The Garden Thread

[Jamie Jackson]

Thanks MarkA. :hat:

 

 

 

 

 

So my in-laws have a pretty big garden that my wife and I help them with, so far we have canned about 100 quarts of green beans and have put a bunch of corn in the freezer in quart bags. Our potatoes didn't do well at all, tomato plants have some big tomatoes just not a lot of them. I started some herbs from seeds they didn't make it after I removed them from the little greenhouse, I'm new at gardening but I'm not afraid of work. So maybe next year, I'll try again.

 

You're very fortunate, and you'll get there.

There's a steeper learning curve to gardening than most folks realize (not pointing a finger at you Tennessee01). The most challenging part is "growing the soil" so that the moisture and nutrients will be there to allow the plants to thrive. fwiw...Steve Solomon has some excellent writings on this.

 

We have our second plantings for bush green beans coming up. The tomatoes are producing well, but I had to net them to keep the flipping birds from destroying them as they ripen.

The butternut squash are starting to produce well also.

 

Most of the foods that are producing currently will be prepped for the freezer, and I'll can them later this year. It's a system that has worked well for us the past few years.

 

 

 

Hand in there Dennis. I know what you mean, it's always something... Rabbits first, now birds for us this year...oh well... :ugh:

 

But we'll keep working on it. :pleased:

[JWC]

I'll join in. So far my pole beans did ok I've canned about 20 qts of green beans and ate some. Gonna can some more tomorrow. I got about 3, 5 gallon buckets of potatoes. Round 1 of squash got annihilated by vine borers but I saved a couple of plants to have some for eating. So much for my try at limiting my insecticide use. Maybe I'll get some for freezing on round 2. Theyre bout a foot tall.
My tomatoes are finally getting red. I planted about 30 tomates including some heirlooms we acquired from one of my dads customers, (he called them Minnie Bussel as thats the old womans name he got the seed from originally. We call them "those maters we got from Smith") either way they're big, ugly, and red, and damn good. They have pretty good disease resistance and at this point I'm really just trying to maintain the variety.
My spring broccoli did pretty good. Gonna plant more plus cabbage again for fall.
Pulled about 6 dozen ears of corn on my first go round. Got another couple rows that'll be ready in a few days but it ain't gonna be as good.
Didn't plant cucumbers this year. I made 2 years worth of pickles last year and I don't like eating them fresh so I'll grow some for pickles next year.
Okra is growing.
Sweet potatoes are going crazy up top. Not sure what's going on underground.
Pulled some decent carrots today so my wife can feed some to our 10 month old. They were bigger than I thought. Probably pull the rest in a week or so.
At this point I'm waiting on peas, winter squash, and my second summer squash. I planted some bush beans and more pole beans too. When the corns gone I'll prep that area for turnip greens. I plant something and when its done or declines i pull it and plant something else. Lettuce and spinach can last a lot longer than most realize. If you start it in Sept you can be eating salad at Thanksgiving and sometimes Christmas or like year before last, all year.

I have about a 40'x60' main garden, a 10'x20' spot i usually plant lettuce and spinach in (right now i rotated in peas and our halloween punkin in it), a 10'x30' strip behind the shed, a 15'x10' raised strawberry bed ( had some bare spots so i planted okra in it) a bed with herbs, a couple blueberry bushes, and a coulple blackberry canes. I'm considering tearing down my shed and rebuilding it as shed with attached greenhouse.
We've always been big on gardening in my family. My uncle grows and sells vegetables at his place up in Gallatin and he has a 50' greenhouse. my dad always kept all this stuff here planted I just do what he did. My grandaddy had a pretty big yard and the entire back from fence to fence was garden. my aunt told me my granny used to say that she expected to come home one day and he'd be tilling up out front. If ours was more level it'd be the same way.

[JWC]

Btw not gardening but Breeden's Orchard in Mt Juliet has some real good pick your own peaches for $1 a lb. they had some that just came in and were loaded this past Sunday and I swung in there and picked half a bushel and was outta there in about 10 minutes. I canned them last night.

[Mark A]

27pints of salsa today... It was the project that would not go away...

[Mark A]

Time to kick this one back to the top...

 

I have some leaf lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and swiss chard started. I will start some more romaine in a week or so

 

 

 

Is it too late to start a batch of carrots and also some yellow bulb onions? It seems like the weather will support it. I do plan on building some boxes to help protect the lettuce once it finally gets cold. Looking to borrow knowledge from those that know...

 

thanks, Mark

Edited September 23, 2013 by Mark A

[Raoul]

I've got collards, spinach, swiss chard, kale, carrots, radishes, carrots, and turnips up.

I'm still picking peppers and eggplant and the garlic will go into the ground next week.

 

I say plant the carrots. Seed is cheap and even if they don't get much size you can still eat them.

Cold boxes are a good idea, I'll be doing the same this year for the first time.

[JAB]

Between the less than ideal soil where I now live, all the rain and critters eating what little my garden managed to produce, I had might as well have piled all the money I spent on plants, top soil (to try and make up for the existing bad soil) and everything else into a big pile, poured the gas I used in the tiller on it and set the whole thing alight.  Waste of time, money and effort this year.

 

I am building a couple of raised beds for next year.  I will likely go ahead and build them soon and start piling leaves and other stuff in them to compost.  Screw topsoil - I'm going to fill those beds with the compost and some potting soil.

 

I had intended to can a few jars of salsa using my own, homegrown tomatoes, peppers and cilantro.  Unfortunately, the tomatoes and peppers crapped out (I got maybe two usable tomatoes this year), my peppers did nothing and my cilantro was dead less than a week after I planted it.  For next year, even with the raised beds I am tempted to plant tomatoes just for eating fresh and simply purchase a basket or two from the Amish market in Delano for making salsa.  I can buy hot peppers there, too, if need be.  I'd rather grow my own than buy the stuff but I'd rather buy the stuff than waste money on plants and materials then not get anything out of it and the produce at the Amish market is good.

Edited September 25, 2013 by JAB

[JWC]

In the last couple weeks I've planted cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, swiss chard, lettuce, spinach, turnip greens, kale, mustard. Gave it a go on some sugar snaps and english peas. Sowed down all bare ground with clover/rye/vetch cover crop.
Still getting a tomato here and there in the few i left, okra, and bush beans. I rooted around and pulled out 4 real nice sweet taters Sat just to see how they were doing. Should have a good bunch of them.
And I have some corn that'll be ready in about 2 weeks I think :)

[peejman]

I thought I'd bring this thread back to life with a little report...

 

I built a new semi-raised bed garden this spring, it's about 2 ft wide x 30 ft long. I wanted more garden space and after a very poor yield last year, I got the impression that our other garden space needed a break. Due to nearly non stop spring rains keeping the area too wet to till, I got a late start getting things planted. I was finally able to use a lot of the compost from my compost barrel (see the first page of this thread). The compost came out black as diesel oil and seems to have helped noticeably.   :up: 

 

We planted 4-5 varieties of tomatoes and it looks like we'll have a great harvest, they're only just now getting ripe. The cherry tomatoes have come in first and I've got more of them than I know what to do with. I'm expecting plenty to freeze this year. :yum:

 

Next is okra and it's growing fine but it's got a couple more weeks yet before we'll get any.

 

We planted broccoli much later than recommended, but we had the seeds so we planted them anyway. While they've come up and grown fine, it seems all they really did was provide food for the caterpillers. The leaves look like swiss cheese and out of 6-8 plants we got one solitary head of broccoli smaller than a coke can. I pulled them up yesterday and tossed them in the compost. I may try one more time, but so far I'm 0 for 3 with broccoli.  :shrug:

 

We planted some lettuce also much later than recommended, but it's done great. We got more lettuce than we knew what to do with and it continued to produce through the heat up until a week or two ago. Actually it's still there and growing but the lettuce is bitter now. Guess I'll pull it up too.

 

The snap peas didn't do anything. The plants started growing fine, then turned brown and died after about a month. I don't know what happened, they did fine last year.  :shrug:

 

The green beans didn't do well either, though I think that's our fault. I think we got pole beans instead of bush beans and since we didn't put up anything for them to climb they got completely overrun by the zuchinni right next to them. I got one handful of beans the other day after digging them out from under the zuchini.

 

And speaking of zuchini.... while the plants have grown about 3x bigger than we expected, we've only gotten a handful of zuchini. Hopefully they'll continue to produce for a while yet.

 

The cucumbers have produced more than we can eat but the plants have turned brown over the last week or so. I expected the plants to last longer than this. That's it for the new garden bed.

 

In the old garden bed we planted some pumpkin seeds saved from last year's Halloween pumpkins at my 6 yr old's request. Surprisingly (to me anyway) they've grown into a rather large pumpkin plant. No baby pumpkins yet so we'll see what happens. We also planted a green bell pepper and chili pepper there because we ran out of room in the new bed. They're doing fine and I'm impatiently waiting for some home-made salsa.  :yum: 

 

How's everyone else's garden doing this year... ?

[Ted S.]

Got some melon and pumpkin plants going so far, and carrots. That's all I really threw out this year in the garden. Trying to get a couple hearbs started this year away from the garden and that is painfully slow.

 

Away for a week right now though, so we'll see if anything is still alive when I get back.

[gregintenn]

So far we have squash, peppers, cucumbers, potatoes and tomatoes. Corn is about to get ripe, and coons are beginning to raid it. I set a trap last night, and the little devil stole the honey bun from it, wrapper and all. I put another one in it, and wired it to the top of the trap. Maybe I'll get him tonight.

 

 

Today, we've made dill pickles and blackberry jelly.

Edited July 5, 2014 by gregintenn

[gregintenn]

Coons are smart! Last night, he turned the trap on it's side, got the honey bun, and piled corn shucks and cobs around the trap like a big "screw you!" I've now tethered the trap to the ground so he can't turn it over and rebaited. I can't wait to see what mischief he pulls tonight. That's my last honey bun, and if I don't get him pretty quick, I'll be out of corn as well.

[peejman]

Time for some high speed lead poisoning. My parents have regular trouble with raccoons. They're smart critters.

[JPS]

I pulled the rotted wood sides off my 5X8' raised garden this spring, and rebuilt/expanded it to about 6x10' (inside) with (40 or so) concrete blocks ($1.14 each at Lowes) stacked two high.  I added compost and additional dirt to bring it to about 6" from the top, then laid down landscape fabric and covered it with a layer of mulch before planting.  I planted 24 tomato plants; 4 plants each of 6 varieties, with serrano chilis on one end and jalapenos on the other, and filled some of the holes in the blocks with dirt and basil plants.  Add Miracle grow, and wait...

 

WOW!  I've never had a garden this beautiful!  I've been eating the cherry tomatoes for a couple of weeks, and I must have 100 others of assorted varieties getting big and starting to ripen.  The tomatoes are coming it without the weird shapes and black spots I've had in previous years.  I also put a plastic owl up to keep the birds away, and even that seems like it's working great.

 

Best thing I've found to do with fresh tomatoes is to slice them and put on cheap white bread with a slice of velveeta - then put them under the broiler for a few minutes.. 

[peejman]

I pulled the rotted wood sides off my 5X8' raised garden this spring, and rebuilt/expanded it to about 6x10' (inside) with (40 or so) concrete blocks ($1.14 each at Lowes) stacked two high.  I added compost and additional dirt to bring it to about 6" from the top, then laid down landscape fabric and covered it with a layer of mulch before planting.  I planted 24 tomato plants; 4 plants each of 6 varieties, with serrano chilis on one end and jalapenos on the other, and filled some of the holes in the blocks with dirt and basil plants.  Add Miracle grow, and wait...

 

WOW!  I've never had a garden this beautiful!  I've been eating the cherry tomatoes for a couple of weeks, and I must have 100 others of assorted varieties getting big and starting to ripen.  The tomatoes are coming it without the weird shapes and black spots I've had in previous years.  I also put a plastic owl up to keep the birds away, and even that seems like it's working great.

 

Best thing I've found to do with fresh tomatoes is to slice them and put on cheap white bread with a slice of velveeta - then put them under the broiler for a few minutes.. 

 

 

We've also got LOTS of cherry tomatoes.  Gonna try freezing them and see how that works.

 

Slice of bread, slice of tomato, slice of cheese, topped with a little Italian seasoning and red pepper, couple minutes in the broiler = :yum:

 

Used to eat those all the time as a snack during the summer when I was a kid.  Gonna have to do that again...

[JPS]

We've also got LOTS of cherry tomatoes.  Gonna try freezing them and see how that works.

 

 

 

I use a 'refrigerator pickle' recipe that works pretty good for canning them.  I'd be interested to know how freezing them works.  (I have to admit though, that my 2 year old will probably eat ALL of them before I get a chance to keep any for later..)

[peejman]

I use a 'refrigerator pickle' recipe that works pretty good for canning them.  I'd be interested to know how freezing them works.  (I have to admit though, that my 2 year old will probably eat ALL of them before I get a chance to keep any for later..)

 

I've been eating them like cheese puffs.  According to google, a reasonable way to freeze cherry tomatoes is to simply line them up on a cookie sheet and put the whole thing in the freezer.  Once they're frozen, repackage in whatever container suits you.  We did two full cookie sheets worth the other day.  We'll see how they do.  We've done the blanching, skinning, and freezing routine on regular tomatoes (and will again) but having to skin eleventygillion cherry tomatoes seems a bit too tedious for me. 

 

 

Wifey also made a big batch of salsa.  The food processor made it a bit foamy, but hopefully the bubbles will work their way out.  The bubbles make the texture a little odd, but it still tasted really good.  Need get some beans to make black bean and corn salsa next.    :yum:   

[JPS]

Wifey also made a big batch of salsa.  The food processor made it a bit foamy, but hopefully the bubbles will work their way out.  The bubbles make the texture a little odd, but it still tasted really good.  Need get some beans to make black bean and corn salsa next.    :yum:   

 

My wife is from Mexico, and she still makes salsa in a molcajete (volcanic stone mortar and pestle) - nothing beats it, but it sure gets spicy some times!

[peejman]

My wife is from Mexico, and she still makes salsa in a molcajete (volcanic stone mortar and pestle) - nothing beats it, but it sure gets spicy some times!

I bet that's some darn good salsa.

Our next door neighbor is from Texas and got some chilie pepper seeds from family there. He gave us some peppers and my wife used them in the salsa last year. It had a nice kick when it was fresh. After several months in the freezer.... Holy moly! The sweat beads started popping out after a couple chips. Nice way to keep warm in the winter. :)

[reed1285]

My wife is from Mexico, and she still makes salsa in a molcajete (volcanic stone mortar and pestle) - nothing beats it, but it sure gets spicy some times!

that sounds great!

[maroonandwhite]

Thought i'd resurrect this thread for the year and ask a few questions.

 

I plan on tilling new ground for my garden once the weather and ground gets right. I do not have a turning plow or anything like that and have to go buy or rent a tiller. I have been told a good rear tine tiller will do just fine breaking new ground so hopefully that's true. Do I need to remove the top layer of grass as some internet sites show? I haven't tested the soil yet but will be doing that before tilling so I can add whatever I need to.

 

I also plan to plant some grapes for eating as well as grapes for wine making. Not sure how it will turn out or if they will even produce around here but I'm gonna give it a shot.

 

How do you guys protect the garden from deer? I won't have a fence or anything around it and am thinking of just buying one of the DC powered electric fence kits and running a strand around it. Will the deer not just hop right over?

[gary_boom]

I have old Troybilt Horse and it is still a lot of work after plowing but tilling new ground can be done. I use an solar ele fence for deer but it won't keep coons out. I have to trap and kill then.

[peejman]

Thought i'd resurrect this thread for the year and ask a few questions.

 

I plan on tilling new ground for my garden once the weather and ground gets right. I do not have a turning plow or anything like that and have to go buy or rent a tiller. I have been told a good rear tine tiller will do just fine breaking new ground so hopefully that's true. Do I need to remove the top layer of grass as some internet sites show? I haven't tested the soil yet but will be doing that before tilling so I can add whatever I need to.

 

I also plan to plant some grapes for eating as well as grapes for wine making. Not sure how it will turn out or if they will even produce around here but I'm gonna give it a shot.

 

How do you guys protect the garden from deer? I won't have a fence or anything around it and am thinking of just buying one of the DC powered electric fence kits and running a strand around it. Will the deer not just hop right over?

 

 

I'd thought about bumping this the other day....

 

 

I created a new (but small) garden patch last year... here's what I did:

 

1. Do the "call before you dig" routine.  Even if you know there's nothing there, it's CYA. 

 

2. Mark it out and spray the whole area with your preferred brush killer.  Spray it again 2 weeks later.  Then spray it again after another 2 weeks.

 

3. Scalp it with the mower, as low as you dare.

 

4. Procure your favorite soil amendment.  I used home produced compost plus a couple bags of it from the store.  The soil test is a good idea... https://ag.tennessee.edu/spp/Pages/soiltesting.aspx

 

5. Rent a decent rear tine tiller and go at it.  This works best when it's dry, else it becomes a sticky muddy mess.  Expect to make 2-3 passes to get it as deep as it'll go.  Spread the soil amendment as necessary and till it in.  Unless you're really lucky and have wonderful soil or are the size of an NFL lineman, wrestling the tiller will be exhausting.  If you're doing a big space, finding someone with a tractor tiller/rotavator might be worth the money.   I don't recommend buying a tiller unless you just want one.  Good ones are expensive.

 

6.  Plant.

 

Our garden produced reasonably well last year.  The spot was in the middle of the yard and weeds/grass were manageable.  Several years ago I built a big flowerbed and rented a sod cutter to remove the grass.  Not worth it (for me, the folks I gave the sod to were happy).   Grass came up everywhere.  Took 3-4 years of spraying and pulling to finally kill off most of it. 

 

Keeping the deer out....?  Good luck.  My parents live in the woods and Dad had to build a 6 ft chicken wire fence all the way around his garden.  Mom's since found some deer spray that seems to help.  It's expensive and smells awful until it dries. 

[maroonandwhite]

I'd thought about bumping this the other day....

 

 

Lots of great info thanks.

 

I am thinking I will rent the tiller the first time as these rental places normally have the bigger and better models. In the fall I have my eye on a Husqvarna with reverse for $600 clams. On that big of a purchase I'll think about it for a while.

 

So you'd recommend spraying it now? I have been told by others not to spray. Never asked why though. Are you saying kill the grass and all or get some type of chemical that only kills certain things?

[maroonandwhite]

I have old Troybilt Horse and it is still a lot of work after plowing but tilling new ground can be done. I use an solar ele fence for deer but it won't keep coons out. I have to trap and kill then.

 I haven't seen a coon around yet but I'm sure they will come. The deer were skittish right when we moved in due to the dog in the back yard but after I cut the back area down where my garden will go they showed back up. I may put a feeder further back on the property to discourage them from the garden.