Russ:
Here is what a lot of my plants used to look like. See how pale and yellow they were?
Straw Bale Gardening (Part 13)
But a few weeks of the TEA and they started to green up very nicely.
This message was edited Jun 10, 2007 7:03 AM
Here are some Ivory Peppers
I thought these eggplants were goners due to the flea beetles. They looked pretty bad a few weeks ago. But they are doing well now.
I think my not feeding them properly caused them to stress even more from the beetle infestation. So they get the TEA once a week along with a deep drink
So all in all, I'm pretty happy with my results so far even with the necessary learning curve
I have a question for the more experienced hands.
Has any of you transitioned from a summer crop to a fall crop in your bales during a season? (i.e. Peppers to Broccoli)
Thanks
BB
Jeanette: haven't sent in a request for avatars to Dave, but will do so today or tomorrow.
BB: excellent contrasting photos of the distressed plant to the rejuvenated one along with your analysis.
Those are some tall stakes you have. Tell me you had to get the step ladder out to get those puppies pounded in.
I love that hillside you're on.
My bride and I, along with my daughter and her school friend, are down in Wilmington, NC, visiting with my father-in-law.
We're going to the church we got married in 2/5/94, Myrtle Grove Presbyterian today.
Kent
BronxBoy; Thanks, pictures are indeed worth a thousand words.
We don't have time for a fall crop here. What ever we want to run into the fall, has to be started before, the peppers give up produceing. The first frost gets them and usually the rest of the tomatoes.. Now that is where a hoop house, right over the row, would come in handy.
But as for you, trying to get a fall crop of broccoli, I don't know why not.
Without looking it up I don't know when you get your first killing frost.
( Temps below 32) Ours can happen as early as mid September, I usually plan on October, sometime. This year My strawberrys started to send up new leaves, sort of promising to grow. but then we got that late spring freezing spell. I lost them and a cherry tree.
Lost a walnut tree a few years ago, but that wasn't due to the temp.
Lightning got that. It blew the bark, to nearly all four corners of my little acre and a half, lot.
Oh well back to gardens. Ithink I would try a fall crop. peas, Broccoli, cabbages can take quite a bit of cold and a light frost don't seem to kill them.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Russ
Hi Russ:
Winters are fairly mild here compared to what we had to deal with in NY. I grown cabbages, collards and turnips all through the winter. Just wanted to know if I could use bales.
Kent:
Have a great time. How's he weather there?
BB
Strawbaleman
I so agree about the picture under our names. It would make it so much easier to really "know" each other. I can't keep it straight in my mind who I am talking to not knowing what they look like.
I lost this thread somehow and I am soooo far behind. I will try to catch up this afternoon. Missed you all.
Cajun
Good morning everyone.
Happy Anniversary to Kent and his wife! Very nice you are going to the church you got married in, I hope you have a good weekend.
To Bronxboy - thanks for the pix, it always helps. My pumpkin plant looks like your zucchinis in the "before" photo. I wanted to know if you would share your TEA recipe. I want to try and save the pumpkin. We are looking forward to picking pumpkins for halloween (hopefully).
Thanks everyone for your good ideas.
Happy Aniversary Kent! Looks like a nice day for you :)
Okay, I need some fertilizer info. Is there anything that I can use as a "foliar feed" (needs to be organic:)? I literally can't get to the bales my squash and pumpkin are in, or the beans. When it comes to the tomatoes I can get to most of them, but I haven't done it yet. I'm scared to do it, and scared not to. Everything looks good (knocking on wood with crossed fingers), but I want to keep it that way. I have some organic fertilizer that are basically different "guanos", and have very low percentages, I think .01-.01-.01. Would they be okay? I _am_ going to read the directions, but would like anyone's thoughts...
Margo
I'm enjoying my little punkins, although my SO told me this morning that it's a watermelon....not *G*
cat, kelp & epsom salts work as foliar feeds.
try www.gardensalive.com for info & products that i've used a lot.
Happy anivesary Kent;
Barb & I can't go back to the church where we were married. They sold that building. and built a new building, which at the time was out of town. The town has since grown out past it now. We have gone to it a few times, but it just don't feel the same. We are about 50 miles from there. All of our parrents are gone now, so we are content with the small town church, next door.
We were married 1/20/60 It almost seems like we grew up together. Oh well we're happy.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`Russ
Shoe: here's my trombocino you sent me. I love it and it's doing well. That post is 8 ft. tall.
Kent
This message was edited Jun 10, 2007 9:26 PM
Tomatoes are happy.
Question for the group. I've suckered up until now. Would ya'll continue suckering or let them go from here on out?
Kent
P.S. - thanks for the anniversary comments but it was back in Feb. But, hey, every day's an anniversary when you have a great bride, right!?
I never sucker. Should I?
summerkid: growing up, my Daddy never staked nor suckered any tomatoes. He'd plant a 100 plants and let them grow ever which way and I spent the summer stepping through them and picking them with a 5 gallon bucket.
As an adult I'd cage my tomatoes and still didn't sucker them, but I've read you get about the same poundage and bigger tomatoes if you sucker them.
I started suckering them last year and quit about this time.
Seems like a lot of energy goes into the suckers rather than producing tomatoes.
I wanted to see what the pro-suckering camp had to say.
Kent
This message was edited Jun 10, 2007 9:43 PM
By the way, I'm about ready to harvest all of my potatoes at once. I don't seem to be getting any more blooms and the vines have flopped over and are starting to get in the way of my mowing.
It was an experiment any way, so I'll see what I get in a day or so.
Kent
Kent I'm not going to say when. I was trying to remember when it was you planted them. Just guessing close to 4 months? if so there should be taders. If not that long, might have some of those little ones, that you just scrub a little and cook up that way.
Course I'm sure you gave them plenty water when they needed it. They could produce faster than plant and leave be type. Which is what we used to do, outside of running a cultivator through them a couple times. before they got too big and closed over the row centers.
BB, big difference after using the TEA!! Looking good. What is in the TEA? I put a couple of scoops of steer manure in a 5 gallon bucket a while ago and filled it with water. I will leave it a couple of days and then use it on my corn and sunflowers. Don't know about the sunflowers, but the corn loves that stuff. Is that anything like your TEA?
Russ, is that what you are putting on your melons? Mine in the hh are doing much better than the ones outside. They are warmer.
BB, I have never seen egg plant grow but yours sure look healthy.
Jeanette
Jeanette:
I put a couple of large scoops of alfalfa tea in one of those large square rubbermaid containers. Probably 20 gallons or so. I let it sit until it starts to foam usually 4-5 days.
On the day I'm going to use it, I make up a gallon of fish emulsion and stir that into the tea. I then fill my watering cans with it and feed away.
I have tried adding both Miracle Gro and Epsom salts but don't know if adding them gave me any advantag. I'm going to have to do an experiment one day.
Jnette wrote;"I put a couple of scoops of steer manure in a 5 gallon bucket"
Jnette, is that cmposted or, uh, "fresh" manure? I have both, so which do I use?
Thanks,
Margo
summerkid wrote;"kelp & epsom salts work as foliar feeds."
Thanks summerkid. The stuff I have is from them, so I'll read up on the link you sent.
I read on another forum that someone stole your bales? I sure hope they were not your planted bales? Although, I'd like to see someone try to steal mine, the hay bales would just fall apart, and the straw bales would take a forklift *G*. Hope it doesn't set you back too far.
Margo
This message was edited Jun 11, 2007 10:15 AM
There seems to be no end to what some two legged snakes will steal.
Someone stole about half of the Koi from my pond last year. I know it was a person too; an not animal or bird.
You just can't help feeling viloated.
SLUGS!!!!!!!!!!!
After a brief rain on Friday I notice a bunch of tiny gray garden slugs on my peppers (as if they weren't already having ENOUGH trouble).
I had a good bit of grass growing out of the bales and think that may have been their entry vehicle. I trimmed up all the grass and now I guess Im going to go get some Sluggo or Escar-Go, or whatever is good at getting rid of the pesky critters.
Any recommendations?
Ron
Ron: I keep hearing about slugs every so often, but have never had one on my bales.
Cajun: forgot to say hello to you! Welcome back!
Kent
I've used Escar-Go (the product from Gardens Alive, right?) and it worked very well for me
BB
No, I hadn't planted anything in those bales yet. They were at the turnoff of my driveway, on both sides, about 3 high, to block my view of a neighbor's garage poker parties, during which they just walk around to the side to relieve themselves, in full view of the road & me & who know who else.
The weird thing is, my next-door neighbor, Crissy, said a couple pulled all the way down the driveway, about 400 feet, to ask her whether those bales were out for trash pickup or if she was selling them. Like a dummy, Crissy said, "Those are my neighbor's & she's out of town till Monday."
Half an hour later Crissy comes around the corner of her house & there's the guy with a trailer, loading up bales AND some 3-gallon perennials waiting to be planted near them. She hollered at him & he threw the plants down & took off with the bales. Only 6 or 8 bales were pilfered, but still!
The funny thing is, the poker-party neighbor I don't get along with was mowing Crissy's riverbank & was the one who alerted her that "someone is stealing Summer's bales!"
Well it sounds like it was someone close by. Too bad no one thought of getting the license . But being close by even the color of the pickup might help. But who would be stupid enough to even think some one would have bales for trash pickup. GRRRRRR
Crissy says she didn't get close enough & I haven't asked her about the vehicle make.
She is, shall we say, a bit challenged anytime after 10 a.m., when the Absolut shots start coming out of the freezer.
Love her dearly, though! She just doesn't recount things very accurately.
Well, here's some of the potatoes I dug up this morning. This filled a 5 gallon bucket.
These looked so good I'll probably wait a little longer before digging up the rest.
Not a speck of dirt on them.
Guess what's on the menu for tonight?!
Kent
Well, apparently no one in Northern Alabama carries any kind of Slug/Snail deterrent that wont inadvertently kill me/my family/my dog/my cat, so I ordered some Escar-Go from Gardens Alive. It should be here in a few days.
I am currently mustering the troops for an all out attack scheduled for dark-thirty on the eve the ammo arrives........
Wish me well folks....I'm goin' in!!!!!
Ron
P.S. On a more serious note, I harvested around 10 Sweet 100's, 1 Roma, 1 Zucchini (12 incher), 1 Cucumber, and 1 Yellow squash today. Im so hooked on this kind of gardening it ain't even funny!!!!!!!!!
P.S.S AWESOME taters Kent!!!!! I think I'll use this years bales for that next year
This message was edited Jun 11, 2007 4:22 PM
Nice taters
I can taste them from here
Ron:
You should have pretty good success with that product. Worked very well for us
Great looking taters, Kent! (It's a ritual with my DD and me that each year we dig some fresh taters and immediately take them to my shoffice, cut them up and have fresh french fries. We'll sit there and pig out, neither of us saying a word till they're all chowed down!)
Looks like your trombocino is doing mighty fine too! You'll love it!
My original two bales are going like gangbusters and I started 3 more a week or so ago (trombocino and a sugar baby watermelon in one, two eggplants and a cuke plant in another, and a sugar baby and 4 cuke plants in the third). All the bales now have marigold plants in the tops and sides, just for prettiness!
Raining a bit here now so am off to go walk in it so I can really enjoy it!
Shoe
Kent you eat all them taders the way you planed ti fix them.UmHuh you better have time for a nap. Heh Heh ((*-*))
Looking good Kent. Ron, sounds like yours are doin' great!!
Summer, can't seem to trust anybody any more. Stealing straw is the last one. LOL. Sorry. It's not funny. They aren't easy to come by. Guess that is probably why they did it. You might keep an eye out and see if you see any fresh straw in somebody's rabbits, chickens etc. Probably not too easy to see that tho.
Cat, I use the stuff in the bags. The fresh stuff would be pretty stong. Normally I would put it in a gunny sack and hang it in a large garbage can but didn't have one so I only used about maybe a half a gallon to a gallon. Not much. Also, I didn't use a garbage can. Just a 5 gallon bucket.
BB, that alfalfa tea is really awful smelling. And then to add fish emulsion is really bad. I have a recipe that has both of those and a lot of other stuff in it I made last year for my roses that one of the good gardeners gave me and it is really gross too. But, you know, the roses that I put it on last fall look wonderful this year.
Jeanette
Russ: remember that old alka seltzer commercial?
"I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"
I'm about to POP!
I put 2 turkey tenderloins in the oven while I was boiling some of those red skinned potatoes (onions and butter included, of course).
I had supper right on time the minute my bride came home from work. (It's my day off.)
Got out some romaine salad and added some muscadine salad dressing from Duplin County, NC.
Add some sourdough bread and you're ready for some serious eating and then some...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Kent
This message was edited Jun 11, 2007 8:21 PM
Kent- - - -Ya know one of these times I'm just gonna show up at your door. Better have an extra tader to throw in the pot. I'll even bring the H/R, to spice it up a bit. LOL