Garden 2022

[Amish Heart]

You can eat those seeds, Wingnut. I grew mammoth heads this year, but also the smaller ones.

 

[Wingnut]

Aren't the smaller seeds a PITA to hull?

 

[elkhound]

Aren't the smaller seeds a PITA to hull?

i have never done this before soooo. i do know the grist mill i have theres a way to set the grinding head to hull sunflower seeds out. if it can do it so can a little hand cranked mill... think. probably take a few trys setting it the best width to let most go a few rounds before falling through and then just winnow out chaff.

i assume you do this after roasting too.

sorry not much help.

also i seen some 3rd world design to hull stuff using disks covered in a felt or something semi hard to run stuff through. zachery bowers of an american homestead recently showed how his father in law made a simple hand twisted board thingy to dehull rice that probably work too.

 

[elkhound]

 

[elkhound]

 

[Peanut]

It's all done... this years garden was a bust, a few tomatoes and some okra. A cold spring followed by 2 mini-droughts and rains at the wrong time. Peppers were the only thing that did well and they were 6 weeks late.

I dried jalapeno's, serrano's, thai and tabasco peppers. I have a two year supply now, vacuum sealed except a small jar of each that I'm using.

I also made a dozen bottles of peppers sauce. Gave some away already and have a few more to give away at christmas.

 

[Bacpacker]

Anyone that is using, or considering using drip irrigation, Drip Depot is running a 20% off sale thru the end of the month. Sorrybfor not posting this sooner.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Thanks @Bacpacker! I have most everything that I need, but I noticed that a couple of my filters leaked this year, so I ordered a set of filters and pressure regulators (I ordered 1 for each of my circuits), I also picked up a pressure gauge, got the discount and free shipping.

I have been transplanting small plants into larger pots, now most of my longer lasting plants are in #2 nursery pots. I now have some out door spinach up and my lettuce is at a harvest stage. I planted a tray of starter lettuce yesterday and a tub of beets. I need to start another tub of turnips for the indoor growing station.

My indoor carrots are outside and almost ready to harvest... I am making a small platform over my water barrels so I can place things that grow well outside there. I am going to cover the plywood with tar paper to try to keep it from rotting. I am using scrap from my other projects so it will not be pretty, but if I can get a couple super trays of spinach growing on them it will help. I may try to make supports for small hoop tunnels over them so they can go into the winter without being moved...

I got my onion sets placed, hopefully they will come up next spring.

I have a couple bushels of celery to harvest, I am going to cut the stocks into 1" chunks and dry it in the dehydrator. My wife is determined that we must keep all the leaves, but I don't know how to use it. I am debating keeping some of the roots in the ground for next year...

The indoor tomatoes are doing fine, the paper plates that I put to keep the nats down also help by catching the tomatoes that fall when I bump the rack.

The solar is able to keep the greenhouse lights going and the duct to collect heat only draws about 50 watts, it appears to raise the floor temperature about 5 degrees. Overall the greenhouse is now uncomfortably warm (>85F) in the afternoons, but the okra seems happy.

Well, I have wasted enough time trying to catch up and report. Adding a switch that cuts power to everything in my computer room has helped me a lot, it reduces the power use when I am not on the computer and it makes me think about it before getting on the computer, if you have to wait for everything to power up each time it is not as tempting.....

 

[Bacpacker]

Urban i bought so much from them last 3 years I didn't need very much to the point I missed the free shipping. Should have bout more fittings
I've got to blow some leaves today and decided to put a good batch in each bed. Then I'll cover them with compost here in a couple weeks. They all need topping off and the leaves will make a nice addituon.

 

[Tommyice]

Homegrown watermelon for breakfast (first course, more food later, lol), quite tasty but I still get the feeling that the flavor would be more robust if these melons had fully developed. Also, I seem to have gotten a full complement of seeds out of this melon, which wasn't quite the size of a football. I suppose that if the melon had fully developed, there would've been more 'flesh' to the fruit, aye? I'm hoping that's what happens next season, when I intend to plant a hundred melon vines in my yard under the high desert sun, lol. Things will be worse than goatheads, but instead of getting stabbed by the melons, I'll be trippin' over 'em in the dark when I'm drunk, lol.

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That melon looks great.

Is that a Hotel Del trivet?

 

[UrbanHunter]

Yesterday I set up trays for starting winter spinach. They are unprotected at this time but the spinach likes a little cold.
In the greenhouse. the starter tray of lettuce is showing sprouts, once they get just over an inch high I will use a plastic spoon to transplant some of them into my covered raised beds. Using this approach I can be constantly rotating plants from seedlings to plants that we can harvest.

I have discovered that the spinach likes the cold to start sprouting, but they grow fast in the warmth of the covered raised beds. Totally the reverse of what I do with most of my plants...

 

[sonya123]

The only thing left in the gardens now is a patch of lettuce. I cover it up when it freezes. Well and the winter rye is growing. We still have half a garden to weed and put rye seeds out, hope it's not too late

 

[Wingnut]

That melon looks great.

Is that a Hotel Del trivet?

Well, it has four small cork pads for 'feet' and there's some info on the underside, but yes, it is the South Tower of the Hotel Del Coronado, or 'The Victorian Fire Hazard' (as my friends & I call it, lol). Work on the Hotel Del Coronado began in 1887 and was completed in 1888... the structure was featured in the movie 'SOME LIKE IT HOT' with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon. It is an internationally-recognized historical landmark and my friends & I explored every nook & cranny of that joint when we were youngsters.

We also rode our bikes down the carpeted stairs at the NW end of the building, lol... Tony Kelly (now deceased) almost made it UP the stairs on his tricked-out adult BMX bike (26" wheels), he was a damned good rider but his life went downhill when he started tweekin' (or using meth). He ultimately was murdered and dismembered by a biker fresh out of jail, when the biker discovered Tony together with his wife or girlfriend. It was reported that the biker hacked limbs & possibly the head off Tony's corpse, but that may have just been media hype or mere local gossip.

Meh, enough of that sordid business, here's the Hotel Del Coronado "hot plate" (says so on the underside, lol) in all its glory, it belonged to me beloved & dear departed mum so I keep it to this day as a reminder of her, aye? I feel it's so important to HONOR those family members who have passed away, and keep 'em in our hearts. That's why I kept so much of her stuff: her lighthouse collection, her good China dishes, her wedding portrait, etc. Seeing these things reminds me of her, and brings back good memories of wonderful times shared together. She is loved & missed to this day.

Now, back to the watermelons, lol... I cut open the smallest melon out of curiosity, and it still had a full complement of seeds, it just never fully developed because I chose the wrong location for the vine. Of course, when I planted the vine, there was a whole heap of sunshine beating down on it all day, so the vine flourished and grew like wildfire. Only later in the season did the shadows encroach from the nearby row of pine trees, and I reckon THAT is what stunted the growth of these melons. They are still delicious, mind you, 100% organic and full o' flavor... I'm saving all the seeds so I can plant a ton of melon vines in my yard next spring. I think I'll dig a long trench (or trenches) in a sunny part of the yard, amend the soil and plant the vines in a row. I'll be awash in watermelons next fall, lol...

Okay, I'm off to post a couple pics of the kittens, then I'm off to the Kawasaki website... finally, lol.

P.S. The nearby Coronado Boathouse on Glorietta Bay was also built at the same time or shortly after the Hotel Del Coronado was completed, reportedly from lumber scraps & other materials left over from the hotel project. It served as a true boathouse for a number of years, and eventually became renowned as the Chart House Restaurant... friends o' mine worked there and the tips were great, lol. The building jutted out over the bay, you understand, and a wraparound deck offered outdoor seating in addition to the standard indoor restaurant seating... so the Chart House was quite popular. Dunno if the building still belongs to the Chart House chain of restaurants, it might, but I seem to recall it changing hands... and the Hotel Del Coronado now belongs to some Chinese investors, or so I heard, PFFFFFT. Biden's cronies snatch up high-dollar properties, and U.S. History takes another hit...

 

[UrbanHunter]

So this evening as I was putting up all my dried celery that wife says, you know that will not work in chicken or tuna salad, did you keep any fresh growing?... So tonight I went out and dug up the roots of the 4 best shaped stalks (based on the cut edge) and then transplanted them into the greenhouse and indoor growing station. I was breaking one of my rules about not bringing anything back indoors, but I did clean the plants down to bear roots and washed them very well (actually soaked them completely for 30 minutes after washing), I am hoping that they can fully recover quickly.

I am expecting some primary wire and the last of my components to automate more of the greenhouse by Friday. I hope to have it all done by Sunday. I got invited to go hunting on Friday afternoon, but there is just too much stuff to do.

Oh, my lettuce starting tray is now almost like a lawn, about 1 sprout every 1 1/2", still waiting on the spinach to sprout, I need to get a tray of turnips started.

I have a couple little okra showing (I pollinated the flowers) which is fun, I wish I had used a paint brush instead of a q-tip. I have been seeing confused bees flying around outside, I think the flowers in the greenhouse are attracting them....

My cucumber has flowers on it, but they are all males so far....

I need to start some more carrots, but I would like to get some deeper nursery pots for them first.

 

[Neb]

So ....

So tonight I went out and dug up the roots of the 4 best shaped stalks (based on the cut edge) and then transplanted them into the greenhouse and indoor growing station. I was breaking one of my rules about not bringing anything back indoors, but I did clean the plants down to bear roots and washed them very well (actually soaked them completely for 30 minutes after washing), I am hoping that they can fully recover quickly.

...

The age old story of men engaging in risky behaviour to please a woman.


Maybe a side of diatomaceous earth?


Ben

 

[UrbanHunter]

The age old story of men engaging in risky behaviour to please a woman.


Maybe a side of diatomaceous earth?


Ben

I washed each bare root plant under the hose to make sure it was washed every which way, then I placed each in a 5 gallon bucket full of water for 30 minutes, placed a weight above the plants to hold them under in the hopes of getting rid of anything not scuba equipped. Each is planted in it's own container with fresh soil, so I have a better than average chance of surviving this. The plants were harvested this weekend and there was only 2 or 3" of green showing.

 

[Pearl]

You are leading us into "garden 2023"!!

 

[LadyLocust]

I picked about 4 gal. of peppers this evening and 13 eggplants off my 1 plant!
Picked cukes when I cut the vine Sunday - about a dozen cukes.
I didn't get to the beans tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Supposed to freeze tomorrow night.

 

[UrbanHunter]

You are leading us into "garden 2023"!!

NOPE, It ain't 2023 until the ball falls! This is just late 2022.. My goal has always been to be able to garden 12 months out of the year. Each year I get a little closer...

If I could ever consistently be harvesting tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, spinach, turnips, radishes, celery, beets, green onions, and bell peppers in the middle of winter I would feel like I had reached my goal..... This year I was able to get lettuce, spinach, and turnips; but I still have a long way to go.....

 

[Pearl]

NOPE, It ain't 2023 until the ball falls! This is just late 2022.. My goal has always been to be able to garden 12 months out of the year. Each year I get a little closer...

If I could ever consistently be harvesting tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, spinach, turnips, radishes, celery, beets, green onions, and bell peppers in the middle of winter I would feel like I had reached my goal..... This year I was able to get lettuce, spinach, and turnips; but I still have a long way to go.....

Really enjoy following your progress!

 

[LadyLocust]

Yesterday I set up trays for starting winter spinach. They are unprotected at this time but the spinach likes a little cold.
In the greenhouse. the starter tray of lettuce is showing sprouts, once they get just over an inch high I will use a plastic spoon to transplant some of them into my covered raised beds. Using this approach I can be constantly rotating plants from seedlings to plants that we can harvest.

I have discovered that the spinach likes the cold to start sprouting, but they grow fast in the warmth of the covered raised beds. Totally the reverse of what I do with most of my plants...

That is good to know!

 

[Tank-Girl]

I can't start a garden until I get my pain under control so I can actually do something and then find out where the rebel chickens are getting out.
Why is it that every flock has at least one who always gets out and who's sole mission is to destroy your garden?

 

[UrbanHunter]

I can't start a garden until I get my pain under control so I can actually do something and then find out where the rebel chickens are getting out.
Why is it that every flock has at least one who always gets out and who's sole mission is to destroy your garden?

I think we all have our adversaries... So what's your rogue chicken's name, STEW? perhaps.

 

[Wingnut]

Pulled more weeds in the garden on this fine day (dry, sunny & in the 70s), filled the trash bin again... my yard is really starting to look good, and weed control should be much easier next season! Didn't see a single goathead vine on the property today, but I did remove several dozen scratchy weeds like tumbleweeds, and good riddance! Not huge mature tumbleweeds, mind you, just smaller ones getting started. A friend of mine who lived in Arizona for decades before moving to Colorado for his job, he clued me in to the whole landscaping situation in the high desert: he told me to leave whatever I liked in place, remove the stuff I didn't like or want in the yard, then add plants of my choice in select locations. I reckon that advice will work just about anywhere, lol.

I ate another mini watermelon this morning and saved the seeds, I'm gonna have melon vines galore next spring! I'm thinking of digging trenches in sunny areas, using the soil I remove to line the trenches and keep water in as I water... then I'll dump good soil into the trenches and plant the watermelon seeds in linear fashion, a seed every few inches or whatever. Maybe stagger the seeds from side to side of the trench... that should work, even if there is some overlap with the vines, as there most certainly will be, lol. I must say, these 100% organic melons I grew in my yard are tasty! Seedy too, but maybe they just seem that way because the 'flesh' of the melons never had a chance to fully develop when the shade from the pines began to encroach... but the seeds should give me heaps of melon vines & melons next season!

 

[Bacpacker]

Might be different in NM, but around here we typically plant melons 6-10' apart

 

[Wingnut]

That far apart? I know the vines radiate outward, I just figure the branches or tendrils will work through neighboring vine branches. Maybe I'll go a bit farther apart with the vines, but from what I saw of the experimental vine, the branches grew every which way and worked their way through each other... I'll hafta look into it on the web before I plant, I guess.

 

[Bacpacker]

I usually do 6, well a hoe length apart. I also try to intertwine the runners together to keep the width down, which rarely works. LOL. They drink a lot of water so planting to close the dry out quick and the runners cover each other. They may do quite different out west. Maybe try some of both next year and see what works best.
Let me know if you like some seed for other breeds

 

[joel]

My potato onions are here.
Any one grow them, I have grow about three kinds of multiply onions, but not potato onions.

 

[SLADE]

My potato onions are here.
Any one grow them, I have grow about three kinds of multiply onions, but not potato onions.

We just planted 10 pounds.

 

[elkhound]

pulled corn i had drying on stalk yesterday. not sure yet but i think its going to be high quality. real satisfied it even produced with no rain and extreme heat to even pollinate. i shucked a few ears and it looks like it pollinated to the tip. we shall see. hope to get it shucked today and get laid out.

found a few south anna butternuts too.

i have been lame and not able to do much to be honest and with no rain and what potatoes i dug being so few i just not been in mood nor able to dig the long rows for such little return. leg nerve damage is doing better so i plan bush hogging off tater patch and see if there is anything worth the effort. if not i am just going to till it all up and feed the nightcrawlers.