They're ALIVE!!!! 2012 Edition -- Garden growing tips, tricks, pron

[tortaboy]

damn you californias growin chokes...

(Zone 6B)
peas, beans, onions, beets, radishes and broccoli rabe all sown in the main garden

three varitieys of lettuce, spinach, garlic, oregano, cumin, rosemary, thyme, sage, mint in our herb garden all consumable already...

Strawberries and Rasberries goin strong...

One week and we will start on the rest! Happy Planting

Taller than me and my windows now.

 

[mmmmeat]

Taller than me and my windows now.

Its all that worm chit!

Sent from my fancy android fone

 

[captndan]

Wish I had seen this post earlier. I grow about an acre of veggies mostly from the seat of a tractor. Can!t walk the rows like I used too.

 

[Deep South]

neat. i'd love to grow a field of sunflowers too, but dont have the space now, how do you water that, (or is there enough moisture in the area not to worry bout it)

Let nature take it's course! We haul water for the beans, squash, and other row crops. I've been eating fresh radishes for a week or so. The beans have started to climb and the sunflowers are almost a foot tall! Pics to come.

 

[mmmmeat]

my sunflowers, a native species to AZ

 

[canoe]

hozman, do you find triming the bottom suckers on your tomatoes decrease diseases such as blight or do it for easier staking?

 

[jrtexas]

My first square foot garden:

And a month later....

 

[Mo-Dave]

So glad to have this thread. Just started planting but thought I would share some pics of last years garden

Tomatoes in straw bales. 1st time doing this. They reached almost 8'

Things starting to take off

My jungle. If you have never grown stuff in straw bales I highly recommend it. No digging, weeding.

I would like to try this. Did you have to do anythng to prep the hay or did you just drop the seed into the bails and water?
Dave

 

[bluegrass smoke]

My spring bulbs bloomed about a month early here near Chicago - and that was before our string of 80° days in March. Temperatures seem to be a little closer to normal now but everything green got at least a month's advance.

Rhubarb is just about ready to pick and walking onions have been for a couple weeks now.

I even direct seeded broccoli which is about 4" tall now.

Yesterday I picked the first radishes. I could be thinning lettuce and spinach any day now.

I've got some tomatoes and basil in the ground and I'll have to cover them if we get any risk of frost.

But who knows what weather the summer will bring. At least we've had some recent rain and now the weeds are really taking off!

If I have galvanized fencing will it work for a tomato cage like the ones you have here?
thanks

 

[Hozman]

hozman, do you find triming the bottom suckers on your tomatoes decrease diseases such as blight or do it for easier staking?

I do it for both. Also I find I get a much bigger tomatoes doing this.

 

[Hozman]

I would like to try this. Did you have to do anythng to prep the hay or did you just drop the seed into the bails and water?
Dave

Dave this is how I do this:

Well I get mine in the fall and let them sit out all winter to age and soften up. By the time May comes I have mushrooms growing out of them and the straw is not tight, you can can put you fist into them very easy. I plant 2 tomatoes per bale. I make a hole big enough for potted plant to fit in and place plant in hole. Then I put about 2 " of miricle grow soil on top of entire bale so when it rain it washes dirt into bale. They say to only plant vegetable with fruit above ground. Corn stalks to heavy. Though I did good with sweet tators in bale last year.

Everything I have planted in bales has been a started plant. I have done tomatoes, jalapenos, green peppers, beans (went crazy), all chilles, habaneros, sweet tators.

There are some good videos on youtube. Just put in straw bale gardening. There is a guy out of the carolina's that does a 2-3 part series on it.

 

[wmarkw]

First time I'm growing jalapenos and they are doing fine. BUT I noticed that I'm losing fruit; I see them in the morning then when I come home from work I have 1 or 2 jalaps that have falled off. Now I do have a nosy basset hound and he could have walked near them but could they have fallen off on their own?? TIA

 

[Mo-Dave]

////////////////

Moderators please delete this post, thanks
Dave

 

[Mo-Dave]

this years garden

I am not good at putting in photos but I will try. Well this seems to have worked, some how.

The tall stalks with the round balls on top are onions I planted last year and just let go. I never have seen them like this before, they are about 3 1/2 to 4 ft tall and the flowers have lasted a long time. The other photos are my garden this year, I just planted pintos, some heirloom tomatoes, snow peas, watermelon and Spanish.

This year I doubled the garden size and I know I planted way to much, and to close together, much to my wife's protest. I have strawberry's from last year and have had some of those. Still have my herbs and spices to plant yet, just don't know where they are going to go, pots maybe. I have 6 kinds of tomatoes this year, I really wanted to try some heirlooms.

I have fencing to go up and I just spotted a dang ground hog this morning running away from the garden, and a couple deer in my backyard last night along with the usual raccoons finishing off the cat food on the porch. I just really wanted to show the onions thought they were interesting.

The garden

Acorn squash
cucumbers
First time corn two kinds
Okra
Jalapenos
Green peppers
6 different kinds of tomatoes
More onions 3 kinds
Radishes
Italian Spanish
Heirloom watermelon
Snow peas
More squash?
Beets
Cantaloup
Pinto beans
strawberry
Butter nut squash
and yet to come herbs and spices
If only half this produces, I will be up to my eyeballs in veges.
Almost forgot my wife planted sunflowers.
Dave
http://s1081.photobucket.com/albums/j348/dlee334/garden%20party/

 

[ddweatherholtz]

Tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchinni, Bell peppers(red, green, yellow) , ghost pepper, jalepenos peppers, caynne pepers, corn, baby watermelon.

 

[ddweatherholtz]

I hate all of you guys, we still have 6" of this stuff on the ground:mad2:

LOL That truly does suck!

 

[V-wiz]

Ill be planting mine this weekend. Ive got Tomatoes, Strawberry, Italian oregano, asparagus, honeydew, beets and rosemerry. Any suggestions? Ive already bug out my planter box about 12x5.

 

[NBBD]

Tomatos peppers cukes egg plants went in this week... Replanted green beans that never sprouted (we think due to heavy rain compressing the soil)

Beets Radishes Lettuce Spinaches and herbs doing nicely...

Cant Wait for 99% homemade BLT's this summer! (Didn't raise the pig but we cured him!)

 

[Disciple882542]

You guys have some awesome looking gardens! Here's my humble submission:

Tomatoes, squash, green beans, zucchini, okra, peppers (jalapeño, poblano, cayenne, and bell), watermelon, cantaloupe, and cucumbers:

The chief of my weed management division:

We've already got a mess of these:

One of my daughters' sunflowers (not sure if this one has a name yet lol):

We enjoy the goodies out of our garden but honestly, giving some away to the elderly who love fresh veggies and can't garden is better.

God bless you guys,
Disciple

 

[mmmmeat]

sunflowers are gettin up there