Garden 2018

[Dutchs]

HUSTON, I think we have a problem........

**AHEM***

I put in several seed orders with dif. companies.
*face palms*
I can't seem to help myself.

Don't feel bad Tank girl..... I'm not even going to mention how much money I've spent with these companies this year. I'm kind of embarrassed. It's quite frankly obscene. I did get a LOT of stuff though...

 

[Peanut]

When my potatoes came up the week of the 23rd there was only about 50% of what I planted. Nothing happened for about a week then I noticed more had come up. I think about 85% are up now... I’m happy with that.

 

[Dutchs]

My Drip Irrigation got here today. Separate units for my Fruit Trees and my Garden....I'm getting really excited...My Sunflowers, Sugar Baby Lilys, Two types of Bee Balm, Coneflower Mixture, 2 Starking Delicious Plum trees and Stark Crimson Gold Nectarine trees will all be here this week

This is getting very exciting to me....I bought seed for Cucumber Marketmore and SMR 58, Green Beans,More Bunching onions, Black beauty Eggplant, Squash, Hopefully I'm not to late. I will get these all planted this weekend..........

 

[Tank-Girl]

My last lot of seeds turned up in the post.

I did some seed packet sorting on my living room floor.....

WOW when I lay it out like that it really brings home my seed addiction.

I now need to concentrate on seedling trays, insect mesh row covers, crop frost fleece and plastic conduit piping.

I've selected four types of potatoes I want to try.

Russian banana, kipfler, pink fir apple and mayan gold.

Mayan gold is the only round potato and the others are fingerling potatoes.
I chose the varieties because they have very good natural disease and blight resistance, are heavy producers
and the potatoes store well.

I'm going with certified seed potatoes and I have to wait until at least June for them to be available.

 

[lilmissy]

What does everyone prefer, onion sets or onion bunches to plant? I have only ever planted sets. But they dont seem to last long in storage.

 

[Tank-Girl]

What does everyone prefer, onion sets or onion bunches to plant? I have only ever planted sets. But they dont seem to last long in storage.

Onions, like many other crops like cabbages have a two year life cycle.

The first year is for growth and the second year, even though they do grow larger, is for seed production.

Onion sets are already a year old. They're grown in very cramped conditions to keep them small.

If you are going to grow onion sets then it's best to either process them to freeze or dehydrate.

Storage onions are best grown from seed....then there's factors to consider as to how long your season is and if
the onion variety is a short season or a long season variety.

 

[Dutchs]

What does everyone prefer, onion sets or onion bunches to plant? I have only ever planted sets. But they dont seem to last long in storage.

I personally prefer bunches. That's almost exclusively what I've planted as well. Just like them better that way.....

 

[lilmissy]

Tank girl, I guess thats why onion sets go to seed rather quickly. Didnt know that. I am in SW PA. I have tried to grow onions from seeds but always ran out of time in the season. But as I type this, I am thinking cause I didnt start early enough.
Dutchs, I am going to try the bunches this year and see how it goes.
Thanks

 

[Meerkat]

We have been eating and freezing tomato's for couple months now. I need to add more leaves to compost for raised needs but the mustards and turnips are ready to pick. Plus we have had a couple heads of cabbage, bell peppers last month and a few blueberries.
Need to plant okra and beans now.And soil test pear tree. Lots of pears last year but they didn't mature well.

 

[Meerkat]

Will try again later.

 

[backlash]

I got in a little bit of a hurry and took my seedlings out to my new greenhouse.
Yep it got down to 26.
No I get to start over on my tomatoes and cucumbers.
Oh well, still plenty of time.
On the other hand my peas are doing great out in the garden.

 

[Tank-Girl]

I brought 10 72 hole seedling trays and a hand seeder off ebay this morning.

I've miss the right moon planting window so I now have time to wait for the trays to turn up and be ready for the next.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Picked 5.5 bunches of silver beet yesterday from the gardens and we blanched and froze them to make 11 meals for the freezer. On Wednesday we picked a huge amount of lavender from the gardens and now have it hung and drying upside down for home and some to sell on the internet and we also saved some seeds from the last of our cucumbers picked from the gardens.

 

[Tank-Girl]

I just harvested some of the largest, fattest rosellas I've seen in my entire life!

The bushes are massive and healthy and they're loaded down with superior fruit and pink blushed flowers.

AMAZEBALLS!!

The rosellas I'm use to are scrawny specimens so I obviously got a better variety than the norm.

I kept some of the best fruit on the plant so I can seed save and the original seeds I brought from Boondie Seeds, SC, if you were wondering.

I LOVE rosella jam on toast and I've been waiting 6 months for this harvest.

 

[backlash]

I just harvested some of the largest, fattest rosellas I've seen in my entire life!

The bushes are massive and healthy and they're loaded down with superior fruit and pink blushed flowers.

AMAZEBALLS!!

The rosellas I'm use to are scrawny specimens so I obviously got a better variety than the norm.

I kept some of the best fruit on the plant so I can seed save and the original seeds I brought from Boondie Seeds, SC, if you were wondering.

I LOVE rosella jam on toast and I've been waiting 6 months for this harvest.

I had no idea what a rosella is.
I had to search for it.
For the others that don't know here's a link.
http://tasteaustralia.biz/bushfood/native-fruit/wild-rosella/

Wild rosella (Hibiscus sabdariffa), is an introduced species that typically grows in the most

north parts of Australia from Cairns in the east through to Broome in the west.

The petals can be used for making jellies and dessert garnishes. They have a tart flavour with a raspberry/rhubarb/plum quality.

Most commonly known for its use in champagne. It works well in either sweet or savoury dishes and goes well with ginger, chilli, and sugar, and fruits such as apples, peaches pears, nectarines and banana.

 

[TMT Tactical]

I had no idea what a rosella is.
I had to search for it.
For the others that don't know here's a link.
http://tasteaustralia.biz/bushfood/native-fruit/wild-rosella/

Wild rosella (Hibiscus sabdariffa), is an introduced species that typically grows in the most

north parts of Australia from Cairns in the east through to Broome in the west.

The petals can be used for making jellies and dessert garnishes. They have a tart flavour with a raspberry/rhubarb/plum quality.

Most commonly known for its use in champagne. It works well in either sweet or savoury dishes and goes well with ginger, chilli, and sugar, and fruits such as apples, peaches pears, nectarines and banana.

Backlash: Thank you for these details. It said it was introduces (imported?) from where and I wonder if it could be grown in the USA? I love it when the members jump in and help us learn More.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

@Tank-Girl glad to hear you have got a good crop of rosellas finally that you can eat and sounds like they are worth the wait. I will have to give them a try. Have been buying off Boondie Seeds for a while but just not lately as I have like you saved seeds off the original crops I grew.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

What some of the garden beds are looking like at the moment.

Garden bed 1 has beans on the left, 1 row of turnips, 2 rows of brown onions and just planted at the right California capsicum seeds which are not up yet. This bed will be mulched with Lucerne hay once all the seedlings have grown a bit taller.

Vegetable bed 2 we have on the left planted silver beet (swiss chard), in the middle beetroot growing and on the right carrots growing with some blank spots just replanted with more seeds.

Vegetable garden beds 3, 4 and 5 just amended with composted grass clippings and cow and horse manures ploughed through and some trench composted with vegetable peelings. We will work on these next week and put the drip irrigation systems back on, create the paths in between them with grass clippings and wood chips. The bed on the left will be planted with Australian white garlic and beetroot and then we will work on planting broad beans, carrots and broccoli and more.

There is a large 10 x 5mt garden bed currently planted with some pumpkins, corn and dwarf green beans.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our back vegetable garden beds, we have more garden beds in our front yard too with roses, herbs, sweet potatoes and tomatoes.

 

[Dutchs]

What some of the garden beds are looking like at the moment.

Garden bed 1 has beans on the left, 1 row of turnips, 2 rows of brown onions and just planted at the right California capsicum seeds which are not up yet. This bed will be mulched with Lucerne hay once all the seedlings have grown a bit taller.

View attachment 5935

Vegetable bed 2 we have on the left planted silver beet (swiss chard), in the middle beetroot growing and on the right carrots growing with some blank spots just replanted with more seeds.

View attachment 5936

Vegetable garden beds 3, 4 and 5 just amended with composted grass clippings and cow and horse manures ploughed through and some trench composted with vegetable peelings. We will work on these next week and put the drip irrigation systems back on, create the paths in between them with grass clippings and wood chips. The bed on the left will be planted with Australian white garlic and beetroot and then we will work on planting broad beans, carrots and broccoli and more.

View attachment 5937

There is a large 10 x 5mt garden bed currently planted with some pumpkins, corn and dwarf green beans.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our back vegetable garden beds, we have more garden beds in our front yard too with roses, herbs, sweet potatoes and tomatoes.

Very nice. Looks like you all will have a veggie party this year. I see you have your drip irrigation set up. Looks like it's in the sides of the beds. Do you always place it there or does it go on the top of the beds? I'm setting mine up today and want to do it right......

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Hi @Dutchs and I will explain our drip irrigation setup for you as we quite literally invented the best setup for us .

We irrigate or water our vegetable from gravity fed town water. From the garden tap we set up 13mm (we recommend 19mm poly pipe for better pressure) black irrigation pipe from the garden tap with an inline filter to each garden bed and have it running the length of the property as you see in picture 1 running along the fence. From the fence line we run lines of black poly irrigation pipe to each one of the beds at the ends and put in an inline tap on each bed so we can cut the water off if we are not using any particular garden bed.

The frame on each garden bed at the end is then made of black 13mm poly pipe with t-pieces at 30 cm intervals and then our drip irrigation pipe is plugged into each 30 cm running the length of the garden bed to the other poly pipe frame end at the other end. The whole frame is then plugged in at the poly pipe end of the garden at one point with a tap. When we need to plough we remove the whole frame by unplugging from the end of each garden bed, plough and plug it back in and peg it out with sticks as you see in the 1st photo.

Let me know if this makes sense otherwise I will post a photo for you of one of the watering irrigation frames off the garden bed . Needless to say any ends that are not plugged into the frames have a end plug or cap to seal the system off so all the water doesn't run out.

 

[Dutchs]

Hi @Dutchs and I will explain our drip irrigation setup for you as we quite literally invented the best setup for us .

We irrigate or water our vegetable from gravity fed town water. From the garden tap we set up 13mm (we recommend 19mm poly pipe for better pressure) black irrigation pipe from the garden tap with an inline filter to each garden bed and have it running the length of the property as you see in picture 1 running along the fence. From the fence line we run lines of black poly irrigation pipe to each one of the beds at the ends and put in an inline tap on each bed so we can cut the water off if we are not using any particular garden bed.

The frame on each garden bed at the end is then made of black 13mm poly pipe with t-pieces at 30 cm intervals and then our drip irrigation pipe is plugged into each 30 cm running the length of the garden bed to the other poly pipe frame end at the other end. The whole frame is then plugged in at the poly pipe end of the garden at one point with a tap. When we need to plough we remove the whole frame by unplugging from the end of each garden bed, plough and plug it back in and peg it out with sticks as you see in the 1st photo.

Let me know if this makes sense otherwise I will post a photo for you of one of the watering irrigation frames off the garden bed . Needless to say any ends that are not plugged into the frames have a end plug or cap to seal the system off so all the water doesn't run out.

Totally understood. I installed all of mine today. It's pretty much exactly what you just explained. And it's awesome!

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Still moving soil one shovel at a time.
Got herbs ready for herb garden bed, but unfortunately today we got snow.
Tomato plants are almost ready to be harden off.
But we got snow.
I have completely moved the raised bed a foot and half away from the foundation of my apartment.
Pretty much reassembled the raised beds, and refilled with soil, compost.
Wanted better walkways around raised beds that I could get around them when I have knee surgery.
This way don't have to crawl over any of the raised beds.
I will put mulch of some sort around the rb's.
My green beans are up in flower pot while waiting on weather to decide what's it doing.
Then will transplant it after the 17th of April.
Planting the washtub on stand with edible flowers.
Spent 15 minutes turning that soil this morning.
Got the Strawberry jar filled with soil, ready to plant.
Might just go ahead and put herbs in it. Later transplant some out of herb garden to the Strawberry Jar.
Can't eat Strawberries have allegry to them.
Go to doctor tomorrow for nerve conduction test.
Then see the Orthopedic Surgeon on the 17th of April.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Glad I could help @Dutchs these are things we learnt through trial and error and then adapted as we went till we got a drip irrigation watering that was the most efficient use of water and low town water pressure.

 

[Dani]

Last couple nights have gotten cool so ended up dragging every pop bottle, milk huh and coffee can I had saved for covering, but after this morning I can start taking them off. It's going to be getting close to 80 today and later this week will be up even more with lows in the 70s. There were some squash and melons that didn't get covered cause I ran out but so far they are looking ok. I got some eggplants and peppers ready to be transferred along with 4 honey dews but waiting for the warmer weather. Picked up a few okra seeds when we were at the feed store on Saturday. Hunny doesn't care for them but I do and little Sweet Pea liked the big yellow flowers. last year when she came to visit she would pick one go feed it to a goat then run back for another.

 

[SheepDog]

We were out weeding and turning the soil today. I got up before the sun so I decided to check the soil temp. It will be warm enough for some of our seeds this week and might warm enough for the rest in a few weeks. The onions and garlic that we wintered over are doing fine and the strawberries are showing the first blooms. We built six more raised beds and prepared the ground for Cantaloupe, Watermelon (two varieties) and started prepping the area for the blueberries. We have to get the soil to a bit higher acid level and then maintain that while adding the nutrients for the berries. We are not likely to get berries this year but next year should give us a full harvest. We might add a bush or two each year for the next couple of years depending on the yield.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

A little more done in the gardens yesterday . We straightened out and brought in the edges on beds 3, 4 and 5 and spread and watered in ag lime in beds 4 & 5 and connected up and pegged out the drip irrigation systems to beds 4 & 5 and left off the drip irrigation on bed no 3 that we are trench composting with kitchen vegetable scraps.

 

[Tank-Girl]

I've decided that I'm buying a 6 mtr x 10 mtr roll of insect netting this coming pension day.

I have to go to the big smoke for another surgeons appointment and there is an awesome wholesale green grocers that sell to the public not far from the hospital.

I could fill the car up with crazy cheap fruit and veg or I could put that money into the ability to grow fruit and veggies for many seasons to come.

I'd like to both but I simply can't.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Know the feeling @Tank-Girl at wanting to do numerous things but not having the funds to do so being on pensions. I would go with the crazy cheap produce and either blanch and freeze and or dehydrate some of it for your stores. Here is a good site for blanching and freezing instructions should you choose that option - http://www.pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm . It has great instructions on freezing 3/4's of the way down the page and also some ideas on canning and dehydrating too .

 

[Tank-Girl]

Know the feeling @Tank-Girl at wanting to do numerous things but not having the funds to do so being on pensions. I would go with the crazy cheap produce and either blanch and freeze and or dehydrate some of it for your stores. Here is a good site for blanching and freezing instructions should you choose that option - http://www.pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm . It has great instructions on freezing 3/4's of the way down the page and also some ideas on canning and dehydrating too .

Thank you SC. I appreciate the link.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Most welcome @Tank-Girl this is the one we use for all our blanching and freezing instructions and it also has some great recipes on there as well.