GARDEN 2023

[joel]

My son planted four "sweet one hundred" tomatoes last year & they grew into one large plant covered with ripe, green tomates & blooms. So some fell to the ground & he has a hundred small tomatoes coming up in the garden.
I thought it was still to cold, but they came up, not sure what the fruit will look like, it may be marbles or just like the parent plant, guess we will find out.

 

[Amish Heart]

Ha Ha Pearl, I knew you meant soil, but said soul because of your texan accent. Right?
How do you say oil and boil?

 

[Pearl]

Ha Ha Pearl, I knew you meant soil, but said soul because of your texan accent. Right?
How do you say oil and boil?

I still have my Jersey twang for those! Donkey manure is good for the soul too!

 

[Tommyice]

Ha Ha Pearl, I knew you meant soil, but said soul because of your texan accent. Right?
How do you say oil and boil?

She says oil as errrl. LOL Finally I've got someone who speaks somewhat like me and can take a ribbing.

 

[Tommyice]

Moving my tomatoes and peppers into the greenhouse today. We've been in the 70-80 range. Overnight was mid 60s. Next week will see an overnight drop, but nothing they can't handle out there under cover. I'll string some light bulbs just in case.

 

[Buffalo]

I would pay the price for garden soil! I have red clay and have mixed/tilled sand into it first. I have an endless supply of donkey manure which really helps the clay, and all souls!

We've decided to go that route as well. It's going to be expensive, we need about 5 cubic yards of soil, but at least we know that it isn't full of herbicides.

 

[Bacpacker]

My first taters are coming up. Planted some cabbage. Ordered sweet potato slips last night

 

[Wingnut]

Okay, that's enough digging for one day, lol... I've decided to just put in one row at a time, germinating the seeds in succession instead of trying to do everything at once. For instance, I just planted a row of corn, and I started the melon seeds that Weedy sent... tomorrow morning, while it's still cool, I'll dig the holes for those melons, and the following day I'll put the sprouted seeds into amended soil. This seems to be the easiest way to do this, and a few days or even a couple weeks of staggered planting shouldn't make any real difference in the crops... they're gonna get high desert sunshine all summer long. As long as I regularly water the sprouts & seedlings once they're in the ground, they should do alright.

I was looking at my yard, and here's the breakdown for planting areas: I have a large square open area on the NE corner of my property, and a fairly wide swath of graveled yard running down the W side of my home, between the home and a row of pine trees. I don't wanna plant anything too close to the pines, but I think I can put another row or two of melons or peppers down that W side. There are also several sunny spots in other parts of the yard, these smaller areas might still grow some good crops, since they're fairly open and receive plenty of sun. I'm thinking of planting patches of peppers, squash, whatever in these areas, though I'll probably still have peppers & squash in the two main growing areas.

Might sound confusing, but I'm just gonna try things and see if they work... any soil amendment in any area of the yard will be an improvement for future years, lol. When it comes to that graveled area, I think I'll just use the iron rake & shovel to clear "holes" for various seeds, leaving the rest of the gravel in place. I'll amend the soil in each hole, and hope for the best when it comes to the hard rocky soil beneath the amended soil, lol. I don't wanna spend a fortune or waste too much time trying these experiments... once I learn what works, that's what I'll do next time. Hopefully it gets easier year after year when much of the groundbreaking work has been done.

Oh, yeah, I'm trying to germinate this Haas avocado seed so I can get an avocado tree going... not sure how well avocado does here in this area, but I'd like to try. My long-term goal is to have various fruit & nut trees around the yard, along with a decent vegetable garden, just to augment my diet with fresh homegrown fruits & veggies. Nothing like fresh fruits & veggies right off the tree or vine, bursting with enzymes and really good for you! No stinking pesticides or vaxxer cr@p either, lol. I don't need any Big Pharma Peaches or Monsanto Apples, lol. Cue the Mexican bandido farmer, an evil leering paisano complete with crossed bandoliers and sombrero...

"PESTICIDES!!! VAXXER CR@P!!! WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING PESTICIDES & VAXXER CR@P!!!"

 

[Bacpacker]

One bit of advice. Plant you corn more in a block, 4 short rows as opposed to one long one for example. The corn will pollinate better that way

 

[Neb]

I got all of the backyard raised beds pre-weeded and most of the onions planted. There is still one more freeze coming so I am holding off on the broccoli and tomatoes for now. I have the new raised bed as far as I can go until Monday when I get more Special mix and sand.

I added a layer of cardboard to make it easier to stomp down the branches.

I started to fill with Special mix but quickly realised I will need another load to finish the box off. I can cut my shoveling in half by filling directly from the truck. I am a fan of working smarter not harder.

Ben

 

[LadyLocust]

Can anyone tell me if Anasazi beans are a bush bean or a pole bean? .
Professor Google is confused

 

[Wingnut]

One bit of advice. Plant you corn more in a block, 4 short rows as opposed to one long one for example. The corn will pollinate better that way

I read that on the web, but thanks to the wildflowers and flowering trees in my yard, as well as the birdbaths, I have a strong bee population, along with other pollinators. So I put 'em in a row... we're only talking 25-30 stalks, lol. If that arrangement doesn't pan out, I'll go with a block next time. I just wanna get the other stuff in the ground and be done with it, my back has been stiff all day... gonna try to put those sprouted melon seeds in the ground tomorrow, hopefully my back feels better. If not, the seeds will wait a day, lol. At least while I was watering earlier, I studied the layout of my yard and I've spotted several good sunny locations for stands of hot peppers or patches of squash. Same deal as always: dig holes, amend soil, throw the sprouted seeds into the ground and hope for the best. Gonna hafta wait 2 weeks to order more dope seeds, but that's okay, I planted 'em later last year and they turned out fine. The high desert sunshine is intense in the summer, so stuff grows well as long as you water it regularly...

 

[Buffalo]

I read that on the web, but thanks to the wildflowers and flowering trees in my yard, as well as the birdbaths, I have a strong bee population, along with other pollinators. So I put 'em in a row... we're only talking 25-30 stalks, lol. If that arrangement doesn't pan out, I'll go with a block next time. I just wanna get the other stuff in the ground and be done with it, my back has been stiff all day... gonna try to put those sprouted melon seeds in the ground tomorrow, hopefully my back feels better. If not, the seeds will wait a day, lol. At least while I was watering earlier, I studied the layout of my yard and I've spotted several good sunny locations for stands of hot peppers or patches of squash. Same deal as always: dig holes, amend soil, throw the sprouted seeds into the ground and hope for the best. Gonna hafta wait 2 weeks to order more dope seeds, but that's okay, I planted 'em later last year and they turned out fine. The high desert sunshine is intense in the summer, so stuff grows well as long as you water it regularly...

Just so you know, corn is a wind pollinated plant, not pollinated by insects. That's why it is recommended you plant corn in blocks and not rows. If you do want to plant it in rows, you can collect pollen from the tassel and hand pollinated each shoot as it comes into silk. I spent many summers working in the Northrup King research plot here. I learned more about how corn grows than any normal person would ever want to know.

 

[Wingnut]

Great... we get wind from all points of the compass here, so it shouldn't be a problem, lol.

 

[Pearl]

Can anyone tell me if Anasazi beans are a bush bean or a pole bean? .
Professor Google is confused

Hahaha, yeah, I googled it ! Apparently they are a bush bean that like to grow on a trellis ! Guess they covered their butts either way!

 

[Pearl]

Hahaha, yeah, I googled it ! Apparently they are a bush bean that like to grow on a trellis ! Guess they covered their butts either way!

Ok, they do come in both bush and pole! There are a few websites that have better explanations than google! Of course my shoe can also offer better answers than google!

 

[UrbanHunter]

Can anyone tell me if Anasazi beans are a bush bean or a pole bean? .
Professor Google is confused

Plant the Anasazi beans by a fence or a trellis, as they climb vigorously. Beans should be planted about 1 1/2 inches deep and spaced about 2 inches apart after all chance of frost has passed. Lightly cover the seeds with soil. Keep the soil damp but not soaking while the seeds sprout.

From this I would vote Pole Bean!

 

[UrbanHunter]

Today I fixed a broken ball valve on my irrigation distribution system, I must have closed it after draining all my filters and there was enough water that drained back against the valve that when it froze it cracked the housing and the pipe it was connected to. I replaced the valve, lines, and added 2 union joints so next year I can totally open the system to allow for drainage.

I have a good crop of spinach up, the onions are tall now, and the bell peppers are now planted in full sun. I counted a dozen potato plants up this afternoon, that was nice to see. They are all a mix of table potatoes that sprouted in the pantry, I figure the price was right.

 

[Alaskajohn]

From a post I have sticking up by the garden, I can see that I have almost 4 feet of snow covering my beds. But not to fear, it’s 35 degrees and sunny, so maybe 2-3 inches less tomorrow!

 

[Bacpacker]

Built another raised bed this evening. Hope to have it filled by Thursday.

 

[Pearl]

From a post I have sticking up by the garden, I can see that I have almost 4 feet of snow covering my beds. But not to fear, it’s 35 degrees and sunny, so maybe 2-3 inches less tomorrow!

So..... I'm thinking you haven't started planting yet!!

 

[Buffalo]

Man oh man, we've got tomatoes, eggplant, okra, jalapeño peppers, bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage and Brussel sprouts seedlings popping up! Also transplanted strawberry starts into our Mr Stacky and a couple of dwarf blueberry bushes. Hopefully our lab, Lily Belle, will stop eating the strawberry plants and some will survive this year!

 

[Pearl]

Man oh man, we've got tomatoes, eggplant, okra, jalapeño peppers, bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage and Brussel sprouts seedlings popping up! Also transplanted strawberry starts into our Mr sticky and a couple of dwarf blueberry bushes. Hopefully our lab, Lily Belle, will stop eating the strawberry plants and some will survive this year!
View attachment 107225View attachment 107226View attachment 107227View attachment 107228View attachment 107229View attachment 107230

Love the bottom picture, great idea! Looks like you can keep stacking more?! Great space saving starter pots! Congrats on on all the seedlings!!

 

[Buffalo]

Love the bottom picture, great idea! Looks like you can keep stacking more?! Great space saving starter pots! Congrats on on all the seedlings!!

Thanks Pearl! Yes, you can add more containers with these systems. I actually got this set for my wife last year, as she wanted to grow medicinal herbs in it, but she quickly found out that a lot of them were just too large for this system. This year she is planting those herbs in a bed and we decided to plant strawberries in the Mr Stacky. I'd go another three of four containers high, but it is rather "tippy" now with moving it in and out of the shop during the days and nights. (We aren't past our last frost date, so I want to give these guys the best chance I can). I think that if I changed the casters out for larger ones it would be more stable as well. The other nice thing will be that I can cover the strawberries with bird netting once they begin to produce fruit, since the last couple of years of strawberries were decimated by the local blackbird population, now I just have to figure out how to keep our lab from eating the strawberry leaves!

I'll pull the seedlings from the aerogardens in a couple of weeks and transplant them into bigger pots. I seem to always start way more than I need, but I'll be passing a bunch of the extras onto others this year. I may even pot some up and take them over to the local assisted living place for residents there. I know that in past conversations, there are several residents that were avid gardeners, but after moving into the assisted living or independent living places, have had to give up their gardens. I'm guessing even a tomato or cabbage in a pot would be a welcome sight to them.

 

[Neb]

13 of my grape vine cuttings have developed roots so they got their own pots. If they survive that beings me up to 16 seedless grape vines. That will give me a good start on the vineyard.

Picked up another cubic yard of special mix. Turns out that was what I needed to finish filling the new raised bed.

I will be planting potatoes in that bed. I still have to devise some type of cage to keep the critters out.

Ben

 

[Bacpacker]

Got my new bed in place, chicken wire down on top of cardboard. And about a 1/3 done with adding the wood. Ill get a pic later

 

[txcatlady]

We planted entire garden a week and a half ago. Everything is up and potatoes are slowly showing. Sweet potato slips looking good. Few more in kitchen window ready to pick off and plant. My perpetual carrot bed did its job and babies from last fall coming up. I let 1 carrot go to seed and have 20 that survived and are growing. Have been enjoying my asparagus too.

 

[Pearl]

Will FINALLY plant this weekend! This is the third cool April in a row! I would always plant the end of February/early March. Seeds go right into the raised beds and pots!! Drug my feet getting going this year, but now that I finally got my work schedule "normal" I can have energy for the rest of things that make up life!!

 

[Neb]

13 of my grape vine cuttings ...

View attachment 107246

I will be planting potatoes in that bed. I still have to devise some type of cage to keep the critters out.

Ben

Planted two varieties of potatoes in that bed and four more varieties in other beds today.

Just waiting for the last frost date to pass for the tomatoes, broccoli, and peppers.

Ben

 

[joel]

My Red Israel fig cutting is budding, hope that will not slow it rooting.