Garden out and doing great

[Patriotic Stabilist]

We put our garden out in February. By the way I haven't posted since last year, so Hi all!

My husband is home this year so far and for the first time ever is helping me. He put out lime and fertilizer, I did but not enough I'm sure. It's looking just beautiful. We have been eating green onions, I've had 2 cuttings of spinach and the first of bibb lettuce. Tomatoes are blooming like crazy, we have 29 plants out, and some are big as golf balls. I hope to get a good crop and be able to can ripe tomatoes, green tomatoes, make juice, and spaghetti sauce, I sure hope so. The squash and zucchini are a few inches long, next week will have a lot. Bell Peppers are setting on as are banana peppers. Hope the poblano peppers make it

The potatoes are looking really good and vigorous, I hilled them the other day. Green beans are blooming, I expect to be canning them in a week or two. Beets and carrots are coming along, radishes are done. My cukes are looking pretty good too, though the first I put out didn't make it. I lost one of my egg plants, will get another. The cilantro, sage, and parslley are doing well. I have to dust as one of my dozen cabbage plants has pretty much been eaten!. The cabbages are going to be big if those huge leaves are indicators and I think the brussel sprouts will also.

Hubby went up to a rent house and in the back half acre planted sweet corn. Hope to can it too.

We are in Texas north of Houston and they are saying the worst drought here in 44 years so we are watering everything, mainly with soaker hoses but sometimes just regular sprinklers.

Anyway, that's our spring and things are a growin'. The picture was last week and we had a shower last night so its growed even more.

Also have out grape vines, year 3, hope they produce this year, 2 peach trees, and an orange tree that are loaded. My little apple tree and apricot are blooming this year so maybe something. I read the avocado has to be 5 to 7 years old, its 3 or 4 now. I have to net the fruit trees because of the squirrels.

 

[SandburRanch]

Your garden looks great. When the jars are empty of beets I'd like the beet pickle juice for my pickled eggs please.

 

[jinman]

Good to see you back and posting again Carolyn. Your garden looks great as ever and makes me jealous that your spring comes so early down there. We are actually cutting back some this year because our freezer is still full and we have lots of other projects to complete. We have onions up a foot tall and cucumbers planted. We will set out our tomatoes and peppers in the next couple of days. We had a slight frost this last week and to be safe, we are waiting to get the tomatoes planted. That's it for our garden this year. I'll have plenty of nice tomatoes and peppers for my salads. Heck, melons and corn are so cheap that it just doesn't pay to grow them. If I have time, I grow cantaloupe, but never again will I grow corn for coon feed.

 

[Western]

Jim I had a light frost last night, well on the windshield this morning.

Nice garden y'all have, looks like carrots and beans too!

I usually have something in by now. All I've got done is the 1st tilling.

 

[k0ua]

It snowed in St. Louis today, Snowed in Springfield, Mo, 2 days. ago, High today here in Branson, Mo was 39. Its about 37 now... Garden.. Um huh.. sure, must be nice Hi Carolyn, I was just feeling sorry for myself.:ashamed:
I am feeling better now!

James K0UA

 

[jeffreythree]

Nice plot you have there. We also have some 3 year old grapes I hope do something this year. Wish I had more room and just getting back into having a veggie garden after being on the road for 3 years; so trying square foot gardening to pack it in and keep it manageable. We had our first batch of broccoli 2 nights ago. I tried some snowpeas for the first time ever and they are doing really well so far. The lack of rain was killer and I had to water with the soaker hose more than I thought I would. Not as impressive as some I have seen here, but here is our little 4x8 raised bed a few weeks ago with another next to it for some melons(and the raised bed was serving double duty holding up the broken fence post until I fixed it):

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

That looks really nice also. I see on the weather how bad a lot of the country is. Here its the drought that is going to hurt folks. They are doing a lot with trying to make people go to using surface water, big issue around here so I thought we better get a new well drilled and that was one reason. Also our old one we have used off of and our tenant also. We can't find out info about it other then it can't be real deep as the pump is above ground, but its not been worked on the 20 years we have been here other then a new tank. So we got a 4 inch submersible pump one drilled. Now we are watering the garden and lawn when we need to. But you know what? Our neighbor next door has a small commercial nursery, the county came in and put a meter on his pump because he is a business and charging him so much for using water out of his own well. I think water down here will be the new gold.

I also got 24 chicks but am missing a few already. Tom saw hawks circling today, but they are in a high pen under trees and buttoned up at night so not sure how anything could get them. It's a concrete block building with cement floor and a good door. They are about 3 weeks old and feathered out good. Going to try and get a good count tomorrow. I have a small brooder as it has been cool at night, they can get in it or not. But I would like to get them raised and dressed out for the freezer. Hubby said I may have to keep them in the building more and let them out when I'm out there. I had a new fence built last year, 5 ft, and chicken wire buried so they can't dig out and things can't dig in.

I was reading where the Walmart CEO said you think food prices have risen now, wait till about June and they are really going to go up.

I got a flour mill in the winter and have about 30 pounds of wheat. I grind it and bake bread, its whole wheat. But also get Hodgsons, white wheat, none of this has additives of any kind. I have 15 pounds of flour in the freezer. I figure any food I buy now is just a hedge against the nonexistence inflation we are not supposed to have.

Broke my heart this year, just went on medicare, I'm now officially one of the old folks!

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

One good thing today, my orange tree blossoms had lots of honey bees on them. but I also saw a bee that was much bigger with a black bottom on them gathering pollen. Wonder if that is an African bee? Guess I better look at pictures of them.

I researched online. Some thought those were wild bees but one beekeeper said he had gotten some of them in a hive. I've seen the big carpenter bees, we have some of those but these aren't that big but looked to be double the size of the honey bee. Unless it was an Africanized one, I've read they are smaller then a regular honey bee.

There have been people really hurt down here being attacked by those. I'm so allergic to things I fear if a bunch stung me they might kill me. Need to get more benadryl to keep on hand.

 

[jeffreythree]

Look up pics of mason bees, maybe it was one of those. They don't sting either.

 

[Lloyd_E]

OK...

You guys are really starting to *iss me off. Photos of nice gardens and talk of warm temperatures -bah! You need get more snow like we are expecting tonight and tomorrow.

Gardens and warm temperatures bah... I say!

Lloyd

PS: my little rant. Looks great! Can't wait to have spring arrive. Started some seeds in the green house yesterday... here's hoping!