Garden time...Oh boy!

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Re: chicken wire

Decided to use 2'-high poultry netting around each bed. The kicker is that the fencing has to be removable to work on the plants. Solution: use 1/2" PVC pipe and fittings as a frame for the wire and 3/8" rebar stakes to hold the sections in place. Don't have deer around here, but there are a few rabbits and some gophers (soon to be eradicated). Hope 2 feet is high enough, but can always add more sections to raise the fence.
)</font>

That's a very workable setup, Flusher. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I just remembered with your post that I have about 300' of 3' high picket fence in 8' sections that I removed a few years ago and stacked behind my barn. It was painted white and in almost new condition. If I staple the chicken wire onto that, all I have to do is put 1x4 cedar stakes in the ground every 8' and snug up the sections. Hmm... now you have me thinking. It would be easy to install and take down at the end of the season. I could easily stack the sections for the winter and break them out next spring. Very reusable and very functional. I like it! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[scott_vt]

Hi Ray,
At that height the deer up here wouldnt even need to jump /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

scotty

ps 6ft starting heighth and go up from there /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jinman]

Garden photos...two weeks after planting. Things are really coming along fast. This last weekend I thinned everything and my wife replanted some beans. Why the beans we planted didn't come up in a full stand is a mystery. It may have been bad seed. We'll see... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[jinman]

Tomato, squash, canteloupe, onion, pepper area...

 

[jinman]

Corn and peas...

The peas look a little white because I had just dusted them. I think we already have grasshoppers munching on leaves. The dust seems to have stopped whatever was snacking on my little pea plants.

That's it for this week. I'm hoping to show weekly progress (or failure as the case may be). /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[BB_TX]

Looking great Jim. If you only have an average harvest, you are going to have a lot of produce to put up.
We started eating green onions a couple weeks ago. Noticed some tiny tomatoes already showing up on my vines. And the green beans are about ready to bloom. Can't wait to start picking. So much better than store bought. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[scott_vt]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( .
We started eating green onions a couple weeks ago. Noticed some tiny tomatoes already showing up on my vines. And the green beans are about ready to bloom. )</font>

Mornin Bill,
Thats interesting Bill we havent even put ours in yet /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Jim, looks real good, Im jealous /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

scotty

 

[billbill1]

Jim, have you been getting of the rain? We've got a couple of inches the past 2 days. Just got everything planted on Saturday and it started raining Sunday night-perfect timing for once!!

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Jim, have you been getting of the rain? We've got a couple of inches the past 2 days. Just got everything planted on Saturday and it started raining Sunday night-perfect timing for once!! )</font>

Bill, we got 6/10 of an inch last week. We didn't have to water anything this last weekend. So far, most of our water has come through a hose. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

We were supposed to get some rain out of that same cell/front that went thru Kansas and Oklahoma last night...NOT! Next chance is Friday. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Break out the hoses /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[jinman]

Well, the rains finally came and watered my garden very well. In my pond thread, I showed pictures of the effects of all that rain, but for my garden, it has been a welcome 3" rain soaking followed by several days of 1/2" gentle showers. While some areas have had storms with hail, we have had none of that. In general, the garden is too wet to plow, but I've been able to get in and dust for bugs and weed some as needed. I'm hoping to be able to get in there this week and loosen the top of the soil a little by cutting that crust that forms when wet soil dries. When I walk over the garden, I can tell that the soil is still very soft and spongy down deep.

So no plowing yet, but there are plenty of other things to do like finish my fences. Here are a few pictures to show how the garden looks at week four. My tomatoes and zucchini are growing like weeds. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jinman]

Okra, peas, and corn...

 

[jinman]

Corn rows...
We planted about 4 varieties of corn and all the plants are growing at different rates. The two rows on the left are non-hybrid yellow dent corn. The others are all various hybrid varieties.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Let's see, you're supplying DFW airport their veggies right?

That's a lot of garden, a lot of garden.

Looks good.

 

[PineRidge]

Looking really good Jim! Keep the pictures coming.

 

[Bird]

That really is a fine looking garden, and you should have more than you can give away. Incidentally, I wonder whether zucchini is the fastest growing plant in existence. Once they start to produce, you have to pick it at least every other day or they grow to huge sizes.

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( That really is a fine looking garden, and you should have more than you can give away. Incidentally, I wonder whether zucchini is the fastest growing plant in existence. Once they start to produce, you have to pick it at least every other day or they grow to huge sizes. )</font>

As usual, I may have overdone it a bit. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif My brother asked me how many zucchini plants I had. When I told him four, he said that was about three too many. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Considering that we have lots of yellow squash and spaghetti squash, I see a big freezer in my future. If the corn does well, I'll have ears coming out my ears too. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I pulled my first radish last night. It was about the size of my thumb and delicious. Yum! Four weeks from seed... pretty fast.

Thanks for all the compliments. I'll post pictures every week or two so I can show the progress: good, bad, or ugly. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

Jim, I wondered how many plants are needed to properly pollinate and produce, and I don't know. I usually had about 4 "hills" of zucchini myself; 2 or 3 plants per hill; figured I'd rather have too much than too little. Then I'd plant about twice that many yellow squash. We like them mixed and steamed with butter, salt, & pepper, and like the yellow ones battered and fried. And we always had more than we could use and/or give away. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[BB_TX]

<font color="blue"> he said that was about three too many </font>
He ain't far off. I had 4 squash plants last year. Great for about 3 weeks. Then I couldn't give it away fast enough. I was picking them every day. My wife would just groan when I brought them in. And if I had also had zuchinni, /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
My squash plants already have a lot of small fruit on all plants. Odd thing is that they started getting lots of female blooms and fruit about 2 wks ago, but did not start getting male blooms to pollinate them until a day or two ago. The early fruit just rotted away. Hopefully they will start to produce now.

 

[billbill1]

I get squash bugs every year that kill the plants after about a month of growth. They swarm the plant and will kill overnight. Sevin dust will keep them under control if you get it on in time. The wife scoops the middle out of the zuccinni and mixes cream cheese, sausage, cheddar cheese, and onion and fills the cavity and bakes in the oven, really good. She calls them pizza boats. We try not to let them get over 7-8" long before we pick them.

 

[BB_TX]

<font color="blue"> I get squash bugs every year that kill the plants </font>
For years I did also to the point I quit them. Then last year I decided to try again. I had always planted crook neck from packaged seed from a box store. Last year I went to the farm store and got straight neck. Also I had read that certain plants help repel bugs naturally. So I planted the straight neck. Nearby I planted some marigolds. I saw only a few squash bugs and those never seemed to have harmed the plants at all. Also never saw any tomato hornworms on the tomatoes. Don't know whether it the different variety or if the marigolds really worked. This year I planted more marigolds along with various herbs such as mint, basil, parsley, etc that are also supposed to repel bugs.