We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1385432/#new
Out of fun, I went ahead and sowed some peas last week. They've come up and are leafing out! Can't wait for them to start vining. Won't be long until I have some fresh peas!
Peas are my favorite, however short the season is here. I tempted fate and direct sowed zukes and cucumbers today. The soil isn't quite warm enough and we have a few colder nights coming (upper 30's/low 40s), but hopefully by the time the seeds sprout those will be past.
didnt know you could sow peas that closely together, i went with sowing mine about 4 inches apart, but yeah, mine are up too :)
Beets, radish, lettuce and carrots coming along great. also trying turnip for the first time, also growing cilantro for the first time, in a container.
This message was edited Apr 2, 2015 6:53 PM
Strike, Ky Blue Lake, and Contender Bush beans.
I take my turnips up, and you guys put them in! They were so good!
Started planting out today. Didn't make a lot of progress because hubby and I started early afternoon, but we started!! Planted 2 Morado tomatillos (purple) and 3 Super Sioux tomatoes. We also put ollas in between every 2 plants.
I have my first little mater, too! It's on the unplanted Marmande tomato.
The peas are doing great! Need to thin these guys out a bit. I have them planted in two more places, too.
in the process of hardening off my veggie plants now, so far my eggplant has been the only complainer, lol. The leaves will get limp, but the will perk right back up after being brought indoors for the evening. Although today the eggplant leaves didnt go limp as bad as the first day i had set everything out.
if these guys can hang on for about 6 more days, i will be in the all clear to set them outside permanently, according to farmers almanac. Today was day 3 of the hardening off process. I bet those pots will be absolutely loaded with roots, considering their size (of which i was not expecting them to get so huge on me so fast, LOL!), im constantly having to pick buds off of them, so once i get this hardening off done, and they are in the ground, i could very well be harvesting before anyone else around here.
Planted 8 rows of peas today. Snap, snow & shell out. Each row 200 ft long.
Rain forecast for this week. We need it bad. Supposed to be 2" soaker.
We planted out more tomatoes today. Supposed to rain all day tomorrow and the garden can use it.
The soil is warm and nighttime temps are going to stay above 50F after tonight. Time to plant tomorrow!
Everything has been going in and out most days. My pepper transplants look great and my various basils are starting to take off. Tomatoes are healthy but creeping a bit; they always go crazy once our nights get warm. I also have a bunch of Tithonia and breadseed poppy to go into the ground.
Leaf footed bugs ruined my asian pears last year, at least for selling condition. An etymologist with Auburn is sending me some seeds for a trap crop plan. Of course, my pears have a grand total of 6 blooms this year. 😐 Well, at least I'll kill a bunch of them if it works.
It's funny how your perspective changes when you are growing for other people. Every tiny blemish a gardener ignores makes for unsaleable produce.
I have 11 varieties of tomato, 2 of eggplant and 6 of pepper coming up inside, and I planted 3 varieties of pea, 4 of lettuce, 2 of carrot, and chard in the garden today. I can exhale; gardening time is here. Though, this year, I could have started peas in January.
I like keeping in touch with you Texans; it's like priming my pump. I'm earlier this year than last, and feel sure I'll do even better next year. Thanks!
Beans are up!
Tomatoes are in, and standing up! (no transplant shock.)
Overhead T-frame and lower guide wires are up!
A-frames for the 18"x15' raised bed are up!
I'm up!
Jesus Christ is up from the grave (Alleluia, HE IS RISEN!!)!!
I'm sensing a theme here!!!
This message was edited Apr 5, 2015 7:15 AM
How do you support your tomatoes and beans? Is that shredded leaf mulch?
We got more tomatoes planted yesterday, but the ground was so dry. Thankfully, it's raining today and we've already picked up almost 3/4" of rain!!
Happy Easter, Steph!
The tomatoes will be supported on the Mittleider
T-frame I constructed in the bed. There's a 9-gauge overhead wire that the plants will be guided up on 175 lb. baler twine.
The beans are all Bush varieties. They'll only grow to 36".
Check out mhpgardener's YouTube video on green beans. He got a bushel of "Strike" green beans from just six plants.
This message was edited Apr 5, 2015 9:53 AM
day 4 of the hardening off process, starting to expose them to partial shade now. of course the eggplant being the first to complain again--with droopy leaves. (please excuse the clutter, that was the only place that had the conditions i wanted to put them in)
Eggplants do that, may need their toes uncramped. GG those look awesome!
Thanks, Kitt!
Hoping to sow the top pick pinkeye purple hull peas soon. I'm going with the "no till peas" experiment, sowing them directly into a patch of sunny grass in the side yard island along the sidewalk.
Want to sow a 3x10' square.
Drop the seeds and heel them into the grass, so they make contact with the soil.
Ought to work!
I do notice a root or two sticking out of the bottom drain holes, you may be right about that, Kitt
Watch out for aphids on the pink eyes. Aphids LOVE, love, LOVE the plants and the pods.
Steph,
Should I spray with Bt early on?
No. Just spray with soapy water.
Ok. Thanks!
Bt doesn't work on aphids anyway.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05556.html
one thing i did last year was release a lot of ladybird beetles on my tomato plants when i had an aphid infestation. just have to keep a source of water nearby and they should stick around instead of just flying off, and if youre lucky, produce a second generation.
Ok. So, I can't stop throwing the Bt at the aphids...didn't know that. My bottle says it's for soft-bodied insects...sheesh!
It just occurred to me that I said I sprayed Bt for the aphids. I spray NEEM OIL for the aphids...
The Bt is for the tomato hornworms....
Ooops!!!
You can mix up a solution of Murphy's Oil Soap, compost tea, liquid molasses, and fish emulsion or seaweed and mix with water. I use 1 capful of each (real scientific) into a 32 oz spray bottle or sometimes a bit more in a hose end sprayer and spray about every week to 10 days. That helps keep a bunch of bugs at bay.
well, got my tomatoes put in there today, still going to hold off on a while for the peppers and my eggplant though, seeing as they are a bit more sensitive than tomatoes are.
Also you can see that i have expanded the space of my garden bed this year :)
i plucked off some of the leaf stems that are closer to the ground, to help avoid soil splash up onto the leaves, its funny because they resemble little trees at the moment :)
This message was edited Apr 9, 2015 3:30 PM
Okay, 23 tomatoes planted, 8 peppers, 2 tomatillos. Sowed cantaloupe and watermelon seeds today. Will try to get the cukes, okra, and beans in tomorrow. Still need to find a place for one more cantaloupe variety and the squash.
Here I'll be planting a few veggies, herbs and squash/pumpkins this year. Yeah!
Green beans are up.
Bell peppers are in.
Tomatoes are strung on the bailer twine.
Meyer Improved Lemons are blooming.
I've decided I need a bigger garden. There's just not enough room for everything I want to grow!
Radish, carrot, lettuce, and beets are coming along pretty well (although the beets seem to be rather slow) The radishes have made little marbles at the base of their leaves, so it wont be much longer of a wait for them :)
Im actually going to leave a few of the carrots in the bed all year long to see if the summer heat can force them into bolt, i want to save some fresh seed from the variety i bought because the seed viability on my original order seemed rather low, and the company realized this soon after and gave everyone that bought them a bonus compensation of extra seed for it
This message was edited Apr 13, 2015 1:12 PM
got everything else planted into my garden bed now. All of that extra space is actually all flower and herb seed / root stock that i have planted in there, it should all start filling in once they are all up and growing. There are a lot of little flower and herb seedlings popping up in there already, its just not captured well in these shots.
Looks good! Jmc, my herbs love the raised beds better than the veggies do, chuckl, but I prob grow totally different ones than you do.
right now i have Cilantro, Summer savory, and basil seedlings coming up in there. They say that purple coneflower, and borage are considered herbs too, so then i guess you could include that too with my list of herbs im growing, lol.
Borage is I know, My dau fell in love with the deep blue blooms, but I havent tried any in salads yet..
i think you can also eat the leaves too. I mainly got them because they are such a honey bee magnet. :)
