# How is your garden this year?



## Debby - LB (May 19, 2015)

I remember last years gardening topic and was wondering how many are gardening this year?

Our garden is doing fairly well, starting last week we have been eating fresh tomatoes and potato's YUM! My husband increased his garden this year, I thought he was going to scale back but no now he has planted too much. We have had issue with the cold weather so late in the year stunting growth but in the last 2 weeks most of the plants are booming now! For myself my garden is small and mostly all herbs. I'm having a little trouble in that I usually use my own topsoil and compost but can't use the compost this year since we used so much Grazon last year. And weed and grass control is always a problem.

I'll try to get some photos to post. I love seeing everyone's gardens.


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## Sonya (May 19, 2015)

This year we made raised beds...4 total. I will post a pic once we get stuff planted...we were going to do it today but there's a frost warning tonight, so may go get the plants today and keep them in the garage and plant them tomorrow. Crazy weather, it was 88* here yesterday and high of 47* today.


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## Ryan Johnson (May 19, 2015)

I loved this thread last year






Well if only this question was asked a few months ago, I would of been able to answer that everything was blooming , vegies were coming out of my ears and I was happy to be out in the gardens 24/7.

Now, not so much. Now that the rains have arrived the weeds have come back and its freezing cold and wet. Not that I am complaining after seeing the winters that some of the members on here have had to endure.

I've spent a little time cleaning up the vegie beds and around the start of August Ill get out there and start prepping them for this years crop. I had a great harvest of tomatoes and cucumbers this year so much so I will look for a great tomato sauce recipe so I can bottle my own hopefully this year.

We had a really wet summer just gone and it caused continuous grief , I honestly felt like I was spraying weeds for months.

So at this stage, Ill say the weeds are growing well, If anyone needs any tips on how to promote weed growth, Im your man


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## Debby - LB (May 19, 2015)

It's amazing talking with people with such a difference in climate! Today we had like 93, I would have loved a high of 47! Ryan it sounds like you are in Winter? I Love Winter! I wish we could go from Spring to Fall.

I'm making a raised bed now but have not decided yet what to put in it. I have a recipe for a tomato sauce to can but I've not used it in years, I tend to just can the tomatoes then make my sauce with them as I need it.......come to think of it just last week I was making some sauce and thinking to myself what a PITA, I should can some sauce so this won't take so long. I LOVE the smell of fresh sauce on the stove.


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## Ryan Johnson (May 19, 2015)

You would think so Debby , not quite there yet but its fast approaching.


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## Minimor (May 19, 2015)

OMG you have fresh veggies and yet you talk of late cold? ?? That's just wrong!!!

We had temps of 23F the past two nights.

Our gardens are not even planted yet. I have seeds and seed potatoes but they sit waiting in the house. My bedding plants are in trays in the house...I hope to plant them out this weekend.

I am doing container gardening this year. It is all I have time for. Potatoes and beans will be in a modified version of a straw bale garden.


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## Marsha Cassada (May 20, 2015)

Very unseasonable here. Heavy rains and storms. It is so nice to be wet and cool after 3 years of drought and heat, but it's a lesson in being careful what you wish for! We are nearing 12" for the month of May and twice we've had winds of 60+ mph. Lots of damage in the area. Had to cancel garden club this month as our hostess' garden was laid waste by wind and hail. When it finally dries up, we'll have lots of erosion damage to repair. My horses have had soggy feet for a month. I take them out for walks on the pavement, just so they can dry out a little.

Thank goodness my gardens are all raised beds! We've eaten asparagus and strawberries. Tried Tom Thumb lettuce this year and it is a success. Chard coming on to be edible size. Potatoes are blooming, so it's possible there are little ones under there, but it's been too dang wet to look.

The onions went to seed quickly and I found out that because the sets came from TX, where there was a cold snap at a certain time, all the onions will go to seed and not form correctly. I wish they had not even sold them. I usually have a wonderful onion crop.

The yard long beans are up, but as usual have mites. We hate to spray, but not much else we can do. There are some lady bugs, but I don't see them on the beans, where they are needed. Guess they don't like mites. I'm trying parthenocarpic squash this year, which does not require pollinating. Fingers crossed that they produce!

My espaliered fruit trees are doing great! All have nice fruit this year. They are also in raised beds.

I read about an ancient brown cotton in a magazine and ordered some seeds. I'm trying that in the flower beds, as the cotton plants are so pretty.

Harvesting cilantro and oregano. I'm doing a program on herbs next month for garden club.


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## Debby - LB (May 20, 2015)

Ryan you can tell I know nothing about Australias seasons LOL It is one of only 2 places I'd love to visit though.

We had many years of drought here too so yes It is so nice to have been wet and cool for so long.

Holly we had a head start with the garden since my husband grew it all from seed in the greenhouse, he had nice vigorous plants to set out. Bless his heart he was determined to have watermelon by 4th of July this year so started those seeds, I think it was in Feb. Trying to harden those plants and others off and get them in the ground was a challenge since we had such unseasonably cold weather. Everything he has transplanted has done well but they were in the ground close to a month before they grew even a little bit...too cold at night. The potatoes he grew in bags in the green house sit out by the fence now and we've already dug down and harvested a dozen of those out of one bag, nice sized and really good, the vines are starting to show signs of dying back so it won't be much longer to harvest all of those. The potato plants of the same age that were put in the garden are behind because of the cold but that's OK.. Tomato the same thing, we've been eating off the ones in buckets but the same age plants in the ground are less than half size and just blooming.. All his other stuff is all doing really good so far... except the onions they don't look like they've grown any.

Let us know how the straw bale growing goes, I've seen photos of gardens done that way that look amazing!

Marsha I grow Asparagus too, I love it husband wont eat it. I'm over run with Oregano and Lemon Balm, I need to cut all that back...have a lot of Sage too and Tyme but I Love that and let both go where they will. My Rosemary plant that I almost killed last year is looking good. My Cilantro and Parsley seed is just coming up and my small Basil plant I bought finally got big enough I'm rooting new cuttings. I would love to try some Chard I've never even eaten that. Would love to see a photo of the brown cotton, is it different than the regular cotton that is grown here? is it like a ornamental cotton or something? I did get some photos this morning I'll upload in a little while.

Sounds like so far you all are on the way to wonderful gardens.

This is his new garden in the back behind our house. He was going to ONLY have this one garden and was the reason to take down my paddock dividers out front and split the back pasture with them.....hmmm ok..





..but then he still planted the other 2 spots. Below is the original garden, we now call the middle garden.




Love this shot ↓




Finally this is the lower garden. This is where the Corn, Okra, Peanuts, Potatoes, and Sweet Potatoes are.


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## Minimor (May 20, 2015)

How do you grow potatoes in bags? What kind of bags and what size? Sounds interesting--and a new one on me.

I have seen amazing straw bale gardens. The year I tried it nothing but potatoes and melons did well. I think my straw bales were too tightly packed and did not rot enough. This year I am putting dirt between the rows of bales (they are close together) and planting beans and potatoes in the dirt. Some vines will be planted in the bales. Everything else will be in containers.


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## sundancer (May 20, 2015)

I do raised beds also. Little to no weeding--love it!!! I have my plants started and they are ready for the garden. The weather is just not cooperating temperature wise. I cant wait til they are planted and the plants take off!!! I love the fresh veggies. Wish I could do this all year round!

Julie

Victory Pass Stable

Maine


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## Debby - LB (May 22, 2015)

Bags like feed bags or garden soil bags etc. like these:




When we don't have enough pots or buckets we use the bags. When we buy potting soil he cuts it in half and stands them up and plants directly in them.

Here are some more photos these first ones show the difference in the Tomatoes left in buckets and the same age ones transplanted to the garden.





Here are some more. One of his little Orange trees, one of Lettuce in the Greenhouse...along with the hen sitting in there! LOL


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## Debby - LB (May 22, 2015)

and just so I don't sound like some whoop-d-do rich person with a "greenhouse" ...although we are proud of it LOL. Our green house Terry made out of all scrap stuff we had. Years ago we were given several large galvanized steel pole shelters to take down and move...you know the ones people put tarps over? Wow have they ever come in handy! .....anyway he used a bunch of pieces from those and some scrap wood then covered it in plastic.




Bottom left corner where you see the black looking square? that's where the hen is on her eggs. One of the cats was on the outside playing with the shadow every time the hen moved so Terry lined that corner with old mudflaps.


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## Marsha Cassada (May 22, 2015)

Is it hard to keep those bucket/bags from getting too hot? That would generally be a problem here. Not this year! but most years. We are so cool and wet this year that the peppers and beans are sulking.

Just toured the garden this morning and was so pleased with all the apples & peaches! Some hail damage on a few, but overall we should have a nice crop on the espaliered trees.

There are a lot of wild blackberries this year. They are rather small, but seem to be plentiful. This rain should plump them out.


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## Debby - LB (May 23, 2015)

No not that I have noticed but like any container plants they do dry out quicker and take more water. Most all of ours aren't in full sun all day, they get all the morning sun and part of the evening.


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## Ryan Johnson (May 24, 2015)

Great Pictures Debby





I am now extra excited for the better weather to arrive


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## KLM (Jun 3, 2015)

Oh my goodness, I love this thread and am glad to see it.

We just bought our property 2 1/2 years ago and the plan is to begin to lean towards self sustainability. Of course the horses came first though.

Last year I planted a garden, my first attempt. I found the area that was used by the previous owners (It was a foreclosure that was in bad shape) and weeded and turned the soil for several weeks, brought in a few bags of enriched topsoil and mixed it in. I planted 7 tomato plants, 3 rows of corn, 4 rows of carrots, 2 rows of onions (red and green) 4 cucumber plants, 4 zucchini, 2 peppers, 2 cantaloupe, 2 pumpkin, 2 watermelon, 2 blackberries, 1 raspberry and 1 row of sweet peas.

To my great distress, we had gophers... gophers who were very determined. They ate EVERYTHING!!!

I ended up with a few lackluster tomatoes, a very small crop of sweet peas, 1 pepper and about 20 small carrots.

This year I am trying something new. I bought some wash tubs from local yard sales and planted in them. So far so good. I am in the process of looking for more yard sale finds! I am also going to get some old railroad ties (have a family member who works for the railroad) and create some raised beds and line the bottom with wire mesh to keep out the vermin!

I will take some pictures, but so far the garden is thriving! I am so excited and look forward to getting tips and tricks from you guys


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## Ryan Johnson (Jun 3, 2015)

KLM,

I could have seriously just about written the same thing after planting out my first vegie garden a few years back , tho the predators were ducks and rabbits at my place. Ill take some pictures when I have mine planted out in early September. I have also used old railway sleepers to make my 4 beds and they look great. If your at the sales see if you can grab an old vintage Wheelbarrow , I found one and planted strawberries in it, they would also be very good for herbs.

Cant wait to see some Pics


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## Debby - LB (Jun 4, 2015)

oh no KLM I know that was disheartening! We don't have gophers here but we do fight the deer and rabbits for our food.....and the bugs I swear I don't know how people make it going totally organic. Good luck with your raised beds!

I started my canning yesterday with green beans. I put up 2 canners of Roma 2's and one canner of Blue Lakes. Terry brought in some more tomatoes and emptied out 2 of his bag potatoes, boy did they make some nice ones.


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## Shari (Jun 4, 2015)

Beautiful garden and greenhouse Debby.... cute chicken too.

Sort'a working in the garden.... need to take some up dated photos.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 4, 2015)

I think I saw some planting bags in the nursery today for tomatoes. It didn't sink in until I was on the way home, or I would have looked at them more closely.

Here is one of my espaliered apple trees. Since they are kept small, they will never bear as much fruit as a standard tree, but I'm enjoying them. Picking cherries, and wild blackberries are ripe now. I'm happy with the Tom Thumb variety lettuce. Planted another round of it, as I like it. Squash are blooming. As much time, money, and effort as we put into the garden it is disappointing when things don't succeed. But serving things from the garden is so satisfying.


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## Debby - LB (Jun 5, 2015)

that is interesting doing the trees that way!


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## FurstPlaceMiniatures (Jun 7, 2015)

I am a dairy farmer and therefore have an unlimited supply of 55 gallon drums (woo teat dip!). I cut a few in half and now have a gigantic container garden!

In 2 small calf buckets, I have herbs. One has parsley and chives, the other has basil, oregano (my favorite) and thyme.

I have 5 buckets of patio tomatoes, they are on my steps. Looks pretty cool, also have a bucket with a raspberry bush on the porch.

Then, I have 1.5 containers of cukes, and 1.5 containers of squash. Another container is half lettuce, half Kale (my other favorite!). Hoping to fill the other containers with some zucchini, broccoli, and melons. Thinking of putting a small sweet corn plot in the middle of the lawn where the calf "kennel" used to be (don't ask, had a little bottle fed beef operation all winter in the negative temps!). The benefits of having a hound dog is he'll keep the critters away from it all!


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 7, 2015)

Sounds like you will have quite a harvest in your containers!

I am trying a new crop this year--parsnips. They are looking beautiful. I had to thin a couple and they were so cute, like little white carrots. They are not harvested until late fall. The foliage is so pretty in the garden.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 24, 2015)

After the rain we have sunshine! The garden is filling in. Yesterday I saw a tomato beginning to turn and the yard long beans are blooming. It is nice to have fresh onions and potatoes. Planted more Tom Thumb lettuce. That is a great variety for Oklahoma.


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## Miniv (Jun 24, 2015)

We're letting our big garden plot go fallow this year........but we are doing some straw bales and tomatoes in containers. We have potatoes growing in the corner of our back yard and in the straw bales we have onions, zuchs, crooked neck squash, and cucumbers. All are blooming, the potatoes are sprouting.....Hopefully the predicted super hot temps don't burn everything up!


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## Minimor (Jun 24, 2015)

I have cucumbers in a container and a bale...citrons in a bale; also pumpkin and beans. Tomatoes are all in containers. Squash and zucchini are in containers. Green zucchini came up well but the yellow ones are slow/sparse. Potatoes are in small modified beds and two are growing in a bale

There will be no fruit crop here--the fruit tree blossoms all froze so there will be no Saskatoon or chokecherries and likely no apples either.


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## MiniNHF (Jun 25, 2015)

started a garden for the first time this year. Some of the plants are not liking all the rain we have been having, but others are liking it. Had something attack my broccoli plants and took the leaves completely off but no other plant. Only thing I can think it is its possibly japanese beetles because there is nothing out there when I go to dust the plants and they like to munch on the leaves of the grape vines we have near by.

Had to move my cilantro to inside to grow because the massive rain storms have just killed my original plant ugh.


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## Miniv (Jun 25, 2015)

A friend of mine started a page on Facebook called "Central Oregon Giving Gardens". Nothing is sold, it's all about trading or giving. Thought it was a wonderful idea.

I got our tomato starts that way....FREE. I offered the woman some eggs from our hens, but she declined.


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## AngC (Jun 26, 2015)

Sorry... had to giggle at MiniNHF's problems with cilantro. My cilantro patch is about to the point where I'm going to have to take the weed-whacker to it again. I too have been having problems with the brassicas this year though.... not sure why.

But.... with our hot summer, hopefully we might get corn!!!


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## Debby - LB (Jun 26, 2015)

Our garden is progressing well, I started canning and freezing last week. So far I've put up snap beans, string beans, tomatoes, black eye peas and purple hull peas. I am really enjoying the fresh veggie stir fries I've been having,,,it's heaven! I fixed fresh creamed corn last night for the first time this year. The garden is now a little more demanding since the rain is now intermittent and the heat is like heck fire.


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## Sonya (Jun 27, 2015)

I forgot to ever post my pics...these are from about 10 days ago, so it's grown quite a bit since then. Certainly not to a canning stage, but it's only been planted less than a month and some was started from seed, I'm in MI so we had frost up until the end of May. We have eaten green onions and radishes though. Everything is doing very well and since these pics our cucumbers and beans have latched on to the fence and are climbing. This is our first year for boxes and although it's now a smaller planting area we actually can plant more which is nice. We have 4 boxes, they are 8' x 4'. We plan to add two more next year. I would love to have all the stuff planted you all have posted but our growing season is so short and working and taking care of two houses doesn't leave me a whole lot of time. We have numerous types of peppers, tomatoes, bush and climbing beans, cilantro, green onions, radishes, swiss chard, brusel sprouts (which is the only thing that isn't growing good). We also have zucchini planted in the ground (just 3 plants) and a large strawberry patch (which is done already).

Ok, I can't figure out how to post pics from my iPad. I'm going to post this and try on another post so I don't lose everything I've typed.


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## Sonya (Jun 27, 2015)

Figured it out:


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 28, 2015)

Looking good! Is the grassy stuff chives?


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## Sonya (Jun 28, 2015)

Green onions Marsha...I guess we have some eggplant in there too somewhere. My husband is the garden enthusiast, I'm just along for the ride...I'm too busy.

I was pleased that the boxes look nice since they are in the front yard...our front and back yard is all trees and believe it or not this area gets the most sun, just happened to be shady at the time I took the pics. This is actually our camp and we are only here a couple days a week so we have our irrigation system on a timer...it's been so rainy lately we haven't even had to turn it on.


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## Debby - LB (Jun 30, 2015)

Wow your boxes turned out awesome and everything looks so nice! beautiful scenery there.


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## Sonya (Jun 30, 2015)

Thanks Debbie!


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## MiniNHF (Jul 8, 2015)

AngC said:


> Sorry... had to giggle at MiniNHF's problems with cilantro. My cilantro patch is about to the point where I'm going to have to take the weed-whacker to it again. I too have been having problems with the brassicas this year though.... not sure why.
> 
> But.... with our hot summer, hopefully we might get corn!!!


haha yeah, we are getting so much rain here some of my plants gave up :/ but its almost a good thing because the others are growing wild and would have easily taken them over. At least I know what I need to do for next year as far as positioning.



Sonya said:


> Figured it out:


Very nice setup


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## MiniNHF (Aug 3, 2015)

okay I have to ask this question how do you all deal with squash, cucumbers etc that are like creeping vines. I had no idea how out of control they can be so I need a better solution for next year if anyone has any suggestions.


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## Minimor (Aug 3, 2015)

I plant vines in a place where it doesn't matter--edge of the garden--and just let them creep where they will--into the trees by the garden, or across the lawn.


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## Marsha Cassada (Aug 3, 2015)

Cucumbers trellis very well.


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## AngC (Aug 6, 2015)

MiniNHF said:


> okay I have to ask this question how do you all deal with squash, cucumbers etc that are like creeping vines. I had no idea how out of control they can be so I need a better solution for next year if anyone has any suggestions.


Hoe?

I've learned my lesson; sort of. Just two zucchini plants this year: 1 yellow, 1 green. There's only one lady at my husband's work that will take them anymore. ...two plants. geez.


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## Sonya (Aug 7, 2015)

Our cucumber trellis worked great this year...we have canned some dill pickles already. They are the spicy hot variety and I can't wait to try them (we put ghost peppers and habaneros in them).


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## Marsha Cassada (Aug 8, 2015)

I made a sign for my garden gate. Also put up a little shrine in the garden. I know the Hummel is not for outdoors, but hopefully the little roof will protect it. May take it in during the winter.

Have begun to pick a few of the apples. Planted another round of yard long beans and lettuce. My brown cotton plant is doing great. Hope to get a lot of seeds from it. The sweet potatoes are massive. Hope to have a few things to enter in the Fair next month.


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## lucky seven (Aug 9, 2015)

We only planted 6 tomato plants and they are loaded.


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## MiniNHF (Aug 9, 2015)

Thanks for the responses! I will have to get some cucumber trellis' next year. My cucumbers didnt go to wild like the squashes did. Ill probably have to plant less next year, I have about 5 in my space which isnt big enough and they are going nuts.



Sonya said:


> Our cucumber trellis worked great this year...we have canned some dill pickles already. They are the spicy hot variety and I can't wait to try them (we put ghost peppers and habaneros in them).





AngC said:


> Hoe?
> 
> I've learned my lesson; sort of. Just two zucchini plants this year: 1 yellow, 1 green. There's only one lady at my husband's work that will take them anymore. ...two plants. geez.





Minimor said:


> I plant vines in a place where it doesn't matter--edge of the garden--and just let them creep where they will--into the trees by the garden, or across the lawn.





Marsha Cassada said:


> Cucumbers trellis very well.


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## Marsha Cassada (Aug 16, 2015)

Our espaliered apples are ripe. The Galas came on first and now the Golden Delicious are ripening. I made a pie yesterday. Not sure whether to make applesauce, or slice up the apples to freeze for future cooking. May dehydrate some for snacking.

Next crop of yard long beans is coming on well, and my brown cotton is setting bolls!


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## paintponylvr (Aug 17, 2015)

Do you actually spin fiber from your cotton? OR???


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## AngC (Aug 18, 2015)

Marsha Cassada said:


> ...I know the Hummel is not for outdoors,


I have that same Hummel hanging in my bedroom. My mother was a refugee (WWII Germany) and when the Russians advanced, she and my Oma (grandmother) were only able to take what they could carry; one item was that Hummel Madonna/Virgin Mary plaque. ...huge sentimental value for me.


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## Marsha Cassada (Aug 18, 2015)

paintponylvr said:


> Do you actually spin fiber from your cotton? OR???


I read about this cotton in A Simple Life magazine and ordered seeds. For $12 I got 8 seeds! I only planted 3 of them, as I didn't want to plant them all. They came up and then we got 18" of rain. Only one survived and it is in one of the raised beds. So I am hoping to get more seed. It is an ancient cotton, but difficult to process commercially as the fiber is shorter than white cotton so it never was planted in the USA commercially. I wanted it for decorative purposes, but if I ever was able to harvest enough I might send it somewhere to be spun. Cotton is related to the hibiscus, so the plant is attractive and the flower is gorgeous.


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## paintponylvr (Aug 20, 2015)

Marsha Cassada said:


> I read about this cotton in A Simple Life magazine and ordered seeds. For $12 I got 8 seeds! I only planted 3 of them, as I didn't want to plant them all. They came up and then we got 18" of rain. Only one survived and it is in one of the raised beds. So I am hoping to get more seed. It is an ancient cotton, but difficult to process commercially as the fiber is shorter than white cotton so it never was planted in the USA commercially. I wanted it for decorative purposes, but if I ever was able to harvest enough I might send it somewhere to be spun. Cotton is related to the hibiscus, so the plant is attractive and the flower is gorgeous.


Do you/will you have pics of the flower?


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## Sonya (Aug 23, 2015)

Have any of you all ever planted these:

http://www.rareseeds.com/mexican-sour-gherkin-cucumber/

Or even tasted them?

I think we are going to try them next year. Also we found a site were you can get 10 of the hottest pepper seeds. We want to put up a small greenhouse (just a small portable one) and try to grow the peppers and cucamelons.

Our garden did really awesome so far in the raised beds...we've been eating veggies and canning like crazy!


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## Ryan Johnson (Aug 23, 2015)

Well This weekend just gone would be the first in a long time I could say that "better weather is coming "

Ill be tackling the vegie garden beds in the next couple of weeks, aerating the soil, adding chicken manure and redoing all the trellis that seems to have been destroyed throughout winter.

I hope to have them planted out by the start of Oct, once all the frosts have gone.

In the meantime with the weather being so good I ordered 6m of mulch to redo the front garden beds and I was happy with the result.

Unfortunately its only the start of mulching but has given me motivation to get the rest done before it gets too hot.


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## Marsha Cassada (Aug 24, 2015)

What is your mulch of choice there, Ryan?


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## Ryan Johnson (Aug 24, 2015)

Its a blend Marsha. I had the choice of pure pine mulch or the blend and I chose the blend. Someone once told me that pure pine mulch needs to sit for a while as it can make the soil quite toxic. Not sure if this was true or not but thought I better not risk it


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## chandab (Aug 24, 2015)

Ryan Johnson said:


> Its a blend Marsha. I had the choice of pure pine mulch or the blend and I chose the blend. Someone once told me that pure pine mulch needs to sit for a while as it can make the soil quite toxic. Not sure if this was true or not but thought I better not risk it


I don't doubt that, I know some of it's canopy cover, but the pine needles and such make the soil acidic, which is why little grows under a pine forest. At least that's what I've heard.


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## AngC (Aug 27, 2015)

Big, really huge... onions. Lots of them. Largest is about 8 lbs; seed variety of the biggies is Ailisa Craig exhibition. I don't do too many of the large ones 'cause the flavor can be "iffy" but these taste good and are perfect for big hamburger buns.

Now my fingers are crossed for our corn. We had some of our neighbor's corn yesterday. Pretty good. I opted for a later variety and have fingers nervously crossed as our nights get cooler. And I just might, might, might get some cantaloupes!!!


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## Marsha Cassada (Aug 28, 2015)

An 8# onion?! Wowzers!


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## AngC (Sep 1, 2015)

Marsha Cassada said:


> An 8# onion?! Wowzers!


Even if the seed variety lays claim to "good" storage, the large ones really don't store very well. I like to grow a few just to feel like a bad-butt, but I gave most of them away to a friend that lost her job. I hope I don't have to buy onions next spring, but I really didn't do too well this year with shallots which I've found to be the best for storage. oh well. ...there's always next year.


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## Marsha Cassada (Sep 2, 2015)

The motto of gardeners: there's always next year!

According to the Mesonet, our part of Oklahoma is officially out of the drought. Hurrah! They are predicting a cool, wet fall and it will take another year or two of normal temperatures and rainfall for the vegetation to recover. Hopefully that devastating drought of 2011-2012 is staying put in the record books.

Our pollinating insect population dwindled, too. No dearth of aphids, however...

I am taking onions to the Fair. They are small this year, due to the conditions in Texas when the sets were grown. But maybe everyone's will be smaller and mine will fair all right. At least it will contribute to the competition.


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## jayne (Sep 3, 2015)

Hey AngC, I'm also in Arlington and am pretty impressed with your 8 pound onion! I have a big garden, too, and found a variety of onion that stores really well. The variety is called Copra and, stored in my unheated, darkened shop, lasts me until usually April every year. My corn ripened earlier than usual this year and we already processed it a couple of weeks ago. My winter squashes (butternut and ?) are loving this batch of rain!


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## Marsha Cassada (Sep 9, 2015)

I dug around my sweet potatoes yesterday to see if there were some ready for the Fair. Guess I should have dug sooner. I wonder how it will taste? I plan to cook one of the small ones today. It is Georgia Jet variety. First time I've grown them.


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## Silver City Heritage Farmstead (Sep 9, 2015)

As I mentioned (perhaps in another thread), my square foot gardens were lost to over-application of herbicides by a landscaper. They were contracted by the lot owners not me.

Anyway, as a typical gardener I'm planning for next year.....and today I HIT THE SEED JACKPOT!!!!

I stopped at the dollar store on the way to feed the boys and spotted the clearance table. The cashier noticed me admiring the seeds and said "you know they're only like...5¢ a pack, right?" To which I squealed "reeeeaaallly?!" and grabbed 5 packs. When we rang them up, they were only 2¢ a pack!!! Turns out they were 90% off. 

I started to leave, planning to come back another day, but just couldn't. So I raided the change holder in the dash of the truck, went back inside, and bought.........

******druuuummm rrrrooooolllll******

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY SIX (186) PACKS OF SEEDS FOR $6.56!!!!

They're all flowers except a pack of pumpkin, 1 pack of lettuce, 2 packs of gourmet blend radishes and one pack of green beans.

I love flowers, an now I have everything from alyssum to phlox to marigolds to four o'clocks to nasturtiums (which can be eaten if I remember correctly.) There are even old-fashioned mixes, cut flower mixes and sunflowers suitable for cutting.

So now I'm doing the happy flower lady dance!!!


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## Ryan Johnson (Sep 9, 2015)

OMG !!! Julie that's the best bargain Ive heard of all year




Your garden will be brilliant !!!!

Well I have just ordered another 12m of mulch for delivery Saturday morning , weather is going to be 23-24 degrees Celsius.

Ill spend Saturday continuing to mulch then Sunday Im going to make a start on this years Vegie garden, aerating the soil and adding chicken manure ect. Hoping to plant it out the start of Oct. I started earlier last year but battled with there still being a lot of morning frosts and lost quite a few seedlings.


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## AngC (Sep 9, 2015)

jayne said:


> Hey AngC, I'm also in Arlington and am pretty impressed with your 8 pound onion! I have a big garden, too, and found a variety of onion that stores really well. The variety is called Copra and, stored in my unheated, darkened shop, lasts me until usually April every year. My corn ripened earlier than usual this year and we already processed it a couple of weeks ago. My winter squashes (butternut and ?) are loving this batch of rain!


I was looking at the Copra variety (since one of the seed houses I mail-order from sells that variety.) From my observations, the problem with growing the big ones is that... to get huge onions you have to apply heavy nitrogen applications and keep them very, very moist. That is not conducive to long storage, regardless of the variety. I've noticed that storage time on onions generally ranks from white, then red, then yellow. After onions, I get the best storage time on shallots... But on the other hand, I've tried a red cipollini variety that stores better than some of the yellow onions. I wish somebody sold a "surprise" mix of onion seed. That would be fun (I just love onions/family because they're something I can grow. Frequently the rest of what I try ends up in disaster-ville...)


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## Marsha Cassada (Sep 11, 2015)

Well, I am excited to report that I received the Premium Award this year at the county fair for my vegetables. That award is for the exhibitor earning the most points. I took sweet potatoes, onions, apples, and green beans.

I took the giant sweet potatoes and some smaller ones, and our local extension agent thought I should use the smaller ones as they were more uniform. I also entered my sweet potato pie, made from some of the large potato, and got a blue ribbon on it. There were some gorgeous eggplant, peppers, pumpkins and melons.


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## Ryan Johnson (Sep 13, 2015)

Marsha , How deep are your garden beds ? Especially the one that grew that Giant Sweet potato



I tried to grow sweet potatos and carrots last year but both failed badly and I was thinking that maybe my beds are not deep enough....

Moved 12m of mulch and probably have another 12m to go. Looks great and is giving me that little extra motivation to keep at it. Also because my plan is to spend more time with the horses rather than constantly in the garden over this summer....


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## AngC (Sep 14, 2015)

I got 1 (ONE) cantaloupe!! ...breakfast tomorrow.

And today we did corn (we've never had any good corn before) but today we set up an assembly line and "freezered" up 30 of those little half-size freezer cartons (pint size I think.) !!!! Corn !!!!


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## Marsha Cassada (Sep 14, 2015)

Sweet potatoes really like sandy loam. And they don't do as well if they get too much water. Our raised beds are about 18 inches deep. 4 are old tractor tires and one is an old rectangular metal hay feeder. We made the soil using sand, top soil, and compost.


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## Reignmaker Miniatures (Sep 14, 2015)

I've been enjoying following everyone's garden successes this summer and thought I should share how mine did.

My garden did really well in some things and really poorly in others. Carrots didn't grow very big altho they were plentiful. Yellow beets were big but not abundant and the red beets (still in the ground) did about average. The peas grew but didn't pod heavily so I only put up a couple of meals worth. Lettuce did great but the hot summer led to rapid bolting



. I had loads of cauliflower early and lots of broccoli as well but only 3 cabbage plants survived to give me heads (about the size of basket balls so that was good) I had a problem early on with all the cabbage family plants this year. It was a common complaint in our area, a caterpillar/moth was killing seedling sized brassicas. I too planted corn this year and it looks like I'll eat a few. Corn doesn't really thrive in our area so I planted it up next to my house where the heat and sunlight could reflect off the white siding, it seems to have helped. I've got a few brussels sprout plants too but they don't seem to have produced as well as most years. Lots of potatoes but I only wanted a few for new potato dinners. I send my husband to the neighbours (they grow several acres of potatoes for market) to get enough for 5 or 6 plants...he came home with a 5 lb sack of seed potatoes lol. So yup lots of spuds. My zuchinni produced all of 3 fruit, the butternut squash 2 fruit and the cucumbers (4 plants) gave us some 20 cucumbers. Enough to share with my son/daughter in law, my daughter, my sons in laws a few other random people and still eat cucumbers every day all summer long. But the real winner in the production derby this year was my tomatoes. I have shared since June with all the people mentioned, eaten until I am a tiny bit tired of them and still frozen 6 large bags of ripe ones and have about 10 gallons of green ones that will ripen over time. I had soft ball sized tomatoes this summer, the biggest they've ever gotten for me. I'm very happy with them and will be making a tomato sauce using them and the onions that grew to tennis ball size (no 8lb onions here



) which is big for my garden and some fresh garlic a friend grows. That will probably get poured over the cabbage rolls I'll make with the cabbage I grew.

Mostly I would say my garden did well this year altho some things didn't do as well as I'd hoped. Pretty much standard ...always room for improvement.


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## AngC (Sep 16, 2015)

Reignmaker Miniatures said:


> ...but only 3 cabbage plants survived to give me heads (about the size of basket balls so that was good) I had a problem early on with all the cabbage family plants this year. It was a common complaint in our area, a caterpillar/moth was killing seedling sized brassicas.


I too had problems with the brassicas this year. ...cabbage especially. We didn't have any bugs/moths/worms. They just didn't grow well; so it is interesting to hear your experience. I was micro-analyzing my watering techniques and ten billion other phantom problems.


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## Marsha Cassada (Sep 16, 2015)

All my cabbage types did poorly also. Worms and spider mites.

Canned the sweet potatoes yesterday. We like them much better than pumpkin for pies and bread.


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## Marsha Cassada (Oct 3, 2015)

I'm a little disappointed in my brown cotton. I thought the bolls would be fluffy like white cotton. They are fun to display, though, with my primitives.

It is a large, attractive plant and the bolls are plentiful. I keep forgetting to take the camera out to the garden to photograph the plant. I'm trying to figure out where I can plant them next year, as they take up too much room in my raised beds.


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## AngC (Oct 5, 2015)

Marsha Cassada said:


> I'm a little disappointed in my brown cotton. I thought the bolls would be fluffy like white cotton. They are fun to display, though, with my primitives.
> 
> It is a large, attractive plant and the bolls are plentiful. I keep forgetting to take the camera out to the garden to photograph the plant. I'm trying to figure out where I can plant them next year, as they take up too much room in my raised beds.


hmmmm... never heard of brown cotton. It looks like it could be a little fluffy if you "peeled" off that outer hull looking thing? (I'm assuming some of that in the photo is some sort of corn???)

Interesting, though. What do you do with it?


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## AngC (Oct 5, 2015)

I finally finished planting (what is most likely a stupid idea) called Egyptian Walking Onion. The plant makes top-set bulb-lets that you can either eat or plant; and also makes underground bulbs, similar to a shallot. Plus, I had a few garlic's left over that I stuffed in the dirt. I'm not doing any other fall-planted onions this year. ...to much trouble.


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## Marsha Cassada (Oct 7, 2015)

I've seen some walking onions. I don't have a good spot for them, but like the idea.

The brown cotton has a longer fiber than white cotton. It is grown in some countries, but didn't become popular in the US because it is harder to process. The white cotton has more fibers and is commercially more viable. The cotton crop here is starting to mature. A field of cotton is a pretty sight.


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## Silver City Heritage Farmstead (Oct 7, 2015)

I agree Marsha. However, a drowned field of cotton is NOT a pretty sight. I hope the fields here in NC will be recoverable after the rains the last two weeks. Also, what is that interesting looking box of tools in the background of your cottonnshot?

My plan for next year (outside of the bonanza of 180 packs of flower seeds) starts on the 16th and 17th of this month. The Backyard Farming for Profit conference I was scheduled to attend back in January has been scheduled for this month...and I'M IN. The first day is classroom and second day is hands-on at a working small acreage Farmer-to-Fork farm. They are including farming practices to make money on less than a half-acre, as well as marketing training. 

I'll share whatever nifty ideas I get with y'all!!


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## Marsha Cassada (Oct 7, 2015)

Backyard Farming for Profit conference! That sounds awesome!! Who sponsors it?

(The box behind the brown cotton is an old knife box filled with primitive kitchen tools and flatware. I collect pioneer primitives.)


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## AngC (Oct 9, 2015)

Marsha Cassada said:


> I've seen some walking onions. I don't have a good spot for them, but like the idea.
> 
> The brown cotton has a longer fiber than white cotton. It is grown in some countries, but didn't become popular in the US because it is harder to process. The white cotton has more fibers and is commercially more viable. The cotton crop here is starting to mature. A field of cotton is a pretty sight.


I'm a bit dubious on the walking onions. The top-sets are small; (although, apparently they taste good (my husband ate a couple before I got them planted.)) They're just sucking up a lot of space that I'm going to have to weed at some time in the future. I wonder whether the bottom (below ground) will be a decent size.


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