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Post by dodgesmammaw on Apr 17, 2020 3:25:17 GMT
Had a mild freeze a couple of days ago. I am pretty sure it got my squash and zucchini. Going to replant plants on Monday.
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Post by solargeek on Apr 19, 2020 4:47:53 GMT
Just put in (with 38-42 mph winds trying to knock me down) 171 feet of potatoes!! 4x12s and 4x8s. More to do but likely will be very sore tomorrow!
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Post by farmchix on Apr 19, 2020 7:58:15 GMT
Jolly, I've been saving my own PHP seed so long, I'd need to go way back to look up the real varietal name. Will see if I can find it. Hey, Jolly, the tag just says pink eye purple hull peas, nothing about the top pick. They taste good so I'll deal with it. I don't bend too well either. We're supposed to get more freezes this week. After that I will lick my wounds and see what needs re-planted...
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Post by laurazone5 on Apr 19, 2020 10:20:18 GMT
I have about 20 large burlap coffee bags. I was thinking about planting potatoes in those bags.
Is this a good plan? Opinions please!!!
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Post by midtnmama on Apr 19, 2020 11:52:28 GMT
laurazone5, I would think burlap would dry out faster. Do you have feed bags?
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Post by bowdonkey on Apr 19, 2020 11:55:37 GMT
Filling 20 bags made of any kind of material is alot of dirt.
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Post by mogal on Apr 19, 2020 13:18:35 GMT
Our overnight low Friday into yesterday was 28o. The yard looked as though it had snowed the frost was so heavy. I haven't had the heart to check the fruit trees closely. We're going to need some warmish weather and soon if the pollinators are going to be able to work their magic.
I wonder if that burlap would rot away like a cardboard box would do in the course of a growing season.
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Post by solargeek on Apr 19, 2020 14:18:18 GMT
Burlap will not hold the water. Also likely to break down before the crop is ready. Do you have any old plastic containers you could set 1 or 2 of the bags into prolong their life? That would help retain moisture and structure.
Or last idea, use a garbage bag around 1 or 2 of the burlap bags.
You do know you can buy bags of soil, cut a few drainage holes, flip it over and cut 'x's" in the bag and plant with impunity? I did 50 bags of soil (a pallet) when establishing my garden beds 15 years ago at that home. The weight of the bags (laid out in the form of the future beds) killed ALL WEEDS and at the end, I just took the bags, minus the crops and dumped them into the BEDS! Instant soil.
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Post by mzgarden on Apr 19, 2020 14:33:40 GMT
You do know you can buy bags of soil, cut a few drainage holes, flip it over and cut 'x's" in the bag and plant with impunity? I did 50 bags of soil (a pallet) when establishing my garden beds 15 years ago at that home. The weight of the bags (laid out in the form of the future beds) killed ALL WEEDS and at the end, I just took the bags, minus the crops and dumped them into the BEDS! Instant soil. In case someone hasn't told you recently - you're brilliant! I'm going to share this story with friends who do not have space or yards to put in a full garden. Sounds to me like an excellent way for new-to-gardening folks to have success and be encouraged.
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Post by grannyg on Apr 19, 2020 16:34:17 GMT
I had packets of old seeds, so I have been planting them around the chicken houses...the birds are confined to areas, so cannot get to them...figure I will have enough squash for the neighborhood if they come up....
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Post by solargeek on Apr 19, 2020 18:05:28 GMT
mzgarden thank you! Recall my raised beds went in way later than I had hoped due to the flooding/downpours of all MAY last year. Then ridiculous cold and windy June so few pollinators to help out. Ok old thread but updates from last year and this year. Raised beds were amazing for most crops (broccoli, beans, peas, kale, lettuces, most tomatoes, onions!, POTATOES, CARROTS, BEETS) but complete failures in cucubits (tiny amounts) and some tomatoes and all cabbages were just attacked by Japanese beetles. We had a terrible year here for all farmers; many had complete crop losses. So not just me. As of today, 4/19/2020, As I mentioned, have 170 feet of potatoes in and about the same yet to plant. I roasted up and froze all last year's crop that we could not finish and WOW they are spectacular. So will have 340 feet for the two of us (all with my saved from last year organic potatoes). I only plant YUKONS and REDS as that is all I like. Also have 4 other beds done with lettuces, beet, carrots, kale and such. Full bed of garlic. Our workers who constructed and put in the beds saved about 1/3rd of our asparagus crowns so hopefully they will come up again. We got a little last year. Plants started indoors will exceed anything I have ever attempted. Covered all raised beds in straw last fall and so will have all new soil underneath. Using Ruth Stout method for plants but not for direct seeding. I move it aside and then drops seeds. When they come up enough I place the really great decomposed straw around the baby plants to prevent weeds. Didn't have enough last year but this year have plenty from ordering in 35 bales last fall.
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Post by feather on Apr 19, 2020 18:07:55 GMT
solargeek, aka Sunshine, could you post a picture of your raised gardens? or I could if you want. They are spectacular.
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Post by solargeek on Apr 19, 2020 20:30:12 GMT
feather, they are just straw covered beds right now. I do have some pictures I can post on your DH's FB page you can see? If you post here, please take my FB name off? I love my new nickname from you!
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Post by feather on Apr 19, 2020 20:47:31 GMT
These belong to SOLARGEEK.
First we set the mood. Here is her song:
these are her raised beds.
It appears that you are gardening as though your life depended on it.
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Post by solargeek on Apr 19, 2020 21:08:20 GMT
feather, Can I send you hugs! You are so sweet to put those 2109 pics up. I am hoping to repeat last year and more.
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Post by woolybear on Apr 19, 2020 21:09:13 GMT
Jolly, I've been saving my own PHP seed so long, I'd need to go way back to look up the real varietal name. Will see if I can find it. Hey, Jolly, the tag just says pink eye purple hull peas, nothing about the top pick. They taste good so I'll deal with it. I don't bend too well either. I have a pack of those to try this year. Are they something that I'll have to trellis? The packet doesn't say..only that spacing is 3 foot/3 inch which I take to mean 3 foot tall and 3 inch apart.
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Post by feather on Apr 19, 2020 21:11:53 GMT
feather , Can I send you hugs! You are so sweet to put those 2109 pics up. I am hoping to repeat last year and more. Sure and hugs back to you. I can't wait to see this year's pictures, what a fun set up you have. Just beautiful.
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Post by mzgarden on Apr 19, 2020 22:55:55 GMT
solargeek, that's a lovely garden. Looking forward to 2020 pics.
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Post by Woodpecker on Apr 20, 2020 1:36:23 GMT
Wow, how very lush & beautiful!!!
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Post by dodgesmammaw on Apr 20, 2020 3:01:19 GMT
Got some new plants today to replace the ones I lost. Going to put all of them out tomorrow . Plus lots of seeds.
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Post by mzgarden on Apr 20, 2020 11:22:51 GMT
DH made a run to a local big box store - texted me a picture of a whole wall of seed packets. I've got an order I've been waiting on for 6 weeks of 'fill in' seeds from my stuff. Lots of stuff started, but got nervous a while back and ordered - but no seeds yet.
Dashed to the box store and loaded up my basket and ran home. Feel a little better with those little packets sitting on the table smiling at me.
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Post by mogal on Apr 20, 2020 12:16:09 GMT
Hey, Jolly, the tag just says pink eye purple hull peas, nothing about the top pick. They taste good so I'll deal with it. I don't bend too well either. I have a pack of those to try this year. Are they something that I'll have to trellis? The packet doesn't say..only that spacing is 3 foot/3 inch which I take to mean 3 foot tall and 3 inch apart. Woolybear, in my experience, they do not climb like pole beans and green peas will but do run. I've never been so generous with spacing between rows as your packet says, maybe 2' but then by the end of the season, I do end up stepping on vines to walk down the rows to pick.
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Post by Jolly on Apr 20, 2020 14:12:03 GMT
Hey, Jolly, the tag just says pink eye purple hull peas, nothing about the top pick. They taste good so I'll deal with it. I don't bend too well either. I have a pack of those to try this year. Are they something that I'll have to trellis? The packet doesn't say..only that spacing is 3 foot/3 inch which I take to mean 3 foot tall and 3 inch apart. No trellis. I plant mine on a row, the plants being about a foot apart and about two feet between rows. Depending on variety, some are worse with vines than others. I like to cook them with water to cover an inch or so, salt & pepper, a piece of bacon. Pair with cornbread and maybe some bread-n-butter pickles and I have a meal.
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Post by midtnmama on Apr 20, 2020 15:12:58 GMT
Saw a great tip for attaching string to things you want to grow up a string: Plant the bottom of the string under the plant when you plant in the hole. Tie the string above to whatever apparatus or pole you want to use. The roots will grow around the string to hold it firmly.
I hauled out every pot with any dirt in it and put outside to soak in the rain last night. Today I'll chuck seed in them, cover with compost, Cover with a bag with air holes and fasten to the pot with string or rubber bands. Quick and easy greenhouses to keep the soil moist until germination.
Saw a great tip for attaching string to things you want to grow up a string: Plant the bottom of the string under the plant when you plant in the hole. Tie the string above to whatever apparatus or pole you want to use. The roots will grow around the string to hold it firmly. I hope to experiment with cucumbers that I'm planting in an area that is not next to a fence.
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Post by woolybear on Apr 20, 2020 15:55:52 GMT
feather, What are your raised beds made of/from? Are they from a kit or something that you made yourself? I like the looks of them and they look pretty sturdy, it's giving me ideas for the garden - especially a raised bed for asparagus.
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Post by feather on Apr 20, 2020 16:25:19 GMT
feather , What are your raised beds made of/from? Are they from a kit or something that you made yourself? I like the looks of them and they look pretty sturdy, it's giving me ideas for the garden - especially a raised bed for asparagus. We went the less expensive route, just boards (width as high as you want), with "L" brackets or flat brackets holding them on the corners. One is only 8 inches raised, the other is wider/taller. 2x6's or 2x8's OR stack 4x4's on top of each other. Then layered in cardboard, pine bushes trimmings, corn cobs, kitchen waste, lime, dirt, manure, dirt again, kind of like what they call a 'lasagna garden'. Planted it on top. The next year, add more dirt/sand/manure/straw because the level goes down. The "L" brackets. If you buy them as hardware and use them horizontally to hold the wood corners together they cost $0.27 each, but if you buy them as a kit or as raised bed brackets, they'll soak you for 10x that amount. They look like this. Those special corners cost more than $13 each. BIG DIFFERENCE.
Or if you use the 4x4 stacked option, then use what they call a mending brace (flat bracket). I don't expect the wood will last more than 10 years and it would have to be reassembled at that time.
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Post by woolybear on Apr 21, 2020 16:28:39 GMT
solargeek, Please tell me about your raised beds - what are they made of? from a kit? how hard were they to put up? I'm gathering ideas for doing part of the garden as raised beds.
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Post by solargeek on Apr 21, 2020 19:13:01 GMT
solargeek, Please tell me about your raised beds - what are they made of? from a kit? how hard were they to put up? I'm gathering ideas for doing part of the garden as raised beds. I'm sorry to say I don't think you can find them on the Costco page right now. Go to first link below and you'll see the 2 pack of 4x4 raised beds in white from New England arbors. I ordered a whole bunch of those. The other ones they are still carrying all those are more expensive. They are called keyhole a bit and I'll give you that link also www.costco.com/raised-garden-beds.html The second link is from Pinterest to show it to you. On my phone I couldn't get the Costco site to work
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Post by solargeek on Apr 21, 2020 19:14:00 GMT
And here are the two threads that contain a lot of information. I also wrote a summary thread which told how each of the beds did. A child could set these things up. In fact when you go to the New England arbors site they have a video of them putting it up in four minutes. But because we had 20 spaced out all over the garden we had a landscaping company that works with us on all our big projects help us. Key if you have any Digging critters like voles or mice, We also put hardware cloth on the bottom 1/4 inch size and then set the bed on top of that. Then we put a layer of cardboard then compost, then a layer of vermiculite mixed with soil and then more potting soil on top. For the deep ones we just kept lowering it with different types of soil. homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/thread/14344/raised-bedshomesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/thread/13998/keyhole-raised-beds
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Post by woolybear on Apr 22, 2020 2:37:50 GMT
solargeek,Thanks for the links, it gives me something to research.
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