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applestar
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2014 Spiral Garden Garlic Onion Pea Corn Squash Cuke Beet

I'm off to a sloow start. And I haven't even been able to make a supply run, so minimum prep for the garden and I'm not sure how well this is going to work. But this year's Spiral Garden has been planned and is taking shape now. I built this bed last year for tomatoes, but I like to rotate crops so tomatoes will be planted elsewhere this year....
Spiral Garden - garlic, onions, peas, and corn so far
Spiral Garden - garlic, onions, peas, and corn so far
The outer spiral starts at around 10-11 o'clock with an elderberry.

I sowed extra pre-germinated Bloody Butcher and Experimental hybrid sweet corn between 11-1 o'clock along with double row of pre-germinated Sugar Snap and Sugar Daddy snap peas. The soil temp is actually still a little low, so it will be interesting to see how these corn will compare with the main group which are starting to sprout in their containers and will be transplanted later.

Pre-germinated Green Beauty snow peas from 1-3 o'clock. There is an existing clump of Coral Pink monarda @3:00. Green Beauty is in a segment that is most shaded in the morning.

3-9 o'clock stretch is planted with garlic since last fall and long day onion mix plants earlier this spring. This area is still getting a little shaded by the house as you can see, but the angle of the sun will be higher soon.

Inner spiral is going to be the main Bloody Butcher and Experimentla Hybrid corn transplants in a circle, but I just weeded the 9-2 o'clock areas so it looks a bit rough. There's another Coral Pink Monarda clump and Seascape strawberries at 2 o'clock.

The inner spiral ends with last clump of Coral Pink monarda, Seascape strawberries and anise hyssop. I'm building a compost pile in the central "well/path" and I'm planting my winter squash mix on top and perimeter of the compost pile. I haven't quite decided which varieties, but will include Thai Kang Kob (C. moschata), Cushaw White Jonathan (C. mixta) and some others. (mixta/angeosperma Japanese Pie) (moschata Tronboncino, Seminole, Kikuza) (maxima Uncle David's Dessert, Red Kuri, Sweet Meat)

Beans will go in after the peas.

Inner spiral path that flooded with rain last summer is going to get raised with some aged crumbly branches and stump pieces to form a sort of a hugelkultur, which if everything works out, the squash will just ramble over and I will rearrange the vines to leave room to walk.. I'm expecting the squash to want to crawl out to the outer spiral and eventually take over where the onions and garlic are planted.

....so, I'll keep updating this, and we can all see how much of "The Grand Scheme" will be successful. :lol: :wink:

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McKinney88
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Looking good! That spiral idea garden sure is nifty. I might get sick from walking around in circles all the time lol.

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How exciting!! Keep us updated!!

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applestar
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Since we are expecting three days of deluge starting tonight, I went ahead and planted the corn seedlings from the pre-germinated corn experiment. Most of them were 2-3" tall and unfurling the first leaf, though there were some seeds that had only just started growing the leaf shoot. Longest roots were about 5 inches but most were about 3 inches long.
Entire Spiral Garden
Entire Spiral Garden
Inner spiral after planting the corn seedlings
Inner spiral after planting the corn seedlings
Those extra pre-germinated corn that were sown in the outer spiral (on the far side) have not sprouted yet.

Today was the last average frost. As I understand it, cold tolerant varieties of corn that is typically pretreated with fungicide to prevent rotting can be sown as early as one week before to the day of last average frost. Otherwise, I believe it's better to wait until a week after.

imafan26
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If I were to build my own spiral garden, how wide should I make the spiral path. I need fairly wide paths since I cannot walk in a narrow row. How wide do I need to make the spiral bed and what diameter would the spiral have to be. The last will be the telling point since I don't have a lot of room. Can I do all of this in a 6 ft circle?

I know you did tomatoes last year and they looked great. Was there any problems with the plants being spaced too close together or not enough room to get around them or were any having growing pains because the light was being blocked?

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applestar
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Not really, and I packed them in. I just wound the tomato vines along the strings. The path was more than wide enough to walk in.... just a tad tedious to walk the spiral to get all the way to the middle sometimes. :P

I guess it got tougher to walk the path after the sweet potato vines started taking over and criss-crossed the path. :roll:

Right now, I'm stepping over the onions in the outer spiral to get to the middle. :wink:

6 ft circle would be tight though. Have you seen my Sunflower & House? That one is a 9 ft or maybe 10 ft circle, and the New Kitchen Garden "keyhole/mandala" is an 8 ft circle.
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"Sunflower & House" planted with greens this spring
"Sunflower & House" planted with greens this spring

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Countryladiesgardens
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Hi!

Just wanted to say that your garden designs are awesome! I had a great idea for a garden bed this year but got discouraged because of the slugs that we get and also because of our cats/dogs going into the bed and using it for a litter box! So now as a second idea I am going to put my flowers in containers. We have larger containers so I can fit 10 flowers per container. It will also be easier to move them around to where the sun/shade will be this Spring/Summer. I look forward to it as well as we have also had the last frost and the warmer temps seem to be out now! Yay! I know it was a long winter for all this year and it is nice to finally see some sunshine! I know our plants will all benefit from this great weather. Just need some compost/soil to fill the containers and I am set! Thanks for sharing your photos, it looks like you are off to a great start! What do you do about slugs/pests? Or do you not have to worry about that where you are?

:flower:

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Thanks apple.

I might be able to make the spiral a little larger maybe up to 9 feet, the space is 19x20 it is my front courtyard where I had to take out my beloved tree. It got too big for the space and had too many dead branches. I have some orchid benches around the perimeter but I could work with that.

I have to get some stakes and flour and work on the design but you have given me some great tips.

I don't know when I will get to it, my yard is mostly jungle so it is time for a renovation.

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applestar
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I hope you WILL imafan. I'd love too see your progess on this project. Having seen your other raised bed garden, I'm sure it will be lovely. :D
Countryladiesgardens wrote:Hi!

Just wanted to say that your garden designs are awesome!

Thank you! :D

I had a great idea for a garden bed this year but got discouraged because of the slugs that we get and also because of our cats/dogs going into the bed and using it for a litter box! So now as a second idea I am going to put my flowers in containers. We have larger containers so I can fit 10 flowers per container. It will also be easier to move them around to where the sun/shade will be this Spring/Summer. I look forward to it as well as we have also had the last frost and the warmer temps seem to be out now! Yay! I know it was a long winter for all this year and it is nice to finally see some sunshine! I know our plants will all benefit from this great weather. Just need some compost/soil to fill the containers and I am set!

Sounds like a good plan. Hope you post progress photos 8)

Thanks for sharing your photos, it looks like you are off to a great start! What do you do about slugs/pests? Or do you not have to worry about that where you are?
What I do about slugs :twisted:
I rely heavily of my Garden Patrol for most other pests. But my biggest nemesis are groudHOGs (I need to repair the back fence and possibly extend the range of my little electric wire border/"fence")

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ElizabethB
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Applestar - you are so creative. Can't wait for progress reports.

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Countryladiesgardens
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Applestar..funny you should mention ground hogs, we get moles, I think they do basically the same thing, create hills all thru your yard, not to mention your garden beds! Luckily our dogs like to dig them up and kill them. We just have a few small Borgi's (Border Collie cross with Corgi) and they are the cutest most smartest pups! Anyways back on topic..slugs are awful! But our chickens love to eat them. Every time we find them in our yard we throw them into the coop and they have a frenzy trying to eat them at once! I am familiar with all sorts of remedies to get rid of them, and find your methods helpful. Still we are going to do container gardens for the most part. Except for our pea bed, which we are dissapointed with already as the tiny song birds keep on eating them! We've seen it with our own eyes..little buggers! Last year we did our peppers and tomatoes in containers and they did wonderful. Here's hoping this years plants will do just as good if not better. We are building a hoop house (greenhouse) for our peppers and tomatoes this year to protect them from the rain. Lots of garden projects ahead of us, exciting for sure! :-()

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rainbowgardener
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I have groundhogs/ woodchucks too. They are not like moles - much bigger for one thing, the size of beavers. They do live in underground burrows/ dens, but those are not likely to be in your garden, they look for somewhere safe and private. What they do is walk around above ground and eat everything they can get their grubby paws on, nibbling it right down, just leaving a little stem nubbin. I recognize the groundhog's work, when I see a row of little stems sticking up maybe an inch high, with nothing else left of what was a row of nice plants. Nothing to do about that but fence things in.

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applestar
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It's been raining non-stop -- the Spiral Garden has turned into a Spiral Pond :lol: kind of cool looking since not only the two low areas but the entire spiral path is under water while the spiral bed is safely mounded above the water level. 8) (another reason for building this bed like this in this location)

I'd take a picture but the upstairs "garden overlook" window panes and screen is spattered with rain and the camera can't auto focus past the water drops.... I peeked out the door to see if I could go out there, but it's still raining.... :|

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Countryladiesgardens
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Rainbowgardener: I think those groundhogs you mentioned are horrible! I can only imagine seeing stems of vegetables and knowing those big pests ate them all! I guess we all have our own animals to worry about in our gardens. Good luck fencing it all in, I am sure you have a method since you've been gardening for awhile!

Applestar: Would LOVE to see your Spiral Pond! I bet it looks really neat! Hope your rainy weather clears up soon so you can continue with your beds! :-()

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applestar
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So, the compost pile placement in the center of the Spiral Garden is inspired by the African Keyhole Garden (AKG) design. (I'll add a link as soon as I can find a decent reference source -- trying to find a good one related to the original project that's not looking for a donation....)

I was originally inspired to build my New Kitchen Garden (NKG) -which I mentioned earlier- loosely based on the AKG design, but chose not to place a compost pile in the middle at the time, and just put my strawberry jar in the middle back then. Image Also, when I built the NKG, I was equally inspired by the mandala garden design and the permaculture concept of increasing "edges" to maximize space -- so the idea was to be able to walk around and have access from the INSIDE EDGE of the bed as well as the OUTSIDE EDGE.

This year, I decided to -in fact- place a compost pile in the middle. I'm using my trusty old plastic bin.
image.jpg
It's a bit ODD to walk out of the kitchen/back door and see this rather big composter directly ahead of you. :o This Smith & Hawken composter was one of the early designs built to the standard minimum compost pile size specs rather than the newer reduced size (and therefore inefficient thermal mass) design plastic bins. So it really feels like it's taking up a good chunk of space. :roll:

The reason I went ahead and did this is that I want to raise up this bed quite a bit -- initially I thought I would use wall pavers and build up to at least knee height like the (AKG). But there is a bit of space limitation/constraint. So I opted for another clearance sale item -- a 36"x36" coir wire basket liner. I cut it into four 9"x36" strips and pressed them up against the chicken wire fence. Then started filling up with compost/sand/soil mixture along the liner. The four strips covered half of the NKG perimeter. I'm pretty sure I have another 36"x36" sheet in the garage so I'll be able to line the other half.
image.jpg
(Yeah, yeah -- the preview is upside down.  It'll turn right side up when you click/tap to zoom in)
(Yeah, yeah -- the preview is upside down. It'll turn right side up when you click/tap to zoom in)
The little bit of filling used up the wheelbarrow full of mix that I had -- just enough for the pre-germinated cucumber seeds, so it's going to be a gradual process.... :bouncey:

Having the compost bin here, I can make compost and use it directly in this bed. I was already able to fill it 1/3 full by spring cleaning about 1/3 of the patio (including the mess you saw in the first photo :oops: ). I'll layer that with wind blown pile of leaves from along the back fence, and by the time I finish cleaning the patio of all debris and weeds, adding some grass clippings and kitchen scraps along the way, the bin should be filled and ready to cook. :D

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Countryladiesgardens
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Wow your project looks so good applestar! Nice work! :) :)

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Thank you! :D Lots to do right now because we finally have a break in the weather (higher than low 40's overnight) which of course means we're going to skip spring in typical NJ way, and jump right into summer -- high 70's and 80's/60's starting this weekend. :roll:

With rain forecast for later afternoon and overnight, I was determined to haul my unfinished compost across the backyard from the opposite corner of the property over to the spiral garden and get the central compost pile finished.... And I did, just as the first spitting rain started to fall :clap:
image.jpg
That white patch is the outer spiral segment for which I ran out of corn to sow. I'm going to amend and hill up that portion and plant the melon seedlings. So I have a sheet of bubble wrap over it to warm the soil up a bit.

You can see a bit of the covered bed in the back where the watermelon are going to go. I had potatoes in that (new) bed last year, so the whole area has been amended with sand and compost and is loose from looking for and digging up all the potatoes. All I need to do is add more compost for the watermelons.

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applestar
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From the left... Fence Row Espalier Orchard (pears, apple(s), persimmon, raspberries)... Haybale Row Bed (SVB vulnerable protected winter squash pepo and maxima vars., dry shell beans)... Sunflower House (perennial stinging nettle patch, Egyptian onion mother plants, Chinese/garlic chives patch and this year's snow peas, cucumbers, pole beans, tomatoes+)... SFHX (watermelons)... Spiral Garden (perennial elderberry, strawberries, monarda, anise hyssop, Egyptian onion mother plant, overwintered garlic, and this year's onions, snow peas, snap peas, cucumbers, corn, melons, winter squash moschata and mixta vars., bush beans, pole beans...etc.)
image.jpg

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applestar
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So today, the corn are 1 iPhone tall. (It's a unit of measurement right?) :lol:
Lots of sprouted weeds after the rain and warm night. Have to get at them tomorrow. :evil:

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applestar
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I mentioned this before but I love my $8 shedding rake (dog/horse grooming tool) for weeding around young plants/seedlings. It worked like a charm between/around onions, and I sowed some pre-germinated beet seed capsules where onions were more than 8" apart. Took care of the weeds around corn too. :D

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applestar
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I was weeding and sowing pre-germinated beet seeds again today, and just had to take some pics to show :()
image.jpg
You can get this close :)
You can get this close :)
After
After
The smooth edge is good for cutting the weeds below soil level, the teethed edge is good for breaking up the crusty soil. You can push/pull with either edge to scratch/stir up the surface to get at germinating weed seeds. Just be careful not to chop up the earthworms :wink: I disturbed a whole lot of them :mrgreen:

valley
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I have heard that if you cut an earth worm in half they will make two worms?

Your garden looks like a fun place to play in, not rough play but fun.

Richard

I just read a bit about worms they say no, the worm may survive but the tail won't grow a head, too bad.

but the Planarian Flatworm can grow a new worm from a sliver of the worm.

study this, I'm gona ask questions later.

valley
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applestar, Is that a horse grooming wand, a curry comb, you're using to weed? You do a lot of fun and inventive things in your garden!

I like the Spiral Garden.




Richard

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applestar
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Yep! :D
I have a super sharp Japanese hand weeder with a triangular forged head for mass destruction of older weeds, but it's designed to be used at a specific angle and is useless in some applications. Also, because of the unforgiving shape and because the sharp triangular corners are below the soil surface while in use, it's easy to accidentally lop off the plants you are trying to weed AROUND -- you can't get too close. So I started looking for a better designed tool for close weeding, and came across something called "circle hoe" and a few others of similar design. Well, they cost $24-$36 depending on shipping etc. so I put them on my wishlist and thought about it.

Then while I had this on my mind, I went to a garden center where they sold pet/horse stuff next to the welded wire trellises, and when I saw the shedding/curry comb, a :idea: lit over my head :idea:)

There were 3 or 4 designs, some fancy, but this simple brown one at $8 and pretty sturdy couldn't be beat. :(). I believe this one is sold as suitable for extra large dogs and horses. They sell smaller sizes as well.

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applestar
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I'm field crafting my pea supports until they grow tall enough to reach last year's modified Florida Weave tomato support strings, then I'll add vertical strings as necessary
Green Beauty snowpeas
Green Beauty snowpeas
Sugar Daddy and Sugar Snap snap peas
Sugar Daddy and Sugar Snap snap peas
Added compost and mulched the melon segment of the Spiral Garden along with the SFH (rectangular -- this year's IND tomato bed), SFHX (extension -- watermelon patch) and the Haybale Row (raised mound bed -- protected winter squash patch)
image.jpg
The straw mulched row in front is the new raspberry patch -- I planted 4 Anne and 4 Prelude as bareroot sticks earlier in spring, and new shoots are starting to grow. I'll need to build a T-post wire support.

Not sure if you can see, but the strawberries in the center of the spiral are growing HUGE with big flowers! There must be plenty of residual nutrients from last year. 8)

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applestar
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Winter Squash are planted :D

Surrounding the center spiral compost pile, I planted varieties that are resistant to SVB's (Squash Vine Borers) -- C. moschata Thai Kang Kob and Seminole, and C. mixta/angiosperma Japanese Pie and Jonathan White Cushaw.

I put their containers next to them to show how big the seedlings were relative to the containers when planted.
image.jpg
Most already grew the 2nd true leaf so I was feeling pressured to plant them before they were stressed. Here's a picture to show the extent of the root growth. They were all about at this stage -- just starting to grow along the container wall:
image.jpg
Mulched and done. Yeah too close to the corn, but unavoidable. I'm hoping they will just grow vines past the corn to seek out the sun and roots below the compost pile for nutrients. (I must have cut up at least two or more earthworms per planting hole.). I'll keep them from crawling over the corn or wrapping on the corn and dragging them down, and hopefully, the corn and squash will seek different root depths and won't compete too much... We shall see.
image.jpg
image.jpg (62.27 KiB) Viewed 3808 times

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applestar
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Winter squash that are susceptible to SVB's were planted in the Haybale Row. They were C. pepo Bush Delicata and Kakai, and C. maxima Uncle David's Dessert, Red Kuri, and Guatemalan Blue.
image.jpg
I covered them with this insect netting row cover:
image.jpg
I have a second row cover and can expand coverage as they grow, and I'll think about how to protect them after that. If continuing to use the insect barrier, I plan to hand pollinate. I'm not worried about them crossing.

If any tasty morsels manage to sneak in, there is at least one resident spider, and she is carrying her babies around, so there will soon be even more hungry mouths to feed :twisted:
image.jpg

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High vantage view:
Melons are next!
Melons are next!
Tomatoes and watermelons are next!
Tomatoes and watermelons are next!

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applestar
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Beets have sprouted between the onions. They are so colorful and pretty! :D
image.jpg
image.jpg
Cucumbers have sprouted in a neat row behind the Green Beauty snowpeas. They are actually on the SE side. If this works, the cucumbers will take over when the snowpeas are done.
image.jpg

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applestar
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It seems like the squash is visibly taking off!
Does it look like the corn is keeping ahead? They are going to be in trouble if they let the squashes overtake them :shock:
image.jpg
...today's rain should help. The onion/beets segment of the outer spiral was getting dry. But the onions are already too tall to step over. :lol:

BTW can you see them? I threw out the remaining ungerminated squash and melon seeds in the centeral compost... well, they sprouted. :roll:

ETA: I just remembered I have a bit of Neptune's Fish left --I was under the assumption that I'm out of organic hi N ferts.-- maybe I'll go around from the path side and hi the corn with it tomorrow.... Also, I wasn't going to mulch the corn/path because I'm going to need to hill the corn later, but it looks like the anti-rain device is active again over my area. The storms literally part or go out of their way to avoid my garden. So maybe I'll start mulching with green-heavy mulch mixed with some browns. I'll just have to push them aside first when hilling.

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applestar
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Hm... Just remembered that research for the African Keyhole Garden project has shown the central compost basket to supply nutrients (and water) for approximately 6 foot radius. So if the corn would just hurry up and grow some more roots, there might be enough. Earthworms and night crawlers are making holes all over the surface of the entire Spiral Garden, too, fertilizing with worm castings 24/7. :mrgreen:

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applestar
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applestar wrote:BTW can you see them? I threw out the remaining ungerminated squash and melon seeds in the centeral compost... well, they sprouted. :roll:
...well, I looked again today, and -honestly- it looks like they ALL sprouted :shock:
image.jpg

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applestar
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I can't help it. Here's today's picture of the SG winter squash. It looks like 2nd from the left is different from 2nd from the right. 8)
Johnathan White Cushaw — Japanese Pie or <br />Seminole — Thai Kang Kob — Japanese Pie or Seminole — Thai Kang Kob
Johnathan White Cushaw — Japanese Pie or
Seminole — Thai Kang Kob — Japanese Pie or Seminole — Thai Kang Kob
Oh, look! Seascape strawberries are starting to set fruits :()

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applestar
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In the Patio Side Kitchen Garden, NOW the cucumber seedlings under the glass A-frame seems to be showing a slight advantage.... 8)
image.jpg

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Cola82
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This is all looking so nice. It also reminds me that I probably need to worry about SVBs too, now that I have squash out in the yard. Bird netting probably won't be sufficient. ;p

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applestar
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Thanks Cola :D Do you get SVB's? I thought I'd heard they are unheard of in Northern California, so maybe not in Oregon either?

I'm packing them in. My strategy is to plant them while I can, then collapse/relax and wait for the production to kick in 8)

Today, I sowed pre-germinated Tiger Eye beans in the back 11-1:00 outer spiral in front of the snap peas. I soaked them overnight 5/17-18 and rinse/drained them 4 times yesterday... And practically all of them had germinated today. These are what's left in the sprouter
Christmas Lima, Old Mother Stallard, and Tiger Eye dry shelled pole beans
Christmas Lima, Old Mother Stallard, and Tiger Eye dry shelled pole beans
You can see one Tiger Eye germinated since this afternoon and a Christmas Lima is starting to germinate.

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Cola82
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That would be a huge relief if we don't. Aphids, PM, slugs, and birds are irritating enough.

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applestar
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Planted the melons in the Spiral Garden today. I wasn't sure if it's getting warm enough for them (I haven't even planted out the peppers yet) but they wre getting too big, and I prefer to only transplant them once -- to their final growing space.

So since I observed that the cucumbers under the makeshift glass A-frame did seem to benefit if only slightly, I took them from the cucumbers and gave them to the melons :twisted:
image.jpg
Update of the Spiral Garden:
The spiral is starting to fill in.
The spiral is starting to fill in.
image.jpg (64.29 KiB) Viewed 3342 times

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applestar
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Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

This has nothing to do with this year's Spiral Garden except that it's located where I grew these Tromboncino back then:

Subject: Tromboncino squash
applestar wrote:Here are big ones I'm leaving to mature with one of our cats as size reference :wink:
Image
I wish the Tromboncino seeds I tried to pre-germinate this year hadn't failed. They look cool 8)

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applestar
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Posts: 30504
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Updates:
Spiral Garden full ground-level view
Spiral Garden full ground-level view
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C. moschata and mixta/angeosperma and Corn Circle
C. moschata and mixta/angeosperma and Corn Circle
Melons under glass A-frame
Melons under glass A-frame
Last night's gusty rainstorm made some of the corn lodge. So as soon as it dries out a bit, I'm going to hill the corn with soil from the path, then I'm going to mulch and sow bush beans at the base of the hilled soil.

It looks like the melons are already outgrowing the glass A-frame, but -- ridiculous as this sounds after days of summer-like weather pushing us into turning on the A/C -- forecast for overnight low/tomorrow pre-dawn is 50°F. So I'll leave them in place for now.



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