Garden Log

Fixing and making things, what tools to get and what skills to learn, ...
cmonkey
Posts: 1814
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:56 am

Re: Garden Log

Post by cmonkey »

If anyone wants an automated, no hassle way to receive wood chips, here you go.

I just signed up and I'll let everyone know how it goes.

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

Re: Garden Log

Post by enigmaT120 »

They sure don't have much information on that page. We get free wood chips in Dallas, a 9 mile drive, in my Toyota pickup.
But if that outfit delivers that might be a good deal.

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 »

Spent two hours tending garden this morning, mainly mounding up the rows of potatoes. Disappointed in the spinach... it didn't grow well after it emerged and now is bolting; I probably need to plant it a little later and in more batches. Sugar Ann peas are blooming, other varieties still growing with no blossoms yet. I ate the largest radishes 2 days ago.

Despite having a week of no measureable rain, there were 3 days that were wet, misty. A couple sunny days never got above 60F, but we're finally transitioning to the dry season, with temperatures going up. Soil will dry out soon, so today I'll water.

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 »

The other pea varieties are blossoming now, so not much difference in timing. Still, if you want the earliest snap peas, then Sugar Ann gets a nod.

Big surprise was finding 4 volunteer seedlings in the greenhouse on Friday morning. Couldn't decide if they were watermelon or cucumber until noticing the seed husk clinging to one was from a watermelon. Hmm, I guess I forgot to mention that the greenhouse is back in production? Filled the allotted bell pepper spaces & all but one of the tomato spaces... the plants are improving from a bit of transplant shock, the tomatoes were hit hardest.

Spending a couple hours per day catching up on weeding. It's mostly light work, though going through the strawberry beds is a chore. Otherwise, I'm occupied with cutting & splitting firewood, getting it stacked in the sunshine. It's this time of year when I'm really happy to be living on the coast instead of in Portland... our daily highs are a very comfortable 68-75F while Portland is touching 90F. Makes it so much easier to labor as hard as I want.

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

Re: Garden Log

Post by enigmaT120 »

I need to start making hay. The grass is just ridiculous. Too bad I have no use for hay.

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 »

Been nibbling peapods since Jun 1. Dumped second pot of potatoes and generated 4 servings of new potatoes slightly larger than eggs, so it looks like June is as early as I can get fresh potatoes from container-grown.

halfmoon
Posts: 697
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 10:19 pm

Re: Garden Log

Post by halfmoon »

George the original one wrote:
Sun Jun 04, 2017 2:00 pm
Been nibbling peapods since Jun 1.
So unfair. :evil: I was just out in the garden yesterday, looking at the ankle-high pea plants and longing for the summer days when I can graze in the garden. I actually thought of you and swore...to plant peas much earlier next year. :D

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

Re: Garden Log

Post by enigmaT120 »

We have volunteer potatoes all over the place. I think they might be an invasive species. Maybe this will stop the gophers from finding and eating them all.

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 »

enigmaT120 wrote:
Mon Jun 05, 2017 1:06 pm
We have volunteer potatoes all over the place.
I'm gradually learning to remove them unless they come up early and are particularly vigorous. Usually they're started by the tiniest of tubers, the ones you either thought too small to bother with or missed entirely.

One small stretch of my volunteers is keeling over today. Possibly insect victims, possibly lack of water... I'll have to investigate right after I yank them out to regain the garden space!

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 »

Tomato plants getting bigger in the greenhouse, radishes have bolted, and strawberries are coloring. Weather has been perfect for me & wife: 70-72F highs with light breeze.

Something bloomed yesterday afternoon, however, that apparently everyone is allergic to and it was not present where I was fishing on the Kilchis River. Came home @6p and dear wife was snuffling madly... cleaned fish, fed guts & head to the crawdads in our river, and came back into the house with my nose suddenly clogging.

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jennypenny
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Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:20 pm

Re: Garden Log

Post by jennypenny »

Enjoying lots of strawberries. The first cherry tomatoes are almost ready to be picked. We covered the blueberries this year so we get to eat more than the birds.

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jennypenny
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Re: Garden Log

Post by jennypenny »

We have zucchini and tomatoes already. This is the earliest we've ever had them by a couple of weeks.

We also have a groundhog who's about to meet his maker. I'm pretty tolerant about sharing the garden bounty with the other residents of our yard, but this one won't quit. He's eating the cucumbers, beans, and squash non-stop. He's ruining it for everyone. Anyone have any ideas short of shooting it with an air rifle to scare it off?

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

Summer Garden Pics

Post by George the original one »

Saturday was our hottest day so far this year... 90F. Doesn't sound all that hot to most of you, but considering we seldom go above 75F, like today, it was pretty ugly for me. Started the day by taking pictures and then heavily watering the plants in the greenhouse and taking the side panels off the greenhouse for extra ventilation.

So a quick tour. First up is my wife's flower bed, featuring day lilies and irises with a smattering of annual flowers for color accents (which are mostly what you see blooming).
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This next one is the temporary bed we started in 2012 as a holding place for plants until we could find a place for them. Little did we know it would stay put all these years. You can see some of the potatoes in the background. The bed really is slated for a move, though. Any day now. Maybe. :?
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A view of the potatoes with the temporary bed in the background. Sweet corn & brushpiles occupied this space last year.
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The california strawberries that are trying to take over. They've spread out from the two rows I salvaged & transplanted just last year! All that lush growth means I've had difficulty getting to the weeds <ahem> :oops:
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Peas and onions. Was occupied by late-planted potatoes last year and "lawn" in prior years. The dirt strip to the right was a grass path last year, but I found that didn't work well, with the grass and weeds trying to go under the greenhouse and also back into the potatoes. That's a 3'-4' tall lump of weeds I've pulled this spring getting this bed and the potatoes planted.
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Not pictured are the espalier apple trees (planted last year), filbert trees (planted last year), raspberry vines (new this year), space for this year's sweet corn, blueberries (original 4 established bushes plus 7 bushes we brought in 2012), a shade garden next to the house, and the shady border in the backyard to enhance viewing interest from the patio and upstairs windows.

cmonkey
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Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:56 am

Re: Garden Log

Post by cmonkey »

jennypenny wrote:
Sat Jun 24, 2017 6:04 pm
We also have a groundhog who's about to meet his maker. I'm pretty tolerant about sharing the garden bounty with the other residents of our yard, but this one won't quit. He's eating the cucumbers, beans, and squash non-stop. He's ruining it for everyone. Anyone have any ideas short of shooting it with an air rifle to scare it off?
In my experience rabbits and groundhogs are notoriously difficult to catch in a live trap because they have so much food available already. I would recommend baiting with a very fragrant fruit such as a peach or nectarine. Also block off all exits to his den and then make a funnel to the trap on the last remaining exit. That's the only way I have caught our woodchucks. I still haven't caught any rabbits in my trap. I give em 3 or 4 days to go quietly....

This is a lot of work and so I have ultimately resorted to just shooting them, because it only worked half of the time.

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 suppose you can't fence out groundhogs because they dig? How come the dogs aren't doing their part?

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 »

Finally, the first tomato sighted in the greenhouse! 8 peppers set on the 5 bell pepper plants... definitely a better result than last year. Strawberries have been slow this year as I've only picked a couple pints despite the hot weather last week.

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 »

Results of container-grown potatoes planted extra early: 1-2 weeks earlier consumption of new potatoes compared to just planting them at the normal time and, while sometimes higher-yielding, the container-grown were universally smaller in size with skins less well-developed than the ones planted in the ground at the regular time. It's possible I crowded them too much in the containers resulting in the smaller size.

Overall judgement: there's little material benefit for the work unless one doesn't have the garden space.

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

Re: Garden Log

Post by BlueNote »

I didn't get around to planting my container garden until late in the year. I am hoping for a warm October!

I planted a pole bean (lazy housewife), cucumber (spacemaster) and three varieties of tomato. I'm also giving away some seedlings to co-workers:

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I'm kind of getting sick of coddling these tomatoes which seem to want to just die in my environment without constant care.

Some animal is burying peanuts in the planters. The animal, not identified yet, also likes to shove peanuts into the plastic pipes I use to bottom water the containers. You'll see I am covering the pipes now. I'm not sure what animal is getting onto the 10th floor of an apartment building to bury peanuts in my planters but it's cute.

halfmoon
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Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 10:19 pm

Re: Garden Log

Post by halfmoon »

@ffj, you can bring him to our place! I love possums; they're good rodent killers. We haven't had one stomp around in our garden yet...I think. Hmmm. Something is smashing the onion tops but not actually eating anything. A vole chewed 75% of our pea plants off the root and left them lying there to die, but we caught him. He was not rehomed. :twisted:

halfmoon
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Re: Garden Log

Post by halfmoon »

ffj wrote:
Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:14 pm
I took him a few miles away and dropped him off next to a creek and a soybean field. He was more than happy to get out of that cage!
He's probably still hanging out there, content as a pig in mud. Just needs some voles to round out his diet. By the way: that's an interesting Havahart trap. We have them in a variety of sizes, but they all have a trap door on both ends.

You have to give your dog points for persistence! 8-)

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