2021 Garden

[Mad Trapper]

New thread. Everything garden 2021.

Starting seeds, finding/purchasing needed seed, transplanting, direct seeding in the garden, bugs, critter problems, plant diseases etc...........open to everything.

Orchard/berries I might start another thread. I'm behind on finishing pruning and have blueberries and fruit trees to get in the ground.

Me

I'm a little late this year getting started, last Friday Mar 26 th, but our last spring frost is ~ mid-May, sometimes early-June.

I have a good friend who runs a greenhouse each spring and sells his starts. He heats with wood and if I help him out with keeping the place warm and planting I can start all my plants there. I'll be helping transplanting lots of his sprouts this week, along with cutting/splitting wood and stoking the furnace.

Most of the things I grow are heirloom that I can save seeds for and I'm still learning that. This year I have a lot of seeds that needed planting as they were several years old. Some seeds only last a couple years, some like brassicas (cabbages, bocolli, kale..) last at least 5 or 6. I planted lots of the older stuff, saved a few to see if they still germinate well, and also planted some new seed too.

I'll have more starts than my garden can hold, but I can sell surplus at the greenhouse or give them to friends and family. I didn't want the older seed to go bad/be wasted.

Finding seed is not as difficult as last year but a lot of varieties are sold out at the sources and/or not on local shelves.

What I have started:

Broccoli- Calabrese, Diccico, and Waltham

Cabbage- Round Dutch, Savoy perfection, All seasons ,Early golden ace, flat Dutch late, Copenhagen market

Kale- an heirloom my family has been growing for many years don't know original source. I made lots of seed last year, bottom of a small baggie full.

Peppers- Jalapeno, saved heirloom Bird cayenne, Cayenne, Cal wonder, Habanero, saved heirloom Hot cherry (can't find ANY hot cherry seed for purchase).

Tomatoes- Beefsteak, Eva purple ball, Roma, Abe Lincoln, Box Car Willie, Amish paste, Rutgers, Large Red, Moskvich

All the tomatoes are heirloom varieties some from saved seed. I have descriptions of all, size, determinate/indeterminate, days to harvest (60-90). Ask me if interested.

I hope to save seed from the peppers and tomatoes this year so I won't worry about finding seeds.

I'll update as I plant more and cover the perennial stuff that's overwintered.

[hawgrider]

Im moving in a few months so no garden this year for me. I'm hoping to take some of my garlic with me though as its coming up nicely. Ill pull it early in June so I have some cloves to plant in the fall.

Its over 50 year old heirloom Garlic. I've been growing for 30years got it from my old neighbor who was growing it for a couple decades before I got some of it.

If I can't get my garlic pulled we planted some at my kids place last fall and its coming up so at least I had a plan A and B we shouldn't lose the strain.

[Mad Trapper]

Im moving in a few months so no garden this year for me. I'm hoping to take some of my garlic with me though as its coming up nicely. Ill pull it early in June so I have some cloves to plant in the fall.

Its over 50 year old heirloom Garlic. I've been growing for 30years got it from my old neighbor who was growing it for a couple decades before I got some of it.

If I can't get my garlic pulled we planted some at my kids place last fall and its coming up so at least I had a plan A and B we shouldn't lose the strain.

Hawg, what part of America you going too? Is the Wretched Whitless going to miss you? Or still in the mitten?

[Mad Trapper]

Here is a thought for maybe another garden thread. Anybody else save seeds or want to start?

Maybe we could start a seed saver exchange for OTP members only.

I'm even thinking about saving enough seed to sell some. Damm seed companies are selling 25 tomato seeds for $3/pkt. 5 or 6 tomatoes/peppers, of each variety, would net enough seeds for a hefty profit, more so than selling the tomatoes.

Some stuff is hard to save seed for, as it will cross and/or biennial. Biennials you need to overwinter either in place (kale does great) or bring inside. Other stuff like squashes will cross pollinate so you need to isolate blossoms and hand pollinate, that's a PITA.

Carrots are a double wammy as they are biennials, cross pollinate, and will cross with weeds (queen anne's lace). I'll buy my carrot seeds.

I've only got a few seeds I'm surplus on right now:

oakleaf lettuce
heirloom kale
kentucky wonder and scarlet runner pole beans

I'll be saving what I have success with for tomatoes and peppers this fall.

[Sparkyprep]

:michelle: This thread needs pics.

[Mad Trapper]

:michelle: This thread needs pics.

Damm Sparky! That smiley makes me cringe.

Can you put a smiley on the ignore list?

[hawgrider]

Hawg, what part of America you going too? Is the Wretched Whitless going to miss you? Or still in the mitten?

Gotta stay in the mitten I've got grandkids that need to go fishing and huntin and such. Iffin I didn't I'd be heading to a red state.

[Mad Trapper]

Gotta stay in the mitten I've got grandkids that need to go fishing and huntin and such. Iffin I didn't I'd be heading to a red state.

Got to love the kids!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkaKwXddT_I

[Michael_Js]

Spent 5 hours in the garden this past Saturday. Dug up all the weeds, some old plants (still getting Brussels Sprouts and kale from last year), fertilized, then dug in, and raked smooth. Also added back all the drip lines and tested. Took all the hoops down as well as the winter covers on a few beds. The Mrs. helped too...

12 raised beds and 4 long rows for corn. Planted about 60 or so corn seeds in the greenhouse to get them started. None of my other starts are growing though :(

This weekend we'll go buy some organic starts and put them in the greenhouse. Still a few more weeks to plant. Also getting more fertilizer to add some needed nitrogen to the soil: blood meal and potash.

Garlic is going great!! Onions have started poking through. Strawberries just coming out of hibernation, and the asparagus - well, they're still sleeping...

I'll take and post some progression pictures...

Peace,
Michael J.

[hawgrider]

Got to love the kids!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkaKwXddT_I

Yes sir gotta make some memories and teach them chillens some ole timey stuff such as huntin fishing butchering canning and some mischief too. Gotta get some revenge on my daughters right? Sugar them grandkids up spoil them and sit back and watch the fun.

[MountainGirl]

Tom gardens - tomatoes watermelons & smoke; I do berry bushes - likely starting a blackberry patch this year, and add a few more elderberry in. Might start another apple tree, which would make 2 for the deer and one for us. :)

[Mad Trapper]

Tom gardens - tomatoes watermelons & smoke; I do berry bushes - likely starting a blackberry patch this year, and add a few more elderberry in. Might start another apple tree, which would make 2 for the deer and one for us. :)

Big circular wire mesh fence around the fruit trees will keep the deer off. Don't stake it too heavy so you can get in to prune and tend the ground cover.

[Slippy]

We are starting to plant our raised beds and will post pics soon!

[Inor]

I eventually cancelled our original order for the raspberries, blueberries and blackberries when they had not shown up after 2 months and the customer disservice people kept giving us the run around. Thankfully AmEx loves me from my travel days when I was charging $5-$10K per month with them. Mrs Inor ordered the new plants from another company and she is planting them this week.

We started the garden plants inside about a month ago (all heirloom) so they are about ready to go into the new gardens I made last year. I do still need to turn the steer manure in the gardens before we can plant.

Mrs Inor sprung another surprise on me yesterday when she mentioned that I need to put up a fence around the gardens before we can plant. That is a big problem since I have not even thought about how I am going to do that one yet, not to mention that I do not have a post-hole digger yet. I may have to just put up something temporary for this year until I can come up with a longer term solution later this summer. GRRR!!!

I would like to get started on building the chicken shack as well, but Mrs Inor keeps coming up with "small" projects that I need to get done before starting on that. We may have to postpone the chickens for a year if I cannot get started on the shack pretty soon.

On the up-side, all of the fruit trees we planted last fall seem to have made it through the winter!

[Michael_Js]

I eventually cancelled our original order for the raspberries, blueberries and blackberries when they had not shown up after 2 months and the customer disservice people kept giving us the run around. Thankfully AmEx loves me from my travel days when I was charging $5-$10K per month with them. Mrs Inor ordered the new plants from another company and she is planting them this week.

We started the garden plants inside about a month ago (all heirloom) so they are about ready to go into the new gardens I made last year. I do still need to turn the steer manure in the gardens before we can plant.

Mrs Inor sprung another surprise on me yesterday when she mentioned that I need to put up a fence around the gardens before we can plant. That is a big problem since I have not even thought about how I am going to do that one yet, not to mention that I do not have a post-hole digger yet. I may have to just put up something temporary for this year until I can come up with a longer term solution later this summer. GRRR!!!

I would like to get started on building the chicken shack as well, but Mrs Inor keeps coming up with "small" projects that I need to get done before starting on that. We may have to postpone the chickens for a year if I cannot get started on the shack pretty soon.

On the up-side, all of the fruit trees we planted last fall seem to have made it through the winter!

What animals are the fence trying to keep out? If it's deer, or smaller, a simple T-post fence (10') with 7' high deer netting works great. Larger, well...this won't work...

That's what we've had around our garden (68' square) for about 4 years and no incidents...not even rabbits have been getting in. Rats & moles...oh well...yes.

Old pictures, but you get the idea: 13618
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Peace,
Michael J.

[Gambit]

: 13618
13619.

the beds and green look sharp my friend

[Innkeeper]

Looks like my garden may be sidelined for this year. I was fighting off my spring cold and decided to take a hot steam shower to help break up the sinuses.
I forgot the first rule in the shower "don't pick up the soap". I had my foot at the edge wherein slopes up the side shifted my weight and well the human foot doesn't bend that way. Something popped and I was in agony.
At least 1 bone fractured maybe broken I will know more after the radiologist checks the x-rays. But I will probably be laid up until may. So there goes spring planting. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210331/a5483062d59c9f03377d7f2f760a5e6a.jpg

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[hawgrider]

Oh bummer!

[StratBastard]

Looks like my garden may be sidelined for this year. I was fighting off my spring cold and decided to take a hot steam shower to help break up the sinuses.
I forgot the first rule in the shower "don't pick up the soap". I had my foot at the edge wherein slopes up the side shifted my weight and well the human foot doesn't bend that way. Something popped and I was in agony.
At least 1 bone fractured maybe broken I will know more after the radiologist checks the x-rays. But I will probably be laid up until may. So there goes spring planting. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210331/a5483062d59c9f03377d7f2f760a5e6a.jpg

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Ouch. The sh!t never stops coming. Heal fast buddy.

[Mad Trapper]

I eventually cancelled our original order for the raspberries, blueberries and blackberries when they had not shown up after 2 months and the customer disservice people kept giving us the run around. Thankfully AmEx loves me from my travel days when I was charging $5-$10K per month with them. Mrs Inor ordered the new plants from another company and she is planting them this week.

We started the garden plants inside about a month ago (all heirloom) so they are about ready to go into the new gardens I made last year. I do still need to turn the steer manure in the gardens before we can plant.

Mrs Inor sprung another surprise on me yesterday when she mentioned that I need to put up a fence around the gardens before we can plant. That is a big problem since I have not even thought about how I am going to do that one yet, not to mention that I do not have a post-hole digger yet. I may have to just put up something temporary for this year until I can come up with a longer term solution later this summer. GRRR!!!

I would like to get started on building the chicken shack as well, but Mrs Inor keeps coming up with "small" projects that I need to get done before starting on that. We may have to postpone the chickens for a year if I cannot get started on the shack pretty soon.

On the up-side, all of the fruit trees we planted last fall seem to have made it through the winter!

Make sure you prep the soil well for the blueberries. Lots of organic matter/peat and pH ~4.5-5.0.

I have ~ 40 plants at one place, a dozen at the other. Many varieties.

I prepped a large bed last spring , to plant some blueberries this spring. I plowed the sod up and soil was ~ 6.0. I added sulfur and tilled that in along with rotted white pine needle mulch (acid mulch). I still need to test pH again and till in more mulch before I plant (we're getting snow tonight/tomorrow).

The berries were purchased real small bare root a few years ago and have been in large containers; they put out berries the last two years. If you can't prep the beds, large containers with proper soil will keep them happy, but you'll need to water them. If you have a well and the water is hard, use rain water instead; blueberries don't like calcium.

I have some great references for fruits/vegetables, soil prep etc ......in PDF format. The site here only allows attachments 79 kB file size, is there a way to get around this? Some files are 2-5 MB. The site don't seem to have an issue with image files.

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[Mad Trapper]

Sorry to hear you are out of action. I had one of those boots on for a few months myself.

Save the boot. Mine has come in handy for bad ankle sprains.

[Innkeeper]

Looks like mother nature is looking out for me and delaying things a bit.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210401/ba546fa2f81efeee1295f3e412e65a2b.jpg

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[hawgrider]

Looks like mother nature is looking out for me and delaying things a bit.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210401/ba546fa2f81efeee1295f3e412e65a2b.jpg

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Up at the 45th snow in May is possible. Hell back in the 90's we got 6" in August and I went snowmobiling lol

[Prepared One]

No garden for me this year. My heart is not in it. I wasn't the one who could grow shit around this place anyways.

[Michael_Js]

Some recent shots of the garden. Bought some pepper, tomato, and artichoke starts today...they're in the greenhouse waiting for the frosts to be over. We'll plant some items soon - beans, peas, ...

Looking towards the north. Kale on the left, and a full bed of garlic planted last September:
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Some leftover Brussels sprouts that are still producing:
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Hoops with bird netting protecting the strawberry bed - behind in the left corner is the full asparagus bed:
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This shot is looking east, with the right side of the raised beds:
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This is looking east with the left side of the raised beds:
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Soaker lines throughout; Electrical and frost-free water faucet outside by the south gate; and same in the greenhouse.

Peace,
Michael J.

[Inor]

Some recent shots of the garden. Bought some pepper, tomato, and artichoke starts today...they're in the greenhouse waiting for the frosts to be over. We'll plant some items soon - beans, peas, ...

Looking towards the north. Kale on the left, and a full bed of garlic planted last September:
13671

Some leftover Brussels sprouts that are still producing:
13672

Hoops with bird netting protecting the strawberry bed - behind in the left corner is the full asparagus bed:
13673

This shot is looking east, with the right side of the raised beds:
13674

This is looking east with the left side of the raised beds:
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Soaker lines throughout; Electrical and frost-free water faucet outside by the south gate; and same in the greenhouse.

Peace,
Michael J.

^^^ THAT ^^^ is freakin awesome!!!

[hawgrider]

Very impressive!

[Slippy]

Some recent shots of the garden. Bought some pepper, tomato, and artichoke starts today...they're in the greenhouse waiting for the frosts to be over. We'll plant some items soon - beans, peas, ...

Looking towards the north. Kale on the left, and a full bed of garlic planted last September:
13671

Some leftover Brussels sprouts that are still producing:
13672

Hoops with bird netting protecting the strawberry bed - behind in the left corner is the full asparagus bed:
13673

This shot is looking east, with the right side of the raised beds:
13674

This is looking east with the left side of the raised beds:
13675

Soaker lines throughout; Electrical and frost-free water faucet outside by the south gate; and same in the greenhouse.

Peace,
Michael J.

Slippy Approved!

[MountainGirl]

...
Soaker lines throughout; Electrical and frost-free water faucet outside by the south gate; and same in the greenhouse.

Peace,
Michael J.
Very nice!
What is the watering setup? Drag a hose to each bed when needed? Bet you have quick release ends, if so. We're always dragging hoses here; always like to learn how others do it. Thanks!

[Michael_Js]

Very nice!
What is the watering setup? Drag a hose to each bed when needed? Bet you have quick release ends, if so. We're always dragging hoses here; always like to learn how others do it. Thanks!

No, every bed, and the 4 corn rows, have drip lines installed. You can see the 4 black lines running in each bed. All on an automatic sprinkler controller in the newer shed you can't see - more south on the property. The hose is just if needed. We use the water outside to rinse veggies we've picked.

Peace,
Michael J.

[MountainGirl]

No, every bed, and the 4 corn rows, have drip lines installed. You can see the 4 black lines running in each bed. All on an automatic sprinkler controller in the newer shed you can't see - more south on the property. The hose is just if needed. We use the water outside to rinse veggies we've picked.

Peace,
Michael J.

Drip lines in the beds right, sorry, my question wasn't clear. :) Lemme try it this way: What's the setup between the beds and the sprinkler controller? Safe to assume each bed isn't home run to the controller, yes? I'm picturing a spider web of hoses - and I bet yours aint that. LOL
It's the delivery method to the beds, I'm asking about. Thanks!

[Michael_Js]

Drip lines in the beds right, sorry, my question wasn't clear. :) Lemme try it this way: What's the setup between the beds and the sprinkler controller? Safe to assume each bed isn't home run to the controller, yes? I'm picturing a spider web of hoses - and I bet yours aint that. LOL
It's the delivery method to the beds, I'm asking about. Thanks!

Oh...1 sprinkler controller per 2 beds. 3/4" PVC run 24" underground feeding 7 controllers - 3 for the west 6 beds, 3 for the east 6 beds, and 1 for the corn rows. 3 sets of sprinkler controllers, 3 different locations. All water comes in 1 location (after water delivery to a frost-free hose bib to the chicken run) and spreads out all the way to the northmost point, inside the greenhouse.

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I don't have a good shot showing ALL the lines...lots of T's and elbows ;) Hoses to test the lines before connecting: These 3 headers service 6 beds:
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1 set of controllers:
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Water tapped in the ground from the 1 1/4" line going into the house - you can see the 24" trench here all the way across into the garden. Electrical was run in the same trench.
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Did that answer your question?

Peace,
Michael J.

[MountainGirl]

Oh...1 sprinkler controller per 2 beds. 3/4" PVC run 24" underground feeding 7 controllers - 3 for the west 6 beds, 3 for the east 6 beds, and 1 for the corn rows. 3 sets of sprinkler controllers, 3 different locations. All water comes in 1 location (after water delivery to a frost-free hose bib to the chicken run) and spreads out all the way to the northmost point, inside the greenhouse.

13688

I don't have a good shot showing ALL the lines...lots of T's and elbows ;) Hoses to test the lines before connecting: These 3 headers service 6 beds:
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1 set of controllers:
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Water tapped in the ground from the 1 1/4" line going into the house - you can see the 24" trench here all the way across into the garden. Electrical was run in the same trench.
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Did that answer your question?

Peace,
Michael J.

Yes, thank you!

And what a wonderful reminder that no matter how awesome things are above ground, there's a lot of effort behind it, under it, and before the awesome can appear.
Great job, Michael. Glad you're here. :)

[Mad Trapper]

Started getting the garden a bit ready. I save hardwood ashes from the woodstove every winter as it's a good source of K and some P. Have to watch pH of soil as the ashes are quite basic. I've only checked two spots and pH is close to 7, no ashes to be added there, will check a few more areas tomorrow, and test for N P K levels.

Some cleanup to be done in the garden, lots of leaves blew in over the winter from nearby trees and some plant debris. Will do a small burn pile on that. Garlic bed needs to be cleaned up of weeds and blubs transplanted soon. Still too early to plow/harrow.

Got a call from the friend who runs the greenhouse where I start my seeds indoors. The supply of wood, stacked inside, to heat the place was depleted. He's getting older so went down to check my starts and help bring in some wood. He has a skidsteer and we got a few bucket fulls inside and should be set for a few days.

My broccoli and cabbage is up there, but the tomatoes and peppers are just starting to poke up for a few varieties. The latter two won't go outside until early June so I'm not too worried about those. I can get a few plants of each that were started earlier by my friends, they are on their 2nd set of true leaves. We have a few people who start their plants there, and we share and trade plants.

I got a few pictures of the greenhouse. The warmer end with the furnace is setup like a clubhouse. A couple of refrigerators for food and beers. Assortment of chairs and a 2-burner propane setup to cook on. We have a good time there when not busy working.

The greenhouse

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We drive the skidsteer bucket right in and stack ~1/4 cord of wood behind the furnace

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Inside from far/other end

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And some of the starts

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I forgot to get pictures of the greenhouse girls, they are kind of shy.

[stevekozak]

That looks like a great set up. Do need pics of the shy greenhouse girls....

[Slippy]

Started getting the garden a bit ready. I save hardwood ashes from the woodstove every winter as it's a good source of K and some P. Have to watch pH of soil as the ashes are quite basic. I've only checked two spots and pH is close to 7, no ashes to be added there, will check a few more areas tomorrow, and test for N P K levels.

Some cleanup to be done in the garden, lots of leaves blew in over the winter from nearby trees and some plant debris. Will do a small burn pile on that. Garlic bed needs to be cleaned up of weeds and blubs transplanted soon. Still too early to plow/harrow.

Got a call from the friend who runs the greenhouse where I start my seeds indoors. The supply of wood, stacked inside, to heat the place was depleted. He's getting older so went down to check my starts and help bring in some wood. He has a skidsteer and we got a few bucket fulls inside and should be set for a few days.

My broccoli and cabbage is up there, but the tomatoes and peppers are just starting to poke up for a few varieties. The latter two won't go outside until early June so I'm not too worried about those. I can get a few plants of each that were started earlier by my friends, they are on their 2nd set of true leaves. We have a few people who start their plants there, and we share and trade plants.

I got a few pictures of the greenhouse. The warmer end with the furnace is setup like a clubhouse. A couple of refrigerators for food and beers. Assortment of chairs and a 2-burner propane setup to cook on. We have a good time there when not busy working.

The greenhouse

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We drive the skidsteer bucket right in and stack ~1/4 cord of wood behind the furnace

13775

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Inside from far/other end

13777

And some of the starts

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I forgot to get pictures of the greenhouse girls, they are kind of shy.

Now THAT's A Greenhouse!

[Slippy]

Getting the raised beds ready by turning them, adding some compost from the bin and some store bought good garden soil with nutrients. Let the chickens scratch around in the larger raised beds near their coop, I'm sure they left some good manure behind.

Mrs S planted some Peas and Carrots from seed in a couple of the raised bed stock tanks and they are sprouting and looking good, I doubt we'll get a freeze again this spring.

Looking forward to the upcoming weeks and the bounty we'll have in a few months or so...

[Inor]

I turned the gardens last week. Then spend about 3 days putting up a "temporary" fence to keep the rabbits out. I doubt the fence will do much but it makes Mrs Inor happy so... I am pretty sure I will end up redoing the fence next fall. I have decided that I absolutely HATE pounding fence posts and putting up fencing fabric.

[Mad Trapper]

I was going to do a post with more pictures but my camera malfunctioned and some of the pictures were not saved, I’ll add them in later.

Since we got on the topic of blueberries I’m putting in another row. I’ve had the plants for a few years in pots grown from small bare roots and they have put out good berries but I have to keep up watering summertime. That’s a PITA.

I plowed up the row 2 years ago and covered the sod with black plastic after a good rain. I’m lucky to have good rich loamy soil. It tested out to a pH a little below 6 with lots of P and K but a little low on nitrogen. With the sod and weeds dead I tilled the soil last summer and added some sulfur pellets to lower the pH. Sulfur takes a while to change pH as bacteria in the soil slowly convert it to sulfuric acid. This year the pH is getting closer to being acceptable for blueberries but still higher than I’d like, a little below 5.5. I tilled again, added more sulfur and retilled. Some pictures of the bed and the old troy built tiller.

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After a few rains I have 3-4 year old rotted pine needles I’ll add to the bed that will loosen the heavy loam and also help lower the pH. I’ve got a row of 200-year-old pines in the front yard so the established blueberries get mulched with that every year, and if needed a little sulfur under the mulch.

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I started prepping the vegetable garden. The soil is very rich and deep, my parents started it before I was born and we’ve added tons (literally) of manure mulch and compost to it.

I burned off the leaves that blew in and the debris in the vegetable garden. As I mentioned the soil pH is about ideal, just below 7. The soil tested high in P and K but low on N. The garden has lots of organic matter in the soil and as it starts to break down microbes tie up the nitrogen, the nitrogen gets released as the soil microbes get done with it. Last time I had the garden soil tested by the cooperative extension they said you don’t need to add/change anything; the nitrogen will come up as the organic matter decays.

Before plowing 13868


It’s been pretty dry, with rainy weather on the way so I decided to plow the garden with the 9N. Didn’t want to put it off, as have had rainy April/Mays that were too soggy to work the soil. I have the original 2-bottom Ferguson plow it was sold with the N.

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The garden got turned. The grassy spot in the middle is a large bed that has garlic and oregano growing as perennials. The grassy area on the far corner towards the barn is an asparagus bed that needs cleanup.


I have a spring tooth harrow that also came with the 9N. I’ll smooth things out with that and/or use the tiller to get the early stuff in this May. The garlic bed will get a cleanup ASAP and the onion starts put in too.

My grapes need to be pruned soon. The leeks and daffodils are up underneath it.

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The rhubarb and horseradish (hard to see rear) are popping up, beds also need a cleanup. The horseradish is invading the rhubarb so some will get ground up into sauce.

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I checked my starts at the greenhouse. Broccoli and cabbage are almost ready to transplant out of the flats into small pots. Most of the varieties of tomatoes are up, but the peppers just starting to show. I’ll get some more greenhouse pictures soon.

Too much work to do now.......and not enough time

[Mad Trapper]

A couple pictures that wouldn't fit in last post.

Well rotted pine needle for the blueberries

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The garden loam after plowing under

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9N Ford and 2-bottom plow

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[Mad Trapper]

Great weather last two days. Yesterday tilled in a bunch of composted pine needles into the vegetable garden and planted onion sets and onions from last year that were starting to sprout. Also cleaned out ~ 1/2 of the garlic bed, tilled in the same mulch, and transplanted the sprouted garlic back in. Will start peas early next week.

Glad I got that done, rained all day today 1.1 inches since 8AM. Soil will be too wet to work for a while. More rain tonight changing to snow. The onions and garlic won't care about the snow.

Went to the greenhouse where I start plants, transplanted brocolli (18) , cabbages (12) , and tomatoes (60 8 varieties) from flats into small pots. We brought in a few skidsteer buckets of firewood into the greenhouse to last until the snow melts.

No pictures. A few on the camera I haven't checked yet, for next post.

[Mad Trapper]

Well, rain turned snow yesterday. Even past warmth, 2" on the ground this AM.

[hawgrider]

Well, rain turned snow yesterday. Even past warmth, 2" on the ground this AM.

We barely got a dusting over this a way.

[Innkeeper]

Just a dusting the last few days here also.

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[Mad Trapper]

My transplanted stuff in the greenhouse is doing good. Transplanted more tomatoes and broccoli and cabbages into pots. Have enough of those that I can give away some.

Had piss poor germination on my peppers. I'll have to get some from the greenhouse stock. I'm just doing bells, cayenne and hot cherrys this year.

I burnt my hand/fingers stuffing the woodstove last week so I didn't get more early stuff directly planted in the garden. Wanted to get lettuce, peas and spinach in.

Will start a few summer squash/zucs and cucumbers at the green house soon too.

[Piratesailor]

80 and gorgeous today. No gardening... range time.

Now this weekend.. serious gardens time.

[Innkeeper]

50's and overcast here cool out not time to put any plants outside yet.

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[Mad Trapper]

50's and overcast here cool out not time to put any plants outside yet.

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Rain serious here, inches. I have rain collection tubs, from downspots, ~275 gallons, might have to switch one out tonight?

[Mad Trapper]

Now an inch of snow tonight?

[MountainGirl]

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We now have 2 plums (new), 2 apples, 3 cherries. :)

I still like digging but dang it was a lot easier 2 yrs ago. Getting old sux. LOL
Tom went fishing early :fishing: and was very surprised when he got home just now.
At least he caught us good lunch. :thumb:

[Innkeeper]

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We now have 2 plums (new), 2 apples, 3 cherries. :)

I still like digging but dang it was a lot easier 2 yrs ago. Getting old sux. LOL
Tom went fishing early :fishing: and was very surprised when he got home just now.
At least he caught us good lunch. :thumb:Wanna come help dig for my two peach trees? Right foot won't be 100% until the end of the month. I am able to do 25% this week, so I am trying to fit a day when it isn't raining or ice cold and I can get both my nephews off same day. lol not easy with teens.

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[MountainGirl]

Wanna come help dig for my two peach trees? Right foot won't be 100% until the end of the month. I am able to do 25% this week, so I am trying to fit a day when it isn't raining or ice cold and I can get both my nephews off same day. lol not easy with teens.

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What? Is your left foot broke, too?? Only need one to run a shovel. :bounce:

Just playing with ya, sweetie! I'd come help if you were closer, but I have this personal rule to never travel farther east than Flathead Lake, Montana. :D

Good luck with those teens, and post some pics of the peaches when they're in. :thumb:

[TJC44]

You don't have enough trees up there, you need to import some? :bounce: j.k. So tomorrow you go fishing & Tom works, right?

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[RB81]

I’ve had my garden tilled for a couple weeks, haven’t had time to a dad blamed thing past that yet. Between the chickens and the rabbits and having to build new housing for our ever expanding farm animals I haven’t had time to touch it. We’re past our last frost time now so I better get cracking.

[Broncosfan]

Forecast was for 39 overnight. Mother nature threw us a curveball. When I got up it was 34 and dropped to 32.5 as the sun rose. Light frost as I went outside. Tried the old trick of spraying the strawberry plants down with water before the sun hits the plants. Only time will tell hopefully all will be fine as this looked to be a very promising year for the strawberries.

[Mad Trapper]

Might get frost tonight here?

[Mad Trapper]

Two days ago- tilled portion of garden. Put in ~ 300 onion sets, direct seeded : lettuce, swiss chard, spinach.

Yesterday- was at the greenhouse.

Planted some seed: cucumbers, summer squash and zucchini for transplanting to garden later.

Broccoli and cabbage are ready for garden this week. Lost count ~ 30-35 of each, several varieties of each, various days to maturity.

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Tomatoes looking good too, should be going in the garden ~ 3 weeks. I'll be giving some away have ~ 90 transplanted.

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I also dug up a few buckets of leaks. Some will get eaten, but I left some clumps in dirt to start some more patches in my woods.

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[Innkeeper]

Might get frost tonight here?Well that beats what we're getting right now. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210507/ce21eba06e3de3608105049c6475e43d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210507/272b9eb70f885a05ba931fabc9a75573.jpg

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[Mad Trapper]

Well that beats what we're getting right now. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210507/ce21eba06e3de3608105049c6475e43d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210507/272b9eb70f885a05ba931fabc9a75573.jpg

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Looks like you caught the dog making some "lawn sausage"! :toilet:

No white stuff in over a week here, still will be close to frosts though.

[Innkeeper]

Looks like you caught the dog making some "lawn sausage"! :toilet:

No white stuff in over a week here, still will be close to frosts though.Actually that is her favorite spot to pee....she is nice enough to put out that fresh "sausage" in the tall grass by the red pine.

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[Mad Trapper]

Actually that is her favorite spot to pee....she is nice enough to put out that fresh "sausage" in the tall grass by the red pine.

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Nothing like a well trained dog!

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edit: to @Innkeeper didn't know your doggy was a she

[Broncosfan]

Well its now strawberry season here at our house. Started picking yesterday with 3 lbs today a little over 4. Not sure what tomorrow will bring becasue it will be raining most of the day. Anyways ate a bunch yesterday just plain tonight they went well with a piece of cheesecake.

[Inor]

Well its now strawberry season here at our house. Started picking yesterday with 3 lbs today a little over 4. Not sure what tomorrow will bring becasue it will be raining most of the day. Anyways ate a bunch yesterday just plain tonight they went well with a piece of cheesecake.

We started getting strawberries about 2 weeks ago. So far, Mrs Inor is up to around 6 pounds, which is not bad at all for the small strawberry patch we have and it is only a year old.

We have one apple tree that is just loaded with apples, the other 3 have nothing. Both almond trees are completely empty which does surprise me because last year they did give us a little over a pound of almonds and they were less than a year old. We have one apricot on the older apricot tree, nothing on the one we planted last fall. Both cherry trees are empty. And the 2 pomegranate trees each have about 3 started. In short, if have to rely on our fruit trees to eat this year, we are both going to lose a lot of weight.

On the upside, the horseradish that I thought was dead because of the dog digging in it, is growing like a weed! That sucker is almost 2 feet tall already!

[Mad Trapper]

Been waiting on rain for planting and transplanting, it's coming late today/tonight. Hoping for > 1"

I harrowed the whole garden yesterday. Will have the tiller out this morning to finish spots to transplant/plant. Also run the 2-bottom plow through twice for 4 potato rows (2 reds 2 whites).

Edit: having coffee now (6AM) looking out window, big boar raccoon crossing the garden, thankfully nothing ripe now to interest him.

[Mad Trapper]

We started getting strawberries about 2 weeks ago. So far, Mrs Inor is up to around 6 pounds, which is not bad at all for the small strawberry patch we have and it is only a year old.

We have one apple tree that is just loaded with apples, the other 3 have nothing. Both almond trees are completely empty which does surprise me because last year they did give us a little over a pound of almonds and they were less than a year old. We have one apricot on the older apricot tree, nothing on the one we planted last fall. Both cherry trees are empty. And the 2 pomegranate trees each have about 3 started. In short, if have to rely on our fruit trees to eat this year, we are both going to lose a lot of weight.

On the upside, the horseradish that I thought was dead because of the dog digging in it, is growing like a weed! That sucker is almost 2 feet tall already!

Glad to hear the berries are doing well. Horseradish is hard to kill. Maybe put a little in the dogs dish, that will learn him!

For the apples consider adding a small crab apple. They are great cross-pollinators for apples and will attract more bees. My parents put two in our orchard before I was born. Not much for eating unless you make a tart applesauce which can be tasty done right.

Did you have any late frosts or warm weather too early that might have hurt the blossoms?

[Broncosfan]

Most of our fruit trees are loaded. The peach tree has to be thinned. It looks to have a million peaches on it. Most of the apples look great. I have a couple that look to be bare. I have one tree I planned it 2009 has never had any fruit. It wasn't labeled when I bought it so its a mystery tree. I believe it to be a Damson plum and it has a descent amount of fruit. Looks to be a busy year here. Haven't planned the garden yet. Hay field looks great after reseeding. After the first cut we will add a couple of loaded of manure. Hope the neighbors don't mind. Lol! Plants are ready in the greenhouse so its just a matter of time.

[KnuteFartne]

I have strawberries year round. Only one plant though.

My snap peas, okra and pumpkin all sprouted recently. Yellow squash already has one squash started (about 4 in. long). My boysenberries are about ready to eat. Can't wait to taste those.

Jalapenos are doing really well this year. I have them year round as well.

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[Michael_Js]

It's slow going here. 1 of the 2 apple trees is loaded with flowers & fruit. The rest of the orchard (another apple, peach, almond, chestnuts, walnut) aren't doing much. Tons of rain the past few days with heavy winds, thunderstorms, etc...should subside over the weekend.

Garlic is doing great. Been eating asparagus for weeks. Strawberries have lots of berries, just not ready. The rest is growing, but a ways off from producing...too early...too cool...mid 70's and low 80's early in next week's forecast...

We're still enjoying squash, garlic, blueberries, and strawberries from last year's harvest ;)

Peace,
Michael J.

[Inor]

Glad to hear the berries are doing well. Horseradish is hard to kill. Maybe put a little in the dogs dish, that will learn him!

For the apples consider adding a small crab apple. They are great cross-pollinators for apples and will attract more bees. My parents put two in our orchard before I was born. Not much for eating unless you make a tart applesauce which can be tasty done right.

Did you have any late frosts or warm weather too early that might have hurt the blossoms?

Wind has been the main problem here this spring. But I really cannot complain too much, our oldest fruit trees are only 2 1/2 years old. So anything we get this year is gravy as far as I am concerned.

[Mad Trapper]

I didn't get much planted yesterday. Hope was to get broccoli/cabbages (they needed fence up too), potatoes, and some buckwheat cover in the ground. I hurt my back a while back, and rain started about time my back said, I need a beer.........put equipment away a grilled up a steak before rain got hard. Rained hard all night, won't stop until ~noon, hope to plant stuff later today.

Have ~60 broccoli and cabbages to put in.

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Did get most of garden deep tilled with the Troy Built tiller, a put some furrows in for the potatoes with the plow.

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[Mad Trapper]

Plow and springer harrow are original Ferguson's that came with the 9N.

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Saved a bunch of "volunteer" potatoes before I'd harrowed they were growing well and didn't want to turn them under, have lots of reds and whites left over in cellar for seed.

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[Mad Trapper]

I hope rain stops enough today for me to get some stuff planted. At least I got the dirt worked/prepped yesterday before this heavy rain. It had been real dry and no real rain since 1st week in May. Would be plowing mud today.

The onions and garlic will take off with the cool rains.

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[Mad Trapper]

Useful link that has PDF for seed life: cover crops, vegetables, herbs and flowers

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-JSSSharedLibrary/default/dw913ac4d0/assets/information/seed-storage-guide.pdf

[Slippy]

Friday night;
Mrs Slippy; Slip, the rabbits are eating my garden, you need to do something!
Me; OK...(puts .410 by back door and goes about evening)

Saturday night;
Mrs Slippy; Slip, these damn rabbits are eating my garden, PLEASE DO SOMETHING!
Me; OK...whats in it for me? Wink Wink!
Mrs Slippy; (Seductive giggle)

Sunday morning;
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Me; Here you go!
Mrs Slippy; I didn't think you were going to kill it!
Me; (sigh)

[Broncosfan]

We planted a apple tree behind the garden. It was going well the last week or so. Then yesterday I noticed that deer had been using it for an appetizer. So yesterday afternoon we threw a quick cage around it. I have some 6' fence I plan to made a nice cage out of today.

[Sarge7402]

After two years with out a garden we've finally bought a place with several small raised beds. So far it's beans squash and peppers with peppers being the dominant veggie.

[Mad Trapper]

Friday night;
Mrs Slippy; Slip, the rabbits are eating my garden, you need to do something!
Me; OK...(puts .410 by back door and goes about evening)

Saturday night;
Mrs Slippy; Slip, these damn rabbits are eating my garden, PLEASE DO SOMETHING!
Me; OK...whats in it for me? Wink Wink!
Mrs Slippy; (Seductive giggle)

Sunday morning;
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Me; Here you go!
Mrs Slippy; I didn't think you were going to kill it!
Me; (sigh)

Slippy, get yourself a good air rifle for the small stuff. Save the 410 for when the coons go after the chickens

15640

Them bunnies are good eating, but summer time loaded with fleas and worms

[Mad Trapper]

We planted a apple tree behind the garden. It was going well the last week or so. Then yesterday I noticed that deer had been using it for an appetizer. So yesterday afternoon we threw a quick cage around it. I have some 6' fence I plan to made a nice cage out of today.

I use 4' welded wire, make big ~6' circles. I use same in garden, mesh is small enough for everything except squirrels and voles

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Speaking of voles, they were real bad here last winter. I lost some mature blueberries and two apples that were near 8' tall. Girdled them clean 10" up from the ground. They also got into my asparagus bed roots.

Get yourself some two foot high 1/2" mesh hardware cloth. Make up cylinders to wrap around the trunk, be sure to weave the seam up tight. Bury ~ bottom 3" then put down some coarse gravel around that.

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[Mad Trapper]

Just a quick mention on critter repellent. Dried blood works great, it's also good nitrogen fertilizer. If I can't get fence up I sprinkle with that.

I put in 60 broccoli and cabbage last week, got dark before I could fence. I sprinkled with dried blood. Next morning, fresh deer tracks right up to broccoli, from tracks, looked like put head down to start munching........must have got a wiff of smell, didn't take a bite and tracks left garden.

Small bags are too expensive, as have to reapply with rains, go to farm supply and get 50lb bags. It used to be cheap before mad cow disease, as was beef blood, they can't use that now. It's all pig blood. Might keep Muslims out of garden too........

The other thing, if you have chickens is putrid egg mixture. Ever smelled a really ripe egg? I remember stepping on a duck egg that was out in the grass and my boots stunk for a week!

eggs

https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/56137/putrescent-eggs-MRP-NYSIPM.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

blood

https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/56124/dried-blood-MRP-NYSIPM.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

[hawgrider]

Just a quick mention on critter repellent. Dried blood works great, it's also good nitrogen fertilizer. If I can't get fence up I sprinkle with that.

I put in 60 broccoli and cabbage last week, got dark before I could fence. I sprinkled with dried blood. Next morning, fresh deer tracks right up to broccoli, from tracks, looked like put head down to start munching........must have got a wiff of smell, didn't take a bite and tracks left garden.

Small bags are too expensive, as have to reapply with rains, go to farm supply and get 50lb bags. It used to be cheap before mad cow disease, as was beef blood, they can't use that now. It's all pig blood. Might keep Muslims out of garden too........

The other thing, if you have chickens is putrid egg mixture. Ever smelled a really ripe egg? I remember stepping on a duck egg that was out in the grass and my boots stunk for a week!

eggs

https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/56137/putrescent-eggs-MRP-NYSIPM.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

blood

https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/56124/dried-blood-MRP-NYSIPM.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Blood meal not only fertilizes it helps keep some critters away.

Good stuff!

[Mad Trapper]

Blood meal not only fertilizes it helps keep some critters away.

Good stuff!

I have to put some out tonight, after rain stops.

Found two broccoli that were ~ 15" tall chewed off, one top gone the other dragged a bit. The planting is fenced with this stuff, small mesh bottom 40" tall. And I checked for any diggings under and for tracks. None of either. Well, I put my face down close enough to the dirt and were tiny tracks; it was ****ing voles.

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Tomorrow the string trimmer will come out and any weeds/grass near the garden will get leveled , and a dozen mouse traps put out inside soup cans. The cans keep birds off bait (peanut butter sunflower seeds), keeps rain off bait, keeps the vermin from jumping the trap when it is sprung. Garden is too big to be putting out blood every time it rains.

But I do end up losing mouse traps. The fox and yotes find the dead mice and run off with the trap, I find empty traps all over. But this is sort of a good thing. It rings the dinner bell for the fox/yotes and keeps them patroling the garden more often

9:30 PM UPDATE:

Rain stopped and I went out to apply blood, good I didn't wait. Little basturds were already at work. A few large cabbage leaves chewed off, so large the vermin could not drag them off through the mesh at the bottom of the fence (will get a picture tomorrow).

I think I know where their hideout is now, it will be scorched earth tomorrow. The string trimmer will flay them or a size 12W boot be stomping them.

[Mad Trapper]

Vole update.

String trimmed all around, little bassturds were too quick for my boots but stomped a few, not too many places to hide now. Put out many mouse traps, housed in 4" plastic plant transplant pots.

Was away from garden 1 1/2 days, every trap sprung or missing (40). I suspect fox/yotes had good dinner as no dead voles in traps, I need to look at garden better for canine tracks. All traps were adjusted for hair trigger, so I doubt I missed that many. I may double trap a few pots to see if I'm missing them with singles.

No damage in garden, but vole problem is worse than I'd imagined. I'm getting another 50lb bag of blood meal tomorrow (holy shit it's $85/50lb, 3lb is $8), so I can treat plants, until traps get population to no/none unsprung traps for a few days. I need to put rotary cutter on the tractor and knock the fields down too.

Foxes and yotes will be happy, I hope their pups are well fed : )

Edit: afternoon update 6/19. True to my user name I did get lots of the bassturd voles. Closer look bloody traps and/or hair, mostly on dragged ones/fox food. I still need to look at canine tracks better in garden, fox or yotes were fed well last night. Some yotes are big so easy to tell, little yote is lots like a big fox, I have both greys and reds on patrol with the yotes.

Been dry here so watering garden first, then reset/bait all traps before dark.

Edit: 6/21 first woodchuck sighted this year. Hawken loaded, air rifle has pellets nearby. Need to check all old burrows, mow fields. Have "the destroyer" for holes, quicker than waiting for a shot or trapping. Need to check the burrows "woodchuck town" across street too, might need a few more 1/4 stick bombs

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[Mad Trapper]

I saw small woodchuck again at farmhouse today , it had started a burrow under a porch/part of house. Two #2 Victor long springs in place. We'll see tomorrow/later tonight.

My other place/home got neglected this spring, I'd sprained a knee and a muscle pull in back same time. Spring growth got pretty tall. I did clean up last week and knocked all brush/weeds down and mowed the whole "lawn" , er field..... Discovered a woodchuck next morning and air rifle dispatched that, on way to check carcass I dropped another not 40' from the first.

The now liberated blueberries are heavy with fruit, bending branches down. I need to get some netting up ASAP as birds are starting in on early varieties and I won't shoot most types of birds, but I make exceptions for a few. All chipmunks are fair game;they are worse than birds on berries. Also picked up 50-lb dried blood, blueberries got a nitrogen feed and will keep the chipmunks off when I'm not home.

What have others used for bird netting? I've used the ~3/4- 1" square plastic light netting in past , have some left but it's getting tattered. I put that up on ~6-7' tall poles I cut from ~ 2" saplings and secure it with HD staples.

So now back at farmhouse again........weeds are growing great! need to get tiller out and do some more planting/transplanting, hill taters, weed what's in and mulch. Have avoided mulch due to vole problems and it's wet enough last weeks that garden has not needed water. It's ~ 800' higher elevation so berries are not turning colors yet.

The spinach has bolted, but I've got lots of lambs quarters (aka weeds) that are more nutritious than spinach ( protein, vits A C others, and minerals). They are very prolific weeds, and I always allow them to grow as a potherb/salad, or a few as seed stock, they get 6-7' tall. I weed out other weeds and let a few lambs quarters grow always.

I will try to take some pictures of this wonderful weed and how I process it for table and freezing (just like spinach); I'm ready to give up on spinach as it's too much work and less returns. I've enough lambs quarters now, if I don't till but instead process them, to have a store in freezer until spring. And it keeps better fresh in frig than spinach too.

[Chiefster23]

My garden is doing nicely. We’ve been eating cauliflower regularly and the broccoli is almost ready to harvest. I have a few green tomatoes on the vines. The wife is picking blueberries this morning to bake into one of her delicious pies or cakes. The peach trees are overloaded and I’ve been thinning out many of the fruits to prevent damage from overloaded broken tree limbs. All my potatoe plants look great and i should get a plentiful harvest this year.

[Mad Trapper]

After a dry spell most of mid-June, 2" rain last two days of June, 3" so far to Jul 9th and it's raining hard now. I cleared garden of all weeds when we had a dry day and tilled them under, put out buckwheat cover crop.

Starting to worry about fungal diseases, especially since the tropical storm that hit the south is going through. Those storms bring up mildew plant pathogens that don't overwinter here.

I don't like using chemical fungicides, only use sulfur and copper. Might be tough on grapes.

I also have to deal with slugs/snails. Just a little bit of damage so far on brassicas (broc cabbages kale), but they slime peppers too. Be putting out slug bait as soon as rain stops. Forecast is shower possibility for all next week.

[Inor]

After a dry spell most of mid-June, 2" rain last two days of June, 3" so far to Jul 9th and it's raining hard now. I cleared garden of all weeds when we had a dry day and tilled them under, put out buckwheat cover crop.

Starting to worry about fungal diseases, especially since the tropical storm that hit the south is going through. Those storms bring up mildew plant pathogens that don't overwinter here.

I don't like using chemical fungicides, only use sulfur and copper. Might be tough on grapes.

I also have to deal with slugs/snails. Just a little bit of damage so far on brassicas (broc cabbages kale), but they slime peppers too. Be putting out slug bait as soon as rain stops. Forecast is shower possibility for all next week.

Send some of that rain here! The monsoon started good - 5 days in a row of rain, only about 1/4" per day, but I'll take it. Now just sunny and humid (20-40% humidity ugh!)

[Mad Trapper]

Send some of that rain here! The monsoon started good - 5 days in a row of rain, only about 1/4" per day, but I'll take it. Now just sunny and humid (20-40% humidity ugh!)

Humidity has not been below 60% nights, last 3 days, and mostly high 80s-100%. Dew points high 60s-low 70s .

I started some fall seeds last week and they damped off or slugs got them.

[Mad Trapper]

Send some of that rain here! The monsoon started good - 5 days in a row of rain, only about 1/4" per day, but I'll take it. Now just sunny and humid (20-40% humidity ugh!)

If I could send rain, Xiden would nix a pipline!

[Michael_Js]

Pulled about 1/3 of the garlic last week - 101 bulbs :) Will finish pulling the rest tomorrow and let it cure.

been eating strawberries, blueberries, arugula, purslane, cilantro, just picked a couple of straight neck squash; the plum tomatoes are looking good as is the corn. Been eating asparagus for a couple of months now. Been picking some onions and snap peas. Beans are doing great on the new trellis/arch...Dried some oregano last week...

I'll be making more blueberry jam tomorrow...

Today we received and installed our new celebrate-my-wife's first full-time job in over 7 years - and got to watch our LG 77" OLED TV! Wow!!

Peace...
Michael J.

[Slippy]

Pulled about 1/3 of the garlic last week - 101 bulbs :) Will finish pulling the rest tomorrow and let it cure.

been eating strawberries, blueberries, arugula, purslane, cilantro, just picked a couple of straight neck squash; the plum tomatoes are looking good as is the corn. Been eating asparagus for a couple of months now. Been picking some onions and snap peas. Beans are doing great on the new trellis/arch...Dried some oregano last week...

I'll be making more blueberry jam tomorrow...

Today we received and installed our new celebrate-my-wife's first full-time job in over 7 years - and got to watch our LG 77" OLED TV! Wow!!

Peace...
Michael J.

Awesome news all around! Your garden is freakin' amazing Michael J.!

Also congrats on Mrs Michael J. re-entering the workforce! That does not even compute to me as Mrs S hasn't collected a paycheck since 1991! Freeloading wench!:hippie:

[Dwight55]

Not much of a garden by some standards . . .

But works for us: 18 tomato plants . . . 6 cabbage . . . 100 ft of fence with green beans growing up the sides . . . about 50 or so sweet potato plants . . . about 100 ft of potatoes to dig . . . and two grape vines.

Between canning sweet potatoes . . . tomatoes . . . green beans . . . and kraut . . . that's all the busy I want to be this year.

May God bless,
Dwight

[Mad Trapper]

I'm getting worried about fungus, 5.7 " rain this month, an inch late june.

Grapes have lots of mildew. Some rain predicted every day except Thursday this week.

Might spray with copper

[Inor]

I'm getting worried about fungus, 5.7 " rain this month, an inch late june.

Grapes have lots of mildew. Some rain predicted every day except Thursday this week.

Might spray with copper

Some kind of fungus killed one of my cherry trees this year. I also lost an apple (my favorite apple) to the wind. So I guess I am really not done planting fruit trees yet. GRRR!

[Mad Trapper]

Some kind of fungus killed one of my cherry trees this year. I also lost an apple (my favorite apple) to the wind. So I guess I am really not done planting fruit trees yet. GRRR!

I've had problems with cherry/plum a "black knot" fungus. You need to prune it out, disinfect tools with bleach, and burn the prunings. Wild black cherries here carry the disease, those get cut down for firewood and/or lumber.

What does the fungus look like? Black canker that girdles the branch/stems?

I have a few PDFs on fruit tree diseases, too large to post. Not sure if I could PM them here?

http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/factsheets/treecankers.pdf

https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/uploads/files/StoneFruitIPM_Perennialcanker13.pdf

https://forestry.usu.edu/files/webinars/canker-disease-slideshow.pdf

[Michael_Js]

Did some gathering this past weekend and very surprised at the garlic harvest. Last September, I planted about 190 cloves. I harvested about 425 bulbs this past weekend! Some (10%?) on the smaller size, the rest full sized and beautiful! We are getting tons of blueberries - made 4 quarts of jam last weekend. Strawberries, etc...the garden is doing great! Tons of snap peas also and the tomatoes are looking great - not ready yet. Soon blackberry jam!

Garlic harvest - this is 1 full wheelbarrow - took another one about 2/3rds full 2 weeks ago:
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Broad bean trellis:
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The corn bed is not in a raised planter bed - 2nd year that we moved it out:
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Snap peas are going crazy! Dedicated strawberry bed behind it
16144

Tomatoes are also going crazy
16145

Lots of other stuff...


Peace,
Michael J.

[Inor]

Did some gathering this past weekend and very surprised at the garlic harvest. Last September, I planted about 190 cloves. I harvested about 425 bulbs this past weekend! Some (10%?) on the smaller size, the rest full sized and beautiful! We are getting tons of blueberries - made 4 quarts of jam last weekend. Strawberries, etc...the garden is doing great! Tons of snap peas also and the tomatoes are looking great - not ready yet. Soon blackberry jam!

Garlic harvest - this is 1 full wheelbarrow - took another one about 2/3rds full 2 weeks ago:
16141

Broad bean trellis:
16142

The corn bed is not in a raised planter bed - 2nd year that we moved it out:
16143

Snap peas are going crazy! Dedicated strawberry bed behind it
16144

Tomatoes are also going crazy
16145

Lots of other stuff...


Peace,
Michael J.

WOW! Incredible!!! 'Atta Boy!

[Mad Trapper]

Did some gathering this past weekend and very surprised at the garlic harvest. Last September, I planted about 190 cloves. I harvested about 425 bulbs this past weekend! Some (10%?) on the smaller size, the rest full sized and beautiful! We are getting tons of blueberries - made 4 quarts of jam last weekend. Strawberries, etc...the garden is doing great! Tons of snap peas also and the tomatoes are looking great - not ready yet. Soon blackberry jam!

Garlic harvest - this is 1 full wheelbarrow - took another one about 2/3rds full 2 weeks ago:
16141

Broad bean trellis:
16142

The corn bed is not in a raised planter bed - 2nd year that we moved it out:
16143

Snap peas are going crazy! Dedicated strawberry bed behind it
16144

Tomatoes are also going crazy
16145

Lots of other stuff...


Peace,
Michael J.

Great haul of garlic. Other stuff looks good too.

My garlic is not ready yet but still eating last years, what is left is just putting out tiny sprouts but good to eat still. When fresh comes in I'll put what is left back in ground. I still have a few edible potatoes too.

[Slippy]

Did some gathering this past weekend and very surprised at the garlic harvest. Last September, I planted about 190 cloves. I harvested about 425 bulbs this past weekend! Some (10%?) on the smaller size, the rest full sized and beautiful! We are getting tons of blueberries - made 4 quarts of jam last weekend. Strawberries, etc...the garden is doing great! Tons of snap peas also and the tomatoes are looking great - not ready yet. Soon blackberry jam!

Garlic harvest - this is 1 full wheelbarrow - took another one about 2/3rds full 2 weeks ago:
16141

Broad bean trellis:
16142

The corn bed is not in a raised planter bed - 2nd year that we moved it out:
16143

Snap peas are going crazy! Dedicated strawberry bed behind it
16144

Tomatoes are also going crazy
16145

Lots of other stuff...


Peace,
Michael J.

The Garden is looking Righteous! Well done!

[Michael_Js]

Thank you all. We also are still eating garlic from last year - I have about 15 heads left. I've only shared it with my eldest daughter. That's why I planted more last year, but this bounty will be shared with more family - maybe even a couple of the in-laws ;)

Peace,
Michael J.

[Mad Trapper]

Thank you all. We also are still eating garlic from last year - I have about 15 heads left. I've only shared it with my eldest daughter. That's why I planted more last year, but this bounty will be shared with more family - maybe even a couple of the in-laws ;)

Peace,
Michael J.


Good work!!!!

I take three bunches of three heads and braid them after a quick wash. Then hang in a shed/barn to dry/cure.

[Michael_Js]

Good work!!!!

Thank you!

I take three bunches of three heads and braid them after a quick wash. Then hang in a shed/barn to dry/cure.

I've tried the braining thing, but I suck at it! Also, you're not supposed to wash them before, or after, curing ;) I had some rot the 1st year I did that...They are all in mesh bags in my garage, which smells like heaven! Well, my Heaven ;)

Peace,
Michael J.

[Mad Trapper]

I've tried the braining thing, but I suck at it! Also, you're not supposed to wash them before, or after, curing ;) I had some rot the 1st year I did that...They are all in mesh bags in my garage, which smells like heaven! Well, my Heaven ;)

Peace,
Michael J.

If I wash them it's as soon as they come out of the ground. It don't seem to hurt them if you have a couple sunny dry days.

I'm getting worried here, it's been over two weeks with rain almost every day, it's thunderstorm right now. 7 1/2 inches since June 28th, more coming all week except tomorrow. My grape crop is about lost due to mildew.

Edit: Update > than another inch of rain last hour, flash flood warnings. 1.9 inches in a couple hours total.

[Mad Trapper]

I posted on Hawg's garlic post, damm voles got almost all my garlic. The bear came buy garden and destroyed my vole traps.......now he's into the blueberries I put bird netting over.

Hunting season WILL START EARLY.... I've had it with the bear, destroyed pears, peaches and apples last year, along with blueberries. Hawken is loaded and 3 speed loaders.

Law states I don't even have to report a destructive bear until following January and no restriction on the carcass, deer report within 24 hrs up to Warden with carcass. Damm I'll need to take the 2nd freezer out of mothballs.

Section 37. An owner or tenant of land or, if authorized by such owner or tenant, any member of his immediate family or his employee, as defined pursuant to section one of chapter sixty-two B, may, upon such land:—
(1) kill or attempt to kill, by means other than poisoning or trapping, any wild bird damaging his property, including domesticated animals, poultry and game on game-rearing farms or preserves, provided that such killing is not contrary to any federal law, rule or regulation.
(2) hunt or take by other means, except by poison or snare, any mammal which he finds damaging his property except grass growing on uncultivated land. No such owner or tenant shall authorize any person, other than a member of his immediate family or a person permanently employed by him, to place traps for the protection of said property other than during the open season, unless such owner or tenant has first obtained from the director a permit authorizing him so to do, which permit the director is hereby authorized to issue in his discretion, unless such authorized person holds a trapping license. All deer so killed shall be turned over to any environmental police officer and shall be disposed of by the director of law enforcement.
The following written reports shall be sent to the director by such owner or tenant acting under authority of this section:—(a) upon the taking of pheasant, ruffed grouse, hares or rabbits, or the wounding or killing of a deer, a report stating the time and place, kind and number of birds or mammals so taken, wounded or killed, within twenty-four hours of such taking, wounding or killing; (b) upon the taking of any other birds or mammals, a report on or before January thirty-first of each year, stating the number and kinds of birds or mammals taken under authority of this section during the previous year. This section shall not be construed to limit any other provisions of this chapter.

[Jester-ND]

grasshoppers finally got to the tomato plants.... only thing they haven't eaten here is strawberry patch and apple trees... pretty sure they will get to them once they strip all the lilac bushes...

[MountainGirl]

grasshoppers finally got to the tomato plants.... only thing they haven't eaten here is strawberry patch and apple trees... pretty sure they will get to them once they strip all the lilac bushes...

We don't have grasshoppers up here thankfully, but the neighborhood doe and her growing fawn have stripped all 7 fruit trees, strawberry patch and everything in the garden except the 2 watermelons Tom started from seed in the greenhouse last April, that are now ready to eat, which is good since all the leaves on their vines are gone lol. For some reason they haven't touched the blueberries or elderberries, but hey, it's still early days. Oh well. At least everything wasn't victim to the scorched summer.

[Michael_Js]

Our garden is safely behind a 7' deer fencing all the way around. Raised beds keep the rabbits out - even though I've never seen evidence of rabbits. Now if I could kill all the moles & rats!!

I have been poisoning the rats though, and so far, so good...

We've been harvesting tomatoes, onions, strawberries, broad beans, cucumbers, straight neck squash, zucchini, asparagus, potatoes; still have purslane, cilantro, celery, and some other stuff ;)
Garlic is all sitting comfortably in the garage in mesh bags.

Old picture:
16556

Deer have eaten around the fencing, but never attempted to get through:
16557

16558

Peace,
Michael J.

[Mad Trapper]

Michael-

Looks great Michael!

I should invest in deer fencing. Don't know how I'd set it up as would be a PITA to get tractor in?

Don't worry about moles, it's the voles that decimate gardens (at least around here). I've not seen any rats in years, thank dear Lord.

MG-

Need to protect small fruit trees from deer and rodents (girdling). A circle of welded wire fence will keep deer out and hardware cloth for the rodents around the trunk. Deer will hit blueberry foliage and they love elderberry too. For me it's birds, chipmunks, and bears on the berries.

Jester-

We have hoppers this year but not an infestation. You could try laying down a ~10' barrier ring of permethrin spray around crops. It does all bugs good and bad. But those suckers fly too.

Me-

My garden is just starting to recover from ~14" of rain in July. Now we have another deluge on the way from remnants of the TS that hit the gulf states, 2-3" over next two days. I hope that don't bring late blight with it as tomatoes and taters are still fungus free.

Modest peach crop that bear didn't bother this year but birds did. Have other peaches still green.

I'll be doing some kraut this week from the cabbage which did well, have a few more and broccoli started for fall crops.

[Slippy]

Our garden is safely behind a 7' deer fencing all the way around. Raised beds keep the rabbits out - even though I've never seen evidence of rabbits. Now if I could kill all the moles & rats!!

I have been poisoning the rats though, and so far, so good...

We've been harvesting tomatoes, onions, strawberries, broad beans, cucumbers, straight neck squash, zucchini, asparagus, potatoes; still have purslane, cilantro, celery, and some other stuff ;)
Garlic is all sitting comfortably in the garage in mesh bags.

Old picture:
16556

Deer have eaten around the fencing, but never attempted to get through:
16557

16558

Peace,
Michael J.

Michael J;

Your homestead/design has been a great inspiration for us! Great job my man!

[Michael_Js]

Michael-

Looks great Michael!

I should invest in deer fencing. Don't know how I'd set it up as would be a PITA to get tractor in?

Don't worry about moles, it's the voles that decimate gardens (at least around here). I've not seen any rats in years, thank dear Lord.

MG-

Need to protect small fruit trees from deer and rodents (girdling). A circle of welded wire fence will keep deer out and hardware cloth for the rodents around the trunk. Deer will hit blueberry foliage and they love elderberry too. For me it's birds, chipmunks, and bears on the berries.

Jester-

We have hoppers this year but not an infestation. You could try laying down a ~10' barrier ring of permethrin spray around crops. It does all bugs good and bad. But those suckers fly too.

Me-

My garden is just starting to recover from ~14" of rain in July. Now we have another deluge on the way from remnants of the TS that hit the gulf states, 2-3" over next two days. I hope that don't bring late blight with it as tomatoes and taters are still fungus free.

Modest peach crop that bear didn't bother this year but birds did. Have other peaches still green.

I'll be doing some kraut this week from the cabbage which did well, have a few more and broccoli started for fall crops.

Thank you. Our tractor fits in just fine, as long as we fold the ROPS down...it's a small tractor ;) Kubota B23S...

We also have netting around all the fruit trees in the orchard - no deer get to them! Just received a new roll of deer netting from amazon: 7' x 100'

They try, but...
16562

For the blueberries, we seasonally erect a 50' long hoop house over them. NO birds get to them, and we have over a dozen gallon freezer bags filled in the freezer (still some from last year) and multiple jars of jam in the pantry! :)

16563

Thank you Slippy! :)

peace,
Michael J.

[Mad Trapper]

Making lemon aide out of lemons(tomatoes).......

Well this years rains lots of garden has been a bust. Put in quite a few tomatoes, 10 heirloom varieties..........dismal production, but I have a few nice ripe tomatoes.........

Some of my reserve seeds are getting old. Today I'm selecting a couple of fruit from each strain, and starting the seed saving process. If I don't get 5-10 gal of sauce, at least I'll be ready for next spring with seed. 2-3 tomatoes have a LOT of seeds.......

Easy to do, get some plastic cup to separate seeds/pulp in, sharpie to label them...........

http://www.tomatodirt.com/save-tomato-seeds.html

I'll be doing same with other veggies/fruits.......

[Mad Trapper]

Thank you. Our tractor fits in just fine, as long as we fold the ROPS down...it's a small tractor ;) Kubota B23S...

We also have netting around all the fruit trees in the orchard - no deer get to them! Just received a new roll of deer netting from amazon: 7' x 100'

They try, but...
16562

For the blueberries, we seasonally erect a 50' long hoop house over them. NO birds get to them, and we have over a dozen gallon freezer bags filled in the freezer (still some from last year) and multiple jars of jam in the pantry! :)

16563

Thank you Slippy! :)

peace,
Michael J.

Michael, awsome garden and place!!!

If I did that bears would ruin it all. Don't have $$$ to run electric the whole place, but I've a bear permit.

[Mad Trapper]

Zucchini-

Getting an overload of these. My GF makes great bread out of them. I halve, then stuff the big ones with: tomato, pepper, onion, cheese sausage.........bake with a foil cover. (could I freeze these? vac seal whole uncooked?)

What to do with excess you can't give away? Read up on shredding/freezing, anybody done this? I'm thinking slice/chunk then into food processor on chop, into freezer bags.

Thoughts?

I forgot pickling........

I forgot, more rain here, north edge of Ida 3-4" more we don't need.....

[Michael_Js]

Zucchini-

Getting an overload of these. My GF makes great bread out of them. I halve, then stuff the big ones with: tomato, pepper, onion, cheese sausage.........bake with a foil cover. (could I freeze these? vac seal whole uncooked?)

What to do with excess you can't give away? Read up on shredding/freezing, anybody done this? I'm thinking slice/chunk then into food processor on chop, into freezer bags.

Thoughts?

I forgot pickling........

I forgot, more rain here, north edge of Ida 3-4" more we don't need.....

I've sliced them and froze them and they do well - just freeze each slice first (cookie sheet) and pack them into a vac seal bag, so you can separate them easily afterwards. No need to blanch them, IMHO.

We are overloaded with squash and cucumbers!! Just made 4 quarts of cucumber relish last night.

Made dehydrated tomatoes (sun dried style) last week and more this week. Also made some delicious tomato chips yesterday! Making more with the next batch of Roma's this weekend - very yummy!

Peace,
Michael J.

[Mad Trapper]

I've sliced them and froze them and they do well - just freeze each slice first (cookie sheet) and pack them into a vac seal bag, so you can separate them easily afterwards. No need to blanch them, IMHO.

We are overloaded with squash and cucumbers!! Just made 4 quarts of cucumber relish last night.

Made dehydrated tomatoes (sun dried style) last week and more this week. Also made some delicious tomato chips yesterday! Making more with the next batch of Roma's this weekend - very yummy!

Peace,
Michael J.

Michael, that how I do broccoli, but do blanch it. Vac seal is better than freezer bags, but need to deal with moisture.

Good to hear your maters are doing well, with all the rain it's a bad year here.

[Michael_Js]

Michael, that how I do broccoli, but do blanch it. Vac seal is better than freezer bags, but need to deal with moisture.

Good to hear your maters are doing well, with all the rain it's a bad year here.

Yes, blanching broccoli makes sense - we do that to the corn and beans, but haven't done it with zucchini. And we use a vacuum sealer as opposed to Ziplock freezer bags. However, after we open the bag, we store the remainder in a Ziplock freezer bag as we use it up :)

We've been in a drought for the entire summer, so :(

thank you.
Peace,
Michael J.

[Mad Trapper]

Yes, blanching broccoli makes sense - we do that to the corn and beans, but haven't done it with zucchini. And we use a vacuum sealer as opposed to Ziplock freezer bags. However, after we open the bag, we store the remainder in a Ziplock freezer bag as we use it up :)

We've been in a drought for the entire summer, so :(

thank you.
Peace,
Michael J.

I've got > 1000-gal rainwater I don't need! Well, I could flush out some voles........

[Innkeeper]

Zucchini-

Getting an overload of these. My GF makes great bread out of them. I halve, then stuff the big ones with: tomato, pepper, onion, cheese sausage.........bake with a foil cover. (could I freeze these? vac seal whole uncooked?)

What to do with excess you can't give away? Read up on shredding/freezing, anybody done this? I'm thinking slice/chunk then into food processor on chop, into freezer bags.

Thoughts?

I forgot pickling........

I forgot, more rain here, north edge of Ida 3-4" more we don't need.....Have you thought about turning the excess into noodles? My ex made lasagna with zucchini noodles that was awesome.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[Mad Trapper]

Have you thought about turning the excess into noodles? My ex made lasagna with zucchini noodles that was awesome.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Yep, but need to store it.

[Slippy]

Zucchini-

Getting an overload of these. My GF makes great bread out of them. I halve, then stuff the big ones with: tomato, pepper, onion, cheese sausage.........bake with a foil cover. (could I freeze these? vac seal whole uncooked?)

What to do with excess you can't give away? Read up on shredding/freezing, anybody done this? I'm thinking slice/chunk then into food processor on chop, into freezer bags.

Thoughts?

I forgot pickling........

I forgot, more rain here, north edge of Ida 3-4" more we don't need.....

Our priorities with our Garden Yield is;

1.) Eat what we harvest
2.) Put up a portion. Usually starts with cucumbers into pickles, then tomatoes into sauce or canned pieces, then peppers,
3.) Feed scraps or leftovers to the chickens and keep as treats for the dogs. Our dogs particularly love; carrots, sugar snap peas and green beans. Chickens eat pretty much anything but potatoes which we don't give them.

It cracked me up the first time I tossed a bunch of Habanero Peppers into the coop and the girls went Lo-Co!

Zucchini gets eaten cooked or baked into bread. Squash always gets eaten fresh, for some reason we rarely put up either. Okra gets frozen for soups and gumbos and Mrs Slippy's redneck self is addicted to Fried Okra!

[Slippy]

Have you thought about turning the excess into noodles? My ex made lasagna with zucchini noodles that was awesome.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Yes, but we like zucchini as a spaghetti type substitute! We use an apple core peeler thing-a-ma-jig and it creates some curly-ques of zucchini. Sautayed (spelling?) in olive oil then add tomato sauce and parm cheese for a pretty good dish.

[Mad Trapper]

Our priorities with our Garden Yield is;

1.) Eat what we harvest
2.) Put up a portion. Usually starts with cucumbers into pickles, then tomatoes into sauce or canned pieces, then peppers,
3.) Feed scraps or leftovers to the chickens and keep as treats for the dogs. Our dogs particularly love; carrots, sugar snap peas and green beans. Chickens eat pretty much anything but potatoes which we don't give them.

It cracked me up the first time I tossed a bunch of Habanero Peppers into the coop and the girls went Lo-Co!

Zucchini gets eaten cooked or baked into bread. Squash always gets eaten fresh, for some reason we rarely put up either. Okra gets frozen for soups and gumbos and Mrs Slippy's redneck self is addicted to Fried Okra!

Slippy I've got a root cellar I put up lots of winter squash/acorn/butternut/pumpkin/hubbard, with taters , carrots, beets......I just hate to waste what I can't give away surplus.

[Mad Trapper]

I was out digging up my white potatoes yesterday. Meager crop with all the rain but not much vole damage, guess they don't like mud. Also surprised they didn't get blight without being sprayed?

I happened upon a bonus "crop". For every potato I dug, at least one night crawler popped up. So many I cut off the top of a 1/2 gallon milk jug and filled it, yes filled it.

I made up a temporary home in a 5-gal bucket: rotted leaves, soil, rotted leaves, worms, rotted leaves, soil.......they seem happy but need a bigger home.

I'm getting a plastic tote to enlarge the farm, to live in the basement. Table scrapes will feed them and in spring the herd will get turned free back into the garden. I'll have fish bait for fall and ice fishing this winter; dozen crawlers are $3-4 now. How many crawlers in a 1/2 gallon?

17076

I'll be digging up the reds, next week after it dries out from yet more rain tonight/tomorrow.......worm farm II?

Also getting ready to make kraut this week. I think 3 of these might be enough for a 5-gal pail? Will do pics of process for the other thread.....the GF is going to be making up large batch of Golumpkis too. Those are going into freezer.

17077

[Slippy]

I was out digging up my white potatoes yesterday. Meager crop with all the rain but not much vole damage, guess they don't like mud. Also surprised they didn't get blight without being sprayed?

I happened upon a bonus "crop". For every potato I dug, at least one night crawler popped up. So many I cut off the top of a 1/2 gallon milk jug and filled it, yes filled it.

I made up a temporary home in a 5-gal bucket: rotted leaves, soil, rotted leaves, worms, rotted leaves, soil.......they seem happy but need a bigger home.

I'm getting a plastic tote to enlarge the farm, to live in the basement. Table scrapes will feed them and in spring the herd will get turned free back into the garden. I'll have fish bait for fall and ice fishing this winter; dozen crawlers are $3-4 now. How many crawlers in a 1/2 gallon?

17076

I'll be digging up the reds, next week after it dries out from yet more rain tonight/tomorrow.......worm farm II?

Also getting ready to make kraut this week. I think 3 of these might be enough for a 5-gal pail? Will do pics of process for the other thread.....the GF is going to be making up large batch of Golumpkis too. Those are going into freezer.

17077

Been finding tons of worms as well! Putting most of them in the compost bin and every now and then toss a few to the chickens!

Never made sauerkraut so looking forward to reading about the progress!

[Mad Trapper]

Been finding tons of worms as well! Putting most of them in the compost bin and every now and then toss a few to the chickens!

Never made sauerkraut so looking forward to reading about the progress!

My friend with the greenhouse has chickens, they get worked up into a frenzy when you start tossing them worms or slugs.

[Dwight55]

Never made sauerkraut so looking forward to reading about the progress!

Lots of different ways to do that . . . we chop up the cabbage . . . stuff it in quart jars . . . salt goes in on top . . . seal it and forget it for about 6 weeks . . .

Open it up . . . grab a fork . . . enjoy.

I sometimes add onions . . . or cut up green tomatoes . . . or garlic . . . depends on my mood.

May God bless,
Dwight

[Slippy]

Lots of different ways to do that . . . we chop up the cabbage . . . stuff it in quart jars . . . salt goes in on top . . . seal it and forget it for about 6 weeks . . .

Open it up . . . grab a fork . . . enjoy.

I sometimes add onions . . . or cut up green tomatoes . . . or garlic . . . depends on my mood.

May God bless,
Dwight

No black-eyes peas, Pastor D?


:mocking:

(Hee Hee! If memory serves, Pastor HATES black-eye peas!)

[Slippy]

My friend with the greenhouse has chickens, they get worked up into a frenzy when you start tossing them worms or slugs.

Crickets and mealworms are their favorites! All we have to do is shake an old plastic jar filled with mealworms and the hens come running!

[Dwight55]

No black-eyes peas, Pastor D?


:mocking:

(Hee Hee! If memory serves, Pastor HATES black-eye peas!)

Your memory is good.

May God bless,
Dwight

[hawgrider]

Crickets and mealworms are their favorites! All we have to do is shake an old plastic jar filled with mealworms and the hens come running!

You can save money on those dried meal worms and use scratch. The yard birds come running just as fast.

[Inor]

You can save money on those dried meal worms and use scratch. The yard birds come running just as fast.

Unless your wife is like Mrs Inor who thinks I am made of money so the chickens get scratch AND meal worms AND these disgusting worm things that come in great big brown box from China! I have given up even trying to keep track of the expenses for these damn chickens (who have yet to leave us a single egg)!!! :biglaugh:

[Sasquatch]

Unless your wife is like Mrs Inor who thinks I am made of money so the chickens get scratch AND meal worms AND these disgusting worm things that come in great big brown box from China! I have given up even trying to keep track of the expenses for these damn chickens (who have yet to leave us a single egg)!!! :biglaugh:

Better watch out for those Chichom worms. They're probably spying on you.

[StratBastard]

Unless your wife is like Mrs Inor who thinks I am made of money so the chickens get scratch AND meal worms AND these disgusting worm things that come in great big brown box from China! I have given up even trying to keep track of the expenses for these damn chickens (who have yet to leave us a single egg)!!! :biglaugh:

Well, I got over the whole "urban chicken" thing for similar reasons. I can definitely see whereas having chickens when everything collapses would be just fine. But until then, what a pain in the ass. First, even in the city, they were getting themselves murdered on a weekly basis. Coons, hawks, minks, you name it. And rats getting to the eggs before we did. Gotta feed em all the time. Gotta put them in the roost to bed and lock them in. Gotta keep them alive in the winter

My back bedroom door opened onto our back yard, and every time I opened it, three or four of them little bastards would shoot into my room... shitting their way across the carpet because getting in there was apparently so so very exciting. Me, I only crap on the carpet when trying a new bourbon. I have standards.

[hawgrider]

Unless your wife is like Mrs Inor who thinks I am made of money so the chickens get scratch AND meal worms AND these disgusting worm things that come in great big brown box from China! I have given up even trying to keep track of the expenses for these damn chickens (who have yet to leave us a single egg)!!! :biglaugh:

Yup most expensive eggs you'll ever eat.

[Mad Trapper]

Been finding tons of worms as well! Putting most of them in the compost bin and every now and then toss a few to the chickens!

Never made sauerkraut so looking forward to reading about the progress!

Made 5-gal bucket of kraut today. Will do a post/thread when I get the pictures off my dumb phone.

[Denton]

Well, here's what the amateur has done, so far.

I planted six broccoli plants in a stock tank. Over night, a deer stopped by and ate two. I put up fencing, and that deterred her. Turns out, there are other things that also like my future food. Something was eating the leaves, so I sprayed neem oil on the leaves. It looked like the leaves had little fingers that were flipping me off. Turned out that they were little worms that were the exact same color as the leaves! I plucked and crushed the bastards.
The next day, two leaves were eaten to the framework, so I went to Marvins and got some sort of fruit and vegetable spray. No more missing leaves.
Planted romaine lettuce and collards in the other stock tanks. So far, nothing is interested in the lettuce or collards, but I expect an attack at any hour.

[hawgrider]

Well, here's what the amateur has done, so far.

I planted six broccoli plants in a stock tank. Over night, a deer stopped by and ate two. I put up fencing, and that deterred her. Turns out, there are other things that also like my future food. Something was eating the leaves, so I sprayed neem oil on the leaves. It looked like the leaves had little fingers that were flipping me off. Turned out that they were little worms that were the exact same color as the leaves! I plucked and crushed the bastards.
The next day, two leaves were eaten to the framework, so I went to Marvins and got some sort of fruit and vegetable spray. No more missing leaves.
Planted romaine lettuce and collards in the other stock tanks. So far, nothing is interested in the lettuce or collards, but I expect an attack at any hour.

Lots of hungry critters out there.

[Inor]

Yup most expensive eggs you'll ever eat.

Well...

We got our first 2 eggs today. They are kind of small, but at least they are something. I do not even want to think about how expensive they were on a per-egg basis. Yes, those are some hot peppers with the eggs; our chickens are some Billy-bad-ass chickens!

17208

The problem is, Mrs Inor found the eggs on the floor of the chicken shack, in the corner. I made some nice nesting boxes for them and the chickens go into the boxes. But for some reason, they laid the eggs on the floor. We heard you are supposed to put fake eggs in the boxes to "explain" to the chickens what the boxes are for. Unfortunately, the only egg-like things we had are some artsy-fartsy rock eggs that Mrs Inor spent way too much money on somewhere. So the too expensive rock eggs are sitting in the nesting boxes, covered with shit and the chickens are laying eggs on the floor.

Since we let the chickens out of the chicken yard every day, I am sure if I walk through the weeds on the back of our property, I would find several dozen eggs.

[hawgrider]

Well...

We got our first 2 eggs today. They are kind of small, but at least they are something. I do not even want to think about how expensive they were on a per-egg basis. Yes, those are some hot peppers with the eggs; our chickens are some Billy-bad-ass chickens!

17208

The problem is, Mrs Inor found the eggs on the floor of the chicken shack, in the corner. I made some nice nesting boxes for them and the chickens go into the boxes. But for some reason, they laid the eggs on the floor. We heard you are supposed to put fake eggs in the boxes to "explain" to the chickens what the boxes are for. Unfortunately, the only egg-like things we had are some artsy-fartsy rock eggs that Mrs Inor spent way too money on somewhere. So the too expensive rock eggs are sitting in the nesting boxes, covered with shit and the chickens are laying eggs on the floor.

Since we let the chickens out of the chicken yard every day, I am sure if I walk through the weeds on the back of our property, I would find several dozen eggs.

Easy fix put 2 or 3 golf balls in a nesting boxes.

Those eggs will be tasty..... they better be for what you paid for them lol!
Yeah we are still doing 7 hens over here.$$$$$$$$$$

[StratBastard]

Well...

We got our first 2 eggs today. They are kind of small, but at least they are something. I do not even want to think about how expensive they were on a per-egg basis. Yes, those are some hot peppers with the eggs; our chickens are some Billy-bad-ass chickens!

17208

The problem is, Mrs Inor found the eggs on the floor of the chicken shack, in the corner. I made some nice nesting boxes for them and the chickens go into the boxes. But for some reason, they laid the eggs on the floor. We heard you are supposed to put fake eggs in the boxes to "explain" to the chickens what the boxes are for. Unfortunately, the only egg-like things we had are some artsy-fartsy rock eggs that Mrs Inor spent way too much money on somewhere. So the too expensive rock eggs are sitting in the nesting boxes, covered with shit and the chickens are laying eggs on the floor.

Since we let the chickens out of the chicken yard every day, I am sure if I walk through the weeds on the back of our property, I would find several dozen eggs.

Yeah, my chickens would lay eggs anywhere BUT the nesting boxes. I would have to dig through the bushes every day to collect them. And hope I got to them before the rats/minks/possums/coons. Like Hawg said, a LOT of hungry critters out there. And lots of them want the chickens too. Hell, I had a Cooper's hawk come down and rip the Bejesus out of my ducklings. Death from above.

[Michael_Js]

Been closing down most of our garden - picked pounds of peppers and cut, bagged, and froze them. Racked all the Delicata squash, butternut squash, sugar pie pumpkins, and made 3 quarts of marinated eggplants ;)

Then, I go and crack my head this afternoon with a heavy duty post pounder! Oh my! I hate doctors/hospitals, so a wonder scare will be had by me...I don't care. I don't have to look at my ugly head anyway! I've never seen SO much blood! My hands were soaked, clothes, floor, towels...oh my!

More orchard work - that's where I cracked my head...putting up new posts and deer netting around the larger (dwarf) trees...

17212

Peace,
Michael J.

[Slippy]

Been closing down most of our garden - picked pounds of peppers and cut, bagged, and froze them. Racked all the Delicata squash, butternut squash, sugar pie pumpkins, and made 3 quarts of marinated eggplants ;)

Then, I go and crack my head this afternoon with a heavy duty post pounder! Oh my! I hate doctors/hospitals, so a wonder scare will be had by me...I don't care. I don't have to look at my ugly head anyway! I've never seen SO much blood! My hands were soaked, clothes, floor, towels...oh my!

More orchard work - that's where I cracked my head...putting up new posts and deer netting around the larger (dwarf) trees...

17212

Peace,
Michael J.

Dang Michael J.

That sucks! Get well soon and make sure you treat that with anti-biotic ointment.

PS...there should be plenty of illegals to hire to do heavy duty post pounding so get with the program and support the federal gubmint immigration plan!...:unclesam:

[Slippy]

Well...

We got our first 2 eggs today. They are kind of small, but at least they are something. I do not even want to think about how expensive they were on a per-egg basis. Yes, those are some hot peppers with the eggs; our chickens are some Billy-bad-ass chickens!

17208

The problem is, Mrs Inor found the eggs on the floor of the chicken shack, in the corner. I made some nice nesting boxes for them and the chickens go into the boxes. But for some reason, they laid the eggs on the floor. We heard you are supposed to put fake eggs in the boxes to "explain" to the chickens what the boxes are for. Unfortunately, the only egg-like things we had are some artsy-fartsy rock eggs that Mrs Inor spent way too much money on somewhere. So the too expensive rock eggs are sitting in the nesting boxes, covered with shit and the chickens are laying eggs on the floor.

Since we let the chickens out of the chicken yard every day, I am sure if I walk through the weeds on the back of our property, I would find several dozen eggs.

Great news on the eggs, the girls should figure out the nesting box thing soon!

[stevekozak]

Been closing down most of our garden - picked pounds of peppers and cut, bagged, and froze them. Racked all the Delicata squash, butternut squash, sugar pie pumpkins, and made 3 quarts of marinated eggplants ;)

Then, I go and crack my head this afternoon with a heavy duty post pounder! Oh my! I hate doctors/hospitals, so a wonder scare will be had by me...I don't care. I don't have to look at my ugly head anyway! I've never seen SO much blood! My hands were soaked, clothes, floor, towels...oh my!

More orchard work - that's where I cracked my head...putting up new posts and deer netting around the larger (dwarf) trees...

17212

Peace,
Michael J.

Post-pounder or angry wife with cast-iron skillet? You can tell us, we are all friends here!! :smashfreak:

Seriously, though, that looks like it hurt! Heads bleed a lot. Butterfly bandages and a calm demeanor is going to be your best ideas for a bit.

[Prepared One]

Been closing down most of our garden - picked pounds of peppers and cut, bagged, and froze them. Racked all the Delicata squash, butternut squash, sugar pie pumpkins, and made 3 quarts of marinated eggplants ;)

Then, I go and crack my head this afternoon with a heavy duty post pounder! Oh my! I hate doctors/hospitals, so a wonder scare will be had by me...I don't care. I don't have to look at my ugly head anyway! I've never seen SO much blood! My hands were soaked, clothes, floor, towels...oh my!

More orchard work - that's where I cracked my head...putting up new posts and deer netting around the larger (dwarf) trees...

17212

Peace,
Michael J.

Damn! That had to hurt. Head wounds bleed a lot, so do chin wounds. I once got cut on the forehead in a fight and there was blood everywhere. The cut itself was nothing actually, deep, but not long, stopping the bleeding was the hard part. Got cut across the chin once, couldn't stop the bleeding so that required an emergency room visit and stitches. I still have that scar.

[Mad Trapper]

Well, here's what the amateur has done, so far.

I planted six broccoli plants in a stock tank. Over night, a deer stopped by and ate two. I put up fencing, and that deterred her. Turns out, there are other things that also like my future food. Something was eating the leaves, so I sprayed neem oil on the leaves. It looked like the leaves had little fingers that were flipping me off. Turned out that they were little worms that were the exact same color as the leaves! I plucked and crushed the bastards.
The next day, two leaves were eaten to the framework, so I went to Marvins and got some sort of fruit and vegetable spray. No more missing leaves.
Planted romaine lettuce and collards in the other stock tanks. So far, nothing is interested in the lettuce or collards, but I expect an attack at any hour.

Green worms are cabbage worms. Check over plants and squish them for immediate control.

Best spray is BT. Organic approved and harmless to humans/animals/benificials. Can eat day of spray. Those worms might hit the collards too.

[Mad Trapper]

First frost here!

17342

Update, we got a good one, ice on the windshield. Will check the covered stuff (peppers) when it warms up, still 30 oF at 8 AM