How does your garden grow?

[LIBRA]

Im gonn list off what I got. Then next year I wont have to dig for the notebook I wrote it all in,lol. I can just look here :D

Cauliflower
Brussel Sprouts
Broccoli
Green peppers
Jalepeno
pablano
eggplant
tomatoes, cherry, golden sun's and big fat red variety
cabage
Acorn squash
Butternut
some kind of heirloom blue sqaush, cant remember the name now
Asparagus
Snow peas
Green beans
Snap peas
Cucumbers large and small
musk melon
watermelon
sqaush
zucinni
pumpkins, pie variety
Strawberries

Whew. I think Im missing some, Im gonna have to check. I will post some picts too. Its looking sweet.

Aphids are back though and so are those lil black shiny beetles, I got some lady bug lure and I bought some lady bugs online, the ups guy thought that was a trip. And so far I think they are doing there job, I just hope so!!!!

How is everyone elses gardens doing??

[Pedata]

Mines doing ok. We have tobacco in the main part, plus more in tubs.
Cantaloupe in tubs, one's already grabbing the fence.
A lonely tomato plant. Something bit it down, but it's recovered :)

I have aphids also. I killed them off by hand the other day and so far there are no new ones.

And baby grasshoppers. Been catching them and giving them to the chickens.

Wow, Denise, it sounds like you've got a truck patch going there! So many things!

[poppy]

Oh Libra you are so ambitious, I am definately doing the cherry tomatoes next year....can't wait to see Pictures.

Our Garden is steadily declining, we went on vacation and two of the cuc plants with the highest yield perished. The cabbages are pushing through in a major way, tons of green tomaters, bell peppers and loads of yummie cuc's and squash. It's so nice to go out and pick yer own beans for dinner. My papa has been making alot of cucumber salad, and I made a hearty Veg Stew with a portion of squash and Beans. We don't have many barriers as our yard is well fenced, still the strawberries are being devoured almost as soon as they turn red by the local wildlife .
The sunflowers are starting to develop, and I can see tons of Figs growing on the tree next door. Yay!
Artichokes are setting up nicely and The broccoli didn't make it.

I hope to have a better plan for next Spring. I think it should include a nice green house and aeroponics :)
Rhubarb etc....


I Hope things are going well, it sounds like they are. :)

[StellaBlue]

We didn't plant as much in our garden this summer as we usually do. I'm pregnant, waiting to give birth any day now (please may it be SOON) and I wasn't sure how much gardening I would be up to. So...

We put in...

a strawberry bed
pumpkins (for carving this fall, not eating)
watermelon
cucumbers (what would summer be like without home grown cucumbers?)
3 different varieties of tomatoes
bell peppers
carrots

Other than lots of sunflowers in the garden, that's it for this year. A few staples that, to me, make summer summer, and a few requests from my daughter. I had a difficult time explaining to her why we couldn't plant apples in the garden right next to her strawberries...

[poppy]

It felt so nice to pick fresh basil, oregano and thyme to make dinner tonight. So nice. :snail:

[LIBRA]

Oh ya Stella, your due!!!! Awesome, I hope your in labor right now as I type and its a breeze :D Good luck and keep us posted would ya!:hb:
Thats cute about the apples, it is hard for them to grasp it,lol

Ive got some lil black beetles on my eggplants, had em last year too. Ive been hand picking them but man theres a ton. Lil bastards..
Nothing is producing here yet its too early. Except for the lettuce and spinach, greens are going well and asparagus is all over already too.
And some wierd bugs on my sunflowers that ants must like, had then last yr too. There all clustered and brownish gray look like lil leaf hoppers but there stuck to the leaf no hoppin and ants are always all over em. Yuck.

I did get some lady bugs online and released them but so far I havent seen many of them, where did they all go :(

[LIBRA]

poppy, thats too bad. Something always goes though no matter how great you plan something in nature quickly changes those plans for you. SO unpredictable!!

Ya Pedata, a giant truck path, Im gonna be a busy girl come harvest time. But I will be a glad girl come winter time :D

[Pedata]

Something is eating on my small tobacco plants. Little round holes and some larger pieces of the leaves. I can't see anything. Strangley it's not bothering the bigger plants.

Sorry about your garden, Poppy. I hate years like that :(

[Hippie Staff]

my zucchini & yellow crookneck squashes are all flowering and coming out too fast this year. They grow little veggies, and then they are done. mini veggies...kinda like the mini cows? (see mini cow thread lol)

not sure what's wrong..is it my soil..the gray weather ...many many flowers on little plants. do my plants hate me ? lol

we had a very tiny stir fry tonight. :D

[LIBRA]

Pluck off some of the flowers meg, see if that helps the other flowers produce stronger veggies. Thats what I would do. And you can eat those flowers :D

Lil black flea beatles are destroying my eggplant :( jerks. I sprayed them last night and hand plucked some but they jump so fast. The lady bugs arent eating them, hope there eating the eggs.

I was really peeved last night, so much damage in one day.

[Pedata]

I don't know how much rain everyone else got last month, but we got it for the whole month and now the bugs are out in huge battalions.

This would be a good time to find a market for bugs.

[NCW_Woodnymph]

We've had a ton of rain too! Thunder showers every day this week and a few last week. It's been nice not to have to water everyday. I wish I had rain barrels though. I would have enough for half the summer. :D

[PrettyHippy]

The garden has been a labor of love this year. Willow will turn one on the 23 of this month so needless to say trying to work around her can be a challenge. We're all lined up to sell at one of the Farmers' Markets in Columbus starting next month. We actually got hit with a TORNADO (yes...a freakin' tornado) and 10 minutes of one-inch hail two weeks ago and I thought everything was gone. Everything was pulverized on the ground. For about a week the weather people said it was straight line winds, but apparently the other day they made the decision that it was actually a low-grade tornado. It was intense! But ya know...those plants really want to survive! I think I lost about 19 heirloom tomato plants out of 85. I purchased replacements from one of the local garden centers and I've got new babies started in the basement for later season. All the other tomatoes put out side shoots that are growing really well!! We actually got the straw down on them today. The peppers, eggplants, summer and winter squash, cucumbers, raspberries, strawberries, and the melons all managed to hang in there because they were all small enough. The potatoes, sweet potatoes, okra, amaranth, and popcorn weren't in the ground yet, so needless to say they were all safe. Now we're just fighting flea beetles, cucumber beetles, squash bugs, and the squash-vine borers will be hitting any day now. We're and organic farm so we're limited with what we can spray. I like Rotenone/Pyrithren but it can kill bees so I've got to be VERY careful and use it only as a last resort. My beehive is close to the squashes (great squash blossom honey) so I try to spray at night so the bees aren't active. Damn insects. I discovered tonight that I'm going to have to get some cucumber replacements because four plants have died from dampening-off due to all the rain. It's always something!! Here's hoping that all of us are able to have great harvests!!!

Pretty:hippie:

[LIBRA]

Ya Ive got Flea beetles too, really bad. My eggplants look like swiss cheese :( And now woodchucks are eating everything, all the strawberrys are gone and my brussel sprouts are eatin to the nub. I started putting a fence up last night, hoping to finish tonight. Sucks. I sprayed rotenone last night I really hope it helps, Ive tried everything.

I just started bee keeping, sooo cool to see another bee keeper on the board. Its all so new to me and mind blowing!! Mine are so new they arent foraging yet, pretty much just livin off sugar water for now, my queen is weak. Im hoping it all plays out internally and works itself out.

My snow peas look like they are getting some kind of blight too? Ive never seen that before, I read about a baking powder spray for squash blight?

Im sorry to hear about the tornado, that is crazy! Im glad your garden is thriving though, It could have been way worse!! Our climates dont allow for too much error here the growing season is so short as it is.

[Pedata]

Bugs here too, can't see them but they are eating the smaller tobacco plants to death. Hubby went and bought Sevin (5) dust. Hate to use that stuff but the bugs are so bad this year, we have no choice, unless we want to grow food for insects, lol.
Maybe the bugs are getting addicted to the nicotine and they want MORE and MORE!
Hope they don't find thier way into the trailer and go after my store bought bags of tobacco. I can just picture it......

[poppy]

So there is a lil old man at the end of the lane who planted his garden around the same time as ours. Or at least tilled it.
I have been walking the kids to the park some days and not payed too much attention to what he was growing. Well Today I was walking by, noting the various plants, Brussell Sprouts, Cabbage, and a whole bunch of plants with leaves similar to watermelon, but the plants stand upright. Then it hit me, he has a huge Fig Right behind the garden, and the majority of his garden may be baby fig plants. Like I'm talking fifty or so. What a sight. Are they figs? something else? So that poses a question, what has leaves like a watermelon or fig, stands upright, that you might plant annually? Certainly not a fig. Is he a small farmer after all. How sweet to see the lil old couple tending the garden somedays, I only hope I will have a hubby and we will be that happy fifty years in.
:ufo:

[PrettyHippy]

I was excited to see someone else who was beekeeping too!! My bees are still on sugar syrup right now too. They do do some foraging and I'm not filling the syrup jar as frequently. We're probably going to put the next super on this week sometime. We'll see how it goes! I'm curious to see what's going on inside the hive. I'm hoping the storm didn't do too much damage considering the whole hive-top got ripped off. We'll find out soon enough. Hope things are going well for you!!

Pretty :hippie:

[LIBRA]

Im putting my next super on this week too, its been raining soooo much I havent been out to ck them. But I inspect weekly just to be sure the queen is doing ok cause she wasnt at first and I am still not 100% she is keeping up. Did you do deep or medium supers? I did bottom 2 deep and the top 2 will be mediums. My bottom super is full. I saw tons of bee's on a golden sumac the other day, I was happy to see them!! Im still feeding sugar syrup too but Im not as deligent about it. Just need some sun, no rain for a bit. Had a bear in the yard one morning, he walked right by the hive...whew!!!! Crazy!!! I dont have a fence up yet but Im saving up for it.

[LIBRA]

Poppy, stop and talke to the old farmer man :) I bet he would love to chat with you about it. Ive never seen a baby fig tree or plant? Sounds wonderfull though!!!!

[LIBRA]

I bought a used dog kennel on the side of the road for 50 bucks!! Im so stoked! For the bee's though not a dog lol. Its big enough for 4-5 hives and its tall, has a door!! Sweet!!

Broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower are all gone...stupid deer ate it all. I got my fence up a day too late :( I am so bummed. We just ate up the last of last years broccoli and I thought that was awesome, now I wont have any to harvest, none to preserve. Bummer Bummer. Last year they didnt really bother with the garden, this year they went nuts. Even ate some of my tomatoe plants.

[Pedata]

Sorry to hear about your garden, Denise.
I was told by a hunter that deer do not like blown up balloons. Scares them silly, unless they are soooo hungry that their hunger overcomes their fear. I know it's too late now for balloons, but there's always next year.

If you go with a fence for deer it needs to be a good fifteen feet tall. They have springs on their feet and can bounce quite high, lol.

[LIBRA]

I know, Im hoping that they wont bother trying if theres a fence, just munch on grass and move along... "hoping"

Ive seen farmers with big yellow balloons in there fields, looks funny but it must work. Ive got some old windchimes in gonna hang out there too.

[Pedata]

I ate one of the cucumbers. The skin was bitter. Don't know why. The rest was fine. Maybe I picked it too young? These are from last years plants that came from store bought seeds. They are getting bigger than last year's.
They're growing like crazy.

[LIBRA]

Yumm! I cant wait to eat some stuff outta the garden. Its been so rainy here, everything is growing but not flowering. Soon though.

I love cukes! Thats great there doing so well!

[groovyacres]

Weeds are thriving. I finally got out and weeded my whole garden this week in anticipation of some much needed rain. Rain didn't come so I am going to have to haul water today. We have been in a semi drought condition here for 5 years and this one is not boding well for us either.

But other than that all looks great. No pests, mildew etc. I actually saw a ladybug while weeding (and our resident toad, Morris). I had to look twice at the ladybug as we also can be quite overrun buy those stinking Japanese beetles which look like them but nope, this was a real ladybug, first one I have seen in a long long time.

[poppy]

I don't think they're figs, It's something that grows well local, because I met a woman who lives on some property with her aunt(who has a lovely garden) and she has some of the same looking plants, I asked her to name off what was in the garden but still haven't found my answer.....hmmmm
The fig tree next door is producing beautifully......Yummmmmmm I can hardly wait until they fatten up and change color.

[Pedata]

Found a whole bunch of soft, small, brown bug eggs on one of the tobacco plants. Squished them all.

Stink bugs have been showing up. Been catching them and giving them to the chickens.

We got some rain and now, when I'm in the tall grass, cutting stuff for the chickens to eat, I end up so chigger bit the next day.

Picked another cucumber. Peeled it and ate it. Yum. So fresh and tasty :)

[groovyacres]

We finally got some rain, not enough though. It has been almost a month since we got any. I got back from my trip on Tuesday and most my window boxes and hanging plants are dried up, no one watered them. Garden is faring ok. It has been so chilly again. I don't think summer is ever going to come. Even KY was 76 when I was there. I loved it but they were all freezing, LOL.:hippie:

[Gaston]

Sorry to hear about your garden, Denise.
I was told by a hunter that deer do not like blown up balloons.
I've seen a lot of people hang up aluminum pie pans on a long string to scare off all manners of critters, as the least bit of wind turns them and they catch the sun and flash. I've used it for pesky birds, and it helps a little, mostly on timid birds like doves. You have to move them around from time to time. I do know that it won't keep the coons out of my prized Charentais melons. :o

Tomatoes this year have been Teh Suckage. I don't know what's wrong, they blossomed late and made tiny fruits that rotted on the vine. Good thing the eggplants did well. Gaston 40, flea beetles 0. Gotta love that rotenone/pyrethrin, but I did keep in mind the native bees when I sprayed it. We have some European honey bees this year for a change, they seem to be recovering finally. We have mostly wood bees this far back in the mountains, but I know that them foreign bees are important to others.

I'm starting to lay down another sheet-composted garden, and looking forward to next year. Next spring I'm gonna make a hole to put my plants with a leather punch to make sure it will turn out awl-some. (groan)

[LIBRA]

Like lasagna gardening? the sheet garden your talking about? I want to try that this fall. How do you do yours?

Ya flea beetles were horrible this spring, my eggplants looked bad but they made it!! I dont have any yet but they are always late here.

Japanese beetles are bad right now, ugh!!! Saturday morning im getting my gloves out and squishing those suckers lol!!!

[Gaston]

Like lasagna gardening? the sheet garden your talking about? I want to try that this fall. How do you do yours?

It's the same, there's just not a book entitled "Sheet Composted Gardening by Patricia Lanza". :D Ruth Stout's "No-Work Garden Book" is much the same but simpler, however Ruth had free "spoiled hay" from a nearby dairy farm to use as mulch so that's all she used - knee deep! Her book's a fun read, she is/was a cranky old lady with an occasional attack of humor - it's her way or you're just stupid. I'd just borrow them from the library, as you won't need to use them as references later.

Early fall is an ideal time to start one, so when you mow you chop up grass with the leaves you get a mix of green and brown material for quick thorough composting. I just put down a layer of newspapers about 4 sheets thick, since we have a fairly strong breeze here in fall I lay them like shingles with the "eaves" at the windward end and overlap the mulch on that end so the wind doesn't get under it. Then you dump your yard clippings on top. You can keep adding as you rake and mow. The first year I bought straw to scatter on the grass before mowing, and that made it knit together better. If you have strong winds you may have to scatter some rocks, bricks, etc. around at first, but after a couple of seasons the paper sticks to the ground like glue and your mulch will be heavy enough to help hold it down.

There's almost no work after that except planting and harvesting. To plant just make a small hole to stick the seedling into and pull the mulch up tight around it. Plants that are tender when young get a short section of paper-towel roll protector that extends down to the newspaper and an inch or two above the mulch to defeat the cutworms. Weeds don't grow between the plants, and you can just pull up the few that manage to grow in the mulch. Any time you break the paper layer, as in pulling up dead stalks in the fall, just move the mulch away, repaper, and push the mulch back. A better idea to clean up the garden in fall is just to clip the stalks off level with the ground. If you want to sow seeds just brush back the loose mulch until you get to the composted layer, and sow. By the time the seeds grow down to the paper they'll be strong enough to bore right through it.


Japanese beetles are bad right now, ugh!!! Saturday morning im getting my gloves out and squishing those suckers lol!!!

We just cut a big hole in the top of a gallon milk jug, leaving the handle, and put about an inch of water in it with a few drops/shavings of soap. It's a lot easier to knock bugs off the jug than to grab them, and you won't have as many escape. The only bugs I can't catch is squash vine borers and flea beetles. For egg clusters much of the time you can just wipe them off the leaf with the edge of the hole in the jug.

[LIBRA]

Im so on that jug idea this weekend, those lil jerks are all over my garden!!!

I gotta try this sheet gardening, I may just do it over my exsisting garden, it gets so weedy, everything reseeds and I cant keep up. I used straw and grass mulch this year so the weeds are better but not gone. Im going to give it a go this fall. Thanks for the book rec, Im gonna have to ck that one out!! I love cranky know it all old ladies :D

[Gaston]

You'll be heartsick at all the work you did before you tried sheet composting. I only raked mine up and reseeded it in grass because Mom didn't like it. The beauty of the method is that I didn't really lose that much, some free newspapers and a bit of elbow grease and it'll be garden again. You might even be able to sell the idea to a cranky landlord as it's so easy to put back into yard if you leave - a bit of raking and seeding, and in no time it's like there was never a garden there for those who prefer the golf-course suburbia thing. I don't. That part of the yard may be a lot greener than the rest at first since the soil gets richer really quickly, but you don't have to tell everything you know. :p

[Gaston]

Nearly forgot to ask, Libra - how'd the Jug 'O Suds work out for you?

[LIBRA]

I didnt do it yet:o Went hiking and swimming instead. Such a hard toss up lol!!!! But tomorrow im on it :D

How could I resist
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs168.snc1/6292_118435004694_786339694_2158945_598221_n.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2158946&id=786339694)

[LIBRA]

Jug O Suds worked great!!! But my poor tomatoes are dying, rotting on the vine, and the bottoms of the plants are turning brown. :( I dont think its blossom end rot, because its nore of a scattered rot. Im thinking about pulling them off green and canning some dilled green tomatoes.

[LIBRA]

Oh NOOOO I think this is the culprit!!!!!!!!!!!! (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/nyregion/18tomatoes.html)

[lishca]

could be :( it seems everyone near me (in IL) has been fighting blight....i've been lucky so far, but it could just be that i got my plants in late and this is my first year for tomatoes.

[LIBRA]

I found a recipe to fight blight, lol catchy...

1 tbls horticultural oil
1 tbls baking soda
1 gallon water

I just dont know if horticultural oil is ok or natural? Im going to look into to.

[Hippie Staff]

Denise -can u slide on those rocks like a water slide? So beautiful there!

[LIBRA]

Denise -can u slide on those rocks like a water slide? So beautiful there!

Yes you can! Some are so smooth, some are not lol but its still lots of fun!! The water is real cold though, mountain spring water...brrrr!

Worlds End State Park (http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/worldsend.aspx) Its one of our favorite places!!!

[Gaston]

Denise -can u slide on those rocks like a water slide? So beautiful there!

No, you can't do that, you'll put your eye out.

:p:p:p