Garden 2024!

[joel]

Got Blueberries & Blackberries, but raspberries are still not ripe.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

A garden center a few mile away makes the best compost, so on my daughters driving lesson we swung by to pick up two bags for my poly tunnel.

I've spent the last month emptying my compost bins and topping up the outside beds, and one long one in the poly for winter potatoes. While at the center, I spoiled myself a little, picked up a pack of celery plants and one of carrots to plant out. They were 3.50 each, the same price as a pack of seeds, but at least they are started. I don't have great luck with carrots - they are edible but odd shaped and take ages to grow, so going to try them inside this year. I'll get them planted up this weekend. Last night I cut up 'collars' from cereal boxes and smeared them with vaseline to put around my squash plants - the egg shells aren't working, and all the wet weather has just multiplied the slugs. I leave planks on the beds, so they will hide under and I can pick them off; but every time I open the back door the dog brings me one!

My grand daughter Estelle loves carrots.
She plants hers in a washtub.
Nothing like her going over pushing her finger in the soil by a carrot to feel how big it is.
If it's her preferred size, up it comes, wipes off on her shorts and starts chomping away.
Comes to my Seed box picks out a few more carrot seeds. Replants as she goes.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Repotted some of Estelle's watermelon plants do they could have more growing room.
Also repotting her summer squash for the same reason.
Watered this morning.
Green beans have blooms.
Jalenpeno's are coming along nicely.

 

[Neb]

I wanted to get ahead of the game this year and protect the elderberries from pests. I lost an entire crop last year to either ground hogs or deer. Every flower head was bent down and broken.

So the challenge for me was getting deer netting over the elderberries.

They are taller than me and deer netting is funky to work with catching on everything. I was considering creating a hoop house and suspend it over the elderberries. But I took advantage of a wire above the garden.

So...

I tossed a rope over the cable and pulled the netting over the wire creating a deer netting tent.

Probably hard to see but is there.

Now starts the waiting game to see if the netting works.

Ben

 

[Tommyice]

I’ve never had much luck with growing broccoli but I still try. This year has been a success.

 

[Neb]

I’ve never had much luck with growing broccoli but I still try. This year has been a success.
View attachment 154241

Cut the flower head now and let it grow back bigger.

Ben

 

[Tommyice]

Cut the flower head now and let it grow back bigger.

Ben

This is the broccoli that I’ve had make a crown. Past attempts have only produce scraggly florets all over the plant. If I cut this now, won’t it just produce those side florets?

 

[Neb]

This is the broccoli that I’ve had make a crown. Past attempts have only produce scraggly florets all over the plant. If I cut this now, won’t it just produce those side florets?

Good question!

I am just learning myself.

I have been nipping and freezing. The flower heads have increased in number and size.

If I don't prune the florets they go to flower and seed.

Correct me if I am wrong.

Ben

 

[LadyLocust]

I’ve never had much luck with growing broccoli but I still try. This year has been a success.
View attachment 154241

Once you have eaten home grown broccoli you won’t want store bought anymore. Right there with home grown tomatoes vs store bought.

 

[Tommyice]

Once you have eaten home grown broccoli you won’t want store bought anymore. Right there with home grown tomatoes vs store bought.

Oh I know. The garden Dad had when I was a kid always had broccoli and it was delicious. We started planting it again about 5 years ago but it was nothing like when I was a kid. Those were purchased starts. What I’ve got growing now I started from seed. I really think think it was just all weather related. This garden year has started off cooler than it’s been in years.

 

[Peanut]

I wanted to get ahead of the game this year and protect the elderberries from pests. I lost an entire crop last year to either ground hogs or deer.

Now starts the waiting game to see if the netting works.

Ben

Is an electric fence out of the question? If my concern were 4 footed critters electric would be my first choice. Especially so close to buildings and outlets. (wouldn't use solar)

Do you have any ground hogs close by? maybe one you don't know about? Got a game camera? I found a ground hog in my peach trees one morning. Dogs were barking, looking at one tree. It was just before harvest, june, thick leaves.

Didn't know what i'd find but pushed the limbs aside. Found myself eye to eye with a ground hog!!! Didn't believe what i was seeing!!!

Checked the net, yep, ground hogs climb trees. In fact they are very good at it and do it often. Did not know that, never heard of it either... learned something new, try to everyday!

 

[old tex]

Yesterday I did a mini harvest. I picked 5 tomato's & 5 or 6 peppers. I have at least 4 more tomato's that are almost ready to pick. Peppers, I have no clue how many I have but there's a bunch (4 different kinds). My hot peppers are still small (so are the plants) but there's a lot of them. I did pick my largest bell pepper but should have waited a couple of more days. It hadn't filled out all the way but it was as big as you find in the stores. Overall this year the garden will pay for it's self.

And if your like me & live in an area that get's too much sun & heat, try a garden sun screen. If I hadn't used the one I bought my "crop" & plants would have been just a memory by now. Yesterday I had to move my hot peppers into a shaded area & they love the sun.

 

[Snowman]

Little Visitors this AM, almost the same colour as the Flowers... Careful out there as One never Knows what to Expect Next :

 

[Snowman]

2 Hibbies still Un-open :

 

[WVDragonlady]

Picked 5 quarts of tart cherries that were ready from my trees this morning.

Blackberries really red right now. Probably turn next week, maybe with the heat we're expecting.

Just a handful of blueberries this morning. Enough to eat right away lol

Tiny cukes, toms and peppers on the plants

Big bundles of rosemary and garlic chives cut and are waiting to be washed and chopped up for freezing and drying
Parsley just starting to grow new stems from transplanting

Sweet potato vines growing good so far

 

[joel]

Yesterday I did a mini harvest. I picked 5 tomato's & 5 or 6 peppers. I have at least 4 more tomato's that are almost ready to pick. Peppers, I have no clue how many I have but there's a bunch (4 different kinds). My hot peppers are still small (so are the plants) but there's a lot of them. I did pick my largest bell pepper but should have waited a couple of more days. It hadn't filled out all the way but it was as big as you find in the stores. Overall this year the garden will pay for it's self.

And if your like me & live in an area that get's too much sun & heat, try a garden sun screen. If I hadn't used the one I bought my "crop" & plants would have been just a memory by now. Yesterday I had to move my hot peppers into a shaded area & they love the sun.

It is about time, I always check the first fruit everyday till it is ripe, just can not wait.
By the end of the summer I am giving it away, freezer full canning room packed, it's give it away or pull up the plants.

 

[elkhound]

This is the broccoli that I’ve had make a crown. Past attempts have only produce scraggly florets all over the plant. If I cut this now, won’t it just produce those side florets?

dont pick it to early so you can get giant head and then little shoots later. packman is awful good cultivar.

 

[Neb]

Is an electric fence out of the question? If my concern were 4 footed critters electric would be my first choice. Especially so close to buildings and outlets. (wouldn't use solar)

Do you have any ground hogs close by? maybe one you don't know about? Got a game camera? I found a ground hog in my peach trees one morning. Dogs were barking, looking at one tree. It was just before harvest, june, thick leaves.

Didn't know what i'd find but pushed the limbs aside. Found myself eye to eye with a ground hog!!! Didn't believe what i was seeing!!!

Checked the net, yep, ground hogs climb trees. In fact they are very good at it and do it often. Did not know that, never heard of it either... learned something new, try to everyday!

The Princess fears an idiot getting zapped and suing more than any EMP or other disaster.

I have to resort to mechanical methods.

Ben

 

[Tommyice]

dont pick it to early so you can get giant head and then little shoots later. packman is awful good cultivar

This is the first year that I've gotten broccoli to this point from seed. I'm darn proud but I really think the weather had more to do with it than me. I also forgot to write down the name. I think it was "green magic" but could just as easily been that packet I got at Dollar Tree last year.

 

[Snowman]

re Post #873

This is what I get when I ask about shipping :
Dear valued customer,



Thank you for contacting us at our plant seeds online shop. We appreciate your interest in our products.



At this time, our customer service team is currently unavailable to assist you personally. However, we have received your message and will respond to your inquiry as soon as possible.



We strive to provide high-quality products and exceptional customer service to our valued customers, so please rest assured that we will do our best to address your concerns and answer any questions you may have.

^^^ after 3 msg's to them... Got it again this Am and replied with ; "When are They Available?"

Today I get an email again so I go looking for their site and when I find it and enter the Order Number that they gave Me i get, "That Order Number does not exist"... They have a Chat Box but there is never any1 there so I just typed in the Order # again and typed, "Send Me a Refund Please"...!

 

[elkhound]

This is the first year that I've gotten broccoli to this point from seed. I'm darn proud but I really think the weather had more to do with it than me. I also forgot to write down the name. I think it was "green magic" but could just as easily been that packet I got at Dollar Tree last year.

the best broc i grew was green comet...it no longer available and has not been forever...i hate it when they stop making f1's that are fantastic...there was a huge seed company in texas that produced seed and they closed down. i even seen two professors complaining about it back in the day...i forget name of company its been so long ago.

theres has been a couple i feel are close..green something another...packman came out right before comet was gone.

just watch it the head you will see when its ready cause a few of the little thingys will get larger getting ready to flower...you will figure it out i am sure.

 

[Patchouli]

@elkhound just looking around: https://idiggreenacres.com/products/broccoli-green-comet

 

[Bluedanube]

Slug patrol 2024 in full swing. I just skewered 38 slugs ranging from 3” to one monster more than 7” long. First hot day had them super active right after sunset. Also noticed the earwigs are beginning to get thick also. I put traps out, I hope to keep them a little more under control this year. Saw 4 good sized toads in the garden, they all seemed happy. The Lazuli Buntings are also keeping the daytime bugs like grasshoppers in check. They have a nest in my thornless blackberry that is along the whole edge of the veggie garden

 

[elkhound]

@elkhound just looking around: https://idiggreenacres.com/products/broccoli-green-comet

read this from 16 years ago...i have tried every way to get seed starting way back when...i know a greenhouse guy who has even tried...he bought a pound of seed he keeps in freezer and wont part with them. read the second link out of texas from over 16 years ago talking about what was going on back then..also read the comments...the green comet produced fastest large head of any broccoli ever..it was a 1969 aas award winning variety

note guy says he bought all comet seed from southern exposure 2 years before this...so they went off market 18 years ago. the gardeners know green comet have not found a replacement like it since.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1383630/green-comet-broccoli

be sure read this article..it just make ya wanna cry i tell ya..made these guys cry.
https://www.plantanswers.com/veg_varieties.htm

The short story is: There are only a few vegetable seed companies left in the world and they are eliminating the older, Texas-proven varieties in favor of new, "improved' hybrids. This elimination includes Merced, Heatwave , Surefire, SunMaster tomatoes and Green Comet broccoli. Remaining supplies will soon be depleted. Dr. Larry Stein and I, reworked the Extension Vegetable Recommendation list and sources after a long period of denial about the non-existence of Porter & Sons Seedmen in Stephenville, Texas, which used to be a major seed supplier for Texas gardeners.

notice year...2004...so its been 20 years now

We have been testing broccoli for several years (as seen at:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/vegetables/2003broccolitrials/index.html

and

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/vegetables/2004broccolitrials/index.html


trying to find a replacement for Green Comet which is no longer available. Notice in the 2004 Spring trials that there were only two varieties with images attached. That is because these were THE ONLY TWO varieties which made heads in the spring!

Green Magic broccoli was first put on the San Antonio market in the fall of 2004 but because of the hottest October in history, the quality of early (Aug-Oct) planted broccoli was not what we had experienced in our testing. The later planted Green Magic broccoli was high quality and it should be wonderful this spring because broccoli performs best when it experiences cool growing conditions. Broccoli transplants can be planted in the San Antonio area as late as March 15 and in the hillcountry as late as April 1.


We could not find a seed source for Green Magic so the best chance for that are transplants in San Antonio. We do have a seed source for Emerald Pride at: Stoke's Seeds Ltd.
http://www.stokeseeds.com/cgi-bin/StokesSeeds.storefront
The Emerald Pride broccoli variety performs well in a fall planting if gardeners want to grow their own plants from seed. Plant seed for fall broccoli according to the planting guide at:


http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/PLANTanswers/fallgarden/falldirect.html


1969 winner
https://all-americaselections.org/product/broccoli-green-comet/

 

[Snowman]

per : https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/whats-everybody-doing-today.474/post-974666 ;

006 n 001 show what I used those blown down and off tree branches for...

002 n 005 are Rain Lilies after that good rain and me Lawn Watering ;-)

003 n 004 is another hidden treasure, Still Standing and Blooming...

 

[UrbanHunter]

Today I am trying to catch up on planting a couple of raised beds with a southern exposure. I generally plant a mixed bag using a variation of the square foot method, so today I planted green onions, radishes, carrots, beets, and turnips as an experiment. I have lots of problems with dogs, cats, squirrels, and possum digging up my plants when they are young so I have adapted my methods.

 

[Unsure]

Today I am trying to catch up on planting a couple of raised beds with a southern exposure. I generally plant a mixed bag using a variation of the square foot method, so today I planted green onions, radishes, carrots, beets, and turnips as an experiment. I have lots of problems with dogs, cats, squirrels, and possum digging up my plants when they are young so I have adapted my methods.
View attachment 154357View attachment 154358

Nice garden! Never seen spikes like that in a garden bed. Do they work well?

 

[Ekatarina]

Its slowly coming........ Peonies
and Lilies still closed

 

[Snowman]

 

[Magpie]