WEEKLY GARDEN THREAD MAY 10, 2013

Free Republic | 5/10/2013 | greeneyes

[Sarajevo]

I’ve never seen them closer than 5 miles away. I’m knocking on wood that they don’t show up. Hogs can tear up a field and be gone before I know it.

[greeneyes]

LOL. Annoying as they are, I still love to see them. Beautiful deer. Granddaughter thinks the squirrels are just precious. Grrrr.

[JRandomFreeper]

Once again, I went with the standard issue Virginia.

I almost always go with standard kitchen stuff. ;)

/johnny

[Sarajevo]

So do you have any tips for growing peanuts?

I just planted the peanut seeds in my raised beds last year, and watered about once per week. From an 8 x 8 bed, I harvested about a peck. I still have several volunteer plants returning this year, but I decided not to plant anymore since my neighbors are allergic, and the Mrs doesn't really care for them.

[Sarajevo]

That looks like lunch on the hoof ;)

[Marcella]

“There are large holes in the sides of the baskets, so the young plants get plenty of morning and evening light.”

Thanks.

[greeneyes]

Jumbo Virginia, gave me a 10% germination and 0 viable seedling for transplant. Bought them from Guerneys.

So going with Carolina Black from Southern Exposure. Hoping for better results.

[greeneyes]

That’s about what I’ll do - maybe a little less. The kids love peanut butter, so I want to make some out of home grown peanuts, just to see if I can.

[JRandomFreeper]

Cheaper to buy a bag of raw peanuts at the local grocery.

/johnny

[greeneyes]

Lunch on the hoof, and dearskin gloves or maybe a hat.

[Alice in Wonderland]

Last year my neighbor, an equine dentist, bought a trailer load of hay (Alfalfa or Timothy) with the intent of selling it to local horse farms. For various reasons that didn't work out and he's now moved away ... and left a barn of hay that he said I could have. I gave a lot of it away to a couple of friends who have a hay eating critters but kept some for myself ... mostly the moldly ones.

There's lot of info out there about straw bale gardening but I watched SUZY BARTELS HAY BALE GARDENING video and followed her advice about preparing the bales ... mostly adding lots of nitrogen.

At one point I found maggots in the bales but they went away when I sprinkled on some DE.

Then there was the attack of the mushrooms ... but that's a good thing. There'd be hundreds each morning which died off during the day ... only to be followed by hundreds more the next morning.

I added a handful of soil when I planted a plant but that was mostly for my peace of mind and not needed. I'd also add about 1/4" of soil when I direct sowed seeds, so they'd have a 'bed' to rest on. The bales are starting to fall apart and I doubt they'll last more than one season. This fall I intend to build permanent raised beds and use whatever hay is left as a base in those beds. I want to use metal roofing panels ... three (@ $15+/- each) would make a 4'x8' bed that's about 2' tall. I'll be able to sit in my shower chair and garden ... my back and my knees will thank me!

The plants love the hay bales! These tomatoes were planted on March 24th:

And here they are today:

Note: The tomato on the right had critters that were picked off last week ... and I thought planting marigolds near 'em was supposed to protect 'em.

[greeneyes]

It ain’t about cheap. LOL. It’s about I’d rather do it myself. Besides, if I learn to do it, then I can just save the pods and plant some each year and make a few jars for presents to the kids at Xmas.

I also can rest assured that there’s no pesticide residue or GMO in the nuts. And that’s one step closer to self sufficiency beyond the basics.

[greeneyes]

Thanks for refreshing my memory on that. Marigolds help with some things, but not all, and also depends on ratio.

For example, one of the books advised planting 3 basil plants for each tomato plant.

[handmade]

If I can’t do it myself, I generally avoid it.

I understand the logic of the grafted plant, but seed saving is not going to work with grafted. I had one catalog last year that was selling individual NOT grafted tomato plants at 12 bucks a pop. To say I sputtered is an understatement.

I like the heirlooms for the taste. I also use a lot of Romas because they work in about everything.

[Alice in Wonderland]

Good to know. I have basil in pots ... I’ll move them to the tomato area tomorrow.

[tubebender]

I'm plumb amazed at the growth on the strawberries with the new pine bark mulch. I have grown Seascape variety for several years and they never looked this healthy this early in the season. Seascape is a NW coast favorite…

Speaking of roses this is my first Stinkin Rose…

[greeneyes]

I’m going to tell Hubby about that pine mulch. He’s been talking about mulch for a while.

Wonder how oak bark would work. We have all kinds of Oak bark from the trees we cut down to make room for the garden.

My garlic is not yet ready to harvest, but it shouldn’t be too long now.

[ApplegateRanch]

Plastic sheeting over the apricot trees last week saved the blossom buds when it dipped to the low 20s 3 nights in a row, after a few days of 60s & nits 35-45. This week, the blossoms opened. Third year they've bloomed. 1st year, none set fruit. Last year, a few set, but fell off after only getting up to buckshot size. Hoping 3rd year is the charm.

Asparagus is finally coming up; will get a few spears tomorrow. Rhubarb is almost ready to start harvesting. Peas, snap peas; and snow peas have all surfaced.

Since the Fall planted garlic was a bust--only 3 out of 27 cloves planted--I put in 2 more types of garlic, as well as shallots & leek transplants. Then I noticed a 4th errant garlic sprout yesterday, so MAYBE we'll get a few more.

Today, a dozen Brussels sprouts got transplanted; and last week 3 black raspberries went in, as well as 30 strawberries that went into 2 Topsy-Turvy planters.

Still have some new asparagus roots, 2 Nan-King cherries, 3 more black raspberries, and an Elvira grape to plant...plus the warm season seeds. last-frost is normally next week.

Yesterday, I put 30 eggs into the incubator to try again for some chicks. Also last week, both does kindled for a total of 15 bunnies.

Among other work around here, we've added 2 strands of electrified wire to 2 sides the outer 4 ancient strands of barbed perimeter fence around the garden area, giving a protected area of about 2.5 acres; no cattle on the other 2 sides. That area already is cross fenced into 2 areas, with the garden in one of them, with an 8' deer fence around it.

NORTH to top; garden fences in red. The north half has the snap pea field in it, and will also have the sunflowers. The south-east treed area is a mix of apples, lilacs, pines, and junipers. The South side E-W fence is continuous in both directions; it's our south boundary fence. The red diagonal line from the NW corner is a new 4-strand fence I'm working on to keep the cattle out of the 'home area'; all told, it will give us about 10 cattle-free acres.

[greeneyes]

Nice land, and lots of good results for the garden. I had one type of garlic last year that didn’t do well, but all the others came up. I try to get it in early enough to get some good growth in the fall, and keep it under row covers for most of the winter, sometimes with a layer of straw.

The area that didn’t do well accidentally got squashed down by some extra straw that fell over onto it. So that may have been the cause, but it is possible that the type just wasn’t suitable for winter I guess.

[rightly_dividing]

Thanks for that idea. I had to search that one, had never heard of them. My wife has taken 1/4 of last year’s detached okra garden to plant Zinnias for her cut flower arraignments. We may still put something in the main garden, I have some watermelon seeds that I wanted to plant. It’s not too late for them according to what I read.