Garden time...Oh boy!

[bloody_peasant]

Jim,

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Bird: I was thinking of just cutting and plowing everything under, but I've read so many horror stories about insects wintering-over in the soil from the previous season's plants that I think I'll make a compost pile and put all the vines into it. )</font>

That's what I'm doing as well. I pull up the plants and throw'em in my compost pile. Diseases can also become a problem by leaving the rotting vegetation on our plot. I also add grass clippings from the yard, kitchen scraps (not meat), and coffee grounds from work into the piles I got. At the end of the year I hope to work it all into my soil and let it sit there for a bit over winter. I think my piles have too much nitrogen vs. carbon composition, but they still seem to be breaking down fast.

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I think my piles have too much nitrogen vs. carbon composition, but they still seem to be breaking down fast. )</font>

I've seen many places carrying liquid or dry molasses. A little of that added to your compost and it should get things going. I've also been told that watermelon rinds are good sources of complex sugars and moisture. I've never done composting, but I'm going to try it and try to learn all I can about it. My thought is to dig out a small pit to create the compost pile so I can get into it and turn it with my FEL.

 

[honeycutt]

The black bugs with the red/orange spots sounds like lady bugs. Just not sure what they eat... plants or the insects.

 

[bloody_peasant]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ( I think my piles have too much nitrogen vs. carbon composition, but they still seem to be breaking down fast. )

I've seen many places carrying liquid or dry molasses. A little of that added to your compost and it should get things going. I've also been told that watermelon rinds are good sources of complex sugars and moisture. I've never done composting, but I'm going to try it and try to learn all I can about it. My thought is to dig out a small pit to create the compost pile so I can get into it and turn it with my FEL. )</font>

Hmm, never heard of the molasses being used before, interesting. I just made a pile right on the ground about 5' wide and about 3-4' high. I turn it maybe every couple of weeks at most with a pitch fork. I just started a second pile of fresh stuff as my old pile is turning all nice and black and smelling like Earth /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Also if I don't get rain for a week or so I'll add a little water to the pile.

There are some compost calculators on the web that help you determine your C:N ratio (like http://www.klickitatcounty.org/SolidWaste/fileshtml/organics/compostCalc.htm). They say a ratio of 25-30 is good but mine is at most in the high teens and is breaking down fast enough to be ready by end of fall. I probably should add some sawdust or wood shavings/chips to mine since I've got plenty from my woodworking shop.

 

[bloody_peasant]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The black bugs with the red/orange spots sounds like lady bugs. Just not sure what they eat... plants or the insects. )</font>

Ladybugs are our friends and eat all sorts of pests. Although they sometimes invade our homes and become little pests themselves /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[BB_TX]

<font color="blue"> The black bugs with the red/orange spots sounds like lady bugs.</font>
The bugs I had look exactly like the squash borers pictured in the link that Jinman provided above. When you zoom in on them, they are actually orange with some black. Mash them and a thick orange liquid comes out. Never had them before. But apparently they can really do in a squash plant. I do have some lady bugs too, but I don't worry about those.

 

[PineRidge]

If you have a pile of compost that you want to get cooking quick try dumping some Urea on top of the pile then wetting it down a bit.

 

[jinman]

Our garden is going crazy. I've learned a lot about corn and my soil the old fashioned way (trial and failure ) and what bugs will be more than willing to take their share. Right now we are still getting more than we can eat, put away, and give away. Our spaghetti squash looks like giant dinosaur eggs. It is just starting to mature and we have more "footballs" on the ground than the Dallas Cowboys on a Sunday afternoon.

Enough talk! I'll post a few pictures...just general stuff.

 

[jinman]

Conjoined squash. Surgical separation is scheduled for later this week. Neither are expected to survive past dinner.

 

[rox]

Funny you should tell that story. I was jsut wondering what black eyed peas look like?
Jinman if you are out and about in your garden would live to se a picture of some. Course I could go look them up on the internet but wouldn't be the same as seeing the pics of jinmans actual plants. Love to see a pic of a bunch of the peas picked and in a bowl. Might be kind of hard to see what they look like on the vine.

 

[jinman]

Funny you should tell that story. I was jsut wondering what black eyed peas look like?
Jinman if you are out and about in your garden would live to se a picture of some. Course I could go look them up on the internet but wouldn't be the same as seeing the pics of jinmans actual plants. Love to see a pic of a bunch of the peas picked and in a bowl. Might be kind of hard to see what they look like on the vine.

Rox, blackeye peas are also called cowpeas. They are common in the southern United States with the purple-hull and crowder pea. The blackeye gets it's name from the dark center on each pea. When cooked (simmered on low heat for 2 to 2-1/2 hours) they become brown. They are very tasty when cooked with chunks of ham or bacon and served with cornbread. Yum!

 

[ronjhall]

Your garden looks great.
Are you going to plant as much next year?

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Jim,
I would say your garden project was a huge success!!! Just hope your not turning into a vegetarian Nothin better than a good steak to go with all those vegetables Of course you would also need a cold beer to wash it down

 

[Egon]

Gardening!!! Our beans and peas are just sprouting

Lovely garden Jinman. You done well. Now for the picking, eatin,freezing, cannin and putting up a pay by honour roadside stand

 

[BB_TX]

Our garden is going crazy.
Jim, I can only imagine the time you are spending harvesting. I only have an 8 ft row of okra and I pick a large hand full every night. And everything else you have. Looks like lots of fun, but could easily turn into work.

 

[rox]

Jim,
Thanks for the photos. Interesting, they are not round. I hae only ever seen round peas, well I take that back, snow peas in thie husk but I guess inside they are round also. Your black eyed peas kind of remind me of lima beans. Do they taste like regualr old peas?

 

[Bird]

Do they taste like regualr old peas?

Nope, they're much better than any other peas I know of. Jim's pictures are really good; accurate colors, on my computer at least. You'll notice as they increase in maturity the color lightens. If you let them completely "ripen" and dry, they're white with the black "eye". Now I like all of them, but the flavor is definitely different if you cook dried ones just as you would dried beans. Personally, I prefer the "fresh" ones to dried ones. And in fact, I like to pick and include some that are still too small to shell out; just break them up like green beans; i.e., blackeyed peas with snaps. As with most foods, it's a matter of personal taste. I had one neighbor that I let pick from my patch who only wanted the biggest, most mature peas; no snaps. And the more mature ones are easier to shell since the shell opens easier and is thinner. And I have one brother who prefers the dried ones. Now the dried ones are good, but it's hard for me to imagine anyone liking them even better than the fresh ones.

 

[BB_TX]

Bird - I love black eyed peas any way. But I am with your brother. I like the dried ones best after they have been simmered a while to let the juice thicken. Mmmmmm!. And I am betting that you always have a bowl of black eyed peas every New Years day.

 

[bloody_peasant]

Bird - I love black eyed peas any way. But I am with your brother. I like the dried ones best after they have been simmered a while to let the juice thicken. Mmmmmm!. And I am betting that you always have a bowl of black eyed peas every New Years day.

Oh yeah, and just like soup beans, they keep getting better and better as left overs after several days in the fridge.

As a little history, southern peas are actually beans not peas, (if you are looking for some at your local grocer, look where they keep the beans, not in the produce) and they originated in India and N. Africa around 3,000 years ago. There are a huge variety of them other than the black eyed ones including ones that are all purple, all black, all creamy white, and so on. Like any other legume they have the nitrogen fixing bacteria nodules on their roots as well. Also unlike green peas (aka English peas, or whatever) they are a warm weather crop and like long warm summers, while green peas are a cool weather crop (grown in real early spring in the south).

Their flavor is hard to describe, but something more akin to a lentil than a pea for sure. They are great to add to any soup or to any soup bean pot, I also like'em in chili, mmmmmm

 

[jinman]

Oh yeah, and just like soup beans, they keep getting better and better as left overs after several days in the fridge.

... Like any other legume they have the nitrogen fixing bacteria nodules on their roots as well.

You are sure right about getting better day after day. And like beans, they will last for about three days in the fridge and then go bad in a hurry. I try to keep them from lasting more than three days.

Yep, peas are a legume crop just like peanuts. Only with peanuts, I think you are actually eating the legume.

BBTX, you and Ron Hall both mentioned the size of our garden. I'm sure we will change some things next year, but it will still be as big or bigger. I'm planning on planting some blackberry and grape vines along the perimeter fence. We also will be planting a lot less okra and spaghetti squash.

Bird, you like your blackeye peas the same way I do. I introduced my wife to "snaps" and now she loves them too. I trying to teach her how to look at the pea pod's color and leathery texture to know when they are ready to pick for shelling. Just when they start to turn light green to yellow is the perfect time. When I finish picking, I normally get a couple of handfuls of snaps and put them on top of the one's I just picked so I can find them easily. For me, dried peas are okay, but fresh ones that cook for a couple of hours with snaps are the best.

Egon, some things are very easy to do down here because of the weather. While you have to make sure your garden is planted just at the right time, we have seasons that allow us to have two crops and a winter crop if we want. I don't think I want to work that hard though.

Scotty, as much as I love veggies, I can still put away a big plate of barbecue ribs. I did that last weekend at a little place in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. I've never seen a plate of ribs like they served at Punkin's Barbecue and Catfish Restaurant.