Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

My first bell
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...cture108-1.jpg

Blueberries are getting plump
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...cture105-1.jpg

Mmmmmm I enjoy eating fresh basil on bruschetta.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...cture104-1.jpg

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Gotten quite a few strawberries out of the patch. Lost quite a few as well to bugs. Fired some 7 dust on them this morning so hopefully that will run the things off.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...Picture103.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...cture102-1.jpg

This rose bush is taking over our front garden. We have two rocking chairs on the front porch but you can't hardly see the road anymore from up there.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...cture098-1.jpg

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Very nice pics Halbert. I love the Easter Lilly. Mine came back HUGE this year. My Sweet peas, China Peas and Strawberries are the only thing producing so far. Everything else is still small.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

You will be good once the sun shines and the rain quits. :D

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Ya, I hear ya. Its been raining here all day again. I'll take it, but its gonna be a late growing season.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

I'm gonna drag the plants from the front porch to the back yard today. It's time for them to get a little more sun. Wish them luck!!! :)

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Where's the pictures tobacco boy? :xxx

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

If I ever get caught up, Haliboing. They look real pretty in the pots right now. I'll take some crappy pics, at least, before I plant them this weekend. :tu

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

It's planting weekend. Lisa and I will probably get most of the plants in tonight if the rain holds off. I have to drag my ass out there and get some stuff ready.
I ran to Lowe's to get a few tomato plants and green peppers so I don't have to use the scrawny ones I made (didn't transplant them, wasn't up to it). All Lowe's had was great big expensive stuff.
Once the kid is outta here to ball practice, I'll go get some good plants at my buddy's place. :tu
Then it's game on, ladies. :tu
I'll get ya them backy pics too, Halitosis.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

After all those seeds I sent you, Scott, you're off at Lowe's trying to buy plants. I know you haven't been in the gardening frame lately though. Next year, hopefully...

What a difference 3 weeks makes to my garden. Also, spent the past few days in my dad's garden. I bet we dug and stored a ton of red and white potatoes. He could feed half the state. Never seen so many potatoes in one spot, ever.

My tomatoes have fruit. My cukes are climging and flowering. The green beans are flowering. The squash are psycho plants, full of fruit and flowers. The orka is small, but coming along. Peppers are growing well and I also have a 2" long jalapeno to boot. Those sunflowers and (volunteer) cosmos are also growing well.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...s69/60110a.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...s69/60110b.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...s69/60110d.jpg

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

^ Gardens lookin great Jamie! :tu

The rain down here has really been paying off. The tomato plants have gone ape sh*t and one is out growing his cage. Picked 6 blueberries this morning. Will take more photos soon.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Have some updated photos-

My tomato plants are pumping out little green guys and the one on the left is growing like a weed!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...Picture142.jpg

I was picking some blueberries and eating them right off the bush when I was cutting grass.... Later I noticed the dog taking a leak on them. :eek:

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...Picture156.jpg

Some flowers...
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...Picture154.jpg

My camera is about to take a dump so I think I may be camera shopping soon.
The screen is starting to show lines across it and some are showing up in pictures. :confused:

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Lisa and I got the whole garden in last week. All our seeds are up, everything is doing great. I got pics for ya Hal, they're at home and I'm in Ohio. I'll get some up as soon as I possibly can.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Looking forward to seeing them Scott! :tu

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

I generally just lurk on this thread, but wanted to post to say I'm enjoying the pictures and discussion.

In AZ, the concept of a garden is a bit different than in other places... something I wouldn't mind looking into if I created the time to do it.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Frikken deer necessitate more fence to close off the yard. This is almost done.
http://74.50.55.59/pics/garden0610a.jpg

And here's how much was done this morning, more is done now.
http://74.50.55.59/pics/garden0610b.jpg

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Lance- Putting up all that fence does not look like fun. You guys must have a serious deer population.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

A single deer can do serious damage to a garden in one night. A few deer in repeated attacks can make it impossible to grow most things. Add the gophers and you see why I am going to the barriers. They only have to be built once. I am adding to the fence that my neighbors built to keep the deer out of their yard. Before, I had a fence only around the garden and the grapes. Once this is finished the whole yard will be closed in.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

:tu

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

If you having deer problems..... I have solutions..... then you will have meat to eat with your veggies.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

:tu I love deer.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Got planted:

Artichokes
Beets
Curly Endive
Celery
Red & Yellow Onions
Leeks
Sugar Snap Peas
Pole Greenbeans
Pumpkin
Cantaloupe
Honeydew Mellon
Watermellon
Regular & Lemon Cucumbers
Zucchini, Crooked Neck, & Sunburst Squash
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Corn
Lettuce
Radish
Carrot seeds from last year that haven't sprouted yet. Maybe they will.

Other places in the yard are grapes, oregano, sage, rosemary, chives, dill, strawberries, mint and fruit trees that feed the birds. We almost never get the fruit, what there is of it.
Next year I think I'll start a couple of beehives so I can get some fruit from the trees.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

I got the very last of my plants planted today. Lisa's son Cole planted vincas in my hanging baskets out front.
I need to thin out the corn and get Hal some video, and all will be right in the world. :)

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

All of my 30 or so black bean plants produced off real quick. I pulled them all out of the ground and me and the future wifey shucked beans. We got a heaping bowl full.
Have raided the green beens three times. Ate a bunch, froze sum, and gave sum away. Still got more comming.
The Okra isn't doing as well as planned. Alot of plants didn't come up. But got enough to fry up a meal or two with.
The cucumbers are overtaking my garden. They are stretched out to about 10' plus. I have gotten about a half dozen so far. Got a pile of blooms and now they have room to roam now that the black beans are out of thier way. Next year I have a better plan on them to run them away from the garden.
I have gotten 3 or 4 bell peppers. And two handfuls of banana peppers that im going to put into a bacon cheeseburger fatty like "Mr B" did.

This is already a hott summer here in the deep south of MS and the garden is trying to cope with the heat. I am watering it in the late evening to make sure they don't dry out.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

You know I'm just bustin your nuts Scott. No rush. :)

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

I know, it's fun though. :)
The whole garden is floating right now. Lake Shilala is back, it stormed all night and I live in flood land.
I wanted to get in there and get the corn thinned out today. If I do, it'll be a miracle.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Frost! Frost! It's mid June and it's in the upper 30s and there's frost on my rooftops!
The latest frost I can remember was the last day of May about five years ago.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

:tu

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

I rushed this garden video into production because Halitosis was busting my balls.
You can watch it in HD and it ain't too awful.
Don't make fun of me because my garden is so far behind, we can't usually plant till the tenth of June. I got stuff in the last week of May, which is more than two weeks before we can usually plant.
The moon was right this year, so I could plant early. If the full moon is going to be after the tenth of June, it won't frost here. Before the tenth, it will on a clear night, and it never fails to wreck everyone's gardens. So I just checked the full moon at the end of May, and checked that against the extended weather report, and voila. Super early garden. :tu

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

EXCELLENT video Scott! :tu Made me laugh out loud when you got to the basil :r:r

I finally got a new camera. I may have to attempt one of these videos.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

I knew you'd like the basil comment. I didn't even know I said it till I watched it, and it made me laugh, too. :D
The video thing is easy, brother. You just need a youtube account and then click on the "upload" link up top.
From there it's self-explanatory. My big HD files take a long time to upload, but if you set your camera to take a less insane size of file, it'd be a lot quicker. The HD video is really awesome, so I just leave it and then I b!tch everytime I upload something.
When the video is done uploading it'll give you the link and everything.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Nice garden, Scott. We're supposed to be able to plant in mid April. This year both the weather and I were late. Now I think the new soil I got has too much sawdust (it is one of the ingredients) in it, stripping the nitrogen. Yellowish, weak growth. I just gave everything a shot of fish emulsion and a foliar spray of dilute Miracle Grow. If indeed the nitrogen is low they will get more green and lush in the next week.
The garden soil is a mixture of sand, manure compost, sawdust and native soil. The compost is from the mushroom farm, so it is mostly spent.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

I guess I did one of these HD videos over the weekend and didn't know it was HD. Derrrrrrr... Going out to make a video Scott. :tu

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

This is the first time I have grown any sort of peas. I planted (2) 6 pks of 2 varieties of sweet peas. They shot up to about 24 - 36". They bloomed and put out 30-40 nice sized pods, not each but total. We ate those and they were great but they dont seem to be putting out any more. Are these a "determinant" variety of plant that shut down after a few bloom cycles?

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Here we go. :) This is a short video of my plants in the back yard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ux_wdHwRGg

Nothing compared to my 80+ pepper plants last year.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Some kinds are like that. Sometimes you get a second round but not as good as the first. We grow snap peas which are always being picked before they are ripe. The plant tries to replace them. As soon as they are allowed to ripen the plant dies. We pick the pole type green beans constantly for the same reason.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Nice yard, Haliburton.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Sawdust jacks the ph all out of whack, Lance. Turns the soil acid. That's why we put it on blueberries, they love acid. Test it and adjust it and you'll be golden. I never heard about sawdust tying up nitrogen. I can't think of a mechanical reason for that to happen.
A bunch of dolomite lime and you'll be good to go. :tu
You're lucky, it's a cheap fix. You can't use too much, either.
If you think your nitrogen is tied up, top dress the lime with compost or composted cow manue. It's cheap, too.
The rain will leech all the nutrients to the plants and you'll be double golden. :tu
I wish I'd have caught you before you used sawdust. It's the worst organic material you can use in a garden. You're seeing that now. Sorry, brother.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Very good info. Thanks

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Next year I plan on installing a couple 12'x3' raised planter beds. Should I add a course of gravel to the bottom of the raised planter to increase drainage or just fill it to the brim with good compost?

I will likely be growing tomatoes, squash, asparagus, cucumbers, peppers, mint, sage, oregano, cilantro, basil, dill, rosemary, and parsley.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

shilala, it looks like to me in your video that you strawberries are trying to root new plants. the "tentacles" will root into the ground and grow more plants. at least thats what mine do every year.

looking great everyone.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Awesome video, Hal!!! :tu
You're right, videos are fun. You have lots of room in that yard, I think it's time to expand. :D

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

It depends on the soil underneath. If the bed will drain well without the gravel, no need. If it won't, gravel is a good idea. Earth fabric between the gravel and the soil will keep the gravel doing it's job. :tu

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Whatever kind of strawberry this is, it's setting out a zillion runners. That's good. If it runs far enough, I'll train the runners to more holes.
It's a volunteer, I didn't plant it, so I have no idea what variety it is. It's too late for it to be a June bearing or Adirondack, so I'm hoping it's a day-neutral. I'm in no hurry, I'll know soon enough. :)

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

I planted peas this year too. Got a few weeks worth of blooms and fruit out of them before they stopped flowering. I then researched the type I had planted and found out that once the temperatures get over 80F, they won't flower.

Oops.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Ya, that sounds like my story too.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Nice work guys. My granddad always had a saying about garden peas - they made two messes, you ate the first and cleaned up the second. Not a lot of bang for the buck with them. Snap peas or filed peas will fill your freezer.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Sawdust and wood chips require more nitrogen to decompose than they contain. ;)
I will check the ph but the tomatoes, potatoes and a couple of squash got planted with fish emulsion and worm castings and they look good so far.
We have chickens but the manure is mostly pine shavings and is good only for a top dressing mulch. The shavings resist composting.
Our neigh-bors have horses so I should hit them up for some sh!t.

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

Then you have a double whammy. If the sawdust is fixing the nitrogen and the ph is off, the plants can't eat. It doesn't matter how much food you put in there. I honestly don't think the sawdust is tying up the nitrogen, you put tons of food in there. It takes very little sawdust to goof the ph, though.
I had hundreds of chickens for years, I bedded with straw specifically because I didn't want to compost sawdust for years to make it usable.
The plants that look good in the worm castings, once they root out past the worm castings and reach the sawdust, they may go yellow on you, too.
Like I said, lime the hell out of everything. You cannot put enough lime in the beds to hurt anything. I'd use powdered stuff to correct the ph, then get a truckload of the lime chips they use for underneath sidewalks, and you'll never need lime again. You can work those chips in and you'll never know they're there.
I'd tell you to add nitrogen, but once again, I don't think you need it, and you're real likely to burn the plants.
I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out. :tu

Re: Let's see those '10 gardens
 

A friend of mine owns a huge Talapia fish farm and has a filter on the tanks that filter out the fish poo. He gave me a 5gallon bucket of fish poo/watery goo from when he cleaned the filter. I put it in the valleys of my garden and then watered it in. I did this about 3 times a week apart and my beans where about twice as high as they were this year without the pooey water.
I wish i could figure out the PH, nitrogen, amonium etc... things yall talking about. Maybe I could have a supergarden if I did. Maybe next year I should read up on all the plants I plant to see what they need the most of and give it to them.