The Garden Thread

[Jamie Jackson]

Thanks @Omega. 

Speaking of vac sealing and freezing... I picked up a Food Saver Gamesaver Outdoorsman (Model 2050) last Black Friday and a case of 18 rolls of bags at a 50% off sale. That thing is a beast! Very fast and simple to run and doesn't overheat requiring a cool down period like the old Black & Decker model I used for 15 years. Vac Sealing saves us a bunch of money each year as we can bulk purchase meats etc on sale and vac seal them.

Highly recommended if anyone is considering purchasing one. Just put it on your Black Friday Wish List! 

[gregintenn]

On 6/13/2019 at 7:07 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

We just cut and seed them, rinse, and throw in a freezer bag.

[I40Bandit]

On 6/12/2019 at 6:31 AM, 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. 

No tips on construction, that's easy enough. But getting enough soil is/can be a hassle. I ended up buying two 20 yard dumps of Holy Cow brand soil out of Nashville.

I'm pepper/chili heavy this year, and since I have plenty of tomatoes canned, I am doing some experimental varieties this year and only have a couple plants for slicers and salad cherries.

Will go around and get some current pics to share, but here's some Anaheims from a couple years back...

And I love the Blueberries I can grow here. Never had success with them until moving here.

 

[I40Bandit]

On 6/15/2019 at 3:04 AM, Jamie Jackson said:

Speaking of vac sealing and freezing... I picked up a Food Saver Gamesaver Outdoorsman (Model 2050) last Black Friday and a case of 18 rolls of bags at a 50% off sale. That thing is a beast! Very fast and simple to run and doesn't overheat requiring a cool down period like the old Black & Decker model I used for 15 years. Vac Sealing saves us a bunch of money each year as we can bulk purchase meats etc on sale and vac seal them.

Highly recommended if anyone is considering purchasing one. Just put it on your Black Friday Wish List! 

I have a couple vac/sealers. I put up pigs late winter before temps start rising out of the 40's. I still have a couple roasts 4 years old that traveled with me from San Diego. I do cooking sized portions of onions and peppers mixed,  Zucchini and yellow squash mixes etc. I repack store bought meats when the deals can't be passed up. Fruits and berries etc......love those sealers. If you are not above shopping thrift stores, you can find them for ridiculously cheap. I've hauled off rolls of bag material for pennies on the dollar.

Last year I bought a HarvestRight freeze dryer. Powdered eggs in long term storage....check. Freeze dried garlic is great, just re-hydrate when needed. I've done bananas (no babnanas tho....ARFCOM humor) and various other fruits. I even freeze dried some ice cream sandwiches and orange creamsicles. Takes some time to do a cycle and you have to transfer from freeze dryer to storage super fast (straight from machine to jars/sealed bags) to avoid your food absorbing humidity. Love it though.

[peejman]

1 hour ago, I40Bandit said:

And I love the Blueberries I can grow here. Never had success with them until moving here.

I love blueberries and sure wish I could grow them. I'm not sure why, but never had any luck.  I've had the soil tested and did what they recommended but they just don't grow.  We had some huge bushes and more blueberries than we could eat growing up. 

[ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ]

Have never grown anything as I've never had the space (or time)...  However, I saw this video and thought that, finally, something I could do and try my hand at some tomatoes.

Gardening with Leon - 

So I have built one "Hydo-container" and so far it is doing really well.  I stuffed it with 3 tomato plants, Leon has other videos that show great success with this method on his channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSDYs9sd2_BlLuWSiEr7TJQ

He also covers fertilizing, types of soil, frequency of watering, etc. in subsequent videos.

My tomatoes :

 

 

Edited June 23, 2019 by ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

[Ronald_55]

31 minutes ago, ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ said:

Have never grown anything as I've never had the space (or time)...  However, I saw this video and thought that, finally, something I could do and try my hand at some tomatoes.

 

 

Ever looked at straw bale gardening? It might fit well in a small place. 

Just a quick link to examples. I just Googled this so tgere may be better examples. 

https://sympathink.com/straw-bale-gardening-instructions/

[I40Bandit]

42 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

 

Ever looked at straw bale gardening? It might fit well in a small place. 

Just a quick link to examples. I just Googled this so tgere may be better examples. 

https://sympathink.com/straw-bale-gardening-instructions/

I've tried straw bales. Limited success. Maybe they needed better prep.

[ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ]

45 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

 

Ever looked at straw bale gardening? It might fit well in a small place. 

Just a quick link to examples. I just Googled this so tgere may be better examples. 

https://sympathink.com/straw-bale-gardening-instructions/

Ronald,

I think the biggest challenge I've had for growing outdoor plants, never vegetables however, was keeping them watered. The hydro containers fix that oh, I don't have to be near as diligent with them. And as evidenced by my tomatoes, I have yet to kill them 

Thanks!

-Jon

[Alleycat72]

My 2 acres of corn are coming along nicely. 

[Ronald_55]

Well some of my potatoes are blooming. A little crowded, but hopefully will produce a good bit. I forgot how pretty the blooms are. 

[Jamie Jackson]

I had to work this past weekend so just catching up. It looks like everyone is staying busy and doing quite well! 

Interesting concept Jon! Thank you for the vid. I might give this a shot.  Much obliged my friend.

Those are beautiful flower @Ronald_55! Healthy looking plants!

Welcome @I40Bandit! Awesome blueberries and peppers! We're going pepper heavy this year as well and actually plan to cut and pickle some peppers this afternoon. We planted El Jefe and Jalafuego peppers (seeds from Johnny's) this year. They are supposed to be pretty hot...not Ghost pepper hot, but spicy Jalapeno type hot....we're  hoping.

I "re-purposed" an old picnic table we got for free about a dozen years ago into a deep "Herb bed" type raised bed per the boss'lady's instruction. It's about 6 foot long and deep enough it took 12 bags of garden soil and 2 bags of Moo-Nure to fill it. I transplanted the rosemary (that just won't die...) from last year into it and of course added another tomato plant just 'cause. But what I'm really interested in is planting some Harlequin mix carrots this fall. We've grown them before and they are Tasty and produced well. Pretty cool having blue, purple, and yellow carrots too!

Our cukes are growing like mad and competing for space. That's always an issue with raised beds I reckon LOL. But they are loaded with blooms and setting cukes like crazy. Guess we'll be making some Kosher dills as well.

I definitely need to put in another 8 foot bed... 

Our 2 little fig trees are loaded with fruit. I'll probably need to toss a net over them (again) if I plan to eat any of 'em...the birds love them! Unfortunately... 

 

 

[Jamie Jackson]

I only picked enough for 4 pints...but these are my first canned of this season! 

Spicy little devils... they're cooling off now. Gonna be good in about 4 weeks.

 

[Jamie Jackson]

Still doing well, and I really need to add another 16 foot bed! The 2 friggin' cuke plants are taking over!

I cut another batch of peppers for canning later today. Gonna slice a few 1/2 pints and pints. Picked a few cukes and cherry tomatoes for a salad later today as well. The tomatoes look like they should be ripening within the next couple of weeks.

And the fig trees are loaded! Gotta find where I put that darned netting to if I plan to eat any of them LOL

I cut the Swiss Chard for the last time and gave the "mess" to a friend. I think I'll plant some red kidney beans in their spot to add some nitrogen pods to the soil. And nothing tastes better than fresh red kidney beans. They are delicious!!!

 

[I40Bandit]

Oh yeah. Current pics. This is not even close to all of it. I had no idea Photbucket would put a friggin GIANT water mark in the middle of my pics. None too pleased.

 

 

 

Harvested a bunch of turnip greens this morning....

Edited June 29, 2019 by I40Bandit
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[Ronald_55]

@I40Bandit

You might look at imgur.com

[Jamie Jackson]

10 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

@I40Bandit

You might look at imgur.com

Concur on imgur!

 

@I40Bandit Great setup you have and excellent pics. The use of natural materials like you did makes it even more better! 

[I40Bandit]

5 minutes ago, Jamie Jackson said:

Concur on imgur!

 

@I40Bandit Great setup you have and excellent pics. The use of natural materials like you did makes it even more better! 

I just made an acct and tested the first two pics. Thanks @Ronald_55 and @Jamie Jackson will use them instead.

 

Thanks Jamie! The natural materials is cool until you have to rebuild it. I've been doing it a few years now and when you have a failure, you limp through the rest of the year then trench along the retaining wall in the winter to replace bed structure. I put heavy root barrier in as a liner so soil generally doesn't spill out too much if an end comes apart. The trellis stuff is year to year. I rotate crops so trellis gets thrown up accordingly. The 'mill ends' are cheap by the trailer load from a local mill.

I just added the 'roof' for the cukes. They are no where near done so I had to come up with more room. Will be cool in a month or 2 when the fruits are hanging.

[Jamie Jackson]

 I've used a few naturals like trimmed small trees in making a TeePee setup for beans to climb, but haven't tried making beds from natural material. Good suggestion on the liner Bandit.

I've probably mentioned it, but I've noted that even landscape timbers like I currently use have a "shelf life" of about 8 years. But I can't complain as they serve my needs well.

I plan to borrow your trellis idea! My cukes are literally taking over. I wouldn't mind walking under the trellis to pick 'em.  That'd certainly make life easier. 

Glad you like imgur my friend. 

[maroonandwhite]

I haven't had a chance to get on since I've built the beds.  I ended up going with 2x6's double stacked.  We have a few tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, squash and peppers planted.  Only problem I've had so far is the soil.  We purchased some type of "pro mix" along with some Pete moss and compost in bags to mix in.  It drains very well, almost too well, so has to be watered at least 1-2 times a day.  I've been told next year it should settle in and hold water a little better.  The weeds are at a minimum though and will be pulled tonight.  I've already got a few bell peppers coming in.

 

I'll add pics once I figure out where and how to host them.

[I40Bandit]

@maroonandwhite Vermiculite is a water holder if you need something to dress in immediately. Available at big box home improvement stores and some nurseries. Peat tends to run off water when it's dry (seems a bit hydrophobic). Once wetted it will wick. You may try a surfactant (a 'water wetter') to help it absorb rather than run off (if you are having that issue).

Edited July 1, 2019 by I40Bandit

[maroonandwhite]

As you can see I have a late start haha. I’m hoping to get some yield this year though. Tomatoes cages are coming within the next few days. 

[I40Bandit]

HOLY COW! This morning I got these (and many more) off the bushes.

 

No photoshop douchebaggery....I've been accused before....

Short video showing they are real and not a photoshop job.

[Omega]

59 minutes ago, I40Bandit said:

HOLY COW! This morning I got these (and many more) off the bushes.

 

No photoshop douchebaggery....I've been accused before....

Short video showing they are real and not a photoshop job.

Wow, can you send me some seeds for those hollow points?

[Ronald_55]

1 hour ago, I40Bandit said:

HOLY COW! This morning I got these (and many more) off the bushes.

 

No photoshop douchebaggery....I've been accused before....

Short video showing they are real and not a photoshop job.

Are those heirloom hollow points?