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Gary350
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Tennessee 2019 Garden

Today I planted about 55 hard neck garlic. I'm not sure how well it will grow in this mulch but I will soon find out. 70 soft neck garlic I planted a month ago starting growing tops a few days ago. Soft neck garlic takes a month to grow tops, hard neck garlic will usually start growing tops in 3 to 5 days. I have about 100 garlic in another location planted in Oct that only have about 10 tops maybe in warmer weather the other 90 are still be alive and will grow.
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Rhubarb that I am forcing to be RED from lack of sunlight is looking good. Crazy warm weather Rhubarb has been trying to grow for a month but when temperatures drop below freezing tops freeze off. Upside down trash cans protected the plants last time we had a freeze. I am surprised trash cans have not blown away we had 30 mph wind gusting to 45 and trash cans never blew over. I hope this makes good Rhubarb Wine, I know it will make very good Rhubarb Cake and Rhubarb pancake syrup. .
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Winter potato tops have frozen off several times but they keep growing back. Last time I grew winter potatoes about 15 or 20 years ago a 20 ft row made 28 lbs of russet potatoes. I planted about 15 potato peels with eyes under this fish aquarium Sept 29 it is hard to tell how many plants are actually growing maybe 4 or 5. They should be ready to dig up May 1st or sooner potatoes are a 4 month crop in warm weather but not sure how long they take in cold weather. We might get 1 or 2 lbs of potatoes from this. This year I would like to plant 10 potatoes plants every month if I can figure out how to get seed potatoes year round.
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I just finished planting seeds, broccoli, Napa Cabbage, onion seeds, head cabbage, 1/2 long carrots, lettuce, chard, spinach, beets. I mother use to plant seeds in cold weather when weather got warmer plants would grow. It has been a very long time since I planted seeds like this. I am not having good luck growing chard or beets these days it comes up then dies.

When I was 27 yrs old the old lady next door planted seeds in the first snow. She had a fence post marking end of each row with a steel wire between the post to mark a straight line. She sprinkled seeds along the wire when weather finally got warm she had a garden. She had no tiller, only work she did was hoe weeds & grass. She had a small garden 6 rows 20 ft long.

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Today I planted 100 more hard neck garlic. While I was at the store I noticed they have onion sets so I bought a bundle. Onions & garlic are planted in mulch that is 4" thick. I hope garlic & onions will grow larger in mulch it is less compaction than soil. I also hope roots grow through the mulch into the soil below. Have to wait and see what happens. This may be a bad place to plant onions & garlic it will only get about 1 or 2 hours of full sun every morning on the month of June & 2 weeks of July. It is not a good idea to put all my eggs in 1 basket so maybe I plant more garlic & onions in a different location when soil dries out enough to be tilled.
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Fun! I hope they will grow well.


...I don’t like that the tag didn’t say what variety of onions — did it have more details on the back?

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applestar wrote:Fun! I hope they will grow well.
...I don’t like that the tag didn’t say what variety of onions — did it have more details on the back?
Onion tag said nothing. Didn't even say if they are yellow or white onion. No quantity either. Last year I missed my chance to by onions like this they came and went in a few days no one restocked. When I saw onions today box was almost empty 3 bundles of onions left so I gone one. Skin is a bit brown color so they are probably yellow onions exactly what I wanted. Last year I bought a bundle of grocery store onions made to eat then planted them in the garden and they actually grew. I was hoping to pull them to eat for green onions once I notice they are growing bulbs I let them grow. We had about 70 golf ball size onions. LOL.

I got my rooted blackberry cuttings planted today, 55 plants. This year will be canes, next year will be berries. I might get lucky and get 2 quarts of berries this year from last year plants. Our front yard is 3 times bigger than back yard with full sun so I planted rooted cutting in front to the west corner next to the street. This low area catches more rain water than the rest of the yard that slopes down hill about 2 degrees. Some mornings there are 15 deer in front yard I hope they don't eat blackberry leaves or berries.
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November I decided I will never grow anymore seeds inside the house so I threw about 75 plant trays in the trash, that was before I started thinking I need a green house to germinate seeds. Today I am looking for things to plant seeds in. LOL. I have 2 empty grocery store muffin holder and a mini donut box. I bought seeds for plants that I never see at the garden store they need to be planted. I sifted mulch to get very nice soft soil for seeds to germinate & grow. I plan to put a shovel of garden soil in a 5 gallon bucket of water, stir well then use the water to water my new plants. I have done this in the past soil water has nutrients new plants need to grow it has always worked. I never used mulch for soil before not sure how well this will work. If I look hard enough I might find a few plant trays hiding some where they work great inside plastic bags.
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Today I stocked up on potatoes & onions at the Amish Garden store. We don't usually eat Red Pontiac potatoes but I bought 3 lbs of seed potatoes anyway. These are very good hot weather potatoes they will out grow white potatoes 4 to 1 and have a 3 month growing season.

I bought 8 lbs of Kennebec Potatoes they have a 4 month growing season. I was careful to pick out seed potatoes with 6 or 7 eyes per potato. Potatoes need to stay warm inside the house in the dark for a month until eyes grow, about 2" long with roots. I will buy another 8 lbs of seed potatoes in another week.

I bought 50 red onion sets, 50 white onion sets, 200 yellow onion sets. Red onions have short shelf life they need to be eated first. White onions are shorter shelf life than yellow they need to be eaten soon also. I need 100 more yellow onions.
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Today it was 70 degrees, sunny, & windy. I bought 200 more yellow onion sets. I planted, 1/2 long carrots, spinach, potato peals.
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Another 200 yellow onions.  This makes a total of 400 yellow onions, 50 white onions, 50 purple onions.  About 100 onion plants.  I have forgotten where I planted onion seeds, so far I see on plants???
Another 200 yellow onions. This makes a total of 400 yellow onions, 50 white onions, 50 purple onions. About 100 onion plants. I have forgotten where I planted onion seeds, so far I see on plants???
Nice looking potato plants.  70 degree and sunny today it feels like 110 degrees inside the fish aquarium.  I need to keep an eye on this hotter weather might kill tops too.  Soon I will remove fish aquarium and let plants finish growing.
Nice looking potato plants. 70 degree and sunny today it feels like 110 degrees inside the fish aquarium. I need to keep an eye on this hotter weather might kill tops too. Soon I will remove fish aquarium and let plants finish growing.
This is the winter potatoes inside the fish aquarium.  Tops froze off in cold weather but have grown back.
This is the winter potatoes inside the fish aquarium. Tops froze off in cold weather but have grown back.
This spot has 16 potato peals with large growing eyes planted 4" apart if 4 rows 4" apart.  I made sure there is no nitrogen in this soil.  Last year my potato vines were 6 feet long the soil I bought was loaded with nitrogen that is probably why plants were so large and only 1 small potato per plant.  I hope this year potato plants stay small no taller that 2 ft.  It appears potatoes are like tomatoes nitrogen produces large plants with very small harvest.
This spot has 16 potato peals with large growing eyes planted 4" apart if 4 rows 4" apart. I made sure there is no nitrogen in this soil. Last year my potato vines were 6 feet long the soil I bought was loaded with nitrogen that is probably why plants were so large and only 1 small potato per plant. I hope this year potato plants stay small no taller that 2 ft. It appears potatoes are like tomatoes nitrogen produces large plants with very small harvest.
I planted 500 spinach seeds in this row.
I planted 500 spinach seeds in this row.
I planted 500 half long carrots seeds in this 30" x 9 ft spot.
I planted 500 half long carrots seeds in this 30" x 9 ft spot.

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Gary350 wrote: I made sure there is no nitrogen in this soil.
How d'you do that Gary?

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Vanisle_BC wrote:
Gary350 wrote: I made sure there is no nitrogen in this soil.
How d'you do that Gary?
I should have said, I want nitrogen in the potato row to be low so plants are not 6 ft tall this year. College professor told me once if soil nitrogen is too low plants will develop Chlorosis. Once plants turn yellow from Chlorosis they are usually beyond saving. If I add mulch to soil it will lower nitrogen. Too much mulch will cause Chlorosis. Potatoes grow larger in soft soil.

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Gary350 wrote:If I add mulch to soil it will lower nitrogen.
Thanks for spelling that out Gary. I'm wondering if some different mulches might add nitrogen rather than reduce it.

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Vanisle_BC wrote:
Gary350 wrote:If I add mulch to soil it will lower nitrogen.
Thanks for spelling that out Gary. I'm wondering if some different mulches might add nitrogen rather than reduce it.
I planted 16 potato eyes in mulch yesterday. I hope to learn what happens to the plants before I plant more potato plants a month from now. The man that owns the local nursery buys saw mill saw dust he ages it 7 years before he uses it. My mulch is about 4 or 5 years short of 7 years old I need to be careful not to kill plants with it. I planted cabbage seeds in mulch few weeks ago plants grew then died. I have tomatoes, peppers, broccoli seeds planted in mulch I hope to see how these grow. Today I will plant a few beans in mulch to see what happens. Beans grow fast I need to do several tests today with mulch some mixed with soil, 50/50 mix, 75/25 mix, 100% to learn how well plants grow.

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Mulch can be acidic, so that might have been one issue for cabbages. A pinch of dolomitic lime per cell or Something like 1 cup per 5 gallon mix, maybe? (I have to look that up) will go a long way.

Also try 2:2:1 with builder’s sand, and add a bit of nitrogen source in case mulch is not aged enough. I’ve used used coffee grounds, soaked alfalfa pellets.... chicken grit (crushed granite or oyster shells) could be used in place of sand + lime. Saved boiled egg shells (or oven dried raw egg shells) coarse crushed (I put in qt plastic container then pound with a wooden pestil) or ground up in a dedicated coffee grinder works to add calcium, phosphorus, and nitrogen, too

...I also mix in mosquito bits and ag/food grade powdered diatomaceous earth for good measure.

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applestar wrote:Mulch can be acidic, so that might have been one issue for cabbages. A pinch of dolomitic lime per cell or Something like 1 cup per 5 gallon mix, maybe? (I have to look that up) will go a long way.

Also try 2:2:1 with builder’s sand, and add a bit of nitrogen source in case mulch is not aged enough. I’ve used used coffee grounds, soaked alfalfa pellets.... chicken grit (crushed granite or oyster shells) could be used in place of sand + lime. Saved boiled egg shells (or oven dried raw egg shells) coarse crushed (I put in qt plastic container then pound with a wooden pestil) or ground up in a dedicated coffee grinder works to add calcium, phosphorus, and nitrogen, too

...I also mix in mosquito bits and ag/food grade powdered diatomaceous earth for good measure.
I think my garden already has a high acid problem there are a dozen pine trees on the south side wind blows all those pine needles right on the garden. I raked up 2 large piles of pine needles and burned them Nov. During winter the whole garden was covered with a carpet of brown pine needles that I could not rake because of mud. I put 250 lbs of white hybrid lime on the garden in Dec. Maybe I should have added more lime, too late now instructions says, add to soil 4 months before planting.

I planted beans is a 50/50 mix of garden soil & mulch I will keep an eye on beans to see how they do if plants turn yellow I know mulch is not aged enough.

Seeds I planted 2 days ago are growing 8 broccoli plants. Tomorrow plants need to spend the whole day outside in the sun & wind.
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Today I planted 57 day Packman Broccoli. I decided not to worry if mulch is too acid or if mulch causes chlorotic. If 8 plants die I only wasted $4. Wed high was 70 degrees more cold weather & rain on the way. Broccoli is ok down to 28 degrees.

I bought another 5 lbs of Kennebec potatoes. This may be enough seed potatoes.
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We had spaghetti squash for dinner yesterday, wow it was good with home made pizza sauce from the pantry that we made with our own garden tomatoes last summer. I saved the squash seeds, I usually plant seeds directly in the garden but I think I will plant 3 seeds in pots about April 1st. They might be ready to plant in the garden 4 weeks later. I save a lot of grocery store seeds I have very good luck with them. Commercial growers often have very good seeds, often seeds that are not for sale anywhere.
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Spaghetti squash is a C.pepo so will be susceptible to squash vine borers.

For me, best strategy is to start them early and plant out early with protection so they will have chance to mature at least one or two fruits (or first 2 or 3 clusters of good harvest with summer squash) before being overcome. My experiments with insect barrier trunnel structure and hand pollinating has not been fool-proof.

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applestar wrote:Spaghetti squash is a C.pepo so will be susceptible to squash vine borers.

For me, best strategy is to start them early and plant out early with protection so they will have chance to mature at least one or two fruits (or first 2 or 3 clusters of good harvest with summer squash) before being overcome. My experiments with insect barrier trunnel structure and hand pollinating has not been fool-proof.
Thanks for reminding me about squash vine borers I was not even thinking spaghetti squash would get squash vine borers because this plant is a vine, different than yellow & zucchini plants. I have a terrible time with yellow squash & zucchini squash getting squash vine borers they often kill plants before there are squash to harvest. In like to plant a new squash seed every week all summer to try an have squash on the kitchen table all summer. Last summer squash vine borers were not a problem but summer before that we had a plague of squash vine borers all plants died. Last year I made sure all squash were planted in full sun, I kept leaves pulled back so sun could get on the stem and so birds could see bugs if there were bugs. I think wet soil causes more bugs, if birds see bugs they get eaten. I bought radish seeds to plant with yellow squash, radish plants give off a toxic gas that squash vine borers don't like it is suppose to keep bugs away. I will need to plant radishes with spaghetti squash too. Another thing I want to try, plant gourds with squash to keep bugs away. I have a 1/2 lb bag of turnip green seeds I want to plant them around a squash plant too. Plants that never have bugs are suppose to be very good to keep bugs away from plants that do have bugs. I hope this works.

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Last week I tilled the garden every other day 3 times to kill all grass an weeds. Today I marked out the first 2 rows an covered them with 6" of mulch then tilled it in. I put a whole 5 gallon bucked of wood ash on each row then 6 more inches of mulch then tilled it in. Each row has 70 potatoes planted in it. Last year I only got 1 potato per eye this year if the same thing happens we will have 140 new potatoes. This year I was careful to pick out seed potatoes with 6 or 7 eyes each but after keeping them warm in the dark for a month only 1 eyes per potato has sprouts 3" to 4" long. The other 5 potatoes eyes are doing nothing but maybe they will after being planted in the garden. Instead of making cuttings with the eyes I planted the whole potato. In the past every time I have planted whole potatoes they grew no new potatoes so there is a possibility there will be no potato crop this year. Just have to wait and see. This year I have done good soil preparation for potatoes making sure there is no added nitrogen. Hopefully plants this year will not grow taller than 2 ft, not 6 ft like last year. I planted about 65% Kennebec potatoes an 35% Red Pontiac potatoes. In the past I've had very good luck with red potatoes they out produce white potatoes about 4 to 1. Red Pontiac is a 3 month crop, white potatoes are usually 4 month crops, but Kennebec is a fast growing white 3 month potato.

I have been burning wooded oak pallets I have a 30 gallon trash almost full of wood ash, it has 100s of nails & staples. All the nails & staples will go in tomato plant holes. Iron rust is suppose to be good for tomato blight and other things.

This year I am planting the garden different. First cold weather crop that I can plant gets planted first in row 1. Next crop that can be planted is probably onions. Third thing I can plant is probably tomatoes about April 20. Next corn, beans, squash, melons, okra, peppers, herbs, etc. In the past I have always planted the tallest plants like corn on the north side of the garden so they do not shade shorter plants. Today solar noon at zip code 37129 was 12:48 pm, sun is 59 degrees. June 21 sun will be 89 degrees it does not matter where tall an short plants are planted they will not shade each other much until a month after crops have been harvested. If you want to know solar noon at your house do google search for, solar noon at (your zip code).

This year I have 13 rows, 32" apart, first 3 rows are 34 ft long, next 10 rows are 40 ft long. There is a 20'x20' area that might be melons, not decided yet. There is another spot 15x25 not sure what it will be. I am making a test area 3'x10' to plant onions, garlic, lettuce, chard, broccoli, cilantro, in full shade under the trees.
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You’ve been working hard. I need to get crackin’ in my garden as well.


Listen, I was a little concerned about your soil prep where you planted your potatoes. It’s always been my understanding that you want to avoid alkaline soil for potatoes due to making them susceptible to some kind of disease. For this reason, I use pine needles when mulching my potatoes.

Before posting, I looked for confirmation of my fuzzy memory to make sure, and found this source that seems reliable —

Bulletin #2077, Growing Potatoes in the Home Garden | Cooperative Extension Publications | University of Maine
https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2077e/
Potatoes do well across a wide range of pH, but prefer slightly acidic soils; a soil pH of 5.3 to 6.0 is typical for potato production. If your soil is more acidic than this, mixing in wood ash will help raise the pH and make your soil more alkaline. However, higher soil pH levels are more conducive to scab, a potato disease caused by a soil-borne pathogen.

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applestar wrote:You’ve been working hard. I need to get crackin’ in my garden as well.


Listen, I was a little concerned about your soil prep where you planted your potatoes. It’s always been my understanding that you want to avoid alkaline soil for potatoes due to making them susceptible to some kind of disease. For this reason, I use pine needles when mulching my potatoes.

Before posting, I looked for confirmation of my fuzzy memory to make sure, and found this source that seems reliable —

Bulletin #2077, Growing Potatoes in the Home Garden | Cooperative Extension Publications | University of Maine
https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2077e/
Potatoes do well across a wide range of pH, but prefer slightly acidic soils; a soil pH of 5.3 to 6.0 is typical for potato production. If your soil is more acidic than this, mixing in wood ash will help raise the pH and make your soil more alkaline. However, higher soil pH levels are more conducive to scab, a potato disease caused by a soil-borne pathogen.
I hope I did not use too much wood ash, too late now. There are about 40 pine trees on 3 sides of the garden they dump lots of pine needles in the garden. Last year I noticed plants closest to the pine trees were stunted, very small short plants. I think my soil is already too acid. Mulch might be acid too. About a month ago wife had a bag of grocery store potatoes that were growing sprouts she pealed them very thick and I planted the eyes directly into a large pile of mulch. Potato plants are growing very well and have small potatoes already. After tilling wood ash into mulch an soil too it is spread out fairly thin I hope I did not screw up. Have to wait an see. Maybe I should have bought a 50 lb bag of 0-5-15 fertilizer. I can rake up a large pickup truck full of pine needles in 20 minutes, maybe I should mulch potatoes with pine needles.

I ordered Litmus Paper to test my soil, mixed with distilled water. Test water first then mix water with soil then test it again. Distilled water should test neutral 7ph. Water soil mix will = 50% change in ph. If 7ph water + soil = 6ph then soil = 5ph. Math 7+5=12 divide by 2 = 6. If soil + water = 5.5ph then soil is 4ph. This test only tells soil ph.
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Dam, I got a work out just reading this thread.

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Today I got lucky an found 2 trays of Big Beef tomatoes. Last frost is not until April 20 an we are having 75 degree weather. The Garden Store got their first load of plants today.

Today I planted a few seeds in pots. Applestar, wonder where I learned this cool idea to use plastic spoons for markers. :)

We used up 2 more pint jars of tomatoes from the pantry today for spaghetti sauce from last years garden. Pantry has about 10 jars of tomatoes left. Looks like I forgot how to focus a camera this spaghetti picture sucks.

I removed the fish aquarium from the winter potatoes. I can feel potatoes in the soil. I will let them grow a few more weeks.

The cats came to see what I am doing. Those skinny cats are not so skinny anymore. I can not teach them to eat, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, corn & squash.
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Gary350 wrote:
applestar wrote:Spaghetti squash is a C.pepo so will be susceptible to squash vine borers.

For me, best strategy is to start them early and plant out early with protection so they will have chance to mature at least one or two fruits (or first 2 or 3 clusters of good harvest with summer squash) before being overcome. My experiments with insect barrier trunnel structure and hand pollinating has not been fool-proof.
Thanks for reminding me about squash vine borers I was not even thinking spaghetti squash would get squash vine borers because this plant is a vine, different than yellow & zucchini plants. I have a terrible time with yellow squash & zucchini squash getting squash vine borers they often kill plants before there are squash to harvest. In like to plant a new squash seed every week all summer to try an have squash on the kitchen table all summer. Last summer squash vine borers were not a problem but summer before that we had a plague of squash vine borers all plants died. Last year I made sure all squash were planted in full sun, I kept leaves pulled back so sun could get on the stem and so birds could see bugs if there were bugs. I think wet soil causes more bugs, if birds see bugs they get eaten. I bought radish seeds to plant with yellow squash, radish plants give off a toxic gas that squash vine borers don't like it is suppose to keep bugs away. I will need to plant radishes with spaghetti squash too. Another thing I want to try, plant gourds with squash to keep bugs away. I have a 1/2 lb bag of turnip green seeds I want to plant them around a squash plant too. Plants that never have bugs are suppose to be very good to keep bugs away from plants that do have bugs. I hope this works.
Check the fruit often while growing, the little bastages get into everything.
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Today I rented a tractor for $60 it took me 2 hours to push all the mulch onto the garden & get it level. It took another 2 hours to till mulch into the soil.

I also dug up the winter potatoes. It is a good thing I dug potatoes up they were ready to harvest a month ago. Potatoes are smarter than ME they know they are a 4 month crop the new potatoes sprouted eyes and was in the process of growing more potatoes. In the past I have gotten a good crop of winter potatoes even if plants above the soil keep freezing and do not grow. Scales show 2 lbs 1 ounce of potatoes. Potatoes with dark brown skin are the original crop grown from several potato peals. The whiter color potatoes are the 2nd crop of new potatoes that were starting to grow. I think 20 potato peals were planted sometime in Nov.

It was 78 degrees today. Going to be 80 tomorrow. We are suppose to have bad storms tomorrow evening. It is warm enough to plant the whole garden but I don't trust the weather last frost is 2 weeks away. We could still have freezing weather.
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A month ago when sun was lower in the sky and behind the trees my rhubarb that is growing in the dark under trash cans was blood RED. Now the sun is at 60 degrees and above the trees dark blue trash cans are still blocking out the sun but rhubarb is now green. I put trash cans over my head it is dark with no leaks. I put camera on auto picture under the trash can pictures are black. No visible light is getting in. I pulled off a green rhubarb stalk and it is not sour like rhubarb should be but it is green and it has no rhubarb flavor. Maybe ultraviolet light is going through the dark blue plastic barrels. Tomorrow I see if I can get 15 used wore out car tires from a tire shop to stack 5 high on each plant. I put a metal barrel over 1 plant today maybe that will help block the sun to 1 plant for now.
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applestar wrote:You’ve been working hard. I need to get crackin’ in my garden as well.


Listen, I was a little concerned about your soil prep where you planted your potatoes. It’s always been my understanding that you want to avoid alkaline soil for potatoes due to making them susceptible to some kind of disease. For this reason, I use pine needles when mulching my potatoes.

Before posting, I looked for confirmation of my fuzzy memory to make sure, and found this source that seems reliable —

Bulletin #2077, Growing Potatoes in the Home Garden | Cooperative Extension Publications | University of Maine
https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2077e/
Potatoes do well across a wide range of pH, but prefer slightly acidic soils; a soil pH of 5.3 to 6.0 is typical for potato production. If your soil is more acidic than this, mixing in wood ash will help raise the pH and make your soil more alkaline. However, higher soil pH levels are more conducive to scab, a potato disease caused by a soil-borne pathogen.
Litmus paper tests show.
Kitchen 5% Vinegar = 3ph
Green pine needles from the tree = 5ph
Rain water = 6ph
city water = 7ph
distilled water = 7ph
garden soil with, no mulch, no wood ash = 7ph
garden soil + mulch + wood ash = 7.5ph
Dry dead pine needles laying 5 months on the ground = 7.5ph
mulch = 8ph

I am surprised mulch is 8ph this may not be good for potatoes. We have had almost 4" of rain in 2 days that could be a good thing for the soil it should bring ph down a bit.
Arizona soil was 8ph and Arizona water was 8ph it was not a problem for the garden.
I dug up several potatoes they have only been in the soil a few days already they have 3" long roots about 50 roots per potato.
Garden is a swap after all this rain just have to wait a few days.

I won't be able to run the tiller for 5 to 7 days depending how warm it gets and how windy it gets.

Last time I tried to lower soil ph I waited 3 weeks like instructions said after planting the garden all the plants died. 2 weeks later I planted again all the plants died. After watering the soil over and over and over with many gallons of water every day for a week I planted again all the plants lived. The dilemma now is, what to do next? Maybe 2 gallons of kitchen vinegar? Maybe I do nothing to see what happens?
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Gary350
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Sense pepper seeds are very slow to germinate I put them in my bread proofing box on 85 degrees I hope to have plants in a week.
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Vanisle_BC
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Gary, my Anaheim pepper seeds come up 2 days ago, a full 12 days after sowing. They had no heat pad, in my moderately heated workshop. I'd guess the air temp at 65 or so. Must get a thermometer for that place :). Anyway they were the very last of that batch of seeds to emerge, including tomatoes; I was beginning to think they were not viable.

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Gary350
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Vanisle_BC wrote:Gary, my Anaheim pepper seeds come up 2 days ago, a full 12 days after sowing. They had no heat pad, in my moderately heated workshop. I'd guess the air temp at 65 or so. Must get a thermometer for that place :). Anyway they were the very last of that batch of seeds to emerge, including tomatoes; I was beginning to think they were not viable.
I started Marconi pepper seeds in the house on a hot pad March first tomatoes germinated but peppers never germinated. I hope my seeds are not bad. Now I am trying something different. No one in town has Marconi peppers and no one has them ordered. I am out of luck buying Marconi if I don't grow plants from seeds I won't have any.

Today I put down a green pine needle bed to plant potatoes on to lower ph. Online says, green pine needles will not lower ph very much, I decided to try it anyway. What is the definition of, not very much, 1/2ph, 1ph, 1.5ph? One year I planted potatoes May 1, May 15 and June 1. June potatoes did best. I did same thing with onions & June onions did best. One year I planted potatoes in first part of April 6 weeks later there were potatoes, small & large. I carefully picked out larger potatoes to eat an left the smaller potatoes to grow larger. It is interesting that 1 seed potato can grow 10 new potatoes an 3 of the new potatoes will have a 90% head start on the other 7 smaller potatoes. The 3 large potatoes can be eaten while the other 7 continue to grow. For some reason new potatoes do not all grow at the same speed on the same plant, tomatoes do the same thing. Some of the potatoes I planted a week ago already have potatoes the size of peas and kidney beans. I notice several tiny potatoes on the roots if it continues to stay like that there will be several large new potatoes on each plant.
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rainbowgardener
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I love growing potatoes: 1) they are another one of those crops that taste so much better home grown. Who knew potatoes had actual flavor, not just bland starch ! 2) they function almost like a perennial. It seems like in the process of digging up potatoes, the small marble size or less ones that are just starting break off and are left behind. They sit in the soil all winter and then start growing in spring. I already have some volunteer potato plants sprouting in places where potatoes were planted last year.

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Gary350
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rainbowgardener wrote:I love growing potatoes: 1) they are another one of those crops that taste so much better home grown. Who knew potatoes had actual flavor, not just bland starch ! 2) they function almost like a perennial. It seems like in the process of digging up potatoes, the small marble size or less ones that are just starting break off and are left behind. They sit in the soil all winter and then start growing in spring. I already have some volunteer potato plants sprouting in places where potatoes were planted last year.
Yes potatoes do taste much better than store bought potatoes. There should be a rule all gardeners should grow at lease 1 potato plant just to see how home grown potoatoes taste. It has been about 20 years since I grew a serious potato crop when the kids were in high school they could eat 5 lbs of potatoes every week. I am always frustrated with TN potatoes they never grow as well as they did in Illinois. I always got about 30 lbs of potatoes but could have gotten 100 lbs if planted in Illinois. Soil & climate makes a difference.

This morning I planted a 35' row of 298 Spanish onions = yellow onions. I covered them with 1/2" of soil. Silly cats have found the onions already. Cats notice onions smell bad so this must be the poop box area. I have a bit of a problem with cats digging up onions. I have another 200 onions to plant, 50 red, 50 white, 100 more yellow. I need to buy a 100 ft roll of fence wire, cut into 18" pieces, bend them around a power line pole to get a C shape. Then protect all the rows from the dog & cats. I wonder if anyone sells C shape guards for a reasonable price.

My yard is covered with wild flowers, purple, purple/white, yellow, yellow/white, dandelions. Too soon for white clover. Wife wants to mow the grass, I keep telling here, wait until tomorrow.
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Gary350
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After lunch I dug 24 holes about 8" deep for tomato plants. Fertilizer mix is 2 quarts 15/15/15, 1 quart wood ash for BER, 1/3 cup copper sulfate for blight, hand full of rust nails for blight, mix well add 1/3 cup fertilizer mix to each hole. Pour in 1 pint of water return several hours later to plant tomatoes. Sometimes I save empty metal food cans from the kitchen burn then burn them in a fire to remove varnish then smash them flat, throw 1 flat can in each tomato hole for iron rust. Cans are completely gone by fall. Rusty nails & staples for iron rust came from burning oak pallets for wood ash.

Several hours later sun is on the horizon time to plant tomatoes. Put 2" of soil in bottom of each hole to cover up the fertilizer. Put tomato root ball all the way to the bottom of the hole then fill it in. Do not strip off lower leaves tomato plants have the ability to grow roots any where soil toughs the plant even the leaves. Cover plant and lower leaves with soil. Compact soil a little bit then sprinkle loose soil over the top. Loose soil will not wick water to the surface plants will not dry out. Plants will turn into a large root ball when it gets 100 degrees plants will never need to be watered even with only 1 rain per month all summer. If we are gone on a 2 or 3 week vacation garden will be fine.

Add the tomato cages and they are finished for now. There are, 12 Big Beef, 4 Big Boy, 4 Brandywine, 4 Beef Master. They are all 65 day corp except for the 80 day brandywine.

I planted too soon it is 10 more days until last frost. We are having 80 degree weather. Tomorrow 82 degrees with 20 mph wind maybe soil will dry out enough to till. We had almost 4" of rain over the weekend. I have 8 peppers to plant but I can not so soil preperation without the tiller.
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TV weather said, there is a possibility of frost tonight so I covered up all my tomato plants with used 2 gallon plastic throw away pots I got free from a place that plants bushes & trees in peoples yard. Flower pots take up very little space & R easy & quick to put over plants. Stick 1 leg of the tomato cage through 1 hole in bottom of the pot they can not blow away. I need more flour pots, I also had to use 2 ceramic flour pots, a 5 gallon much, an a coffee can.
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Vanisle_BC
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Nice re-use of throwaway plastic, Gary.

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Gary350
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Today I prepared the soil for 8 pepper plants. I tilled in a 3 cu ft bale of peat moss, fertilizer & calcium into a 14 ft section of this 40 ft row. Thunder storms will be here later today. It is still too early to plant seeds. None of my seeds are growing in pots & no one sells Marconi pepper plants around here. When I was cutting open the peat moss bag cats all came to see what is going on. LOL. Left to right cats names are, Red, Pink, Gray, Yellow.

I planted 200 onions in a shallow unmarked grave. 50 red onions, 50 white onions, 100 yellow onions, in full shade.

75 Garlic I planted a month ago is going great growing in full shade most of them have 5 leaves. They appear to be doing better than garlic I planted in November in a hilled up row in the sun.

We have been having 75 and 80 degree weather for 3 weeks carrots are doing very well. I sprinkled 500 half long carrot seeds on a hill in Nov.
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Gary350
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Today I finished planting row 5. As much as I hate to I paid $5 for 1 marconi plant. Only 1 place in town has single plants, no 4 packs, no 6 packs marconi to be found anywhere. At lease I have 1 marconi plant. None of my marconi seeds ever germinated it has been 6 weeks. I still have marconi seeds left I will plant them all in the garden when soil gets a bit warmer maybe they will grow.

Today I did google search for pepper plant scoville scale it lists all the peppers in order according to how hot they are. I know from living in Arizona New Mexico peppers are mild with a very good flavor they make very good chili powder.

NAME and SCOVILLE
Red Chili 500 - 750
New Mexico 500 - 1500
Anaheim 500 - 1500
Guajillo 2500 - 4000
Serrasno 8000 - 23000

I can find Anaheim, Guajillo, Serrasno, seeds for sale on ebay. After doing google search for New Mexico I learned, The name 'Anaheim' derives from Emilio Ortega, a farmer who brought the seeds from New Mexico to the Anaheim, California, area in 1894. They grow New Mexico peppers in California but sell them under the name Anaheim peppers. After doing research on Anaheim peppers I find, 1 place says 500 - 1500 scoville, 2 places that say 500 - 2000 scoville and 1 place that says 500 - 2500 scoville. Then I learn your geographic location, soil, climate determines pepper scoville range, peppers grown in Mexico are hotter than peppers grown in California. I bought 8 Anaheim = New Mexico pepper plants at the Amish garden store. If they make good mild chili powder then I will be glad I bought 8 plants but if chili powder is not good I will wish I had only bought one 4 pack. I hope to Can these in pint jars an not have to dry them to powder.

I planted all the peppers like I do tomatoes, dig a hole, throw in 15-15-15 fertilizer, calcium, nitrogen, 2" of soil, then the plants. Water plants before dark. Soil preparation was 6 cu ft of peat moss tilled into the soil to make is soft it allows roots to grow larger.

I have been searching for plum tomatoes with no luck. No one sells plum tomatoes this year & no seeds by that name on ebay or seed catalogs. I was about to give up when I decided to do google search and came across some very good information about Amish Paste tomatoes. These tomatoes are specifically grown to make Pizza sauce & Spaghetti sauce so I bought 4 plants at the Amish garden store to plant is row 5 with the peppers.

The last 3 spaces in row 5 I planted 1" cherry tomato seeds covered with boards to keep soil moist until they germinate usually about 4 to 5 days in hot weather. These are the best cherry tomatoes we every had I'm glad I saved seeds no one sells these anymore and I don't remember the real name. Row 5 is finished.

From now on seeds will be the only thing planted in the garden probably 1 or 2 more weeks when soil warms up to 65 degrees. Next, 5 rows of corn, 2 rows of beans, squash, okra, melons. Garlic in July. When, potatoes, onions, corn are gone 8 rows will be replanted with beans about August to add nitrogen to the soil and also use the available space to grow several types of beans & harvest my own seeds to plant next year.

RED Chilis = New Mexico Chilis = Anaheim Chilis, Green chiles are served roasted and peeled, whole or diced, and in various sauces. The most common uses for these diced chiles, or sauces, is in enchiladas, burritos, burgers, french fries, or rice. They are also served whole raw or as fried or baked chiles rellenos. New Mexican-style chiles rellenos follow the much more traditional Mexican technique of being covered with egg batter and fried, although variations and casseroles do exist.

In addition to local restaurants, many national food chains such as McDonald's and Jack in the Box offer green chile on many of their menu items.

The red Chile, the matured green Chile, is frequently dried and ground to a powder. These dried or powdered peppers are turned into a red Chile sauce. The dried peppers are rehydrated by boiling in a pot, and then blended with various herbs and spices, such as onion, garlic, and occasionally Mexican oregano. The red Chile powder is usually simply blended with water, herbs, and spices.

Serving both red and green Chile sauces on a dish is sometimes referred to as "Christmas" style. Both green and red Chile can be dried and turned into a powder, though this is more common with red Chile.

Enchilada sauce is, 8 ripe red or green chilies with seeds & vanes removed, 3 garlic cloves, 1 slice of onion, fresh oregano, cumin, salt, boil is 1 quart of water Puree in kitchen blender.
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