How does your garden grow?

[2ndhalf]

I always use my tractor!

Nice! I have pile envy. That looks great!

I need to add a couple of more feet to mine to help with the heat. Have some more leaves to fall and stuff to add to it.

It is about 70% chopped up leaves, 15% grass and vegatation from my deer plot, 15% Pete Moss and all mixed with a few pounds of Blood meal to help with the breakdown.

 

[2ndhalf]

Of course... I go out of may way to use my tractor. Even if I can lift the garage/recycle cans into the bed of my pickup, I use the bucket. Rationale... might tweak my back. :thumbsup:

Yes, I am starting to get this way too. I was moving stuff from the garage to the barn today to make room for my car this winter and was using my tractor for that. I would have normally just trudged everthing back by hand or wheel barrel. My wheel barrel is burried in the back of the barn I should probably just get rid of it

 

[DFB]

Nice! I have pile envy. That looks great!

I need to add a couple of more feet to mine to help with the heat. Have some more leaves to fall and stuff to add to it.

It is about 70% chopped up leaves, 15% grass and vegatation from my deer plot, 15% Pete Moss and all mixed with a few pounds of Blood meal to help with the breakdown.

That pile started with dump load of summertime power line grindings so there was a lot of green leaf matter mixed in with both soft and hardwood chips. But that is were the volume came from. Over time that original pile probably reduced a good 50% as it broke down and I added whatever organic garden matter I scavenged around my yard and garden plus other stuff like a few old moldy hay bales and some horse manure I managed to get and then a lot of peat and plants. Pots I gleaned from a greenhouse operation, all the leftover stuff was only going to be thrown into a dumpster and sent to the landfill. A bit of work to dump out all the plant pots and plastic 6 packs but not too bad overall.


Good luck with the composting...the finished product is vastly rewarding!

 

[lakngulf]

Good luck with the composting...the finished product is vastly rewarding!

I started a compost pile at home by digging a huge hole in the side of a bank. I needed some fill dirt for some other places at home and that was a good spot to retrieve it. So I decided it would make a decent compost spot. Have added anything from kitchen that will do, and periodically add some leaves and soil. It is also easy to turn with the tractor. That was a criteria.

It is still young so no by-product yet. My current method to obtain good compost is to retrieve from the farm. In spots where the cows were fed hay the previous winter I push the dirt, grass, hay and manure into a big pile. I let it sit for a couple of years and then bring load to my house to replenish garden soil. I try to keep a couple piles going at the farm at all times.

 

[lakngulf]

Last two nights temps have dipped into the 20s and the tomato vines are toast. A good season and maybe these will carry us to Christmas. Last year, from the seed I started the very first sprout came on December 27

 

[DFB]

Last two nights temps have dipped into the 20s and the tomato vines are toast. A good season and maybe these will carry us to Christmas. Last year, from the seed I started the very first sprout came on December 27

They look great

Very nice indeed! :thumbsup:



We have a few tomatoes left down at work for sale in the store. Boxes full were harvested green some weeks back and have been ripening in the warm +70F degree donut shop...yup still making those donuts

Things got frozen up real good around here today. Was about +13F overnight and is only +25F now. Harvested brussel sprouts from my garden again yesterday and there still a few plants left out there plus cut celery, parsley, rosemary, sage, oregano, tarragon, thyme, lemon verbena from my little HF greenhouse too! That stuff probably will be gone after this freeze though.

There are plenty of rutabagas out in the field still where I work. Ground hadn't been frozen much before this weekend but probably be hard to dig some now

I have made big batches of sauce twice already from the garden tomatoes I put in the freezer a couple of months back and made three chocolate zucchini breads yesterday from frozen shredded zucchini that I put up back then too.

Jarred applesauce too from this years apples (and ate all of it already lol) but have some more apples to process up still.


Still have a lot of pickled hot peppers to get me thru the winter but darn the pickles are almost gone already.

 

[lakngulf]

Wow, DFB, you have been busy, and get a lot of use from your produce. Good job

 

[DFB]

Wow, DFB, you have been busy, and get a lot of use from your produce. Good job

Thks

Yes has been a busy season

Missing the garden already!

But hey maybe only 150 or so days to go

 

[lakngulf]

Time to get 2017 off to a good start. These are Cherokee Purple I planted January 12. Seed is from 2015 batch that I saved.

 

[DFB]

Time to get 2017 off to a good start. These are Cherokee Purple I planted January 12. Seed is from 2015 batch that I saved.

Looking good! :thumbsup:

Cherokee Purple is now the new favorite of my new librarian friend. She grew some last summer for the first time and now can't stop talking about how much she likes them.

Be a while still to even start seeds here, end of March maybe.

Anyhow we are schedule a seed saver get together before then and make some plans.


We grew this hybrid tomato in one of tomato greenhouses at work last season and I found it one of the best tomatoes I have ever had.

Tomatoberry grows in clusters so easy to pick. Burpee and some others also have it.

 

[TomSeller]

Holy cow, is it that time of year already? Now that I think of it, the days are getting longer.

 

[lakngulf]

Looking good! :thumbsup:

Cherokee Purple is now the new favorite of my new librarian friend. She grew some last summer for the first time and now can't stop talking about how much she likes them.

Be a while still to even start seeds here, end of March maybe.

Anyhow we are schedule a seed saver get together before then and make some plans.


We grew this hybrid tomato in one of tomato greenhouses at work last season and I found it one of the best tomatoes I have ever had.

Tomatoberry grows in clusters so easy to pick. Burpee and some others also have it.

Thanks for the link for tomatoberry. Looks good, but some expensive seed!

Cherokee Purple and Gary O'Sena were the favorite tomatoes of all my friends and family last year. They produce very uniform fruit with easily peeled skin and are great on sandwiches. This year I plan to go heavy with Cherokee Purple, Gary O'Sena, Fantastic and Better Boy.

 

[aarolar]

I'm behind I haven't even ordered seeds yet...

 

[CADplans]

Thanks for the link for tomatoberry. Looks good, but some expensive seed!

A local greenhouse sells me beautiful started plants for just about what they are charging for seeds.,,, :confused2:

 

[DFB]

Thanks for the link for tomatoberry. Looks good, but some expensive seed!

Cherokee Purple and Gary O'Sena were the favorite tomatoes of all my friends and family last year. They produce very uniform fruit with easily peeled skin and are great on sandwiches. This year I plan to go heavy with Cherokee Purple, Gary O'Sena, Fantastic and Better Boy.

Have never heard mention of the Gary OSena around here but we do all of the other ones you mentioned along with a most all the common home gardener type tomatoes people look for and maybe just 10 types of heirloom varieties for customers. I should make a list sometime of all the different ones we sell.


BTW I just used the Johnnys link for the picture reference and now looked at Burpee and they go for the same price and is only 10 seeds in pkt :shocked:


Finally used up my last batch of 2016 garden tomatoes from the freezer this week and made up 7 more quarts of sauce. Every year I say have to put up more and still it goes fast. Still have a few more jars of pickles and hot peppers left though. Figure about 90 days now until planting time again.


Glad you kicked this thread back up!

 

[Larro Darro]

Time to get 2017 off to a good start. These are Cherokee Purple I planted January 12. Seed is from 2015 batch that I saved.

Those are looking good. I broke down my inside light setup, so I haven't got started yet. We are talking about a greenhouse again. I need to get going on that.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Went to Tractor Supply a couple days ago and lo and behold! They had onion plants and tomato plants already. Yeah! Spring is here! I will be planting onions in the very near future; next week probably!

 

[Gunny]

I just finished doing a little clean up in my greenhouse, trying to get ready for this coming summer. Around here, we start early stuff in mid to late February, so I'll start my early tomatoes in the house right around February 15th, then move them to the greenhouse when the temps start coming up.
Got all my seeds ready, starter trays ready, grow lights ready, just sitting here champing at the bit to get started!

 

[TomSeller]

Went to Tractor Supply a couple days ago and lo and behold! They had onion plants and tomato plants already. Yeah! Spring is here! I will be planting onions in the very near future; next week probably!

Onions are interesting, they will grow even in the refrigerator, they just grow a lot slower.

 

[Larro Darro]

I picked up a couple of Cherokee Purple tomato plants a week ago today. Got them in three gallons pots for now. They are doing pretty good. I saved some Pruden's Purple tomatoes {in the freezer} to use for seeds, but we went ahead and ordered some more seeds. Also got some Brocollini and Banana Cantaloupe seeds on the way. I took my light setup apart to save space, so need to set up something smaller when the seeds get here.