The Garden Thread

[Ronald_55]

@Jamie Jackson

Sounds like you need a few of these. You could add some protein to the table. 

[Jamie Jackson]

LOL.

I wish. That looks like a great trap...but alas, we had a pet rabbit for several years. Now my missus views all rabbits as pets. As I plan to stay married, the rabbits are welcome to lounge around all they wish... 

[Ronald_55]

2 hours ago, Jamie Jackson said:

LOL.

I wish. That looks like a great trap...but alas, we had a pet rabbit for several years. Now my missus views all rabbits as pets. As I plan to stay married, the rabbits are welcome to lounge around all they wish... 

Yeah, like I used to hunt squirrel as a kid.... now we feed them in the yard. 

I figure if things get bad enough at least they are around. 

[TennesseeCamper]

All I have are 10 tomato plants. 2 are for slicing. The other 8 are cherry tomatoes. 6 of the cherry tomato plants are small Walmart starters. They are a little behind the others I got from rural king and they are going great. 

[gregintenn]

21 minutes ago, kentmck said:

All I have are 10 tomato plants. 2 are for slicing. The other 8 are cherry tomatoes. 6 of the cherry tomato plants are small Walmart starters. They are a little behind the others I got from rural king and they are going great. 

LOL! You ever grow any cherry tomatoes?

You’ll probably have enough cherry tomatoes with 8 plants to sell them commercially.

Edited June 3, 2019 by gregintenn

[Jamie Jackson]

1 hour ago, gregintenn said:

LOL! You ever grow any cherry tomatoes?

You’ll probably have enough cherry tomatoes with 8 plants to sell them commercially.

There is some serious truth here!

The one cherry tomato plant I planted last year had us eating cherry tomatoes daily and I took pounds upon pounds of them into work and gave them to my co-workers. They were delicious though.

But that experience (they literally overwhelmed the rest of my garden) is what caused me to plant my lone cherry tomato plant in a large planter away from the rest on my garden. Those suckers can grow!

 

Good looking plants kentmck!

[TennesseeCamper]

3 hours ago, Jamie Jackson said:

There is some serious truth here!

The one cherry tomato plant I planted last year had us eating cherry tomatoes daily and I took pounds upon pounds of them into work and gave them to my co-workers. They were delicious though.

But that experience (they literally overwhelmed the rest of my garden) is what caused me to plant my lone cherry tomato plant in a large planter away from the rest on my garden. Those suckers can grow!

 

Good looking plants kentmck!

Thanks Jamie! I probably did go a little overboard. But I hadn’t planted for a couple years. We do eat a lot of tomatoes we make salads almost every single day. I have a few friends to give extras too.  I should have planted cucumbers. But it’s probably a little late.  

[gregintenn]

25 minutes ago, kentmck said:

Thanks Jamie! I probably did go a little overboard. But I hadn’t planted for a couple years. We do eat a lot of tomatoes we make salads almost every single day. I have a few friends to give extras too.  I should have planted cucumbers. But it’s probably a little late.  

Not at all. Plant a few hills. They will be producing in a few weeks.

[MacGyver]

My kids can eat cherry tomatoes like they're candy. We generally put three plants out - and they consume all of them as soon as they come off the plant.

 

[Ronald_55]

5 hours ago, gregintenn said:

LOL! You ever grow any cherry tomatoes?

You’ll probably have enough cherry tomatoes with 8 plants to sell them commercially.

Heck the volunteer cherry tomatoes (tommy toes) I had come up for several years each produced at least a Wal-Mart sized bag full. I had 3-4 plants each year bunched ariund an old stump.

[Jamie Jackson]

6 hours ago, kentmck said:

Thanks Jamie! I probably did go a little overboard. But I hadn’t planted for a couple years. We do eat a lot of tomatoes we make salads almost every single day. I have a few friends to give extras too.  I should have planted cucumbers. But it’s probably a little late.  

You're welcome Good Sir.

Like Greg said, you still have time for cukes. I added a couple of plants 2 weeks ago and they are growing fast!

[peejman]

6 cherry tomato plants?   I like them too, but that's gonna be a LOT of maters.  They freeze pretty well and make good sauces. 

We didn't plant a cherry tomato last year, but the birds planted one for us in the flower bed.   We've got one plant this year. 

Speaking of volunteers... we've got a couple tomatoes and a vine that's either a watermelon or cantaloupe. I thought it was a zucchini so I let it grow, but now it's got 6ft runners so we'll see what it produces. 

And yes, you've still got plenty of time to plant most any typical summer crop and get a good yeild. 

Edited June 4, 2019 by peejman

[TennesseeCamper]

Thank you all! I will get some cucumbers planted in the next couple days!

[Jamie Jackson]

11 hours ago, peejman said:

 

Speaking of volunteers... we've got a couple tomatoes and a vine that's either a watermelon or cantaloupe. I thought it was a zucchini so I let it grow, but now it's got 6ft runners so we'll see what it produces. 

 

I love surprises like that! Can't wait to see what it produces peejman! 

[maroonandwhite]

I’m looking to dive into a small garden using raised beds. I’ve tried a larger garden in the past and never enjoyed keeping it weeded, watered etc.  Any tips on the best design or size for raised bed/s. Basically looking to do tomatoes, okra, squash and zucchini. 

[Jamie Jackson]

1 hour ago, maroonandwhite said:

I’m looking to dive into a small garden using raised beds. I’ve tried a larger garden in the past and never enjoyed keeping it weeded, watered etc.  Any tips on the best design or size for raised bed/s. Basically looking to do tomatoes, okra, squash and zucchini. 

I hate to "quote" myself , LOL.  But I posted on June 3rd the method I use. 

It's super simple and no hammer nor nails are involved. Very easy to replace the landscape timbers after 8-10 years as they will eventually decompose.

I make my beds in units of eight's and four's. The landscape timbers are generally 8'. I cut 4 in half (8 four ft pieces) and leave 8 of the landscape timber uncut. I simply stack them using small, iirc, 3' T-pieces sunk to hold them, Then fill with a combination of bagged manure and garden soil. I run chicken wire around the tops leaving plenty of space to weed-eat. I staple the chicken wire at it's base as the friggin' rabbits will otherwise climb in and feast! They are incredibly easy to maintain, but being raised may require more frequent watering than in ground beds...depending on natural rainfall, soil content etc.I usually water mine every 2-4 days.

fwiw the "long bed" is 16 feet and that's a 16 foot piece of cattle panel fencing I picked up from Tractor Supply about 9 years ago. Cucumbers, beans, anything that vines, love to climb and adhere to that sucker!

Below are a couple of pics from yesterday. If you look at my post from June 3rd, you can see how well these beds can produce. We'll be taking our 4 cutting of the Bright Lights Swiss Chard today.

I know there are multiple methods for raised beds, but this is the simplest and most easy to maintain that I've ever made. 

Keep us posted and share a few pics. We can all learn from each other.

 

 

[maroonandwhite]

Thanks!  As you can see I posted without reading through the thread haha. I’m gonna hopefully take some time this evening and start from the beginning to read. 

 

My only thought was to go a little higher than that but I assume the timbers are far cheaper than trying to build it out of larger treated boards. This looks nice as well. I plan to place these within a soon to be pea graveled area on the side of the house so weed eating should be minimal. 

[Jamie Jackson]

@maroonandwhite

That's the part I like about this bed-building method. I plan to add another 1-2 timbers depth when the landscape timbers go on sale again. All I have to do is cut the end timbers and stack them, and add more soil. Simple. And I like simple. 

[Omega]

I seen some raised garden kits for sale on Craigslist, from a company, and decided to give them a try.  Now I see that Home Depot, has the connectors to use with wood. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Oldcastle-7-5-in-x-7-5-in-x-5-5-in-Tan-Brown-Planter-Wall-Block-16202336/206501693

Mine are cement, but the "boards" are kind of fragile, I've already broke a couple.  I chose this spot because it's the only decent spot in the yard, sun wise.

I use garden fabric to keep the weeds at bay.  I still have to weed in between, so I bought a stirrup hoe at the PX for less than $20 which works great for that.

Once the tomatoes get taller, I cage them, but next year I'm considering using the yoyo and string method.

https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Retractable-Stopper-Support-Hydroponics/dp/B07GNHQQD9

I ran electric fence, not energized yet, for the rabbits and these guys.  I ran one last year and it worked good, but my energizer went bad so had to get a new one.

Last year we had some dry spells, and the sprinkler wasted too much water, so this year I hot a cheap soaker hose at harbor freight. I ran it in a zigzag pattern because running it down the furrows didn't water evenly. 

Last year I had a huge hot pepper harvest, so this year I kind of overdid the tomatoes,  but I also planted more cucumbers and some sweet potatoes and a few peppers again.   I have some asparagus in containers, but need to read up on them, I don't want them taking over the garden.

[Ronald_55]

@Omega

My raised bed kit looks similar. Mine Just has corner connectors though. It is 4 ft by 4 ft I think. I found them on clearance a few years ago. 

[Jamie Jackson]

@Omega

Nice setup! And Thanks for the photos.

You make a good point about placement of the garden. Sometimes we may not have a great choice, but a spot with maximal Southern exposure has worked the best for me.

I've never tried the yoyo & string method, but our tomato plant generally reach 5-6 ft in height. Even caged I generally run some clothesline cord around them to support the weight onto the wire panel in my pics. Thanks for the link.

Do you can? Waterbath and/or pressure can?

We plan to can a a good bit of peppers, some of the green tomatoes (pickled) and if the missus doesn't eat them all in salads some of the cukes. 

[peejman]

10 hours ago, Omega said:

Last year we had some dry spells, and the sprinkler wasted too much water, so this year I hot a cheap soaker hose at harbor freight. I ran it in a zigzag pattern because running it down the furrows didn't water evenly. 

Look into a rain barrel.  The standard blue or black barrels work fine, or you can get something prettier.  I don't recommend the white barrels due to algae growth.  We have one 50 gallon barrel and a 5 minute downpour will fill it up. 

[Omega]

7 hours ago, Jamie Jackson said:

@Omega

Nice setup! And Thanks for the photos.

You make a good point about placement of the garden. Sometimes we may not have a great choice, but a spot with maximal Southern exposure has worked the best for me.

I've never tried the yoyo & string method, but our tomato plant generally reach 5-6 ft in height. Even caged I generally run some clothesline cord around them to support the weight onto the wire panel in my pics. Thanks for the link.

Do you can? Waterbath and/or pressure can?

We plan to can a a good bit of peppers, some of the green tomatoes (pickled) and if the missus doesn't eat them all in salads some of the cukes. 

I don't can, I normally just vacuum seal my peppers and freeze them, they seem to keep just fine.  I may get into it later, if I can get my tomatoes to give me a large harvest, right now I just share with friends and make a whole bunch of salsa.

1 hour ago, peejman said:

Look into a rain barrel.  The standard blue or black barrels work fine, or you can get something prettier.  I don't recommend the white barrels due to algae growth.  We have one 50 gallon barrel and a 5 minute downpour will fill it up. 

I have a rain barrel system out on my hunting property, three 55gl blue barrels with overflow.  At home I don't mind using the hose, its just that much of the water would water the neighbors grass using a sprinkler.  The soaker hose puts it right on the garden, which is the only thing that needs extra water, I can't remember the last time I watered the grass.

[Jamie Jackson]

8 hours ago, Omega said:

I don't can, I normally just vacuum seal my peppers and freeze them, they seem to keep just fine.  I may get into it later, if I can get my tomatoes to give me a large harvest, right now I just share with friends and make a whole bunch of salsa.

 

It looks like we'll have a large pepper crop this year. I'll can a good bit of them...but may well freeze/vac seal a bit as well.

Do you blanch yours prior to freezing? or just vac seal them? TIA

[Omega]

On 6/13/2019 at 6:07 PM, Jamie Jackson said:

It looks like we'll have a large pepper crop this year. I'll can a good bit of them...but may well freeze/vac seal a bit as well.

Do you blanch yours prior to freezing? or just vac seal them? TIA

No, just wash, dry, then vacuum them.   Since I dice them up for my salsa, I also just chop them up while still frozen.  I may try and pickle some, sliced, for nachos and such, but those I'll do while fresh.