HelpfulGardener.com

Hello all!
I posted a thread a couple years ago when I first broke ground and got my 1st year's garden up and running.
I didn't do much posting last year. Probably because I spent all my time watering due to the drought.
So, I figured I would post some pics of this years garden as it grows.
It would be great if some of you would point out some stuff I'm clearly doing wrong.
My wife and I bought this house 3 years ago (5 acres) so this is my 3rd year with this garden plot. I've improved a little each year.

First, I'll show ya around!

I am doing 12-18 different kinds of peppers this year. I started these inside about 3 weeks ago. Some of them are the real hot ones.


It was about dusk when I took these pics today.
Here's our chicken coop.
We bought the coop. We built the run tall enough to stand up in. I cemented the wire fence into the ground 6 inches. I lost a few hens before I figured out how to keep them safe. Notice the live trap by the door.


Regardless of how nice their home is, they prefer to sleep in the tree.

Here's some that hadn't made it up yet. We have nine now.


We have this huge pear tree. It's blossoming so much right now. I really hope there's no bad frost comin up.

Dug this pond last year for backup water.

Also have this 1100 gallon rain tub coming off my outbuilding.

I also built this blueberry "room" haha. My mom always complained about birds eating her blueberries. I think I fixed that.

I put in a greenhouse last year too.

Inside the greenhouse I have some stuff I started at the same time as the peppers. Broccoli, Cabbage, Squashes, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Cucumber, Eggplant, Artichoke, Tomatoes, Cauliflower, Pumpkin.

Compost Pile, needs turned!

Truckload of mushroom compost I got from a local farm.

Here are a couple pics of the garden.

The hills are for peas this year

Also, due to all the time spent watering last year, I'm working on putting in irrigation this year. Drip tape. I got real tired of watering.
Asparagus and Horseradish bed with drip tape.

These are the tomato beds, I think. Now there are 20 beds in all.

I just finished putting the chicken wire around the garden. I put the deer fencing
up when I first broke ground, but no chicken wire. Last year I had rabbit damage to my cabbage. Also, my chickens have been getting in there eating all my worms out of the beds. On the left are blackberries. I also have a raspberry thing like that. Oh I'm also trying my pole beans up the fence. That's 50 feet of soaker hose along the bottom. I planted tons of beans. We'll see what happens!



Well, that's where I'm at as of today.
Anyone have any questions or comments?
That took a long time!
I'll try to update this if anyone is interested.
Thanks for looking.

I really enjoyed the tour Loved the chicken pics.
I envy you the space -- wow looks like you have a lot of fun projects going.
Definitely would love to see updates as season progresses.

Hmm.... Possible problems -- I guess you mentioning that you started all theses seeds at the same time struck me since I organize seeds by when to start and do them in waves. Onion seeds in 1/M(mid-January), broccoli and cauliflower 1/E-2/B, peppers 2/M, tomatoes 2/E-3/B, DS (direct seed) onion sets and peas 3/M, DS potatoes and TP (transplant) broccoli and onion plants 3/E-4/B, DS corn and TP cauliflower plants 4/M, DS watermelon and TP tomatoes 4/E-5/B, etc. DS Cucumber, melons, and beans when peppers are TP in 5/M, DS Pumpkin and TP eggplants and sweet potatoes 5/M-5/E (mid-May to late-May).

...also if you planted the pole beans outside of the fence, the bunny's will love you.

Great minds. I was scrolling down through the pictures and thinking two comments: 1) wow how wonderful, so much space, so many great projects and 2) you will get better results if you don't start all the seeds at the same time.

Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower are cool weather crops, cold hardy and frost tolerant, don't do well as soon as it gets hot. I start them mid Jan to plant in the ground mid-end March, a month before my average last frost date. All the rest is warm weather stuff. I start peppers a couple weeks before tomatoes, because they are slower to germinate and grow. Tomatoes can tolerate a little more cold than peppers. And the cucurbits, squash, melons, cucumbers, are the warmest of warm weather crops and very fast growing. Lots of people just direct seed them in the ground, once the soil has warmed up to at least 70 degrees. I start mine indoors, but the are the last thing to be planted indoors, the week before last frost date.

Applestar, I'm not quite following all your notation system, either in your post or in your location under NJ zone 6. broccoli and cauliflower 1/E-2/B ??

1/E = January end (1/20-1/31)
2/B = February beginning (2/1-2/10)
...
10/M = October middle (10/10-10/20)

...etc.


Shorthand convention/notation that was in use at two Japanese businesses where I worked -- a manufacturing company and a scientific laboratory -- for broadstroke planning/scheduling that I seem to have kept over the years.

I was guessing that was what you were saying applestar.
I wasn't 100%, but I was leaning that way. hahaa.

Either way, you're both right. I don't know much about timing.
I guess I thought you just plant em and the sun will make em fruit up at the right time.
I could hold em up in the greenhouse....or I could just replant.

As far as the beans on the outside of the fence goes... you're right! haha. I only have a couple rabbits. Hopefully the beans are big enough when they're discovered.
Thank you very much for the comments. Keep em comin!
I'll post an update in a week or so!

Looks great. I envy you all of that space. But, it must be a lot of work too.

"I guess I thought you just plant em and the sun will make em fruit up at the right time.
I could hold em up in the greenhouse....or I could just replant. "

Every plant has optimum conditions in which it does best (heat/cold, wet/dry, soil pH and nutrients, hrs of sun etc) and a range around that in which it may not be at its best but still is OK, a range around that in which it really struggles, and then conditions it will not survive.

re: peppers. Broccoli, Cabbage, Squashes, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Cucumber, Eggplant, Artichoke, Tomatoes, Cauliflower, Pumpkin.

The warmest weather stuff, squash, cucumber, melons, pumpkin, you are pretty much right on schedule. The tomatoes and especially peppers, you would have done better to start a little sooner. They will be OK, but it takes a long time for them to produce, so you run out of season. I start my peppers indoors first of Feb and it may be July before I actually pick (green!) bell peppers. Tomatoes are quicker, I start them a few weeks later and harvest them (red!) a few weeks earlier.

Where you will have trouble is the cool weather stuff, cabbage and broccoli. They do not do well once it gets hot. So they may or may not produce for you, started so late.

Thanks ima! It is alot of work, but it's gratifying. I have been out there with a headlight after my 3 year old goes to bed a couple times. haha.

Thanks for the info rainbow!
This winter lasted so dang long, I guess I got behind.
Next year the first of February will be my mark on the peppers.
I had the seeds, but I was late getting them started!

As far as broccoli and stuff goes, maybe a fall crop if they don't work!

What part of Ohio are ya in Rainbow?

Cincinnati, far SW part of the state. It's nice in the summer being at the far western edge of the Eastern time zone makes for long summer evenings with late sunsets.

These are your best planting dates in the link.

Almost anyone can look up their Spring planting dates in the Old garden Almanac if you have snow.

Where I live, no snow, but I can only plant certain things like garlic and onions from seed in the fall and they have to be short day. Day neutral strawberries, brussel sprouts in July, forget about most things that require minimum chilling. Cool weather crops October-Feb. I have a very long growing season 365 days, but there are also imported bugs and diseases that do not get killed by winter, so many plant cultivars must also be nematode, virus, and fungal resistant.

Sometimes, I grow the unexpected quite well. Some people were surprised that I can grow asparagus, brandywine tomatoes, bartlet pear, and hollyhocks. The asparagus and hollyhocks do fine. The bartlet pear is more of a pet, it isn't very sweet and I can get good brandywine tomatoes, but I have to spend a lot of time treating fungal diseases in my pot grown brandywine tomatoes. Corn must be maize mosaic virus resistant and everything must be nematode resistant in the ground.

When you try out new varieties it really pays to research if the particular cultivar is a Northern, Southern, or tropical (tender) variety and has the disease resistance you need.

I try to plant fewer seeds of lettuce, and Asian greens (10 heads at 2 week intervals). But I forget that lettuce, pak choy, and choi sum will be ready at the same time and I cannot eat them all fast enough. I have to space in time short season crops that don't keep so that all of the different greens don't end up as worm food. It helps to write in down on a calendar to remind you when to plant and when the last harvest dates will be.

My eggplants put out 8 eggplant every 10 days so I only have two. I plant 2-4 cucumbers at a time. I don't care for beans that much so 10 pole beans are plenty for me. I have a limited space, so it pays for me to plant what I can get multiple harvests from and fewer of them.

Plant only as many as you can use. You have a lot more space so you can plant more, but if you plant a lot, it should be things that you really like to eat a lot of, can preserve, sell or give away, or feed the chickens.


https://www.almanac.com/gardening/planti ... Winchester

Sounds good Rainbow! We're not too far apart at all. Only a couple hours.

Imafan, great info!
I am still learning how much I "need" to plant.
I grow alot of hot peppers that I dehydrate and use in my bbq rubs. I do alot of bbq as well.
I'm only 16 tomato plants this year (32 last year) and I am gonna focus more on sucker pinching this year. I use ALL the tomatoes. What I don't use, I can. I'm thinking about dehydrating some this year too.

Other than that, I grow moderate amounts of alot of stuff. I have a bed of asparagus.
A couple beds of squash. A bed of lettuces.
I give a lot away too. I own a small business with about 10 employees. They're always ready to take some home.
Anyway, thank you for the link as well!

Here's an update!
Greenhouse stuff is doing fine. They need some food though.

A view of the garden.

I planted some lettuces here.

Planted a couple beds of squash.

A pic of the asparagus/horseradish bed, pea rows and the melon straw area.

An asparagus

I planted hops rhizomes! we brew beer too!

Peas comin up!


This is how the pea rows are supposed to look.

Planted tomatoes today



And some beans are coming up!

There's an update for ya!
See ya in a week or two.
Greg

I like your Blueberry "room"... I need to do that!

Looking good.