it is very deep... Like 32 inches...
Drew
Peas are up!
Ahh... I was thinking it was only about eight inches... silly me! We have a raised bed for our onions which extends deeper down into the tilled and composted soil beneath the four-inch frame. :)
That frame is 32 inches high above the ground... See Below
Drew,
Can I ask how do you water your raised beds with the white pvc pipe that I see in the picture running lengthwise? Drip or spray? And why above the ground like that? I have a drip system in my veg. garden, but am using 1/4" soaker hoses attached to the 1/2" black main line on the soil surface.
Appreciate any comments you have.
Thanks, Carol
The pipes have tiny holes drilled in them, one on the exact bottom and ome to each of the sides (just barely) of the pipe. It works well and is cheap and doesnt plug up. I love mine but I put them too high and they got some of my foilage wet and I got powdery Mildew. This year I am putting 4 runs of drip tape in each of the beds.
Drew
Time for a pic - this is the one of the nicest sets of green bush beans I've ever done - at 39 days they're absolutely loaded with little beans and flowers. Check out the size of the leaves. We'll be havin' some for supper in a week or two. - Flip
Looking good; What cultivar are you growing?
Flip, they look great, and so do those Jalapeno's, nice. Danny
Farmerdill - they are Blue Lake Bush #274 from Burpee & Co.
Gosh mine are just poking their little heads up out of the ground. Thanks for that wonderfully encouraging photo, Flip!
-Juli
Juli - just think! In about 4-5 weeks your little beans will be lookin' just like mine. Good luck! - Flip
Since I sowed two different varieties of peas 20 days ago, I thought I'd take a comparison shot for fun. Feel free to chuckle at my pea fencing! :)
Left (North): Early Alaska, smooth seeds, 2.5" pods, mature height 24-36"
Right (South): Little Marvel, wrinkly seeds, 3.0" pods, mature height 18-20"
At a maximum of 5" now, the Early Alaska peas are already a good 2" taller than their neighbors; they share a harvest time time of 60 days.
TuttiFrutti,
Nice healthy lookin' peas!
Just picked my first Crimson Giant radish at 38 days, they could've been a little bigger but we couldn't wait! I'll be growing these again next year, nice radish flavor, not too hot.
Thanks, Red!
While I planted Scarlet Globe radishes along my potato row to mark it until the potatoes showed up, they're still a ways off from harvest... if I decide to do so. Yet now that I see your Crimson Giants, I'm salivating so much that my Scarlet Globes may not be allowed to go to seed. ;)
Red, great lookin' radishes. I think I'll try those myself this later this year.
I've still got some (Daikon and Black Spanish) in the ground that will be ready for pics in the next week or so. Have you grown the Black Spanish before. Mine are taking a pretty good while it seems. - Flip
My peas are up good and flowering, even have baby pods comin' on! Yay! Might be a sweet little pea picker come this Friday! Yummy!!
TuttiFrutti, yeah, you gotta try a few in your salad, they're great!
Flip, nope, never tried them, are they black in color? If you try the Crimson Giants I don't think you'll be too disappointed,
Shoe, bless your pea pickin' heart, that sure is a swell looking pea patch! Is that horse radish in the right foreground?
Big Red...Nope, not horseradish but I can see why you'd think that...sure looks similar doesn't it! That is a wild "weed" here called plantain. I let it grow where it chooses. A wonderful treat to eat frest when the leaves are young, good to simmer as a potherb, and the seeds can be parched and mixed with butter 50/50 for a fantastic spread for use on crackers. But, most importantly, we refer to it as the "bee plant"...my daughter knows that for bee stings (and ant bites, etc) to go pick some leaves of "footprint" and rub them on the sting. Excellent for taking the sting out of the sting!
("Footprint" is short for "White Man's Footprint", a name given to this plant by the AmerIndians. This plant never existed on this continent until it was carried over here from Europe and the seed was apparently mixed in with grains. Where Europeans planted their crops this plant was also seeded and "followed" them as they made their trips westward, hence the name.)
Funny you mention horseradish though. I sure have been hankering to grow some, just haven't gotten around to it yet. (I love the stuff!)
I'm gonna guess that Shoe didn't have to crawl around on his belly to take a shot of his peas like I did. lolol
We're growing horseradish for the first time in our veggie garden, and since everyone has warned me about how invasive it is... shall I send you some when I find out for sure, Shoe? ;)
TuttiFrutti/Shoe,
I'm growing it for the first time this year also. I can remember my Dad growing it when I was a boy. I'll be able to send some roots your way this fall too Shoe, if you needs it!
Woo Hoo! SO1's father grew it yearly when he was growing up, too, so that's why the horseradish was included in this year's expanded garden plot. SO1 has already offered to be the one to don goggles and grate it when that time comes, 'cause I understand it can make ya tear up bigtime.
And Red, you beat me on posting a pic of the horseradish... lol... mine only shows a couple of pieces of stray straw. We planted a single root on each end of the potato row (the companion planting thing) and are waiting for the potatoes to come up a bit more before laying down that thick layer of straw. ;)
Hey Shoe. There are no pictures of Laxton's Progress # 9 in any of its incarnations in the database. I have grown a strain of it ( Southern States Cooperative sells it as Early Bird) but not down here. There is also an earlier strain sold as Improved Laxton's Progress. BUT few growers and NO pictures of any of them..
Thanks, F-dill. I'll go post a pic there then, especially right now I can add so many nice pics...the plants themselves, the flowers, and now am getting the tiny pods coming on! Thanks for the nudge.
On the topic of horseradish...I grew some ten yrs or so ago but it didn't really do much. The "soil" where I planted it was never amended and was extremely hard clay at the time. I'm sure that inhibited its growth (and any invasiveness). Would like to try it again sometime...might be enuff time to get a piece in the ground now so I can harvest it this Fall, eh?
Horsradish, how interesting. Do you grow it from seed or from that tuber thing you see at the grocery store? Could you theoretically put that tuber from the gs in the ground like you can a potato? Then you dig that tuber thing up again at the end of the season?
-Juli
Here's the first beans taken off the plants shown on 5/4. We'll pick some more tomorrow and have enough for supper. I'm also going to add the pics to the plant files. - Flip
Juli,
Yes, you can plant the roots from the grocery store for your "starts" but usually you plant a smaller section of root about 1/4"-1/2" in diameter and 6" long. It's that section of root that will grow larger for next fall's harvest. Then you replant the smaller roots for the following year's harvest, be sure to plant them with the small end down, at about a 45* angle, and the larger end fairly close to the surface.
i finally got my sugar snap peas into the ground about may 3rd. never grew them before. package says they will need no support if they are planted 6 inches apart so thats what i did.
should i have planted them much earlier?? i put them in as soon as i was able to.
Peas can go in a few weeks before the last predicted frost date, Herbie, and for a few weeks afterwards from what I've read. Sounds like you're right on schedule! :)
Okay, I promise this is the last of my radish pictures. Finally, my first Black Spanish - the bigger one's like 2.5" across. The little one is about 1.5 " - Flip
Wow, I like that big Black Spanish one -- what is the flavor like?
critter, those radishes were pretty fibrous and they had a significant bite. Not my favorite. I like radishes a little milder. They look good, tho! - Flip
Actually the Black Spanish is a winter radish. It actually gets more mild as it gets bigger and the soil temps drop. It is not very good as a spring radish. Flavor improves also with storage.
FD - thanks for the info. This was the first time I grew this type. I tasted my smallest radish. I have several that are fairly large. I guess I'll store them in the fridge in a sealed baggie? Actually, the soil temp here usually doesn't change too much and our spring and winter are pretty much the same. I'll probably opt for a different type next time.
Flip, that sounds like a radish I'd like here! If you have any seeds left over, please save them.... I'll find something to trade you for them!
FD, when are Black Spanish or other winter radishes generally planted? I'm unclear on when to sow fall/winter crops, especially as it can stay pretty hot here through September.
about the same as turnips, which in your location should be from the middle of August until the middle of September.
Can I plant rutabega or turnips and expect decent results by the end of the summer or is it just going to get too hot for them here?
Drew
Don't know your climate, but eastern 6b's are too hot and dry to grow them in the summer.
I planted parsnips last spring, and they did well, but they got watered pretty regularly. YMMV.
Thanks for the tip, FD! I'll try planting them in midSeptember, I think, so they won't have to deal with such hot weather as tender young seedlings.
Just started to blossom @ 44 days from seed.
critter, I have some seeds left. Would you like some now? - Flip