How is your garden this year?

[Debby - LB]

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.

 

[Sonya]

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.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

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

 

[Debby - LB]

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.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

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

 

[Minimor]

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.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

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.

 

[Debby - LB]

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.

 

[Minimor]

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.

 

[sundancer]

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

 

[Debby - LB]

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

 

[Debby - LB]

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.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

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.

 

[Debby - LB]

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.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Great Pictures Debby

I am now extra excited for the better weather to arrive

 

[KLM]

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

 

[Ryan Johnson]

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

 

[Debby - LB]

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.

 

[Shari]

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

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

 

[Marsha Cassada]

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.