How does your garden grow?

Larro Darro · May 15, 2014

CalG said:
The watermelon radishes are up! Never tried a spring planting before, but I like 'em so much. Butter bread sandwich with a sprinkle of salt, or on a slab of Vermont Cheddar cheese.

Oh! I do hope the weather stays cool...... ;-)

It's been too hot for them here for a couple of months. Back when I truck farmed, there was a large Asian community in Panama City Florida. They were always well represented at the Bay County Farmer's Market, where we sold our produce. I saw lots of produce that was native to that part of the world. I got a kick out of the old Asian women choosing huge cucumbers that we would have fed to the hogs.

Larro

Larro Darro · May 16, 2014

My newest farm implement:

It's the most modern and up to date hundred year old technology money can buy

It came with three attachments, and I have a few more if I need them. I wanted to work the gourds with it this morning, but I ran out of time before I got to it. The few test rounds I did in the garden were easier on the back than the bike plow.

Larro

sseelhoff · May 16, 2014

Ate my first garden grown tomato last night. Good stuff. Lettuce is about done (too hot). Potatoes are in, and onions are about ready, too.

whynot162 · May 16, 2014

man, I am so.... jealous. We are just getting started here, and will not see much from the garden for a few months still. Maybe I need to move... Your gardens all look great! wish mine would look as good.
But hey, the lettuce looks good, if I can keep the slugs out of it, and keep it from being waterlogged!

Western · May 16, 2014

Tim, I remember those now that I saw the photo. duh , my grandparents had a couple all steel ones. Granny couldn't use it since she was small, like 4'3":laughing: But she was good at showing us G kids what needed done. PITA in the Ozark mountains (rocks)

TomSeller · May 16, 2014

whynot162 said:
man, I am so.... jealous. We are just getting started here, and will not see much from the garden for a few months still. Maybe I need to move... Your gardens all look great! wish mine would look as good.
But hey, the lettuce looks good, if I can keep the slugs out of it, and keep it from being waterlogged!

I am in Arizona right now. 102 degrees. Too hot for mid May for me, but I bet anyone here would have great tomatoes already.

Larro Darro · May 16, 2014

Western said:
Tim, I remember those now that I saw the photo. duh , my grandparents had a couple all steel ones. Granny couldn't use it since she was small, like 4'3":laughing: But she was good at showing us G kids what needed done. PITA in the Ozark mountains (rocks)

With my sand it is pretty easy to push. A fellow at the hardware store where I bought the plow was telling me about a two wheeled one his grandfather had made. He said he was able to use until he was in his late 80's. I saw one online, and would like to try building one. I think it would offer more control and more options as far as plow placement. Now I love the hard work of pushing it because of the calorie burn, but as I get older, ease of use will become more important.

Larro

TomSeller · May 16, 2014

Larro Darro said:
My newest farm implement:

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/files/rural-living/375457-how-does-your-garden-grow-002-jpg"/>

It's the most modern and up to date hundred year old technology money can buy It came with three attachments, and I have a few more if I need them. I wanted to work the gourds with it this morning, but I ran out of time before I got to it. The few test rounds I did in the garden were easier on the back than the bike plow.

Larro

Looks good, I should get one. Did this replace the bike plow altogether?

Larro Darro · May 17, 2014

TomSeller said:
Looks good, I should get one. Did this replace the bike plow altogether?

Not if I'm needing a different plow and don't want to take the time to change it on the new plow. You have to loosen two bolts and take one other one completely off to change implements on the new one, but only one bolt on the bike plow.

Larro

Larro Darro · May 20, 2014

I saw my first few squash this morning. I planned on taking a picture, but I ran out of time. I spent all morning doing that kind of gardening you will never get a bite out of. I enlarged Margie's flowerbeds, and planted some purple flower seed she had brought home. She said she wanted flowers by her birthday {in less than 3 weeks}. She may have plants, but not any blooms. In fact there are lots of volunteers coming up from last year's flowers. It makes it tougher working around them.

Larro

Western · May 20, 2014

Tim, you may want to keep the local florist on "speed dial":laughing: CYA ya know!!

I starting picking squash and zucs Sunday. I planted 1 package of crookneck and one of zuc's and I have only 4 zuc plants?? seed mix up at the plant:confused3: Should have squash coming out my.....

Jstpssng · May 20, 2014

I'm glad to read about what nice crops some of you are getting... as I try to digest the can of creamed corn which I just had for supper.

I just checked on my garden to see what was up and determine how many life preservers I should buy... I wish that I could share our abundance of rain with those of you who really need it.

Larro Darro · May 20, 2014

Western said:
Tim, you may want to keep the local florist on "speed dial":laughing: CYA ya know!!

I starting picking squash and zucs Sunday. I planted 1 package of crookneck and one of zuc's and I have only 4 zuc plants?? seed mix up at the plant:confused3: Should have squash coming out my.....

Dennis, I mixed my crooked neck and zucs seeds and planted them together, since I didn't have that many anyway. I haven't taken the time to see if I can tell how many of each I have. As soon as they all put on fruit I'll know.

On the flower front, I have bought Margie fresh flowers on very few occasions. The last two times I can remember was when she first got her current job, and then when she retained it four years later. That was ten and six years ago. We both are pretty frugal about things like that.

Larro

Larro Darro · May 20, 2014

Jstpssng said:
I'm glad to read about what nice crops some of you are getting... as I try to digest the can of creamed corn which I just had for supper.
I just checked on my garden to see what was up and determine how many life preservers I should buy... I wish that I could share our abundance of rain with those of you who really need it.

We had our share about three or four weeks ago. It rained 8" in one day, most of it coming during the night. And of course I had just put most of my tomato sprouts outside to catch a few rays.

Larro

/pine · May 20, 2014

On the flower front

My advice is don't bother with mixed flower bags you get at the box stores and wally world...

buy seeds...from a reputable source...I recommend Cosmos and Zinnias...
look for good color mixes...some of the colors of the Zinnias will take you back to the first time (maybe on Christmas morning) to opened a brand new deluxe box of crayolas...the colors are so vivid, so brilliant they are surreal...maybe even psychedelic in the right light...

Both Cosmos and Zinnias will bloom all summer and both attract butterflies...

I have had very good luck with all the seeds I've gotten from "eden brothers" they are easy to find with a quick search...

Tororider · May 20, 2014

Larro,
You have me jealous. I haven't been able to find time for a garden yet this year.

Jstpssng · May 20, 2014

/pine said:
My advice is don't bother with mixed flower bags you get at the box stores and wally world...

buy seeds...from a reputable source...I recommend Cosmos and Zinnias...
look for good color mixes...some of the colors of the Zinnias will take you back to the first time (maybe on Christmas morning) to opened a brand new deluxe box of crayolas...the colors are so vivid, so brilliant they are surreal...maybe even psychedelic in the right light...

Both Cosmos and Zinnias will bloom all summer and both attract butterflies...

I have had very good luck with all the seeds I've gotten from "eden brothers" they are easy to find with a quick search...

GREAT points... then again I'm rather biased.

For generations my family ran a greenhouse/flower shop... people from miles around came to buy plants and arrangements. We had repeat generations of customers... Mother's Day to Memorial weekend was our busiest time. There also is a large cemetery across the road where many of our flowering plants ended up... a big seller was our geraniums.

Today you couldn't grow a geranium in that cemetery, because somebody brought in a plant with an invasive beetle which has since spread through the entire 30+ acre burial ground. Had my parent's not chosen to close their business, this insect would have done it for them.

Before you transfer any plant material- especially firewood- any distance, think about what you are doing. Is there any chance you might have unwanted hitchhikers?

OOPS, sorry. Guess I tripped onto my soapbox again. I'm done... Time to go dig another invasive from my own back yard... the best way to control this invertebrae is to thread one onto a hook and feed it to a fat trout.

Larro Darro · May 20, 2014

/pine said:
My advice is don't bother with mixed flower bags you get at the box stores and wally world...

buy seeds...from a reputable source...I recommend Cosmos and Zinnias...
look for good color mixes...some of the colors of the Zinnias will take you back to the first time (maybe on Christmas morning) to opened a brand new deluxe box of crayolas...the colors are so vivid, so brilliant they are surreal...maybe even psychedelic in the right light...

Both Cosmos and Zinnias will bloom all summer and both attract butterflies...

I have had very good luck with all the seeds I've gotten from "eden brothers" they are easy to find with a quick search...

We did buy a few packs at Wally World, which I planted in trays. Most of them are ready to transplant. But what I planted today was from a seed catalog. I can't find the shipping package, {and Margie is out of town} so I don't know which one it was. The purple flowers {silky Aster and Fleabane Daisy} have Myseed.co on the packets. The African Daisy is from Outsidepride.com. The dryland wildflower mix is from Myseedneeds.com. Mamma gave us several seed catalogs about the time we were buying seeds at Wally World, and Margie looked through them, and maybe looked online, searching for some purple daisies. That is her favorite flower, and it isn't easy to find. One of our hollow log planters is pretty full of volunteers, so I'm not even going to put any seed in it, maybe just transplant a few from the trays. I planted seed in the other log today.

Larro

Larro Darro · May 20, 2014

Tororider said:
Larro,
You have me jealous. I haven't been able to find time for a garden yet this year.

It is over twice as big as last year, so it is taking all my spare time. Most years we just do pepper and tomato plants. I went a little crazy this time.

I know how much you like to reuse things. Take a look at my bike plow thread. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/310678-bicycle-garden-push-plow.html
I ended up buying a hand plow anyway, but the homemade one will get the job done on the cheap.

Larro