Let's see those '11 gardens!

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by jjirons69

Great work there, Wayne!

I have ~100 yellow and white onion sets in the ground (a week now). Have crookneck squash starting indoors. I'll plant the squash, cukes, and pole beans by 3/19 or 3/36. The tomatoes and peppers will go in the week of 4/2 or 4/9.

Do you find it takes a while for the peppers to germinate? Mine have been running at 2 weeks before I see anything. I know it has to do with heat and all, but still 2 weeks seems a long time.

[jjirons69]

Originally Posted by wayner123

Do you find it takes a while for the peppers to germinate? Mine have been running at 2 weeks before I see anything. I know it has to do with heat and all, but still 2 weeks seems a long time.

Sorry, Wayne, never checked back to the thread. It does take peppers quite a long time. Two weeks is not unusual. The warmer you can keep them, the better (75-80F). By now, you should have plenty of peppers...hopefully.

Planted everything on 4/9. Here's the list:

4 - Celebrity tomatoes (2 to the hill)
4 - Better Boy tomatoes (2 to the hill)
1 - Sweet 100 cherry tomato
4 - crooked neck squash (3 to the hill)
100s of yellow and white onions
1 - monster jalapeno (5+")
3 - jalapeno (2 to the hill)
2 - California bell peppers (2 to the hill)
trellised Marketmore cukes (30-40)
trellised 2-3' asian cukes (15-20)
1 - volunteer cannonball pumpkin from compost this winter

Thanks to Shiala's post a couple years ago, I've quit tilling. I put all my lawnmower clippings and fall leaf grindings in the garden. Have been doing this for 2 years now. The mulch is 3" deep in areas. Keeps the plants moist, the heat down, keeps the walking areas free of mud, and contributes to tons of earthworms. It's also a breeze to weed, when one can manage to poke through all the mulch. Planting is a cinch, as the soil is always moist, dark, and rich. Now I just loan out my tiller.

Also have a 4'x4' compost bin (2' deep in mature compost) that has 10-15 grown potato plants. I tossed old Irish potatoes in it this winter and they've thrived into mature plants. They should be ready to harvest in about a month. Novel idea I'll do again next year!



Onions have the mulch cleared back to prevent rot:



My mint and leeks garden:

Spearmint
Kentucky mint
Chocolate mint
Curly Mint

Love those mojitos!



Varmint guard dog and obsessive fetcher - Fritz