Garden 2022

[UrbanHunter]

Re-reading my previous post I realized that my last sentence is incorrect, yesterday we got 2 1/2"s of rain and I collected about 550 gallons of water, so my last sentence was an error. I also realized that I am only using about 460 gallons of water a week when my garden is in full swing, so for the most part I will only be part of the water we collect, but on average it rains about every 3 days and we get just under 2" of water a week, so by having 2 weeks supply of water stored at the start I should be able to water the garden all summer without turning to city water, which is what the goal was. And, I usually don't water when it's raining so that stretches it out a bit. Now, as my wife pointed out over supper last night, that does not provide me any surplus for expanding the garden beyond what we currently have... She did suggest that I figure out how to supply rain water to my indoor growing space, it uses 15 gallons of water a week, so I think that is a reasonable request.

On a growing note, my okra finally woke up and is producing a few pods each day.

The cherry tomatoes are just overwhelming me, I am getting about a quart of them off the indoor plants a week and there are gallons of them on the outdoor plants, I am at a loss as to what to do with them.... Wife says they are too much work to can and we just don't eat that much salad....

My summer lettuce bolted, but I have already replanted another crop.

My fall spinach is up in 2 places, so we should have plenty till December...

I need to find time to get my indoor cucs and squash into their final digs.... This is my first time at these so don't ask me how they are going to work....

 

[sonya123]

Hashbrown can you legally sell it in your State? ( I dont know where you are).
Here you can grow 4 plants per household and cannot sell it unless you have a $10000 growers license last I checked . The 4 plants are supposed to have a sticker on it with your name or something . We are in Virginia
If you don't mind me asking , what exactly strain are you growing? I am growing something very specific for my anxiety issues ( medical grade indica with relatively high CBD in it) but my plants don't seem to get very tall. I grew some random seeds last year and they were huge but not very potent at all.

What's funny is that now that it is legal , everyone and their grandma is smoking it.

 

[Amish Heart]

Cherry tomatoes, Urban....i cut and freeze them, dehydrate them, can them, freeze dry them, and sometimes the chickens get them, too. They make a decent shelf stable tomato powder.

 

[sonya123]

Our gardens: one is about to be tilled and planted with winter rye. It's in the sheep pasture so we had an electric fence around it which we took down yesterday. We were hoping the sheep would eat the remaining weeds but they seem to be so used to haveing that fence there ( 3 strands of electric tape only) that they don't go in it
The other garden has a new batch of beets growing but not sure they will be done by the end of the market ( end of October), maybe, we'll see. I still have some peppers, greens and a ton of pumpkins growing there also, plus butternut squash. Picked 2 5 gallon buckets of apples yesterday too. I chopped off the heads of my cabbages and left the root to see what would happen, and they are growing tiny little cabbage heads again now.

 

[Amish Heart]

You are reminding me to put some more beet seeds in the ground, Sonya.
I did that with cabbages last year, left them in the ground, and did get some small side tiny ones to eat.

 

[Magpie]

The late sun has really extended the season here, I'm still picking mangetout and strawberries, and the sunflowers are fabulous. Hoping to be able to collect the seeds. Corn is nearly ready, but with the rain now here not sure if it'll get the last bit of heat it may need. Planted some more leek and carrots, and planned some potatoes in the poly once the corn is lifted.

 

[Pearl]

Re-reading my previous post I realized that my last sentence is incorrect, yesterday we got 2 1/2"s of rain and I collected about 550 gallons of water, so my last sentence was an error. I also realized that I am only using about 460 gallons of water a week when my garden is in full swing, so for the most part I will only be part of the water we collect, but on average it rains about every 3 days and we get just under 2" of water a week, so by having 2 weeks supply of water stored at the start I should be able to water the garden all summer without turning to city water, which is what the goal was. And, I usually don't water when it's raining so that stretches it out a bit. Now, as my wife pointed out over supper last night, that does not provide me any surplus for expanding the garden beyond what we currently have... She did suggest that I figure out how to supply rain water to my indoor growing space, it uses 15 gallons of water a week, so I think that is a reasonable request.

On a growing note, my okra finally woke up and is producing a few pods each day.

The cherry tomatoes are just overwhelming me, I am getting about a quart of them off the indoor plants a week and there are gallons of them on the outdoor plants, I am at a loss as to what to do with them.... Wife says they are too much work to can and we just don't eat that much salad....

My summer lettuce bolted, but I have already replanted another crop.

My fall spinach is up in 2 places, so we should have plenty till December...

I need to find time to get my indoor cucs and squash into their final digs.... This is my first time at these so don't ask me how they are going to work....

I'm curious about the indoor cukes and squash!! Know someone who who grew bush cukes in her greenhouse in pots. Not in big pots, she always had bunches from those plants. I need to ask her what they were. She's an older lady and moved into assisted living two years ago so she doesn't garden anymore! She still likes to offer good advice!

 

[Neb]

Added....

An olive tree to the collection.

It like the orange tree will come inside for the winter. If the fig cuttings root they also be inside for winter.

Ben

 

[Wingnut]

Quick question for y'all: do wild onions have clusters of small white flowers atop green stalks? I think I have a truckload of wild onions in my yard, I keep smelling onion whenever I pass 'em. Dang, I should've taken a picture earlier... I'll get a photo manana, it'd be nice if these are actually edible wild onions, there are heaps of 'em!

 

[Pearl]

Quick question for y'all: do wild onions have clusters of small white flowers atop green stalks? I think I have a truckload of wild onions in my yard, I keep smelling onion whenever I pass 'em. Dang, I should've taken a picture earlier... I'll get a photo manana, it'd be nice if these are actually edible wild onions, there are heaps of 'em!

Onion grass!! I have a lot of it!!

 

[Peanut]

Quick question for y'all: do wild onions have clusters of small white flowers atop green stalks? I think I have a truckload of wild onions in my yard, I keep smelling onion whenever I pass 'em. Dang, I should've taken a picture earlier... I'll get a photo manana, it'd be nice if these are actually edible wild onions, there are heaps of 'em!

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/uses-for-wild-onion-grass.1348/
@Neb looks like a fine crop of virginia creeper, annoying vines. don't remember the percentage but a portion of the pop. can get contact dermatitis, a rash from them. Late in the year but before winter. Some mistakenly call it PI because of this.

Take more pics of the olive tree, that interests me.

 

[Tommyice]

@Peanut what you're calling Virginia Creeper we call Woodbine. Do you know if they're the same? I've that growing all over my fences here in Jersey. Drives me nuts. It's got these little "suction cups" that stick to everything. Advice on how to eradicate it?

 

[joel]

I have the Wild garlic all over my farm.
I have seen wild onion bloom on the road side.
The wild garlic gets about 24 inches high.
Wild onions is just a few inches high & can be killed off by a turn plow, Garlic will come back.

 

[Peanut]

@Peanut what you're calling Virginia Creeper we call Woodbine. Do you know if they're the same? I've that growing all over my fences here in Jersey. Drives me nuts. It's got these little "suction cups" that stick to everything. Advice on how to eradicate it?

Virginia Creeper aka Woodbine aka Parthenocissus quinquefolia - It's medicinal properties were written about as early as the 1600's by a man named Thomas Johnson. It was used by eclectic medical practitioners as late as the 1850's. The writings are vague and general. It was never high on anyone's list of medicinal plants. It was added to tonics.

It's classed as a tonic, astringent and as an expectorant. In fact the only current use I know of is as a treatment for poison ivy. It's astringent properties will dry out PI blisters. (Even so there are dozens of other plants I'd use first.)

Also, in the fall of the year its been known to cause an itchy rash in a small portion of the population, 20% or so (contact dermatitis). It contains a lot of oxalic acid which concentrates in the fall.

Birds and squirrels love the little fruits but if you want to kill it, same methods as killing poison ivy. Me - I just keep cutting the vine off a ground level, it'll die eventually.

Notice in the description below... they say "poison characteristics" not "poison". No one has bothered to figure out why some folks will get a rash from it so they wrote "characteristics".
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https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/parthenocissus-quinquefolia/
Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Common Name(s): Virginia Creeper, Virginia-creeper, Woodbine

Phonetic Spelling - par-then-oh-SIS-us kwin-ke-FOH-lee-ah
This plant has high severity poison characteristics.

Description - Parthenocissus quinquefolia is a deciduous, woody vine that is commonly called Virginia creeper or Woodbine. It is native to eastern and central North America south to Mexico. It is typically located in open areas of ravines, valleys, rich woods, thickets, rocky bluffs, hillsides, and fencerows. Native to North Carolina, it can be found naturally in swampy forests, maritime forests, and thickets. This is a vigorous tendril-climbing vine that will rapidly grow to 30-50’ long or more. It needs no support because it clings to surfaces (e.g., brick, stone or wood walls) by adhesive holdfasts (also called sucker disks) located at the tendril ends. It also will creep along the ground as suggested by the common name. Its bark is gray-brown with aerial roots and tendrils. When rapidly growing, the aerial roots are bright orange-brown...

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Go Botany: Native Plant Trust › species › parthenocissus › quinquefolia
Parthenocissus quinquefolia — Virginia-creeper, woodbine

...Its distinctive, five-fingered ( compound ), glossy-green leaves give this vine away. It climbs vigorously via tendrils. Songbirds and squirrels eat the fruits. It can be used to reclaim erosion-prone areas, and is cultivated for its unusual five-parted foliage...

 

[Neb]

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/uses-for-wild-onion-grass.1348/
@Neb looks like a fine crop of virginia creeper, annoying vines. don't remember the percentage but a portion of the pop. can get contact dermatitis, a rash from them. Late in the year but before winter. Some mistakenly call it PI because of this.

Take more pics of the olive tree, that interests me.

You may have answered an outstanding question.

The Princess will often discover a mild rash after she weeds. She knows PI very well and would know if it was PI.

I will share that info with her.

The Virginia creeper does a nice job of shading the corner of our house from the afternoon summer sun.

I will get better images of the olive tree to share.

Ben

 

[Peanut]

Locally the vine is known as "Cow Itch", don't ask me why. I've know several people in my life who were sensitive to it. A mild rash is the usual result. I'm not sensitive, can handle it without problems.

I think that if someone is sensitive to the plant that its all the time, not just fall. More rural people are exposed in fall when cutting firewood, fall fence repairs. An increase in the number of people handling it would show an increase of people with a rash. Rashes reported in fall are due to circumstance, not a chemical change in the vine. Imho

 

[LadyLocust]

You may have answered an outstanding question.

The Princess will often discover a mild rash after she weeds. She knows PI very well and would know if it was PI.

I will share that info with her.

The Virginia creeper does a nice job of shading the corner of our house from the afternoon summer sun.

I will get better images of the olive tree to share.

Ben

Can I ask what variety of olive you got (& green or black)? I asked my Gma before she passed what kind she always used to can and she couldn't remember

 

[LadyLocust]

My cabbages are growing more small heads too - yay!
My second crop of green beans is full of blossoms so hoping for some beans before the cold weather.

@UrbanHunter You mentioned that when you "rearranged" your water barrels that the insides were nice and clean. Sorry if you mentioned this before, but what sort of filtering system do you have for the water going into the barrels? I ordered a rain barrel which should be here Mon. We don't have any issues with water, but I wanted the option in case stupidity does something to our system. I figure it would be at least that much more water even if only for washing in such a situation. The roof it will be collecting from is metal and is about 12 X 16-20 (haven't measured, just eyeing).

 

[Pearl]

@Peanut what you're calling Virginia Creeper we call Woodbine. Do you know if they're the same? I've that growing all over my fences here in Jersey. Drives me nuts. It's got these little "suction cups" that stick to everything. Advice on how to eradicate it?

Goats will eat it!!

 

[joel]

 

[joel]

Cow Itch

 

[UrbanHunter]

My cabbages are growing more small heads too - yay!
My second crop of green beans is full of blossoms so hoping for some beans before the cold weather.

@UrbanHunter You mentioned that when you "rearranged" your water barrels that the insides were nice and clean. Sorry if you mentioned this before, but what sort of filtering system do you have for the water going into the barrels? I ordered a rain barrel which should be here Mon. We don't have any issues with water, but I wanted the option in case stupidity does something to our system. I figure it would be at least that much more water even if only for washing in such a situation. The roof it will be collecting from is metal and is about 12 X 16-20 (haven't measured, just eyeing).

That is a good question..

Up on the roof I placed a metal screen in the gutter, it looks like a small hoop as deep as the gutter above the down spout and it tapers about 18" into the gutter, it is flush with the gutter bottom at the inlet. This keeps the big twigs and dirt out of the down spout. At the bottom of the down spout I have 5' of 3" pipe held about 1' off the ground, it has a threaded cap at the bottom and there is a 2" line coming off it about 1' from the bottom, this catches any heavy debris that makes it into the down spout, there is also a 2" over flow pipe that connects about 6"s from the top of the 3" pipe/downspout connection. Once the water leaves this trap it goes through a horizontal U with a Tee at the middle of the U and a there is a 2" threaded plug at the open end of the U that I can use as a clean-out. From the Tee in the U the pipe is necked down to 3/4 inch PVC which runs 35 feet to the top of the rain barrels, once at the barrels the water inters going through a window screen...

The black barrels were clean, the white barrels collected algae, so keeping the sunlight out of the barrels is important for keeping them clean.

The other thing about this year is I was moving a lot of water (~65 gallons per day) through the barrels, so the water was not sitting stagnant for weeks on end. I actually ran out of water on 3 occasions this year and had to supplement with city water, which is why I added the 240 gallons more storage. I would prefer to be as independent as possible just in case.

 

[LadyLocust]

That is a good question..

Up on the roof I placed a metal screen in the gutter, it looks like a small hoop as deep as the gutter above the down spout and it tapers about 18" into the gutter, it is flush with the gutter bottom at the inlet. This keeps the big twigs and dirt out of the down spout. At the bottom of the down spout I have 5' of 3" pipe held about 1' off the ground, it has a threaded cap at the bottom and there is a 2" line coming off it about 1' from the bottom, this catches any heavy debris that makes it into the down spout, there is also a 2" over flow pipe that connects about 6"s from the top of the 3" pipe/downspout connection. Once the water leaves this trap it goes through a horizontal U with a Tee at the middle of the U and a there is a 2" threaded plug at the open end of the U that I can use as a clean-out. From the Tee in the U the pipe is necked down to 3/4 inch PVC which runs 35 feet to the top of the rain barrels, once at the barrels the water inters going through a window screen...
View attachment 93927
The black barrels were clean, the white barrels collected algae, so keeping the sunlight out of the barrels is important for keeping them clean.

The other thing about this year is I was moving a lot of water (~65 gallons per day) through the barrels, so the water was not sitting stagnant for weeks on end. I actually ran out of water on 3 occasions this year and had to supplement with city water, which is why I added the 240 gallons more storage. I would prefer to be as independent as possible just in case.

Thank you! I'm just getting one - it's dark grey and not translucent so should be good from the algae standpoint. We have a well but live in farm ground with leaching chemicals from every direction so I would probably trust a rain barrel after the first rain more than our ground water. I will look at the gutter and see what I can come up with. I was thinking I'd need a screen or two at some point. I like the T extension so heavier mass settles there rather than going into the water pipe (not sure what else to call it.) I'm sure there will be quirks once I get it set up.
Again thanks!

 

[Neb]

Can I ask what variety of olive you got (& green or black)? I asked my Gma before she passed what kind she always used to can and she couldn't remember

Koroneiki

More picrures

Don't know anything about what type. The Princess buys stuff and it is my job to keep it alive.

Ben

 

[Peanut]

Cow Itch
View attachment 93923

as it's known here... Trumpet Creeper aka trumpet vine. It's also astringent and causes a rash with some folks.

 

[joel]

as it's known here... Trumpet Creeper aka trumpet vine. It's also astringent and causes a rash with some folks.

Yes it is known by that name here too.
Funny, no one knows why it is called "Cow Itch" & I have ask everyone who use the name.
There is a yellow Trumpet vine that is sold as a fence cover.

 

[Tommyice]

Goats will eat it!!

Livestock, of any kind, is prohibited in my borough. It’s something I’ve raised with the health department many times. Mostly for chickens. The board members will say, “animals carry diseases.” I get eyerolls when I remind them that so do small children but nobody prohibits them.

I leave it until after Autumn--it turns a beautiful shade of red.

 

[Pearl]

Livestock, of any kind, is prohibited in my borough. It’s something I’ve raised with the health department many times. Mostly for chickens. The board members will say, “animals carry diseases.” I get eyerolls when I remind them that so do small children but nobody prohibits them.

I leave it until after Autumn--it turns a beautiful shade of red.

Yeah, I figured, but ya never know what a Jersey Girl will try!!

 

[Tommyice]

Yeah, I figured, but ya never know what a Jersey Girl will try!!

I'd have stealth chickens if I didn't go upstate for 3 weeks during the year. There's no one I'd reliable trust to take care while away. Funny thing is the towns all surrounding us allow them--only hens, which I understand. Our BoH is based on the 1963 avian outbreak. Evidently my town has such a strong border that diseased avian can't get in.

I even appealled to their greed--suggested folks register them like dogs. I tried to get on the board, but since the members are appointed by the mayor/council, no go. I'm not affiliated with any party and I've go too much mouth.

 

[Magpie]

Livestock, of any kind, is prohibited in my borough. It’s something I’ve raised with the health department many times. Mostly for chickens. The board members will say, “animals carry diseases.” I get eyerolls when I remind them that so do small children but nobody prohibits them.

I leave it until after Autumn--it turns a beautiful shade of red.

I would have thought after the past two years it's humans we need to be careful of. It bugs me when boards have control about what you do on your own premises.
How many of them washed their hands before sitting at the table I wonder? Sorry. Should be in the rant section, right?