How does your garden grow?

Larro Darro · May 21, 2016

/pine said:
The last several years I have been planting 'Table Queen' variety of acorn squash...This year I am trying something new (to me)...'Table King' bush type...
Is this something new is it a GMO ?...will we be seeing "bush" type melon etc. varieties now?

I swore off "bush" type beans because they are hard to pick but I'm interested to see how the acorn squash does...
Wondering how much difference there is in the flavor and texture ?...

The Table Queen is what I'm growing. I've never heard of the bush type. You will have to let us know how it does. I only grow one kind of pole bean, the Philippine variety. And I use the field corn for a trellis. It is a pain in the back getting so low to pick bush beans, but I'm too lazy to put in a trellis system for such a short time.

MossRoad · May 21, 2016

Larro Darro said:
....... I need to look into a drip system. Watering takes up lots of my garden time.

I've been using a lot of this company's stuff.

Mister Landscaper Drip Irrigation and Micro Spray

Its fairly inexpensive and lots of different heads and patterns to choose from. I pick it up at Lowe's. I add about $20-$30 worth of stuff to my system each year and expand it out.

Right now, I have 3 zones:
1. Flower beds in front of house (keeps the birdbath full, too).
2. Flower beds, flower boxes, planters and hanging baskets in back of house and around pool/deck area.
3. Garden way out in the back yard.
- For the garden, I used my tractor and a plowshare mounted to one of my quick attach plates and sub-soiled about 200' of black poly pipe from the house to the garden in about 10 minutes. I used several variations of impact sprinklers or oscillating sprinklers for a few years, but found that we have some un-curable tomato disease in our soil, where the water splashes on the dirt, the dirt splashes on the leaves, then the plant rots from the bottom up. Several folks recommended switching to drip at the plant base, so that's what I'm doing out there now. We'll see how it goes.

To run the whole thing, I've been using a timer and manifold just like this for about 4-5 years now.
Orbit Irrigation |
It runs 6-7 months on just two (2) AA batteries! Fantastic!

They change and modify the designs of these things every few years, it seems, so when I bought it, I purchased a couple extra valves so I wouldn't have to fight compatibility in the future. I have room to add one more zone if I ever need it, but for now, I just keep a hose hooked to the unused port on the manifold. The two outer manifolds have their own shutoffs, so I use the end one. That way I can use it for car washing, power washer, etc...

CalG · May 21, 2016

The spinach in this evenings stir fry was from the garden! Fresh is best!

/pine · May 21, 2016

Larro Darro said:
The Table Queen is what I'm growing. I've never heard of the bush type. You will have to let us know how it does. I only grow one kind of pole bean, the Philippine variety. And I use the field corn for a trellis. It is a pain in the back getting so low to pick bush beans, but I'm too lazy to put in a trellis system for such a short time.

I did a little research (after my previous response) and found that the "king" bush type acorn squash was an award winner in 1975 so they are not new...the squash tend to be more pointy on the blossom end...I read lots of good reviews especially from growers with limited space...

Besides being so hard to pick being so low bush beans also get really dirty in sandy soils etc...I've been setting up a bean fence in a spiral...I plant Snow and Snap peas early and then plant runner beans on top of the peas once they have grown...

Larro Darro · May 22, 2016

MossRoad said:
I've been using a lot of this company's stuff.

Mister Landscaper Drip Irrigation and Micro Spray

Its fairly inexpensive and lots of different heads and patterns to choose from. I pick it up at Lowe's. I add about $20-$30 worth of stuff to my system each year and expand it out.

Right now, I have 3 zones:
1. Flower beds in front of house (keeps the birdbath full, too).
2. Flower beds, flower boxes, planters and hanging baskets in back of house and around pool/deck area.
3. Garden way out in the back yard.
- For the garden, I used my tractor and a plowshare mounted to one of my quick attach plates and sub-soiled about 200' of black poly pipe from the house to the garden in about 10 minutes. I used several variations of impact sprinklers or oscillating sprinklers for a few years, but found that we have some un-curable tomato disease in our soil, where the water splashes on the dirt, the dirt splashes on the leaves, then the plant rots from the bottom up. Several folks recommended switching to drip at the plant base, so that's what I'm doing out there now. We'll see how it goes.

To run the whole thing, I've been using a timer and manifold just like this for about 4-5 years now.
Orbit Irrigation |
It runs 6-7 months on just two (2) AA batteries! Fantastic!

They change and modify the designs of these things every few years, it seems, so when I bought it, I purchased a couple extra valves so I wouldn't have to fight compatibility in the future. I have room to add one more zone if I ever need it, but for now, I just keep a hose hooked to the unused port on the manifold. The two outer manifolds have their own shutoffs, so I use the end one. That way I can use it for car washing, power washer, etc...

Thanks. My BIL is the Jobber at Lowe's {the guy who helps you work up an estimate for your job, and makes sure the prices beats HD}, and I get a pretty good deal when shopping there. He has been telling me I should get a drip system. I do need to look into it. So far I have been using sprinklers more this year. I haven't laid down any of my soaker hoses yet.

buckeyefarmer · May 22, 2016

Something wrong with Larro's garden. Not a weed in sight. Lol

Larro Darro · May 22, 2016

buckeyefarmer said:
Something wrong with Larro's garden. Not a weed in sight. Lol

That might be the work of the photo editor

You can tell which gets hand watered and which is sprinkled. It takes longer to hand water, but a lot less time hoeing that part of the garden. I did plow and hoe everything just before it started vining. My hope is that everything is close enough together it will cover the ground, making it harder for the weeds to find a spot. Of course it will also be harder for me to find a spot to step when I'm trying to pick.

lakngulf · May 22, 2016

Things in the garden are looking good. I love the view from the water when the Hydrangea are in full bloom!

We picked our first tomato today, to let it finish ripening inside, and these are not far behind. Looks like an abundant crop this year on the pier.

And the fruits of the labor = first rattlesnake beans and yellow squash picked today and enjoyed for dinner tonight with fried chicken. Love being a Southerner!

Larro Darro · May 23, 2016

lakngulf said:
Things in the garden are looking good. I love the view from the water when the Hydrangea are in full bloom!

We picked our first tomato today, to let it finish ripening inside, and these are not far behind. Looks like an abundant crop this year on the pier.

And the fruits of the labor = first rattlesnake beans and yellow squash picked today and enjoyed for dinner tonight with fried chicken. Love being a Southerner!

I was a day behind on my first tomato. It will finish getting ripe inside. Inside my belly that is. It was very good. Also found the first tomato worm. I sprayed the whole garden, 3 gallons worth.

MossRoad · May 23, 2016

Up here, folks are happy if they get a ripe tomato by the middle of July! :laughing: For that matter, a few years ago, the brilliant folks that run the 4H fair moved the fair from the 2nd week of August to the first week of July.... That cut the vegetable growing contests down to radishes and spinach!

dragoneggs · May 24, 2016

MossRoad said:
Up here, folks are happy if they get a ripe tomato by the middle of July! :laughing: For that matter, a few years ago, the brilliant folks that run the 4H fair moved the fair from the 2nd week of August to the first week of July.... That cut the vegetable growing contests down to radishes and spinach!

yeah same here on the tomatoes! love the Hydrangeas over the water, Larro!

Larro Darro · May 24, 2016

dragoneggs said:
love the Hydrangeas over the water, Larro!

That is lakngulf's place. They do look nice.

dragoneggs · May 25, 2016

Larro Darro said:
That is lakngulf's place. They do look nice.

Oops! Apologies.

DFB · May 25, 2016

Well got my home garden in for 2016. Took the chance a full week before Memorial Day which has been the rule of thumb here for like forever. Some even wait until after the first week of June because it has still been known to normally frost in the Green Mountains up until then, but the forecast only shows warm nights and days for the next 3 weeks and my outdoor sales market stated on 5/21

So as of right now it's 18 green bell peppers, 12 Cubanelle peppers, 21 of the Harris Classic eggplant, 21 hot peppers...Hungarian wax hot cherry and Jalepeno, 33 tomatoes...12 Roma, 18 Celebrity, 2 Sweet 100's and a Sungold Cherry. And they are all on black plastic this year. I put that down Monday. Summer squash and slicing cukes are in my HF greenhouse still. Straight 8 cukes, plus romanesco, cousa, green zuke and yellow squash.

I ran a seed test this year on all my seeds. I have hundreds and hundreds old seeds going back 10 years most of mine were commercial coated and foil packed from my market days plus my boss gave the whole leftover seed rack from the business a couple seasons ago. So I started a small sample of each to see if there is any germination at all. So far the 2 and 3 year old stuff has already sprouted. I give the other another week or so to find out if its time to toss them all or what.

300 glads went in last week and today I have a dozen brussel sprots to drop in today. I am thinking of putting a tomato cage wrapped with nylon screen over them until they get bigger. I have lost every one I have planted for the past two season to some varmit (to a woodchuck I believe though it could be those cottontails my jerk neighbor released that he and co worker trapped in another town and state and brought out here. I really dont think its deer. The GF's new dog ran off a woodchuck weekend before last and just about caught it too (dang too bad it didn't!

)

Have the most of my the kitchen herbs already but have to repot to larger containers still, curry marjoram, greek and italian oregano, rosemary, big leaf basil, thai basil, lemon verbena, flat leaf parsley. I also have Pascal celery to put in 12 inch planter.

Larro Darro · May 25, 2016

DFB said:
Well got my home garden in for 2016. Took the chance a full week before Memorial Day which has been the rule of thumb here for like forever. Some even wait until after the first week of June because it has still been known to normally frost in the Green Mountains up until then, but the forecast only shows warm nights and days for the next 3 weeks and my outdoor sales market stated on 5/21

So as of right now it's 18 green bell peppers, 12 Cubanelle peppers, 21 of the Harris Classic eggplant, 21 hot peppers...Hungarian wax hot cherry and Jalepeno, 33 tomatoes...12 Roma, 18 Celebrity, 2 Sweet 100's and a Sungold Cherry. And they are all on black plastic this year. I put that down Monday. Summer squash and slicing cukes are in my HF greenhouse still. Straight 8 cukes, plus romanesco, cousa, green zuke and yellow squash.

I ran a seed test this year on all my seeds. I have hundreds and hundreds old seeds going back 10 years most of mine were commercial coated and foil packed from my market days plus my boss gave the whole leftover seed rack from the business a couple seasons ago. So I started a small sample of each to see if there is any germination at all. So far the 2 and 3 year old stuff has already sprouted. I give the other another week or so to find out if its time to toss them all or what.

300 glads went in last week and today I have a dozen brussel sprots to drop in today. I am thinking of putting a tomato cage wrapped with nylon screen over them until they get bigger. I have lost every one I have planted for the past two season to some varmit (to a woodchuck I believe though it could be those cottontails my jerk neighbor released that he and co worker trapped in another town and state and brought out here. I really dont think its deer. The GF's new dog ran off a woodchuck weekend before last and just about caught it too (dang too bad it didn't! )

Have the most of my the kitchen herbs already but have to repot to larger containers still, curry marjoram, greek and italian oregano, rosemary, big leaf basil, thai basil, lemon verbena, flat leaf parsley. I also have Pascal celery to put in 12 inch planter.

View attachment 469826 View attachment 469828 View attachment 469827

Quite the setup you have there. Looks like it's going to be a good season for you. We are halfway planning on putting in a greenhouse and garden shed this year. Last year when we were going to do it, our contractor forgot us for so long, I cobbled one together with 2 X 4's and plastic. I have a bunch of glass, and want to use it though.

I mixed up 30 gallons of mushroom compost, 5 of peat moss and 5 of Jungle Growth potting soil. To that I added 4 cups 6-6-6, 4 cups lime and 1 1/2 cups Epson Salts. I laid down the 40 gallons on eight rows of the little sweet corn. I have 3 rows to go, but will have to do another kiddie pool of the mix.

lakngulf · May 25, 2016

DFB said:
Well got my home garden in for 2016. Took the chance a full week before Memorial Day which has been the rule of thumb here for like forever. Some even wait until after the first week of June because it has still been known to normally frost in the Green Mountains up until then, but the forecast only shows warm nights and days for the next 3 weeks and my outdoor sales market stated on 5/21

So as of right now it's 18 green bell peppers, 12 Cubanelle peppers, 21 of the Harris Classic eggplant, 21 hot peppers...Hungarian wax hot cherry and Jalepeno, 33 tomatoes...12 Roma, 18 Celebrity, 2 Sweet 100's and a Sungold Cherry. And they are all on black plastic this year. I put that down Monday. Summer squash and slicing cukes are in my HF greenhouse still. Straight 8 cukes, plus romanesco, cousa, green zuke and yellow squash.

I ran a seed test this year on all my seeds. I have hundreds and hundreds old seeds going back 10 years most of mine were commercial coated and foil packed from my market days plus my boss gave the whole leftover seed rack from the business a couple seasons ago. So I started a small sample of each to see if there is any germination at all. So far the 2 and 3 year old stuff has already sprouted. I give the other another week or so to find out if its time to toss them all or what.

300 glads went in last week and today I have a dozen brussel sprots to drop in today. I am thinking of putting a tomato cage wrapped with nylon screen over them until they get bigger. I have lost every one I have planted for the past two season to some varmit (to a woodchuck I believe though it could be those cottontails my jerk neighbor released that he and co worker trapped in another town and state and brought out here. I really dont think its deer. The GF's new dog ran off a woodchuck weekend before last and just about caught it too (dang too bad it didn't! )

Have the most of my the kitchen herbs already but have to repot to larger containers still, curry marjoram, greek and italian oregano, rosemary, big leaf basil, thai basil, lemon verbena, flat leaf parsley. I also have Pascal celery to put in 12 inch planter.

View attachment 469826 View attachment 469828 View attachment 469827

WOW...nice setup

robbyr · May 26, 2016

I have three raised beds each four feet wide and 30' long built last season. Previously always tilled a small garden of six or seven rows and watered by setting a lawn sprinkler on cinder blocks in center of garden. Decided to put soaker hoses in the raised beds. Bought a box from Home Depot that had 100' of hose and fittings. Ran a length of pvc along end of beds and teed up and put hose bib and valves on. So far had good rain and only had to water couple times.

Larro Darro · May 26, 2016

robbyr said:
I have three raised beds each four feet wide and 30' long built last season. Previously always tilled a small garden of six or seven rows and watered by setting a lawn sprinkler on cinder blocks in center of garden. Decided to put soaker hoses in the raised beds. Bought a box from Home Depot that had 100' of hose and fittings. Ran a length of pvc along end of beds and teed up and put hose bib and valves on. So far had good rain and only had to water couple times.View attachment 469913 View attachment 469914

Nice setup. The soaker hoses saves water. There is also less grass and weeds than using a sprinkler. I laid out my first soakers of the season yesterday {or was it Tuesday?} in the new peas.

Larro Darro · May 28, 2016

I got more soaker hoses laid yesterday. I scooped out the dirt and buried them about 3" deep beside the rows of young peas and corn. Today I was planning on planting Tendersweet {orange meated} and Crimson Sweet melons, banana cantaloupes and Armenian cucumbers. I got to thinking it would be easier to bury the hose before I planted. So I used a hoe to dig a little trench, then buried the hose. I planted about 6" to the side of the hose. {note to self: Going east to west, starting at the sweet corn, I planted one row each of banana cantaloupe, Crimson Sweet, Tendersweet and Armenian cucumbers}

We had peas, cucumbers, peppers and a tomato for lunch today, all fresh out of the garden. It was the first time that it really felt like summer.