Gardening 2022

[Mountain trapper]

Got the orchard mowed this morning. It was cool enough that I had to wear a long sleeve shirt. Its up to 72 degs now. Everything in the garden and orchard are really growing good. I ate our first strawberries yesterday. Raspberries should be ready for picking in another week or so. I've got a buyer for all the raspberries that we want to sell. He'll take the blackberries that we want to sell too.
The ducks are living in the orchard now. They love their new swimming pool.

 

[Buttoni]

Wow I am shocked.

And I discovered handling the plants/leaves to expose the squash, I'm apparently sensitive to the hairy plant leaves/stems. Broke out in visible allergic-type bumps on the insides of both lower arms/wrists. Enough that I actually got out my epi-pen (though didn't have to use it) just in case. The bumps disappeared in about 1 hour total.

 

[user 7704]

Oh yeah, they are very prickly.

 

[user 7704]

The rain we had last week made the weeds grow. I pulled three 5 gallon buckets of smashed down weeds.

 

[dirtdiva]

The rain we had last week made the weeds grow. I pulled three 5 gallon buckets of smashed down weeds.

I spent yesterday pulling weeds myself. By the time that storm got up here to us it had quite a bit of wind in it. Today it is picking up sticks out of the yard. Picking the last of my spring cabbage and making kraut. Think I will plant one last round of bush beans in their place.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I got woke up at 3am this morning to the sound of thunder and high winds. We didn't get a drop of rain. Had thunder off and on all day, still no rain. Its hot and humid out, 78 degs and 43% humidity.
Got the orchard watered today, garden will be tomorrow. Started working on the smoke house again yesterday. I'll be ready to put the roof on in the morning and then start siding.

 

[Cindyd]

Overall, I haven't gotten enough out of garden this year to make it worth fooling with. Very discouraged. Planted a lot but not getting much harvest. I'm probably in trouble if SHTF with gardening skills. Farmers market calling my name. At least I can get enough decent veggies to can, freeze, dehydrate, and stock away.

 

[user 7704]

I worked harder on garden preps this year than ever before and had such high expectations. Then the heat and dry weather hit. I am now replanting for a late garden. It is not too late if the weather cooperates.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

So true! I’ve started to plant other crops. Will be doing fall ones shortly. Going to grow more potatoes in my raised bed. Hubby is crafting a cover for it so they can keep growing past the first frost,

 

[DrHenley]

The sweet potatoes are starting to attract bugs. Only a few leaves have been cut, but I need to get some more diatomaceous earth. I only had enough left for one application and the rain washed it off. I'll have to keep applying it daily if these afternoon showers keep up.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I had to cut the chickens wings the other night to keep them out of the garden. Its kinda funny to watch them trying to fly over the fence with only one wing. The ducks are fine, they don't do any damage like chickens do.

 

[user 7704]

The sweet potatoes are starting to attract bugs. Only a few leaves have been cut, but I need to get some more diatomaceous earth. I only had enough left for one application and the rain washed it off. I'll have to keep applying it daily if these afternoon showers keep up.

I put a whole sweet potato half buried in some soil to make slip. I picked it up and ants were all over it and had eaten the entire end.

 

[DrHenley]

Does anyone know what kind of sweet potato bug does this?

 

[user 7704]

Does anyone know what kind of sweet potato bug does this?

I would guess a grasshopper type bug.

 

[user 7704]

I had to cut the chickens wings the other night to keep them out of the garden. Its kinda funny to watch them trying to fly over the fence with only one wing. The ducks are fine, they don't do any damage like chickens do.

Mine have never flown over. My fence is about 6 ft high.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Mine have never flown over. My fence is about 6 ft high.

The fence around the run is 6 ft, and 3 hens will fly over that, they did until they lost their wings. The fence around the garden is a little under 5 ft. Today there were no chickens in the garden eating the duck food. We dont feed the hens in the summer so they were trying to get a free meal from the ducks.

 

[Buttoni]

Does anyone know what kind of sweet potato bug does this?

@DrHenley, maybe leaf cutter ants? Leaf Cutter Ant Control

 

[user 7704]

Made rice, onions, garlic, squash, okra and tomatoes tonight. My son calls it jambalaya even though it is far from it. He loves it though.

I grew everything but the rice.

 

[Buttoni]

Oooo, that sounds really good, @Robinjopo1 . I do an okra, tomato, onion, garlic stew over rice. I call it seafoodless gumbo. LOL Will have to try the squash in it sometime. Yellow or zucchini?

 

[user 7704]

Oooo, that sounds really good, @Robinjopo1 . I do an okra, tomato, onion, garlic stew over rice. I call it seafoodless gumbo. LOL Will have to try the squash in it sometime. Yellow or zucchini?

Whichever is handy. Tonight it was yellow

 

[user 7704]

Update : the rains last weekend may have saved me. The plants are looking strong and green. I am getting squash, cucumbers, okra, the beans are blooming and I have green tomatoes. I have never had a good tomato crop so I'm not that worried about that. I have lots a beans canned so one bad year won't hurt too much.

 

[campandtravel]

My tomatoes are burning up. It's real Hot! Wth is going on? I see rain clouds forming, then they disapate and no rain.

I've been seeing that too. Frequently enough that I noticed it.

 

[user 7704]

I was talking to my neighbor and he said he did not know anyone who has had a productive harvest this year. Many have just pulled their dead plants and given up.

I, on the other hand, started over and am hoping for a late garden.

 

[Helentroy]

I have hope for the new year. I got 4 seed catalogs in the mail yesterday.

I don't need many seeds, but I'm going to branch out in some areas so I'm going to order early. Going to get extra herbs to put in my cinder blocks like Dani does. Going to get seeds for bee friendly plants too.

There was a seed shortage last year.

Which 4 seed catalogs do you order from, that I can get in the mail too?
I'm already thinking of next summer already, especially since there seems to be more and more 'shortages'.
Ordering back in January of 2022- Feb, and March of 2022, they had several things they ran out of, or didn't have at all.

 

[Buttoni]

I was talking to my neighbor and he said he did not know anyone who has had a productive harvest this year. Many have just pulled their dead plants and given up.

I, on the other hand, started over and am hoping for a late garden.

That's what I'm doing in my city grow-bag garden, Robin. Just today planted out some yellow squash, zucchini, Black Beauty eggplant, white eggplant, bush beans, okra, edible pod peas and a few herbs. Also should have some sweet potato slips ready to plant next week. If any of it makes..great; if not, hasn't cost me much to try again.

Can't replant down at the cabin until we go down there finally. It's just too dang hot in Texas for young plants to make it a full week without daily watering. Not willing to drive downw there more than once a week, with the cost of gasoline. It will be time for winter crops by the time we go down there for good, I expect.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

I was talking to my neighbor and he said he did not know anyone who has had a productive harvest this year. Many have just pulled their dead plants and given up.

I, on the other hand, started over and am hoping for a late garden.

I’ve done the same with more than a few plants. The rain has made a marked difference to my plants!

 

[DrHenley]

The sweet potatoes in the raised beds are doing so well (growing like crazy) that I went and got some more raised bed soil and will try to get two more raised beds going. I have one raised bed with white sweet potatoes and one with orange sweet potatoes. The orange sweet potatoes are just for eating the leaves, and even though I planted those a few weeks after planting the white sweet potatoes, they are catching up with the white sweet potatoes. I noticed that the orange sweet potato leaves are slightly smaller and more delicate than the white sweet potato leaves, and the vines are thinner and are intertwining. The white sweet potato vines, being thicker, are more upright.

I've got several white sweet potatoes in water trying to get some shoots going, but only two are showing signs of life. One is putting out roots all over the place, but no shoots, and the other one is putting out both shoots and roots. The slips from that one should be ready to plant within the week.

It may be too late in the season to start, but if we don't get potatoes from them it's not a disaster since we can eat the leaves.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

The sweet potatoes in the raised beds are doing so well (growing like crazy) that I went and got some more raised bed soil and will try to get two more raised beds going. I have one raised bed with white sweet potatoes and one with orange sweet potatoes. The orange sweet potatoes are just for eating the leaves, and even though I planted those a few weeks after planting the white sweet potatoes, they are catching up with the white sweet potatoes. I noticed that the orange sweet potato leaves are slightly smaller and more delicate than the white sweet potato leaves, and the vines are thinner and are intertwining. The white sweet potato vines, being thicker, are more upright.

I've got several white sweet potatoes in water trying to get some shoots going, but only two are showing signs of life. One is putting out roots all over the place, but no shoots, and the other one is putting out both shoots and roots. The slips from that one should be ready to plant within the week.

It may be too late in the season to start, but if we don't get potatoes from them it's not a disaster since we can eat the leaves.

Because you showed us the white sweet potatoes I planted some. They are growing like crazy. Their vines are intertwining. Did not plant any orange sweet potatoes. Will be trying out the leaves soon! The chickens and rabbits like them! LOL.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Got our first tomato yesterday. The cherries are starting to turn red on some of the trees. Everything is growing like weeds. Some of the fruit trees have 3' of growth so far. I need to do some weeding in the garden today and then water it again.

 

[DrHenley]

Because you showed us the white sweet potatoes I planted some. They are growing like crazy. Their vines are intertwining. Did not plant any orange sweet potatoes. Will be trying out the leaves soon! The chickens and rabbits like them! LOL.

It's the right summer for them, LOL. They love the heat! And we've been getting daily showers which doesn't hurt.
From what I've read about eating the leaves, I expect I won't like them...too bitter. But my wife likes bitter vegetables, which is why our orange sweet potato plants are just for the leaves.
There are apparently many varieties of the white sweet potatoes. I have no idea which variety we have, but they have replaced rice as our staple so we eat them at least once a day, sometimes twice.