My Garden.

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

On August 1st I planted a veggie garden inside 4X4 planting boxes I have around the yard. I have tomatoe vines, green beans, cantaloupes, and a few squash. The tomatoes are flowering and I counted 16 tomatoes forming. I'm picking about a dozen 7 inch green bean pods daily.

Chameleons, toads, and ladybugs control the pests. Humming birds, bees, and butterflies pollinate everything. I water it all from my rain barrels or creek water.

Today I started planting my winter garden: scallions, carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, and collards.

 

[buxxxom]

On August 1st I planted a veggie garden inside 4X4 planting boxes I have around the yard. I have tomatoe vines, green beans, cantaloupes, and a few squash. The tomatoes are flowering and I counted 16 tomatoes forming. I'm picking about a dozen 7 inch green bean pods daily.

Chameleons, toads, and ladybugs control the pests. Humming birds, bees, and butterflies pollinate everything. I water it all from my rain barrels or creek water.

Today I started planting my winter garden: scallions, carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, and collards.

You're letting your green beans get too mature, my granny would say. She'd call ones like those "shelly" beans.

 

[PublicAffection]

I planted potatoes and tomatoes this year - all of which grew, none of which bore anything edible. On the plus side - none of them died this year which is a HUGE step for me.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

You're letting your green beans get too mature, my granny would say. She'd call ones like those "shelly" beans.

The experts disagree about what the optimal length is. Somewhere in the range of 6-8 inches. If pod is what you prefer, go with the shorter length.

Most of America eats tasteless green tomatoes, too.

 

[CharleyH]

On August 1st I planted a veggie garden inside 4X4 planting boxes I have around the yard. I have tomatoe vines, green beans, cantaloupes, and a few squash. The tomatoes are flowering and I counted 16 tomatoes forming. I'm picking about a dozen 7 inch green bean pods daily.

Chameleons, toads, and ladybugs control the pests. Humming birds, bees, and butterflies pollinate everything. I water it all from my rain barrels or creek water.

Today I started planting my winter garden: scallions, carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, and collards.

Addicted to Farmville, are you? I can help.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Groceries taste like shit, thought I'd roll my own.

 

[Austin8]

My winter garden is in as well, Onions, garlic, carrots, radishes, cabbage, broccoli, beets and turnips.

I did use Bio-Intensive methods this year, double dug the beds to a depth of 36" added in a heavy amount of compost and expanded shale (our soil is black clay) this is the second year for these beds, got another bed solarizing for spring plants...

It's hard work, but the results are rewarding and so much better than the veg in the store. Good Luck with the gardens everone. i'll have raddishes soon, started another two rows!

 

[amicus]

In the northern tier of States, gardens are expiring as frost has visited more than once.

I harvested tomato's by the bushel, so many zucinni's I couldn't give them away, pumpkins, squash, potato's yet to be dug, early spring peas & radishes, carrots and beets. Those 'cherry tomato's' attract children by the droves, they gobble 'em like candy.

I use miracle grow, a chemical fertilizer and slug bait, a chemical pesticide & spray stuff that kills the aphids on my roses. I usually don't need to purchase seeds as I save and dry them year to year. I have 160,421 sunflower seeds, if anyone would like a thousand or so...will they function as bird seed? How doth one prepare the seeds if so?

Ami

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

In the northern tier of States, gardens are expiring as frost has visited more than once.

I harvested tomato's by the bushel, so many zucinni's I couldn't give them away, pumpkins, squash, potato's yet to be dug, early spring peas & radishes, carrots and beets. Those 'cherry tomato's' attract children by the droves, they gobble 'em like candy.

I use miracle grow, a chemical fertilizer and slug bait, a chemical pesticide & spray stuff that kills the aphids on my roses. I usually don't need to purchase seeds as I save and dry them year to year. I have 160,421 sunflower seeds, if anyone would like a thousand or so...will they function as bird seed? How doth one prepare the seeds if so?

Ami

It was 95 degrees here today.

The immediate area was once an orange grove, so we have no 'soil'; its all sand beneath the sod. And the sand wont retain water or fertilizer.

So I did something novel that works well; I built a planter atop the sod then filled it with homebrew planting soil...compost, manure, etc. mixed with sugar sand from the creek. I've never read of this, but it works much better than removing the sod and dumping planting soil atop the sand. All my flowering shrubs help, too.

I use ice cube trays to germinate seeds, then I transfer them to 12 ounce styrofoam cups. This is like the perfect size for the roots to hold the dirt together when you move them to the ground. I use a teaspoon to remove the seedling from the ice cube tray.

 

[R. Richard]

Groceries taste like shit, thought I'd roll my own.

If I lived in the area where you do, I might try some sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes like growing in sandy soils, with lots of sun, and a reasonable amount of water and nutrients. They do well in the heat.

Sweet potatoes are the most nutritious vegetable of all.

 

[Austin8]

In the northern tier of States, gardens are expiring as frost has visited more than once.

I harvested tomato's by the bushel, so many zucinni's I couldn't give them away, pumpkins, squash, potato's yet to be dug, early spring peas & radishes, carrots and beets. Those 'cherry tomato's' attract children by the droves, they gobble 'em like candy.

I use miracle grow, a chemical fertilizer and slug bait, a chemical pesticide & spray stuff that kills the aphids on my roses. I usually don't need to purchase seeds as I save and dry them year to year. I have 160,421 sunflower seeds, if anyone would like a thousand or so...will they function as bird seed? How doth one prepare the seeds if so?

Ami

Ami,

Hows it goin? I had lot's of sunflowers last year, my soul intent was to grow bird seed, Kinda depends on what your tolerence for mess is. I have a friend who doesn't like the mess the shells make in his feeders, so he shells the seeds, I had two kinds last year black-oil sunflowers and the stripped sunflower seeds, I just put them out in the feeders as is, cause I got no time for shelling seeds, and the mess doesn't bother me in my feeders. Was that your question?

 

[amicus]

Thanks Austin, yes, pretty much. I had read up on when and how to harvest the seeds and part of the information was how to protect the seeds from birds, so I assumed they could somehow get through the shell to the seed.

I don't have the patience to shell the seeds, although baked and slightly salted they have a wonderful nutty flavor and are high in oil content.

JBJ, okay, I understand; tried to grow a garden in Hawaii once upon a time, with sandy soil, sounds like you found a solution. I tried those new fangled expandable peat pellets for starting seeds a few years back, that was a bust. But I have accumulated so many 4 inch plastic pots that I tend to use those more often than not.

Ami

 

[Austin8]

Thanks Austen, yes, pretty much. I had read up on when and how to harvest the seeds and part of the information was how to protect the seeds from birds, so I assumed they could somehow get through the shell to the seed.

I don't have the patience to shell the seeds, although baked and slightly salted they have a wonderful nutty flavor and are high in oil content.

JBJ, okay, I understand; tried to grow a garden in Hawaii once upon a time, with sandy soil, sounds like you found a solution. I tried those new fangled expandable peat pellets for starting seeds a few years back, that was a bust. But I have accumulated so many 4 inch plastic pots that I tend to use those more often than not.

Ami

I use the 4" plastic pots too, but I saw a mold for making pots from newspaper then planting the whole thing.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I cooked and ate my first green beans yesterday. They were pretty good. Tender, good flavor, and no shellies inspite of their length.

 

[Austin8]

I cooked and ate my first green beans yesterday. They were pretty good. Tender, good flavor, and no shellies inspite of their length.

Nice Jim, man I can't think of anything better than going to the garden and getting fresh vegetables, I cooked up a batch of homemade ice cream yesterday. I think it would even sweetin Stella up! Nah...

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Nice Jim, man I can't think of anything better than going to the garden and getting fresh vegetables, I ran of a batch of homemade ice cream yesterday.

Yep. And there wasnt a bad bean in the pick!

I'd like to make homemade ice cream, and its on the drawing board.

I baked and sold a cake for $10, yesterday. Cost me $3 to make.

I'm trying to duplicate apple pies Morrisons Cafeterias made. I use fresh apples, etc. I'm getting close to their recipe!

 

[dr_mabeuse]

No deadly nightshade, henbane, or monkshood? No poison ivy or wormwood or belladonna?

I'm surprised.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

No deadly nightshade, henbane, or monkshood? No poison ivy or wormwood or belladonna?

I'm surprised.

I'm subtle. I'll kill with kindness if I can.

 

[Austin8]

More rain today, did some weeding yesterday the carrots are really looking good and man the cabbage has really started growing with the damp cool weather. Making a new batch of ice cream today.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

AUSTIN

I picked lima beans yesterday. I didnt plant many vines so the harvest wont be huge, but what I got look good.

My carrot bed is ready to rock but its too hot to plant. Temps are in the mid-90s.

I plant my winter garden in crates and containers. So my carrots are a stubby variety that fit well inside a milk crate. I expect something like 3 bunches per crate.

My cantaloupe looks like a green, striped tennis ball.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Another trick of mine for saving money is to have a trash tree that grows quickly. Mine requires serious pruning every 3 months, and the pruned limbs are about 8-9 feet long, the branches range from 3-4 feet. All of them straight and sturdy. Cost: nuthin.

 

[Austin8]

Another trick of mine for saving money is to have a trash tree that grows quickly. Mine requires serious pruning every 3 months, and the pruned limbs are about 8-9 feet long, the branches range from 3-4 feet. All of them straight and sturdy. Cost: nuthin.

Jim

I too have a trash tree I've used those limbs to stake tomatoes, build tripods for the pole beans, and many other functions around the garden, altough, I did use some scavenged pvc for hoops over my beds. I think I got my carrots in a little early also, they too are a shorter variety. My soil is good, but after double digging it next year it will be much better for deep root crops. Chantenay carrots this year, seems to be a perfect variety for my area 8B. It's bulk collection time here, I picked up a old blue 55 gal. plastic barrel, covered it with some scrap window screen, put a valve on it and now I got a new rain barrel! Which is now full due to the recent rains.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

AUSTIN

We havent had rain in 3 weeks and the creek is pitiful.

Man! My cantaloupes look like NFL footballs! except theyre green.

And my squash finally decided to fruit. And the bell peppers are flowering.

I went ahead and planted my carrots. Theyre a 4 inch variety made for rough soil.

 

[Austin8]

Ive been looking for this thread, it's garden time again!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

bump

Amen Brother Austin. Florida sand is hot as fire. But my tomatoes make a nice shade over their roots.