2020 Gardening: digging up some new dirt on an old hobby

[Post Oak 20277]

Ordered a first "ChipDrop" today.  I have nightmares of getting 15 yards the night before I have to get my car out of the garage.

[Both Tacos 1806]

Ordered a first "ChipDrop" today.  I have nightmares of getting 15 yards the night before I have to get my car out of the garage.

I live a little too far in the country to have much success with chip drop but I always get some for free because I check FB Marketplace for those who got WAY more than they expected.

[Post Oak 20277]

1 hour ago, Both Tacos said:

2 hours ago, Post Oak said:

Ordered a first "ChipDrop" today.  I have nightmares of getting 15 yards the night before I have to get my car out of the garage.

I live a little too far in the country to have much success with chip drop but I always get some for free because I check FB Marketplace for those who got WAY more than they expected.

I can use a lot but if I get too much in just gonna post the extra in FB.  I made a donation so hopefully, I get it pretty soon.

[mulletpelini 5216]

On 8/15/2020 at 8:23 PM, Mrs Whiggins said:

Those look good @NorthLoop. I didn't take a pic, but I made a cookie sheet full of jalapeno poppers last weekend. Those are a definite weakness of mine: bacon, cream cheese, a little heat from the peppers mmmmm tasty.

Finally had a chance to upload some pics.  Next couple months should have some pretty decent production.  Last one is a guacamole tree

[Pato del Muerto 52610]

‘‘Tis no tree, English. 

[Pato del Muerto 52610]

On 7/15/2020 at 10:46 AM, Mrs Whiggins said:

Do you have bees around? We have lots of flowers around and that seems to draw the bees over to the vegetables.

The sunflowers and zinnias have come in and as usual they are full of bees, wasps, and ladybugs.

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by Pato del Muerto

[Trey3216 15371]

After getting completely raided by the local tree rodents of all my tomatoes, yellow squash, and zucchini and accidentally killing all my potatoes two months ago, I'm about to have a pretty nice haul of red/yellow/purple/spicy red bell peppers over the next few weeks.  Not to mention my lone poblano plant has about 35 new buds on it over the last few days and my jalapenos are coming in nicely.   Will get to harvest some shit for this first year gardener.  

Edited August 19, 2020 by Trey3216

[mulletpelini 5216]

ain't nothing better than looking out your back window at a single lone shaking tomato tree in disbelief at why it's moving all by itself until you look down and see the varmint poontang at the bottom "helping you pollinate your plants better".

[baboso 6057]

Putting a pellet through his little rodent noggin as he is munching on your tomato is.

[mulletpelini 5216]

16 hours ago, baboso said:

Putting a pellet through his little rodent noggin as he is munching on your tomato is.

Edited August 21, 2020 by mulletpelini
my goto agreement gif for 2020

[NorthLoop 14250]

A more proper haul. I don't really know what to do with these "sweet peppers" because they're pretty bland. Remember those were the ones that were supposed to be jalapenos but the seed company fucked up somewhere. I guess I'll give half away and freeze the rest. 

 

[Pato del Muerto 52610]

Pickle them

[Both Tacos 1806]

Good harvest from today. All the tomatoes didn't make the picture.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

Those sweet peppers are good on a homemade pizza.

[Pato del Muerto 52610]

Happened to catch a hummingbird messing around the Mexican sunflowers tonight 

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

They are definitely on the move. We have had several fighting over feeders the last week and a half. I put out another feeder today. We had a lot last year and love to watch them. Ours are all ruby throats.

Your flowers look very healthy. This time of year, some of my plants look a little tired.

[Pato del Muerto 52610]

48 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

They are definitely on the move. We have had several fighting over feeders the last week and a half. I put out another feeder today. We had a lot last year and love to watch them. Ours are all ruby throats.

Your flowers look very healthy. This time of year, some of my plants look a little tired.

You have to remember that I’m in zone 5. We didn’t toss the seeds until the end of May, and they’ve only seen 90 degrees a handful of times. 

[4th and 5 4918]

24 celebrity in the ground for round

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

On 8/23/2020 at 9:35 PM, Pato del Muerto said:

You have to remember that I’m in zone 5. We didn’t toss the seeds until the end of May, and they’ve only seen 90 degrees a handful of times. 

I keep forgetting. I would still trade the shorter growing season for cool temps; I miss Wisconsin even though I was born in the south.

19 hours ago, 4th and 5 said:

24 celebrity in the ground for round

I love that variety. So delicious.

[4th and 5 4918]

57 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

I keep forgetting. I would still trade the shorter growing season for cool temps; I miss Wisconsin even though I was born in the south.

I love that variety. So delicious.

I prefer purple Cherokee but could not find any at the $1.50 price point I buy tomato plants at

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

I grew mine from seed this year. I may look for the Cherokee from one of the companies and try them. Seeds sold out really quickly this year with families taking up gardening. Not a complaint though, I am happy to see people spending time outdoors together.

I did a poor job of shading my veggies at the end of June or they might have lasted a little longer. We had a great haul of tomatoes but even the cherry tomatoes succumbed to the heat and the blooms dried up.

I don't know what's wrong with the eggplant. They don't seem to be getting any bigger. I think they needed more fertilizer.

[mulletpelini 5216]

I know my EP's boomed when we had a cool spell right before august (mid 80's with rain) then back up in the 90's since with no rain, and no produce.  I expect them to kick back up next week when we're back in the mid 80's and should be good from there.

Edited August 26, 2020 by mulletpelini
zone 6b

[NorthLoop 14250]

Another haul this morning 

 

[mulletpelini 5216]

your poor butthole.

[High Plains Drifter 11052]

 

Back in the spring, around spring break irrc, I cut up some potatoes that had started to sprout, and planted them, as an experiment.

Plants grew huge. But the potatoes they produced were tiny.

Anybody have any suggestions? Dug up too early? Not enough water? too hot, too much sun, not enough fertilizer?

[Both Tacos 1806]

 
Back in the spring, around spring break irrc, I cut up some potatoes that had started to sprout, and planted them, as an experiment.
Plants grew huge. But the potatoes they produced were tiny.
Anybody have any suggestions? Dug up too early? Not enough water? too hot, too much sun, not enough fertilizer?

What kind of soil? Potatoes do well in well draining loose soil which here in North Texas would mean deep raised bed. That's why I've never tried. My raised bed is only 12" which is good for plants but not for potatoes.

[High Plains Drifter 11052]

 

Just planted directly in the ground.

Next time I'll mound up some dirt and try that.

Thanks for the response.

[Both Tacos 1806]

Bunch of DIY videos on YouTube about growing potatoes you can check out.

[mulletpelini 5216]

Some of the best ones I've seen involve doing it in a barrel if you're limited on space

[4th and 5 4918]

16 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

Back in the spring, around spring break irrc, I cut up some potatoes that had started to sprout, and planted them, as an experiment.

Plants grew huge. But the potatoes they produced were tiny.

Anybody have any suggestions? Dug up too early? Not enough water? too hot, too much sun, not enough fertilizer?

Loose well drained organic soil, dig hole, plant potato section, eye up. Loosely cover with a little dirt, leaving hole. Once potatoes start to grow, add more dirt to the hole, mound it up if you can. Water frequently once it gets hot.

In Texas, you plant them around Valentines day. Harvest around the beginning of June once plants deteriorate.

Yukon golds do well.

[High Plains Drifter 11052]

 

Thanks errbody.

Mullet, about the only thing I got plenty of is space.

I figured if the guy on mars can do it, how hard could it be?

 

[mulletpelini 5216]

Pretty sure that wasn't real

[Sam Lin 3561]

It's real to me dammit!

[wild_turkey 3182]

We're putting in a raised bed to grow some fall veggies. The plan is for it to be 4' x 8' x 18" high using rough cut cedar for the sides. What do y'all recommend for soil?

Wife has been looking into this quite a bit and is leaning towards a blend of 50% topsoil, 30% compost, and then 20% mix of things like worm castings, biochar, mushroom compost, mineralized soil blend, old leaves, etc. I'm not sure how practical this is or where she plans to get everything. Maybe it is the way to go, but I feel like it will be difficult to get a reliable source on all of these things, especially the topsoil that can have  a lot of variation in quality and would make up 50% of the soil.

How does that plan compare to buying pre-blended soil like one of the Miracle Gro organic mixes for raised beds?

[miguelito 11312]

You'll need almost 2 cubic yards. Don't mix it yourself. Get it from one of those bulk supply places. You can always add compost as you go.

Where are you located? Someone here should have a good source.

[wild_turkey 3182]

Fort Worth

[miguelito 11312]

I don't know any places up there, but you could look for one of the big landscaping companies that 'makes' good soil.  They should have a good garden mix, that has all the stuff your wife wants already mixed in.  I had good luck with that stuff.  I would add some of my own compost every time I planted something new, and in between seasons I'd rake in a bunch more. 

Those companies might even deliver if you order enough, or pay them enough.

[mulletpelini 5216]

19 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

We're putting in a raised bed to grow some fall veggies. The plan is for it to be 4' x 8' x 18" high using rough cut cedar for the sides. What do y'all recommend for soil?

Wife has been looking into this quite a bit and is leaning towards a blend of 50% topsoil, 30% compost, and then 20% mix of things like worm castings, biochar, mushroom compost, mineralized soil blend, old leaves, etc. I'm not sure how practical this is or where she plans to get everything. Maybe it is the way to go, but I feel like it will be difficult to get a reliable source on all of these things, especially the topsoil that can have  a lot of variation in quality and would make up 50% of the soil.

How does that plan compare to buying pre-blended soil like one of the Miracle Gro organic mixes for raised beds?

I make my own soil and you're pretty close to target.  Technically imo, you're 50/50 because I consider everything else you listed as compost too.  The only thing I buy is Sphagnum Peat Moss, Premium top soil and then the $1 cheap ass top soil.  Mix 2 bags of the cheap ass top soil to 1/4 bag of the moss as your 50% balanced with your 50% compost.  Once the bed is filled I'll put the premium top soil across the top, 2 bags should cover your bed when spread out.   I get really good water retaining soil with this mix.

You can throw anything biodegradable in the bottom to occupy space.  I use old firewood mostly, as it decays it will keep the bed warmer.  You could also just go around your yard and find dead branches or prune your trees and use them as well.  Newspaper, cardboard ( I'll even throw in old weed piles in the bottom and cover them with cardboard).  You can either stomp it down, or put weighted pallets (rocks) on top of it for a week or so and let it get smashed naturally, so to speak.

I have the kitchens at a few of our hotels supply me with coffee grounds (big time benefit imo), and outdated fruit like bananas and apples (no oranges or lemons).  Take my grass clippings from weekly mows, leaves from last fall, and use this method

This worked well in 6b, can't say how it would work in others though.  You only probably need 6" of actually growing depth for most vegetables so you really only need 6" of soil, the rest can be whatever else you can throw in there to occupy the other 12"

Edited September 2, 2020 by mulletpelini
12 inches is fine.

[mulletpelini 5216]

speaking of compost, wow

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/this-speedy-composter-turns-food-one-day-into-fertilizer-the-next/vi-BB18D31Z?ocid=msedgdhp

 

[Both Tacos 1806]

You want a good start to your compost pile, find a horse farm and ask them for the manure they scoop out of the stalls.

[miguelito 11312]

Anyone use bat guano?  I have a couple of bat houses I need to install.  I'll need to figure out the best way to collect the droppings and not create some new virus.

[4th and 5 4918]

are you trying to kill us all

[miguelito 11312]

No, no, no.

Just most of you. Plus grow some kickass jalapenos along the way. 

[Llano Estacado 1257]

Sing the happy birthday song while you rinse your jalapeños!

[Pato del Muerto 52610]

Well, even though it’s going to be 95 today, the forecast says Monday’s low will be 28. So unless that changes, we will be harvesting anything and everything tomorrow and seeing what is far enough along to ripen. I do not have anything set up to cover the beds and don’t feel like scrambling. 

[Sam Lin 3561]

If it's just one night low forecast, you could do the water trick, go out and mist down the plants with water a couple times during the sub-freezing temps. Not perfect, but will provide some protection.

[Pato del Muerto 52610]

It’s supposed to rain when the temp hits around 40 and turn to wintry mix as it gets closer to freezing. I’m hoping that wetness will help it tonight. Will freeze again tomorrow night but we can water it and see. We pulled a bunch of green tomatoes that looked more or less full size and hoping they will ripen inside.  There’s probably twice as many smaller ones we left on the plants.
The squash and eggplant are in grow boxes so we moved them to the greenhouse. 

[Sam Lin 3561]

If you like fried green tomatoes, slice those in to halves and go for it, look perfect!

[Pato del Muerto 52610]

And there it is.  48 hour winter primer.

 

[Spaulding Smails 1555]

FINALLY got the garden back to working order over the weekend after a six month hiatus due to our pool project.  Picked up lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, greens and artichokes today.