Garden 2022

[Pearl]

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.

Sorry about your leg. Glad it's doing better!

 

[Wingnut]

So, as I was pulling seeds out of the last melon I ate while standing over the sink, one seed escaped and bounced down into the drain. Now I'm wondering if I'm gonna have some funky melon vine growing in my septic tank! You've all heard those stories about idiots flushing gators down into the sewers, where they thrive on sewer rats and the occasional maintenance worker, lol. Next thing ya know, there's a 25' gator that weighs 2-1/2 tons crawling around down there! Who's to say that melon seed I lost won't turn into some monster vine? With a bad attitude from growing up in the septic tank! Wasn't there a cheesy flick called 'ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES' back in the day? Why can't there be an 'ATTACK OF THE KILLER WATERMELONS' in my 'hood? What, no killer melons allowed? "RACISM!!!!!"

Lol... don't mind me, that was my "inner libtard" squawking! You see, I'm actually a 'LIBTARD SPY' sent here to H&CL to determine what makes conservative homesteaders & farmers tick! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I wanted the goldurned '007' moniker, but they already gave that one to some chump who doesn't even deserve it! The work I'm doing here is FAR more dangerous! I mean, seriously, I could be bludgeoned with a large zucchini squash if my true identity is ever revealed! What an ignominious way to go! I'd rather have a nice clean bullet any day of the week! All I can do is stay undercover, and keep trying to figure out these KRAZY HOMESTEADERS, lol. They're ABSOLUTELY NUTS, I tell ya! And DANGEROUS too, since many actually have FIREARMS!!! (Gasp!!!) And know how to use them!!! YIKES!!!

 

[Amish Heart]

OK you Libtard Spy, we're going to paint a red L on your forehead and spin you around

 

[Wingnut]

Wait, wouldn't that be a BLUE L?

 

[joel]

all my garlic is here :
Cherokee from Bobbett Jascor in Ky.
Martin's Heirloom & Georgian Fire from Filaree Farms
Also potato onions

 

[Amish Heart]

Yep, a blue L. I was thinking red would stand out more, but I getcha point. Ha.
Back to gardening.....greenhouse still needs a quarter panel repair. Lettuces, radish, and spinach are sprouting. We've got real cold weather starting Friday, so I really should get it going.

 

[UrbanHunter]

The last few days has been crazy warm here, in the 80s F. It got above 85 in the house and we even had to turn on the AC....

I did some work on my battery box in the greenhouse and the temperatures got into the 90s. I have okra on my greenhouse okra, the starter tray of lettuce is up, the celery I transplanted back into the house is showing new green growth, and everything seems to be doing fine.

The outside plants are so confused, the onion sets have put up sprouts and some of the leftover tomatoes put on flowers.

But, it is November and the temperatures are expected to start dropping today, high of 59F, low of 36F. By Sunday the highs are expected to be in the 40s and lows in the 20s. Looking at the forecast there are only going to be 3 mostly sunny days in the next 2 weeks, so much for relying heavily on solar....

Today, I will cover the lid of the battery box with plastic and place a raised lip all the way around the edge so stuff can't slide behind the box or dump on my charge controllers. Once this is complete my battery box lid will be my potting table...

 

[Bacpacker]

My garlic just popped thru the ground.

 

[elkhound]

never give up till ground is frozen solid...lol

mustard,turnips,collards,kale,green onions and a head of broccoli

 

[Amish Heart]

That looks pretty nice, Elkhound! Only thing growing outside still are brussel sprouts and kale. The rest is in the greenhouses. Harvested baskets of mint, sage, chives, green onion tops, oregano, and parsley today. Sat down and cleaned all except the mint. (tomorrow). Then it all went into the dehydrators.

 

[elkhound]

the corn patch i planted in spring didnt do so well coming up and it was very spotty. it started off very slow with cold weather and i almost plowed it all under. i cleaned it out once and fertilized it and then it got hot and dry and i just gave up on it. it had heavy weed pressure and it tasseled in high heat and no rain. surprisingly it made a little crop and in fact it pollinated very well too. there was 90 stalks and it produced 81 ears . its truckers favorite white dent corn.

 

[Amish Heart]

Those butternut look good, too. Ended up having to buy them this year, my crop was good till the squash bugs came. Last year I had tons (see my avatar photo, ha). But I've got a dz in the basement to see us through.

 

[elkhound]

Those butternut look good, too. Ended up having to buy them this year, my crop was good till the squash bugs came. Last year I had tons (see my avatar photo, ha). But I've got a dz in the basement to see us through.

i planted a row of the south anna butternuts and a row of buttercups. with the drought i wasnt expecting anything. the buttercups failed to produce but the SA managed to . only the ones in picture. its a far cry less than my harvest last year.this garden is at mercy of only rain.

 

[Bacpacker]

Nice harvest Elk. I got exactly zero corn and butternut this year. I'm buying a few butternut when I find them

 

[Amish Heart]

The cheapest I've seen them were at Aldi for 88 cents a lb. But mostly a buck or a buck nineteen a lb.

 

[Tommyice]

It's been warm here for November. The heat hasn't come on but maybe 4 days since October 1st. Not complaining about that--I'm saving oil.

My garlic is up about 6-7 inches and I've found 2 volunteer tomato plants in the cleaned out beds. Those two are getting transplanted into large nursery pots and moving into the greenhouse until it's too cold. Then they're coming inside with the south facing window. Hopefully I'll be eating fresh brandywine tomatoes in the cold of winter. If not, oh well, I tried.

We haven't had a hard frost yet. Very unusual.

 

[joel]

The weather channel say the whole winter will be higher than normally this year .

 

[Tommyice]

I was wrong…I didn’t have 2 volunteers.

I have 4. All are snug in the greenhouse now.

 

[Neb]

It is still 2022 so here is an update from the greenhouse.

I added 2 more full spectrum lights for the trees on the floor that are too tall for the shelves.

I am trying to grow my own onion sets. These will be allowed to dry out and go dormant.

The first of the continual lettuce harvest. The first may get a hair out his weekend. I also found a grape vine that started to root. It is there somewhere.

I am trying to add radishes to the salad mix. Not sure how big a pot is needed for each radish. First guess is 4x4" pot per radish. Will see how it goes.

I started a large variety of onions. Most varieties are heirloom open pollinated long storage.

On the floor left to right is olive tree coffee tree and fig tree.

The two largest fig trees from cuttings are growing aggressively.

The lower shelf has a fig and a bunch of herbs.

I still need to start grape vine clones and have room to start tomatoes and broccoli for next year.

So there it is.

Ben

 

[Pearl]

It is still 2022 so here is an update from the greenhouse.

I added 2 more full spectrum lights for the trees on the floor that are too tall for the shelves.

View attachment 98226

I am trying to grow my own onion sets. These will be allowed to dry out and go dormant.

View attachment 98227

The first of the continual lettuce harvest. The first may get a hair out his weekend. I also found a grape vine that started to root. It is there somewhere.

View attachment 98228

I am trying to add radishes to the salad mix. Not sure how big a pot is needed for each radish. First guess is 4x4" pot per radish. Will see how it goes.

View attachment 98229

I started a large variety of onions. Most varieties are heirloom open pollinated long storage.

View attachment 98230

On the floor left to right is olive tree coffee tree and fig tree.

View attachment 98231

The two largest fig trees from cuttings are growing aggressively.

View attachment 98232

The lower shelf has a fig and a bunch of herbs.

View attachment 98233

I still need to start grape vine clones and have room to start tomatoes and broccoli for next year.

So there it is.

Ben

Well, you and urbanhunter will be starting out the "garden 2023" thread!

 

[UrbanHunter]

So @Neb are those onions or chives in the pictures? I dug up 3 or 4 bunches of chives and transplanted them, they are just now putting out new chutes.. The indoor tomatoes are just going nuts, the okra are putting on some fruit, but I think they take up more space than they are worth (I think carrots would be a better us of the space, plus they don't mind a 50F night). My new turnips and beets are coming up but the spinach is taking it's sweet time. My squash is just starting to bloom and the cucumbers are loaded with flowers.

I was going to take a picture but my phone is a little under the weather. I noticed it was damaged at the corner, but I couldn't remember dropping it. Anyway I sat it on my keyboard at my desk when I went to bed Sunday and when I got up in the morning it was face down on the concrete. Then I remembered that it is also my alarm clock, it vibrates and buzzes loudly... I think it vibrated itself into a 3 foot dive to the floor, it managed to land on a 1/4" nut and that finished it off, dead center of the face.... not a pretty picture. But it did free up the sim card (popped it right out)....

I need to start some bell peppers and gift tomatoes from the seeds I collected. Last year the bell peppers had fruit on them before I sat them out, this year they will only be going from the indoor growing station to the greenhouse.

 

[Neb]

So @Neb are those onions or chives in the pictures? I dug up 3 or 4 bunches of chives and transplanted them, they are just now putting out new chutes.. The indoor tomatoes are just going nuts, the okra are putting on some fruit, but I think they take up more space than they are worth (I think carrots would be a better us of the space, plus they don't mind a 50F night). My new turnips and beets are coming up but the spinach is taking it's sweet time. My squash is just starting to bloom and the cucumbers are loaded with flowers.

I was going to take a picture but my phone is a little under the weather. I noticed it was damaged at the corner, but I couldn't remember dropping it. Anyway I sat it on my keyboard at my desk when I went to bed Sunday and when I got up in the morning it was face down on the concrete. Then I remembered that it is also my alarm clock, it vibrates and buzzes loudly... I think it vibrated itself into a 3 foot dive to the floor, it managed to land on a 1/4" nut and that finished it off, dead center of the face.... not a pretty picture. But it did free up the sim card (popped it right out)....

I need to start some bell peppers and gift tomatoes from the seeds I collected. Last year the bell peppers had fruit on them before I sat them out, this year they will only be going from the indoor growing station to the greenhouse.

Not chives. Onions.

The little insight I found about "producing" onion sets suggested growing seedlings in dense plantings then forcing them to go dormant by drying them out.

I am an amateur trying things out.

Ben

 

[Neb]

Snow today so kept the outside work to a minimum pruning my largest seedless grape vine.

Then moved inside to processing the cuttings for cloning. To my surprise four of the clone balls had set roots!

They were frozen solid but I put them in their own pots and they are on the lower grow shelf under lights.

The potential clones got stuffed into pots and are stuck in a corner of the greenhouse away from the lights.

I think I have been to hasty to transfer clones to the garden in the past. If any of these clones survive they will be kept in pots and babied for a year.

Ben

 

[UrbanHunter]

This afternoon I planted some more seeds tomato, bell peppers, and radishes. The wife pointed out that a seed company had the tomatoes I like so I ordered some and some Parthenocarpic (no pollinators needed) cucumbers...

The weather has turned cool, lows to the high 20s and highs around 40. My indoor spinach finally came up...

The greenhouse squash and cucumbers have lots of buds showing.

The greenhouse has done well so far, with recorded lows in the 50s.

I don't think the okra are liking it in the greenhouse (too cold), I need to either give up or move them in next to the indoor growing station....

This week I was able to harvest rosemary, basil, chives, and thyme... I am now storing the leaves in quart jars, the chives are wrapped in paper towel in the fridge.

I keep trying to pickup some deep #5 nursery pots for carrots. I need to screen some potting soil and mix 75/25 with perlite for my next batch of carrots.

That reminds me with the cold temperatures I need to harvest my out door turnips and carrots tomorrow....

 

[UrbanHunter]

Okay, I have been organizing my seeds and noticed I was a little short on some of the things for next year. I also noticed I had a coupon for 20% off from burpee ( GOALS22 ) so I placed an order with them. I figured I'd share the code in case you were planning to buy some seeds anyway.

I am happy, I see some spinach sprouts in the greenhouse, it has been getting cooler in there and that did the trick.

I planted some bell peppers and give away tomatoes at the inside growing station, they need the extra heat that is available there.

I still have not made a good home for the okra.

 

[elkhound]

been in 20's the last week...this morning i hit 14f...not sure of garden survived that. going into 50's for a week now...figures.

 

[UrbanHunter]

The last few nights have been into the low 20s, the greenhouse was getting a little chilly, high 40s. So I added clear shower curtains about 6" from the exterior plastic, it got up to 43 outside today and the greenhouse got up to 79. If it adds even 5 degrees to the night time temperatures it will be worth it. For several hours today the greenhouse was hotter than the house.

I think I have all my seed orders in for next year, I have focused on plants tailored for greenhouses and hydroponic systems. Well, the way I see it I can focus on trying to grow stuff and I don't have to worry about seeds being available come spring...

I also got my power bill today. It seems that the wife's oxygen machine was responsible for half of our power use for the month. Most of the growing lights are being powered most of the time by the garden solar panels now, so at least they are not hitting me in the power bill.

PS: my greenhouse squash has a big flower on it today!

 

[UrbanHunter]

After work today I went out and opened up all the valves on my irrigation system, then I opened the 1" drain valve. Watching the water shoot out of there was impressive. It only took a few minutes to drain out several hundred gallons. The wife was sad that I couldn't just save it, but the risk of breaking barrels is just too high. But if I can start collecting water again in March, that would indicate that my irrigation system is functional for about 8 months out of the year, not bad....

 

[UrbanHunter]

Today I made a new sifting screen for recycling potting soil. I planted some indoor carrots. The solar for the garden has been re-directed to support the Christmas lights this year.

 

[UrbanHunter]

I received 2 seed orders last night. The packaging from Johnny's seeds is impressive, capped mini-tubes (like test tubes) inside of the envelope to hold the seeds. Both orders were focused on greenhouse self/no-Pollination required plant varieties, I may take the time to get a starter tray going. My Spinach and lettuce is up in the greenhouse and it is almost ready to start transplanting individuals into larger 6" containers for faster growing in the warmer indoor growing station.

I now have the greenhouse to the point where the lows are holding about 25 degrees (F) higher than outside. This will let me maintain operations with outside temperatures down to 15F, which should get me through the winter. In the afternoons the greenhouse has been getting warmer than the house, so I can open the sliding door and use it to heat the basement with a fan....