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Philosophically? Have enough plants living to enjoy being outside with them. I'm trying to get my new raised bed going, but I think it's going to take another season to get the soil dialed in. Not quite as easy as 5 gallon buckets to amend! Pest control is also harder; the earwigs went nuts this wet spring and I'm hoping Sluggo Plus helps before my latest round of sprouts gets eaten. Harvest goals: I would like to harvest enough cucumber and dill for a small batch of pickles, enough cucumber to make into slurry for popsicles, enough mint & basil to make a a pint each of simple syrup, and enough basil for pesto twice a month. The others (beets, carrots, chard) I hope to get enough for a nice roast and a few salads. Really hoping my chard does well so that I can make chips with it, too.
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May 3, 2024 17:36
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| # ? May 26, 2024 20:25 |
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 goals: Im crossing two peppers in a grow tent inside to try and get f1 plants for next year. I'm also recording a janky time lapse video of all my peppers growing since I started them back in mid January.Harvest goals: I'm growing 8 superhots on my balcony along with the two inside to hopefully make enough fermented sauce to sate my addiction until next year... 3 didn't cut it last time because I gave a lot of it away.
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May 3, 2024 17:52
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This year is our first year in our first real house, so everything is advancing bit by bit as we feel out the microclimate, get adjusted to all the new space that isn't subject to a HOA covenant, etc. Kitchen garden has been developed first, with the thyme and chives brought from the last house going gangbusters in their first spring. Added basil and parsley to the pot, looking forward to a big planter full of tastes. Woody herbs have gone into pots around the porch to suss out how they like the different sun exposures, and when they are having a good time, into the ground they go. Another couple good hot days and we'll turn the first batch of compost out. Fig tree has been purchased and positioned, again figuring out if it'll get the right amount of sun once the birch it's kinda under leafs out. Tomatoes are in place in a traveling pot, with a cherry plant the first homesteader in the raised tubs out back we inherited, last owner grew tomatoes and peppers in abundance. Had chili pepper themed wallpaper in the kitchen. I promised him a bottle of our first good batch as thanks for taking our (only gently) above asking offer and cancelling all other showings rather than going to a bidding war. He just wanted people who would grow up and grow older and grow some goddamn peppers, I guess. Start a family if we're lucky, grow a community otherwise.
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May 3, 2024 20:12
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I just want to have pretty trees thst sometimes make something I can eat, and which take uo enough lawn space that nobody cares so much about if its mowed. This week i have a ton of great mulberries and the plum tree is covered in green plums so so far so good.
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May 3, 2024 21:52
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I'm in the process of expanding my main in-ground garden plot and building a
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May 3, 2024 22:04
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i put in a 6x3 raised bed earlier this year, so my goals are: - get a useful square foot garden going - figure out what i can grow that doesn't get immediately devoured by all the squirrels and chipmunks and birds here - do a fall planting for the first time i've been growing on my front and back porches for a few years now and have had relative success with fabric pots and such. we're in a slight valley with lots of old trees, so it tends toward humid and shady. spots that get direct sun are limited and they move around. zone 7b in northern virginia. the raised bed - mustard, some peppers, oregano, parsley, chard, chives, bunching onions, strawberries, sage, thyme, basil, dill  front porch garden. peppers in fabric pots. poblano, sugar rush peach, datil, gochu, jimmy nardello, banana. plus some other stuff in temporary spots until the peppers mature a bit  the back is two earthtainers with cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. i'm going to train them up twine and onto party lights that run across the porch.  not shown: about a dozen 80+ft white oaks and tulip poplars the milk machine fucked around with this message at 22:45 on May 3, 2024 |
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May 3, 2024 22:38
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My only goal for the last few years has been to dominate the local fair. My flowers and produce must crush as many dreams as possible.
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May 4, 2024 19:25
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Bi-la kaifa posted:My only goal for the last few years has been to dominate the local fair. My flowers and produce must crush as many dreams as possible. That is next years goal for me.
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May 4, 2024 19:34
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May 4, 2024 21:05
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Shifty Pony posted:gently caress off squirrels. Lmao hell yes.
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May 5, 2024 00:58
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Lawman 0 posted:Lmao hell yes. Made covers for all three strawberry beds.  The work started paying off the very next morning.  I saw a squirrel hop up, try to nibble its way inside, and the twitch its tail in such delightful rage when it found out the mesh is coated steel and not just plastic bird netting.
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May 5, 2024 20:45
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Shifty Pony posted:gently caress off squirrels. Hell, now there's an idea Shifty Pony posted:I saw a squirrel hop up, try to nibble its way inside, and the twitch its tail in such delightful rage when it found out the mesh is coated steel and not just plastic bird netting.
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May 5, 2024 20:47
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Question! My mom has a black ice plum tree, zone 3, that hasn't started blooming yet. The branches are fairly limber, the buds aren't green but they aren't brittle either. My scratch test shows brown about where the branches start, some green on the bottom. Anything I can do to help her here?  
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May 6, 2024 00:03
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Picked up three trays of plants from a local SWCD tree sale. I ended up with lots of wild ryes and asters, plus some brown-eyed susans, mountain mints, columbine, coneflowers, and more. It took me a couple of hours to get all of 108 them in the ground but by far the more annoying and time-consuming task was fencing off all of the new plants with chicken wire so that my three dogs don't trample my new plants. In the new few weeks I'll be getting 80+ more plant plugs, mostly grasses, and hopefully finishing off a large chunk of my front yard prairie.
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May 6, 2024 15:49
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 Wooo proper tomato cages (made out of concrete reinforcing mesh).
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May 6, 2024 18:28
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Shifty Pony posted:Made covers for all three strawberry beds. These look fantastic. I did a half-assed version of this with plastic bird netting draped over a wood frame. Really more to keep the birds away because a determined squirrel could still get in. My true enemy this year are the slugs. Absolutely dominating my bean sprouts. Getting some diatomaceous earth. Has anyone had success with beer traps?
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May 6, 2024 19:25
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Chad Sexington posted:These look fantastic. I did a half-assed version of this with plastic bird netting draped over a wood frame. Really more to keep the birds away because a determined squirrel could still get in. Sluggo has worked the best for me and just keeps them out of my food gardens. They're still all over the place where I don't put it.
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May 6, 2024 19:35
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Chad Sexington posted:These look fantastic. I did a half-assed version of this with plastic bird netting draped over a wood frame. Really more to keep the birds away because a determined squirrel could still get in. Sluggo and/or sluggo plus is the only thing that works consistently for us. We’ve had really bad pillbugs this year, too, which is what the “plus” is for.
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May 6, 2024 20:03
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Sluggo is lit
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May 6, 2024 20:15
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Lawnie posted:Sluggo and/or sluggo plus is the only thing that works consistently for us. We’ve had really bad pillbugs this year, too, which is what the “plus” is for. Going to pick up some sluggo plus tomorrow. Pill bugs are dominating my garden this year. Thanks for this.
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May 7, 2024 00:06
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Son of Thunderbeast posted:Sluggo is lit
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May 7, 2024 12:13
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Does copper tape actually repel slugs and snails? I was going to get some to wrap my new raised bed.
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May 7, 2024 13:54
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I've had very good results from copper tape for snails. The pots without it did worse. Beer tape for slugs are solely for the sadistic laughs.
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May 7, 2024 16:27
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Shifty Pony posted:Made covers for all three strawberry beds. Hell yea! I feel your joy vicariously.
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May 7, 2024 16:33
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Shifty Pony posted:
That's the way my dad did his tomatoes. They'd be tall enough they'd spill over the top and almost touch the ground again. Tomatoes are like sponges. They love their water.
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May 7, 2024 22:52
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This year the last frost is predicted for June 6. I just did my first tomato pruning.
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May 10, 2024 16:06
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The heat is making everything run too fast and we have way too many freakin' bugs this year. I've seen more ticks just this year than I have in the last twenty years. Thanks Al Gore.
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May 10, 2024 16:34
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We've been getting a ton of rain the last few weeks so my strawberries are rotting and getting fungus-y. Asparagus just never came up so that whole bed is basically a loss. Bummer.
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May 10, 2024 16:39
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mischief posted:The heat is making everything run too fast and we have way too many freakin' bugs this year. I've seen more ticks just this year than I have in the last twenty years. The cicadas are so drat loud that it's basically unsafe to go out without earplugs. My ears were ringing yesterday as if I was around power tools after being outside for like 10 minutes
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May 10, 2024 16:53
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Chad Sexington posted:We've been getting a ton of rain the last few weeks so my strawberries are rotting and getting fungus-y. Same and also i suspect my green onions are dying
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May 10, 2024 18:04
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I was over at the in-laws and he has about 400 square feet of gai lan and greens just living it up in this heat. He always complains about the shade on that end of his land but my goodness... Anything I've got that can bolt has, even with all the rain.
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May 10, 2024 18:11
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the milk machine posted:i put in a 6x3 raised bed earlier this year, so my goals are: How are those galvanized raised beds? I've seen some people using them around here, and figure they're probably a fairly cheap way to do it, but I worry about them overheating in summer.
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May 10, 2024 21:19
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Lead out in cuffs posted:How are those galvanized raised beds? I've seen some people using them around here, and figure they're probably a fairly cheap way to do it, but I worry about them overheating in summer. mine is ok so far; it's not the fanciest but it was only sixty bucks which is about how much building one with lumber would have cost me. the bottom half has some old rotted branches and sticks plus a bunch of leaves and old potting soil. it'll compact some over time but that's fine I'm in northern Virginia in 7b and it does get hot in the summer, which is why I went with the uncoated finish. I'd avoid dark colors if it's in a really sunny spot. I think/hope this will be ok temperature-wise this is my first season with it so I'll have plenty to learn. We've had lots of rain the past week and more called for next week so I think my green onions are turning into mush, everything else seems alright so far
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May 10, 2024 21:26
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Interesting! I'd been wondering about galvanized beds as an option. Do you suppose painting it white could help with heat?
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May 10, 2024 21:31
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my basic physics knowledge suggests that reflective or white would be the best, but im not sure how big an effect that would have on a few thousand pounds of moist soil. I'm gonna find out this summer I guess!
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May 10, 2024 21:35
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making it white or reflective does make a difference Putting something in front of it to shade it makes a much greater difference.
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May 10, 2024 22:30
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None of the sown outside have come up and like an idiot I transplanted most of our plants literally the day before our final frost and most died. So right now the only edibles we have growing are the potatoes, beans, and peas. Gonna plant the pumpkins soon, and if they also dont come up (and the other stuff doesnt come up by then) guess I'm just gonna buy some stuff to transplant I guess? At least the blueberries seem to be doing quite well now that its warmed up a bit.
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May 10, 2024 23:03
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threw a slice of moldy tomato onto the ground to see what would happen.. it's growing like a weed now lol. I love accidental growing. and a potato I threw in a potato bag last year has sprouted. I'll need more dirt now. Tomatoes and Potatoes and tornados and empanados (???) are all part of the same family right? Maybe they signalled each other to grow or something.
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May 11, 2024 14:45
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Lead out in cuffs posted:How are those galvanized raised beds? I've seen some people using them around here, and figure they're probably a fairly cheap way to do it, but I worry about them overheating in summer. I like mine but I have a male dog who likes to mark his territory so the bottom edges of my beds are starting to corrode. My raised beds in my backyard don't get full sun so I decided to start a cut flower garden in them instead. So far I have poppies, salvia, and avens. It's my one area where I am planting non-native flowers.
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May 11, 2024 16:07
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| # ? May 26, 2024 20:25 |
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my irrigation system's basic connection is together. I've designed a gravity feed system to water the covered areas when it rains. Those parts should be showing up soon. All of my major transplants are in the ground in the GH, though I got some of my eggplant seedlings mixed up so we'll see what happens there. All that remains is to plant peppers, which I typically buy, greens, and some shorter-season intercrops to go among my squash. I'm borrowing a tiller on Monday to turn over my outside garden and then it's potato time. This year I'm going shallow in the earth and hilling them with the hoe and straw. Today's interesting tidbit: not sure if anyone remembers, or if I even posted about it - fake edit I did post about it. CommonShore posted:Just got pummelled by up to walnut sized hail in a volume that I could need a shovel to clear. Outdoor crops took a beating but the hoop house is pristine. Most of the damaged crops are potatoes and garlic and stuff and should recover No pictures I guess. Imagine a garden buried so deep in popcorn that you would have to clear it with a shovel but it's ice. Anyway, the damaged crops did not recover. Even the potatoes were kinda hosed. But this spring I was toodling around and it turned out that the garlic I had planted and which I thought died just simply went straight to dormancy when it got smoked last June. Today I dug it all up and planted a bunch of the sprouting cloves. It's looking good!
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May 11, 2024 17:54
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