I have no idea why the volunteer potatoes look and do so much better then the ones I plant , I am going to dig one in the next couple of days…
Posted on 05/30/2014 12:57:27 PM PDT by greeneyes
Just found an interesting link: (free for download) Vegetable Garden Worksheets for Planning Your Home Garden; a Gardening Diary, Zone Chart, and Planting Guide
http://www.vegetable-gardening-online.com/vegetable-garden-worksheets.html
They also offer other free helps and an online garden planner for small gasrdens or individual raised beds:
http://vegetableplanner.vegetable-gardening-online.com/
...and much more.
Thunderstorms have been hampering garden work: 1+ in the last three days; just enough to keep the soil too wet to plant anything; but just right to yank out weeds. :-) The coming week is supposed to be dry until the weekend.
Storms didn’t stop the chicken plucking project. Dunked in 180F water for 15-20 seconds, and the feathers came right off; 10-15 minutes per bird, since I’m picky. *<];-) They dressed out at or just above, 4 pounds each.
Now that the chicks and the seedlings are out of the utility room, the power bill should drop about $15/month.
thanks for the 'heads up'.
—showers of around 5 or ten minutes duration, but no accumulation.—
We have been back to the old country for a few days. We drove through heavy rainstorms in 3 states, seeing flooded homes, businesses, roads. An 8 hr trip turned to 12 each way. We figured we got plenty of rain at home too, probably, since it moves from west to east. We got home yesterday evening, and we only had 1/4” rain!
We were not home to feed the squirrels and birds so they took they’re revenge by eating our green tomatos. We found 6 tomatos on the ground this morning.
My banana peppers are the biggest that I have ever seen. We have quite a few jalapenos, a bunch of chiltepens, maybe 25 or 30, on one plant and about 10-12 cayenne peppers. I forgot to look at my ghost peppers when I was out there.
All the flowers are very happy. Our wheelbarrow planter is looking pretty nice, too, as are the flower beds.
Pleasant surprise: my “Centennial” sweet potato plants were at the Post Office today...and are now in the garden. Supposed to be 12, but there were 2 extras; and just because I know how hard they are to kill, I also planted the broken off leaf & stem mixed in with them.
Also finally made use of the 2’ planter box we found at recycling: it is filled with freshly planted sweet pea seeds, and placed to climb a trellis on one end of the east-side porch to give some badly needed morning shade to the house.
Mid May, up last week, we had daily heavy “snow” from the cottonwoods. This week, we have entered the Season Of Yellow Windshields, as the pines shed pollen beyond all reason. All the puddles along the roads look like they are rimmed by sulfur, where the pollen has stuck to the wet soil. Wish I owned stock in Benadryl!
Is that barley hulls under your berries? Does it help with pests as well as keep them tidy?
My last tiny experiment with strawberries was a total failure, so I just brought a different variety - June Berry- and made a raised bed sort of along the lines of a bag container. I made a round out of a little wire edger fence, lined it with landscape fabric, then filled it with what I hope is a good soil mix.
Four plants which already had berries went in, and look much better after a few days in their new home. Now I hope they have a nice flavor. The last ones were exactly like cardboard.
I love wild strawberries best - but they are wild, and don’t grow many places around here.
They are rice hulls and they keep the weeds down and the moisture up however they are harboring some tiny pest this year that this eating very small holes in a lot of the berries. It could be very small slugs...
I have no idea why the volunteer potatoes look and do so much better then the ones I plant , I am going to dig one in the next couple of days…
Picked a few snow peas yesterday.
Tomato plants have really taken off this past week. Most of them are better than knee high now.
Some of the peppers look good, some of them look like they’d rather be somewhere else.
Salad is growing faster than we can eat it.
Sweet corn needs to be side-dressed.
Garlic is starting to turn brown at the leaf tips so it won’t be long before it’s ready to harvest.
Busy, busy, busy...
Those are all so beautiful. My husband decided to get SERIOUS this year, but he has a way to go to get his garden so nice as yours.
I’m taking it easy this year since my surgery. I am only putting a couple of things in on my side. Next year I hope to do a good dig down and rehab my dirt. It’s disgraceful.
The big experiment began today. I think I got the interested parties; if I didn’t, or included someone who isn’t interested, sorry.
Good Friday I planted 12 Russet Burbank potatoes in the normal manner. I bit over a week ago, they still were not up, so I bought another identical package to replant them...then it rained for a few days. When I could again think about planting, all of them had emerged, and I was stuck with the extras. Today, the solution hit me: a competitive trial!
Where the next row over would have been, had I decided to use them in another row, I tilled it today, then moved 5 old 16” pickup tires into place, then dug in fertilizer at the same rate as the originals received, and planted 2 seed pieces in each tire. That allows the same spacing, both inside the tires, and from tire to tire, to be the same used in the regular rows. I have enough tires to stack at least 3 high; and can easily get more for free, if needed; and I have enough straw on hand for this.
Same variety; same soil; same fertilizer; same spacing; same watering. We’ll see what the yields are between the two; and compare sizes as well.
Excellent, AR.
Beautiful!
Gorgeous strawberries!
Our radishes, little carrots and container corn are coming up!
/johnny
We’re planting in containers this year. I don’t know if that would be helpful for you, but with my bad knees, it’s much easier for me. Even raised beds are better for those of us who may have some joint or back issues.
Radishes and chard getting first true leaves. Toy Choi, dill, and a ton of volunteer cilantro are well up.
Onion seed & leek seed didn’t make it; but the transplants and sets are doing well, as are the shallots and garlic.
Carrots are sprouting under their light mulch
Had volunteer leaf lettuce in tonight’s salad.
Too wet to put the corn & beans in yet. Never pre-started corn, though I regularly transplant thinnings...or do you mean your corn is permanently grown in containers?
How cool! Please keep us informed on progress! I’m guessing that BOTH methods could turn out well! But one might be easier than the other...
I am pleased with the little cage mesh I put up around mine, since I don’t have space to do a conventional “hill.” The dirt is about 4-6 inches above the surface of the rest of the bed. I’ve been wondering if I should dump more dirt in there. The first potato plant is putting out a flower!
I showed my potatoes pic's of Tubebender's Potatoes. My potatoes became so depressed, they are now on suicide watch.
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