Garden tips

[jyoutz]

Bird, Doesn't sound like you have to contend with a short growing season where you live, but I do. I've been planting a melon called hybrid jade star -80 days (Gurney's seeds). Its sweet and smallish -the largest I've ever grown get to be about basketball size. Sounds kind of like your iceburg melons. But jeez I've never seen such expensive seeds -couple bucks for a dozen seeds. If they didn't produce so well I wouldn't buy em at that price.

 

[Bird]

Yep, our growing season is considerably different. I planted watermelons, pumpkin, and cantaloupe a little early this year; 3/13/00. I've got a few cantaloupe that are about "normal" size now, but none showing signs of ripening yet, and watermelons about the same size, 3 pumpkin much larger than a basketball and then some considerably smaller (after about 90 days).

Bird

 

[dfranksmith]

Kevin,

Great idea, and don't worry your description was perfectly clear. I think I'll give it a try. You don't have any trouble with wind blowing over the tunnels though?

 

[jyoutz]

Wow, My warm weather crop seedlings are just now germinating or have been for just a few weeks. Place not too far away got frost last night. Guess that's what you have to deal with when you live in the mountains.

 

[W5FL]

Yeah, I heard they got frost about 1000 miles North of here. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Kevin_mc]

The 6ml poly film is pretty stiff and heavy material plus you have one edge weighted down with the row of straw bales and long staples. Just make sure this side faces the North and the wind wont catch the loose edge.

I've used the 2ml material which comes with the hoop kits from some of the garden catalogs had trouble getting it tight enough to resist the wind.

Good luck.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Do not add green compost or fresh wood chips--especially fresh wood chips. I know from experience that you can kill plants this way. Let the chips rot for at least a couple of years.

 

[Bird]

Dan, I don't doubt that it's good advice to let them rot awhile, but I put truck loads of fresh green wood chips in my garden (besides my own, the crews clearing the power line right of way dumped me 3 truck loads) in the Fall, tilled it in, then started planting less than 6 months later. I guess being thoroughly tilled it helped them decompose faster, and maybe it depends on what kind of plants, but I don't know of anyone who has any more productive vegetable gardens than I've had.

Bird