Want a tour of my garden? Photos

[BP]

Hey Jal, I've read somewhere here that you keep bees. How far from the garden do you keep them? Just the latest of my researching.

[jal_ut]

Jal, you have gorgeous scenery. Do you ever take it for granted, or do you each time you look at it, go... awww!

I am constantly in awe of the beauty of our area. "Nature is awesome in its majesty, and marvelous in its detail." JAL

I lug my camera around everywhere I go. I have lots of pictures of this area. Some are on facebook. search for jaloft at hotmail dot com.

The bees are not far from the garden. 100 feet at most. I never need to worry about the zucchini getting pollinated.

[SECRETGARDEN]

To: Greener Thumb -- You've done a fantastic job on your garden! (...and so nice and neat too! I love to see gardens well taken care of.) This may sound a bit naive...but is the drip irrigation just too cost prohibitive for 1.5 acres? I have been doing some planning for the future (possible purchase or rental of acreage) and was wondering about the drip irrigation issue with between 1 to 3 acres. (I live in n.e. Wisconsin also with a growing season from mid-May to sometimes early October.) Thanking in advance for your comments.

[garden5]

Sorry no blueberries. They don't like our alkaline soil.

Aww, too bad . Although, I'm wondering if heavy additions of compost and some sulfur couldn't fix that .

[SECRETGARDEN]

Sorry I didn't read all of your other posts before I wrote mine. That makes a lot of sense why you're watering the way you are (instead of the drip irrigation). (2 yrs. ago I planted a garden on the so. side of a home where I was temporarily housesitting. (Now I just plant tons of pots on my large patio.) I only used a water hose at the house & watered about every other day or so. The plants produced like crazy in Sept. but then got hit with blight in October. (My local extension has ways of preventing that so it was a learning lesson.) Anyway, I keep reading about watering tomato plants only below their foliage so that's what I do for my plants in the pots. I have no disease and no pests so far. (I DO, however, have earwigs living in my tomato pots & in my bell pepper pots. They were only eating the bell pepper plant leaves (& not too much damage) but now they're working on the peppers which are growing beautifully ...boring their way inside the pepper (with a perfect cylindrical hole) (only 1 baby pepper got damaged like that so far but I'm afraid there will be more). (I have not used any treatments on my plants so far. Any suggestions 2.5 mos. into the growing season?) I've heard that "Garlic Barrier" (Gempelers sells it online) -applied right in the beginning when plants are small is a great natural preventative for many pests but that it couldn't hurt if applied now when plants are 2-3 ft. high. Any opinion on that? (I've also tried putting clean metal tuna cans into the soil with veg. oil in them to trap the ugly little buggers but no luck so far w/that. The oil killed lge. dark moths & a few wasps but that's it.) Even though this isn't the "pest" part of the forum, I just thought I'd throw this part in there since I like your approach to gardening! Back to your garden, I TOTALLY agree...that since you have a garden that is SO healthy, don't change a thing!
I have been having a hard time understanding all this marketing hype in recent yrs. about packing more into less space. Your post hit the nail on the head. Plants need room for multiple reasons! I'm with you 100%! Keep on...keeping on!

[garden5]

Jal, do you plant any winter crops or cover-crops? How about any garlic?

[jal_ut]

No winter crops here. We get hard frost about mid September and nothing grows after that except icicles. My fall crop was planted first week of July. Corn. It should make it about October 1, even after the laeves get frozen.

Garlic yes, and also shallots and Egyptian onions. I didn't plant any cover crops this season. I haven't had much space free up yet and we are only 2 or 3 weeks from frost. Right now I am just hoping my tomatoes will get ripe. I will probably have to cover them as usual and ripen them under wraps.

Tonight's Full Moon
[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/moon_aug_23_10.jpg[/img]

[jal_ut]

Diatomaceous Earth will get the earwigs.

I also hunt them with a spray bottle filled with soapy water. It doesn't take a lot of soap. Maybe a tablespoonful in a kitchen spray bottle. Go out at night with a flashlight. They are night creatures and hide up in the daytime.

[garden5]

Garlic, shallots, and top-set onions are kind of what I meant by "winter crops." They grow through the winter and you can harvest in the summer.

I know how you feel with the cover crops. I leave most of my plants in right up until frost, so by the time I get space...it's almost too late.

One of the ideas I've read of is to plant 2 gardens, and alternate between them each year, growing veg in one and cover crops in another.....something I'd do if I had the land.

[jal_ut]

[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/medley.jpg[/img]

[lily51]

Great garden! Whatever you're doing, keep on keepin' on. You obviously love to garden and do it well.
As for the size, it may be large by today's city standards, but here in the country where we live, large gardens are not unusual.
By the way, what beautiful sunsets you have.

[jal_ut]

One of the ideas I've read of is to plant 2 gardens, and alternate between them each year, growing veg in one and cover crops in another.....something I'd do if I had the land.

That would work great. A cover crop is a great way to get loads of organic matter.

I have plenty of space to do that, but have found I can keep the soil fertrility up by adding lots of organic matter each season. I like to do my deep tilling in the fall and till in the organic matter then. I don't like to deep till in the spring. The soil is too wet and if tilled it turns to clods.

[lakngulf]

Beautiful picture of your harvest, Jal, what beautiful colors. Not only do you do a great job with your garden, you also document it well to share with the rest of us. We can almost taste it!

I have a second (and third) crop of straight neck squash---2nd is producing and 3rd has just sprouted. Still hot in Alabama so I have to make sure they have water, and some plants do that make it.

[garden5]

One of the ideas I've read of is to plant 2 gardens, and alternate between them each year, growing veg in one and cover crops in another.....something I'd do if I had the land.

That would work great. A cover crop is a great way to get loads of organic matter.

I have plenty of space to do that, but have found I can keep the soil fertrility up by adding lots of organic matter each season. I like to do my deep tilling in the fall and till in the organic matter then. I don't like to deep till in the spring. The soil is too wet and if tilled it turns to clods.

I guess as long as you're adding organic matter, be it grown in the garden (cover crops) or elsewhere (leaves, grass, hay, etc.) you're on the right track.

Oh, and great harvest pic. Must have taken you pretty long to arrange it.

[jal_ut]

Sorry, since Photobucket dumped us on our heads, none of my pics are visible.

[jal_ut]

I do have some pictures on this site if you are interested? Also a cookbook.

https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/

[jal_ut]

Photobucket is a goner. I do have some things on another site if you are interested: https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/

Be sure to check out the Lofthouse Family Cookbook

[pow wow]

I hear you about Photobucket. Holding my pictures for ransom, I sent them a nasty email and told them there's no way I'm paying them hundreds of dollars a year. I also told them to enjoy my pictures.
So I've gone to flickr, I wish I had never gone with photobucket in the first place.

[jal_ut]

pow wow, I deleted all my photos on Photobucket. I am not leaving them there for them to do as they will with them. I have some stuff with flickr too, but they seem a bit cranky about using them for 3rd party hosting. What other options are out there?