Garden out and doing great

[jinman]

Bart, our garden is doing well thanks to using soaker hoses, landscape cloth, and mulch. Our tomatoes are growing like gangbusters and are very healthy/happy looking with lots of golf-ball and tennis ball sized tomatoes. It's the same with our banana peppers, bell peppers, pimentos, and cucumbers. Our onions are filling out nicely and we are pulling some between 3" and 4" in diameter. I think every crown of asparagus we planted this year has sprouted and we have a really healthy growth of 1st year and 2nd year ferns. The spears on the 2nd year growth are about 3/8" in diameter and the ones on the 1st year plants are less than 1/4" in diameter. I'm hoping that the crowns in the ground are becoming really big so that next year we will have a nice crop of asparagus.:licking:

Rain? What's that? We have not been lucky enough to have any rain for a long time. Even when the last storms were in our area, the clouds parted and missed Sunset. I think I got less than 1/10" over 2 weeks ago. As I type this, my thermometer outside says 99.5 degrees and I just came in an hour ago from watering the garden. I was soaking wet from sweat. My lawn grass is green, but only because I water heavily. Thank goodness for a great well. . . and air conditioning.:thumbsup:

Carolyn: I sure envy you all your canned goods, but honestly, we have a freezer full of stuff from previous years. We are still eating delicious peaches from the ones we froze last year. We have blackeyes, green beans, squash, peppers, and salsa frozen from last year. My wife canned lots of stewed tomatoes and Italian spiced tomatoes in addition to our freezer full of stuff. We are downsizing our garden this year to allow us to catch up some on what is in our chest freezer and one refrigerator's freezer.

I sure hope your vacation trip goes well and your husband's business trip to Borneo is productive. It sounds like a true adventure. Since he wants to do it and you are so supportive, why not? It's better to do it now when he can than wish he had done it later in life when it's not possible.

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

I would LOVE to travel but with our daughter its not possible. We might get to visit there, have to see but most of the places he goes are very remote and not for families. But I have to take her to more civilized areas or on cruises and things like that, she does fine there.

Besides with her on medicaid and now medicare I can only take her out of Texas for 30 days at a time or we lose her coverage. Can you imagine? We would be bankrupt in short order, since last November she has had medical upon medical issues and it likely won't get better.

Sooo, that is why he got us the motorhome, he knows I can drive it and she and I can go all over. We have coverage for breakdowns and am looking into an extended warranty for repairs. That is also why he insisted I have a tow car when I wasn't much interested, he said you won't end up stranded somehwere. So far the only issues in 10k miles I've had with it was I needed new tires when we got it. Not many miles were on them but age is the judge for need.

I want him to go and do what he wants, it would be mean spirited of me to say no just because I can't. Several years back after his first 3 years gone I asked him not to go again. He didn't for about a year and a half. He is a good guy and never once complained but I could tell he just wasn't happy and the job market here is not like it used to be. He can get a job, no issue but the working conditions here in Texas are well, less then desirable. I won't say more.

So this way it works well. I get to see a lot of our beautiful country and he earns enough for us to do so and to save for our retirement too. I can tell he is so excited again, I sure hope it all works out for him. I get concerned about his physicals, but so far he is still healthy as a horse.

By the way I went out to water tomatoes and though some of the plants are dying, I bet I have another wagon load of them. I have to find someone to give them to are start thinking about making spaghetti sauce! I may be like you and have to slack off next years garden to eat up this years production.

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

And its up to 101 again! Yesterday was 105!

I may have posted this before, over the last 10 years he has worked in
Chad, Cameroon, Algeria, Qatar, Angola, and now Borneo, if this one is a go.

Our only son is married to a girl from Armunsk, Russia and they have lived in Korea for about 15 years. They have traveled some too. After being in the army for 10 years, he completed his degree and works for the DOD as a digital systems engineer. They have no kids.

I was an accountant and a project accountant for many years on the big projects like the Frito Lay National Hdgrts, loved that job. Also worked in trucking, hospitals, gas and oil, benefits plans, etc, did a little of everything.

My little family is far flung.

 

[Bartcephus]

Anybody use one of the planters shown in the attachement? I used that to plant over 2 1/2 lbs. of G-90 and "Peaches and Cream" corn. Out of that much corn, only 3 stalks made it through the ground. I also used it to "plant" peas and out of a 3 oz. package of peas only 3 plants have grown. I hand planted a handfull of corn and have many stalks growing.

To use the planter, I tilled the soil with my tractor and Howse tiller. Set the depth guage of the "spade" right in front of the seed drop. Put some 13-13-13 in the fertilizer hopper and went walking down my rows. It was harder than I thought it would be as the front wheel buried itself in the soil and I kept having to back up and start over. It was droping the seed at regular intervals. But why didn't they grow?

Any tips will be greatly appreciated as hand planting is tough too.

Thanks,

Bart

Photo: Planter beside my '78 IH Scout restoration project

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

That's a neat looking gadget, but we just did the put the string to show where the kernels go. Then stoop over and punch a kernel in about an inch down in the ground and then cover. But we had some that didn't come up also. We wonder if varmits got some of our corn. My back was killing me when done.

 

[Chuck52]

Anybody use one of the planters shown in the attachement? I used that to plant over 2 1/2 lbs. of G-90 and "Peaches and Cream" corn. Out of that much corn, only 3 stalks made it through the ground. I also used it to "plant" peas and out of a 3 oz. package of peas only 3 plants have grown. I hand planted a handfull of corn and have many stalks growing.

To use the planter, I tilled the soil with my tractor and Howse tiller. Set the depth guage of the "spade" right in front of the seed drop. Put some 13-13-13 in the fertilizer hopper and went walking down my rows. It was harder than I thought it would be as the front wheel buried itself in the soil and I kept having to back up and start over. It was droping the seed at regular intervals. But why didn't they grow?

Any tips will be greatly appreciated as hand planting is tough too.

Thanks,

Bart

Photo: Planter beside my '78 IH Scout restoration project

Bart,

I used a somewhat similar Earthway planter to put in my Peaches and Cream and got good germination. My complaint with the Earthway is that it planted too thick and I had to thin at least half the seedlings that came up. I probably should thin even more, but we'll see. My planter doesn't have a fertilizer hopper, though one of the guys here, I think, talked about using one of the seed plates to put down some fertilizer separately. Whenever I use the planter I always drag a rake backwards over the furrow and then use the rake to settle the soil over the seed, but I doubt that's really needed. Did you maybe have the depth set too deep?

I'd plant the corn like Carolyn if I didn't have to bend over to put in the seed!

One year I had my son make the holes with a stick, and I followed along and dropped seed in using a piece of pvc pipe. That worked great because the seed gave about 100% germination. Don't know why I didn't do that this year, though since son is gone I'd have had to poke the holes myself.

Chuck

 

[Bartcephus]

That's a neat looking gadget, but we just did the put the string to show where the kernels go. Then stoop over and punch a kernel in about an inch down in the ground and then cover. But we had some that didn't come up also. We wonder if varmits got some of our corn. My back was killing me when done.

Bought it at Tractor Supply. Thought it would save my back... and it did.... from picking all that corn.

 

[Bartcephus]

Bart,

I used a somewhat similar Earthway planter to put in my Peaches and Cream and got good germination. My complaint with the Earthway is that it planted too thick and I had to thin at least half the seedlings that came up. I probably should thin even more, but we'll see. My planter doesn't have a fertilizer hopper, though one of the guys here, I think, talked about using one of the seed plates to put down some fertilizer separately. Whenever I use the planter I always drag a rake backwards over the furrow and then use the rake to settle the soil over the seed, but I doubt that's really needed. Did you maybe have the depth set too deep?Chuck

Chuck,

I set the planter at one inch depth for the corn. I didn't follow with a rake. That might have been the problem. Seeds seemed covered by dirt packed by back wheel of planter. Fertilizer bin is nothing but a hopper with a "gate" to meter the flow of the fertilizer. To thin the planting rate you can cover every other hole on the plate with electrical tape or duct tape or something like that. I just hate that $20.00 of seed went to waste... Woulda loved all that fresh corn. :licking:

 

[Chuck52]

Chuck,

I set the planter at one inch depth for the corn. I didn't follow with a rake. That might have been the problem. Seeds seemed covered by dirt packed by back wheel of planter. Fertilizer bin is nothing but a hopper with a "gate" to meter the flow of the fertilizer. To thin the planting rate you can cover every other hole on the plate with electrical tape or duct tape or something like that. I just hate that $20.00 of seed went to waste... Woulda loved all that fresh corn. :licking:

I hear you on the corn. Mine is only a few inches high, so I have time to finish my coon-prroof fence before those buggers get interested in it.

Next time I use my planter for corn I may try blocking some of the holes in the plate, but since I only put out a small patch I may go back to my pvc pipe method. That was great because the spacing was hand-planted perfect. The planter works fine for beans, peas and okra, but I think the pointy and odd sized corn seed cause problems with it.

Chuck

 

[Bartcephus]

Chuck,

The PVC method may be my new choice. I'll have to experiment with making a "tool" that when I set it to drop the seed, it will poke the hole for the next seed at the appropriate distance.... Hmmmm :dance1: Designs are already coming to mind with some rod, tubing and imagination...

I just think there has to be something I am doing wrong for all that corn to go to waste and only three of my pea plants comming up in a 30' row. I may be making this harder than it has to be too. Lord knows I've done that too many times.

Regards,

Bart

 

[Bartcephus]

Jinman,

Well, 0.2 inches of rain didn't last long at all. At least it is a little cooler here than Carolyn's. Do you have a soaker hose for each row, or do you roll it up and move it from time to time? Looks like the dry spell is going to be here awhile, I may as well get set up for it.

Regards,

Bart

 

[jinman]

Do you have a soaker hose for each row, or do you roll it up and move it from time to time?
Bart

Bart, we've tried moving hoses and it is a super hassle. We bought some flat nylon (or nylon-like) hoses that are extremely light weight and easy to roll up. I put them on extension cord reels and we just roll them out on each row and leave them the whole season. They roll up very easily and last many years instead of breaking like the black rubber soakers. They also water evenly over their entire length if you don't turn the pressure up too high.

 

[Bartcephus]

Jinman,

Wouldn't you know... I bought a soaker hose from TS this last weekend.... its one of the black ones.... also didn't have the cap on the end... I must not have been looking at them that close. Well, seems like I need to get several so I can leave them out there "all season" I thought about one of the micro watering systems. The ones where you put a drip nozzle where ever on the "feeder". Just a thought....

Thanks for the Tips!

Bart

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

I bought soaker hoses for everyother row, this year hubby put them on each row. I had bought manifolds so I can turn each row on individually, generally 2 or 3 at a time so the water pressure isn't to low. It worked good for seeds and starter plants. Then to get more water we started using our bigger sprinkler when the plants got bigger.

I just finished canning 5 pints and 2 half pints more of relish, 20 jars in there now. My neighbor gave me more cukes, I offloaded more tomatoes to him! I think we are both covered up, and we got more patty pan squash, hubby sure does like those. Daughter said, no not squash again! So I heated her leftover spinach lasagna from the freezer.

I think I might make some barbecue sauce to use up some more of my tomatoes. They are getting smaller and not the big beauties I had but still taste good. Also wouldn't mind to cook some chili and can it, also bean soup. I will do some veggie soup later. Nothing like being busy but having some really good food to heat up instead of store bought stuff. That will likely use the rest of my jars.

I'm thinking of a trip to Hempsted to see if they have peaches to can. I will call up there first. I would love to have some.

I got 14 ears of corn out of the patch last night but it will be 2 weeks before anything else is big enough to eat. It sure is good.

We are going to try cutting the corn stalks for the neighbors horses, I know they would love those, they are eating shucks and corncobs now that we give them.

 

[Chuck52]

Carolyn, have you ever made ketchup or catsup? I saw Jamie, that weird Brit on the Cooking Channel make it a while back. It would be nice to be able to make it to your own taste rather than Heinz's. We used to buy Snider's chili pepper catsup when I was a kid. I bet that would use lots of tomatoes.

Bart,

I'm pretty sure I've seen a commercial version of my planting pvc stick. I think I saw one where you jabbed it into the ground and pushed a button and it released the seed. I tried that with just the pvc pipe and of course stopped up the pipe with dirt. Having a spare kid at the time, I made him the hole maker.

Chuck

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

No, haven't made catsup, but I did make seasoned tomato sauce and I had to cook it down to half volume, took quite awhile. This barbecue sauce is to be cooked down to the consistency of catsup.

I am getting all my canning recipes from the Ball Canning Book, a wonderful book.

 

[Chuck52]

I knew I'd seen some stick-type planters. Check this one out:

Stand&Plant Seeder&Planter: plant seeds and plants while standing. No bending, stooping or squating to plant your garden

It doesn't seem to have a seed hopper....you drop in individual seeds. But it looks simple and pretty sure. The sharp end looks like it is just made of two pieces of angle cut pvc, with a spring action to keep it closed. You drop in a seed, poke the sharp end into the ground, and squeeze a trigger to open the end and drop the seed. I think even I could fabricate that.

There's a fancy one at Johnny's Seeds, with a seed hopper, but I bet it doesn't always drop a seed, and it is more than $100.

I like to garden. I just don't bend or squat very well anymore, so hand planting and weeding are even less fun than they used to be.

Chuck

 

[jinman]

Carolyn, I hope you won't mind me posting a few pictures of my small garden. It has grown substantially since my last posted photo.

1st - The whole garden showing cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, and a bumper crop of onions. Peppers are in the 2nd row in this photo and the end of the 3rd row beyond the tomatoes. We have had to put in replacement tomatoes several times since wind storms broke and killed lots of our plants. We have banana peppers, bell peppers, and pimentos. Note our use of landscaping cloth and tar paper to control weeds and hold moisture in the ground. It works great!

2nd - My two small rows of asparagus. The plants against the fence were planted last year and the smaller plants this year. I need to get the small plants some support since the wind really pushes them over.

3rd - The cucumbers are doing really well. I picked about a dozen yesterday that were 8"-10" long.

4th - Banana peppers coming on strong. I love them in salads and stir fried with onions.:licking:

5th - Soaker hose was installed on all rows before landscaping cloth and mulch. This flat nylon type hose is terrific: easy to handle, even distribution over length, and should last many seasons. They come in 25', 50', and 75' lengths.

6th - Tomatoes showing mulch around base. The mulch really holds moisture in the ground and keeps it from baking into a hard crust. The tomato plants love this method and will soon be huge. We have lots of golf ball and tennis ball sized green tomatoes right now. I'm guessing about two weeks to full production.

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

That is a great looking garden. I think I will see if hubby will put out the tar paper next year. We can just roll it back up later.

Hey anybody can post their gardens, I like seeing them. All that good food is wonderful. Just think how a few seeds and a few plants can give us so much food.

Mine is about finished, that's for sure.

I canned 2 quarts of chili and 2 pints, fixed the rest for dinner tonight. Pretty good.

Next needs to be barbeque sauce, maybe tomorrow. Need to clean the chicken house also.

 

[ericrm2005]

I think I recall someone looking for peaches to can. Too bad you werent near PA. I have ten trees like this that are LOADED with peaches. This is the first year they are producing this well. I will actually have to thin them soon. I will probably be freezing and canning a lot.