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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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#2,208 ·
I actually read that Kama Sutra and had to reread it.

It's been a long time since I have updated my thread. Really not going into it but life has been keeping me busier than I want to be lately. Did transplant strawberries today though and since my wife is going to be stopping by my parents house today I sent a couple parsley plants that she wanted.

Those parsley are annuals so I don't know if she can grow them in the house over the winter or not, willing to let her try though.

Oh also dug her a celery. She wanted one when she was here at the beginning of this month and loved it said it was much better than any she's ever bought.

Got down to 30* last night so I will be getting the last of the stuff out of there this weekend.
 
#2,209 ·
Potawatomi, I have parsley growing in a plastic window box on a porch and it does really well all winter as it's pretty cold hardy.. I only bring it inside when it's going to get down into the 20's. Now, it probably wouldn't survive outside in your area but I bet it would do OK in a sunny window or under lights. Easy to grow from seed but slow to germinate, maybe 8-10 days. Some folks down here plant parsley with their fall pansies as those are pretty hardy too. It's a pretty combination!

BTW, parsley is a biennial although I don't get two full years from it. It has grown since spring and will overwinter. Then the butterflies will munch it down to the dirt come May or so but it will fully grow back. Then it will go to seed after a while. I guess that total munch convinces it that it's time to go. :D
 
#2,210 ·
I also keep parsley growing in the house, and this year I’ve added thyme and that Meyer lemon. I’ve had the parsley for a few years; I just cut it back when it flowers and new shoots start growing. it’ll be fine. I’d suggest some fertilizer every once in awhile though.

Yes, all of my stuff is done as well. There was frost on the roof tops this morning, so a hard freeze isn’t far off. Time to put away the garden shoes and break out the ice cleats! I should probably cover a few things this weekend.
 
#2,211 · (Edited)
Yesterday I picked what is probably the last pound of green beans for the fall. There are very few "not readies" and I see no more flowers so it's time to yank the plants out.This was the last of seven pickings done every other day and the total picked was just shy of ten pounds from two 18' rows. This last pound will be dehydrated today along with some thin sliced garlic cloves that were left over from planting a few days ago.

However, while most of the plants are still nice and green, there's a small section that doesn't look very good. I suspect nematodes at work and that will be proven or not when I pull them and look at the roots.



And now, just a smiler I found this morning. So true!

 
#2,212 ·
Yesterday was a putter day. I got the three newest micro tomatoes potted up and started some garlic bulbils in a window box. They're from a few Siberian garlic plants I let go to seed this summer.



Articles I've read say it's an exercise in patience as it will take several years of growing and transplanting until they'll finish at full size. But it's something to play with; another experiment. We'll see! I have plenty of these bulbils so I might just plant some around the property and see if the squirrels leave them alone.



The new micros now join the other three under the lights for the duration. Both sets consist of one each of Red Robin, Jochalos and Pinocchio Orange. The three older ones (front row) were started 8/22 and are already setting fruit. The younger ones were started Sep 18 and already two have flowers. I'm trying to time the starts so that as the older ones finish bearing, the younger ones are starting with the aim to have cherry tomatoes throughout the winter. I'm not sure when I'll start the next three. Can't have more plants than I have lights for!



Pinocchio Orange at 38 days from seeding:



The next garden task will be removal of the zinnias and Mexican torch plants. I've waited until the last blooms have appeared so that the few butterflies left have something to feed on but the plants are so ratty they need to go.
 
#2,213 ·
First Frost is coming closer and will most likely happen this weekend. Starting Wednesday the ten day forecast shows a sudden drop of highs from the 70's to consistent 50's. It's time.

Yesterday I pulled the pepper plants out, stripping off the few good peppers remaining and then pulled the one zucchini as the powdery mildew had just blitzed it. The yellow squash has one more remaining and it will be picked today.



The zinnias were dug up a few days ago so now the carrots planted there have full sun.The marigolds will come out soon. The older carrot sowing is Bolero and Envy and the younger sowing is Envy and Yaya..



These are staggered turnip plantings with a half row of rutabagas. Three days ago I pulled the first two readies from the far side of the bed, I'm glad I staggered the plantings because otherwise one can have too many ready at once. What I should have done is stagger that second planting. Now there will be too many ready at once come later!



And finally this is a shot of the two Jacaranda broccolis I'm trying. They're so much bigger than the Packmans on the other side of the bed even though both are 50 day varieties. However there's no sign of broccoli buttons on the Jacs yet but the first six Packmans have buttons ranging from 1-2". Depending on how the Jacarandas do they might be a candidate for naturally staggered production.



After I took the pics I got out the weedeater and trimmed around the beds for what will probably be the last time this year. Time to get out the seed box and do an inventory. I shouldn't need to order much at all but I'm sure that when the catalogs come out there will be a few "toys" found among the catalog eye candy. ;)
 
#2,214 ·
We finally had first frost yesterday morning, just a light covering at 35 degrees. That's the end of the one summer squash left and one cucumber plant. There were six snow pea pods to pick on the 4' wide trellis and I pulled the first two carrots of the fall planting just to see where they were size wise. They're still just about 4" long. These are Bolero.



A deer nipped one of the carrot fronds off so I looked farther down that side of the bed and found that every plant in the second half of the row, the Envy carrots, each had one or two fronds nipped off. No telling why they nibbled on the Envys and hardly at all on the Boleros.

The micro tomatoes are coming right along. The three older plants are on the front row. L to R: Red Robin, Pinocchio Orange and Jochalos (a yellow):



We're about to pick the first two tomatoes, one off each of the smaller plants. The Red Robin is a lot bigger but taking its sweet time putting on fruit. I think next time I'll choose something smaller for that third spot in the lineup.

 
#2,215 ·
Earlier this year I collected some little bulbils (mini bulblets) from the top of some Siberian garlic plants left in the ground since last year. They are what forms from the flowers at the top of the flower scape.



This is what the bulbils look like:



I planted two lines of them in a windowbox on the porch on Oct 25 and two days ago they started popping up. Here they are coming up:



They were just sprinkled into two 1" deep trenches drawn in the windowbox and were shoulder to shoulder. Next fall they'll get transplanted a bit farther apart in the garden in an out of the way spot. Rinse and repeat for several more years and they might just be full grown garlic bulbs. Just call it a long term experiment. Meanwhile, once they leaf out they can either be cut or pulled and used as garlic chives, although supposedly much more tasty than what is called garlic chives in herb section seed packets.




L
 
#2,216 ·
It's that slow time of year with not much going on until yesterday. The first seed catalog came! It was Pinetree. They're always the first to arrive. It seemed the arrival was very early but after checking last year's calendar I see it arrived Nov 21 last year. And so begins the parade of enticements. I don't need much this year, maybe just a few "toys" to play with. :)

The seed box has been cleaned out with any extra or discontinued seed moved to the "vault" in the freezer and both have been inventoried.

The leaves have started falling and there were enough down for 5th Gear to put the bagger on the mower, give the grass what's probably the last cut and start hoovering up the leaves. The big piles from last year are now gone as I moved the last bit yesterday to various beds. Out with the old and in with the new!

The cows in the adjacent pasture are gone now except for two very pregnant ones. Off to market, I guess. I'm thinking about slithering under the pasture fence, gathering old cow patties and burying them where certain veggies will be planted come spring. The spring planting map is pretty much done so this would be pre-prepping planting holes. I just need the motivation to actually do it.
 
#2,217 ·
Time for a microdwarf tomato update since the last one three weeks ago. We're now getting cherry tomatoes from two of them.



This is Pinocchio Orange, the one putting out the most right now:



Lots of flowers coming on a Jochalos plant:



Meanwhile, the leaf piles for next year's garden mulch keep growing. You can't beat free!

It's been pretty much decided how much of what to grow next year and it's time to figure out some possible seed starting dates. Of course, everything is subject to change. Has there ever been a time when there wasn't? LOL! But it's something to do for now. I could wipe down the tubes on the light shelf fixtures but that will wait until I'm in the mood to do that. Probably just before I need them. :)
 
#2,220 ·
As we slide into the longest days of the year, the fall garden keeps chugging along. There have been several overnight lows around 28 but cole crops don't mind a bit. Even the turnip leaves weren't bothered. Hopefully the last of the army worms that were lacing up those leaves froze to death.

Back beds, left to right are carrots, turnips/rutabagas, cabbage/kale/cauliflower. Front beds are two short kohlrabi rows on the left and staggered broccoli and cauliflower on the right.



The first planting of turnips are gone and the second planting is almost ready. The first Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage was ready so part of it will magically transform into cole slaw to accompany the bbq ribs today.



I also pulled two Kolibri kohlrabi, more Bolero carrots and the first few Envy carrots.



The first of two trial jacaranda broccoli is almost ready. This head is about 4" wide and still has a bit more to go. I'll be interested in seeing how it tastes. I've never grown a purple broccoli before.



Yesterday I figured some tentative planting dates for spring. The earliest will probably be the first round of scallions, to be started a few days from now on Dec 1st for a February plant out. This year I want to see if I can keep scallions going all year long which will be a challenge during the summer months. The heat makes them bolt. Maybe some in a bucket in semi shade. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
 
#2,221 ·
We had that purple broccoli with lunch today. It was good but to me, broccoli is broccoli. :) I did nbotivce that the stem structure was a bit different. Most broccoli I've dealt with have just several thick stems branching off the main stem and each of those ending in several large florets. This Jacaranda had a lot of smaller stems, each ending in smaller individual florets. Just a different structure. When cooked, the broccoli lost a lot of that purple but was still darker than regular green brocccoli.

Yesterday I pulled a few things from the garden. There were more turnips and the first French Breakfast radishes along with the first Blauer Spec kohlrabi. That's about two weeks later than the Kolibri kohlrabi so planting them both at the same time worked out nicely as far as avoiding too much ready at once. I also pulled the first 8 scallions. They were still on the small side but I needed them for a recipe.



I finally found how to resize my photos in Windows Photo so now they won't be so big and slow loading. The LED screen on my old camera is dead so I can't see what the camera is set to take sizewise. There's a lot more this new computer can do but I'm not willing to spend time looking unless it's something I need to do. Live and learn, bit by bit as the need arises.
 
#2,222 ·
And so it begins. The first seeds started for 2022. The scallions are just poking up. They'll be set out about two months from now. This year I'm going to make an effort to keep starting more periodically so I don't run out. That may not work out in the summer heat but I might play with growing those in a window box on the porch where it's a bit cooler.

Then there's one beet seed up; just a little red thing in the front center of the container on the right. I read where you can transplant beet seedlings but you have to do it right after the first true leaves appear. I never knew you could do that. Guessing it's got to happen before the tap root gets going. So this is a test with just six plants to be grown in a bucket. Something to play with in the off season.

 
#2,223 · (Edited)
Four days ago I started some germination tests on three kinds of corn from my stash in the freezer using the damp paper towel in a baggie method. There were ten seeds each of Spring Treat (2019), Golden Bantam (2018) and Silver Queen (2017). I just checked them and both Golden Bantam and Silver Queen had 100% germination. The Spring Treat was at 50% so I wrapped them back up and will wait a few more days to see if any more pop.

Apparently there's no more Spring Treat out there. That's too bad as it's a nice 67 day yellow se that will germinate in cooler soils which is why I started growing it. I'd plant it mid April and be eating corn in June while waiting for the Silver Queen to finish around the Fourth of July.

If 50% is all that is viable, I still have enough seed to plant half a bed of circles. And although it's a hybrid, if the squirrels and raccoons don't destroy it, I'd like to let it dry down, collect the seed and see what it produces next year. And I'll probably grow off the stored Silver Queen and replace it with fresh.
 
#2,225 ·
 
#2,226 ·
Stwood, I saw that Hometown site when I was searching and also saw that Amazon listed Spring Treat. After looking at the Hometown site, out of curiosity I went to that Amazon link and it had Hometown Seeds as the brand name. LOL! And it said they were out of stock with no idea if or when they'd be available again, something that Hometown's site didn't mention. The Hometown site didn't have anything else I wanted so even if they had it I'd be paying shipping for just one pack of seeds. I think I'll just run my experiment with the seed I have and also give that Golden Bantam a go.

One thing about growing corn here is that it finishes here faster than the stated DTM. First picking of the last Spring Treat (68 DTM) is regularly about 48 days from sowing and Silver Queen, an 88 DTM, regularly finishes in about 68 days. I always have to take that into consideration when planning staggered corn planting so I don't run into cross pollination issues.
 
#2,227 ·
From late yesterday afternoon through last night we had thunderstorms come through that dumped 3.8" of much needed rain on us. No severe weather, just regular old rumbling t-storms from that front sitting on top of us that's keeping lows in the 60's. That will change tomorrow as the colder air moves in. It's TIME for it to start feeling like Christmas!
 
#2,232 ·
They got exterminated?
I didn't know that was possible.
At my house, the cats "plant" them in surprising places, and they grow without any effort from me... I have enough gardens (in the city), where the homeowner wants it to look unnecessarily "tidy"... my garden is anything but...

yup, got rain on the day you asked about, and again all day yesterday... luckily it's cleared up today... just rushed out and got a co-vid booster. They are giving them out on Wednesday(s) in my little one horse town.
 
#2,234 ·
The fall garden keeps chugging along through all these temperature ups and downs. I cut the last head of broccoli last week but the plants have been producing some nice side shoots for salads. Yesterday I pulled more Bolero carrots. That and Envy are the two carrots I found that consistently do well in this garden. Since they're both hybrids I'm still playing with heirlooms now and then trying to find a consistently good one.

Food Plant Natural foods Ingredient Grass


The cabbages are doing well and the succession planting is working well to keep me from having an avalanche of cabbage all at once. There were two plantings about two weeks apart and the three varieties are all different maturities. Stonehead (55 days), Early Jersey Wakefield (64 days) and Savoy Perfection (92 days). The shortening of day length is also spreading out the finishes. These are the Wakefields in the front with one of the Savoys in the back left. The other plants in the back are two of the four Winter Gigant kohlrabi, a toy to see just how big they get!

Plant Green Leaf vegetable Vegetable Groundcover


This bed has scallions down the right side and leeks down the left. I'm starting to pull some scallions. The scallions were also staggered with half of the bed planted in Evergreen Bunching and then a month later the Warrior scallions. This is the first time I'm having success (so far) with leeks. They are King Sieg.

Plant Grass Agriculture Groundcover Landscape


Finally, I've left one Packman broccoli head go to seed for collection. Packman's a hybrid but it's been around so long it just might be stable so I'll collect some seed and plant some out this spring. More fun playing in the garden!

Plant Flower Leaf vegetable Terrestrial plant Groundcover
 
#2,250 ·
Always something to do in the garden! The person who can't find nothing to do never did nothing!

I picked up a mushroom field guide yesterday. LOL Might as well go all in and learn, right?
Which one did you get? Of the ones that we have The Audobon (sp) Society one is our favorite by far. Great pictures and good descriptions along with instructions on taking spore samples.
 
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