Any gardener's on the Files?

[FIANNAFAL]

Organic Market Gardner here. Tired of Moa therory vs reality threads. COVID and Pedo Joe also.
Figured we could brag or bitch on our gardens.Maybe share tips.

 

[meltblown]

Wife started a garden a few months back. May make it larger now that we got a fence around the place. 5ft seems to keep the deer back. Need more soil though because the ground is basically sand.

 

[357ross]

Lack of water is a big problem. Would like to raise more canning vegetables but no irrigation water makes it too expensive.

 

[FIANNAFAL]

I catch rain water. Legal here in TX. Pond water pretty nasty. Every building has a metal roof.
Try not to waste time with barrels. Get totes or bigger.
Deer are a major pain. Going to try black pepper next. My place is not fenced.
Would post pics but non contributor status. Jen no take checks.

 

[Story]

Figured we could brag or bitch on our gardens.Maybe share tips.

1. Fourth year with a fig tree, early crop was extraordinary and there's as many fruits still on the branches waiting to ripen as I've harvested to date. They're a PITA the first few years but well worth the hand-holding. Gotta build the burlap teepees filled with dead leaves insulation over the winter, tho.

2. Use to do copious and varied tomato plants, cut back to just one this year (because of increased shade) and managed to execute it in four days by overwatering. Oops.

3. Might plant a potato mound in it's place, like a memorial gravesite.

4. Don't forget your pollinators. It's centering to watch a Swallowtail delicately dance with a Monarch in the morning, knowing they'll be doing their thing with the neighbors' gardens on either side.
Googlefinger says this is good for your particular grid squares -> Nectar Plants | Mesquite, TX - Official Website (cityofmesquite.com)

5. Butterflies are cool.

 

[easttex]

I gave up on gardening on my balcony. It's a fools errand and too windy.

I do have several $3.00 orchids I've managed to revive though if that counts towards anything?

 

[FIANNAFAL]

Story I am actually from Mesquite. My place has lots of Rose of Sharon that hummers love.
EastT you'll be back in the woods before you know it.
Big problem with bindweed. Kin to mourning glories. Think it came in mixed with wild flower seeds. Compost bins moved every year.whats left behind is planted with flowers.
Bind weed can choke a walk behind weed eater

 

[Story]

Story I am actually from Mesquite.

Yup. Now how would I know that?

 

[lpcullen]

Non contributors can't post photos? Is this something new?

 

[ByronF]

Skipped a few years but will get back at it next year.

1. Heirloom seeds only.

2. Raised beds only. Tilling a big square of average dirt with clay is a waste. Raised beds with GOOD soil is worth the up front effort.

3. Garden like it's 1776. Root crops kept them alive through winters.

 

[FIANNAFAL]

Family gardens a little different than for market.
I save seed also, but do grow better boys for market. Hybrids that mature quick ,good colr and taste. Plus not to big. Still got several Cherokee Purple for family favorite.
My place is not flat, so it's sand or red clay. Terraced raised beds are easier than fighting clay. Still use row crops also .Story its in my profile here.

 

[ByronF]

I wouldn't mix heirloom and hybrids if you plan to save seeds. They'll likely cross and mess up your seeds. Even broccoli can screw up cabbage, if I recall correctly.

 

[richbug]

Still got several Cherokee Purple for family favorite.

If you like Cherokee purple, seek out Cherokee Carbon. Much better tomato.

We grow a few acres of pumpkins and squash for our roadside stand. A 1/2 acre each of sweet corn and potatoes for the various landlords, friends, and family. Good size garden on top of that.

I grow a few acres of other stuff too, but wouldn't call it a garden... Corn, wheat, soybeans, oats, rye, buckwheat, spelts....

 

[Smellycat]

In Alaska I sprayed my trees with a blood based product to keep the Moose from eating them in the winter. Can't remember what it was called but it worked well for the moose and probably would work for deer. It was cold there though and I didn't have to worry about the rain washing it away. Also smelled a little until it froze. We were able to get it at Home Depot.

 

[SmokeEater2]

We've switched to all raised beds for ours and it's working out much better. Really handy this time of year when rain is just a distant fond memory and I have to water every evening.

Everything did well except for cucumbers and green beans this year due to a weather delay early in the season.

We had several tomato plants that went above and beyond this year and provided a LOT more than we could use so the hog we raised to butcher got plenty of fresh tomatoes and other veggies before it went to freezer camp.

Pretty soon it'll be time to put in the fall cool weather stuff.

 

[FIANNAFAL]

Cherokee purple just not productive enough for market.heard of C carbons and may try them.
I have 3 grow areas well seperated for seed saving.

 

[starbuck]

I've been pretty serious about gardening since 2015 but I've always planted at least a cherry tomato. I've been working on a set of open pollinated seeds that are as fool proof as possible for Ohio. This is the third year I've tried a three sisters garden and I'm almost there. I've got some strong pole beans, Okra is easy, peas aren't bad, this year I grew tuxana sweet corn which is the best open pollinated corn I've ever eaten, we'll see about saving seed. Tabasco peppers are easy, butternut squash, marketmore 76 cukes, and garlic, I haven't settled on a tomato yet. I grow a bunch of other stuff too thats either hybrid or multi year seeds but thats about it for my shtf seeds so far.

 

[Story]

This is the third year I've tried a three sisters garden and I'm almost there.

What corn did you choose?

 

[Invictus77]

The wife unit here plants a big garden every year.

Tomatoes and various peppers = home canned salsa plus tomato sauce.

Cucumbers = home canned sweet-butter pickles.

Various squash = not canned but frozen, plus stewed with onions and mushrooms for most summer dinners.

A row of giant sunflowers on the west edge = they are pretty and I can shoot a few doves from the pool.

Sweet corn we get from a farmer who is 3 farms west of us and plants an acre or so. Most years we put up 30-40 quarts.

 

[juanni]

I got a good sized garden.
Zukes, squash, cukes, basil, tomatoes, cilantro, carrots, turnips, radishes, kale, lettuce, and sweet onions.
All organic.

Gotta scale it down though, can't eat it fast enough, I don't can and can't give it away because the locals only eat deep fried and processed foods.
....... and it shows.

Once a week I cull out the monster zukes and commit mass zucchini abortion right there in the garden.



..............juanni

 

[SmokeEater2]

I got a good sized garden.
Zukes, squash, cukes, basil, tomatoes, cilantro, carrots, turnips, radishes, kale, lettuce, and sweet onions.
All organic.

Gotta scale it down though, can't eat it fast enough, I don't can and can't give it away because the locals only eat deep fried and processed foods.
....... and it shows.

Once a week I cull out the monster zukes and commit mass zucchini abortion right there in the garden.



..............juanni

It sounds like a good reason to buy a pig for butchering next year. We feed ours all the excess garden produce and anything the bugs blemish etc. it cuts down on the feed bill and the hog loves it.

This years hog has already been processed and in the freezer so the extra tomatoes etc. go to the laying hens now. Anything after that goes in the compost pile.

 

[John Crusher]

Rose of Sharon for the Hummers also.
I container garden tomatoes and peppers and have eaten more than my share, given away a bunch and made a whole mess of sauce.
We have more flowering plants and shrubs than you can shake a stick at and the wife is out early to water every morning.
I like setting out in the evening enjoying the smell.

 

[Story]

It sounds like a good reason to buy a pig for butchering next year. We feed ours all the excess garden produce and anything the bugs blemish etc. it cuts down on the feed bill and the hog loves it.

 

[starbuck]

What corn did you choose?

Hickory King. Its tall and good for the beans. I'd like to use a sweet corn but there is no way they would survive the raccoons.

 

[juanni]

It sounds like a good reason to buy a pig for butchering next year. We feed ours all the excess garden produce and anything the bugs blemish etc. it cuts down on the feed bill and the hog loves it.

This years hog has already been processed and in the freezer so the extra tomatoes etc. go to the laying hens now. Anything after that goes in the compost pile.

There is only so much 1 guy can eat.
In between 1 or 2 road wacked deer at my mailbox* and killing the occasional elk I can't eat anymore meat.

* Usually late night working in the shop, I hear the squealing brakes, the thud and head on out with my flashlight. Not very sporting but the little ones are especially tender.


............juanni