Stovepipe

Got a wild hair and decided to drive up to Frozen Head state park yesterday for an impromptu tent camping trip.  Once my firewood ran out it got COLD!  It was a nice little getaway though, glad I went.  Beautiful area, I need to go back in the spring when I can take in a day or two of hiking. 

I've got weeds growing in this heat. Makes me want to plant a few things. Looking forward to the last freeze so I can start planting. I have a new property this year where I can actually plant in the ground instead of pots. Also scored some tomato seeds from my grandfather that he planted every year when he was still here.

Congrats on the new property, keep us updated on how you get setup in the new space!  If you need tips on how to get that soil in shape we'll be glad to help.

I've only done cool season gardening for about 4 years but this has been a very interesting winter for it so far.  As of right now, lettuce is starting to play out finally.  Not from hard freezing of course but just from yielding over and over again since early fall, the plants are worn out.  We've gotten a ridiculous amount of cuttings from those plants.  Mustard and turnip greens and kale are still going strong and collards are are not far from being ready to eat (they were choked out by the weeds, now that weeds are removed I'm hoping they really take off).  Garlic, which would usually be in sort of hibernation at this point looks like what you'd expect to see in April.  The 45 day cabbage came and went and the cover crop of crimson clover and winter rye is rocking.  It's just amazing to see everything so vibrant and growing.

Weeds like creeping charlie (or henbit, not sure which it is honestly) have been a frustrating issue with the relative warmth and abundant rain.  It's particularly a pain because if you don't rip them out early the roots go deep and interfere with everything.  I've finally gotten around to ripping most of that stuff out.  One odd thing is a general lack of pests.  I've not seen a single white fly this season.  Just a few aphid type things that the lady bugs seem to be keeping in check.  Haven't even had to use Carver's Dipel Dust.

Knowing the warmth won't last, I'm trying to get a final covering on all of my beds.  I was fortunate to get my neighbors' bagged late fall yard clippings (leaves and grass) so that has been a nice addition.  Also my wood chip pile that's been sitting there since spring is very nicely composted so I'm putting that on top.  There is a ton of free manure (rabbit and horse mostly) on craigslist that I'm going to take advantage of too this winter.  I'm trying to get the soil in top shape for spring planting.

Another project that I'm super excited about is my chicken coop.  I have all the lumber ready to go, just need some rain free days to work on it.  Once that's built I'll need to get the run setup then hopefully get the baby girls in March (aiming for six birds).  Super pumped about having some country eggs and chicken poop for the garden!  I've been toying with the idea of putting solar panels near the coop for indoor lighting, water dish warming during winter, and door automation.  But first thing first I've got to get this coop built.  I'll post pics of the progress once that is under way.

It's also almost time to start tomato seedlings.  My folks got me a small green house for Christmas that I'm going to put on the deck.  Depending on arctic outbreaks I may try to start some seedlings out there; certainly it will be nice for hardening off plants later on when frost would otherwise be a threat.  I may look into putting some kind of heat source in it.  The bulk of my heirloom seedlings will be grown under grow lights again though.  We're very much missing those fresh maters.  The jars we have canned are nice but of course there is no beating fresh.

As of yesterday, September 13th, I have everything planted for fall/winter except for the garlic which will go in next weekend.  Here's my line up:

Collards

Lettuce (butter crunch, red, and romaine)

Spinach

Cabbage (45 day variety)

Kale

Mustard Greens

Turnip Greens

Rye (Winter Magic) and Crimson Clover for cover crops

I'm struggling to get spinach seeds to germinate.  After reading up on it, apparently they can be finicky about temps and may not sprout if it's too hot.  I planted like 3 weeks ago so I'm sure that is the problem, it's nearly a month earlier than I usually plant.  I may have to replant now that things have cooled off a bit.

This go around I'm trying something a little bit different with cover crops based on a buddy of mine's suggestion.  Rather than just plant crimson clover to fix nitrogen over the winter then pull it up in the spring, I mixed the clover with rye (not rye grass) which should grow as high as six feet.  I did this in the two main beds that I plan on having tomatoes and peppers in next summer. 

The idea is come spring I'll cut it all with hedge trimmers at about 1 foot, before post hole digging to plant the maters and peppers, and leave the cut clover and rye on there as a mulch.  This should add root structure to the soil, nutrients from the biomass, and discourage weeds.  It should also re-seed itself for the fall.  We'll see how well this actually works, although my friend has had good luck with it in the past.

For the other beds I'm adding shredded wheat straw, eventually shredded leaves (for minerals), and some finely chipped wood chips.  All of that should decompose nicely over winter and help to keep weeds out.  I lucked into getting a hand me down wood chipper from a family member and that thing has been awesome.  Rather than just throwing my old warm season plants into the compost bin I've been shredding them up and that is resulting in much faster and better compost.

I'll get some pictures posted soon.  What is everyone else doing for fall/winter this time?  Oh and Carvers, how often do you apply your Dipple Dust to your cabbage?  This will be my first season using it.  I'm already seeing white flies around and put an initial light coating of dust on the new plants.  Just not sure how often to refresh it, thanks.

Total Solar in 2017 requires booking a few motel rooms along the route, a hedge against weather. Make sure they have good cancel rules; then, cancel all but one when the forecast becomes clear. We get another long track total solar across the Continental US in 2024 and I plan on seeing both. I would recommend chaser mentality, even with the certain forecast. Plan ahead for obstacles, traffic, overzealous police, dueling banjos, or whatever else might come up. Cheers!

Well, my tomato yield is down to about a third of what it was in June as the plants are starting to look a bit rough.  I'm sitting on 45 quarts of whole tomatoes.  There is still enough coming in every 3 or 4 days to can or give a bunch away.  I think I'm going to switch to canning juice now in half gallon jars.  It's nice to bust out a jar of that in winter and make pasta sauce in a crock pot. 

It has been a busy and fairly productive summer.  I'm going to miss having the fresh produce around but am also excited about the fall/winter plantings.  It's about to be collard season, yay!

This fall I'm going for the following:

- Garlic and Onions (for early summer harvest)

- Potatoes in ground now for fall harvest

- Lots of spinach

- Lots of collards

- Maybe some lettuce

I will probably start the collards and spinach within the next two weeks.

My wife and I went to see the Dead play their final shows in Chicago over the weekend (best concerts I've ever seen in my life hands down btw) and came home to this:

A bushel basket plus another small bucket or two of maters. There were probably 30 fallen soldiers in addition that over ripened or got pecked by birds etc. Canned 14 quarts the first night back and need to do twice that.

We're blowing up over here with the pattern shift that brought more rain. This is the earliest and biggest yield of tomatoes we've seen since we started gardening. Getting more than we can eat, can, or give away. Nuts dude!

On plants that don't flower, I use Seven dust. It's the only thing I ever use any pesticide on at all in my garden. Otherwise it's nearly impossible to keep them from getting eaten. Since they don't flower, I'm not hurting honey bees.

Ah ok, I recall my mom using that in her garden many years ago.  Good for you not harming the bees. 

Great pics guys!! I've been harvesting hot peppers for a few weeks now. My bell peppers are about ready to get picked. Tomatoes are all green but I anticipate more than I know what to do with in about a week or two. I plan on harvesting my first zucchini thhis weekend as well. I've had to water by hand nearly every play though, all in all I've found this to be a very rewarding and relaxing hobby. I get home from work and tend to my garden, it's "dirt therapy"

Well said my friend!

Stove, not organic but natural. I use this. Not a pesticide.

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/fertilome-dipel-dust-p-1714.html

That said, I try to use as little as possible so I don't harm any unwanted caterpillar populations.

I just placed an order, thanks Carvers!

This is a new variety of paste tomato I tried this year, the Goldman's Italian:

I harvested the German Red garlic this weekend and planted red potatoes in it's place.

Just put mine in today. This heat(accompanied by dry conditions) is making it tough. Had to do something. How is your system doing?

I'm very happy with my system overall.  The hose in the second kit that I bought does have some "sprayers" that keep the bottom leaves of some plants wet and yellow.  The original kit doesn't spray at all.  Not a big deal, the system has done a great job at keeping my soil nice and wet.  It saturates a nice large area.  We'll see how the hose holds up over time.

Here are some pics from this year..

 

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Usually grow Apollo Arugula but this variety with serrated leaves is good too, looks a bit like frisee.

 

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Red cabbage planted in early April, almost ready...also have the green variety. These guys get huge.

 

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Growing slowly with the cool weather. Love fresh eggplant though, makes pasta delicious.

 

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Tomato plants have a few flowers but also suffering from lack of heat.

 

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Lettuce has gone nuts this year, bought this early April and has yielded for almost 2 months.

 

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Can't wait to harvest my first zucchini. Has some powdery mildew though...

 

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Love making salads with fresh greens from the garden. 

Thanks for sharing photos of your stuff, it all looks great!  Love that purple cabbage.

Great pics and happy gardening. I'm jealous of that weather!

 

We've been humid and in the 90s except for today, but they return tomorrow with mid to upper 90s possible. Gonna make me dread hoeing my stuff but I know I have to. My cabbage is done, I got it in the ground too late tbh, but I still have some 2-3 pound heads. All the warm weather plants are doing pretty well, it's rained at night two nights in a row and been rainy today. I expect a burst of growth over the next couple of days.

John, how do you deal with the white fly worms on your cabbage?  I've given up on brussels, cabbage, and broccoli due to them.  Last year I tried some organic spray but it didn't really help.

Getting one or two of these bad boys each day. The flavor.... is ridiculous.

Bear got into my garden and eliminated my biggest red beefsteak plant. I'm not too happy with him.

Oh no!  Was it the bear that was running around town?  lol

Picked my first two tomatoes of the season today, big ol' Pink Brandywines.  Two or three days in the windowsill and they'll be perfect.  The surge is coming.  I expect to be canning by early July.

Stove, I had issues with my soaker hose spraying and not soaking. Let me know how that does. I could easily be sold on that method.

I got my soaker hose system setup this weekend and it seems to work perfectly.  I was so impressed with it that I went and bought another 100 foot kit to expand it further.  This is the product I got at Lowes for $25:  http://www.swanhose.com/product-p/celslk38100cc.htm

What I like about this kit is you can customize it to your needs and it is super easy to work with.  You just measure and cut the lengths of hose you need and hook it up with the various fittings.  So far I've not covered the hose with soil and I'm not seeing much reason to do so.  I've just got it anchored in spots with landscaping pins.  There has been zero spraying, just a constant dribble which is perfect.  After an afternoon, the soil was visibly wet at least a foot on both sides of the hose.  I've got a few more expansions I want to do to get it up into a couple raised boxes but at this point 80% of my garden is covered.  I highly recommend it.

Been digging weeds all afternoon long. 

 

My first set of corn is about knee high. Second set is about 2 inches high. Beans are starting to bloom. All my melons and cucumbers are about ready to start making a vine. Pumpkins and zuccini are too. Peas are about ready to harvest, with another run of heat resistant snap peas planted among the corn. Cabbages are heading, potato hills are 16 inches high and I have to make them bigger daily. Tomatoes are just starting to bloom. Peppers too.Strawberries are about done.

Kettle River Giant garlic is in. Not as big as I'd hoped for but bigger than last year's grocery store variety. Still waiting on the German Red to fall over.

Green bell peppers rolling in.

Cajun Bells coming in early, time for a summer chili!

Nice! Are you burrying that or putting it above ground?

I still haven't had time to fool with it yet but I'm thinking I'll cover it loosely with soil.  The main thing is to ensure the kids won't trip over it.  It won't be a permanent installation though.  This fall I'd like to run it down to the plot where I plan to build a hoop house.

Stove, you sound like me. What are u putting in?

All the talk about blight and rot got me paranoid about running the sprinkler so I figured I'd go for the soaker hose.  Got something that looks like this from Lowes for about $24, it's 100 feet long and I plan to run four 25 foot sections:

I may add an additional 50-100 feet to cover another set of raised rows depending on how dry we get.

All I do anymore is hoe, and hoe and hoe some more. If vegetables and fruits grew half as well as weeds the world would never have a hungry person.

I have no love for hoes!  I covered my garlic in wheat straw last fall and the wheat seeds germinated.  It's been a pain pulling all of that out of the beds.  That and all of the little tomato seedlings that come up from the home made compost.  I need to go back to burying my plants in woodchips.

Anyone here grow pumpkins? 

 

I generally try every year but rarely get above 25 pounders. I'm trying for some 50+ pounders this year with the Big Max seeds. I've got one good plant per hill right now and the hills are about 4-5 feet away from each other. Right now I'm going with 13-4-5 because I read that during the vine growing phase you want to have 10+ on your nitrogen. For flowers you need a high middle number, so I'm going to go to 15-30-15 briefly during the flowering phase, then once fruit sets, you need more potash so I'm going with some 12-12-20 and also adding old banana peels to the hills as summer wears on so they'll be feeding potassium into the pumpkins by summers end.

I've never tried pumpkins, keep us updated on how these turn out for you this year. 

I broke down and bought a soaker hose system.  I should have it up and running by Sunday, just in time for the rain to actually start lol.

And caging ~ can anyone give me tips on when or when not to use them?  Currently I have them on my two tomato plants and my two oldest & largest pepper plants.

I say use em if you got em.  Just be mindful of the tomato plants getting top heavy, you'd hate for the containers to fall over and break the plants.  You may have to stabilize the pots with something if they end up super tall.  If you need to tie the plants to the cages do it gently.  I cut up old tee shirts into thin strips and tie with them.  A very thin string that is tied too tight can cut into the plants.

Of course you could also let the tomatoes just sprawl out on the ground but you'd want to keep straw down for them to lay on and that might not be ideal.  Also you have to be careful to not let them get ground rot in that scenario.

Looks good Marietta!  My only concern would be the tomato plants getting root bound in those pots.  Even if they do you should still have yield, but the plants might be constrained.  The peppers and other things should do awesome.  Put a little fertilizer on them from time to time and keep them mulched with wheat straw or wood chips if you can.

I came across some large plastic containers that previously had tree saplings in them, a friend was going to throw them away.  I snatched them up and planted sun sugar cherry tomatoes and basil in them.  The buckets are about 2 feet wide and 2.5 feet deep I'm guessing.  These plants are growing like crazy and are as big as ones planted in the ground at the same time, at least so far.  I'd suggest being on the look out for these as you might even be able to find them for free at somewhere like Lowes.  Large pots are expensive so tree buckets are a nice free alternative if you are doing a container garden.

My garden is blowing up, even with us being unlucky on storm tracks lately.  We've got several big fatty tomatoes, I'm hoping a few are ready to eat within the next couple of weeks.  The garlic has started to lay down so it'll be ready to harvest within a week.  Basil is bushy and smells amazing.  Cauliflower heads are getting noticeably bigger each day, I think it's about time to tie them up.  The real fun will begin in mid to late June when we can start slicing up big Cherokee Purples and Pink Brandywines to eat with mozzarella cheese and basil.  And the fresh salsa, pasta sauce, and the canning... can't wait!

Yes, it greened up to 3500 feet last week. I put in a more modest 25 tomato plants. I have around a dozen pepper plants. 8 rows of corn around 40 feet long each. 4 rows of cabbage. 3 rows of potatoes. A row of sweet potatoes. 15 cucumber hills. 8 watermelon hills. 5 zucchini hills. 10 cantaloupe hills. 5 big max pumpkin hills. 4 rows of sweet onions. 2 rows of peas that are already knee high and in full bloom. 3 rows of green beans. I'll plant 2 more rows of corn at least in a few weeks and more beans too.

Wow you're not playing around John, nice work!  Yes we need some pics.

With 75 tomato plants, everyone you know should be in tomatoes all summer long.

I had 100 in the ground last year.  I lost count of how many jars I canned but we ran out around February.  The withdrawals have been rough.  Love me some maters.

So John, has the mountain top turned green yet?

^^ Lookin good guys!

I got the rest of my warm season plants in the ground last week.  Aside from a few miscellaneous things like an herb here or there and replacing a large bed of garlic with potatoes, I think I'm set til fall.  Ended up with right at 75 tomatoes which is significantly less than last year.  But, this time I spaced things out much more so hopefully I can baby them better and get better yields.

Here is what is in the ground as of May 12:

75 tomatoes (pink brandywine, cherokee purple, goldmans italian, early girl, sun sugar)

17 peppers (green bell, cajun bell, jalapeno)

7 sweet basil

8 cauliflowers

several different lettuces which are about done

spinach

kale

garlic (german red, kettle river giant, elephant, and some random grocery store variety)

onions (yellow, red, white)

leeks

shallots

oregano

cucumbers

3 half rows of sweet corn (3 more half rows in 3 weeks)

It's no fun having to run the sprinkler in this drought, but so far everything is growing nicely.  Corn came up in about 6 days.  I have a few green tomatoes.  The fall planted garlic is looking good, maybe another 3 weeks and it'll fall over and be harvested.  The kale went nuts this year.  I ended up with freaking giant plants, way more than I could eat so I've been giving it away.  The cauliflower is huge but not making heads yet.  All in all the season is off to a good start over here.

I put 24 mater plants and 5 basils in the ground last weekend, with about 50 more maters to go.  I'd planned to put in another 25 this coming weekend.  At the moment I could probably cover everything up if frost comes knockin.  Any more and I'll have out kicked my coverage.  I don't know what to think at this point.  It's tricky this early but the payoff of early tomatoes is huge.  Not sure yet if I'm going to roll the dice or not.  It'll probably come down to what the models are showing Saturday morning.