Weekly Gardening Thread (Catalog Fever) Vol. 1 Jan 6, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Seeds) Vol. 2, January 13, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 3, January 20, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (U.S. Hardiness Zones) Supplemental Vol. 1
Weekly Gardening Thread (Soil Types) Vol. 4, January 27, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Vacation) Vol. 5, February 03, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Vacation) Vol. 6, February 10, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Vacation?) Vol. 7, February 17, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Home Sweet Home) Vol. 8, February 24, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Soil Structure Part 1) Vol. 9, March 2, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Transplanting Tomatoes) Vol. 10, March 9, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Useful Links) Vol. 11, March 16, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread -- Vol. 12, March 23, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread -- Vol. 13, March 31, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Happy Easter!) Vol. 14, April 6, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 15, April 13, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 16, April 20, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 17, April 27, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 18, May 4, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 19 (Getting Projects Done) May 11, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread (Harvesting Wheat) Vol. 20, May 18, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 21 (Keywords) May 25, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 22 (Keywords 2) June 1, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 23, June 8, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 24, June 15, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 25, June 22, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 26, June 29, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 27, July 06, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 28, July 13, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 29, July 20, 2012
Weekly Gardening Thread Vol. 30, July 27, 2012
Pretty darn dry and hot here in NE Texas! Tomatoes are struggling.
Any idea if I can replant my puny onions for a fall harvest? Maters are starting to turn, finally, and hot peppers are jamming. I see many pints of hot pepper butter in my near future!
Good year for tomatoes where we are. Brandywines look great. Ours are getting large (both plants and fruit)but still green. We’re trying Black Pearl cherry tomatoes and Black Krim. We’ve harvested a couple of “Better Bush”. Our snow peas are doing very well and I’ve frozen some. Zucchini hasn’t done so well. We got just two or three before they died off. Harvested onions and garlic and more onions have been planted. Tried potatoes for the first time and we have been enjoying those! YUM! We thwarted the bunny and will have green beans. FINALLY!
We have made a lot of mistakes, but we’re learning as we go!
I’ll be getting my garden plots ready for the fall veggies soon. It’s too hot here in central Texas for anything to survive. No rain for a couple of weeks and the water bill is bad enough trying to keep the back yard alive.
We are still getting some tomatos, but lots of banana peppers and the okry is doing pretty good for young plants. We have picked a lot of Cajun Delight and Jade, with the others just starting to produce.
The standard 70% shadecloth was way too much for the plants, so it was left secured to the top rail. The raised beds are built from scavenged 2x12 lumber and are filled with horse manure. Watering is done with 3 small drip sprinkler heads, which are more than adequate. Needless to say, the plants quickly got out of control, necessitating modification.
Here is the hoophouse after we widened it 10ft. and added extra raised beds. Irrigation on this section will also be by drip heads. If you note the big green monsters in the center bed on the right, those are okra plants that stand over 7ft tall (Thanks for the seeds JADB!). The beds have been cleared of the squash, zuchini, melon, and most of the tomato vines in preparation for the next crop. We are going to replace the 70% shadecloth with 30% cloth when it comes in.
Lady Bender just showed me a box of generic Corn Flakes that cost $2.00 a couple of months ago and was $4.00 this morning. She uses them in a few of her cookie recipes...
Over the past few weeks, we have delivered approximately 6 bushels of tomatoes (Early Girl and Better Boy purchased at the local high school’s FFA plant sale) to a beautiful lady who has given us so many jars of her produce over the past six to eight years! We’ve also given watermelons and cantaloupes to our friends and neighbors who have helped us in so many ways. It is great fun to be able to do something nice for people who have been so kind to us!
Green beans and tomatoes are slowing down. Two watermelons left on the vine. Cantaloupes still producing. Zucchini plants looking anemic. Got about 20 strawberries this year.
Do you have any suggestions re: instructional websites for planting nitrogen-fixing or other reparative/replenishing crops for a relatively small garden to give the soil a rest? I had hoped to plant some acorn squash this month, but I’d also like to plant something we can till back into the earth. (Please excuse my ignorance—we’ve not done this before.)
Thank you!
Weather was still hot and dry all week. Everything is dying, even stuff that has been watered, can’t stand the afternoon sun. Tomatoes are hanging in there with a shade cloth as are some perrenials that get afternoon shade.
We only have 1 tree left that shades the back patios which face south west. If it goes, the electric bill will destroy the budget.
Hubby hauled about 200 gallons of water yesterday to water all the best fruit and nut trees and bushes. We finally got some rain late yesterday and again early this morning. About an inch in all.
Hope everyone had a great weekend. God Bless.
Still hot and dry here in Central Missouri.
I went to the sprint car races in Iowa over the weekend.
Came home to a pond full of dead catfish. I’ve been feeding them since we built our house and they were getting to a nice size, longer than my elbow to fingertips.
And now they’re buzzard food.
