Summer Garden battles about to begin

[Lloyd-ss]

My job is ordering seeds and starting plants. Then I get out my clip board and lawn chair and supervise my wife's work in the garden, recording what is planted where and when.

Marriages that have lasted a long time have, without a doubt, have found the comfort zones for both partners. For me and my wife, those gardening roles are reversed. She cares a lot more about the research and trying new things than I do, so more power to her. But for me, just point me in the direction of some mindless garden chore, and I will do it.

 

[awake]

But for me, just point me in the direction of some mindless garden chore, and I will do it.

Was that literally an invitation? If so, let me point you to Angier, North Carolina. Take a left at the water tower, then the third right. I'll have plenty of chores ready for you.

 

[Bentwings]

I have two high tunnel gardens. Last year I planted plum tomatoes and Big Boy tomatoes for fresh eating. Also planted Bell and bannana peppers. Beans and butternut squash grows up on chicken wire panels . Spinach , kale and swiss chard also.
Carrots in a raised bed and a few leeks there too.
I had failures with cantolopes and watermelons. Lopes were small and rotted before getting to any size. Watermelon plants looked great and had an abundunce of flowers, All the flowers were male until October. You only get fruit on female flowers. The few female flowers that I got melons on came too late in the season. First frost and they were done.
I am trying lima beans for the first time. These will grow on eight foot high frames lined with chicken wire. I have about 20 lf of these frames.
I do not have a pest problem anymore. I tried to get rid of white flies with lady bugs , green lacewings and then chemicals. Lacewings did work for a while. Lady bugs were a waste of money as they dissapeared in two days. Chemicals worked but not very well.
I was told about Neem Oil. Tried it and was pleasantly surprised.
Kept all whiteflies , aphids and other insects out of the gardens.
Also found that Neem Oil works as a fungicide.
If you use Neem Oil read the directions carefully. Only spray when the sun goes down, otherwise the plants will wither and die. Make sure the mix is exactly as noted. Too strong a mix and the plants will die. Often the oil will solidifly. Set the container in a pot of hot water, not boiling. The oil will return to a liquid.
I had rocks and tap roots in the way when I first planted these gardens 39+ years ago. Probably spent 40 hours removing tap roots , raking rocks and removing a small area of marl ( clay).
Still finding a few rocks every year.
We had a groundhog problem, solution was a 177 caliber pellet rifle. Had to hide the critters as the wife thinks their cute. These "cute" critters can destroy a garden in a few hours.
mike

we just had a week of cold rainy days it’s still too wet to try the mower out. I’ll probably have to take the blade off and sharpen it . I discovered a hose plug in on the mower deck you just hook the garden hose to it and turn on the water to clean under the deck . I sprayed WD40 in last year and pretty well cleaned the grass out of it just give it a shot before mowing and it stays pretty clean even in heavy grass I don’t know which is worse cutting grass or shoveling snow. I look at as I can dress for cold but I can’t undress enough for hot LOL I THINK ILL DIG UP A FEW OFVTHE SNGLED BRICKS AND TOSS THEM IN YHE COMMUNITY DUMPSTER . save me at least one blade sharpening .
Byron

 

[kwoodhands]

we just had a week of cold rainy days it’s still too wet to try the mower out. I’ll probably have to take the blade off and sharpen it . I discovered a hose plug in on the mower deck you just hook the garden hose to it and turn on the water to clean under the deck . I sprayed WD40 in last year and pretty well cleaned the grass out of it just give it a shot before mowing and it stays pretty clean even in heavy grass I don’t know which is worse cutting grass or shoveling snow. I look at as I can dress for cold but I can’t undress enough for hot LOL I THINK ILL DIG UP A FEW OFVTHE SNGLED BRICKS AND TOSS THEM IN YHE COMMUNITY DUMPSTER . save me at least one blade sharpening .
Byron

I have a Cub Cadet that also has the plug for a hose. I never used it though. I like your idea of spraying WD-40 in the hose plug, I'll give it a try .
mike

 

[Lloyd-ss]

Was that literally an invitation? If so, let me point you to Angier, North Carolina. Take a left at the water tower, then the third right. I'll have plenty of chores ready for you.

Somebody is going to be getting the better end of that deal, LOL.

 

[Bentwings]

I have a Cub Cadet that also has the plug for a hose. I never used it though. I like your idea of spraying WD-40 in the hose plug, I'll give it a try .
mike

rain all day ODST so tomorrow I have to try and dig up the angled bricks. At least start on them it may rain tomorrow too. Then I’ll mix up the home made weed killer . I tried last year and wiped out the weeds by the fence . They get realy thick so they are hard to cut. I’ll dose them army this year them again later. That should clear them out totally .
Byron

 

[Rocket Man]

Our garden did good, 85 garlic, 350 onions, 61 lbs potatoes, 350 ears of corn, about 15 watermelons, 6 cantaloupe, lots of sweet bell peppers, 8 gallons of Bread & Butter pickles made, 100 lbs of tomatoes, 6 gallons blackberries.

 

[Richard Hed]

Our garden did good, 85 garlic, 350 onions, 61 lbs potatoes, 350 ears of corn, about 15 watermelons, 6 cantaloupe, lots of sweet bell peppers, 8 gallons of Bread & Butter pickles made, 100 lbs of tomatoes, 6 gallons blackberries. View attachment 140802

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I still thimpfks you needs more garlics

 

[ajoeiam]

Our garden did good, 85 garlic, 350 onions, 61 lbs potatoes, 350 ears of corn, about 15 watermelons, 6 cantaloupe, lots of sweet bell peppers, 8 gallons of Bread & Butter pickles made, 100 lbs of tomatoes, 6 gallons blackberries.

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snip

Good show

Our garden did quite well also.

Did you grow your onions from seed or sets?
Your garlic - - - planted in spring or the fall before?

(Just getting back into gardening after a very very long hiatus so trying to learn about things that I'm not remembering from so very long ago.)

 

[Rocket Man]

Good show

Our garden did quite well also.

Did you grow your onions from seed or sets?
Your garlic - - - planted in spring or the fall before?

(Just getting back into gardening after a very very long hiatus so trying to learn about things that I'm not remembering from so very long ago.)

I bought 2 month old onion plants that were grown from seeds. I also bought sets. Onion plants always grow better than sets but plants are not always available at the garden store. Onions grown from sets are always a little bit smaller than onions grown from plants. We live at longitude 34° we are in the intermediate onion zone. Our longest daylight hours are 14.3 hours June 21. Onions always mature about June 15 when tops start falling over. Yellow onions from plants were 2½" diameter and yellow onions from sets were 2" diameter. I am looking for candy onion seeds to grow my own plants but sellers want more money for seeds than I can buy plants for. Maybe about Jan 1st there will be more seed sellers with reasonable prices.

I always plant garlic 6 to 8 weeks before first frost which is almost always Sept 15. This years we had early winter we had frost last week and freeze last night. This year I should have planted garlic Sept 1st. Oh well garlic will still be good.

This morning potato plant leaves were snow white they have frost on them. No harm done potato plants are always good down to 28°F. Even if potato plants die they will try to grow back we have a lot of 75° weather from now to Christmas. I will harvest potatoes Dec 31. Our summer weather is 100° with not much rain June to Sept WHITE potatoes don't like that hot dry weather but RED potatoes love hot dry weather. Melons love hot weather too but they need water this is a 35 lb melon.

Sometimes I grow fall potatoes under an upside down fish aquarium when weather gets colder in Dec.

 

[ajoeiam]

I bought 2 month old onion plants that were grown from seeds. I also bought sets. Onion plants always grow better than sets but plants are not always available at the garden store. Onions grown from sets are always a little bit smaller than onions grown from plants. We live at longitude 34° we are in the intermediate onion zone. Our longest daylight hours are 14.3 hours June 21. Onions always mature about June 15 when tops start falling over. Yellow onions from plants were 2½" diameter and yellow onions from sets were 2" diameter. I am looking for candy onion seeds to grow my own plants but sellers want more money for seeds than I can buy plants for. Maybe about Jan 1st there will be more seed sellers with reasonable prices.

I always plant garlic 6 to 8 weeks before first frost which is almost always Sept 15. This years we had early winter we had frost last week and freeze last night. This year I should have planted garlic Sept 1st. Oh well garlic will still be good.

This morning potato plant leaves were snow white they have frost on them. No harm done potato plants are always good down to 28°F. Even if potato plants die they will try to grow back we have a lot of 75° weather from now to Christmas. I will harvest potatoes Dec 31. Our summer weather is 100° with not much rain June to Sept WHITE potatoes don't like that hot dry weather but RED potatoes love hot dry weather. Melons love hot weather too but they need water this is a 35 lb melon.

Sometimes I grow fall potatoes under an upside down fish aquarium when weather gets colder in Dec.

Thanks for the info on the onions.
I didn't have good results from the onions planted from seeds and I planted the sets too late (a very very cold and late spring) so the results weren't incredible either - - - grin.
Trying to figure out how to improve results so trying to learn from others.
Garlic - - - - I'm wondering how to do such here - - -further north of where you're at.
Haven't tried melons of any kind to date. That is a very nice sized melon you got!!!!
We don't get the 100F stuff only getting into that 85 to 95 country. This year we had lots of rain early on and then sporadically later on previous number of years were mostly quite dry though. I'm a thinking that if its not raining after 4 days stuff needs a watering. Our spuds showed that they hadn't enough moisture at 'fill' time.
Our potatoes are DONE - - - grin. Still have 1/2 a row to dig. We've had to 15 F already so I'm a hoping that the tubers haven't yet been harmed.

Grin - - - am rather enjoying chatting about this - - - - wonder if there could be a 'gardening area' in the forum - - - what say ye? (beeg grin!)

 

[WisJim]

We grow our onions from seed. We're in Western Wisconsin, USA, about an hour east of Minneapolis/St Paul, MN. We've had consistently better luck with onions from seed than from sets, for one thing you can be more sure of the variety. We start them inside under lights in January or early February. We have reduced our number of varieties to 3 or 4, usually 2 storage types, a red, and a larger sweeter variety that doesn't store well. Garlic is down to 5 varieties, mostly ones that we got from friends or other trades over the last 30 years. We're cutting back on number of potato varieties, too, down to half a dozen or so, and at one point we grew over 20 varieties every year, many hard to find or rare. Moving to town has restricted our garden options a lot.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

I thought this old post must have been posted by somebody on the other side of the world where their seasons are reverse of ours. We're just heading into winter here, in mid October. My mom and dad always had a big garden, and I worked in it, under threat of something really terrible from Angus if I didn't work in it. Once I left home in 1965 I haven't tried to grow anything since except some Beefsteak tomatoes when I live in Hillsdale, Ontario, and was surprised at how successful I was at it. God bless the farmers. ---Brian

 

[Lloyd-ss]

Our garden did good, 85 garlic, 350 onions, 61 lbs potatoes, 350 ears of corn, about 15 watermelons, 6 cantaloupe, lots of sweet bell peppers, 8 gallons of Bread & Butter pickles made, 100 lbs of tomatoes, 6 gallons blackberries.
View attachment 140803

Now,that is a BEAUTIFUL garden! Nice looking soil, no weeds, great looking plants. You have obviously been gardening in that site for quite a while and know what works and what doesn't. My hat is off to you, and whatever helpers you have.
Lloyd

 

[WisJim]

Our first seed catalog arrived in the mail a week or so ago, so I am already planning next year's garden. For many years we hosted a seed ordering group of friends so that we could pool our seed orders to cut down on the shipping costs on small orders, and to get a discount due to the total cost of our biggest orders. During Covid we did it all online which meant we didn't get the great potluck dinner after the seed ordering process, but we still did our group order of seeds. It was always helpful to discuss what was good and bad about the last garden season, what varieties did well or not, and what new varieties or methods might be worth trying. Back to the seed catalog and making a list of old favorites and new possibilities.

 

[Lloyd-ss]

edit ............. It was always helpful to discuss what was good and bad about the last garden season, what varieties did well or not, and what new varieties or methods might be worth trying. ...............

So true! Every year is different. We have crappy soil that must be heavily amended, lots of bugs, and summer drought.
We are transitioning to more landscaping and flower beds. Here it is December already, and I am still transplanting and replacing, as requested by the head gardener (my wife). But I find that an hour or 2 a day doing the worst grunt work outside for her gives me all the shop time I want. We are both happy that way.

 

[Steamchick]

An odd thought... Are you named Rocket Man for the salad Rocket that grows like a weed? (None visible in your garden?) Or for your desire/achievement of having "flown" such an engine?
K2

 

[Apprentice707]

Marriages that have lasted a long time have, without a doubt, have found the comfort zones for both partners. For me and my wife, those gardening roles are reversed. She cares a lot more about the research and trying new things than I do, so more power to her. But for me, just point me in the direction of some mindless garden chore, and I will do it.

That's my attitude too Lloyd just so long as it doesn't interfere with my workshop time.

 

[ajoeiam]

Our first seed catalog arrived in the mail a week or so ago, so I am already planning next year's garden. For many years we hosted a seed ordering group of friends so that we could pool our seed orders to cut down on the shipping costs on small orders, and to get a discount due to the total cost of our biggest orders. During Covid we did it all online which meant we didn't get the great potluck dinner after the seed ordering process, but we still did our group order of seeds. It was always helpful to discuss what was good and bad about the last garden season, what varieties did well or not, and what new varieties or methods might be worth trying. Back to the seed catalog and making a list of old favorites and new possibilities.

I've already started ordering items.
Last (2022) year a number of shrubs I wanted to plant were all sold out by the beginning of February.
Thanks for the reminder - - - time to order that stuff that I had wanted last year!!

 

[Rocket Man]

An odd thought... Are you named Rocket Man for the salad Rocket that grows like a weed? (None visible in your garden?) Or for your desire/achievement of having "flown" such an engine?
K2

I have fun building rocket engines and jet engines. The first rocket engine I every built that ran good was 40 years ago, it was the size of a D flashlight battery. It was attached to a work bench in the center of the work shop. When the engine fired off the workbench took off out the garage door and down the driveway. We ran after it and jumped on the bench to stop it. About the time we stopped the work bench from leaving town the rocket engine with no cooling system became liquid metal and melted and dripped onto the driveway.