Garden Log

Fixing and making things, what tools to get and what skills to learn, ...
George the original one
Posts: 5404
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

Oh gee whillikers! One of the watermelon plants blossomed today!

enigmaT120
Posts: 1240
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 2:14 pm
Location: Falls City, OR

Re: Garden Log

Post by enigmaT120 »

I'm amazed you can grow watermelon over there. We can some years. That stuff likes the heat units.

George the original one
Posts: 5404
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

Greenhouse. The test watermelon plants of the same variety outside the greenhouse are definitely stunted by comparison and not yet forming flower buds... this morning was the third 40F night in a row.

sky
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Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2011 2:20 am

Re: Garden Log

Post by sky »


CECTPA
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2016 9:27 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Garden Log

Post by CECTPA »

Hardiness zone 2 update.

Okay, my radishes are officially ruined by the root maggots. I think I know where it went wrong. When I planted them, I mixed in some storebought composted manure and according to my research the flies are attracted by that type of fertiliser and they lay eggs around the roots of crops.

I'm not buying any more manure, I don't need it. My compost pile is doing great and also I have alfalfa growing here and there on my imperfect lawn, which I use to make green fertiliser and alfalfa tea. Also I'll be planting marigolds and pot marigolds everywhere.

My peas are doing lovely. We had lots of rain and sunlight lately, and the weather is cool. I spotted one pea flower today at lunch time and also when I was weeding at 11 pm (bright nights time here up North!) I spotted a bunch of new flower buds.

Interesting thing that I did not know about is that peas become bushy by running additional stems from the roots. Or maybe these are just new branches that started later from a lower part of the stem. Anyway, I had no idea that peas do that.

Beans are growing rather well, but Edamame soybeans are not too vigorous and poor germination rate. Brussel sprouts are doing well too and surprisingly pests did not get to them (yet?). Corn is 3-4 inches already, so far doing better than I thought. I fertilised it with alfalfa.

We're eating fresh greens already:
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George the original one
Posts: 5404
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

Wow, zone 2 is growing fast!

George the original one
Posts: 5404
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

Cucumbers in greenhouse have really taken off and we're soon going to be swimming in them... I may have to sentence a few to capital punishment. The bell peppers in the greenhouse are suffering, likely too hot for them. I'm losing count of how many tomatoes are on the vines as we go over 40 fruit.

Peas are still producing nicely. Grabbed second head of iceberg lettuce this season from garden today, made salad with arugula and onion and pepper also from garden. Strawberries are about done and we harvested over 20 pints, eating with ice cream and occasionally on breakfast foods (French toast)... another 6 pints were lost to mold. As the strawberries end, the blueberries are turning blue. Good timing because we only have 4 pints of blueberries left over from last year!

George the original one
Posts: 5404
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

Careful tomato count came to 78 fruit on the vine. Sure hope some ripen soon!

Harvest of potatoes has officially begun. We're taking as we need them and averaging 8 tubers for every one planted.

Today is the first sunshine in a week. June was a rather overcast month, even for here. Rainfall was normal (very little).

CECTPA
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2016 9:27 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Garden Log

Post by CECTPA »

Zone 2 continues to enjoy lots of sun and lots of rain with no extreme heat (yet).

Eating my shelling peas already, yum! Also eating lots of greens.

Beets are growing a good foliage, but the roots are still small.

Planted lemongrass in a container and planning to take it inside for the winter because I love making pho. It germinated well despite me not following instructions when sowing :)

The lasagna bed is thriving!!! I didn't expect such lush growth. As I said, I just threw different seeds in there in order for it not to be vacant, but looks like I'll have a good harvest of sunflowers, lettuce, herbs and peas. Lupins are also growing on it, but they won't last till next year in our zone.

The experimental no-dig plot with corn and beans sowed right into sod is doing much better than I thought! The corn on it is bigger, greener and more vigorous than that one sowed on the same day into a dug bed.

George the original one
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Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

@CECTPA - I was thinking of you as I munched on peas today.

CECTPA
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2016 9:27 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Garden Log

Post by CECTPA »

George the original one wrote:@CECTPA - I was thinking of you as I munched on peas today.
Ahahaha, I'm munching them every day! So awesome! Isn't peas the best food ever? :) If I ever consider moving down south that would only be for the reason of a longer pea season lol. However, since we don't really get extreme heat, gardening here is very fruitful.

My lasagna bed is going crazy! It has become very thin because of soil compaction, but so far everything is thriving.
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The no-dig no-weeding experimental patch of beans and corn is living it's life along with weeds without any concerns.
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The same variety of corn on a conventional bed with Brussel sprouts. Also doing not bad, but less green. Probably should not have planted them that close together, oh well. I'm learning :ugeek:
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George the original one
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Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

Wife has been enjoying the broccoli harvest. I've continued grazing on fresh peas while out in the garden... none seem to make it into the house, LOL.

Vine-ripe tomatoes have been excellent, but still not quite enough sun to ripen quickly, so production is slightly less than desired at the moment. Plants are pushing 6' tall and it has been tough to keep up with pinching off side shoots. One plant did not have enough support and a branch broke off, so note to my future self is to have more tall stakes on hand. Cucumbers are producing just the right amount and I've pinched back the vines to keep them from taking over the greenhouse. Watermelon have made many blossoms, but no obvious fruit. Experimental watermelon outside the greenhouse has not blossomed and doesn't look so good. Bell peppers disappointingly producing very little.

The early red potato vines are falling over now while the gold yukons are still standing tall (yes, very tall!). As said before, we just dig them as we need them until the fall rains threaten.

Walla walla onions are awesomely huge (softball size) and show no signs of stopping growth yet. The purplette variety are not getting as large (still approaching tennis ball size) and have a tendency to form seed heads that I pinch off. Winter/spring planted green onions didn't really come into their own until a couple weeks ago. This has been a much better success than last year's onion attempts.

Carrots are a long-term thing. They're doing fine, but we won't get to harvest any for another couple months. I occasionally pull a couple to make sure they're not crowded and to check on progress.

Corn has not done well. Only about 10% germinated. Probably the result of not covering with plastic when we had an extended cool spell.

Acorn squash finally has blossoms. I need to start these in the greenhouse next year so they get a better running start as they sure don't like our cool nights.

Fighting some sort of scale on the leaves in the apple orchard. Current technique is to strip off all the infected leaves and dispose of them in the trashcan. No signs of major reinfection and the trees look healthy afterwards.

Blueberries are on! For the next month and a half, I get to eat a fresh bowl of blueberries with ice cream every day.

enigmaT120
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Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 2:14 pm
Location: Falls City, OR

Re: Garden Log

Post by enigmaT120 »

Do your Walla Walla onions take two years to mature?

George the original one
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Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

I ordered plants via Johnny's. They came as little babies, significantly smaller than green onions you buy at the store. It appears the Texas farm drops seed in large pots (the roots were a tangled mess) in the fall to get the babies they ship in February.

CECTPA
Posts: 110
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2016 9:27 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Garden Log

Post by CECTPA »

I'm harvesting less and less peas every day :( There are 2 other spaces with younger plants that will give me (hopefully) some harvest later on.

Cabbage butterflies discovered my kale and brussel sprouts, we're removing caterpillars manually every day. Not too worried about kale, because I've got plenty of other greens.

Some corn plants are tasselling, but no ears. I read about it, looks like the plants are stressed, but ears will follow. Of course they are stressed, we're zone 2. That's why people here only plant Monsanto corn. We started using diluted pee on our corn, but it's probably too late. The experimental corn (see above) is super vigorous and green, but tasselling without ears too. Maybe because our nights are chilly, corn doesn't like it here.

We're actively eating beets, root and greens. The greens are delicious, that's why we don't worry about the kale. I think beets is a great food for ERE, easy to grow, you eat the whole thing and rather good caloric density.

Some beans have blossoms, some don't.

Thinking what should I plant to harvested bare ground. Maybe carrots and clover as a cover crop.

BlueNote
Posts: 501
Joined: Sat Jun 08, 2013 6:26 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: Garden Log

Post by BlueNote »

I've got 5 tomato plants on my balcony:

2x Garden Treasure (brandywine hybrid)

2x New Hybrid from Univ. of Florida

and 1x Maglia Rosa (the turtle pot picture below)

Toronto has had a couple of heat waves this summer and I have lost maybe half of my blossoms as a result :(

On the bright side fruit is setting and being on the 10th floor of an apartment has helped keep the woodchucks at bay :lol:

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CECTPA
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Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2016 9:27 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Garden Log

Post by CECTPA »

BlueNote, great tomato plants! I'm jealous! Most def will plant tomatoes next year!

Good news, shortly after tasselling my corn plants started to grow ears here and there. I can see the first silks peeking out!

Also, there is a new growth and new flowers on my almost barren pea bushes! Life is good!

George the original one
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Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
Location: Wettest corner of Orygun

Re: Garden Log

Post by George the original one »

First heavy picking of blueberries netted 16 pints.

Sunshine! We finally had sunshine! Which means several tomatoes turned color and I got to pick 5 that I had my eye on. I also spied a watermelon forming.

cmonkey
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Re: Garden Log

Post by cmonkey »

DW and I had one of the most magical moments ever in our garden tonight. We went out after a long day working on the house to just potter around our jungle of a garden (it's very wild this year as I spend all my time working on the house*) and found a young least flycatcher flitting about our dill plants and sunflowers, eating seeds and catching bugs. We stood very still and he eventually started coming right up to us and would hover just inches from our faces.

We decided to put out our hands and it only took a few minutes until he landed. We also got some bird seed and some dill seed and he ate from our hands.

I think we spent about 20 minutes with him before he flew off into the orchard. We went about our way and about 10 minutes later he showed up again and landed on my shoulder. Just out of the blue! We are hopeful he'll stick around. :D

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* This also means there are tons of birds, insects, frogs and snakes. We have identified at least 3 dozen different bird species this year. We even saw an orange colored snake in the orchard.

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C40
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Re: Garden Log

Post by C40 »

Cmonkey, you are becoming one with nature.

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