2012 Gardening Thread (Read 1516 times)

vegefrog


    Carrots are one of those things where I throw out the seeds, forget about them, then after a few months I need the space so I pick them Smile Never had a bad one yet!

     

    I am in tomato heaven (or hell if you are my husband). I have them all over the house, LOL. No room in the fridge for them all. I have no problem giving away every other veggie when I have extra, which is pretty much all the time. I just cannot stand to give away my beautiful maters though!! Call me stingy Wink

     

    I grew yardlong beans for the first time this year. My mom gave me some seeds that some man had given her about 4 years ago. At first I didn't think they were going to come up, but I had 2 vines that grew and man they are COOL! They are super long (hence the name) and I cut them into short pieces and cook them like green beans. Very tasty!! I'm going to let a few dry out and collect the seeds so I can have more next year.

     

    Anybody have a good recipe for Oriental eggplants? I grow them because they are cool looking and easy to grow, LOL, but I never really know what to do with them. I just roast them and make Baba Ganoush or put them in pasta.

      Carrots...never got many of them.  But, we started a "tradition" (which has gone by the wayside since my kids are older now).

       

      Me and the kids would plant some carrots in the spring.  They would sit there all spring, summer, and fall.  We would dig them up on Christmas Eve to leave on the deck for Santa's reindeer.

       

      Sometimes I wish my kids were still little.

      Jeff


      Prince of Fatness

        I dug up some potatoes last weekend.  Vikings on the left.  All Red and Purple Majesty on the right.  I also dug up the Russets and Yukon Golds.  I still have Fingerlings and Red Pontiacs that I will need to dig up.

         

         

        A medley of colors frying up into goodness.

         

         

        And finally, I made a potato cream ale a couple of weeks ago.  Here I am adding shredded Purple Majesty potatoes to the mash.

         

        Not at it at all. 


        Prince of Fatness

          Potato yields were down this year due to the hot and dry weather.  As for the rest of my garden, tomatoes were ravaged by deer, I may get a few.  Some critter ate my green bean plants.  Summer squash is doing OK but still nothing to harvest.  And, I need to get pumpkins in soon/

          Not at it at all. 


          Feeling the growl again

             tomatoes were ravaged by deer, 

             

            You just need a bigger trap.

             

            Mine is "ok".  Peas, three 30ft rows and I got one cereal bowl full.  Yay.  Tomatoes are smaller than normal, but strangely some of the best I have ever tasted.

             

            Generous watering saved everything but now that the peas are gone and potatoes are getting past needing any, I need to cut back.  Wells are starting to go dry here and there.

             

            The water really saved my corn; the first half planted earlier is finishing, it was great.  Had enough to freeze a couple bags.  Second half is looking good.  I just made sure I watered every couple days during pollination to make sure the pollen stuck.  Last year I did not and I had big plants with empty cobs (drought then too).

             

            Squash died in the heat after 1 squash was produced.  Pumpkins are suffering, not sure anything will turn out.  I may throw a few seeds in the ground now for the hell of it.

             

            Potatoes look good above the ground; they were never short of water, but I don't know with the heat.  Cucumber plant is doing awesome, we get more than one per day on average off a single vine.

             

            White grapes are hanging very heavy, reds are okay.  I ran water on them for 2 weeks straight until it was standing between rows, so they should be okay to finish the summer out.

             

            We have had about half an inch of rain total since June 1st.

            "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

             

            I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

             


            jules2

              If you want to know where your rain is its falling over here. This is the wettest Summer ever plus we also had a hail storm that shredded a lot of crops and damaged cars, onions and potatoes have rotted and even raspberries are dying off because they have been standing in water for so long of course the weeds have flourished and you can't get on the ground to stop them because until the last few days you sank in the soil.

              Old age is when you move from illegal to prescribed drugs.


              Feeling the growl again

                If you want to know where your rain is its falling over here. This is the wettest Summer ever plus we also had a hail storm that shredded a lot of crops and damaged cars, onions and potatoes have rotted and even raspberries are dying off because they have been standing in water for so long of course the weeds have flourished and you can't get on the ground to stop them because until the last few days you sank in the soil.

                 

                 

                I was just on the phone with someone across the pond, he told me the same thing, I said send it over, we'll take one for the team so you can have a nice sunny Olympics.  Big grin

                "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                 

                I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                 

                  I dug up some potatoes last weekend.  Vikings on the left.  All Red and Purple Majesty on the right.  I also dug up the Russets and Yukon Golds.  I still have Fingerlings and Red Pontiacs that I will need to dig up.

                   

                   

                   

                  A medley of colors frying up into goodness.

                   

                   

                   

                  And finally, I made a potato cream ale a couple of weeks ago.  Here I am adding shredded Purple Majesty potatoes to the mash.

                   

                   

                   

                  Lovely pictures of potato goodness!

                   

                  My question, how many plants was this?  Because I dug up my second plant.  And while I got one...yes, one, Yukon Gold that was an appropriate size, the other two were a) less than an inch in diameter, b) less than 1/4 inch in diameter.

                   

                  I'm wondering if the garden space was worth it.  I have 3 more plants, which need more time, and it certainly isn't a cost issue, since the seed potaoes aren't expensive, but, it's just a little disheartening.

                  Jeff

                    Potato yields were down this year due to the hot and dry weather.  As for the rest of my garden, tomatoes were ravaged by deer, I may get a few.  Some critter ate my green bean plants.  Summer squash is doing OK but still nothing to harvest.  And, I need to get pumpkins in soon/

                     

                    Tomatoes are coming in.  I've gotten about 4 so far, but, in another few weeks, I'll be probably picking 10 a day. 

                     

                    The Mr. Stripey, he's a bust.  I'm ripping him out and using the cage for one of my Rutgers, which is sprouting fruit.

                     

                    A little disappointed with my Orange Wellington's.  Huge bushy plants, with only a few tiny tomatoes so far.  Actually, I have a LOT of TALL bushy plants, some over 6 feet.  Not much fruit.

                     

                    My first JetStar is coming in.  Got a few Pink German Johnsons coming ready, a Mortgage lifter, a few Brandywines, and three of four Golden Jubilees.

                     

                    The peppers...once again, nothing is happening, and that's depressing.  I love peppers.  Although there are signs that something may be coming, but I'm not getting my hopes up.  The cucumbers actually have been doing pretty well.

                     

                    Lettuce, spinach, brocolli...all a bust.

                     

                    Expanding the garden next year.  Wondering about squash.  Anyone had any success with that?  I have heard that zuchinni can over-run a garden.  What about yellow?

                    Jeff


                    Prince of Fatness

                      My question, how many plants was this?  Because I dug up my second plant.  And while I got one...yes, one, Yukon Gold that was an appropriate size, the other two were a) less than an inch in diameter, b) less than 1/4 inch in diameter.

                       

                      I'm wondering if the garden space was worth it.  I have 3 more plants, which need more time, and it certainly isn't a cost issue, since the seed potaoes aren't expensive, but, it's just a little disheartening.

                       

                      I do about 10 plants per row and would say that those two boxes combined were about 20 - 25 plants (I dug a few up earlier for meals and the beer).

                       

                      The dry weather hit here just as the plants were flowering, and that is the time that they are making the potatoes in earnest.  So despite the fact that I planted on time my yields were down (plus the potatoes were smaller).  This has happened before and I am not surprised.  Last year was perfect for potatoes and I got a bunch more including one Yukon Gold potato that weighed a pound and a half.  Also it is normal to get a few small ones on each plant.

                       

                      You planted late which in my opinion combined with the hot weather it doesn't surprise me that your yield was not good.  I wouldn't give up.  Plant on time next year (late March would be fine in South Jersey) and see how you do.  Agway has the seed potatoes in late March where I live so you should be able to find them that early.

                      Not at it at all. 

                      kcam


                        Tomatoes always seem to come in good for me but this year has not been a great year.  We've been getting tomatoes for about 5 weeks now just not in the quantities we did last year.

                         

                        We really expanded our garden this year - added cukes,cantaloupe, zuchinni, jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, beans, potatoes, corn (we already harvested all the corn - it was excellent), lettuce, arugula, onions, celery.  Everything is growing good and yielding except for the potatos (just not really getting bigger) and the celery which yields OK but is kind of stringy.

                         

                        I am so enthused about the garden this year that I took two weekends and busted out a concrete patio with a sledgehammer so that I can expand my "acreage" next year to grow more "crops".  My wfie thinks I'm nuts!  

                         

                        Any soil experts out there?  I did a soil analysis and believe that I'm N  and P deficient but K is excessive.  PH is high ~7.5-8.0.  Any suggestions on what I should do at the end of this growing season?  I plan on doing something to increase N and P some, should I worry about bringing my PH number down some (make the soil a little more acidic)?  I know our soil is definitely Basic because blueberrys absolutely refuse to grow anywhere on our property.


                        Feeling the growl again

                          Tech Tee - Planted in the same spot at the same time annually, my potato yield can vary from barely enough to replant the next year to more than I could possibly eat.  Don't judge off what has been a rough year in most places.

                           

                          Squash - My luck has been bad.  I am told I should try the Ortho pesticide/fungicide stuff because mind seem to get off well then right when they start putting out fruit the plant quickly dies.  I am told a worm that gets into the stem right at the ground causes this.

                           

                          Ken - As for blueberries, I looked into planting them once and I was told that in most areas you have to annually supplement the soil to keep it at a pH where they will live.  They are hard to grow except in just the right spot....which is usually a swamp where they don't build houses anyways.  Smile

                          "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                           

                          I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                           


                          jules2

                            I was just on the phone with someone across the pond, he told me the same thing, I said send it over, we'll take one for the team so you can have a nice sunny Olympics.  Big grin

                             

                            I forgot to mention the hail smashed the glass in my greenhouse. The weather has been reasonable for the Olympics I saw the two road races and it only rained for the women. I did wonder how the beach volley ball would look if it was wet and the sand stuck to them. Next week I'm off to see the men's Tri where I'm in a dilemma as a guy who is in my Tri club ( Conor Murphy ) who I ran with in the winter is competing but he's in the Irish team look out for him I'm also going to see the 10k swim but it doesn't matter if it rains for that event.

                            Old age is when you move from illegal to prescribed drugs.


                            Feeling the growl again

                              I forgot to mention the hail smashed the glass in my greenhouse. The weather has been reasonable for the Olympics I saw the two road races and it only rained for the women. I did wonder how the beach volley ball would look if it was wet and the sand stuck to them. Next week I'm off to see the men's Tri where I'm in a dilemma as a guy who is in my Tri club ( Conor Murphy ) who I ran with in the winter is competing but he's in the Irish team look out for him I'm also going to see the 10k swim but it doesn't matter if it rains for that event.

                               

                              I really hope I can catch the 10K swim on TV.  

                               

                              I'd say "what dilemma" but what do I know, I am ~1/2 Scottish.... Big grin

                              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                               

                              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                               


                              flatland mountaineer

                                 

                                Any soil experts out there?  I did a soil analysis and believe that I'm N  and P deficient but K is excessive.  PH is high ~7.5-8.0.  Any suggestions on what I should do at the end of this growing season?  I plan on doing something to increase N and P some, should I worry about bringing my PH number down some (make the soil a little more acidic)?  I know our soil is definitely Basic because blueberrys absolutely refuse to grow anywhere on our property.

                                 

                                How deep did you sample? Your pH is pretty hot, most plants like it about 6, some plants love acidic soils 5 ish, don't know of anything that likes 8 much. If you can get it under 7 it will help alot. At 7.5-8 a good deal of your phosphate is tied up. It is not uncommon for lawn soils around here to be high pH as they didn't stockpile the topsoil when they did house pads and backfilled with the subsoil and around here the sub is very high pH. Solutions are not as easy, in a commercial ag setting I would apply high rates of Ammonium Sulfate, which I would use in your situation also but maybe some tree leaves incorporated in the soil or try and bring in a few inches of slightly acidic soil.

                                What were your N P K numbers in ppm or lbs.? Did they do a Bray Phos test? Try to get your pH Under 7. Acidic soil is easy to fix, just a little lime (Calcium Carbonate). I applaud you for testing!!

                                The whole world said I shoulda used red but it looked good to Charlene in John Deere Green!!

                                Support Ethanol, drink the best, burn the rest.

                                Run for fun? What the hell kind of recreation is that?  quote from Back to the Fut III