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

[miguelito 11333]

Pato, you should do something about that powdery mildew on your plants, fence, and neighbor's house.

[Pato del Muerto 52691]

25 minutes ago, miguelito said:

Pato, you should do something about that powdery mildew on your plants, fence, and neighbor's house.

It’s sevin dust. Town has a little insect plague issue. 

[Pato del Muerto 52691]

Well the snow blanket insulated things on Monday night, but last night my evening spray down didn’t work, and everything turned green/brown and droopy. Sucks. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

I have one of those big plastic space bags filled with a couple of old sheets, a frost blanket, and an old ratty Barney comforter that was one of the kids when they were little. Every cool season I pull it out onto the back porch and if we've got bad weather coming then I throw the stuff on the plants while it's still light. I've got some discard bricks to weight it down from the wind. Works pretty well. At the end of the season I throw it all in the washer, fold it up and store it back in the vacuum bag in the garage. It doesn't take too long unless it's a little blustery, but even then, a couple of clothespins until stuff has the bricks on it and it's good to go. Saved a couple of plants that are iffy for our zone last year. I'm not sure if the sheets would work for your temps, but I also have mulch down so I don't need quite as much protection for the leaves.

[Both Tacos 1806]

Had a cool front coming in this evening that looks like it will end this hot streak and keep temps in the 80's, so I left work early to plant starters of 4 varieties of lettuce and 2 kinds of cauliflower. Then I planted some white winter squash seeds. Not sure if there is enough time for them but going to try. Trimmed up tomato plants and put out fertilizer. This rain over the next couple of days of should do the plants good and soak in the fertilizer on the established veggies.

[4th and 5 4925]

These sweet potatoes seem like they’re a bit out of control

[Sam Lin 3564]

They aren't. Yet. They will take over all space you have if you don't cut them back. Which is perfect, because the newest leaves are tender and are a very popular asian stir fry vegetable.

[NorthLoop 14254]

My bell pepper plants have hit their stride this month. Next year I'll start them a couple months earlier. 

 

 

[4th and 5 4925]

22 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

They aren't. Yet. They will take over all space you have if you don't cut them back. Which is perfect, because the newest leaves are tender and are a very popular asian stir fry vegetable.

damn good to know, will stir fry this week

[miguelito 11333]

I've been living vicariously through all of y'all's gardens this summer, as I moved out to the country and have no established garden yet.  I had some tomatoes and peppers in patio containers, but that's all. 

BUT: I built a fenced-in area to keep the deer and rabbits out, with plenty of chicken wire and wire mesh.  I have two 4'x8' raised beds built, with soil in one of them.  So now I'm ready to start a fall/winter crop of ... something.  We have a pet bearded dragon (lizard), so we like to grow stuff she'll eat, greens like collards, mustard, arugula.  Looking at the planting guides, carrots and garlic are also good winter crops. 

What else are you planting in the next month or so?

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

1 hour ago, miguelito said:

I've been living vicariously through all of y'all's gardens this summer, as I moved out to the country and have no established garden yet.  I had some tomatoes and peppers in patio containers, but that's all. 

BUT: I built a fenced-in area to keep the deer and rabbits out, with plenty of chicken wire and wire mesh.  I have two 4'x8' raised beds built, with soil in one of them.  So now I'm ready to start a fall/winter crop of ... something.  We have a pet bearded dragon (lizard), so we like to grow stuff she'll eat, greens like collards, mustard, arugula.  Looking at the planting guides, carrots and garlic are also good winter crops. 

What else are you planting in the next month or so?

Swiss chard, broccoli, spinach. I've decided not to plant garlic this year. The parsley types, and maybe some celery. I'm mostly mixing them in and around the flowers.

For flowers the usual cool weather plants except not going to do mums. My husband likes the ornamental kales and cabbages, so I do those. Fall marigolds I've already got in and I always have a big bed of snapdragons in the front.

[miguelito 11333]

Good point about the flowers around the beds.  They say marigolds invite the good bugs, which eat the bad bugs.  Plus, you can eat marigold, and my pet lizard likes them.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

Last of the tomato harvest before I ripped out the plants. Still had a few coming on, but I don't want to babysit them during the cold spell heading our way.

[NorthLoop 14254]

Yep. I got more tomatoes in this final pick than I got the rest of the year. 2020 garden is officially done. Will plant seeds for my 2021 garden next week.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

I still have three bell peppers but I haven't pulled them yet. I usually like a mix of red ripened ones and pick a few green ones at the same time. These will probably not make it to red before I have to grab them. I did pickle some jalapenos a few weeks ago that turned out great. I may have waited too late on some cool weather stuff, but the broccoli is doing well.

[miguelito 11333]

I picked up a set of Texas Legend Onions.  I gave about half of the onions away, but I still have 40 or so to plant. 

Otherwise, I have some broccoli, collards, mustard greens, kale, snap peas all doing well.

Looks like we might get a freeze next week, Tuesday morning.  I'm not sure if I'll cover anything or not.  Most of these plants are supposed to handle cold.

[miguelito 11333]

Do y'all keep notes of your garden from season to season, or year to year?  I always think I should be taking notes of dates, weather events, successes and failures, but I never write anything down.  I'm looking for Christmas gifts for my wife to buy me, and I might pick out a gardening journal.  Do you take notes?  If so, do you have a journal format you like, or just a collection of loose notes? 

 

 

[4th and 5 4925]

Picked tomatoes today ahead of the freeze, we will fry many green ones and ripen them in the window 

[Post Oak 20312]

Finally built my raised beds.  Filled them up using the lasagna method with straw, leaves and compost.  Need to find some coffee grounds.  Now to just let it's slow cook over winter. 

 

Starting my vermicompost in a couple of weeks once i get my garage cleared out.

I'm irrationally happy about those worms.

[Sam Lin 3564]

A lot of Starbucks bag up their coffee grounds for people to take free for home composting, you might call around.

[mulletpelini 5216]

Hit up some Hampton hotels as well, they have to brew coffee every 4 hours.  I've collected bucketfuls from them over the years.  Tell em to throw in their old bananas while they're at it.

[Both Tacos 1806]

I have my church save me some every Sunday. It's not a bunch but they go through 3-4 batches, so enough to throw into the compost to help.

[4th and 5 4925]

Garden ain't looking too good this morning

[Celery Man 21022]

Can anyone tell me what this is? Bought the yard that contains it and it smells like something but I’m not sure what

[Celery Man 21022]

I don’t think it’s mint but that was my first thought. But I am not a gardener

[4th and 5 4925]

that is catnip

[Celery Man 21022]

I gotta make friends with some cats

[deadshank 24653]

Leaf ID assistance.   What kind of oak tree does this leaf belong to?

[NorthLoop 14254]

Looks closest to a live oak

[cactusflinthead 27609]

On 12/10/2020 at 5:55 PM, Celery Man said:

Can anyone tell me what this is? Bought the yard that contains it and it smells like something but I’m not sure what

Catmint. It's a cousin to catnip, smaller leaves, trailing, and it has purplish flowers.

13 hours ago, deadshank said:

Leaf ID assistance.   What kind of oak tree does this leaf belong to?

There are a few that resemble live oaks in leaf structure but are smaller overall trees. Monterrey,  Lacey eg. 

[cactusflinthead 27609]

On 11/27/2020 at 9:57 AM, miguelito said:

Do y'all keep notes of your garden from season to season, or year to year?  I always think I should be taking notes of dates, weather events, successes and failures, but I never write anything down.  I'm looking for Christmas gifts for my wife to buy me, and I might pick out a gardening journal.  Do you take notes?  If so, do you have a journal format you like, or just a collection of loose notes? 

 

 

I mean to every year. I have yet to get past a couple of entries.

[deadshank 24653]

14 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

Catmint. It's a cousin to catnip, smaller leaves, trailing, and it has purplish flowers.

There are a few that resemble live oaks in leaf structure but are smaller overall trees. Monterrey,  Lacey eg. 

Thanks, I will take a few more pics of this oak tree and post it next time I'm at the camp.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

On 11/27/2020 at 9:57 AM, miguelito said:

Do y'all keep notes of your garden from season to season, or year to year?  I always think I should be taking notes of dates, weather events, successes and failures, but I never write anything down.  I'm looking for Christmas gifts for my wife to buy me, and I might pick out a gardening journal.  Do you take notes?  If so, do you have a journal format you like, or just a collection of loose notes? 

 

 

I wish; I'm similar in thinking I should be more meticulous about it, but it's not something I've been devoted to keeping organized. The most I manage is keeping track of the lawn applications and saving empty seed packets or tags that worked well and look for that variety the next season. I'm losing my memory the lack of note taking is catching up to me, though!

[4th and 5 4925]

Indoor grow op

[miguelito 11333]

cool.

what is that?

why so dense, are you harvesting the microgreens?

do you have a blue or red light on those?  which light is better for seedlings?

[4th and 5 4925]

Micro greens. Sunflowers. Excellent on salads and ready in a week. They don’t need any special light source. 
 

soak seeds for 8-12 hours in a jar with a screen or cheesecloth top

rinse seeds 2-3 times a day for 2 days

Use 1” of quality seed starting soli in a layer

places seeds on top in a layer

place a cover with weight on seedlings for 2 days or simply stack the trays

uncover and expose to light and in 2-3 days you have sprouts

lots of videos on YouTube 

[4th and 5 4925]

Winter garden

[Post Oak 20312]

Got my worm bin complete and my first batch tucked in.  I'm excited.

[4th and 5 4925]

On 12/22/2020 at 10:17 AM, 4th and 5 said:

Winter garden

From December to today. 
 

I threw down some tomato cages to keep the tarp off of the plants, and then staked down a large tent over the top, then put a 4 x 8 sign over the top to keep the weight of the snow down. 
 

I can’t believe how well this worked. I am shocked I thought everything was gonna be dead

[4th and 5 4925]

I kept all my seedlings and porch plants alive in a heated closet. 

[Both Tacos 1806]

A little thought and preparation. Good job.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13536]

After this thread and some youtube videos, I decided to take the plunge and go with a raised vegetable bed this spring. I normally build things myself but I decided to buy a galvanized bed to kick start it. I'm going to try the hugelkultur method of laying old logs, sticks, twigs and leave in the bottom layer, then add soil on top.  Any advice is appreciated.  I don't even know what I'm going to grow yet. 

Edited February 22, 2021 by Nice Guy Eddie

[Murfdogg21 4448]

We planted a lemon and lime tree almost 3 years ago. The lime tree put out its first fruit in November and the lemon hadn’t yet. I wrapped the bases and trunks aggressively, but the leave all got froze and turned yellow when it thawed. Online says they could be dead, or just mostly dead, or may come back with a fury in a month. 

[NorthLoop 14254]

3 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

We planted a lemon and lime tree almost 3 years ago. The lime tree put out its first fruit in November and the lemon hadn’t yet. I wrapped the bases and trunks aggressively, but the leave all got froze and turned yellow when it thawed. Online says they could be dead, or just mostly dead, or may come back with a fury in a month. 

I have an avocado tree that's just barely small enough where I was able to bring it inside. We're moving into our new house in May and it's going in the ground. We get one of these freezes next year and it's gonzo.