Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Go for it, Bob!!!! Keep us posted!!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Here's my fall favorites: lettuce, collards, mustard greens, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, rutabagas, turnips, and radishes. Check the planting guide for your area and check to see when to plant seed versus transplants. Fall gardening is great.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

All that's left.... Butterpeas on the left, sweet potatoes in the background. Turned over rest of garden to get chopped plants into ground. Plan on adding a good bit of mulch into the garden this fall and winter to lightening up soil a little, help it's water retention abilities.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...d/dddfbc30.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Cliff, how do you turn? A big tiller?
I got two watermelons and a bushel of squash. Some cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. Strawberries sometimes. Picked some corn for dinner this weekend. :dr
But it's still been a slow year. Better than last year. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Cliff, can you grow potatoes? I tried, but too warm.

I tried the trashcan method. If I can get more eyes, I may try this fall when it's cooler.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Lance.. Turn with a tractor and a 5 foot disk. So kinda like a big tiller:D I have a small Mantis-type tiller (made by Echo) that I use when ready to plant or weed the row areas.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Jason.... Not too hot here. This is third year I've planted them. I use a mound method, and use wire cones (like used for tomatoes) mainly to get the vines off the ground and out of the way to make it easier to weed around plants and to keep the base area more visible. First year I planted them (three years ago), I let them spread, which made it necessary to weed by hand (verses a small Mantis-type tiller). Plus, being in the suburbs and lots of land around me, letting the grass grow up too much gives hiding places for field mice/rats, which burrowed down and ate half my sweet taters the first year. Haven't had same problem since using the cones.

First two years, I planted "slips" I purchased. This crop, I planted pieces of leftover yams from last year's crop. They seem to be producing fine, but it took them three times longer to start growing as the "slips" did. My MIL's husband said they always sat old yams out in wet sawdust before the season, and picked the sprouts (slips) off and planted them when the time came. Might try that next year. My mother remembers Yams being grown in south Mississippi where she grew up in the 30's and 40's in large quantities. I also know that yams are a big crop in Louisiana. so it's probably NOT heat as much as water that could be your pitfall!

They have turned out to be much easier to grow than I imagined they would be. Give them a try. Garbage can method probably holds moisture better anyway!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I've got an Echo tiller, don't use it much. Ever since I went to raised boxes I don't till much any more. I use the big walk behind to knock down the weeds along the roads and I haven't even used the tractor tiller I have.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

The Echo was a salvage purchase. Was a new unit local Ace Hardware rented out, first user put straight gas in it, and screwed with carb adjustments to point it wouldn't run, and returned it. I purchased it from Ace for $50, put a $25 replacement carburetor on it, and have used the heck out of it!! It sure beats hoeing weeds!!! But it will wrap a tomato cone up in a skinny minute if you get too close!!!

I'd love to have a tiller attachment for the tractor!!! That would sure make a nice bed!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Speaking of which, I need to get my FIL's tiller and get my beds ready for fall plantings.

Cliff, if I go the taters tis year, I'll let you know how it goes.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I say Go For It!!!!! And Good luck. BTW, my mom tells me I need to let them stay for probably another month. Apparently they have a long growing season. She also says when I dig them up, I need to leave them in sun and turn them for a couple of days to harden the skin and increase storage life. Also NOT to wash. Brush dirt off, but do not wash them until ready to use. At 83, she still knows her plants (BS degree from Mississippi State in Horticulture).

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I don't know what area you are in so I'm not sure what kind of fall weather you will be facing. Why not try some leeks or carrots. They should be cost effective if you plant from seed. That spaghetti squash sounds like a winner too.

I just planted my carrots last week in containers. I didn't seed them until September last year so this is really an experiment to see how they handle being planted so early.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Sweet potatoes should handle the heat with no problem. They are big business in south Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. They are usually planted around late spring/ early summer.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

So my wife has been sick for a while and we have spent the last few nights in the hospital. She is on track for a full recovery and she should be able to go home on Sunday. I got to come home for the first time today and there was a lot going on in the garden. It has been rainy off and on for about a week now so everything has doubled in size in no time. My cucs have flowers in full bloom and tomatoes are full of greens and flowers. My carrots that I planted last week in containers have come up, I will have to thin them out next week. But some other things started growing too. In the tomatoes I noticed some leaf spots on a few plants and some big fat Caterpillars feasting on every leaf and green tomato they could get their mouth on. I went ahead and sprayed fungicide and seven on everything. I checked the garden about an hour later and I found 6 more caterpillars all on the ground. If I would have waited another couple of days I would have had a big big loss on the tomatoes.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/pictur...pictureid=7221

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/pictur...pictureid=7220

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Nice looking garden, William. Glad your wife is on recovery tract. Also glad you caught worms before they striped your plants clean!!!!

What are small green leafy plants near bottom of photo? Basil?

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Thanks. Yeah that's basil. Had some free seeds so I scattered them around.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

beans!

http://images5a.snapfish.com/2323232...36732%3Bnu0mrj

http://images5a.snapfish.com/2323232...36832%3Bnu0mrj

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Soy? Looks very nice.

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I was deployed this year while I should have been getting the garden ready and keeping up with it. when I got home, it was full of really tall weeds and they were starting to spread into my yard.
http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1344694742
I'm in the process of pulling out everything from where the garden is and trying to get rid of the weeds that spread into the yard. I think I'm going to build a raised garden over the top so I can just fill it with good top soil next year and plant a good garden.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

yup!

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I'm talking either red or russetts. They need cooler weather.

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We just harvested some purple potatoes for dinner tonight. And corn. And squash, of course. And string beans, mmmmm. Tomatoes should ripen, now that we've had some hot days and warm nights. Stuff is just constantly delivering about now.

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Just some snapshots.
http://fracstar.com/pics/20120813a.jpg
http://fracstar.com/pics/20120813b.jpg
http://fracstar.com/pics/20120813c.jpg

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http://fracstar.com/pics/20120813d.jpg
http://fracstar.com/pics/20120813e.jpg
http://fracstar.com/pics/20120813f.jpg

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Lance.... Are you using the green plastic fencing as runner strips? If so, what are you growing on them. I've considered that as a replacement to my bamboo poles for green beans, but am concerned the cleanup at season's end would be a nightmare. Any experience with that?

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Cliff- The greenbeans grow up an inch mesh screen made for that and it is hard to clean. They are going to grow on the corn next. I think the plastic fence would work great but has limited lifetime. It gets brittle and deteriorates from the sun.
The fencing material is for the cukes and squash. The cukes had other plans (first picture in second set). There is no gopher block out that direction.

I just planted some beet and carrot seed this afternoon. A lot of carrots. Mmmmmmm!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I made a couple of trellises for my cucumbers this year. places them at about a 50-60 degree angle (supported with red-top posts at top). Worked fairly well, but still needed to train them to grow up the trellis. Still had "leakers" that wanted to grow on ground no matter what. But kept more off ground this year and was easier to see and pick. But still had half a dozen in weeds in the ground that I missed (until they got football size!). Hadn't considered that the plastic fencing would get brittle! Not worth the time if it's not good for at least 5 seasons. Still looking for alternatives to bamboo poles. They usually are good for 2-3 seasons, which is still shorter than I'd like. Tried twine last year. Didn't do a lot for me. Would have to have end posts 8 feet out of ground to give the beans running room. The 6 feet I used ended up with them growing up, over, and back to ground. Was a mess to pick.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Making a little more progress in the clearing of my garden area.
http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1345236499

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Very good. I can see dirt there! Hand pulling weeds and stuff? Or mowed and tilled? Going for a cool weather crop?

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Pulling weeds by hand and shovel. I only have 1 yard waste trash can, so I can only do a little bit at a time. I finally finished pulling all the weeds today. I'm probably gonna till it all up this weekend. http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/...823_172849.jpg

Anybody know of anything I can plant now? this is my first time having a garden this big, so I'm kind of new to growing anything other than tomatoes.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Earl, it's getting real late in season. You'd better focus on quick maturing and/or cool weather hardy selections. That included most leafy greens, broccoli may still have time. Root veggies Probably don't have enough time remaining. I'd think spinach, turnip greens, maybe leaf lettuce, cabbage. More expensive, but I'd go with starter plants on lettuce and cabbage, shave a couple weeks off growing time. Only problem might be finding plants and seeds this late. Many herbs are cold hardy. You may consider setting part of the area aside for herbs.

Good luck with what you end up planting. Hopefully you'll be in-country at the start of spring next year, and able to go full tilt on planting!!!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Thanks for the advice. I'm trying to get some stuff grown this year because I'm gonna be gone for 4 months of the growing season next year.

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Picked a chitload of peppers yesterday! Those serranos are brutal. Brought the majority of them to work as my gut is about tired of them. :)

Picked up a dozen Blue Max collards this weekend. Fall/winter garden getting ready to go in the ground this weekend.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...69/photo-2.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

We've been eating Honeydews that are heavenly. I'm going to cut a bunch up and freeze them for smoothies.
We've been making sketti sauce, too.
The new critters here turned out to be deer, ravens, and vine borers. They whooped my corn, punkins, and zucchini. Next year I'll figure out how to fight them all Pre-emptively. Shame about our corn, it was really nice.

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I have these peppers that on the label says "twice as hot as regular habaneros". I soon will find out what that means.
Never ending baskets of squash, 2 or 3 pounds of green beans at a time, tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes, strawberries and raspberries are harvesting now.

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Little late on this one and don't have a garden going right now due to a deployment, but I have 100 Acres 170 pecan trees and 10 acres of peach trees(more coming this winter)
-(P

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I know the way... 30-06 works ever time even from the back porch

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That's a crazy mess of trees to take care of. I don't think I could prune all those trees in a year. :D

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How could I put this... A PAIN IN THE ASS, right now they look like bushes cause I am over here

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I live in a concrete suburban development since I got married a couple years ago. I've lived on a farm or in the country pretty much all my life. Imagine not being able to grab the .35 every time something's eating the garden. It's hell, my man. Sheer hell.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

LOL, I know brother. I have been stationed all over and and it is hell taking the country out of a boy sometimes...-(P

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That plot looks self-watering F.M.F., lol...provided it rains. Seems the slope runs right into your
proposed garden.

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That plot looks self-watering Earl, lol...provided it rains. Seems the slope runs right into your
proposed garden.

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/...823_172849.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Good luck with this one. I've tried every remedy I could find on the Internet. No avail in several years. Plant early, early or late, late. If I can get a squash plant to make it to June, I've somewhat won.

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time to harvest.....

http://images5a.snapfish.com/2323232...3C232%3Bnu0mrj

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Git t' work!
I'm picturing that field all plowed and some pheasants out there and a good retriever.
A rocking chair, Dobro guitar and a cigar come to mind, too.

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Can't really tell but is that Soybeans? How many acres is that?

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Nothing but the finest mexican weed.....

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This is old pictures from this past summer, but I thought I would post it anyway. This is what I was raised on growing and working on as a kid... Some habits just don't die I guess?
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...o/IMG_5327.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...o/IMG_5326.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...o/IMG_5324.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...o/IMG_5306.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...o/IMG_5305.jpg

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No pix (only fresh turned dirt), but planted a patch of purple top turnip greens (at request of my elderly mom), and added several rows of snow peas for myself. Going to hunt down some spinach seed tomorrow, and add a patch or that for myself (place where I grabbed turnip and snow pea seeds was out of spinach seed.)