Garden 2022

[Neb]

I got 2 apple trees from Stark Bros called columnar trees specifically for growing in patio pots. Last year I got 2 of them from either Shumway’s or Gurney’s.

The orchard over the hill from grows their apples with columnar trees. Very intense fruit production in a small area.

Ben

 

[Tommyice]

The orchard over the hill from grows their apples with columnar trees. Very intense fruit production in a small area.

Ben

I hope so on the intense production.

 

[LadyLocust]

We were told by an orcharder that the trees might be stunted. I figured it's worth a shot.

 

[hashbrown]

We got the belts changed on the tiller that had the stuck motor and tilled the little garden we plowed up a few days ago. We need to go over to the neighbors and shovel up a couple of truck loads of manure and till it in now.

 

[joel]

I got 2 apple trees from Stark Bros called columnar trees specifically for growing in patio pots. Last year I got 2 of them from either Shumway’s or Gurney’s.

I got two apple trees from them & the deer kelp the leave picked off & they died after 36 months. My fault I should have put up a six foot fence, as a four square cage.

 

[joel]

Blackberrys have too much competition around here. There are 100's of species vines and thick foliage fighting for light.

A few thrive, aside from acres of kudzu. We have wild roses in kudzu! They'll rip you to pieces. I once fell into a large gully crossing a very large patch of kudzu. I was bleeding all over when I got out of that gully. It was filled with escaped roses, huge, tough thorns.

View attachment 82152

Looks like "Seven Sisters", we had one that grew though the fence, years after we move into the new house. The cows kept it mowed down, eating the tender new growth.

 

[joel]

Back in the Prepared Society days we grew big gardens. We would plant 600 tomato plants and harvest 3000 ears of sweet corn. It got to be too much work, I thought it would be nice to do it on a smaller scale than we used to.

I remember the truck load of vegetables on the open tailgate, Father always planted a large garden, still I was impressed.

 

[Terri9630]

I love to eat blackberries and wouldn't intentionally kill them. I had to start a mint area when we moved here, there wasn't any. It's surrounded by a cement walkway, so it's not going anywhere. I use the leaves for tea

If that cement isn't very thick/deep it will go right under it.

 

[Terri9630]

Need to get seeds started. We’re late. Just not feeling like it right now. Maybe feel better once they are started. Got a little cheap greenhouse set up last weekend. Put a new mint plant in it to see if it gets to cold in it. Just could not see getting a real greenhouse here anymore.

We haven't started our seeds yet either. They are going to have to wait until the middle of April. If its one of the cheap tent like green houses make sure you strap it to the ground. I've seen several get picked up and destroyed by the wind.

 

[Double R]

We haven't started our seeds yet either. They are going to have to wait until the middle of April. If its one of the cheap tent like green houses make sure you strap it to the ground. I've seen several get picked up and destroyed by the wind.

We got our tomatoes and peppers started last night (Sunday). We got a cheap green house too. We hopefully got it secured well enough. Unfortunately I wasn’t here today and the thermometer shows a high of 124*. Soil is still moist but a little concerned. Will be opening the side flaps tomorrow and see what the temp does. Will be around enough to check on it I hope.

 

[UrbanHunter]

We got our tomatoes and peppers started last night (Sunday). We got a cheap green house too. We hopefully got it secured well enough. Unfortunately I wasn’t here today and the thermometer shows a high of 124*. Soil is still moist but a little concerned. Will be opening the side flaps tomorrow and see what the temp does. Will be around enough to check on it I hope.

I suggest you put a thermometer inside your greenhouse and outside in the shade, you will be amazed at the solar heat gain they can generate. My homemade raised bed tops can easily raise the temperature in the bed by over 25F, the soil acts as a heat sink and can keep the overnight temperatures a few degrees warmer too. For me if the outside temperature reaches 70F and it is a sunny day I need to think about opening the lids or my plants will wilt from the 100F heat. Usually the worst is in the afternoon between 13:00 and 16:00, if it is a warm day I will open them up for just a few hours and then close them in the late afternoon so I have a little warmth trapped in the box going into the evening.

 

[UrbanHunter]

The larger plants that were outside in boot trays had 1" of Ice around their base and the plants were wilted badly (they were not in one of my raised beds), I removed the ice and added cool tap water, I hope they recover now that it is warming up. I read that they can tolerate temperatures down to the 20s, but they saw 18F for 2 nights during this last cold snap... sad the broccoli had small crowns showing and the cabbage had tennis ball sized heads.

 

[joel]

My horseradish die the third year.
My Sun choke where eaten by deer the second year & never came back.
My mint lived in a pot for five years & I planted it in the blueberries patch & it spread the 2nd year but was gone by the fifth year.
I am beginning to thank I should only annuals.
I did order a lot of morning glory seed, colors that are not growing wild on the Farm.

 

[elkhound]

went to feed store to get some sweet corn seed...what a change from last year...3ozs $6.99 last year it was $3.99. i left it hanging..wasnt exactly what i wanted so i decided to order some and going to see if i can get some of my very old seed to sprout.

seed sovereignty is a real thing and we are looking at it on our homestead gardens.i been gearing more and more towards all my own seeds and expanded last year and will be doing even more so this year.

 

[joel]

went to feed store to get some sweet corn seed...what a change from last year...3ozs $6.99 last year it was $3.99. i left it hanging..wasnt exactly what i wanted so i decided to order some and going to see if i can get some of my very old seed to sprout.

seed sovereignty is a real thing and we are looking at it on our homestead gardens.i been gearing more and more towards all my own seeds and expanded last year and will be doing even more so this year.

Deer corn cheaper than that.

 

[Tommyice]

We got our tomatoes and peppers started last night (Sunday). We got a cheap green house too. We hopefully got it secured well enough. Unfortunately I wasn’t here today and the thermometer shows a high of 124*. Soil is still moist but a little concerned. Will be opening the side flaps tomorrow and see what the temp does. Will be around enough to check on it I hope.

I've put a thermometer that has a reading station in the house in my tent-style greenhouse. During the day it will sometimes get really hot in there, but overnight it will be only 5-10 degrees warmer than outside.

Definately anchor it really well. I also put paving bricks along the bottom sides that are flapped out a little. If it's going to be windy, be sure the door is zipped all the way and any window flaps are secured down. They do fly a bit.

 

[elkhound]

Deer corn cheaper than that.

???

not sure i understand.

corn for seed vs. corn to eat..i know any and all corn can be planted and some type crop gotten. i have various field corns covered and some sweet corn but i want more options.

 

[montanabill]

Hauling and stacking soil amendments getting ready for late may gardening start. This being rocky mountain montana it can snow as late as june but some years we get lucky. We have a nice set of south facing windows which we will start seeds in shortly and also a small outdoor simple greenhouse that we harden plants plants off and use electric heaters and a fan in.

 

[UrbanHunter]

I received the hoop/insect cloth kits. I have a couple of raised beds up against the house. I found that by drilling 1/2" holes about 3"s into the sides of the bed frame I can make half hoop coverings for the bed, by applying plastic instead of the bug cloth I can have cheep-o hot boxes. I think it will give me some options for some of my more difficult locations.

I saw @Tommyice 's comment about hotboxes/tent style greenhouses only buying you 5 or 10 degrees at night (he is correct), but if the plants can withstand down to 28F, then you are looking at keeping them alive down to 18F, in areas that don't have hard Winters it may buy you a month or two of growing season. I am lucky we generally never get down below 0 F, we will get down to the teens mid-November to mid-March, so I am able to stretch my "normal" growing season to 8 months, 240 days. That's enough to get 2 full crops, if I start my seeds indoors I can get 3 crops out of most plants. If you are working with a very small space it can make a real difference in how much you can grow.

 

[LadyLocust]

 

[LadyLocust]

Wow! Y'all are busy. My little seeds/plants are looking happy at the moment which makes me want to get out in the dirt.

went to feed store to get some sweet corn seed...what a change from last year...3ozs $6.99 last year it was $3.99. i left it hanging..wasnt exactly what i wanted so i decided to order some and going to see if i can get some of my very old seed to sprout.

seed sovereignty is a real thing and we are looking at it on our homestead gardens.i been gearing more and more towards all my own seeds and expanded last year and will be doing even more so this year.

I save the little envelopes the seeds come in the either put the new seeds in a little ziplock in the envelope w/ yr. written or just line through on the envelope and write the yr so I know when I collected them. That way I know what variety the seeds are. I have to keep it simple or it doesn't get done. I'm not good at a garden journal but do keep a calendar at hand and jot down when I plant things.

 

[Tommyice]

Ooh I like that idea of saving the seeds in the original envelope. I’m horrible at journaling

 

[UrbanHunter]

I keep my back-up seeds in an ammo can in the man-cave fridge. I have 2 trays of seeds in their envelopes for current use. I open them at the top with a knife, take what I need and then fold the top over and tape it shut until I need it again.

I have been shocked by my indoor turnips, I have been trimming back their leaves to protect other plants and discovered that they are bulking up better indoors than they do outside for me. I have to be honest I have so many pests that love the turnips that I very seldom even get a 10% yield outdoors.

Yesterday, I harvested beet leaves, lettuce, and carrots for our salads. The wife is very protective of our bucket carrots and prefers to use them in salads and such because they turned out so sweet.

I also direct sow planted a packet of sugar peas in the new cheap-o hot box I created next to the house, I just had to see what would happen.....

 

[UrbanHunter]

On the 15th, I reported that the trays with container broccoli and the cabbage had an inch of ICE around their bases as a result of 2 days of hard freezes. Well this morning the plants have bounced back, only the most exposed part of the wilted leaves appear to have been lost but the remainder of the plants have perked back up and appear happy. It only got down to 36F last night and it is expected to get to 70F today. The plants that were in the covered raised bed that had 3"s of snow in it due to operator error, have all recovered NO plants (spinach, lettuce, and green onions) lost.... Every day I see a reason to be optimistic about this growing season.

 

[Bacpacker]

In the freeze and snow over the weekend. My snow peas and garlic still looks great. The tatervshooys however got burnt. I do think they will still put up new growth. Time will tell

 

[UrbanHunter]

Today at lunch I went looking for some deer netting that I just knew was near my growing station, I moved some stuff and saw a box with what looked like seed packets.... Yep, a small Amazon sized box will all the seed packets that I was using last year, I think I will sort all my seeds tonight and put them in ziplock gallon bags... Ho yes, I did find my deer netting, it was under a box of seeds...

Last year was the first year that I was able to enjoy the harvest off my grape vines, I have them on a 10' long trellis and I am thinking of making 3 brackets to hold the legs of a hoop tent along the top of the trellis, then I can throw the netting over the hoops and attach it to them. I think it will allow the grapes room to grow and protect them from the birds without getting the vines all tangled up in the netting.

 

[Tommyice]

Today at lunch I went looking for some deer netting that I just knew was near my growing station, I moved some stuff and saw a box with what looked like seed packets.... Yep, a small Amazon sized box will all the seed packets that I was using last year, I think I will sort all my seeds tonight and put them in ziplock gallon bags... Ho yes, I did find my deer netting, it was under a box of seeds...

Last year was the first year that I was able to enjoy the harvest off my grape vines, I have them on a 10' long trellis and I am thinking of making 3 brackets to hold the legs of a hoop tent along the top of the trellis, then I can throw the netting over the hoops and attach it to them. I think it will allow the grapes room to grow and protect them from the birds without getting the vines all tangled up in the netting.

Your deer netting story reminded me of an episode from the Victorian kitchen garden. It used to be on YouTube keeps getting pulled off. But here’s a link to the whole series on Dailymotion. Victorian kitchen garden videos - Dailymotion

it’s a good series. It talks about a kitchen a walled garden in England and how they were able to grow year-round in the Victorian era

 

[LadyLocust]

Is there a trick to getting delphinium started? Or do the seeds take a long time to germinate? (I need to get the package out & read if it says)

 

[UrbanHunter]

Thankyou @Tommyice for the link, I just watched the April episode and if find it amazing.

I was able to add 8" of soil to one of my raised beds that had subsided, there were about a half dozen onions in there and I harvested them. It will get into the low 40s tonight and then warm up to about 55 tomorrow with rain expected for most of the day, I'm glad I got the rain water collection system turned on earlier this week.

I did sort and bag all my current working seeds, I ended up with 29 gallon bags. I was tempted to split the bush and pole beans to get 30 bags, but I was able to restrain myself.

@LadyLocust my second try at bucket carrots did not germinate nearly as fast as the first buckets, I think the difference was that I put cling wrap over the top of the first batch and did not on the second. I planted 2 more buckets tonight, after I watered them from top, I applied 2 layers of cling wrap and taped them in place. The buckets have holes in the bottom and set in a tray with water. I hope they take hold quickly.

 

[dademoss]

Finally got my Tiny Tim Dwarf Cherry Tomato Organic Heirloom Seeds for the kitchen shelf, have to get them started

A true dwarf tomato plant. Our TomatoFest organic tomato seeds produce determinate, regular-leaf, miniature tomato plant that gets to 12" high that yields small braids of 3/4" red, round, cherry tomatoes. This is a perfect tomato for gardeners who wish to grow tomatoes in pots any time of the year inside the house or in limited space gardens outside. Fruit is juicy and has very good sweet/tart tomato flavors. An early season variety (50 days) for those who choose to harvest tomatoes as early as possible.