‘Cuz my President said to pull myelf up by the bootstraps. I’m gonna grow a big garden to bail out the economy.
However, I is too poor to affords a pretty hoophouse like Splintie so I’m going for the open air look….
Yeah it ain’t FineHomebuilding but you all love pictures of cute kids and mine are mighty fine looking….
The site in question is an old in ground concrete pool in my backyard. Don’t know who filled it in or why but I’m not planning on jackhammering it out any time soon…
We are raising a fine crop of dandylions right now….
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The has been a lot of rain this spring so we decided to get a head start on starting some seeds......
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Miss Emmie is really good at the presentation, perhaps a career on The Price Is Right?
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Young Joshua had to join in the seed pot fun. Even tho Dad doesn't like being in the picture he was a good sport for this one....
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Nothing sprouted out of the seed pots. There was too much rain and the clear lid for the tray kept blowing away....
Started caling around to see what a tiller would rent for, the going price seems to be around twenty an hour with a two hour minimum...
Went on a field trip and thought about borrowing this.....
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The farm in was on said no....
Started checking CraigsList for someone to till for me. Everybody seems to have the big tiller that mounts on the back of the ttractor.
Finally got a call back from Mike, lives only a half mile away. After waiting another two weeks for things to dry out, Mike came over and tilled the garden....
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So you ask about varmit control.
Bobbys is on call with his Red Ryder rifle just in case but otherwise....
We gots two mini daschunds.....
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And a cat.....
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With the tilling done, it was time to plant.
Because it was so late in the year we decided to get bedding plants for half the veggies just in case we din't get anything to sprout....
Here is Josh laying in the pumpkins......
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And so all is planted...
We are trying for
lettuce
radishes
carrots
zuchinni
squash
4 kind of cukes
lima beans
green beans
snap peas
regular peas
three kinds of maters
yellow pepper (don't ask me why I just plant the stuff)
watermelon
pumpkin
corn
Here's a closeup of the tomato's
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and of the whole garden
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More pictures after the seeds sprout in a week or so....
Looks great! Kids love watching things grow. Be sure to post pics as all of that comes into fruition.
Nice job! I'm looking forward to regular updates. My kids are all in college now, but when they were younger, it was easy to get them to help me in the garden. We would pick cherry tomatoes and peas and eat them as we worked.
This year, I'm growing peppers, cucumbers, lettuce and, of course, tomatoes. Last year, the deer got a lot of my tomatoes even though I live in the suburbs. I still see deer in the area so so I don't know what's going to happen this year.
Have you had any problems with the old pool area retaining water? I'm curious because they don't always break up the concrete adequately.
The pool doesn't seem to retain water. Not sure why that is. The guy that tilled said that they usually punch some holes in the bottom. This actually drains better than the rest of the yard.
I'm going to keep my fingers crossed this year. Last year the only thing I kept going was the herb garden because I needed fresh rosemary for a pork loin I make. There was a lot of rain last year too, which kind of made things tought to get started.
I'll My problem right now is my wife buys three flowers for every vegetable I get so I have to spend all my time planting flowers. We did start a perennial garden in the front so maybe next year I won't have to buy any @#$#%$% flowers.
Lefty-Wants to eat his garden, not look at it.
Might be all top soil for the fill or the bulk in gravel and then the top soil.Unless the rest of your yard that is probably all clay under 6" of top soil, IF ANY..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
Don't know, but dandy lions seem to do well and they have long roots don't they?
But when I was putting in post holes with the post hole digger I had no problem getting about 24 inches down and then it was a female dog for the last 12 inches.
Lefty-Only likes clay in flower pots...
P.S. Is your lake Lottawonna? Was an interesting artilce about them in Pitch this week....
No, Tapawingo.I looked up the article. Will have to read it later.The "story" is that the same developers did both lakes.The deed restrictions on Tapawingo said "Northern Anglo Saxon Protestants" and apparently had lots of connections to Pendegrass.And that Lotawana was for the Italian Crime Bosses..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
Edited 5/22/2009 11:27 am by BillHartmann
I see, one lake for the Methodists and one for the Catlicks.....where does that leave Winnebago?
Article was about their clown police Chief....sounds like a fun place to live...
Lefty-No lake in his backyard
Winnebago is a relatively new lake. I think that it was first developed in the 70's and the original development went bankrupt when they had problems with the Damm.So it really did not get going until sometime later. Long after there where any kind of restrictions of that sort..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
Yah I sure do wish they'd built that big reservoir on Indian Creek back in the 70's. We all know us Johnson Countians didn't want any of them Missourians fishing over here....:o)
Looks like you might even had some good dirt in there. Congrats on getting that going. Now mulch hell out of it...Sad story...i finally got a moment to get my own HH planted - been working lotsa hours at the Community Garden gig i volunteered to orchestrate - but last night they got frosted. The temp was listed as 36º for the low, but even the cole crops took a hit. I'm hoping they all come back from the roots, but i was ready to make pesto of my three types of basil. *sob*I want a bailout.
Sorry to hear about your hoophouses.....
With all the rain we've had I won't be lacking for mulch from the grass clippings. I was gonna hold off on putting that down anywhere that I planted seeds. I'm an idiot gardener so I'm not sure if mulch would smother stuff before it comes up or not.
I'm sure I'll have 'maters out the posterior later, want me to send you some?
Lefty-Be making pickles too, 4 cucumber hills!
Edited 5/22/2009 10:37 am ET by leftisright
<<I was gonna hold off on putting that down anywhere that I planted seeds.>>If you put the mulch down first, you just pull it back where your seeds go in. If you plant first, you can wait until the seedlings emerge to see where they are, then mulch. I have to use mulch for water retention, not a problem you're likely to have, but all that freshly turned soil is going to be ripe for a bumper crop of weeds if you don't get on it soon. I mulched my HH last year and figured all the weed seeds were done with, but a fresh crop came up this year, so i'm hauling grass clippings to mulch with. The clippings will also improve your soil if you turn them in every year. You may want to figure out a way NOT to rototill the ground, once you get going, bec tilling kills the earthworms and messes with soil structure. I was recently reading that autumn is the worst time to till bec the soil has developed all these symbiotic relationships needed to take it through the winter in good shape. I'm still reading up on that info, so don't take it as gospel, just yet. I till to start, but them just use a fork to turn over the beds and incorporate the old mulch and replacement compost.
Well I guess I can mulch where we used the bedding plants. Grass needs to be cut but I seeded the front yard and it's finally coming up. Have to get out the ruler and see if it's 3 inches yet.
Was wondering if a snake is a good sign? Saw a black snake with ayellow stripe in the back yard this a.m. After I peeled the wife off the ceiling got her off to work. How come everybody hates snakes?
There was a pair of robins taking a shower in the sprinkler yesrerday too.
Lefty-Proudly sponsored by Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
Black snake with yellow stripes is a garden snake. I planted mine head first one year and they never grew, so you must have done it right the first time.
So it looks like there may be some sucess with the seeds this year. Just about everything came up in about a week...
Mr. Beans
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Ms. Cucumbers
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And the radish gang
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Also making an appearance is the squash family...
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and the watermelon, don't know about the watermelon, the people around here I've talked with said they haven't had much luck, but we'll see...
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Also got the herb garden in, used all bedding plants for this, too lazy to sprout stuff....
The planted box it is was used for tomatoes last year but since we made a bigger garden using this raised bed for herbs......
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The garden contains rosemary, sage, honeydew melon sage, oregano, dill (probably need a garden full for all the pickles we're gonna need to make) lemon verbena, basil, lavender munstead (spelling?), german chamonmile, parsley, and something called steria rebudeana sugar plant, spoosed to be real sweet. I don't pick this stuff out, I just plant it and take care of it for my wife....
Here is the German chamomile in bloom..
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And the honeydew melon sage some nice flowers on it also....
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Funny thing is the spell check said the gonna was wrong and should be replace with gonad.....not going anywhere near that one.....
Had good luck with hanging baskets this year...these are front front of house....
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Have more pictures but I'm at my limt according to pie chart....going to cruise around and see whats up...
Things are really growing fast around here, especially the weeds. Going to have to get in the garden this weekend and start weeding......have mulched some but it hasn't rained here for a week so grass in lawn is not growing as quickly as it was. Hope to have everything mulched in a couple of weeks.
Also looks like everything grown from seed is ready to be thinned out....
Put in some marigolds for natural insect repellent (wife's idea)..
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Planted two different kinds of beans and two different kinds of peas but for some reason only one of each has come up. I will replant the other two rows with a different kind. Must be the crappy 20 for a dollar seeds.....
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I'm out of space for photos so got to clear that up quickly in order to get any more photos in.....
I'm out of space for photos so got to clear that up quickly in order to get any more photos in.....
I think the Taunton folks are trying to solve that problem.
jt8
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. -- Carl Sandburg
They better act quick of Mike Smith and Stan Foster will be gone.....
I haven't seen anything since Robyn replied she was checking into it a weel ago.....
Good color, geraniums and lobelia.
The key to watermelons is manure. Lots of manure. Barring that, lots of fertilizer. Also, as you might expect from a fruit named "watermelon," watering is critical. Water the living pi$$ out of 'em after they start to vine out, and you'll never go wrong. Cut back on it within a week or so of harvest, though, so the melons will sweeten up.
Jason
PS. Forgot to add that watering on a slow trickle is best for a long time. Till it's ponding in the yard from the runoff. Seriously.
Edited 6/6/2009 1:46 am ET by JasonQ
Looking great, LIR. I have a couple little girls showing up with their mama to claim a bed at the Community Gardens tomorrow. I'm looking forward to indoctrinating Lucy and Cara into the ways of the Green Goddess........
Sure wish the grass would grow faster.....never thought I'd say that but I need the clipping for mulch.
Guess I'll go cut the grass at the old ladyy down the street....
Trying this new fangled picture thingie.....
This picture is of the pumpkin plant. It has put out much growth but it has flowers now.....don't know if there is going to be any pumpkins out of this guy....
Was reading somewhere that on some plants the male flowers come put early but no fruit development until the female flowers come out......kinda typical of waiting forever for the ladies when you're getting ready to go out...
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Well, I see that Mr. Huck has solved my picture problem....
I'm not a real big cucumber fan but my wife really likes them and my father in law has a bit of a pickle fetish....
Planted four hills of cukes and all are looking good..
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And the squash is pumping along too....
Have two hills of yellow and two hills of green....
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Tried to grow snap peas and peas in the pod and one set didn't come up, problem is don't know which one failed....
These peas didn't say anything about being climbers but they have kind of wrapped around each other. Will probably put up some fencing for them to climb after thinning them out....
Actually this is the bean field, had some fail too, think it was the cheapie 20 for a dollar navy bean seed.
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Half of the corn crop is in and doing well. This end of the garden seems to be a little lower and water is pooling here so I think next year I will plant something that needs a lot of water....
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First crop to be harvested will probably be the radishes with the lettuce shortly after that....View Image
I'm getting just mounds and mounds of clippings for the Community Gardens from the school groundskeepers who are dumping it right at our gardens at the far end of the school property. I bring garbage cans of it home for my uses. I know...it's like green gold, eh?I've been reading more on soils this season...big, big topic, i find out. One of the articles made me rethink fall tilling bec it said that the soil forms certain beneficial living structures during the growing season, and tilling in the fall disturbs them badly. It didn't sound as hocus-pocusey when i read it, lol, but i don't have time now to relocate it and post a link. Anyway, no-tilling seems the best way of all, and keeps your worms alive, too, but i've tilled just to get the soil lighted up some.See if you can get some shredded newspaper for mulch. I shredded some with my mower last year and it's disintegrated beautifully as compost, though it would have blown out in a wind. I know banks shred their papers bec i used to buy bags of it for $3/bag for packing my woodwork to ship. I've heard they just give it away now...worth checking out. The inks these days are soy-based, so no worries there from lead.
Hmmmm....wonder if I could run newspaper through a paper shredder....
We did put newspaer down below the mulch when we put in the perennial garden in front...
Did you just run over it with the mower and bag it?
I think I might cut the neighbor from hells front yard and steal his clippings while he's at work. Betcha it will perplex the hell out of him...
I think my wife got carried away with the 'maters but I insisted on one Roma plant to try for some fresh 'getti sauce later this year...
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Edited 6/8/2009 1:31 pm ET by leftisright
And finally the yellow pepper plant that has started to bloom....I don't know why yellow except it's "something" different....
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That's all for this update.....thinned out the plants and weed some this past weekend, so I will have some new pics....
The neighbor will probably demand a portion of your garden as recompense. <G>I tossed sections of newspaper on the alfalfa in the field, then mowed it with the lawn tractor. Collecting the enormous amount of volume it created was the hard part; i could fill my lawnmower bag in ten feet. For mulching vice composting, i would think a paper shredder would be much better than a mower. The unknown would be how much shredded newspaper would mat down...might be worth an internet search to see if someone's tried that.I used flat sheets of newspaper to control weeds in the HH last year. It worked great, but it was a pain fitting them around the plants. I turned them into the soil at the end of the season (with a fork, not a tiller), and they decomposed pretty well, but it was too much work.
You don't have to turn it in at all. Just keep pilin' more on top and the worms will do it for you.When mowin', envision a strip in the center of the field six mowers wide, go down the center dischargin' to the left, then return dischargin' to the right, then go to the outside and go down dischargin' to the center, and back up the other side dischargin' to the center. You'll wind up with a strip of grass clippin's you can easily rake into a windrow. Let that dry, then collect it with a trailer to use as mulch._________________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_h1vk23kik
Heh, heh,,she said No Till...
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Les came by with his Ford and 6' tiller...we did about 40-45x 85-90
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To think I used to mow all that, for no reason..thats the house in the back there...
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I let Les roll my hay out in the back 40, and he lends the tractor and lets me stack hay when he's tired..LOL
I love the old coot, he's a funny local, with a great attitude.
Oh, 2/3rds is sweet corn, 1/3 is 4 kinds of beans.The other beds are all the other goodies.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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Edited 6/8/2009 7:42 pm ET by Sphere
Edited 6/8/2009 7:44 pm ET by Sphere
Edited 6/8/2009 7:47 pm ET by Sphere
Edited 6/8/2009 7:49 pm ET by Sphere
Sweeet.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
MMM! Sweet corn.
Nature's Junk Food!_________________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_h1vk23kik
Here's a couple of pics of mine. Got in a little late and then got hammered by 13.5 inches of rain and had to replant some things. Picking squash, cukes, corn and snaps. Blueberries also.KK
Another pic, first did not attach.
That ain't pine straw, what is it?Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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Sphere.It's hay. I put about 5000 pounds a year on the garden. I put scrapped out sheetrock in the middle of the rows also. Never too wet to walk.KK
Gotta use rotted hay here, or straw, otherwise, weed city. We are drought prone, opposite of you all.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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We are dry at the moment. I pump out the pond for a few hours a day, Gotta alternate rows so I can still pick. Once you start mulching with hay you have to continue so the bahia grass does not take over.KK
<<You don't have to turn it in at all. Just keep pilin' more on top and the worms will do it for you.>>If you're talking about the newspaper sections i fit around the plants...no, they didn't disintegrate at all about ground...i left one to see, but it just stayed warped and brittle and floated on top of the soil. Windrowing works if you have a powerful enough mower, but mine is a 23 HP lawntractor, new engine, and it just wouldn't throw that kind of volume. It was dry, too, and the most horribly dirty job. Now i have all the grass clippings i could ever possibly use from the school groundskeeper dumping them at the CG.After seeing today what the Food Bank was throwing in the pig-lady's truck at the end of the day, i'm re-thinking gardening at all. Man, i was shocked at the food that i can't afford to buy, like designer goat cheese in 4 oz. containers, at which the food bank clients had turned up their noses. I just nuked an gorgeous artichoke i picked up and ate it with tzatziki for dinner, courtesy of the crazy American economy where too much is never enough. I'm still in shock. Well fed, but in shock...
I was talkin' 'bout mulch in general, but if you leave anything down there it will eventually break down.
If you want instant gratification, get a chia pet.
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I didn't know you had alfalfa. That is an excellent source of N.
I also know that comfrey grows well in your region. It's used for fodder, but if you add it to your compost/mulch it's like a steroid for plants.
_________________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_h1vk23kik
Chia pet...shouldn't that be Michelle, she of the garden photo op?If it ever stops raining, i'm going out to cut the alfalfa before the grasshoppers eat it all. I used Semaspore in the HH this spring, gonna bio-nuke the rest of the yard soon, see if i can unleash WMD on the hoppers.
The chickens are chasing down every bug on the property, I love it.
Squash and potato beetles don't stand a chance..nor cut worms, and fire ants.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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We got the Community Gardens planted yesterday. It looks "real" finally. I wonder how long before we get a killing frost or the deer destroy it.......... <rolleyes>
I saw a bleepin chipmunk in the garden this morning. He was chowing down on the lettuce and radishes I thinned out. I'm thinking the dogs are getting house REAL soon.
We had about four inches of rain this afternoon, some of the beans and corn got hammered.
Do you every get scared when you go out the next day and see that stuff grew a foot overnight? The cucumbers are eying the rest of the garden for a hostile takeover.....
Lefty-Needs bobbys and his Red Ryder rifle
Down at the Community Gardens, the groundskeeper told me one day i couldn't bring my dog on the school grounds anymore, bec of the poop policy. She was always on a long leash while i worked, while the neighborhood dogs strolled over and dumped, but he was adamant.Later i got to thinking about keeping the deer at bay and thought that dog poop would be just the thing to spread around the perimeter. Sooooo, the dog won't be welcome, but the "deer repellent" might get under the wire.
No such thing as deer repellent.I managed to keep 'em out one year by stringin' a 16ga elec. cord between t-posts at eye level. Worked for 3-4 weeks._________________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_h1vk23kik
You need a dog. Or six.
Cats rule.Dogs just drool._________________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_h1vk23kik
For the established beds we have, I started saving cardboard and news paper and with water and a BIG trash can.....add a weedwhacker and make pulpy , paper mache like glop. Its similar to hydro mulch, and just scoop, or pour it around the beds.
It stays where ya put it, can be added to, and looks better than paper flapping in the wind.
And its FUN!..LOLSpheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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Hmmm...wonder if i can convert my new Sunbeam stand mixer for that... ;^)Edit: Gadzooks, your house is in a gorgeous setting!
Edited 6/8/2009 9:22 pm by splintergroupie
Gorgeous don't say it. It's incredible. That is the railroad tie beds at the end of the new till, then a strip of the driveway, some apple trees and up by the house the HUGE Maple I am trying to save. Over on the left is the berry patch. The icestorm and nearly hit tornado did a lot of tree damage, but I got most of it cleaned up.
I'll get ya some other pics of the property..I need to head out back anyway, have not took a saunter in a spell.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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Ouch!Do you mean they got frosted inside the hoophouse?We just had two days of vicious wind immediately following the day I decided to go ahead and plant most of my indoor starts. Four tomato plants and one broccoli were broken off right at the ground, but at least I saved back extras for emergencies like this.It was 41* here last night, but has been up in the fifties most nights lately.
<<Do you mean they got frosted inside the hoophouse?>>I'd left the doors ajar bec i wasn't expecting freezing, so i think a blast of freezing wind whipped through during the night...freakish, for sure. I've closed up the HH and gone through 28º with no issues. It's been awfully windy here, too; i think my squash are done for. Between record-setting highs a month ago, new snow on the mtns. today, and my well problems of late, this is NOT going to be the Year of the Garden like last year was!
Sorry to hear it.
Your tiller guy must have handled the machine pretty well. Those concrete edges would have worried me a bit and I probably would have stopped short of the sides a bit so as to not run the tines into the crete. But then I don't till all that much.
jt8
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. -- Carl Sandburg
He was very good and the best part was that it was only five bucks more than renting ti myelf....
I'm going to have him back in the fall to turn it back under......
It ain't fine homebuilding, but it IS VegetableGardener.com. How about posting your photos over there in the gallery? You'd be in good company. VG.com launched in February; it's a new Taunton blog you might enjoy.
No way.........them Gardeners is worse than the Cooks.....I've built up enought goodwill here to survive :o)
Besides I figger that the chances of getting criticism is less here.
No, we're friendly and uncritical; you'll be safe there. It'll be a big change from the tavern, though.
Your garden is well tended, especially the one that was entrusted to you.
Good project, Lefty!
On the issue of when to mulch, I don't put mulch down until I'm sure the soil is good and warm. I think that if it goes on too early the soil won't warm as fast.
I'm glad to see another family gardening! It's a lot of work, but an incredible amount of satisfaction.
Been following your thread for awhile, enjoying it.
We planted spinach for the first time this year, and boy-o-boy, has it been productive! Yummy!
Also, we already have 1 red tomato. Many yellow crooknecks and zuchs coming on.
Herb garden is going nuts! Our dill is about 7 feet tall.
Don't tell my father in law about that dill plant. He's already bugging me for cucumbers for his pickle fetish and they haven't even bloomed.
Looks like the pumpkin is a goner tho.....kids will be disappointed...
Plant your pumpkin again.
I hate to tell you this, but you planted it waaay to early. I believe they usually yield in 90 days, so you are way ahead of fall harvest. That, and I think they love the heat. So you still have plenty of time to start over.
The dill. Well, it didn't do well last year, and just sprung up this spring. I'll try to get a picture for you, but it looks like a tree at this point.
Well it was an orphan pumpkin plant at the garden store, figgered couldn't lose at a dollar.
I'll probably replant and maybe do the watermelon again too.
Did learn this year that good seed makes all the difference. Burpee rocks! But couldn't bring myself to buy any Martha Stewart seeds, that woman gives me the heebie jeebies.
What are you doing to keep the weeds down?
Lefty-10 days to radishes according to the package....
We have weird dirt here, so no weeds. Scary, almost.
Like I said, I'll post pictures soon.
Must be nice, I can't cut the grass fast enought to get the clippings to use as mulch. Mower ate a rock last Friday and we've had five inches of rain this week. That stuff gonna be TALL by the time I get back this weekend.
When I was a wee boy my daddy used to say "The only reason I had three boys was so that I didn't have to cut the grass." I know I was muttering azzhole under my breath when I was cutting the grass on a 100 degree July day....
Anyway one of the great things about my garden is that it gets the kids involved...
Here is Joshua watering
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Emmie was checking out the baby peppers
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I think it's great that you have the kids involved in the garden!
Somebody gotta pull the weeds. :o)
I'll try to post some pictures of our garden later on today, but drat, we are going to move soon, so we will be leaving it all behind.
We will plan a great garden next year though, as we are moving to a worm farm. Yep, you heard me right. A worm farm.
You all will have Soil Envy from here on out... rich, dark, black soil.
We had the first fruit (veggies) develop in the garden. This is the first pepper....
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One of the cucumber plants has blossomed but I was reading somewhere that the male flowers come out first and then the female but like Mike Smith says "Wadda I know"?
I got a feeling that I going to be very, very sick of cucumber in a couple months....
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So, how's the garden doing? A lot happens in a week this time of year.
Well....ise bean on an involuntary vacation for baiting Republicans..apparently they must be out of season.But.....have lotsa progess pics to upload, some cute kid pics, and some sad pictures. All coming soon to this thread.
For those of you that are Republican or right leaning. It was a joke. However, apparently it is necessary to point out one's jokes and sarcasm now to avoid offending the easily offended.
Lefty-Didn't whine or pout just servied my time.
P.S. Robyn, thanks for letting me back in.
P.S.S. this is a thread about my garden. Only me, as the owner of the thread may introduce politics into said thread.
Welcome back!Unfortunately, they didn't shut the door quick enough and a few of the vermin slipped in with you.Don't wait up for the shrimp boat, Mama.
Lefty's comin' home with the crabs._________________________________________________
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Tonton Matou
Welcome back. I bet that garden is gorgeous by now. I just bought some zucchini! I know, I know. People give it away where you are.
So we'll start with the cute kid pictures. I see all these people ranting about kids these day sitting on their heinies in front of the tv and nver going out door. My son Josh isn't like that, he's always outside.....
Found a snake in the front yard...
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Found a turtle in the creek across from Grandpa's house...
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All that chasing animals just tuckered him out.....he was borrowing Mom's sunglasses 'cuz the light was too bright...
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And on to the garden, splintie told me if you don't get that mulched you're gonna have many weeds. Was she ever right....I spent the better part of three days just pulling weeds out to get it cleaned up...has been in the 90's with real high humidity.
This is what the peas look like..
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If you look closely at this picture you might be able to see the lettuce, radishes, and carrots...
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Next year gonna get me one of these to take care of my field....
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So I was talking to my father in law about some of my problems like....
Worms...
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and heavy rain that makes your corn fall over.....
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and he said, "Welcome to being a farmer..."
Most of the corn was back upright in a couple of days...the storm that it went through there was a microburst just about a mile from our house...
Hey splintie, thought you would like this picture......
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This is Chubeani aka Chubby (he was real fat as a kitten), he is the work supervisor in the garden even tho he's supposed to be an inside cat.
He's one of the litter we (excuse me, the pregnant cat that showed up on our doorstep) had last year. All were adopted out or kept by their people family...
Back to the garden, everything is blooming....
Beans...
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Maters....
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Squash....
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Cukes....
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A second crop of corn is up....
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and sucess in the garden...the first radishes are done and out...
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Told you in the beginning, there was good news and bad news...
I worked a lot on Wednesday afternoon, weeding and getting more mulch down, didn't pay much attention to the weather, except that it was so hot and humid my shirt was soaked after being outside for ten minutes....
I looked north about 7 pm and the sky was completely black and it looked like a storm was coming in....
Started pouring like crazy and wind howling so hard the rain was pretty much horizontal....
We had straight line winds in excess of 60 mph and got about 4 inches of rain in just thirty minutes.
It stopped raining for a so I went to check on the yard and my house.
This what the neighbors yard looked like...
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They lost the top 20 feet of their maple but only had a dinged up gutter....
Edited 6/27/2009 1:00 am ET by leftisright
There wasn't any damage to my house but this is what the garden looked like...
Both corn crops totally smashed to the ground...
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Didn't look any better under light the next morning...
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The new bean crop was flattened....
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The wind was so strong that the tomatoes cages were uprooted....
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Everything was bent to the south because of the wind and rain...
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The squash and cucucmber looked kind of weird. they were still rooted but all of the vines were upside down and it looked like they were are being blown by a wind from the north...
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And the first crop of beans was blown over as well...
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So what's it look like after the storms moved off and the sun came out?
Beats me I was leaving town on Thursday to go the in-laws.
Havea meeting with a guy that has a lot of small projects he needs done in his rentals that are vacant.
I've done several wheelchair ramps in this small town but they just decied that their going to start asking people to build to code but sure if their going to require inspection just permits.
Might be an opportunity to work for a few weeks and pick up over a thousand in cash.
I'm hoping and praying the garden looks better when I get back. I think most of will do well except maybe the corn.
An update will be posted on Monday
Lefty-Not ready for market
Leave some of those radishes in the ground to flower and go to seed.
They have a tiny little seed pod like a doll house size pea pod. Good in salads._________________________________________________
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In my experience corn will come back, unless the stalk is snapped off. Don't know about the rest of the stuff.Good thread - Thanks for working on it.
Drink 'til she's cute, but stop before the wedding.
Hey Boss,
Thanks for reading, I threw the red tractor in there 'cuz I knew that was your kind, it was at a local childrens farmstead, thin it might be a Massey, but they don't let the city folk get too close to look at 'em.....
Leftyk
The tractor is actually an old Allic Chalmers (AC) brand - Not a Massey.But thanks fer thinking of me.
Courage is being scared to death...but saddlin' up anyway. [John Wayne]
Allis Chalmers used to be one of the largest employers in my hometown.
Long gone mid seventies
Apparently mother nature can take a wallop and keep going....
Corn before....
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Corn 1 week later...
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The squash looked like it was all pulled to the north after winds blew through....
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Most of it recovered nicely...
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One plant died off but there is new growth coming up...
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The tomato cages were bown over, some of the branches broke off....
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....but they are puttering along quite fine now
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The cucumber looked like they were dragged south too....
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But 3 of the four hills have come back strong...
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And last but not least, the beans were flattened....
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...sprung back up....
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Progress continues elsewhere, the peppers are getting a little bigger.....
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A fence was built for peas to climb on, I noticed they spent all their time trying to strangle each other and not concentrate on making peas.....
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The radishes were harvested but turned out to be too hot to be eaten, I'm told that it's not a good idea to grow them when it is out. I will try another crop when it cools off in September....
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And half of the lettuce was harvested and the first use will be on burgers for 4th of July..
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Looking good! I love hot radishes. My lettuce was eaten by the rabbits and ground squirrels here even though we had a fence around them.
Don't mind me, I'm just bumping it up so bobbys can find it...