Author Topic: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019  (Read 93697 times)

Jon_Snow

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #350 on: April 30, 2019, 08:58:56 AM »
My family finally sent me a few up to date pictures of my garden. What is now clear is that their promise to "look after things" didn't include any weeding. Oh well, I'll spend a day in weed destruction mode when I return, and I'll enjoy the process immensely...as it is somewhat meditative to me. It helps that the surroundings are gorgeous and the throng of birdsong is everywhere. There is that prickly sensation I'll feel occasionally on the back of my neck caused by the gaze of the deer peering out from the thick foliage....scheming....always scheming.

Jon, I'm a little jealous of that view.  Kicking back and listening to the surf sounds nice right about now.

For 5 years running now, this is where I have come to charge up my batteries for the gardening season to come. I'm normally not here this late, so I'll be behind the 8 ball a bit upon my return...but I CANNOT WAIT.

And @horsepoor, are yours not the lovely steel sided raised beds. I'd love to see a pic of those again.:)

No fair on the beach picture @Jon_Snow.  Borderline cruel.  :)

Not my intent! This is an essential part of my garden routine (FIRE-routine really) and I'm just trying to paint a complete picture here. ;)

BTW - it snowed here yesterday.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this. It's pretty much May fergawdsakes.


And while I'm here...kale shot. Lacinato....and RED lacinato, a new variety for me this year. The kale bed is looking very promising...and VERY devoid of weeds. :) Though, if you look very closely, you can see a ton of tomato volunteers emerging.

Blueberries

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #351 on: April 30, 2019, 10:34:15 AM »

And while I'm here...kale shot. Lacinato....and RED lacinato, a new variety for me this year. The kale bed is looking very promising...and VERY devoid of weeds. :) Though, if you look very closely, you can see a ton of tomato volunteers emerging.


Looks great!  I love my tomato volunteers, but I don't have anywhere near the amount you appear to have.  How do you handle all of them?  Do you pull some and let others go?  Transplant? 

Jon_Snow

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #352 on: April 30, 2019, 05:50:00 PM »
Looks great!  I love my tomato volunteers, but I don't have anywhere near the amount you appear to have.  How do you handle all of them?  Do you pull some and let others go?  Transplant?

Excellent questions! To be brief I'd say the large majority get pulled and discarded (and this pains me to a degree), but I will allow a few to grow if they happen to be in areas in which they won't impinge on the progress of the originally intended plantings. And yes, sometimes this plan doesn't quite work out and I'll get a large shovel and transplant them, root and stem, elsewhere in the garden.

As in the case of the pictured tomato volunteers, given the rather prodigious scale of kale plants, I doubt I'll allow any of them to grow unchecked in that particular bed. A few lucky ones might get moved elsewhere. I try to view it as a good "problem" to have. :)


This picture is from last years garden. I let a volunteer "sungold" grow amidst my cabbages. It got a little squeezed by the globular brassicas, but there was a lovely orange cherry tomato bounty to be had!
« Last Edit: May 01, 2019, 06:30:38 PM by Jon_Snow »

totoro

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #353 on: May 01, 2019, 08:45:11 PM »
Here is a picture of the permaculture garden in the backyard - used to be grass So far I’ve planted figs, mulberries, 50! Blueberries, thornless blackberries to replace the thorny thicket that was in the corner, loganberries, boysenberries, strawberries, lots of asparagus, red onions, cucumber, kale, tomatoes, peppers, pear, plum, quince, kiwi, squash, currants, jostaberries, elderberry, parsley, mint, lemongrass, lemon balm, potatoes, dahlias, peonies, iris, Rhodos, camellia, grapes, chives, beAns, sweet peas, clematis and silver lace vine.  Doesn’t look like much yet but the deer are eyeing it up.... through the deer fence.  Hopefully most things make it through to summer.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2019, 09:03:38 PM by totoro »

Trifle

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #354 on: May 02, 2019, 04:34:47 AM »
Wow @totoro!  Your permaculture garden looks fantastic.  How big an area is this?  When did you move there and start on this project?

Trifle

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #355 on: May 02, 2019, 06:40:49 AM »
Question for you @horsepoor -- So I found a local guy who has composted horse manure.  He says it is various ages from 8 months to 2 years.

I'm assuming I should go for the oldest stuff?  Anything else I should look out for or ask him?  I don't know anything about horses.   What do people usually use on the ground in the stalls?  Straw?  Just trying to figure out what will be mixed in with the manure.

Thanks for any advice!  i'm planning to layer this manure on top of some new in-ground beds that won't be used until the fall, or possibly next spring.

horsepoor

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #356 on: May 02, 2019, 07:40:07 AM »
Question for you @horsepoor -- So I found a local guy who has composted horse manure.  He says it is various ages from 8 months to 2 years.

I'm assuming I should go for the oldest stuff?  Anything else I should look out for or ask him?  I don't know anything about horses.   What do people usually use on the ground in the stalls?  Straw?  Just trying to figure out what will be mixed in with the manure.

Thanks for any advice!  i'm planning to layer this manure on top of some new in-ground beds that won't be used until the fall, or possibly next spring.

Stall bedding is usually wood shavings, at least everywhere I've lived (western US).  You might ask him what kind of hay he feeds.  More alfalfa usually means less seeds, and the hay is higher nitrogen, so I wouldn't be surprised if the manure is too. 

I would probably go with the older stuff, at least to start.  With the older manure you're less likely to have seeds sprouting.  I never had that problem with manure from my old barn, but I changed barns last year and even though the horses are on a similar program of a few hours of turnout on very limited pasture (because it's small and eaten down by the # of horses).  Some of the manure I got from the new barn last fall has a ton of tiny grass sprouts popping out.  If I had piled it properly for hot compost, that probably wouldn't happen, but I just shoveled it directly into my new beds to age over winter.

Trifle

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #357 on: May 02, 2019, 07:55:39 AM »
Stall bedding is usually wood shavings, at least everywhere I've lived (western US).  You might ask him what kind of hay he feeds.  More alfalfa usually means less seeds, and the hay is higher nitrogen, so I wouldn't be surprised if the manure is too. 

I would probably go with the older stuff, at least to start. 

Thank you @horsepoor!  This is very helpful.  I will ask about the feed.  That is interesting about the wood shavings.  I use pine shavings in our chicken coop, and I always have two compost piles going with that -- one older and one younger.  I use the older composted manure mixture to mulch my fruit trees.  Chicken poop is very "hot", so I age a pile at least a year before I put it on plants.  As pure herbivores, I'm guessing that horses produce "cooler" manure, and it's possible to use it earlier.  Thanks again!

Dare2Dream

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #358 on: May 02, 2019, 08:13:16 AM »
My son(8) and I started a small raised garden last year and it was a lot of fun.  Edible yield was only one squash though.  Looking to at least double the yield this year by focusing on just a couple items (onions and peppers).  Wish me luck


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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #359 on: May 02, 2019, 08:28:05 AM »
My son(8) and I started a small raised garden last year and it was a lot of fun.  Edible yield was only one squash though.  Looking to at least double the yield this year by focusing on just a couple items (onions and peppers).  Wish me luck

Good luck!  You can do it. 

Just a small suggestion, but you might want to try beans, too.  They are high yield, low care, and for kids, I think the payoff is great.  In our home, they are one of our favorite garden snacks that rarely make it inside.



Excellent questions! To be brief I'd say the large majority get pulled and discarded (and this pains me to a degree), but I will allow a few to grow if they happen to be in areas in which they won't impinge on the progress of the originally intended plantings. And yes, sometimes this plan doesn't quite work out and I'll get a large shovel and transplant them, root and stem, elsewhere in the garden.

As in the case of the pictured tomato volunteers, given the rather prodigious scale of kale plants, I doubt I'll allow any of them to grow unchecked in that particular bed. A few lucky ones might get moved elsewhere. I try to view it as a good "problem" to have. :)


Makes sense!  Really looks great, as did last year.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2019, 08:29:40 AM by Blueberries »

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #360 on: May 02, 2019, 12:14:51 PM »
I am itching to get back into the garden; the weather has not been cooperating. It snowed Saturday. A lot. It all melted Sunday and I went to the community garden and everything still looked more or less OK. Plus, the arugula seeds sprouted! Yes, I know, arugula grows fast, but I didn't think it would sprout in snow!

Since then it has been pouring down rain every single day and it is presently 43 degrees F out. Hmph. :(

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #361 on: May 03, 2019, 04:53:36 PM »
I picked my first strawberry today! It was delicious. Peas are growing well and starting to flower.

It's been warm here and my leaf lettuce is looking pretty wilted. I guess I should have planted it earlier so I had more time to enjoy it before the warm weather set in.

I planted my tomato seedlings last week, and planted some bell pepper seeds. I've been unsuccessful growing peppers from seed before both indoors and outdoors, but I decided to try anyway, in part because they didn't have any seedlings at the store when I bought the tomatoes. Still need to plant my pumpkins and cantaloupes.


Trifle

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #362 on: May 03, 2019, 05:46:01 PM »
I ordered two tea plants (camellia sinensis) and they came today.  Very excited to try growing these guys.  Ornamental camellias grow very well here, so fingers crossed that the same is true for their 'drinking-type' cousin.  Has anyone here ever grown tea? 

 

alcon835

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #363 on: May 04, 2019, 08:14:03 AM »
I ordered two tea plants (camellia sinensis) and they came today.  Very excited to try growing these guys.  Ornamental camellias grow very well here, so fingers crossed that the same is true for their 'drinking-type' cousin.  Has anyone here ever grown tea?

That's awesome! Let us know how they come out!!

Cgbg

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #364 on: May 04, 2019, 08:52:37 AM »
I ordered two tea plants (camellia sinensis) and they came today.  Very excited to try growing these guys.  Ornamental camellias grow very well here, so fingers crossed that the same is true for their 'drinking-type' cousin.  Has anyone here ever grown tea?

I have three of the plants. I originally started with one but added two more 2 years ago. I live in the PNW and tea plants generally thrive here although they aren’t that popular. My oldest plant took a beating last summer but the newer ones are surrounded by a lot of wood chips that helped keep them moist. Those two are blooming a bit now.

I have camellia hedges so I knew the tea version would survive once established.

Trifle

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #365 on: May 04, 2019, 08:55:39 AM »
Thanks @Cgbg!  That's what I'm figuring too.  I've got big camellias here that are thriving on zero care from me, so I'm hoping these tea plants take off once they're established. 

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #366 on: May 04, 2019, 03:48:05 PM »
Have just discovered a whole big bunch of ground-nesting bees have found my compost heap and best planting bed and have declared them perfect new homes. Sigh. I wasn't planning on growing much this year anyway, and I'm certainly not going to drive out much-needed pollinators to do it. This year, I'm growing bees and things in pots, it seems. Oh, and in our old wheelbarrow.


There are potatoes in that first bed (volunteers, I don't grow potatoes usually as they are too cheap to buy). I won't be digging those either for fear of disturbing the bees if they are still around come harvest time (my reading suggests they will move on fairly quickly, just a few weeks).

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #367 on: May 05, 2019, 03:58:54 PM »
I've had a good sized vegetable garden for the past 25 years and usually start from seed. This year my life was way too complicated to get seeds going so I'm going to have to buy tomato plants but I've got garlic, shallots, lettuce and peas in. I should get radishes and beets in this week. It's been pretty wet and cold here so not a lot of opportunity to get stuff in the ground. I used to plant peas in March but the past few years I've not been able to plant them till the middle of April.

totoro

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #368 on: May 06, 2019, 08:33:19 AM »
Wow @totoro!  Your permaculture garden looks fantastic.  How big an area is this?  When did you move there and start on this project?

We started last September with cardboard, manure, leaf and wood chip layers.  All together we have an area of about 4000 square feet.  It will be a while before it looks filled in - should be a proper food forest around year three.  It was a lot of effort but we had helpers from the work away program and it should be low maintenance going forward.  We are building a greenhouse from vintage windows now which is a challenge for me but I have a French architect staying with work away who has done excellent diagrams if I can follow them :)

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #369 on: May 06, 2019, 10:40:11 AM »
I can definitively say that vinegar is an effective herbicide.  I accidentally misted my seedlings thinking I was using the water for ironing.  Even with watering them to rinse them off immediately, many got some serious damage.  And they were already too wet so I partly drowned them.    Hopefully 90% can recover.   I usually have a spray bottle of just plain old water sitting on the ironing board.  Somehow I managed to miss the big red marker on this one and not see that there were two spray bottles sitting on the ironing board.

I have been potting them up and giving them a dose of hen fertilizer and getting them out into the greenhouse so that their little green stem is super effective at photosynthesis.

All the plants are outgrowing the new grow lights.  I have never had zukes try to set blooms under grow lights.  I need another couple of nights repotting all the plants out growing the containers.

I seem to be foiling the chipmunk in the greenhouse. Tomorrow night is going to dip down to 3C overnight but I now have a small space heater and a good amount of thermal mass and an inner tent of floating row covers. 

Planted in the soil yesterday:  spinach, pak choi, kale, mesclun and arugula seeds.  I also got a dozen strawberries and a himrod grape vine.  I have to find a place for the beach plum shrubs and mulberry tree I got as well.  Asparagus is well up.  It is warm and sunny again today so we should be able to pick a few pieces.  I can't wait!

CalBal

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #370 on: May 06, 2019, 12:19:56 PM »
My onions have sprouted, and, I think, potatoes! This is an experiment, my first time doing these.

It's still too cold at night for me to feel comfortable planting out my warm season peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants... maybe next weekend? (God I hope so.) Everything needs potting up if not.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #371 on: May 06, 2019, 03:30:03 PM »
No sign of my asparagus yet.  I planted snow peas and multiplier onions.  My garlic planted mid-October is mostly up.  After a long cool spring it is actually almost too hot (since when is 22C too hot?) to work in the garden!

Trifle

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #372 on: May 07, 2019, 04:40:15 AM »
My kale is up about 10 inches and looking good.  I'll be doing a major thinning this morning, which should yield a huge bag of yummy Red Russian to munch on this week.  So that marks my first harvest of the year.

After harvesting kale I'm going to pick up that free horse manure.  I talked to the guy and he has a riding school and also boards horses.  Should be interesting to meet him and see his place.  It'll be my first time loading up the truck with manure.  Taking along a tarp in case it's needed. 

After dealing with the manure we have one more errand for the day.  We are going to buy a chick for one of our broody hens.  This particular hen (a Crested Cream Legbar) broods herself nearly to death; she's so determined that she sets for months, refusing to give up.  We've tried "breaking" her (by crating her away from the nest boxes, etc.) which normally works -- but not for her.  She's a force of nature, but ends up a pathetic pale skeleton from setting so long.  We don't want to watch her hurt herself again, so we're going to pick up a chick at our local feed store and slip it under her tonight.  We don't really need any more chickens, so we'll see if one chick will bring her out of it.  Normally slipping newly hatched chicks under broody hens works great to switch them from broody to "mom" mode, but we've always done it in batches, never just one chick.  We'll see . . .

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #373 on: May 08, 2019, 09:04:03 AM »
Lucky you... to have kale ready now @Trifele. Kale chips are my favorite, while the chickens love it raw. Good luck with the broody. I picked up 3 blue cochin chicks in early April, that are still in the basement stock tank I use as a brooder. This year I hung up drop cloths around it to keep the dust and feathers from spreading. It's working so far!!

I'm very far behind on my garden plans so I'm scaling back... big time. It's been raining almost every weekend and hard to get motivated to dig in it, when the weeds are growing like crazy.

My pepper seeds sprouted only 6 plants so I had to buy a few plants. Peppers are one of the few vegs the kids eat without complaining and having many plants keeps the food bill low. Will put the plants in a raised bed using square foot garden and basil as a companion plant. I'm going to put a pop up greenhouse on this bed in fall to see if I can extend the season a few weeks and don't want plants that get taller than 3 ft.

Sage and parsley successfully overwintered covered under frost cloth. Pea seeds were planted in the same bed after mixing in mycorrhizal fungi and setting sticks, from pruned fruits, to use as a grow trellis.

Put bush green and purple beans in another raised bed. Not sure I will do pole beans this year though I saved a lot of seed from last year. Love dragon tongue beans. My goal this year is to fully enclose raise beds to keep squirrels and birds out and pole beans will likely grow through netting.

Bees are cruising along and I made a split from one of the new colonies with a prolific queen. Going to experiment this year and create 2 nuc colonies and stack them for Winter. Have been watching a lot of videos by beekeepers in Canada to see if they have any tricks that will help bees survive cold blasts. Not sure I want to move the hives indoors.

Lots of chores still on the gardening to-do and wish list.



Tris Prior

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #374 on: May 08, 2019, 10:12:54 AM »
My community garden org had to cancel their Hot Crops plant sale fundraiser because it is still too Ass Cold here for tomatoes/peppers/basil/eggplant to be growing well and the plants aren't ready. They also had to cancel one day of their Cool Crops fundraiser a couple weeks ago because it was snowing very hard.

Come on, weather! Get your act together! This has been a miserable spring even for Chicago!

Dare2Dream

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #375 on: May 08, 2019, 10:47:02 AM »
My community garden org had to cancel their Hot Crops plant sale fundraiser because it is still too Ass Cold here for tomatoes/peppers/basil/eggplant to be growing well and the plants aren't ready. They also had to cancel one day of their Cool Crops fundraiser a couple weeks ago because it was snowing very hard.

Come on, weather! Get your act together! This has been a miserable spring even for Chicago!

I feel your pain.  Looks like a steady patch of nicer weather coming in next week here in WI so hopefully things get moving.. 

Cgbg

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #376 on: May 08, 2019, 03:21:36 PM »
Meanwhile, it’s blazing hot in Portland, Oregon. Supposed to be 90-ish the next few days. I brought my tomatoes and peppers up from the basement last weekend and put them on the front porch. I never even bothered to bring them back in; it was 50-ish overnight each day since. I’m quite tempted to just plant them all this weekend, as the overnight temps for the next week are also hovering around 50. Usually I wait until around Memorial Day.

I got 25 asparagus roots from territorial seed two weeks ago and planted them. Most of them have sprouted. My existing asparagus bed has some nice sized spears I’m cutting tonight for dinner.

My 10 ten-week old chicks are growing like weeds. One turned out to be a rooster (cockerel at this age) but the rest were properly sexed. I’m handing the male off to a friend this weekend - he’ll live on a farm in the country. I’m also giving away three of the hens (pullets) to a friend that recently lost part of her adult flock. So shortly I’ll be down to a reasonable 11 (5 adults, 6 young ones). While my coop and run can handle up to 14, I’m more comfy with the smaller number. I can always add more chicks next year (but under a broody hen instead!)

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #377 on: May 08, 2019, 03:40:09 PM »
I probably shouldn't be posting here because I know next to nothing about gardening.  But since moving to a cottage with a giant gardening box, we've thrown a few seeds and seedlings (I had to look that word up to make sure that's what I meant, that's how inexperienced I am) into the ground and it appears we have some kale, basil and possibly one tiny broccoli sprouting from seed, and our tomatoes and mint seedlings are doing ok.  We just planted a couple other varieties of tomatoes and a cucumber last weekend.  I really wanted to read up and learn about gardening before going at it (I have "Golden Gate Gardening" on hold at the library - a book that should be super helpful for gardening in the Bay Area of CA) but my husband is a little more carefree about things and just took the bull by the horns and started planting.  I'm hoping just reading this thread will help me absorb some knowledge over time, although it's a bit intimidating, almost like reading...not an entirely different language, but nearly so!

Don't know if anyone would have advice about this, but we'd really like to plant blackberries.  It seems like it might be too late in the season to plant seedlings.  At least, we can no longer find them anywhere locally.  There are some parks and public rights of way with wild blackberry bushes nearby so I looked up growing them from a cutting (I have only a vague sense of what this word means and how I would go about doing it if so, but I can get to that later, right?) and it seems like it's possible to do so, but maybe not at this time of year.  Anyway, if anyone has advice on blackberries, I'd welcome the supplement to the stuff I've googled so far!

Cgbg

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #378 on: May 08, 2019, 03:52:26 PM »
mint seedlings are doing ok

Please pull those out and put them in a pot. Do not let them get established in the ground. You will regret it.


Quote
Don't know if anyone would have advice about this, but we'd really like to plant blackberries.  It seems like it might be too late in the season to plant seedlings.  At least, we can no longer find them anywhere locally.  There are some parks and public rights of way with wild blackberry bushes nearby so I looked up growing them from a cutting (I have only a vague sense of what this word means and how I would go about doing it if so, but I can get to that later, right?) and it seems like it's possible to do so, but maybe not at this time of year.  Anyway, if anyone has advice on blackberries, I'd welcome the supplement to the stuff I've googled so far!

Our local nursery carries berry canes, and in fact keeps a list on their website of which varieties they carry for the year. I find that list helpful so if there are two varieties of a fruit that I want, then I can google up the names and read about them. I’d recommend finding a nursery and giving them a call to see if they carry them, and if so, when they usually get them. If you are too late for the year, you can prep the area where you’ll plant them so you’re ready with appropriate structures. We grow marionberries around here and they are great, but pretty much most cane berries will be somewhat invasive.

coffeefueled

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #379 on: May 09, 2019, 09:35:21 AM »
I transplanted our cherry tomatoes (7), peppers(8), and ground cherries (4) out. They had really outgrown the 4" pots and perked up a lot overnight. It's the first time I've grown from seed and didn't expect this many to survive so the fiancé and I are overjoyed with the outcome so far. Hopefully we'll have a huge harvest this summer.

We ate our first radish. I planted a about two dozen, but I think I waited too late. It's also the first time I've done spring crops so I'm still guessing when everything needs to go in the ground and how much to plant. We have leaf lettuce, chard, and kale but they're all only about an inch or two tall which I'm pretty sure is behind schedule for this time of year (zone 7a). I'll try again in the fall and hope to figure it out for some overwinter crops.

I'm quickly running out of space in our 4 beds and the pumpkins and squash haven't gone in yet. I'm realizing I need more practice planning out the space. I might even build another bed or two with some spare wood to get ready for fall crops or next year. Has anyone else experienced suddenly feeling like you don't have enough space? I'm wondering if it's going to come with feeling like we're way over our heads in garden maintenance chores in a few weeks.

We think some family bought us a greenhouse as a present for our upcoming wedding. *fingerscrossed*

In other exciting news, the large patch of dirt I spread with wildflower seed is finally showing sprouts that don't look like chickweed or other assorted less than desirables. I'm hoping that whole section of the yard will be a field of flowers by late summer.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #380 on: May 10, 2019, 09:26:32 AM »
So we slipped that chick under our broody hen, and all is well.  Our hen doesn't seem to have any problem with the fact there was only one chick.  The two fixed on each other and are both really happy.  I love watching chicks and broodies together, going about their busy little business.

I picked up that load of horse manure, and it is pretty.  One pickup truck load was just the right amount to cover our new in-ground bed 4' X 24' X 6 inches deep.  Nice.  The guy didn't want any money, but happily accepted two dozen eggs from me.  He said people often "pay" him with produce.  :)

Our potatoes are doing well this year.  (Last year they were decimated by slugs, but this year not.  Who knows?)  Some of the big ones look like they could be flowering soon:
« Last Edit: May 10, 2019, 09:46:33 AM by Trifele »

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #381 on: May 10, 2019, 11:00:06 AM »
Wrote out a post and then lost it. I’m spoiled by the auto save function over on OMD.

I’ve done quite a few things in the garden so far, mostly battling weeds from when my mental health fell apart last year.

-doubled raspberries to somewhere between 40-50 linear feet, though a lot of that will take a year or two to fill in.
-peas and garlic are up
-Summer direct sown crops are mostly in, but may need resowing if I jumped the gun weather wise. I usually risk an early planting but have extra seeds if I need to replant.
-lost some of our fruit trees to girdling damage over the winter
-have harvested comfrey for the chickens and will be harvesting rhubarb soon, nothing else for a while though.

Still kinda bare this time of year but here are some pics

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #382 on: May 10, 2019, 12:01:56 PM »
Probably about half of my lettuce and spinach seed is up. Peas are up too. Dill, oregano, and cilantro are all happy; I picked some oregano and put it on homemade pizza and NOM. I am seeing some signs of strawberries too!

So, despite the Ass Cold weather, things aren't a total disaster.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #383 on: May 10, 2019, 12:53:25 PM »
Welcome back @Buntastic!  I missed you.  Sorry to hear you haven't been well.  Great to hear what you've been up to in your urban farm.  As always, it looks fantastic!

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #384 on: May 10, 2019, 01:16:52 PM »
Congrats on starting your garden @sui generis!  It's so much fun. 

I've grown both blackberries and raspberries for years so I'll share what I know, though as a caveat I've never gardened where you are, and things may be somewhat different.  Blackberries and raspberries -- once you can get your hands on some plants -- are really easy to grow.  They aren't usually grown from seed, rather they send "runners" horizontally under the ground which then pop up as "child" plants.  That's how they spread, and why people call them "invasive."  So to answer your question, yes you could dig up some child plants from a wild blackberry patch and grow them, if you can't find any plants locally in stores.  Not sure how the wild ones would taste though.  Early spring is the best time to dig up the child plants, as they will be shorter and less thorny. 

Blackberries are perennials regarding the root system, and biennial for the part above the ground.  So in the first year the plant grows its canes (tall stiff stems with leaves), but doesn't bear any fruit.  In the second year, those canes bear fruit.  So when you're doing your fall cleanup it's important not to cut those first year canes (even though they might look dead) otherwise you'll never get fruit.   

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #385 on: May 10, 2019, 04:14:29 PM »
Wrote out a post and then lost it. I’m spoiled by the auto save function over on OMD.

I’ve done quite a few things in the garden so far, mostly battling weeds from when my mental health fell apart last year.

-doubled raspberries to somewhere between 40-50 linear feet, though a lot of that will take a year or two to fill in.
-peas and garlic are up
-Summer direct sown crops are mostly in, but may need resowing if I jumped the gun weather wise. I usually risk an early planting but have extra seeds if I need to replant.
-lost some of our fruit trees to girdling damage over the winter
-have harvested comfrey for the chickens and will be harvesting rhubarb soon, nothing else for a while though.

Still kinda bare this time of year but here are some pics

Buntastic, you are a gardening god. I am ashamed of how little I grow on my acre compared to you!

Trifle

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #386 on: May 11, 2019, 04:12:11 AM »
Quick high-level overview of where I am for this year so far:

-- Vegetables:  Potatoes, kale, tomatoes, beans, cukes, summer squash, zucchini, and peppers are in.  All doing well except some of the beans aren't growing as they should.  I'm going to replant and inoculate this time, see if it helps.

-- Perennials/Shrubs:
          - 20 feet of blackberries
          - 40 feet of raspberries
          - 10 highbush blueberries
          - 5 grape vines (3 Concord, 2 Muscadine)
          - 4 elderberry
          - 4 gooseberry
          - 2 tea shrubs.  I just planted these recently and they look fantastic -- growing fast.   

-- Trees:  I lost one fruit tree over the winter to unknown causes (smallest 2-year-old Overleese paw paw), otherwise everyone came through.  2 of my 3 figs took a bad winter hit, but they're still alive.  Total fruit tree inventory is:

          - 14 apples, 10 of which I grafted last year. 
          - 4 pears
          - 4 cherries
          - 4 persimmons
          - 3 figs
          - 2 paw paws
          - 1 pomegranate

To Do:

          - 4 of my apple graftlings are still in pots.  I'm working on getting them in the ground ASAP.  Sites are chosen and holes are dug.  It's a lot of work to plant trees well.  These little trees will most likely outlive me by many, many years; it's important to give them the best start I can.

          - Prepping two big new in-ground vegetable beds inside my deer fence, 4 x 24' each.  Cardboard is down.  I've covered one with composted manure.  Wood chips will be going on top of that.  Need to figure out what I want to do with bed #2.   

          - Expanding my raspberry rows inside the deer fence.  I took suckers from my existing patch (free plants!) and potted them up.  Those guys need to go into the ground as soon as I figure out exactly where. 

          - I still have quite a bit of space inside the deer fence that is TBD.  Until I figure out what to do with it, I'm going to focus on smothering the grass so I don't have to mow so much. 

          - I'm really enjoying my gooseberries, and I'd like more.  I'm learning about how to propagate those.  They don't sucker, so t's more complicated than raspberries/blackberries, and takes longer.  I'm going to try tip layering them and see how that goes.   

horsepoor

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #387 on: May 11, 2019, 08:29:03 AM »
I love seeing everyone's pics and reading progress reports!

@sui generis  - you'll find that gardeners love to bring new gardeners into the fold, so this is a good place to ask questions as you learn!

Last weekend was focused on our front yard, which is mostly xeriscaped/native.  We had a gopher tear things up at the end of last summer, and then we used that as a launching board towards tearing out grass that was encroaching into the landscaping.  So there was a big mess, and lots of rock mulch needing to be sieved out of soil, and two yards of new rock mulch to bring in and spread. 

I've been out of town all week, so I'm hoping my seedlings are all still alive down in the basement.  I can see from the window that the potatoes have popped up, and my onion plants look bigger than last weekend.

This weekend I'll be planting out most of the warm-weather crops.  I waited a little on the cucurbits since I like to transplant them at the 2-leaf stage, but as of last Sunday, nothing had even sprouted in that tray, so we'll see.

Need to get an inventory of my soaker hoses and figure out what I need to go buy. 

Does anyone use one of the digital timers that attaches to a hose bib?  I'm thinking I really need to invest in something like that this year to automate more of the watering.  I have to be away again next week, and would rather not put the responsibility for newly transplanted seedlings on DH, who is plenty busy as well.

If I can get some final touches on the chicken tractor so that it's secure, I might go buy 3-4 pullets this weekend, since I'm down to just two hens (who are enjoying their spacious 8-bird coop).  OTOH, having just two birds makes things really low-maintenance.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #388 on: May 11, 2019, 02:06:52 PM »
Has anyone grown the "tumbling" varieties of tomatoes? The kind that are usually sold in a hanging basket. Every year my farmer's market sells them, and every year I drool over them. They had some there today - literally hundreds of flowers on every plant, and some were making tomatoes already.

The plants are $20 though, which is WAY more than I normally pay for a seedling! But these are clearly very established plants, and it looks like they'd have an amazing yield. I mean, if one of these puts out as much as 5 or 6 regular plants, it could be worth it?

Also wondering if they bear all the tomatoes at once, or all season.

Trifle

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #389 on: May 12, 2019, 04:11:05 AM »
Also wondering if they bear all the tomatoes at once, or all season.

Those hanging basket tomatoes sure are pretty @Tris Prior.  I haven't grown them, but judging by a quick Google search it looks like "Tumbling Tom" is a common variety of those.  That is a determinate variety, which normally means most of the fruit comes all at once.  But then in the customer reviews I'm seeing people report picking fruit all summer.  ?

I say get one to test it, in the name of science.  :)  And let us all know!   

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #390 on: May 12, 2019, 06:07:12 AM »
Wrote out a post and then lost it. I’m spoiled by the auto save function over on OMD.

I’ve done quite a few things in the garden so far, mostly battling weeds from when my mental health fell apart last year.

-doubled raspberries to somewhere between 40-50 linear feet, though a lot of that will take a year or two to fill in.
-peas and garlic are up
-Summer direct sown crops are mostly in, but may need resowing if I jumped the gun weather wise. I usually risk an early planting but have extra seeds if I need to replant.
-lost some of our fruit trees to girdling damage over the winter
-have harvested comfrey for the chickens and will be harvesting rhubarb soon, nothing else for a while though.

Still kinda bare this time of year but here are some pics

Buntastic, you are a gardening god. I am ashamed of how little I grow on my acre compared to you!

I’m nothing special. Gardening/farming just happens to be my favorite hobby. And, when things are going well at least, it really soothes my depression and anxiety.

I also raise meat rabbits and egg laying chickens inside my privacy fence.

@Trifele tip-layering works for gooseberries, I know this because I have a bush that has completely accidentally tip-layered, lol. If you want I can look in my reference book for other recommended propagation techniques.

What varieties do you have? Mine are mostly Hinnomaki with a couple others I can’t recall any longer and the labels are all faded.

@horsepoor no experience myself but heard reasonably good things about most irrigation timers, just read the reviews. Digital is one option, there are also analog ones driven by the water pressure in the spigot itself.

If your coop is setup for deep bedding, the maintenance on 50+ chickens is practically the same as on 2. I went from 13 to now nearly 40 and except for one extra feeder to carry my workload day to day is exactly the same except for the great shovel out once a year.

Gonna go drive to the power company for another load of free woodchips before everyone gets up. I got two loads yesterday. Between some 27 gallon totes and a bunch of buckets I can fit 2/3 cuyd per trip. I can get a chipper truck full delivered for free but I have nowhere to store the pile except in the street, and don’t have the time to get 5+ cuyd spread in a single day (if I take longer, the city starts yelling at me).

Buntastic

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #391 on: May 12, 2019, 06:12:29 AM »
Should I try to continue to resurrect the homesteading group journal for livestock discussion or just merge it back with this thread? Wasn’t sure how much gardeners who are veg/vegan are bothered by livestock convo.


Trifle

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #392 on: May 12, 2019, 06:46:25 AM »
@Trifele tip-layering works for gooseberries, I know this because I have a bush that has completely accidentally tip-layered, lol. If you want I can look in my reference book for other recommended propagation techniques.

What varieties do you have? Mine are mostly Hinnomaki with a couple others I can’t recall any longer and the labels are all faded.

I have Hinnomaki and Pixwell.  I've watched a few Youtube videos about tip layering gooseberries, and it looks exactly the same as layering raspberries, which I've done.  You can also divide gooseberries (brutal out-of-the-ground surgery, like what you do with hostas) or grow from cuttings using rooting hormone.  The tip layering looks the easiest, so that's what I'm going with to start.  Takes 2-3 years from that to having fruit, though.

I wish I could just buy more plants but unfortunately the whole Ribes genus  -- gooseberries, currants, etc. -- is illegal here and no local nurseries carry them nor will anyone ship to me.  Outdated law based on misunderstanding of how white pine blister rust is transmitted.  Almost all other states have repealed their anti-Ribes law, but not ours.  Grrr.  I got my current plants [shhh] by shipping them to a friend in a neighboring state.  I may plan a trip out of state next spring to scoop some more plants somewhere.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #393 on: May 12, 2019, 09:17:44 AM »
@horsepoor no experience myself but heard reasonably good things about most irrigation timers, just read the reviews. Digital is one option, there are also analog ones driven by the water pressure in the spigot itself.

If your coop is setup for deep bedding, the maintenance on 50+ chickens is practically the same as on 2. I went from 13 to now nearly 40 and except for one extra feeder to carry my workload day to day is exactly the same except for the great shovel out once a year.

I went ahead and ordered these timers yesterday, so I can get them set up before I go on my next trip.  Hopefully time saved on watering will allow me to keep up on the rest of the maintenance a little more.

On the chickens, it's more just that I have to refill the feed and water more often with 6 hens, more eggs to collect, etc.  I'm a seriously lazy chicken keeper; usually just change out a bale of shavings in the coop in spring and fall, then rake out the run and throw the tube sand from my truck in to refresh the base a little and call it good.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #394 on: May 12, 2019, 11:52:47 AM »
I'm a few hours from being in my garden after being absent from it for about a month. I don't really know what to expect. So much work lays ahead of me in the coming days....and I wouldn't want it any other way. I know I'm preaching to the converted here, but there is nothing quite as satisfying as growing your own food on your own land.

Great to see everyone's garden dreams coming to fruition. I'll be reading along with interest, and I may chime in with my garden progress from time to time, but most of my garden story and images will likely be detailed elsewhere on the forum given that I only allow myself a certain amount of forum time these days.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #395 on: May 12, 2019, 12:16:42 PM »
@horsepoor no experience myself but heard reasonably good things about most irrigation timers, just read the reviews. Digital is one option, there are also analog ones driven by the water pressure in the spigot itself.

If your coop is setup for deep bedding, the maintenance on 50+ chickens is practically the same as on 2. I went from 13 to now nearly 40 and except for one extra feeder to carry my workload day to day is exactly the same except for the great shovel out once a year.

I went ahead and ordered these timers yesterday, so I can get them set up before I go on my next trip.  Hopefully time saved on watering will allow me to keep up on the rest of the maintenance a little more.

On the chickens, it's more just that I have to refill the feed and water more often with 6 hens, more eggs to collect, etc.  I'm a seriously lazy chicken keeper; usually just change out a bale of shavings in the coop in spring and fall, then rake out the run and throw the tube sand from my truck in to refresh the base a little and call it good.

Okay :) I personally hate buying eggs (and we eat a LOT), so we dramatically increased our flock so that hopefully we never run out and will sell the rest.

Tris Prior

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #396 on: May 12, 2019, 01:27:20 PM »
Also wondering if they bear all the tomatoes at once, or all season.

Those hanging basket tomatoes sure are pretty @Tris Prior.  I haven't grown them, but judging by a quick Google search it looks like "Tumbling Tom" is a common variety of those.  That is a determinate variety, which normally means most of the fruit comes all at once.  But then in the customer reviews I'm seeing people report picking fruit all summer.  ?

I say get one to test it, in the name of science.  :)  And let us all know!   

Of course! Nonmustachianism because SCIENCE. ;) And, honestly, if they come in all at once, that's good for canning, I won't complain.  They are so pretty. So full and healthy looking. Hmmmm.

My Sungold seedling, which isn't even in the ground yet due to our continued Ass Cold temperatures, is making a tiny tomato already. WHAT. It's May! OK then!

Has anyone grown mizuna? This morning I volunteered at my community garden, planting the raised beds that grow veggies for our local food pantries. One of the plants being put in was purple mizuna, and OMG, it is gorgeous. I'm curious about it - particularly how spicy it is, and whether it is spicy enough that bunnies will not eat it. Because if I get one, I want to plant it in the backyard which has no bunny fence, as my community plot (which does have a bunny fence) has all of its spots spoken for, should it ever stop being Hoth so I can plant my damn tomatoes.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #397 on: May 12, 2019, 01:59:02 PM »
Got a handful of ripe strawberries this morning- just enough to snack on. They were delicious!!

I also got a handful of cilantro to put in the Mexican dish we had for lunch. I'm seeing some squash and zucchini blooms though so I'm looking forward to that.

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #398 on: May 12, 2019, 04:23:37 PM »
Not a good day for our animals here.  We lost our best hen to a fox this morning, and then we also lost that new little chick we got.  Not sure what the cause of death was for the chick; everything had been going well.  :(

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Re: Planting/Growing Your Own 2019
« Reply #399 on: May 12, 2019, 05:28:36 PM »
Not a good day for our animals here.  We lost our best hen to a fox this morning, and then we also lost that new little chick we got.  Not sure what the cause of death was for the chick; everything had been going well.  :(

Bummer :( I had to put down one of my pullets today as well.

@Tris Prior have you ever grown anything in the mustard green family? It’s very similar. Would also be reasonably similar to growing leaf lettuce. Cut and come again harvesting.

I’ve not grown it myself but have seen it grown by many farmers I’ve read/watched.

No idea if it’s rabbit proof or not, depends on your local rabbits. None of my garden is protected from rabbits and I suffer almost no noticeable damage except for munching on shrubs and girdling damage in the winter.