Gardeners in the Asylum
 

We've been starting a new one every year but I figure to just let it roll...


Watcha growin'?

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I've got garlic sprouting already. Hopefully I get the full 36 heads I planted. Not sure what I"m going to do in the rest of the planters. I need to figure out how to automate a pump for my rain barrel first.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I'll let you know when the ground thaws.:D

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I have artichokes getting tall and raspberries coming up far and wide. Nothing new though. I have a big pile of compost to add first.

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I'm gonna clean up the bed beside the house in the next couple days. Just need to pull the spent broccoli plants.
I've got big ideas for the garden out back and I just thought up another flower bed for out front, so I'm in full idea mode.
We had sprinklers installed in the Fall, so it's going to be a joy not having to fertilize and water anymore. All I gotta do is fill up a jug and hook it to an injector and it'll fertilize while it waters. There's a rain guage tipper on the house that keeps from overwatering, too.
I'm really going to be in heaven. :D

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

If you guys would like to do some seed trading, that'd be cool. I'll dig my seed bucket out soon and let you guys know what I've got. If anyone wants to try their hand at tobacco, I have some open-pollinated seed that's from Perique, San Andres MX and Havanah 2000.
I think I'll plant Perique beside the house this year and just gather seed from it. I'll probably do San Andres next year. After that I can go back to selecting my own strain.
I want to work on my purple sunflowers, too. :tu

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I will be starting my first garden this year. Lots of veggies are planned. I haven't decided exactly what I am going to plant yet.

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I'll be flipping the garden soil over in the next couple of days with the tractor. I'm looking very strongly at converting part of the area into an Asparagus bed, and a small area into a fresh herb garden. I had a herb garden in the past, but the oregano ended up taking everything over. This time I'll be careful about dividing the areas of the individual herbs.

I'll be checking the local co-op this weekend for seeds, plants and potatoes. With the weather being much warmer this winter, I am seriously thinking about jumping the Good Friday plant guideline by at least two weeks. Maybe three.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Man, if you want to have a garden in MN you got to start early. I got a dozen tomatoes started and ready to sprout. Looking at getting my bells, jalapenos, habaneros and chilis started soon. When I get the ground stirred up I put carrots, beans, onions, potatoes, and zuchini in. I also use planters to grow chives, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and basil.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

We have some tomatoes, peppers (jalapeno, habanero, bells), beans, and cilantro started from seeds and ready to move to a bigger home. We just put about 30 strawberry plants into dirt this evening.

We have had success in small backyard gardens in the past mostly growing tomatoes, peppers and squashes. This year we want to try our hand at some hydroponic growing. Specifically some vertical solutions to pack more into the given space. I am only needing to find a solution to the problem of getting power to a submersible pump that will continuously pump nutrient rich water into the vertical growing system 24/7. There is one outdoor outlet in the backyard, but it would seem silly to run an extension cord across the yard, not to mention unsafe. I thought about burying conduit to run the extension cord through, which would seem like a decent compromise. The best solution of course would be to take a run from the box and have a gfci on the end sticking out of the ground and protected however necessary.

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I just got around to starting my seeds last night. The weather has varied from warm to cold, so I think I'll be okay. I do wish I would have started my seeds two weeks ago.

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How long did it take you to establish the artichokes? I've read it takes a couple years for them to produce, is that right?

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Not here. First year you get small ones, after that they get multiple stalks from each plant. You can divide them and really get a lot of 'chokes. Gophers and deer will wipe them right out. Mine are planted in boxes with a screen bottom. Every big 'choke you cut off gives you three or four smaller 'chokes further down.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Looks like I need to plant some this year. Love fresh grilled chokes with a squeeze of lemon.

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Hoping this weekend. My wifes been on me.

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I figure if I start the 1st of April, I'm good. I'd like to get flowers started sooner.
The boy is off school 3 weeks for spring break starting Saturday, so we should be able to get the plant stand set up along with the other umpteen million things that need done. :tu

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I would love to start early since we have been having such great weather (60's-70's) however, every time I have have tried to start early, some bad cold weather comes thru and either freezes or stunts the growth on my starters.
However this weather sure has me wanting to plant the veg.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

We had strawberry plants for 3 years. It all started with 4 small plants. They grew in the snow and frost, Couldn't kill the damn things off. If you let them, they will grow everywhere and spread like a weed. It wouldnt have been so bad but we could never get any decent sized berries off them and they never produced much.

I hope you have better luck than we did.

I think I'm gonna grow some more tomatoes this year, always had good luck with them.

And So it Begins!
 

Just a quick afternoon, but I got 17 tomato plants (5 varieties), 3 Bell pepper plants (no hot peppers this year, still have plenty in freezer from 2011), half a dozen broccoli plants. Potatoes and seed crops going in tomorrow.

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Woke up early this morning, couldn't go back to sleep. Nice outside, and rain was expected later in the day, so I went ahead and did some more gardening. I've now added new (red) potatoes, pink-eye purple-hull peas, butterpeas, rattlesnake green beans (just enough for fresh - I have plenty canned from 2011), cucumbers (for pickling), Squash, Zucchini, sweet corn (again, just enough for fresh - plenty still in freezer) and okra. I have some sweet potatoes to plant in next several days, but still have about 1/3 of space available. I need some ideas! NOT going to plant cabbage or lettuce (just not cost effective, and no good way to preserve). We don't care for turnip greens, mustard or Kale, and it's really too late to plant spinach. If I can find seeds, I might consider a mound of spaghetti squash. I'd love to plant multiplying (or bunching) onions, but I haven't found them locally anywhere in last 5 years. Bulb onions also not cost efficient (can buy cheaper than I can grow). If nothing else, I guess I can plant watermelon and cantaloupe. Those take up lots of room. Only problem, when they get ready, they get ready at same time, and no good way to preserve them. Will entertain suggestions.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Stagger plant some corn every two weeks? That way you can have fresh off the stalk for a long time. I do this because every year we wait too long and miss the best picking time.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

If you like sweet potatoes what about some squash bro? good stuff

How about some eggplant too, awesome breaded and fryed

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Got squash already planted. I enjoy eggplant, but I'm the only one, so it doesn't pay to grow something that I'm the only one eating! Although, I think I'll look for the japanese variety and plant a plant or two (my elderly mom really likes egg plant, and I found out this morning that she's not going to try gardening this year.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

good on you for thinking of your mom like that

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She really likes to use eggplant in lasagna. She will fry it occasionally, but uses it more in dishes as replacement for pasta. I bet if I bring her the eggplant, she will drop some of it back on me in the form of completed dishes!!!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

More than likely.
Better drop off some stuff for a pie while your at it and see how that pans out...lol

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We don't seem to be getting much action in this thread, despite the fact that planting time is upon us! Should we go back to a "yearly" title thread??

In the mean time, I picked up some Rutgers tomato plants today, plus two types of watermelon seeds and some cantaloupe seeds. We've had rain for the last 20 hours or so, and the garden is too soft to walk into. However, I should be able to get the rest of the purchases planted tomorrow. That will also give me time to look further for eggplant plants. After that, who knows. Depends on the garden space I have left.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I can't wait to get back and start getting my garden together. The compost will be well done and ready to top off the boxes. My wife sprained her back so she has not been gardening. We never need half the stuff we grow, anyway.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I picked up some asparagus seeds, never planted it before. Any tips?

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I'm going to put the plant stand together tonight so we can get our seeds started.
If I don't, I risk falling way behind.

Cliff, staggering starting times is best for holding your plants back. Your growing season is longer, but if it gets too hot and dry, you might need some shadecloth or something to keep the melons from scorching.
The only thing I don't stagger is tomatoes and corn. I use different varieties that bear at different times. It seems to work a lot better because we have such a short season. If the corn kernels don't start well, it's all over. No second chances.

I'm with you on the "yearly thread thing", too. I tried talking Lance into it when he was making this thread but I was a second too late. :D

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Cleaned up the planting beds, got all the weeds out. Now to get some more top spoil and manure and I'll be all set to plant next month. We've had such warm temps here it's tempting to plant now, but we're due for a spring frost at some point. Don't need to kill off the plants.

Redid my rain barrell, moving it to the other end of the garage, closer to the beds. I plan to fashion some type of automated watering system. Just need to start planning it out.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Well, I planted seeds indoor for celery, oregano, basil, three types of tomatoes, jalepenos, habaneros, bellpeppers, tomatillos, and tobacco. After three weeks I have one celery, three tomato, one basil, two oregano, one tomatillo, and three tobacco (one of them is named Shilala). I see no signs of life from any of the chili based plants. I am both overjoyed and concerned over these results simultaneously. Perhaps it's the freak weather?

I'm looking to mends the earth in the backyard, somehow, before planting. After I do that, I will sew some other plants directly into the ground.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I greww mint and lavendar last year. Going to try my hand at a little tobacco this year.
Working on planting some Forsythia today.

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I'd be interested in hearing how these do (seed form). I've only dealt with "crowns" when I've planted in the past. I'd assume the seeds would have a two year harvest restriction. With one year old crowns, you don't harvest the first year crop, and harvest only about half the second year spears. You can buy 2nd year crowns that are supposed to be harvest ready the first year. But I've heard, over a long time, 2nd year crowns yield less than planting first year crowns.

For seeds, I'd think you'd have a two,
probably three year wait for a good harvest.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Then you will have mint again this year. Mint sends shoots off everywhere and comes back like the living dead. It's a fitting plant for ZOTL's...

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Scott, I'm going to try a two week stagger on the melons. My main concern isn't the heat, it stem boring wasps that attack the squash and zucchini later in summer. I'm not sure how the melon vines will hold up. And with the lack of an extended hard freeze this past winter, we already are swamped with gnats, skeeters and other flying pests. I'm afraid I'm I'm for a much heavier workload this garden, just keeping the pests at bay!

Regardless, I planted the Rutgers tomatoes, squash, sweet taters, cantaloupes and watermelon this morning. I left room to plans 3-4 mounds of watermelons in two weeks. I'm still planning on eggplant if I find a flat of starter plants.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

You got that right!!!!!! Not as bad as ivy or kudzu, but it will survive even a shot to the head :)

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Oh god don't remind me about mint. Made that mistake. I think I finally got the last bit killed last summer.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Just got to grow mint the correct way - in it's own raised bed.

We've had such a mild winter here in the South, I figured to go ahead and start my garden. I usually wait until my birthday, which is 4/9. That and the fact Lowe's had all veggie plants 50% this weekend (ready to go for $16). That was a deal hard to pass up. It was overcast all day and even drizzled on me for a hour or more during my prep and planting. I got 4 Celebrity tomatoes, 4 Big Boy tomatoes, 4 cups of bush cucumber (which I've never grown - not messing with the trellis this year), 45 sets of lettuce, 4 bells, 4 jalapenos, and a pack of radishes for the kids. Still using the shredded leaf mulch from this winter as a ground cover. It works well. I also still have 50-70 large green onions from this winter. We've been eating them pretty steadily and they should be gone soon. Plus, my mojito mint garden is back in full production, They're choking out the chives.

5 rows of 9 plants of red sails, butter bibb, and romaine lettuce.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...9/P1050183.jpg

Cukes and tomatoes near onions.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...9/P1050184.jpg

Peppers planted in second onion patch. Radishes are planted in the square in the middle of the garden

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...9/P1050185.jpg

Mint and chives bed

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...9/P1050186.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I got two types of Cucmbers up. A bush type for pickling and a vine type for the gf to eat in salads and such.
Then some bush style green beens. I find them easier to grow, needing no poles or lines to set for them to grow up.
Also I have some yellow onions comming up along with some Yukon Gold Potatoes.
I have a few feet of carrots comming up as well. I don't care for them much, but the 1yr old loves them for some reason!
Then I have a line of asparagus. I haven't quite figured out how or when to harvest them. So right now they are nothing but an ornamental plant.

And last but not least, I have three different strains of Tobacco in seedling form. I may have over watered them some, because a few are dying off. I have replanted a few to see if I can recoop my losses on them.

All of the plants, I have staggered the planting of the seeds. Then, I don't have one big run of harvesting to do. So I have a run of one row of plants producing, then after I pick them, the next row will be producing a few weeks afterwards.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Cliff, I have a mosquito zapper machine that kills all sorts of flying critters that invade the garden. It works incredibly well. I'll try to find a link...
Here it is.
It's a Mega-Catch. It helps to stop the cycle by whacking parents before they lay eggs.
Aside from that, Liquid Sevin works charms. I mix it 1/4 strength and use the backpack sprayer. I do it every other week or as needed, as minimally as possible. It's as decent a pest control system as I've ever used and it's very safe.
You absolutely MUST be proactive to control bugs. Once they have a foothold, you're out of luck. Same goes with fungus. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You already called it, too. This year is going to be sheer hell. Without a proactive plan in place, it'll all be over before I get started.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I don't know if I offered yet, but if anyone wants to try their hand at planting some tobacco, drop me a pm with your address.
I have an open-pollinated strain that should do really well most anywhere. It's a gorgeous plant that yields tons of beautiful flowers. It's worth taking a shot just for the experience. I don't cure the tobacco, I have no desire. It'd be good stuff if someone wanted to go that way, though.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Heck, we're still getting frost warnings. Very little full sun. It just stopped after a month of raining, still more to go. I'm in China. Not much gardening getting done at my house.

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We got enough rain Friday to fill my rain barrel. That's off one half of a tiny garage. I'm beginning to wonder if i'll be able to plant anything this summer. Supposed to be on the road most of April and May.

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Thanks for the link, Scott. Sevin has been one of my "go-to" sprays in the past. I used to use the powder, but never could get good coverage. Tomatoes, last year, had aphid issues, and I had trouble finding just plain old "soap" insecticide, so I made my own with soapy, greasy dishwater. That seemed to do better than other store-brought items. I have to admit that squash and zucchini vines are my Achilles heel. I just cannot seem to keep them sprayed enough to avoid the stupid wasps and their off-spring worms. I had less issue last year with wasps stings on my peas, but that is also an issue. And I don't know if Sevin will even effect these wasps, since they basically contact the vines/pods with their stinger areas.

The zapper may be worth a look, but at the prices quoted, i can buy lots of Sevin! Probably going to live through it and adjust my insecticides as needed.

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I was able to go last year with just Azitrol, a natural arthropod growth inhibitor. It also keeps eggs from hatching. The problem with wasps is that they get by any surface treatment. Maybe there's a repellent.

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I put our stand together for starting plants. Weeze and I went to Target and found the right bowls for starting seeds, they fit perfect in flats.
I'm going to get those ready in a bit and plant all our seeds tonight. :tu

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

No matter what I've tried, the squash vine borers will not allow me to have squash much past late May. My mom and dad grow squash until the plants kill themselves with growth. Not fair at all. I'm lucky to get 2 or 3 pickings before wilt and death take over. Then the cuke worms come in the middle of summer. They will bore 10 holes or more in my cukes and make them inedible. Sure you could eat the fruit, worms and all, as they will taste like cukes, but it's a hard thing to do. I have to spray the small fruit and plants every few days if I'm able to have cukes. That's why I'm trying a bush variety this year. The trellis may make the opportunity more enticing for the little bastiges, so I'm going out-of-sight-out-of-mind this year. The skeeters and gnats are already out in force, so I can only imagine the onslaught this summer.

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The only bug I've had issues with are flys. They eat my tomatoes if I leave them on the vine too long.

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The county agent does a show here on public TV and he got a letter about
doing some 'what the hell' plantings since it is clear winter is not coming back
in in 2012. But the group of em laughed and said, "I wouldn't". But I think the
planters get the last laugh this year. It is 88 today in the midsouth, and I will
eat my HAT if it freezes again.