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Post by susannah on May 27, 2020 14:46:26 GMT
I'll be getting my seedlings from the nearby organic farm this Friday. Being that we're in northern Wisconsin, does anyone want to guess what's in the forecast for Saturday night? Yes, the dreaded "f" word - frost. After over a week of upper 70's - low 80's, frost is coming. I'll probably wait until Sunday to plant the seedlings.
Meanwhile, the lettuce, chard and spinach in the raised bed is doing fantastic. We'll likely be covering that garden Saturday evening - unless the weather changes for the warmer.
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Post by midtnmama on Jun 1, 2020 13:08:24 GMT
susannah, did you cover the chard? I find it to be frost sensitive. I grow chard in the hottest part of the summer: July/Aug because other greens peter out then. But they come back sometimes in the fall, so I just let the bugs have their fun on them until then. I've never had such a difficult time growing okra before! I've planted twice now. It's a combo of weeds, slugs, cutworms. I tried to throw down coffee grounds and eggshells on the newest planting. Malabar spinach success: I've tried to grow this before. This is perennial spinach that can be eaten in the hottest part of the summer when spinach does not grow. This year I am clipping the bottoms of toms and plan to prune to see if that helps with production. I am planting out EVERY volunteer and they look VERY healthy this year. Lemon grass success: Mine died when I brought the pot in over winter (forgot to water). DD brought me some from the asian store in her big city and both have rooted. Love this in Asian soups. VERY happy with the Chinese brocolli--so wonderful stir fried with the peas and asparagus now coming in. I may grow reg. brocolli in the fall, but really, I may only grow chinese brocolli in the future. I've thrown in some Garlic leaves left from clipping garlic scapes into the compost tea bucket. I think that will help with the varmints/bugs in the garden. Plan to throw the hot pepper seeds in there also when I use them. So far, I have not used my city water in the garden--all rain barrel, diluted dish and clothes wash water. Also water from the shower.
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Post by feather on Jun 1, 2020 13:42:49 GMT
Yesterday planting, mr feather in the garden, and a large doe comes up, pretty close before she got spooked. Then I was out she came back later and was looking at the gardens. I'm sure she was thinking, 'look at that, a new grocery store popping up'.
We must have a deer highway that runs from west to east, and the deer seem to stomp through the littler west garden, they've been through it twice this year so far and it's not planted yet. We're going to put up some blocking fences to reroute them to the north or south during gardening season.
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Post by midtnmama on Jun 1, 2020 14:08:12 GMT
Yesterday planting, mr feather in the garden, and a large doe comes up, pretty close before she got spooked. Then I was out she came back later and was looking at the gardens. I'm sure she was thinking, 'look at that, a new grocery store popping up'. We must have a deer highway that runs from west to east, and the deer seem to stomp through the littler west garden, they've been through it twice this year so far and it's not planted yet. We're going to put up some blocking fences to reroute them to the north or south during gardening season. feather, I like the idea of planting Mr. Feather in the garden. That way, you can have two Mr. Feathers and then a lot more can be accomplished. I can certainly see the benefit.
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Post by feather on Jun 1, 2020 14:14:36 GMT
Yesterday planting, mr feather in the garden, and a large doe comes up, pretty close before she got spooked. Then I was out she came back later and was looking at the gardens. I'm sure she was thinking, 'look at that, a new grocery store popping up'. We must have a deer highway that runs from west to east, and the deer seem to stomp through the littler west garden, they've been through it twice this year so far and it's not planted yet. We're going to put up some blocking fences to reroute them to the north or south during gardening season. feather , I like the idea of planting Mr. Feather in the garden. That way, you can have two Mr. Feathers and then a lot more can be accomplished. I can certainly see the benefit. Two mr feathers underfoot?What if it was a whole dozen of them? We can't have that!
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Post by susannah on Jun 1, 2020 14:38:17 GMT
midtnmama , the chard is in the big raised bed garden, along with lettuces, spinach, kale, beets and a few single plants that I had nowhere else to go with. In our effort at deer proofing, we bent half a dozen long thin PVC pipes over the bed (which makes it look kind of hoop house-ish). The deer netting is draped over that and anchored with rocks - because we found so many rocks when moving the dirt, we will never run out of rocks. When frost was in the forecast, we took two of our mega-size tarps and draped those over the hoops/deer netting, and anchored those with - yes - more rocks. After all our efforts in frost protection, we never got down to the freezing mark. 40 degrees was the lowest it went. Not that I'm complaining. It was easy enough to cover and uncover the plants, and worth the effort just in case we'd had a frost. The multiple container gardens got grouped together close to the house and draped with the sheets from our grandchildrens old bed. I'm happy to report that every plant survived the unwanted, late season cold shot just fine. I got a laugh out of the "two Mr Feathers" or a dozen. Surprisingly, we've seen very few deer in our yard since planting the raised bed, and the ones we've seen have been in the back yard, not the front where the big garden is. Since "our" deer don't climb steps (that I know of) the container garden plants are thriving uneaten on the upper deck.
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Post by feather on Jun 2, 2020 19:04:32 GMT
susannah, I'm continually excited about your raised garden. I use my lettuce garden just about daily and can't imagine life without it. We usually have the cover frame off of it by now, and we had removed one of them, but some bunny is sleeping on a section of lettuce at night, so we put it back on with the cover open for sun and rain. That makes it easier to keep the bunnies out if that is what it is. We took pictures the other day but we've both been too busy to download them to online. This morning I cut a second 'cutting it back' to the parsley, to leave just 3 inches of it. Filled the sink, washed and cut off stems. Put the leaves (about a gallon in volume) in the dehydrator and I'll grind those up tomorrow for cooking. I found out the stems are good to repel asparagus beetles, so the stems went into the new asparagus bed. We're running water to the new plants all day today they are a bit touchy in this hot weather and need lots of water. I've been watering plants still in containers, 2 x today and probably 2 x more as the day goes on. I think I've used all the seeds for now, and it's time to put them in cold storage in the freezer if I can find some space.
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Post by Jolly on Jun 3, 2020 12:23:12 GMT
Update...We hit 100 jars of green beans. I gave away a bushel yesterday. Will give away whatever they make, until I plow them under.
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Post by mogal on Jun 3, 2020 15:20:04 GMT
Feather said: "This morning I cut a second 'cutting it back' to the parsley, to leave just 3 inches of it. Filled the sink, washed and cut off stems. Put the leaves (about a gallon in volume) in the dehydrator and I'll grind those up tomorrow for cooking. I found out the stems are good to repel asparagus beetles, so the stems went into the new asparagus bed."
I saw an episode of Mary Ann Esposito's cooking show on PBS once where she said her mom always told her there was still a lot of flavor in parsley stems and she chopped them for cooking. I'm all for organic methods for pest control but parsley dehydrates down to such a tiny amount, I've been following her advice to use the stems. Just a thought.
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Post by feather on Jun 3, 2020 15:25:40 GMT
I saw an episode of Mary Ann Esposito's cooking show on PBS once where she said her mom always told her there was still a lot of flavor in parsley stems and she chopped them for cooking. I'm all for organic methods for pest control but parsley dehydrates down to such a tiny amount, I've been following her advice to use the stems. Just a thought. I do like Mary Ann Esposito when I've seen her cooking show. I did think about drying and saving them for broth or stock. They sure do dehydrate down to almost nothing (like celery and the parsley leaves.)
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Post by midtnmama on Jun 15, 2020 15:20:28 GMT
I'm still gardening as if my life depended on it for max production/least effort/least cost.
I'm really pleased with some of my garden experiments this year.
Planting dill and basil close to tomatoes so I can see and remember to water them at the same time.
Chinese brocolli is so much easier to grow than regular brocolli. I don't know that I'll ever buy seed for regular brocolli again.The challenge will be saving enough seed from them because it has such a small seed head. Same with rocket seed.
This year again, using the compost tea has resulted in healthier plants. No need to ever worry that you are under or over fertilizing.
Making a rustic trells from fallen branches and pruning was easy peasy with zip ties.
I've done better this year with pruning the lowest branches of the tomatoes and put lots of grass clippings underneath to prevent disease. Worked well so far.
Rocket was such a great early lettuce-very tasty. I'm leaving it in situ and letting it flower. Planting other things around it. I try not to till the garden unless absolutely necessary. Worms love to eat the roots of plants that are left to flower and die. These plants crowd out weeds as well.
Things that havent worked so well: I've not planted the flowers I'd hoped in the garden or pulled them because they looked like weeds!
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Post by feather on Jun 15, 2020 15:49:17 GMT
midtnmama, I love being able to collect seed for next year, or later in the season but the draw back for us, is limited space to allow for that. I have kale going to seed, the plants are now HUGE, falling out of the 1/4th of the lettuce garden. I should take pictures. That quarter of the lettuce garden loses at least a month of productivity while the seed pods are maturing to half dry and yellow/brown, before I can start putting them in paper bags to fully mature and dry, then clean them up. If you have lots of space, then it won't be an issue. I also like my basil out in the full sun garden near the tomatoes, for the same reason, consistent watering. They get very large, too big for the lettuce garden. The scapes are growing, I have pickled scapes (dilly beans recipe) and dried scapes ground up into a powder. I can use a few but not a hundred if anyone is looking for them.
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Post by midtnmama on Jun 15, 2020 20:49:38 GMT
midtnmama , I love being able to collect seed for next year, or later in the season but the draw back for us, is limited space to allow for that. I have kale going to seed, the plants are now HUGE, falling out of the 1/4th of the lettuce garden. I should take pictures. That quarter of the lettuce garden loses at least a month of productivity while the seed pods are maturing to half dry and yellow/brown, before I can start putting them in paper bags to fully mature and dry, then clean them up. If you have lots of space, then it won't be an issue. I also like my basil out in the full sun garden near the tomatoes, for the same reason, consistent watering. They get very large, too big for the lettuce garden. The scapes are growing, I have pickled scapes (dilly beans recipe) and dried scapes ground up into a powder. I can use a few but not a hundred if anyone is looking for them. feather,Can you dig out one kale plant and put in a pot and put it next to the garden. At that point, it wouldn't need steady watering, just occasionally and if you forgot about it, it would still make some seed. I freeze the extra scapes in 2 inch pieces to use in soups and stews for the winter.
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Post by solargeek on Jun 16, 2020 12:55:17 GMT
I just got some scapes yesterday. I never heard of pickling them but I actually use them in all my recipes instead of garlic when I run out of garlic. I roast some up with EVOO and salt after chopping them into manageable sizes. And I purée it into like a pesto and put it in the plastic bags and freeze it. It's so easy to do feather, you might want to think about that. I can fit two helpings into a snack size bag by twisting it in the middle. That way, you'll have plenty😋
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Post by feather on Jun 16, 2020 13:48:05 GMT
midtnmama, I would have sworn I responded to your suggestion of digging out a kale plant, yesterday. The kale plants went about 6 feet high as they went to seed. If I was going to do it, and may do it in the future, I should have done it a month ago. Now I have dozens of plants 6 feet high making pods. I'll get a picture of them. They've taken over the section of the lettuce garden. I should have thought of that earlier. When our onions go to seed in the second year, they go 4 to 6 feet high too and we put them out in the larger gardens where they have some space to grow seed. midtnmama, solargeek, I have so little freezer space left. I don't know if I'm going to use the scapes in cooking. Nobody here ever says, oh I've been hankering for some scapes lately. I could probably pressure can small jars, to add to stews or stir fries in winter, and do them like green beans, if for nothing else, a little variety. I looked at the canning groups suggestions beyond pesto (which I'm sure is good) and the only novel ideas were, lacto fermentation with other vegetables. And when making salsa, to add chopped scapes in place of some of the peppers, except it is the wrong time of year for tomatoes. If push comes to shove in the freezer, and I can fit even a small bag of diced ones in there, ready to go into salsa and get canned, it might be worth it. (and then I need to remember it at salsa making time) Thank you for the suggestions.
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Post by solargeek on Jun 16, 2020 13:56:59 GMT
feather, Actually, after having scapes prepared the way I described, I prefer them to garlic! But we never eat either raw. Only roasted. The garlic always tastes sweet; scapes not so much.
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Post by feather on Jun 16, 2020 20:20:30 GMT
midtnmama, This is what the kale looks like going to seed. And if you look up close, there are these pods that look like a thin green bean, but they don't hang like a green bean, they are sticking out from the stem like leaves but they are actually pods filled with seeds. So 1000's of them. These are our jerusalem artichokes mogal, with a trap set right beside them. They are looking quite cheerful these days.
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Jun 17, 2020 16:41:10 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. This is brilliant, as well as timely. My pole beans are going in today, after being soaked for 2 days. The soaking gets them started faster - my folks always soaked pea, bean and corn seed before planting. Overnight is sufficient, but I ran out of time and oomph yesterday, so mine soaked a little longer, lol. I did pour the extra water off, though. Anyway, I will try the string under the seeds method on some of the seeds and plant the rest in the usual way as a control. I'll be able to see if it helps. Thanks for the tip. I'm using hemlock and fir poles for bean poles this year, 4 eight foot poles into teepees and longer poles connecting the teepees at the top to give the vines more room to run if they need it (they usually do). I had a lot of really tall, skinny trees to take out this Spring when I thinned my woods, ranging from 2-3" at the base to 1" or so at the top. The top 8' sections should work well as bean poles for at least a few growing seasons. I used bale twine to tie the teepees together...good way to reuse it. If I can keep the chickens from eating it, I plan to put in a small plot of hullless oats. I might need to just grow it out for more seed this year, other than enough for a batch or two of oatmeal cookies. 😉 These oats are recommended for human consumption, because they don't require hulling equipment. I might plant some wheat and regular oats for the horses and chickens, too. Anything to lower feed costs is a good thing. Luckily, it is very cool and wet right now, so it's a great time to start crops like that. I'll probably throw some window curtain sheers over any grain crops until they're up about 4" and growing well, just to deter chickens and crows. I do that for corn seed, too.
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Post by freelove on Jun 18, 2020 12:19:38 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. Did you see this on "Grow, Cook, Eat? I saw it there and I loved that series.
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Post by laurazone5 on Jul 5, 2020 20:28:10 GMT
They doubled in size after the last rain!! Alley garden; Lemon Balm, 2 kinds of peas, pumpkins, lavender, hyssop, valerian, coreopsis, borage. Sunflowers on the right, super hot and sweet peppers to the left. Marshmallow and lilac bush. My horseradish root didn't come up, again :-( BIG OLE PEACH Potatoes, dragon tongue beans, and sunflowers Concord Grapes FRONT YARD!! Cucumbers, Canalope, Black Cherry Tomatoes, Green Beans, Watermelon, Strawberries Herbs and Flowers Deck plants.
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Post by Melissa on Jul 6, 2020 1:47:46 GMT
laurazone5, Looks amazing! You have really utilized your space well!!!
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Post by willowgirl on Jul 6, 2020 2:40:59 GMT
That looks awesome, Laura!!
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Post by susannah on Jul 6, 2020 18:19:57 GMT
I am so impressed laurazone5! Your gardens look amazing!
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Post by susannah on Jul 6, 2020 19:04:25 GMT
The gardens are doing so well at this point. I hope I don't jinx myself by saying that. While due to the cloud cover and rain the container gardens aren't getting their thrice-daily walks around the deck to follow the sun today, every last one of them is doing so well. I stopped counting the little green cherry tomatoes at around 200 today. If they all ripen, I will be happy. Extremely happy. I have a ton of little cucumbers on the vines in the cucumber container. Basil and cilantro, I seem to be cutting and processing at least weekly, but after a few days neither one lookes like I had cut anything at all. The scallions are nice and healthy, too.
As far as the raised bed gardens, the lettuce continues to grow like mad - no bolting yet despite the heat. I'll cut back a bunch of lettuce and I swear it's regrowing in record time. I'm not complaining - even though we seem to be drowning in lettuce. I'm starting to cook it because there are only so many times a day I want to eat salad. The spinach went the opposite way - one day I was thinking "I'd better pick this soon and just call it baby spinach because of the heat." A couple of days later - too late. Bolted. Flowers on every plant. I pulled it out today.
The chard is fine, and the kale? Oh my gosh, it's huge and leafy and wonderful.
Too early to tell what's going on with the beets, except that the greens look healthy.
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Post by lindy on Jul 6, 2020 22:56:33 GMT
I can't begin to imagine how many hundreds of hours went into setting up those gardens. The results are amazing.
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Post by laurazone5 on Jul 7, 2020 11:43:53 GMT
The wood to build the beds was 'free' on craigslist/facebook market place. I had someone come in an strip the sod off the area. My boy and I build the beds in a few hours, then filled them with good dirt. The big 'hours' start in March when I start all my seeds indoors! It is my joy. I love to spend time fussin' weedin' and watchin! This was my yard, June 2016.
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Post by Melissa on Jul 7, 2020 21:01:34 GMT
My garden is looking pretty good. It was getting a little dry but we are having a nice rain right now. Been raining off and on for a few hours and it has settled in now with a good downpour.
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Post by dw on Jul 8, 2020 14:51:35 GMT
Laura, your garden looks great! Here's an idea for horseradish. I grew up in IA where that stuff spreads! I live in CO...hot dry sandy soil. I could never get it to grow until...I amended some soil and bought some plants (not roots) and they have been great. I usually give it as xmas gifts and everyone is amazed that I grow it.
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Post by susannah on Jul 15, 2020 14:21:25 GMT
In addition to the lettuce, cilantro and basil that just won't quit and the onions that are growing like crazy, I'm happy to report that my sungold cherry tomato plants are producing a number of ripe tomatoes each day. The timing is perfect, since the grandchildren are here and love to pick - and eat - things from the garden. Although their grandfather is grumbling about having to share "his" tomatoes...
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Post by susannah on Jul 19, 2020 14:26:26 GMT
I lost a dozen little green cherry tomatoes last night - to the wind. Knowing a storm was coming and the main threat was high winds, I moved all the cherry tomatoes up next to the house, under the overhang. While most of them were fine, the end one lost 12 baby tomatoes. Note to self: If high winds are in the forecast again, put the tub of scallions on the end to help protect the tomato plants. Losing a dozen green tomatoes isn't a huge tragedy in the big picture, though. I still have several hundred left on the vines.
It's been such weird weather for growing things. First no rain for a month, then a deluge, then no rain again, now rain almost every day. I've actually had to wheel the container plants under the overhangs numerous times when we got heavy rain all at once so they didn't get swamped. It's been unusually hot most of the summer, then last night we had crazy winds that knocked out the power.
I haven't checked the raised bed for damage, but it's at least half lettuce, chard and kale and that's survived what mother nature's been throwing at it pretty well. Beets and onions growing underground - not worried about them. All the leftover herb seedlings that I planted should be okay as well. Keeping my fingers crossed that the 12 lost cherry tomatoes (and some dead branches) are the only damage.
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