GARDEN 2023

[sonya123]

Since I went to Yukon Golds I haven't had any tater bugs. Before I used Savin and noticed it quit working. Tried some other stuff that was so so at best

That's what I planted too, they taste good and grow well. We didn't have much of a bug problem last year but they got bad this year.

 

[Bacpacker]

My dad's did too. He had zero last year on them. I'm starting to think me planting them in the raised beds is a huge part of the problem.
I will be trying the Bonide stuff Elkheart shared

 

[Amish Heart]

I use the bonide Capt Jacks mixed with DE for squash bugs. So far this year, my plants are still alive. That wasn't the case last year.

 

[Neb]

That's what I planted too, they taste good and grow well. We didn't have much of a bug problem last year but they got bad this year.

What is your definition of "bad"?

In the book " Gardening When it Counts"

Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series, 5) Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series, 5): Solomon, Steve: 9780865715530: Amazon.com: Books

Steve Solomon makes the point that less than 30% leaf area loss is not an issue. Of the 6 varieties of spuds I am growing, the most susceptible variety (a Kenebec variety) has just short of 30% damage. They still produce.

Ben

 

[elkhound]

I use the bonide Capt Jacks mixed with DE for squash bugs. So far this year, my plants are still alive. That wasn't the case last year.

its spinosad too

 

[Amish Heart]

Just picked a bucket of zucchini, yellow squash, and a custard squash. There's alot of squash tonight. What do you think of spinosad? Our son recommended it, and he's a nursery manager.

 

[elkhound]

Just picked a bucket of zucchini, yellow squash, and a custard squash. There's alot of squash tonight. What do you think of spinosad? Our son recommended it, and he's a nursery manager.

it smokes tater bugs for sure. not had any ths year and only spot sprayed a few plants last couple of years. it will rid you of the tater bugs for sure. i just started using it on a few other items according to label.the biggest pest i see is earwigs eating on plants now.

 

[Amish Heart]

I get squash bugs and roly polys. And white butterflies who like to mess up my cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts. But that's all netted this year, and it's better.

 

[Tommyice]

Replacement broccoli gat eaten again. Took 11 of the Roma tomatoes I was bringing up to my brother’s place and put them in the barrels where the broccoli massacre took place.

Looks like my red nordland potatoes are ready so they are coming out today. The Kennebec grow bags still look good and I have one grow bag of Yukon golds that looks fantastic.

started new cabbage and broccoli weeks ago and now they’re ready for bigger pots.

 

[sonya123]

Pulled weeds this morning and planted some melon seeds. It might be too late for them to grow but trying anyway
made an awesome salad from the garden, I think I found a way to make beets taste tolerable: boil them in vinegar and sugar for 20 minutes! They no longer taste like dirt

 

[elkhound]

something else i been using..but only a few times so far..is BT by bonide.

@Amish Heart it looks like capt jacks has both a bt and spinosad product.

i hate to say this to yall...but its time to think about fall plantings..or it is for me. not gotten into this years harvest much with such a late and cold spring..but its getting closer now to count your days backwards from first fall frost date to plant a few things...i am planting sweet corn and more snow peas. planting silver king sweet corn and oregon sugar pod2...unless i change my mind and plant 'who gets kissed' sweet corn.

 

[Amish Heart]

I have some of that awaiting the return of the soldier worms that devasted all the grass last year (poor sheep). But haven't had to use it this year. I do have marked on my calendar to start lettuces and cabbage next week. Does it count that there are a half dz cabbage plants in my greenhouse that I didn't get around to planting in ground in the spring (because I seeded those so late)? I still have 10 cabbages growing that are not ready yet, but close. Ditto with the broccoli and brussel sprouts. So far, nothing looks like it's trying to bolt, but the lettuce and spinach are done. Too hot.

 

[UrbanHunter]

My vertical garden in the house is still undergoing testing, it has been running for several days now with no water leakage, the pump runs for an hour then is off for an hour. I have noticed some white salt like material on the soil in the bottom layer, I am assuming it is salts leached out of the upper layers.

We now have lots of lettuce, spinach, and onions available to harvest. The cherry tomatoes are still green but the 3 bushes are all loaded. My squash have a good crop setting on, but I am concerned about the squash beetles and the white butterfly's as they usually mount their attacks in this part of the season. The bell peppers have set on flowers as have the cucumbers. I think the Roma tomatoes are just about to start showing flowers.

We got about an hour of good rain yesterday, I am so thankful as my rain barrels have done all they could do. It was the middle of May that we got the last good rain, so the barrels have been able to stretch what was a 2 week design into a 6 week supply. I did have to tap the city water for some of the high use plants, but over the whole dry spell I think I only ran the water for about 1 hour...

Last night I made a tray for planting seed starter cups, the wife can't get outside but she can select seeds and plant them in the little cups if I can find a way to do it without messing up the kitchen table. I am using a small concrete mixing tube, a 10X20 starter tray and the new small HD starter cups, they fit 72 cells to one starter tray. To minimize seed use we are using tweezers with rubberized tips to pickup and plant the seeds. We'll see how this works out today.

 

[UrbanHunter]

I want to thank @elkhound and @Amish Heart for reminding me about my insecticide choices for dealing with the battle to come.
I have a question about the squash, after the fruit is set ~3" long, can you just remove the flower?

I need to get a good list of fall crops that I need to plant in different parts of the summer. Having a list based on month (July, August, or September) would be a good thing for folks who keep their to do list plate running over... gentile reminders are so helpful when you are busy...

My raised beds and growing areas that are shaded seem to be doing a good job for the lettuce and spinach, letting them grow without bolting that is...

 

[Tommyice]

i hate to say this to yall...but its time to think about fall plantings..or it is for me. not gotten into this years harvest much with such a late and cold spring..but its getting closer now to count your days backwards from first fall frost date to plant a few things...i am planting sweet corn and more snow peas. planting silver king sweet corn and oregon sugar pod2...unless i change my mind and plant 'who gets kissed' sweet corn.

I just peas in today in the cooler side of the garden. Started fall broccoli and cabbage.

just watched a replay of MIGardener‘s last live stream on YouTube. Confirmation of my suspicions about this season. He talks About not only food production and yields being lower this year dipped to the Canadian wildfires but also seed production.

 

[lilmissy]

How are you doing your horseradish? Just the small root? I thought you had to harvest the root in the winter after a hard frost.

We have always harvested horseradish in any month that has an R in it. Sounds weird but that was what we always did growing up.

 

[UrbanHunter]

@Tommyice' s post #525 with the video has my thinking, is the smoke from Canada slowing the bolting of my lettuce and spinach? Then I have to ask, should I be planting my fall crops just a tad early so they can mature with the slower growth rate? And then there is the question of ordering my seeds for next year now?

Lots to think about......

 

[Tommyice]

@UrbanHunter that’s why I planted my peas, started my broccoli and cabbage. Put more carrots in today too.

 

[LadyLocust]

Dug one little corner spud plant just to see. Got 4 nice - not huge, but nice spuds. Looking forward to the rest.

 

[UrbanHunter]

This morning I went out and pulled weeds, I got two growing areas ready to plant some peas. I am re-using container soil to try to build the beds back up, but I may need to add some fertilizer if I want any real production. As I was pulling weeds I found a few praying mantis about 3/8" long. I was able to get them to climb onto my gloves and move them to a raised beds with plants well established.

Yesterday I was able to harvest some beets, so we steamed and pealed them to be added to green salads. There are so many things flowering and putting on fruit is makes me feel really blessed.

I need to find out from @Neb how to make grape vine clones, I only have one plant left I and I would love to get it some company.

 

[UrbanHunter]

I have decided to try to save some of the reuse soil I have collected, I have gathered 2 65 gallon drums of old container soil, but it is weed infested, so I plan to make up a couple gallons of vinegar & salt herbicide to pour over each and then seal the tops using black construction bags. The plan is to let them sit in a high acid state for a year and then open the tops next spring to allow for the acid to be rinsed out before adding to some of the raised beds.

I know that there is some risk, but if I pour some baking soda and water over them before trying to use them it might get the PH to acceptable limits. As I think about this if I add the baking soda mix using hot water mid-winter it might be neutralized before spring gets here.

Just thinking here, the wife thinks that I should be writing all this in a journal for someone else to use in the future.

 

[Bacpacker]

Agree with your wife. You put a great deal of planning into your projects. Even if you just want to revisit a particular something in the future.

 

[Neb]

This morning I ...

I need to find out from @Neb how to make grape vine clones, I only have one plant left I and I would love to get it some company.

This video...



... covers cloning dormant hardwood cuttings. When I prune in December or so I process them as he shows. I do use rooting hormone. I have made the mistake of putting them under lights before the roots have developed. Tugging on the cutting will let you check for roots. If it come up easy it has no roots. I have also transplanted too early after they root. I just fot excited about the leaf development and rushed it.

This time of year air-layering works. I used those ready made plastic balls with compost in them. I trimmed the leaves from a node then scraped the outer bark to get to the green layer on the side opposite where the leaf was.

Advise I would give my younger self would be...

Be patient and plan for more fails than success.

Ben

 

[LadyLocust]

Dug most of the spuds . One corner still has some green to it so left that. Thinking I might see if carrots or turnips will grow there. Don’t like planting two root crops back to back but we have some compost we can mix in which should remedy that.
Also picked a big bowl of green beans. Did a canner full. The rest are in the fridge. Need to pull arugula and get more lettuce going before the next round runs out so we don’t have gaps.

 

[Neb]

Finished up the clam shell cages for the new raised bed.

Opens easily with one hand.

I will probably be building more when I add more of the corrugated raised beds next year. That will give me time to evaluate the design and improvements.

Next big task is to get the now fallow hugelkultures on The Ridge ready to plant next this fall with garlic and onions in the spring. The local critters don't mess with either crop so I will not have to fence them in. Just keep them weeded.

Moving the garlic and onions to The Ridge will let me increase how much I grow and free up room for salad and other vegetables in the backyard garden next year.

Ben

 

[UrbanHunter]

This has been a fairly productive day - garden wise:
Outdoors, pulled and sprayed weeds, harvested lettuce, spinach, squash, onions, and radishes. Planted more onions, spinach, broccoli, turnips, and peas.
Indoor Vertical Garden, Planted another 6 spaces. I now have 11 empty spaces left. I am trying to plant about once a week.

I keep hoping to have the wife help plant starter trays, but by the time dinner is done she is no longer functional...

I tried using that vinegar, salt, and dish soap DIY weed spray, using my hand pump sprayer, some of the broad leaved weeds on the driveway turned brown really quick, Now I am wondering how well the sprayer needs to be cleaned to avoid any unwanted killings....

 

[Bacpacker]

I use separate sprayers...WELL LABELED. Too easy for me to screw up otherwise.

Picked almost a 5 gallon bucket of banana peppers. Couple Pablona peppers,, couple of bells,, and 3 cukes. Also pulled 5 nice onions to see how they look and to grill tonight. Growing very nicely. Also dug a few garlic bulbs that the tops had died back on. Most of them were small. Did get 2 good size bulbs. Also pulled 3 bunches of Black Cherry tomatos, and our first 2 Red Beefsteak tomatos. Dug around a dozen more taters that washed up,, starting to get some good sized ones... for Yukon Golds. Weeded some, need to do more and mow around the beds but it was raining on me while I was harvesting.

 

[Amish Heart]

Share some of that rain, Bacpacker!
Harvesting zucchini, yellow squash, and custard squash. Can't wait for tomatoes. I started them late. Looking forward to a tomato sandwich.

 

[Bacpacker]

We went three months with only a couple inches. Unusual for spring around here. But I used the drip lines to keep stuff alive. Late May and June we had above average rain and everything has went to high gear.
Ill likely have a mater sammich in the next day or 2. Just need to ripen a touch more.
What are custard squash? Never heard of it. Got any pics of one?

 

[Amish Heart]

Ha, I don't do pics with my flip phone. Look on Baker Creeks site RareSeeds.com. Yellow custard squash. I grew them last year for the first time and loved them so much, growing them again. They look like bright yellow patty pans. Taste excellent. I just eat them steamed, but not mushy. My neighbor had a fit that I had a bunch of yellow crookneck...squash bugs got hers, and I gave her a bunch of them. She says she cooks them and makes squash sandwiches. Never had one of those.