Taiji
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Taiji 2021

Winter rye cover crop planted through the winter, now I'm starting to dig it under.
2021 rye.JPG
Onions started from seed to plant out later to make big (hopefully) winter storage onions. Varieties Utah Jumbo, and Ailsa Craig.
2021 onion starts.JPG
A pretty nice stand of garlic, planted last November I believe.
2021 garlic.JPG

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applestar
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Great to see you back & reporting such wonderful start to the new season @Taiji! :-()

Taiji
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All that winter rye in AZ is dug under, the nice bed of garlic is on its own, it'll probably dry up now! Back in the U P, Gotta love the U P rhubarb!
u p rhubarb.JPG
Don't know how old these plants are, but one day some older people stopped by who grew up around here. Said they remembered this rhubarb as kids. Nice to have this free. When I think of the price in the store...
rhubarb  21.JPG

Taiji
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I've taken to just starting my whole corn crop in little grow cells. I only plant about 30 plants altogether, so not much of a chore. They transplant so well with hardly any transplant shock. I used to plant the whole crop in the ground from scratch, then fill in the gaps with plants started indoors, but this method is so much more reliable.

This variety is just early sunglow so I'm not expecting the flavor and texture I get with Ambrosia or Bodacious, but I sweat those reaching maturity every year here in this short season climate.
corn sprouts.JPG

Taiji
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Ugh! After almost 2 years of neglect due to the virus hampering our travel, this is the result. Am tackling the daunting task of prepping this "over the hill" terraced garden. Working my way up the hill. No high technology here, just turning the beds with a spading fork, then a few token chops with a hoe, then it's ready to plant! View to the north.
view to n.JPG
View to the SE. What a mess!
vies to s.JPG
Hit 24 degrees 2 nights ago, forecast for 3 days from now says 91 daytime, 69 at night. I think the old saying "if you don't like the weather, wait 5 or 10 minutes" must have originated in the U.P.!

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applestar
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Wow this is going to be challenging and those temperatures are EXTREME!

Are you going back to planting “pioneer” type veg? Maybe container grow some of the delicate less root-aggressive crops? (if you weed barrier the bed and put the containers on top maybe?)

Taiji
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applestar wrote:
Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:55 am
Wow this is going to be challenging and those temperatures are EXTREME!

Are you going back to planting “pioneer” type veg? Maybe container grow some of the delicate less root-aggressive crops? (if you weed barrier the bed and put the containers on top maybe?)
Knowing me, I will probably just plant in the ground like always. The container idea would eliminate weeds though for sure! I think the bed prep will be easier each season, as long as we come every year.

This corn is ready for the garden:
early sunglow.JPG
and...here it is:
planted.JPG
I planted 2 seeds in one cell, so after a couple of days to evaluate transplant shock, I'll choose one to keep and snip off the other at ground level.

Taiji
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These tomato plants are only 20 days old from seed. I think I'm going to start planting them out over the next week or two. Large Red Cherry in right photo is planted, yay!
seedlings planted.jpg
The usual pinhole phenomenon that I get on young turnip leaves. I've learned to just ignore this and the leaves seem to outgrow it. Don't know what causes the pinholes.
pnholes.JPG

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Gary350
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Our MI relatives said they had snow about 2 weeks ago and frost a few days ago they live in Cadillac MI.

Did you grow onion seeds in AZ then bring them to MI?

Taiji
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Yes, grew the seeds in AZ. Photo of those are at the top of this page. Next year I think I will give a little more room between seeds; they got a little cramped. All are planted now.

We didn't get any snow here then but we would have if there had been precipitation. Got down to 24 one night recently; since then up to 91 one day. I am over 450 miles from Cadillac. People here never say "the lower peninsula" they always refer to it as "downstate". :)

Taiji
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Taiji wrote:
Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:42 am
Yes, grew the seeds in AZ. Photo of those are at the top of this page. Next year I think I will give a little more room between seeds; they got a little cramped. All are planted now.

We didn't get any snow here then but we would have if there had been precipitation. Got down to 24 one night recently; since then up to 91 one day. I am over 450 miles from Cadillac. People here never say "the lower peninsula" they always refer to it as "downstate". :)
As hot as it's been the last few days, the funny thing is it could still frost! Not likely, but it could happen.

Sorry, meant to edit the last post, not quote it!

Taiji
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Starting to pull soil up around some Red Pontiacs. Bought my seed potatoes late and couldn't find my go to variety Red Norlands at first. Finally found a small bag @ WM for 50 cents marked down. They are growing well too.
potat.JPG
The turnip pinhole phenom marches on. But I'm not worried it always goes away. I don't think I'm worried...do I look worried? :) Actually, I've had much worse damage where the young leaves were almost in tatters, but they recovered.
turnips.JPG
This Early Sunglow is growing well but I'd like to see a little stouter stem.
corn.JPG
First Tasty Green Hybrid #26 set out. Started from seed in gro cells.
cuke.JPG

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Gary350
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You should have very good luck with Red Pontiac potatoes in MI cool weather. Don't give plants much nitrogen or you get BIG plants & not many potatoes. Red Pontiac out produces White potatoes 2 to 1. I can't remember how much rain MI has its been 56 years sense I lived there, my plants do better when I water 2 times a week. We will be in MI first week of Aug.

Taiji
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There's no predicting the weather or rainfall in this place. We arrived May 18 and had cold, dreary weather for one week. In that first week we rec'd 1.81 inches of rain. Since that time, no more measurable precipitation. We've had daytime temps in the mid 90's, then down to 36 degrees about 3 nights ago. That's getting dangerously close to a late frost. I've been watering a lot the last 3 weeks. Mostly to keep small seedlings and freshly planted seeds moist. Much more watering than I ever expected for the U.P.

Yes, all potatoes I've ever planted here have done extremely well: Kennebec, Pontiac, Yukon, Russet, Norland. This year didn't get all those varieties, but am trying one new one: Gold Rush. Don't know a thing about it!

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applestar
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I grew Gold Rush before— I remember it as tasty, russeted skinned baking potato.

Taiji
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applestar wrote:
Thu Jun 17, 2021 11:15 pm
I grew Gold Rush before— I remember it as tasty, russeted skinned baking potato.
Ah, thank you, that sounds good!

Taiji
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Several of my vine crops, squashes, cantaloupes, and watermelon are doing this number shortly after planting out from grow cells into the garden. I don't think it's a hardening off problem since they have been out in the weather ever since they sprouted.
z ++.jpg
Larger tomato plant is the one and only plant (Better Boy) that I bought and didn't raise from seed. Smaller one (Abraham Lincoln) is typical size of my tomato plants raised from scratch. Point is, I think I made a mistake by waiting til I got here to plant my tomato seeds. Just didn't want to bother with so many plants while traveling across country. But now I'm not sure my little plants will have enough time to do anything in this short season climate! Hopefully they'll have an explosion of growth later on. Next year I guess I'll plant seeds a few weeks earlier before traveling and plan on up potting when I get here.
z tomatoes.jpg
My "over the hill" garden is starting to take shape, complete with Dr. Seuss style tomato stakes. 8)
zzzz.JPG
After 3 weeks with no rain and high temps, we finally got a much needed 1.3 inches a few nights ago. Then, another .37 inch last night. Thank goodness! Forecast ahead shows days in mid 70's and nights mid 50's. Pleasant, but would like to see it just a bit warmer for the plants
Last edited by Taiji on Thu Jun 24, 2021 10:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Taiji
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These Stringless Green Pods are ready to plant out, but where to put them?!
z3.JPG
I'm really pushing the envelope here, putting 2nd planting of corn in my unprotected garden over the hill that I can't even see from the house. :eek: I don't think I can get away with this. No self respecting deer can miss this.
z.JPG
Had our first lettuce, radish and green onion salad yesterday garden grown. Added a store tomato.
zzz.JPG

Taiji
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Could this be the legendary Colorado Potato Beetle? I've never had one before. The damage is so minimal I'm not going to do anything about it.
mmm.JPG
Main garden behind the house.
m.JPG
This Early Sunglow looks good, but I think I am going to be disappointed with it. It's only 2 feet high and I see tassels getting ready to come out. I don't think that's right, but maybe it's normal with this variety? I'm going to go with my Ambrosia next year and take the chance it will beat the frost. I will be sorely disappointed if I have a season without good corn. Course, I guess I could buy some.
mm.JPG
This is what happens when you accidentally leave your bird feeders out overnight in these parts. Mother (or papa) bear tears them down and smashes them to smithereens. This happened our 2nd night here, but I learned my lesson! Last chore before bed: Bring feeders in!
mmmm.JPG
We stood at the kitchen window about a week ago and watched a bear come down the hill to the garden at about 7 a.m. and touch the fence with his/her nose. Then it just walked off into the wooded area. I guess he was looking for a pic-a-nic basket! Electric fence wires are there but sagging and I haven't even hooked it up; don't think I will. Nothing is bothering the garden anyway. Wish I'd had my camera handy, it was a full grown bear. I know they come very often, but we just don't see them because we're sleeping.

Taiji
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My 2nd planting of corn over the knoll is having some problems. Don't know the cause of this. Maybe lacking some nutrient. I had hoped this planting would be my best and most productive because this area gets 10 to 11 hours of direct sunlight per day. But I can see this is going to be a total bust. Area where the corn is doing well only gets 6 to 7 hrs. direct sun per day.
zz.jpg
These Stringless Green Pods should be blooming pretty quick.
z.JPG
This Grey Zucchini had a female flower with a squash on there, and more coming, but no male flowers coming on. Over the hill, I have a Yellow Summer Squash with a male flower blooming and nothing but male flowers coming on. So, I cut the male bloom off, since it wasn't serving any purpose over there, brought it over to this side, removed the petals and swabbed the inside of the female bloom on the Grey Zucchini. I'm guessing this will achieve pollination? I don't know the correct terminology, but maybe they are of the same genus? (maybe I'll just call them of the same ilk) :) That is, both relatively early summer squash. Guess I'll know in a couple of days if this worked!
zzzz.JPG

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applestar
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Yep. Summer squashes are C.pepo. For the purpose of eating young fruits, you could even use C.pepo pumpkins or vegetable spaghetti.

Have you seen any more of the Colorado potato beetles? If you saw more than one, check for their orange eggs.

Taiji
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I did see another beetle (or maybe the same one) yesterday. I wasn't even sure that this was the potato beetle but I guess it was. Got to thinking maybe I should address this after all, since next year might be worse. I should go out and look at the leaves' undersides. Strange how it took 4 years for these to show up. Or, maybe I just didn't notice one til now.

After pollinating my Grey Zucchini, got to thinking (again!) maybe the plant knows what it's doing better than I do. If it was ready to set some fruit maybe it would have put out some male flowers. ha ha Hope I haven't stifled future production. :eek:

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Taiji, if you or the neighbors have nightshade weeds somewhere nearby, there are likely to be CO potato beetles enjoying munching on them. It also might be better to call them eggplant beetles.

My gardening experience leads me to think that potatoes might be #3 on their list of preferred foods.

Last year, it was a fight to protect the eggplant and potatoes. In 2021, I did a little hand-harvesting of the beetles and haven’t had to spray for the voracious creatures once!

Steve

Taiji
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Glad you got the beetle problem resolved! I haven't seen the beetle again, nor have I seen any eggs on leaf undersides. Guess I'm good for now. Some of my potato plants have some holes in the leaves down at ground level, but the damage is minimal. I think there are a few slugs down there, but ho hum! :|

Taiji
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Grey Zucchini pollination update: that little zucchini didn't wither and die, but it really hasn't grown either. Meanwhile its siblings on the same plant that got pollinated the old fashioned way are starting to swell up. So, I pulled off the hand pollinated one and put it in salad.

First turnip of the season. Lots of holes in leaves, but it doesn't seem to affect the turnip growth. This is probably slug damage. I guess I should address this since I do like turnip greens too. There are some grasshoppers around too, but I thought they ate from the outside of the leaf inwards? In this climate the turnips are never bitter. In AZ I almost always have to peel them, then boil as if I'm going to make mashed potatoes. That helps to draw that bitterness out.
z.jpg
Everyone else's gardens are looking so great; Applestar, Gary, Imafan, Pepperhead. Great work! I'm so far behind up here. Tomatoes are so far in my future I'm trying not to even think about them!

Taiji
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Maybe this Early Sunglow won't be so bad. Once it tasseled it stretched up to 5 to 6 feet tall. That's about what it's supposed to get to. Might get some decent corn yet. If it's any good, I might plant next year as early crop and still go with Ambrosia too.
zzz.JPG
First Tasty Green Hybrid cukes. Into the salad tomorrow! I dream of that first tender cuke.
z cuke.jpg
Seems like Lutz Green Leaf is the only beet I have success with here in the U.P. Dono why? Need to plant it every year. Greens are luscious too.
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Red Pontiacs are getting way tall and lanky and starting to bend over. Probably new potatoes under there, but I'm gonna have patience and wait. They've already bloomed.
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Black Seeded Simpson grows here like no other place I've lived. It just keeps coming and bolts very late. It never seems to get bitter. 2 plantings so far; will plant a 3rd pretty quick. I always plant it in a bed and pick leaves individually.
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