Here we are, end of July fast approaching... depending on where you live, spring-planted garden is over and done with, are just starting to produce, or are in full production.
- Are you having any thoughts about what you are growing this year, how you started/prepped the garden or planted — woulda/coulda/shoulda?
- Looking at other gardener’s progress reports, are you thinking about what you want to plant and grow for fall crop or for next year?
- Are you looking at new gadgets or garden tools or structures you GOTTA have?
- Have you thought about how you might rotate crops or companion plant or succession plant next time?
- Are you planning to expand your garden or try/perfect new growing techniques?
All the spring vegetables are winding down, the midsummer crops are producing and the late season tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and vine crops are on the cusp of growing out.
A report on wo/cou/sh is boring because my prep was exactly as planned. Soil tested the garden, did not spring till (incorporated last years mulch in the fall). Applied sulphur last year to bring down the pH. Added some N in early spring. Planted at the right time but have been at the beck and call of nature...every year and this has been no different and production is a week or two behind schedule.
No fall crops here. The transition from summer to winter happens so quickly I have to plant in the heat and dry and before anything can mature everything is frozen.
A new rear tine tiller would be nice but my forty-five year old 5HP Sears will not quit.
My 40'X50' garden is not conducive to rotation for the 20-30 tomato plants. Most of the other vegetables are grown in raised beds and they get switched from one bed to another every year. I guess that is rotation.
I am expanded as much as can be and am always open to new and better techniques but most of the changes come in small steps. Paying attention to what others do and say gives me ideas, so keep communicating.
A report on wo/cou/sh is boring because my prep was exactly as planned. Soil tested the garden, did not spring till (incorporated last years mulch in the fall). Applied sulphur last year to bring down the pH. Added some N in early spring. Planted at the right time but have been at the beck and call of nature...every year and this has been no different and production is a week or two behind schedule.
No fall crops here. The transition from summer to winter happens so quickly I have to plant in the heat and dry and before anything can mature everything is frozen.
A new rear tine tiller would be nice but my forty-five year old 5HP Sears will not quit.
My 40'X50' garden is not conducive to rotation for the 20-30 tomato plants. Most of the other vegetables are grown in raised beds and they get switched from one bed to another every year. I guess that is rotation.
I am expanded as much as can be and am always open to new and better techniques but most of the changes come in small steps. Paying attention to what others do and say gives me ideas, so keep communicating.
pIt is still hot in July and August. The hot peppers are producing a lot of fruit and the citrus trees have young green fruit. I am still getting gourds, beans, tomatoes, and zucchini. I am collecting seeds from the peppers and cutting celery. I can still start more beans, swiss chard, komatsuna, and kale. I might try broccoli but in past years, it hasn't really been successful till September. I may do cutting propagation and repotting some of the plants that need it. Actually a lot of them need repotting.
I usually solarize the garden at this time of the year, as it will cut down on the amount of water I need to use. I don't have to water the plants more than once a day, but there isn't enough rain to skip any days. It was 89 degrees today with just about 15 minutes of rain. I will plant more peppers and eggplant. I can still plant tropical corn in one of the gardens. I just cleaned up the herb garden. The sage and some of the thyme died out and I will need to replace those. I pulled out the peanuts, tomatoes, and a pile of weeds. I Round Up the garden walkways. I also need to replace many of the basils since they are already two years old. The garden lost water for about 2 weeks, due to a water line break. It happens a lot. I lose plants every year. I just got some garlic today and put it in the refrigerator to be planted in October. The trench compost bed is ready to be planted. It does get some shade from the spice trees, so I may put chard in there again. Chard does well there. I have some finished compost I can spread onto the other areas of the garden. If I can get a car and find some leaves, I will add more leaf mold to the fig tree.
I usually solarize the garden at this time of the year, as it will cut down on the amount of water I need to use. I don't have to water the plants more than once a day, but there isn't enough rain to skip any days. It was 89 degrees today with just about 15 minutes of rain. I will plant more peppers and eggplant. I can still plant tropical corn in one of the gardens. I just cleaned up the herb garden. The sage and some of the thyme died out and I will need to replace those. I pulled out the peanuts, tomatoes, and a pile of weeds. I Round Up the garden walkways. I also need to replace many of the basils since they are already two years old. The garden lost water for about 2 weeks, due to a water line break. It happens a lot. I lose plants every year. I just got some garlic today and put it in the refrigerator to be planted in October. The trench compost bed is ready to be planted. It does get some shade from the spice trees, so I may put chard in there again. Chard does well there. I have some finished compost I can spread onto the other areas of the garden. If I can get a car and find some leaves, I will add more leaf mold to the fig tree.
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pepperhead212
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I've got to toss a few of my SIPs, as the plastic is cracking - only the Rubbermaid from now on, though I will say that the others have lasted at least 4 or 5 years. I won't plant as many fall crops, due to the problems I've had with rabbits. I am considering constructing some raised beds, for that reason. I have a couple rows solarizing, but I don't know if it will get rid of many weeds.
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applestar
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
- I’m mostly finished cleaning up one small bed where Luther Hill corn finished up and Latte Bicolor corn bed is nearly finished, too — haven’t decided what to plant there, but I have until about mid-Oct before first frost. Tomatoes will be planted next year, so need to keep that in mind.
- I started a wishlist of crops and varieties for 2020 season.
- right now, I’m pulling out svb infested squash plants and vines that have gone down .... since one of the recommended IPM is to till or basically thoroughly dig up the bed, and this is about when potatoes are ready, I am mulling over a crazy idea to possibly companion plant them together next year. Potatoes get planted at end of March/beginning of April and begin to emerge around late April ... C.pepo and C.maxima squash are planted around mid-May but won’t start taking off until early June. They can both be hilled and mulched as they grow....
- Spiral Garden got away from me this year. At least 3/4 of the bed was overrun by weeds. This area has some perennial Monarda and strawberries planted here and there, and in the past, I was careful to preserve them and weed around them, but this year, I decided to smother all of the strawberries and start out fresh. I laid a roll of black landscape cloth I had lying around in the shed under the melon/watermelon and squash vines until I ran out.
— I need to think about where to plant the new strawberry bed next spring and prep it this fall so bare-root plants can be planted by mid-March after the BIG THAW
— There are a couple of volunteer arrowwood viburnum growing in there that need to be dug out and moved in the fall — these grew of freshly pruned branches I used as stake a couple of years ago....
— Since the Spiral Garden rotation is corn next year, it would be a good idea to prep the area completely this fall so the succession can start with peas and fava beans in early spring.
- I’m determined to build a sturdy sheltered walk-in structure that can be used for “cold frame” and/or possibly giving just a little more protection for overwintering fall-planted crops. It needs to be easily accessible during the frozen months — I have found out that I am too obsessive/lazy to try to open and close up when tightly sealed. If it is also structurally capable of excluding cabbage white butterflies and moths, I might be able to grow brassicas with more success.
- I would also like to build a bird-proof protection over the blueberries — since the blueberries bed is becoming overtaken by neighbor’s pine trees in terms of sunlight and root space, I might move them.
— possible inspiration designs are PET bottle green house concept and STAR dome concept — will be trying one or both
— I want them to have a solid foundation frame/knee wall that will keep out bunnies/rabbits, and allow the covers — greenhouse plastic and/or bird netting/wire, or spun-bonded or insect mesh fabric to be secured
- Still need to finish the pond project — waterfall, re-contour the edges under the liner and lay rocks under and over....
- Cut back the beds overtaken by blackberries and replace with raspberries....
- repot the big container plants — begin experimenting and practicing the hypertufa project to eventually make some new large containers!
- build more SIP’s — preferably during the off-season — it doesn’t work to think I can build them as needed during the growing season
...probably more ideas rattling around in the recesses of my attic
- I started a wishlist of crops and varieties for 2020 season.
- right now, I’m pulling out svb infested squash plants and vines that have gone down .... since one of the recommended IPM is to till or basically thoroughly dig up the bed, and this is about when potatoes are ready, I am mulling over a crazy idea to possibly companion plant them together next year. Potatoes get planted at end of March/beginning of April and begin to emerge around late April ... C.pepo and C.maxima squash are planted around mid-May but won’t start taking off until early June. They can both be hilled and mulched as they grow....
- Spiral Garden got away from me this year. At least 3/4 of the bed was overrun by weeds. This area has some perennial Monarda and strawberries planted here and there, and in the past, I was careful to preserve them and weed around them, but this year, I decided to smother all of the strawberries and start out fresh. I laid a roll of black landscape cloth I had lying around in the shed under the melon/watermelon and squash vines until I ran out.
— I need to think about where to plant the new strawberry bed next spring and prep it this fall so bare-root plants can be planted by mid-March after the BIG THAW
— There are a couple of volunteer arrowwood viburnum growing in there that need to be dug out and moved in the fall — these grew of freshly pruned branches I used as stake a couple of years ago....
— Since the Spiral Garden rotation is corn next year, it would be a good idea to prep the area completely this fall so the succession can start with peas and fava beans in early spring.
- I’m determined to build a sturdy sheltered walk-in structure that can be used for “cold frame” and/or possibly giving just a little more protection for overwintering fall-planted crops. It needs to be easily accessible during the frozen months — I have found out that I am too obsessive/lazy to try to open and close up when tightly sealed. If it is also structurally capable of excluding cabbage white butterflies and moths, I might be able to grow brassicas with more success.
- I would also like to build a bird-proof protection over the blueberries — since the blueberries bed is becoming overtaken by neighbor’s pine trees in terms of sunlight and root space, I might move them.
— possible inspiration designs are PET bottle green house concept and STAR dome concept — will be trying one or both
— I want them to have a solid foundation frame/knee wall that will keep out bunnies/rabbits, and allow the covers — greenhouse plastic and/or bird netting/wire, or spun-bonded or insect mesh fabric to be secured
- Still need to finish the pond project — waterfall, re-contour the edges under the liner and lay rocks under and over....
- Cut back the beds overtaken by blackberries and replace with raspberries....
- repot the big container plants — begin experimenting and practicing the hypertufa project to eventually make some new large containers!
- build more SIP’s — preferably during the off-season — it doesn’t work to think I can build them as needed during the growing season
...probably more ideas rattling around in the recesses of my attic
I am thinking a small greenhouse for my wee garden,september will be re seeding and levelling my lawn,october the broad (Fava) beans will go in almost every spare space.,just love them fresh from the garden ,the ones on the local market usually are too big and have been picked a few days earlier and are more starchy ,less sweet.
I had several years of experience working in large commercial greenhouses before I built a a very small one for my backyard. I wanted one with winter heating so made it fairly tight. Hadn't anticipated lots of moisture and freezing around the door and it froze shut the first thing that winter! I may have thawed it with a blow dryer once or twice but gave up - first on getting in there whenever I wanted, next on having greenhouse heating thru the winter.applestar wrote:...
- I’m determined to build a sturdy sheltered walk-in structure that can be used for “cold frame” and/or possibly giving just a little more protection for overwintering fall-planted crops. It needs to be easily accessible during the frozen months — I have found out that I am too obsessive/lazy to try to open and close up when tightly sealed.
...probably more ideas rattling around in the recesses of my attic
The next greenhouse I built had a better door but winter heating was not repeated. One thing, it was about about 3 times larger! Despite the cold, I grew and covered bok choy in it for several winters. Would like to get back to that but it needs some renovation activity in there this winter. Need to get to that beginning in the fall.
Next year, I should have, at least, a check list for 1) seed I want to order, 2) plants I need to start indoors, and 3) what needs to be sown in a) the hoop house and b) open garden.
Too much is required of my organizing skills, all at once. Deadlines pass quickly! Last year, I forgot all about broccoli until it was too late. This year, I have failed to grow Portuguese kale, despite it being a favorite variety. One year, all my jalapenos went to others and I didn't have my favorite pepper!
I'm missing a deadline right now but may luck out. The last week of July is for a sowing of snow peas for fall harvest. This barely works out before fall frost shuts down growth but my space for this was supposed to be in the same location where peas were sown in the spring. However, I am collecting seed from those vines and some more pods were just picked yesterday. Won't be in garden until tomorrow to clear ground and plant -- it will be August!
Today, I will determine what seed must be saved from which tomato varieties. Trying to use old seed is a problem every March. I need to save seed from some but not all of the tomatoes that are in the 2019 garden.
Finally, I need to decide where these check lists will be that they, themselves, will NOT BE OVERLOOKED
Steve
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applestar
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This is part of my wudda/cudda/shudda ...(maybe ?)
Subject: Need tips/pointers for growing determinate tomatoes
Subject: Need tips/pointers for growing determinate tomatoes
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TomatoNut95
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- Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
- Location: Texas Zone 8
It's hard to believe we're already talking about 2020 gardens! 
I have a brand-new, bigger greenhouse for next year! I got off ebay; trouble is.... it doesn't have a back door!!!
I have plenty of untested tomato varieties, so I'll be growing some more 'newbies' next year. Also, if I come across a variety I am low on seeds on, I'll be growing it to save out of.
As for peppers, I don't plan on doing Sweet Banana again. I will be re-growing C.W. bells and heatless jalapenos, preferably my Nandapeno.
If my kiddie pool I plan to use for my carrots is still functional by next spring, I might try radishes and later on, cantaloupe.
I have a brand-new, bigger greenhouse for next year! I got off ebay; trouble is.... it doesn't have a back door!!!
I have plenty of untested tomato varieties, so I'll be growing some more 'newbies' next year. Also, if I come across a variety I am low on seeds on, I'll be growing it to save out of.
As for peppers, I don't plan on doing Sweet Banana again. I will be re-growing C.W. bells and heatless jalapenos, preferably my Nandapeno.
If my kiddie pool I plan to use for my carrots is still functional by next spring, I might try radishes and later on, cantaloupe.
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applestar
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
I still need to work on my Melon growing techniques. I had resisted for a long time, but have finally admitted that In my garden a black plastic mulch is probably unavoidable. I do want to see if I can get some biodegradable plant-based film-mulch for next year. I also want to try a more strict pruning method so the vines don’t turn into a jungle, and become difficult to treat preventatively against powdery mildew ... and especially since space will be limited next year with cucurbits in the HaybaleRow Rotation.
...I found these videos. They are in Japanese, but they do illustrate the specific 2-3 vine pruning/training technique for growing smaller melons and 4-vine for icebox watermelons on black plastic mulch-lined wide raised rows.
With the black mulch and hoop tunnel in the beginning of the season to provide heat and encourage early growths, plus the monthly side-dressing which is applied along the side of the mulch in the walkway (ah ha! That’s how it’s done!) — they expect yield of 2 fruits per vine — 4-6 melons and 8 watermelons per plant.
How to grow melons — Nougyou-ya (Agriculture Store)
Growing 2-vine melons and 4-vine watermelons — pruning and side dressing
May 18, 2019
...I’m planning to adapt these ideas a little to growing on vertical wire trellis by looping each vine in an upside-down U, hopefully achieve fruit-set of 1 or 2 fruits per vine, then trail and prune the terminal vine growths on the ground where they will be side dressed as recommended.
...I found these videos. They are in Japanese, but they do illustrate the specific 2-3 vine pruning/training technique for growing smaller melons and 4-vine for icebox watermelons on black plastic mulch-lined wide raised rows.
With the black mulch and hoop tunnel in the beginning of the season to provide heat and encourage early growths, plus the monthly side-dressing which is applied along the side of the mulch in the walkway (ah ha! That’s how it’s done!) — they expect yield of 2 fruits per vine — 4-6 melons and 8 watermelons per plant.
How to grow melons — Nougyou-ya (Agriculture Store)
Growing 2-vine melons and 4-vine watermelons — pruning and side dressing
May 18, 2019
...I’m planning to adapt these ideas a little to growing on vertical wire trellis by looping each vine in an upside-down U, hopefully achieve fruit-set of 1 or 2 fruits per vine, then trail and prune the terminal vine growths on the ground where they will be side dressed as recommended.
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TomatoNut95
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- Posts: 2069
- Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
- Location: Texas Zone 8
Yesterday (9/3/2019) I started seeds in compots for:
green onions, charger tomato, Thai hot pepper, Hungarian hot wax pepper, Wailua (jalapeno), Anaheim, cascabella, Kapoor tulsi, toscano kale, Curly "Vates" kale, Detroit dark red beets, X77 papaya, Bhut Jolokia, Thai long green eggplant, Petch Eggplant, Broccoli "Sun King", Bell pepper "Right Stuff". I sorted more seeds today and I will plant them hopefully this weekend.
green onions, charger tomato, Thai hot pepper, Hungarian hot wax pepper, Wailua (jalapeno), Anaheim, cascabella, Kapoor tulsi, toscano kale, Curly "Vates" kale, Detroit dark red beets, X77 papaya, Bhut Jolokia, Thai long green eggplant, Petch Eggplant, Broccoli "Sun King", Bell pepper "Right Stuff". I sorted more seeds today and I will plant them hopefully this weekend.
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SQWIB
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- Location: Zone 7A - Philadelphia, PA
I'm keeping it simple next year, not sweating a lot of stuff and plan on enjoying the garden more.
The only "Toy" or thing I may be adding next year is some cattle panel to replace a few of my Remesh panels, I'm still undecided as its not a priority but would fit better where I now have the remesh.
I also need a way to support my Texas Tomato Cages in my hugelkultur beds a little better, since there is wood in the beds the cages don't really go down a far enough to grab, that and the fact my soil is so friable the top 8" or so.
One thing I am adamant about for next year is to start my war on Aphids and Ants early as well as Downy Mildew and other problems.
I'll be mixing up Ant Baits and have them ready to go out with the seedlings. I'll also mix up my all purpose aphid/ disease spray lol.
As far as plants the only thing I may add is a Kajari Melon, If I can find a place to trellis it. I was impressed with the cantaloupes with the exception of them lacking sweetness but think I can do better if I take control of the Downy Mildew right away.
If my Butternut Squash and Sweet potatoes do well then they will be planted again, if not I may try Bush Melons and Butternut Rogosa. Actually my Butternut squash is doing well but harvesting and eating will be the determining factor.
I don't think I'm going to grow Okra next year, I have plenty and it will only be used in Fritters and Gumbo, Soups and Stew. If I do it will only be one plant tucked away somewhere.
I wont be growing Beefmaster Tomatoes next year also.
I'm dedicating a bed to just perennial herbs and ordered about 4 more herbs. I'm also dedicating a bed to salad greens, I'll be growing pickling cucumbers on the trellis behind that bed to try and partially shade the bed, everything bolts there in the mid summer.
Tearing out my 3 Raspberry plants, Replacing with Huckleberry, Chokeberry and Wintergreen, one will be under a peach tree and the other will be under a grape vine. The other pear tree that I have in the raised bed I'll be planting wintergreen.
Moving my trellis from the front to the back yard for the Passionflower. I really like the Passionflower for the pollinators and the way it grows along my light strand, but end of year cleanup is a bit rough and this plant is popping up everywhere, the other day I found a plant growing in my glove compartment, anyhow I keep growing it till I tire of it.
Composting this year has worked out well, In-situ composting in the non growing months and early growing weeks. Using veggie and fruit scraps as mulch, for example if I trim up a watermelon, I just toss the rind on top of the beds. Chop and drop during the growing season then utilizing the compost bin when the cover crops are planted.
I'll re-stain the beds and play with the led lights a bit, tweak the existing trellises and water lines.
Other than that I will pretty much repeat to some extent what I done last year, but just moving stuff around.
The only "Toy" or thing I may be adding next year is some cattle panel to replace a few of my Remesh panels, I'm still undecided as its not a priority but would fit better where I now have the remesh.
I also need a way to support my Texas Tomato Cages in my hugelkultur beds a little better, since there is wood in the beds the cages don't really go down a far enough to grab, that and the fact my soil is so friable the top 8" or so.
One thing I am adamant about for next year is to start my war on Aphids and Ants early as well as Downy Mildew and other problems.
I'll be mixing up Ant Baits and have them ready to go out with the seedlings. I'll also mix up my all purpose aphid/ disease spray lol.
As far as plants the only thing I may add is a Kajari Melon, If I can find a place to trellis it. I was impressed with the cantaloupes with the exception of them lacking sweetness but think I can do better if I take control of the Downy Mildew right away.
If my Butternut Squash and Sweet potatoes do well then they will be planted again, if not I may try Bush Melons and Butternut Rogosa. Actually my Butternut squash is doing well but harvesting and eating will be the determining factor.
I don't think I'm going to grow Okra next year, I have plenty and it will only be used in Fritters and Gumbo, Soups and Stew. If I do it will only be one plant tucked away somewhere.
I wont be growing Beefmaster Tomatoes next year also.
I'm dedicating a bed to just perennial herbs and ordered about 4 more herbs. I'm also dedicating a bed to salad greens, I'll be growing pickling cucumbers on the trellis behind that bed to try and partially shade the bed, everything bolts there in the mid summer.
Tearing out my 3 Raspberry plants, Replacing with Huckleberry, Chokeberry and Wintergreen, one will be under a peach tree and the other will be under a grape vine. The other pear tree that I have in the raised bed I'll be planting wintergreen.
Moving my trellis from the front to the back yard for the Passionflower. I really like the Passionflower for the pollinators and the way it grows along my light strand, but end of year cleanup is a bit rough and this plant is popping up everywhere, the other day I found a plant growing in my glove compartment, anyhow I keep growing it till I tire of it.
Composting this year has worked out well, In-situ composting in the non growing months and early growing weeks. Using veggie and fruit scraps as mulch, for example if I trim up a watermelon, I just toss the rind on top of the beds. Chop and drop during the growing season then utilizing the compost bin when the cover crops are planted.
I'll re-stain the beds and play with the led lights a bit, tweak the existing trellises and water lines.
Other than that I will pretty much repeat to some extent what I done last year, but just moving stuff around.
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TomatoNut95
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- Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
- Location: Texas Zone 8
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Foodgardenguy
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- Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2019 3:38 pm
We've been experimenting with soil composting and health. In the coming year, we will try to find an automated way to for aerating and hydrating hot compost piles.
Another wish we have is to find out more about making effective compost teas for foliage sprays as a method for improving plant health and defenses again pests and diseases.
We are also working towards planting a lot flowers and plants to attract more beneficial insects to our garden.
We've also had plenty of dry spells this summer. Although mulching does help keep the moisture in at times when there is little rain, we also noticed that when it does rain, sometimes the mulch prevents the rain from getting into the soil. Therefore we would like to implement a water channel and funnel where any rain would be directed to particular spots where the soil could absorb what it needs without having to touch the mulch, and in times where the rain amounts increase, the water catchments would be closed.
This year we also had a swarm of Japanese beetle wipe out a good part of our grape vines and other leaves on our fruit trees. Our hope is to find a good solution for this.
Another wish we have is to find out more about making effective compost teas for foliage sprays as a method for improving plant health and defenses again pests and diseases.
We are also working towards planting a lot flowers and plants to attract more beneficial insects to our garden.
We've also had plenty of dry spells this summer. Although mulching does help keep the moisture in at times when there is little rain, we also noticed that when it does rain, sometimes the mulch prevents the rain from getting into the soil. Therefore we would like to implement a water channel and funnel where any rain would be directed to particular spots where the soil could absorb what it needs without having to touch the mulch, and in times where the rain amounts increase, the water catchments would be closed.
This year we also had a swarm of Japanese beetle wipe out a good part of our grape vines and other leaves on our fruit trees. Our hope is to find a good solution for this.
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TomatoNut95
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- Posts: 2069
- Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
- Location: Texas Zone 8
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applestar
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@Foodgardenguy, you’ve mentioned several of my on-going pet projects:Foodgardenguy wrote:We've been experimenting with soil composting and health. In the coming year, we will try to find an automated way to for aerating and hydrating hot compost piles.
Another wish we have is to find out more about making effective compost teas for foliage sprays as a method for improving plant health and defenses again pests and diseases.
We are also working towards planting a lot flowers and plants to attract more beneficial insects to our garden.
We've also had plenty of dry spells this summer. Although mulching does help keep the moisture in at times when there is little rain, we also noticed that when it does rain, sometimes the mulch prevents the rain from getting into the soil. Therefore we would like to implement a water channel and funnel where any rain would be directed to particular spots where the soil could absorb what it needs without having to touch the mulch, and in times where the rain amounts increase, the water catchments would be closed.
This year we also had a swarm of Japanese beetle wipe out a good part of our grape vines and other leaves on our fruit trees. Our hope is to find a good solution for this.
- soil health — you mentioned in your intro that you are in Ontario, Canada. That’s kind of inland — do you have access to crustacean remains? I wonder if you (in Canada) can consider Maine as a source... or maybe in your case, Nova Scotia?
Adding crustacean remains adds chitin to the compost/soil foodweb, and can be beneficial. I add all our crab, shrimp, and lobster remains to the compost bin/piles (the enclosed plastic one to guard against animal raids, or bury deeply at the bottom of the pile when I turn/re-pile open ones) when we eat them. The addition of chitin supports chitin-eating bacteria, and insect exoskeletons are made of chitin. In case there is no local population, I have tried to inoculate my garden soil foodweb with this bacteria by occasionally buying and using (the expensive) Coast of Maine lobster compost and lobster compost-based potting mix and garden soil amendment. Chitin/chitosan is also supposed to be effective against harmful nematodes and there is a company that ships Maine produced chitin/chitosan product to Florida — I imagine against root knot nematodes.
I would think that in other coastal regions there must be outfits that produce other crustacean-rich compost — crabs, shrimp, crawdads....
-- as I mentioned in your intro, I want to explore more about mycological support of the soil and plant health next.
- I had a horrendous Japanese beetles infestation …Several? Few?.. years ago. At the time, after considering all options, I opted NOT to do anything. Not even milky spore or beneficial nematodes, because I felt that I was making good progress balancing the local biosphere/micro biodiversity and didn’t want to tip it in any way by adding mass dose of a single species solution.
However, I learned that this area was one of the few areas where they had experimentally released imported Japanese beetle parasitic wasps, and my regular practice of allowing a few carrots to overwinter and bloom would help attract them. I also absolutely do not control the numerous garden spiders (they are of course used for food by birds and many of the narrow waisted mud wasps, etc.), and I’ve seen some birds with the iridescent beetles in their beaks, then there are the treefrogs that are everywhere during the summer.
When a pest population reaches a critical mass, the predators move in ...whichever of the natural controls that are actively making inroads, I have been seeing less Japanese beetles since 2nd year after the massive infestation.
- irrigation and mulching for moisture control, heat control, weed control
Nearly all of my garden beds are raised beds or raised rows with or without framework. And I dig what I call swale/paths alongside which is used for channeling and sequestering water (based on Emilia Hazelip, but I don’t actually organic mulch the beds and immediately around the crop plants much)
— still trying to decide if mulching with soil cooling effect might be detrimental — and actually am thinking of stepping away from strictly organic by using black film mulch (hopefully plant based) for the heat-loving crops.
-- I use the swale/paths to drop undiseased trimmings and pulled/cut weeds as mulch — these get trampled into the mud, then are raked up and added to the raised beds after they break down, especially after the current succession is finished, since they usually spread out and grow roots into the swale/paths.
-- While binge-watching Japanese agricultural videos, I came across an interesting natural/organic greenhouse hotbed technique that is apparently an old method that is starting to gain some modern recognition. In this method, they create a framed bed in which rice straw and I think they said buckwheat germ/hulls as well as chicken manure and fallen leaves/leaf mould are thoroughly packed and trampled in. I’m currently cogitating on how to adapt this to local materials, and am wondering, too, if the trampled swale/path is somehow also generating heat, or COULD generate heat if correct ratio of “ingredients” are trampled in.... and would/could that then make the black film mulch unnecessary?
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Taiji
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 921
- Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 3:19 am
- Location: Gardening in western U.P. of MI. 46+ N. lat. elev 1540. zone 3; state bird: mosquito
The key word for me is earlier varieties. Early corn, early tomatoes, earlier winter squash.(if there is such a thing!)
Also would like to try some hotter peppers like habaneros. I don't know if a person develops a tolerance to hot peppers as time goes on, but the serranos, cayenne, and jalapenos just aren't making my salsa hot enough these days to work up that good sweat under the eyes!
Was thinking too, maybe up here in the frozen north, if a heat retaining row cover would help with ripening the tomatoes. Wonder what would happen if I just put it on when days get down into the 70's and just leave it on? Everyone here this year is having the same problem with getting tomatoes to ripen. (a row cover that would still let light, moisture and air thru of course)
Also would like to try some hotter peppers like habaneros. I don't know if a person develops a tolerance to hot peppers as time goes on, but the serranos, cayenne, and jalapenos just aren't making my salsa hot enough these days to work up that good sweat under the eyes!
Was thinking too, maybe up here in the frozen north, if a heat retaining row cover would help with ripening the tomatoes. Wonder what would happen if I just put it on when days get down into the 70's and just leave it on? Everyone here this year is having the same problem with getting tomatoes to ripen. (a row cover that would still let light, moisture and air thru of course)
I'm seriously thinking of building a large arbor type trellis and plant mirliton (chayote squash) for the rest of the world. I grew them many years ago and they grow very well in our climate, but do grow to be huge plants that need structure to climb.
I may also once again put in some artichokes next spring. I've grown them before and have had success with them, but the only real drawback is the amount of space they take up with each plant growing to over 4 ft. tall and at least 4-5 ft. across.
I may also once again put in some artichokes next spring. I've grown them before and have had success with them, but the only real drawback is the amount of space they take up with each plant growing to over 4 ft. tall and at least 4-5 ft. across.
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Foodgardenguy
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2019 3:38 pm
Applestar, you have a lot of thoughts there. Your expertise, knowledge and experience is way over my head.
We do not live near a place with sea remains. We used to live in NFLD and yes, the farmers there used all sorts of sea stuff and grew some of the largest brocolli and cabbage I've ever seen.
I will take your suggestion on the Japanese beetles. I think the natural predators are moving in. This year was not as bad as last year.
We get quite of mushroom activity here in Ontario. We also have a couple of mushroom farms around us. I'm relatively new with mycology. I hope to gain more understanding after reading more of Dr. Elaine Ingham's website.
We do not live near a place with sea remains. We used to live in NFLD and yes, the farmers there used all sorts of sea stuff and grew some of the largest brocolli and cabbage I've ever seen.
I will take your suggestion on the Japanese beetles. I think the natural predators are moving in. This year was not as bad as last year.
We get quite of mushroom activity here in Ontario. We also have a couple of mushroom farms around us. I'm relatively new with mycology. I hope to gain more understanding after reading more of Dr. Elaine Ingham's website.
Thanks for the pepper chart. I also like cayenne diane's website it lists peppers hottest to mildest. There are pictures and a little more information about the peppers. It still misses a few peppers that I have but it has always been helpful for me.
I like to grow hot peppers because they do well for me. As far as eating them, I can't take the heat of the hottest ones. The heat does not seem to bother the birds at all. The hottest I can handle is a cayenne. My favorites are milder like super chile, serrano, carmen, cubanelle, anaheim,pepperoncini, Hungarian Wax, and Shishito peppers. I ate a tip of a bhut jolokia a couple of weeks ago to id it and my mouth burned for half an hour and it made me tear up. I think I will remember what plant that one is even without a label now.
https://www.cayennediane.com/big-list-of-hot-peppers/
Trench composting has been working out well except that it is only practical if you have a lot of space to rotate beds and keep the bed fallow for about 5 months. I just replanted the trench composted bed with swiss chard.
I am going to experiment with another section of the garden with no till. I killed the grassy weeds with round up and let the whole thing dry. I removed the dead tops and hand weeded the rest of the weeds. I am going to try to replant it with bush beans. It does not take a lot of nutrients and the last crop there was corn. I want to find out 1. if any residual pesticide remains ( it has been at least a couple of months. I don't believe regular glyphosate will be an issue. I will find out. 2. I will still fertilize the bed as usual. It is mostly compost anyway so I will not be adding more on top and see what happens.
On the third section. I am going to plant butternut squash over the trench composted bed. I need a place for the vines to run anyway and I hope to not let all that space go to waste. I am going to use some shade cloth to cover the compost to keep the weeds from coming up under the vines.
We have been spreading more of the half finished compost on the garden beds to raise them higher temporarily. The peanuts have resprouted under the mulch and the nut sedge of course is not going to be stopped by it. Other annoying weeds are also coming through but they are not that hard to pull out in the loose compost/mulch.
I am going to try to plant a potager garden only less formally. I don't like to plant in rows or geometrically anyway. I am including the culinary herbs, some vegetables like the rainbow chard, eggplant, and Asian greens along side the culinary ethnic herbs. There will also be more of the edible flowers of daylily, marigolds, calendula and naturtiums (in season), and balloon flower. I am also throwing in some other flowers like alyssum (related to mustard) , sunflowers (in season), angelonia (medicinal herb but also attracts beneficial insects and smells good too), citrossa (people here just like this plant although is is not really good for mosquito control), pelargoniums, cuphea, cutting garden flowers (zinnia, cosmos), and some daisies if I can get them to grow for me.
I want to increase the biodiversity of the garden. There is already some solitary artificial beehives for carpenter and leaf cutter bees and we have an apiary on the property and the bees visit the basil all year. (The basil are allowed to flower all year. )
There is a family of mongoose in the garden. That is not always a good thing. Too bad they made a deal with the mice to raid the chicken house, but hey, we still don't have too many snakes found alive at any rate. There are a few slugs and snails that I have found, but very few. I don't really know what is controlling them. Oh, wait, it may be that the garden is under watered.
The birds are eating the ripe figs.
Since there is mostly just me doing this, it may not get realized totally this year. I have yet to finish the hugelkultur bed and that is already in its' second year.
I started digging out the ginger today that I mistakenly planted. I thought it was turmeric because it was on my bench. I did not pay attention to the leaves and I discovered the mistake when I saw the bloom.
I like to grow hot peppers because they do well for me. As far as eating them, I can't take the heat of the hottest ones. The heat does not seem to bother the birds at all. The hottest I can handle is a cayenne. My favorites are milder like super chile, serrano, carmen, cubanelle, anaheim,pepperoncini, Hungarian Wax, and Shishito peppers. I ate a tip of a bhut jolokia a couple of weeks ago to id it and my mouth burned for half an hour and it made me tear up. I think I will remember what plant that one is even without a label now.
https://www.cayennediane.com/big-list-of-hot-peppers/
Trench composting has been working out well except that it is only practical if you have a lot of space to rotate beds and keep the bed fallow for about 5 months. I just replanted the trench composted bed with swiss chard.
I am going to experiment with another section of the garden with no till. I killed the grassy weeds with round up and let the whole thing dry. I removed the dead tops and hand weeded the rest of the weeds. I am going to try to replant it with bush beans. It does not take a lot of nutrients and the last crop there was corn. I want to find out 1. if any residual pesticide remains ( it has been at least a couple of months. I don't believe regular glyphosate will be an issue. I will find out. 2. I will still fertilize the bed as usual. It is mostly compost anyway so I will not be adding more on top and see what happens.
On the third section. I am going to plant butternut squash over the trench composted bed. I need a place for the vines to run anyway and I hope to not let all that space go to waste. I am going to use some shade cloth to cover the compost to keep the weeds from coming up under the vines.
We have been spreading more of the half finished compost on the garden beds to raise them higher temporarily. The peanuts have resprouted under the mulch and the nut sedge of course is not going to be stopped by it. Other annoying weeds are also coming through but they are not that hard to pull out in the loose compost/mulch.
I am going to try to plant a potager garden only less formally. I don't like to plant in rows or geometrically anyway. I am including the culinary herbs, some vegetables like the rainbow chard, eggplant, and Asian greens along side the culinary ethnic herbs. There will also be more of the edible flowers of daylily, marigolds, calendula and naturtiums (in season), and balloon flower. I am also throwing in some other flowers like alyssum (related to mustard) , sunflowers (in season), angelonia (medicinal herb but also attracts beneficial insects and smells good too), citrossa (people here just like this plant although is is not really good for mosquito control), pelargoniums, cuphea, cutting garden flowers (zinnia, cosmos), and some daisies if I can get them to grow for me.
I want to increase the biodiversity of the garden. There is already some solitary artificial beehives for carpenter and leaf cutter bees and we have an apiary on the property and the bees visit the basil all year. (The basil are allowed to flower all year. )
There is a family of mongoose in the garden. That is not always a good thing. Too bad they made a deal with the mice to raid the chicken house, but hey, we still don't have too many snakes found alive at any rate. There are a few slugs and snails that I have found, but very few. I don't really know what is controlling them. Oh, wait, it may be that the garden is under watered.
The birds are eating the ripe figs.
Since there is mostly just me doing this, it may not get realized totally this year. I have yet to finish the hugelkultur bed and that is already in its' second year.
I started digging out the ginger today that I mistakenly planted. I thought it was turmeric because it was on my bench. I did not pay attention to the leaves and I discovered the mistake when I saw the bloom.
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TomatoNut95
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 2069
- Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
- Location: Texas Zone 8
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applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30540
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
@SQWIB, I haven’t been able to harvest a single decent let alone GOOD Kajari melon. So far I have been forced to harvest a single melon from each plant because the vine it was attached to had died. None of them except one was even close to full orange color, and even when the green strlipes did turn to yellow-orange, the fruits had HUGE seed cavity full of seeds with thin flesh that were hardly sweet. The seed gel of these melons are BITTER.SQWIB wrote:As far as plants the only thing I may add is a Kajari Melon, If I can find a place to trellis it. I was impressed with the cantaloupes with the exception of them lacking sweetness but think I can do better if I take control of the Downy Mildew right away.
Of course this could very well be due to my lack of skill in growing melons.
Only melon that has not disappointed us so far is the Korean melon. We had another one today — only half sized, but sweet and tasty. I would recommend one of these for trellis growing instead. There are several OP as well as hybrid variety seeds obtainable. I believe the hybrid varieties tend to be sweeter and more productive, possibly earlier and also disease resistant. I’m out of the original Korean seed packet, so I will have to (will have opportunity to) buy one or more new ones to try, though I did save some seeds.
The reduction in size of the fruits from this year’s one volunteer (which has yielded 4 fruits — harvested the last one today since the plant has died) maybe a sign that this is a dehybridizing segregate. Even so, it has sweet seed gel and small thin seeds that can be eaten — entire fruit can be eaten except the very thin rind, so there is very little waste.
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applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30540
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Just came across this. I’m sure there are other sources, too —
https://www.arbico-organics.com/product ... or-growing
Neptune's Harvest Crab & Lobster Shell, 5-3-0
An alternative to bone meal, crab shell is an excellent dry source of N-P-K with the added bonus of calcium.
4 lb bag
SKU: 1315004
$11.99
12 lb bag
SKU: 1315005
$37.99
50 lb bag
SKU: 1315006
$58.00
...Crab “meal” is sold as poultry feed — that might be another way to go. Often you can get these organic fertilizer equivalents at better prices from feed stores. I haven’t looked in a while since the last local independent feed store went out of business a couple of years ago. Agway went this year so now I’ll have to drive pretty far to a nearest feed store.
https://www.arbico-organics.com/product ... or-growing
Neptune's Harvest Crab & Lobster Shell, 5-3-0
An alternative to bone meal, crab shell is an excellent dry source of N-P-K with the added bonus of calcium.
4 lb bag
SKU: 1315004
$11.99
12 lb bag
SKU: 1315005
$37.99
50 lb bag
SKU: 1315006
$58.00
...Crab “meal” is sold as poultry feed — that might be another way to go. Often you can get these organic fertilizer equivalents at better prices from feed stores. I haven’t looked in a while since the last local independent feed store went out of business a couple of years ago. Agway went this year so now I’ll have to drive pretty far to a nearest feed store.
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applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30540
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
As mentioned earlier or elsewhere — have been binge-watching Japanese gardening YouTubes ... got tired of watching conventional market gardening with massive use of -cides, even though the crop growing/pruning techniques/supporting-trellising methods, and season extending structures have been informative and interesting.
...Then came across this one which has been much more in line with my own gardening philosophy:
天地返し [loosely translated as “Double-digging”]
https://www.fukuberry.com/sa-tentigaesi.html
...This is an interesting example page about a no-till alternative for burying the season’s crop residue deep enough to avoid perpetuating diseases and possibly pests as well. (This is usually recommended in an agricultural setting — accomplished by tilling deeply with the heavy tractor). It’s a method adapted from/alternative to labor-intensive, soil structure destroying double-digging an entire bed, which was developed by 元農水省盛岡支場の新井先生 [Professor Arai, formerly of Morioka Branch, Ministry of Agriculture]
— It’s an intriguing combination of trench composting in a deeper than double-dug or possibly even deeper than a triple-dug trench and trampled anaerobic trench composting aided by bokashi microbes which is an old Japanese composting technique for building a hotbed.
— On a different page, he wrote that he experimented with EM microbes, but was unconvinced (became disenchanted?) and has been using his own simple fermented/cultured green juice and home-made bokashi (he blends in crab meal, fish meal, and I believe soybean meal to rice bran with the fermented/cultured green juice as inoculant rather than EM microbes).
He writes that for a new plot of 15 square meters, he digs 2 trenches every 2 years. He also cleans up a community garden plot at the end of the growing year in this way.
...Then came across this one which has been much more in line with my own gardening philosophy:
天地返し [loosely translated as “Double-digging”]
https://www.fukuberry.com/sa-tentigaesi.html
...This is an interesting example page about a no-till alternative for burying the season’s crop residue deep enough to avoid perpetuating diseases and possibly pests as well. (This is usually recommended in an agricultural setting — accomplished by tilling deeply with the heavy tractor). It’s a method adapted from/alternative to labor-intensive, soil structure destroying double-digging an entire bed, which was developed by 元農水省盛岡支場の新井先生 [Professor Arai, formerly of Morioka Branch, Ministry of Agriculture]
— It’s an intriguing combination of trench composting in a deeper than double-dug or possibly even deeper than a triple-dug trench and trampled anaerobic trench composting aided by bokashi microbes which is an old Japanese composting technique for building a hotbed.
— On a different page, he wrote that he experimented with EM microbes, but was unconvinced (became disenchanted?) and has been using his own simple fermented/cultured green juice and home-made bokashi (he blends in crab meal, fish meal, and I believe soybean meal to rice bran with the fermented/cultured green juice as inoculant rather than EM microbes).
He writes that for a new plot of 15 square meters, he digs 2 trenches every 2 years. He also cleans up a community garden plot at the end of the growing year in this way.
The early days and nights of the 2019 growing season were difficult for nearly all of the warm-season plants in my garden. The temperatures were on a see-saw. I thought at one time that the melon plants might die. They all survived but recovery wasn't even for both cantaloupe and galia melons.applestar wrote:...Only melon that has not disappointed us so far is the Korean melon ...
I have grown several cantaloupe varieties developed by the University of New Hampshire. The early types have done well. We especially like Goddess. Despite several years of good performance, it barely survived those early weeks.
The Passport galia came through, grew okay and production has been just fine and continues
!Steve
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
So, back to topic .... 
I have now been in Chattanooga TN area for four growing seasons. Two of them have had extended periods of record breaking heat and drought. So I think I need to work on adapting to this as the new normal.
I have mentioned elsewhere providing myself with two 275 gallon rainwater storage tanks to help get through the drought periods. I also want to spend the fall/ winter researching what crops/ varieties of veggies are best to grow in hot, dry climates (we used to be a slightly less hot, wet climate, but I think that is over). And re thinking planting schedules start both spring crops and fall crops earlier in the year. The fall one is a little counter intuitive. But the trouble I had with trying to plant for fall was heat and NO RAIN. Planted seeds and baby seedlings have to stay moist all the time. I would have had to water at least twice a day to make that happen in the weather we've been having. I'm guessing if I start a little earlier, maybe by the time everything is so dry, they will be a little past the tiny, baby seedling stage and can withstand it a little better. Not sure, but it is worth trying. And I want to try shade cloth over some of the beds.
It is a new world and we all have to adapt to it!
I have now been in Chattanooga TN area for four growing seasons. Two of them have had extended periods of record breaking heat and drought. So I think I need to work on adapting to this as the new normal.
I have mentioned elsewhere providing myself with two 275 gallon rainwater storage tanks to help get through the drought periods. I also want to spend the fall/ winter researching what crops/ varieties of veggies are best to grow in hot, dry climates (we used to be a slightly less hot, wet climate, but I think that is over). And re thinking planting schedules start both spring crops and fall crops earlier in the year. The fall one is a little counter intuitive. But the trouble I had with trying to plant for fall was heat and NO RAIN. Planted seeds and baby seedlings have to stay moist all the time. I would have had to water at least twice a day to make that happen in the weather we've been having. I'm guessing if I start a little earlier, maybe by the time everything is so dry, they will be a little past the tiny, baby seedling stage and can withstand it a little better. Not sure, but it is worth trying. And I want to try shade cloth over some of the beds.
It is a new world and we all have to adapt to it!
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Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7415
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
Anaheim is another name for New Mexico peppers they are rated 250 very mild without the seed, they make excellent chili powder and very good enchilada sauce. Plants are big producers some of my limbs have 28 peppers on them. Plants need about 3 times more potassium than nitrogen every 2 weeks all summer. Seeds inside the peppers are many times hotter than the skin if you cook with the whole pepper & seeds they are rated about 1000. I remove all the seed. Freeze them whole to cook with later 4 or 5 peppers make a quart of enchilada sauce or a gallon of chili.TomatoNut95 wrote:Next year I was thinking of growing some hot peppers. Low heat ones-mild that is, to make chili powder from, and a super hot to make a critter ridder spray from. What are some hot peppers that are not super duper hot? I was thinking Anaheims.
Last edited by Gary350 on Fri Sep 27, 2019 8:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I liked Applestar's pit composting video. His soil looked so rich but it was obviously softer than mine. I might be able to get about 18 inches of depth on mine if I'm lucky or ambitious, but I would hit red mud after that.
I have already fulfilled a couple of my garden wishes already. It is getting harder and more tiring for me to prune the trees so I have geared up and got a power pruner and a reciprocating saw with a pruning blade. I am still to scared to use the pole saw, but the reciprocating saw works great. I was able to top the bilimbi tree in less than 15 minutes.
I have already fulfilled a couple of my garden wishes already. It is getting harder and more tiring for me to prune the trees so I have geared up and got a power pruner and a reciprocating saw with a pruning blade. I am still to scared to use the pole saw, but the reciprocating saw works great. I was able to top the bilimbi tree in less than 15 minutes.
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applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30540
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
I think the key to these pit/trench composting I’ve been learning about is that they use bokashi and ash and/or char.
Bokashi solves the potential problems due to the anaerobic conditions, since the main actors are anaerobic beneficial organisms (this is counter-intuitive when you come from the aerobic above-ground compost pile background). In fact, they stomp on the ingredients and pack the ingredients down into the trench/pit.
The ash is like lime which was used for "sweetening/alkalinizing" when building similar hotbeds, as described in older western/European horticultural techniques, and char would be charged in the process to become biochar.
Bokashi solves the potential problems due to the anaerobic conditions, since the main actors are anaerobic beneficial organisms (this is counter-intuitive when you come from the aerobic above-ground compost pile background). In fact, they stomp on the ingredients and pack the ingredients down into the trench/pit.
The ash is like lime which was used for "sweetening/alkalinizing" when building similar hotbeds, as described in older western/European horticultural techniques, and char would be charged in the process to become biochar.
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MsDDC
- Cool Member
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2019 8:11 pm
- Location: Washington, DC; 7A by the map but 7B by local urban temps
With only 200 square feet to work with, and needing to keep weed barrier down or die trying to keep weeds out (I tried this year without it, and it was BAD), I have mostly planned my garden through next year.
Fall (already in, grew most of these for spring this year and they did well):
Beets (5 type variety pack, I can tell that one of the sprouts is bull's blood but won't be able to tell with the others for a little while longer)
Turnips
Variety lettuce (red&green leaf, various sweets and bitters, arugula; from a variety pack of seeds)
Romaine lettuce
Spinach
Kale
Broccoli (aspabroc broccolini)
Cauliflower
Romanesco
Brussels sprouts (did not grow for spring/new to me, but plants look good so far)
Winter (small plot as a test for possibly doubling it next year):
Beets
Turnips
Kale
Spinach
Brussels sprouts
Also planning to try a patio cherry tomato in a hanging basket in my south-facing home office window. Will update as to how that goes. I always grow some microgreens, small lettuces, and herbs indoors through the winter. I have three large, south-facing windows, including a bay with a large sill, thankfully!
Spring: repeat fall
Summer:
Various tomatoes, usually several cherry varieties (I just prefer cherries, since I don't can, full-size tomatoes aren't my preference)
Zucchini
Yellow squash
Green beans (first time on my own, though neighbors/friends/family have grown and I have helped)
Cucumbers
Sweet peppers (trying again with different varieties, per other posts)
Corn (first time on my own, but we grew it as a kid in my family garden)
Malabar spinach (never even seen it, but sources indicate it will thrive in DC's hot summers, will definitely update next year!)
Butterhead speckles lettuce (may not make it all summer, but worth a shot as a heat-tolerant lettuce)
Aaaaand...an artichoke for testing! Late summer/fall crop, for this, but what I see seems to indicate I should plant it mid-spring. A local nursery has cut starts of globe that should produce in the first year. If it works out well, I'm going to try putting one in a large container on my patio (ground level, not a deck...a planter big enough would break my small deck!) and insulating it in the winter for perennial, possibly 2-crops-a-year, production (I do understand they only last about 5 years...I ADORE artichokes and they never cost less than $3/each in the store here, so that's fine by me!). This is very much so a "nothing ventured, nothing learned," but if anyone has grown artichokes in an area with mild winters and hot summers, please share your experiences! I *am* aware of how big the plant will get, so no need to fill me in on that. I have a nice big space picked out for it (it will hang over the edges of the garden bed to accommodate it, but it will work)!
Given my smallish space, I do grow a lot vertical. Going to invest in some good cages and trellises, finally (up until this point, I used mostly cheap tomato baskets, which I actually managed to do quite well with! I've even grown cukes up them in containers!).
My biggest wish is for a rain barrel, but I don't think that's possible given the arrangement of my property. Still searching to see if I can somehow make it work, and open to any references if someone has an idea how to attach one to a downspout that is ~10' from the nearest surface large enough to set a barrel on. My downspout comes down next to my rear basement door, so the closest space I can put it is past that stairwell, starting 9.5 feet from the back wall of my house. I live in an attached rowhouse in DC (my house is attached to the neighbors' on either side), so I don't have a side yard. I can't move the downspout to the other end of the house because the phone line and junction box and air conditioner are in the way.
Fall (already in, grew most of these for spring this year and they did well):
Beets (5 type variety pack, I can tell that one of the sprouts is bull's blood but won't be able to tell with the others for a little while longer)
Turnips
Variety lettuce (red&green leaf, various sweets and bitters, arugula; from a variety pack of seeds)
Romaine lettuce
Spinach
Kale
Broccoli (aspabroc broccolini)
Cauliflower
Romanesco
Brussels sprouts (did not grow for spring/new to me, but plants look good so far)
Winter (small plot as a test for possibly doubling it next year):
Beets
Turnips
Kale
Spinach
Brussels sprouts
Also planning to try a patio cherry tomato in a hanging basket in my south-facing home office window. Will update as to how that goes. I always grow some microgreens, small lettuces, and herbs indoors through the winter. I have three large, south-facing windows, including a bay with a large sill, thankfully!
Spring: repeat fall
Summer:
Various tomatoes, usually several cherry varieties (I just prefer cherries, since I don't can, full-size tomatoes aren't my preference)
Zucchini
Yellow squash
Green beans (first time on my own, though neighbors/friends/family have grown and I have helped)
Cucumbers
Sweet peppers (trying again with different varieties, per other posts)
Corn (first time on my own, but we grew it as a kid in my family garden)
Malabar spinach (never even seen it, but sources indicate it will thrive in DC's hot summers, will definitely update next year!)
Butterhead speckles lettuce (may not make it all summer, but worth a shot as a heat-tolerant lettuce)
Aaaaand...an artichoke for testing! Late summer/fall crop, for this, but what I see seems to indicate I should plant it mid-spring. A local nursery has cut starts of globe that should produce in the first year. If it works out well, I'm going to try putting one in a large container on my patio (ground level, not a deck...a planter big enough would break my small deck!) and insulating it in the winter for perennial, possibly 2-crops-a-year, production (I do understand they only last about 5 years...I ADORE artichokes and they never cost less than $3/each in the store here, so that's fine by me!). This is very much so a "nothing ventured, nothing learned," but if anyone has grown artichokes in an area with mild winters and hot summers, please share your experiences! I *am* aware of how big the plant will get, so no need to fill me in on that. I have a nice big space picked out for it (it will hang over the edges of the garden bed to accommodate it, but it will work)!
Given my smallish space, I do grow a lot vertical. Going to invest in some good cages and trellises, finally (up until this point, I used mostly cheap tomato baskets, which I actually managed to do quite well with! I've even grown cukes up them in containers!).
My biggest wish is for a rain barrel, but I don't think that's possible given the arrangement of my property. Still searching to see if I can somehow make it work, and open to any references if someone has an idea how to attach one to a downspout that is ~10' from the nearest surface large enough to set a barrel on. My downspout comes down next to my rear basement door, so the closest space I can put it is past that stairwell, starting 9.5 feet from the back wall of my house. I live in an attached rowhouse in DC (my house is attached to the neighbors' on either side), so I don't have a side yard. I can't move the downspout to the other end of the house because the phone line and junction box and air conditioner are in the way.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
this article addresses that rainbarrel question https://www.theconservationfoundation.or ... diverters/
Shows various alternatives including this:
There are lots of different kinds of diverter systems
This one attaches hoses directly to the downspout, no rain barrel needed:
There's all different kinds of downspout pieces, elbows, flexible lengths, etc ....
Do you really only have one downspout? My house has six....
Shows various alternatives including this:
There are lots of different kinds of diverter systems
This one attaches hoses directly to the downspout, no rain barrel needed:
There's all different kinds of downspout pieces, elbows, flexible lengths, etc ....
Do you really only have one downspout? My house has six....
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Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7415
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
Amazing how much rain comes off a roof. One hot July day many years ago I removed the down spout pipe from the rain gutter on west side of the house then put a tarp in the bed of my truck and parked truck bed under the gutter. 50 ft long gutter had another drain on the other end I plugged it up so all water from 1/2 the roof will go into my truck bed. It came a big thunder storm about 4 pm filled and over flowed my truck bed. I put on my swim pants and jumped in. Wow that felt good in 99 degree heat. This was my swimming pool, water was not used for my garden. I have a different truck now but it is still a small truck with bed almost the same size 17" x 55" x 73.5" = 68,722 cu inches. = 39.76 cu ft of water minus 4 cu ft for wheel wells = 36.76 cu ft. 1 cu ft of water = 7.48 gallons. 36.76 x 7.48 = 274.96 gallons of water in the truck bed. Water coming off both 1/2s of the roof = about 550 gallons of water in 15 or 20 minutes of rain.rainbowgardener wrote:this article addresses that rainbarrel question https://www.theconservationfoundation.or ... diverters/
Shows various alternatives including this:
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Last edited by Gary350 on Sun Oct 06, 2019 8:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.