itself out.
With all this rain, Im wondering how all my in ground tomatoes are going to do, I planted out much later then most of you. Cant complain about the temps though. But the bugs are something else.
Well, my two Sioux plants are finally taking off! I've got several clusters of almost golf ball sized tomatoes on them, and there are blooms everywhere. I set only two plants, and let them branch off into two main stems each. And, I stuck a sucker in the dirt and it's got large marble size fruit on it and many blooms, too!
Based on what I saw this variety do in last year's drought, I took a calculated gamble and planted them out later than anything else. And, it looks like a payoff, since we're coming into the heat of summer and the plant has just started cranking out tomatoes. Just like it did in the drought, even when I couldn't bear to go out and do any watering!
We've had lots of rain here, too, and I am NOT complaining at all! My RB is fast draining, and there is no evidence of any BER on any of the tomatoes, praise God!!!!! I've been feeding once a week with MG Water Soluble plant food. I may side dress this weekend with my plant hole formula (2 cups EP, 2 cups worm castings, 2 cups Rock Phosphate).
The Beefmaster that Digger dropped off from Victoria, Texas has settled in and is cranking out tomatoes again, too. And, the cutting I planted has established itself and is loaded with blooms and tiny fruits.
I think I have eradicated most of the Stinkbug nymphs and teenagers, as well as some occasional army warms I find nibbling on my onions. Been "flicking my BIC" fireplace lighter on some butts! Once they hit the ground with singed legs/butts, they're not hardly climbing back onto the plants!
Aphids is the newest insect of choice left to be dealt with. They're on my sweetie leaves. Unfortunately, since they're growing in a Rubbermaid tub, knocking them off with the hose won't solve the problem, since they'll just fall back into the closed tub. No real predators waiting for them when they fall. So, might need to pull out some bigger guns than a blast of water...
Here're some pics.
#1 Sioux Cluster
#2 Sioux Blooms
#3 Beefmaster Cluster
#4 Beefmaster Blooms
#5 Sweeties filling in
This message was edited May 15, 2012 2:24 PM
And, here's what happening indoors, aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhh.....
#1 Sugar Crunch Cuke actually setting a bloom...
#2 Zucchini Squash setting blooms...
The roots are so tangled, I may have to cut open the cells to get them out.....shoot!
Feeling better now about my tomato efforts. i have about 25 or thirty tomatoes, pea size to golfball size on the 14 plants in the hotbox, but no tomatoes yet on the 6 plants along the fence. So, the Sweet Carneros is a very early producer, since he set the first tomato about 3 weeks ago, or the Hot Box is giving the plants there about a 3 week advantage. Dug my turnips and beets this morning. Turnips to 5 or 6 inches but still good inside. Bush beans just covered with blossoms and bean sets. Lots of Zukes, but am going to try to harvest at less than four inches to keep ahead of them. Cantaloupes have lots of blossoms and Watermelons a few. Tired of eating asparagus, but not enough to freeze, so lettinng it go to Fern a little early. Should have enough next year to eat and freeze both. Lots of small and medium artichokes now, too, but may cut the main plants down to get bigger ones next year.
Ernie
I'm catching up. I tweaked my back last week. Realizing it wasn't getting better, I put myself to bed rest with a hand sewing project. I felt better after a day, but by then I didn't want to stop my sewing project.lol
Cricket, are you growing competition peppers, too? That pepper is huge!!!
Kristi, The potatoes look wonderful! Any idea of how much you dug up, compared to how much you planted?
Dreaves, I didn't use mineral oil on my corn last year. I feared the worst, they all had worms, but the damage remained at the tip. It was easy to cut off. Hopefully yours will be the same, let us know.
I really enjoyed everyone's pictures.
Last night, we harvested garlic!! I also noticed that the re-planted okra seeds are starting to push up the dirt, so my Emerald Green okra should be off and running soon. The last set of seeds that we planted only got a few that germinated. Not sure what happened, either planted them too deep or something. The sunflower seeds we planted on Sunday have already started poking their heads out. That's awesome news as I've been wanting to grow sunflowers for a very long time! I will be harvesting onions soon, maybe tomorrow or this weekend. Several have already flopped over, but I'm not sure if that's because they're ready or because the neighbor's cat has been laying on them. I am STILL harvesting peas! They are running out my ears! Good thing they freeze well. LOL
Steph!,
I cannot believe someone is actually growing and harvesting GREEN PEAS!!!!!!
I soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo want to grow PEAS!!!!!!!!!
I am GREEN with envy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great job!!!!!
Teach me how, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Linda
Steph,
This one's for YOU!
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/spiced-peas-cilantro-lime-00100000079227/