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Weedinhoe's 2016 & Beyond Garden

314K views 4K replies 79 participants last post by  Weedinhoe 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hello! I am a Georgia veggie gardener and, weather permitting, try to have something going in the garden all year long. I don't have enough space to put up masses of any one thing because I grow a lot of different stuff so the aim is to put up what I can and eat seasonally and fresh.

When I retired five years ago I decided to convert the whole garden to 4'x18' raised beds using 2x8's and lengths of 1/2" PVC pipe around the bed perimeters as stakes to hold the sides and end pieces upright. That will allow me to disassemble and move the beds to another location quickly should the need arise. It's also handy in that I can just remove the end pieces, run the tiller through the beds and then replace the end pieces.

Since I am located on a road and the garden is visible from the road, the plan is to move the beds to the back of the property behind the woods if the SHTF. There's a creek back there for water and a pond uphill from which I can siphon water through hoses.

Here are some shots of my garden.

This pic is from last year but is pretty much what the garden looks like right now:


This is the south side of the garden as viewed from the top of the garden:


And this is a view from the other side:


And finally, this is a view from the bottom of the garden:
 
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#1,316 ·
ROFL! It does, doesn't it! Those circles are where some fertilizer (the white stuff in there) was drizzled in to go under the seed pre-plant.

The seed gets planted 6" apart around the circle resulting in about 8 plants per circle. In reality it ends up with about 6 or 7 seedlings. So far, except for this spring's fiasco, there are enough plants in each circle to pollinate each other. I'll probably sow every 3" now and then pull the extras for 8 plants per circle. Lesson learned!
 
#1,317 ·
Season Summary - Part 3: Failures

Gardening is one of the biggest exercises in hoping that I know of. We all put seeds in the ground or in starter containers, cross our fingers and hope. Over and over again, every season and every year. Not everything works as planned, even tried and true things. Sometimes we can figure out why and sometimes we have no clue. Shoulders get shrugged and out pops the old "It'll be better next year." Hope in action.

Sweet Peas - There were a few things that didn't do well this year and one of those was the sweet peas. After trialing a bunch of varieties over the years I've settled on 'Wando' which will withstand the heat if hot weather comes early or if the peas got in late and thus get picked late. This year we ended up with only two quart bags of peas after having a bunch last year. One bed had a nematode problem and that's been noted on the garden map:



The other bed looked ok until pod set and then just didn't make as much.



Peaches - This would have been the first crop ever for this tree and there were a goodly number of peaches on it. They were small because I forgot about thinning but still, ripe and almost ripe peaches. One afternoon I went by on the mower, looked at the tree and made a note to pick some the next day. The next day I got a bucket, went to the tree and there was not a one on it, just a bunch of pits on the ground! Don't know if it was deer or other varmint but I'll have to protect the tree next spring.

Watermelons - Trying to grow melons that were smaller than last year's Georgia Rattlesnakes, we tried Stone Mountain and Ali Baba, one hill of each. They got some kind of virus, yellowed up and wilted. I'm going to toss that seed just in case it's infected.



Pole Beans - We tried some Blue Lakes on a trellis made of fencing this year. First, after they got up the trellis pretty good the deer found them and started some heavy munching on one end, working their way down the trellis.



So I put some netting over the beans and that made the biggest mess as the beans grew around and through that 1/2" mesh and I couldn't get to the beans inside the netting. :eek: In addition, the Japanese beetles just covered them. Good grief! At least the beans acted like a trap crop and the beetles left everything else alone. We ended up just cutting it all down as it was one giant fur ball of vines!

Considering the better luck with everything else in the garden, I'd say it was a pretty good year even though the two biggest failures were main crops. But the field peas and corn kind of made up for it.

Never a year goes by that the garden doesn't teach some lessons. I try to be a good student and not be an example of the old adage about insanity being doing something over and over again the same way and expecting different results so the next summary will highlight some of those lessons.
 
#1,318 ·
Season Summary - Part 4: Lessons Learned

Sometimes lessons are learned through failures but hopefully through observations or just plain thinking about stuff while hands are busy weeding or occupied with other mundane garden chores. Some things I learned:

Planting brassicas here in February works BUT I need to be prepared to cover them now and then. I lost the first round of broccoli plants when they were young because I got lazy, didn’t watch the forecast closely enough and the “cooler temps” turned into a heavy frost. The plants got blasted, died and I had to start more.



No more winter squash will be grown here except for spaghetti squash which does super well and the vine borers don’t seem to mess with it. But they mess with all the others and even if some winter squash make it and produce, the squash have no flavor. I do not have a climate conducive to making good winter squash.

The Small Sugar Pumpkins had rambunctious vines and made nice fruit but it was rather tasteless.




Plums and peaches have to have their fruit thinned and protected from deer.

I will still grow lettuce in window boxes but it will only be a romaine type like Little Gem because the romaines are crisp. To me, these pretty leaf lettuce blends are wimpy and tasteless.



The biggest lesson learned was probably not to grow just one plant each of assorted tomato varieties and expect to have a lot ready at once for canning. I had fifteen tomato plants, all different varieties and you’d think there would be a ton of tomatoes to can. Not so. Lots of re-thinking to do about sun exposure, dealing with disease developing on picked tomatoes and concentrating half of those 15 tomato plants among possibly just two varieties for canning, the rest for whatever.

After all these years there's still lots to learn! :thumb:
 
#1,319 ·
Season Summary – Part 5: Surprises

When you put a shovel in the ground you never know what you’ll find! This spring while loosening up an area with the broadfork I hooked something. Stabbing the ground in different directions I determined it was the fourth big slab of concrete that must have been a footing for something a good while ago. Last year I found three of them and this year’s was right where I should have expected, the fourth corner of a square. :eek:



You potato growers out there will laugh at me when I say that after growing potatoes now for three years, this was the first year we actually saw flowers on the plants. This one's Red Pontiac.



When 5th Gear took down the tomato cages and removed the tarp from the pallets they had been sitting on, she discovered a possum slumber party! Three of them crammed in there taking a snooze. :D:



I was surprised at the large number of broccoli side shoots this spring.



This spring there was the first cauliflower I've ever been able to grow after about four tries. The variety name describes the emotion, 'Amazing'! Unfortunately it was the only one. I have six more plants growing in the garden right now. :thumb:



The ‘Millionaire’ eggplant in a bucket went nuts. There are 13 fruit on this plant! And it kept producing heavily all summer.



I was given seed for West Indian gherkins, little spiny cukes. I was really surprised how prolific they were, how crunchy they were, that the spines were soft in my mouth and the seeds weren’t really noticeable when I was munching on these cukes.



I just can’t help wondering what surprises are up around the bend in 2020. :D:
 
#1,320 ·
great recap info - thank you!

On the topic of potato flowers, I keep meaning to try and generate some of my own 'true potato seed" by grafting on a couple varieties of potato plant tops to cherry tomato roots. Supposed to help the plants put their energy into the flower vs tubers. I got my potato and tomato plants next to each other this year pontiac reds and german butterballs, but never got to carry through on the grafting.

I ended up buying a couple packs of true potato seed from trade winds fruit this fall to make sure I get a chance to try and grow some of these "wilder" potato varieties this next season.

I figure there is no way I can provide enough regular seed potato starts to help my neighbors and community in a crisis, but true potato seed is very tiny and the plants are supposed to produce amounts similar to tomato seed once they get started. We'll see.
 
#1,323 ·
I am totally amazed. Astounded, really. I came home after this morning's appointment and told 5th Gear I was getting ready to deploy "garbage bag waders" over my shoes and go cut those cabbages. She said she had been to the garden and all the water had been sucked up by the ground! Nooooo, I don't believe it. "Really! And it's a bit soft but I can walk on it." Son of a gun, she was right. No "waders" needed. :eek:

So I cut one Stonehead and three Charleston Wakefields. Three of the four are being stored in the shed in a cooler with straw above and below them to prevent freezing and the cooler lid has been left ajar. They'll stay cold but won't freeze in the shed and they won't rot out in the garden. The three pointed ones are early Charleston Wakefield and the one roundie is a Stonehead.



Left in the garden are four late Flat Dutch and three Red Acre, all of which aren't close to being ready.

Elsewhere in the garden the carrots are coming along. The section on the right with the giant skips are Tendersweet. The Yayas behind them are doing well as are the Bolero, Danvers and Napoli on the left. In the middle are the small garlic cloves left over from the main planting and the three mounds in the front are the three potatoes that were planted mid October as an experiment. I forgot to cover them the other night when it got down to 30 with heavy frost and they got burned. Hopefully they'll pop back up.



The second planting of broccoli are still small but getting there.



The garlics are looking good.



And finally, something that's never happened before. Early in the fall when the asparagus had died back, 5th Gear mowed the patch. Later in the fall a ton of small asparagus sprouts came up.



They're starting to die back again. I wonder if there will be a bunch of large spears this spring or not much of anything! I guess we'll see.
 
#1,327 ·
So I cut one Stonehead and three Charleston Wakefields. . . . The three pointed ones are early Charleston Wakefield and the one roundie is a Stonehead. Left in the garden are four late Flat Dutch and three Red Acre, all of which aren't close to being ready.
OMGosh, so envious WIH :D:

My cabbages have lots of wonderful tasty leaves but none of them formed heads.

I looked on-line for causes, which are plentiful. Try, try again next fall :upsidedown:
 
#1,329 ·
I pulled a few more turnips yesterday, including the first one from seed I bought at the Korean grocery store. The only thing on the packet that was in English and not Korean characters, other than the company name, was the variety name of Gang Hwa. Here's a pick of the Gang Hwa (on the left) next to the old time Purple Top turnips I always plant. It's kind of wedge shaped. I'll let the next ones get bigger. They were sown about three weeks after the Purple Top so that there wouldn't be a ton of turnips ready at once.

 
#1,330 ·
We've had two cold mornings of 28 and 27 degrees. The carrots got more leaves dumped over them to cover. Brassicas are pretty hardy but just as an insurance policy, I laid some old sheets over most of the plants the afternoon before. They're some of the eight sheets I bought at an estate sale for a few dollars and they come in handy. This morning all the covers came off and I brushed the leaves off the carrots. They're fine.

A fitted sheet snugged just right over three of the cabbages:



This morning I found that there are four little mini cabbages forming on the base of a Stonehead cabbage I cut a few weeks ago. I've seen this happen before but it was spring and I needed the bed space for something else. Lots of time now so I'll let these go and see what happens.



Here are two of the Late Flat Dutch. I've never grown these before but they're very late compared to the Stonehead and Charleston Wakefield and so a natural staggering of finish time. They're starting to look a little flat. Big plants!



I've never had success with red cabbages before. This is new-to-me Red Acre and I think it will do the trick. Third time's a charm! I only started two plants as a test. If they finish well, there will be more next fall as it's a long finisher too.



We're supposed to get a bunch of rain again, possibly 2-3" this weekend, maybe more. I've already told the cabbages to don their life vests! :D:
 
#1,331 ·
It's raining again today. They called for 3-5" but now they're saying 2". That's OK. We've had a gracious plenty for a while.

The other day the "self-mulching garden" was happening again. Leaves raining down in the breeze, covering beds and pathways. I didn't take a photo because it would have been a duplicate of this one from two years ago.



Not bad when Mother Nature does your work for you, eh?

For the past several years I've been doing for the garden my own version of what we called a production plan when I was working. It's a week by week listing of certain tasks that need to be done in the garden and it really keeps me on schedule. Stuff like what beds need to be ready by a certain week in order to be ready for planting. Maybe which beds need a bit of repair for the coming season.

Later I will add planting dates after I've finalized the grow list and assigned planting dates. The plan really has prevented crunch times like needing to plant something only to find that the bed hasn't been prepped yet. :eek:

I still haven't sent Christmas cards out yet but haven't been in the mood. Oh well, maybe tomorrow. :xeye:
 
#1,332 ·
We ended up with another 2" of rain. At the bottom of the garden the standing water had at least soaked in but was dangerously soft. Now it's back to being a swamp!



Oh well, nothing's growing there right now. No harm, no foul. There's some standing water around the cabbages but hopefully it will be soaked in by tomorrow.

It's Christmas Eve. I finally got my little Christmas letter for family done and cards will be mailed on Thursday. Better late than never but I've never been this late before. Too much "stuff" got in the way this year.

I want to wish you all a merry Christmas, a happy Hannukah, a wonderful Solstice or just maybe a good gathering of loved ones.

And thank you for sharing this gardening year with me. Writing things down helps me keep things in focus and if it helps anybody else, that's a plus. We're all in this gardening thing together! :thumb:
 
#1,335 ·
So, I'm back.

Anyway, in answer to your query, six-pack of Ruby Perfection cabbage and six-pack of Napa cabbage set out mid-September through mid-October.

Daytime temperatures vary between some days high 80's and some days low 40's. Right now we're in low 70's. Only 2 nights at freezing (I covered plants).

I made the amendments suggested in the soil test I had done early this year.

What's your guess, WIH, for no cabbage head formation but beautiful, big leaves??


Hope your holidays were happy !!
 
#1,336 ·
...six-pack of Ruby Perfection cabbage and six-pack of Napa cabbage set out mid-September through mid-October. What's your guess, WIH, for no cabbage head formation but beautiful, big leaves??
Wow, They should have been heading up by now. OK, I just searched "why cabbages don't form heads". Some good information there. It could be temperature related, like maybe having been planted too early? Check out:

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/causes-large-cabbage-leaves-heads-forming-81376.html

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/cabbage/cabbage-head-formation.htm

Yeah, they should have headed up by now. Maybe cut leaves and use like collards? Seriously! :)

I'm not familiar with the difference between fall temps in your location and mine. Maybe you need to wait until late October to set yours out? Mine went out on 9/18 this year (usual time for mine) and from Sep 23 through Oct 4 we ran into a streak of mid to upper 90's. Good grief! I had to shade them with some lightweight row cover over the hoops.

After that the high temps settled into mid 70's with occasional low 80's. More importantly, I think, the night time temps settled back down to 50's with some low 60's. Sometimes we tend to not pay attention to night temps but more and more I'm learning that they do play a role in everything from growth to fruit set. The learning curve. It never ends.

I've been pushing the "early envelope" for the past year or two, planting a bit earlier each year. This year it caught up with me. I set out this year's spring brassicas on Feb 16 and a lot of them got burned badly with a quick freeze that passed through and I forgot to cover them. Had to restart the broccolis and cauliflowers. The cabbages were tinged with burn but survived and made heads. I'm still going to plant early this year (date to be determined) but will make sure to take care to cover when needed.
 
#1,337 · (Edited)
I completely agree that the learning curve never stops. I'll be starting some plants inside next month so they'll be ready for transplant in early March. I direct seed most of my brassicas in February--in plastic covered hoop houses heated by the sun. So far this has worked well for me. I usually put peas and snow peas in at the same time--just in different beds since broccoli doesn't like peas.

The garlic I planted this fall hasn't come up yet and it's usually doing great by now, so I may have used bulbs that were too old. I'll replant when I put in my spring broccoli crop--the fall crop being about finished. I guess I should have done a bit more succession planting to get me through the winter months.

Oh, I cover my hoop houses with 6 mil clear plastic when night temps are expected to be below 32 F. I've learned that by attaching the plastic to my hoops with zip ties I can easily slide it out of the way when weeding or harvesting or simply when I want to ventilate the gardens and open them up to more sun. Usually the plastic covers get opened up permanently or taken off entirely around early March. Our average first frost last frost dates are 11/15 and 3/15 but in my experience in this part of AZ we usually get our first frost in December and our last one in late February--and we're up at 3750' elevation.
 
#1,338 ·
I'll be starting some plants inside next month so they'll be ready for transplant in early March. I direct seed most of my brassicas in February--in plastic covered hoop houses heated by the sun.
It's right around the corner, isn't it? ;) I'll be starting the spring brassicas under the lights about mid January for setting out in the beds about five weeks later. The tunnel hoops will get set up at that time and then the plastic (also 6 mil) will be deployed as needed. I don't leave it on all the time. Usually the need happens when we get those two or three consecutive mornings below 32. Then it will get warm enough for a long enough stretch that I'll just take the plastic off the tunnels.

Oh, I cover my hoop houses with 6 mil clear plastic when night temps are expected to be below 32 F. I've learned that by attaching the plastic to my hoops with zip ties I can easily slide it out of the way when weeding or harvesting or simply when I want to ventilate the gardens and open them up to more sun.
I do pretty much the same thing with the tunnels. The clips used to attach the plastic to the hoops slide up and down, which I do to ventilate the tunnels on sunny days.




Usually the plastic covers get opened up permanently or taken off entirely around early March. Our average first frost last frost dates are 11/15 and 3/15 but in my experience in this part of AZ we usually get our first frost in December and our last one in late February--and we're up at 3750' elevation.
We have pretty much the same first frost time. There might be a little light frost a morning or two late October; not anything to hurt things. But the first hard killing frost is usually right before mid November. They say our average last frost is around March 20-something but there's always a stray one or three in April. I know that if I set my tomatoes out before April 28, I'll be having to run out there and cover them a couple of nights! :D:
 
#1,339 ·
Seed orders in!

Yesterday I got the seed orders sent in so now we'll see whose seeds get here first. It's an annual guessing game just like whose catalog will get here first. This is just the list of the new things I'm trying in addition to stuff on the regular grow list. New onions to add in the fall. Bell peppers that are supposed to do well here where the heat usually precludes growing bells. A couple of guerilla garden additions. More flowers this year to entice pollinators and butterflies. I really enjoyed photographing and ID'ing butterflies this year and watching the populations change over the seasons. A few new toys to play with.

Asparagus, Conover's Colossal (seed; plants will be planted out around the property)

Bean, Yard Long (hoping this green one does better than the Red Noodle variety)

Broccoli, Umpqua (still trying to find a good OP broccoli. This one was recommended to me)

Cabbage, Savoy Perfection (been wanting to try a savoy type for a good while)

Coneflower, Purple

Jerusalem Artichoke (another perennial "food hiding in plain sight" thing)

Monarda, Lemon Mint (bee balm for pollinators and tea)

Okra, Cajun Jewel (I want to see if this dwarf is similar to the old 'Cajun Delight' which could be started indoors from seed without seedlings getting leggy and useless like regular okras)

Onion, Texas 1015Y Supersweet (hoping this sweet onion does better for me than the Yellow Granex)

Onion, White Creole (supposed to be great for the South)

Pea, Colossus 80 (field pea, very disease and nematode resistant. Will use it in a bed to hopefully starve any nematodes there)

Pepper, Carolina Wonder (supposedly a bell for the South)

Pepper, Charleston Belle (supposedly a bell for the South)

Radish D'Avignon (like French Breakfast only longer)

Roselle, St. Kitts & Nevis (will trial this new one next to the Thai Red I grew this year)

Rudbeckia, Indian Summer

Sunflower, Beach

Sunflower, Sunspot

Tom. Grafting Rootstock RST-04-105 (A new project. Supposedly nematode resistant and super disease resistant, wilt included. Will try actually planting the grafted tomatoes directly into the garden soil)

Zuccheta Rampicante (another toy, supposedly resistant to vine borers)

Now it's time to add these to the grow list. Then it will be time to assign start dates to everything and figure out what beds everything will go into. I already know what beds will have which plant families so that's a good start on the process.

Let Spring begin! :D:
 
#1,340 ·
Weed,

Re Bell Peppers. Here in NW AZ it gets very hot and California Wonder as well as Yolo Wonder do great. Could your problem be excess humidity? It's very dry here. Marconi and Sweet Banana peppers also do quite well.

Re Broccoli. Both Di Ciccio (aka De Ciccio) and Calabrese do well here. Sometimes I plant them in late fall and overwinter them under my hoops but they are a good Spring crop as well.

Oh, in spite of having had a few nights in Nov where the temps hit 25F we just got our first killing frost and hard freeze on Dec 28. I forgot to cover my bok choi and it got frost nipped badly but doesn't look like it's dead.
 
#1,341 ·
Re Bell Peppers. Here in NW AZ it gets very hot and California Wonder as well as Yolo Wonder do great. Could your problem be excess humidity? It's very dry here. Marconi and Sweet Banana peppers also do quite well.
I don't know but for years it was discouraging not being able to get any bells to make. California Wonder and Yolo failed too in the long line of bell peppers tried. I'd try anything that had "heat resistant" or"good for the South" in the catalog description. Jalapenos and other hots would do well. I had just about given up growing sweet peppers until I read an article that said bells are hard to grow in the South due to the heat and that the longer pepper types do a lot better. Bingo! 'Gypsy' puts out a ton as do banana peppers. Even pimentos.

Gypsy and jalapenos:




There's always a best place to grow everything and I think I've found it for the peppers. The four beds at the top right corner of the garden get shade until almost noon and that's where the peppers seem to thrive. For the last three years they've grown there and been rotated every year to a different bed in that group. I've even gotten a Keystone Giant and a Neptune bell to make some peppers but they are waaaay to slow to bother with. I get all the sweet peppers I need from Gypsy.
 
#1,343 ·
I'm hoping so! This coming spring they'll be in going into the bed right next to this one. That partial shade has really made the difference.

This summer's tomatoes really suffered in the heat. This next batch will be moved to where they can get a little shade from a tree-sized crape myrtle starting around maybe 4pm. It's still pretty hot then so hopefully that will help. We'll see.
 
#1,344 ·
As I've said before it's hard to grow cauliflower here due to these shifting winter temps. Cauliflower likes steady cool weather. After many failures I was giving up the effort until a few folks urged me to try 'Amazing'. Ok, I'll bite... just ONE more time and that's it. I'm glad I did.

The plants had gotten real big but I couldn't see or feel any head forming. Then all that rain came over the past ten days. All of a sudden, two days ago I discover four heads have just appeared out of nowhere! Three were about 4-5" wide but here's the best one, which I cut today. Although it doesn't look it in the photo, it's the purest white and 7" wide. WOO HOOOOOO!



Since cauliflower needs the leaves covering the head to keep them white, I pulled up the leaves on the other four and held them together with a clothespin.



The second round of broccoli is heading up and the older plants in the back row are putting out a lot of side shoots.



I was worried that all the rain we've had would drown the garlic but the raised beds have helped with that. They're looking so much better than last year's plants that had yellow tips. Keeping the fingers crossed on this year's batch.

 
#1,346 ·
2020 Grow List Finalized

The grow list for this year's spring and fall gardens is done. Seeds have been ordered and are hopefully on the way in. My initial "production plan" (what to start when, probable transplant dates, when to prep certain beds, etc) is done subject to the changes that always happen due to weather, etc. It's enough to keep me busy. :rolleyes:

For those who wonder what size garden I have, there are:
16 raised beds, each 4' x 18'
1 18'x18' open area
1 18' x 28' open area
1 11' x 20' open area
1 20' line of 5 pallets by the house for tomato buckets
The open areas rotate between corn, field peas and vining things like sweet potatoes and watermelon.

Tomatoes: (adding a few more with supposed heat resistance; mostly 1 plant each with 2 plants each of several)
Bella Rosa
Camp Joy (cherry)
Creole Original
Early Annie
Early Girl Bush
Golden Girl
Mom's paste
Porter
Red Robin (a toy I can play with now)
Rebel Yell
Red Siberian
Rio Grande
Santiago
Stump of the World
Super Sioux
Ten Fingers Of Naples
White Beauty (a freebie)
Tomatillo - Verde (3 plants)

Legumes
Bush Beans - Contender, Duke, Golden Rod, Strike (72' total)
Pole beans - Alabama Blackeye Butterbean, Cherokee Trail of Tears, Yard Long (green this year) (22' of trellis total)
Field Peas - Big Red Ripper (52' trellised to follow corn), Colossus 80 (36'), Lady Finger (36')

Brassicas
Broccoli - Packman (12 plants spring and fall), Umpqua (6 plants fall only)
Cabbage - Charleston Wakefield, Stonehead, Late Flat Dutch, Red Acre, Savoy Perfection (8 plants total TBA both spring and fall)
Cauliflower - Amazing (8 plants)
Collard - Vates (3 plants)
Kale - Premier (3 plants)
Turnips - Purple Top (36' both spring and fall)

Cucurbits
Cucumber - National Pickling (seven hills)
Squash - Early Prolific Straightneck and Early Summer Crookneck (2 plants each), Zucchini Rampicante Tromboncino (1 hill), Small Wonder Spaghetti (1 hill)
Watermelon - Black Diamond, Stone Mountain (1 hill each)

Alliums
Garlic - Maiskij, Shilla, Siberian, Russian Inferno (9' each)
Onions - Australian Brown, Texas 1015Y, White Creole (36' total)
Scallions - Shimonita, Warrior, Huek Geum Jang (18' both spring and fall)

Assorted Other Stuff
Asparagus, Conover's Colossal (from seed)
Carrots - Bolero, Envy, Romance, Yaya (9' each both spring and fall)
Corn - Silver Queen (5 double rows for 180' total), Spring Treat and Japanese Hulless Popcorn (one bed each, 7 hills of 8 plants to a bed)
Eggplant - Millionaire (one plant loaded us down all summer/early fall!)
Jerusalem Artichokes (finally planting some after never getting around to it)
Okra - Choppee, Cajun Jewel (four plants each)
Peas - Wando (72')
Peppers - Ancho Grande, Carolina Wonder, Charleston Belle, Gypsy, Jalapeno M or Mucho Nacho, Maule's Red Hot Cayenne, Red Marconi (one each except 3 jalapenos)
Potatoes - Yukon Gold, Red Pontiac or Kennebec (18' total)
Radishes - Daikons Minowase and Cheong Du Gold, D'Avignon, French Breakfast
Roselle - Thai Red, St. Kitts & Nevis (four plants each; 3 each in the ground, one each in a bucket)
Sweet Potato - Jewel (10 hills)
Herbs and flowers

LET THE GAMES BEGIN! :D:
 
#1,348 ·
Welcome to the New Year!



I wonder what will eventually be written into my pocket notebook. All the successes, failures, things not to do again, things to do next time around and tasks I need to remember to do. This little notebook is invaluable and I never go into the garden without it.

Good grief! It's 79 out there this afternoon although a front is about to blow through in a little while. Then we'll be back to more normal upper 50's. No wonder some of the fall garden plants are confused.

An hour ago I had to cut the first three heads of the second set of broccoli plants because they were starting to loosen up in this spell of warm weather.
I also cut the first head of Late Flat Dutch cabbage (a new one for me) and pulled about ten scallions.



The cabbage was a bit disappointing. It measured 8"x7"x5" but it wasn't very heavy for its size, weighing only a hair over 2 lbs. The smaller Stoneheads are smaller but much more dense and heavier. This is why I trial different varieties. The 100 DTM Dutch is supposed to be a great kraut cabbage and it probably is in colder climates. I'll continue using the 55 DTM Stonehead for kraut and be stashing the remaining Dutch seeds in the freezer.

The Brussels sprouts are also not performing, as usual. This will absolutely be the last time trying to grow them here in this roller coaster winter weather. Some sprouts are trying to tighten but are having a hard time of it:



Others are loose as a goose and will never really head up:



Two seed orders have arrived and the last three are on their way in. Let the games begin! :D:
 
#1,351 ·
The cabbage was a bit disappointing. It measured 8"x7"x5" but it wasn't very heavy for its size, weighing only a hair over 2 lbs. The smaller Stoneheads are smaller but much more dense and heavier. This is why I trial different varieties. The 100 DTM Dutch is supposed to be a great kraut cabbage and it probably is in colder climates. I'll continue using the 55 DTM Stonehead for kraut and be stashing the remaining Dutch seeds in the freezer.

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My cabbage has been growing so slow... I have composted, fertilized, watered, begged. They been in the ground since the 2nd week of November, and have barely started a head. I dont recall what variety it is. Must be like Bob's cabbage or something.. :upsidedown:
 
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