Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

soy- about 5 in the picture, but about 15 or so are planted.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Just found out about this thread! Good to know I'm not the only one on here into plants. No where near the experience you all have tho. I just put some whale spinach, miners lettuce and Paris island lettuce seeds in the starter pots. I have my soil mix with amendments sitting in a home made compost bin right now, hopefully that will be done soon.

You all do the full organic thing, chemicals or a mix? This is my first venture into a full organic setup, hopefully the food tastes better because of it!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Miners lettuce is wild here. I grow organically but I add organic chemical fertilizer and I'm not above using snail bait. I use Azitrol as an insecticide, which is plant derivative but it's a refined chemical. The line to organic can be a little fuzzy. I use compost from horse, chicken, yard waste, worms, and kitchen waste. The plants grow easier, faster and bigger with high potency chemical fertilizer. They taste better because you pick them at the right time and eat them fresh.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

My peppers are still crushing it! I've given away a ton of them this year. My collards are starting to take root and grow...yum. Also, this weekend we dug peanuts at my dads. We spent most of yesterday washing and boiling in two huge pots. I ended up with 37 FULL quart bags of boiled Valencia peanuts in the freezer. This should get us through the winter. (My fingernails are ruined, BTW)

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I just started harvesting these.
When peppers get to a certain point it gets hard to compare them. These are very hard to eat raw. Supposed to be hotter than habaneros. It's very hard to eat habaneros raw too. They taste sweet before the pain hits.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I have never had luck growing onions in the spring and summer. I try it almost every year. I stopped by the county co-op this afternoon looking for spinach seeds. No spinach seeds (they don't carry it in seeds, only plants?????). They did have starter onion bulbs for $1.50 for a pound bag. What the heck, may as well try onions in the fall. Maybe I'll have better luck in the Fall! If not, I've lost a whole buck-fifty!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Arrggg!

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...ye-Spinach.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Looks like a pretty good crop, How many bushels per acre did you pull?

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

The beans are harvested....

http://images3a.snapfish.com/2323232...27832%3Bnu0mrj

http://images3a.snapfish.com/2323232...3B532%3Bnu0mrj

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

nice! Looking very good! Hope it was an excellent crop for you!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I decided to dig one of my dozen sweet potato plants today to see how they were progressing. I think I'm going to have a few more taters than I was planning on! 16 yams from that one plant. The size 10 moccasin is for size comparison!

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...D314F4C115.jpg

Think it's time to harvest the rest this week.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I wish we could grow yams here.
I'm starting to get used to those Caribbean Red chilis. Next year it can be ghost peppers.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Good looking sweets there, Cliff

Lance, you're a dang madman! Those things would tear my guts up then burn up my backside. I bow to you!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I know a lot of people who can eat really strong peppers. The burn in your mouth turns to numbness pretty quick after a while. The burn in your gut goes away after a couple of minutes and it actually improves your digestion and speeds up your metabolism. My lower back pain has gone away. The end burn is very temporary. Capsaicin depletes neurons of the ability to transmit pain and gives you an adrenaline rush so it is a little addictive.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I'm expanding my garden intentions. Many of the sweet tater vinse were putting out roots and the start of tubulars where they were touching ground. I took those vives, and recovered the "roots" with dirt, and am watering them. I'll be interested to see what grows over the fall. I also took a double handful of the smaller remains of my red potatoes (that were starting to sprout), and planted them. If we have another mild winter, I might be eating fresh taters in January!!!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

does grass count? this is what i spend the most energy on ;)

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Awesome looking property.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Hugh, where's the deerstands??? I thought on the post-harvest pic we'd be able to see them in the background.

You have to have some kind of loss managment, aka hunting to kill off the deer who eat your crops.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

:D For some reason, seeing a plowed field makes me think of hunting too.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Grass does count - it's harder to manage than most garden plants. Looks good.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Never got the chance to plant any fall type veggies in my raised beds. But did manage to get my garlic in the ground today. 5 varieties (German Hardy, Music, Stull, Roja and an unknown variety I've been planting for a few years) for a total of 38 heads for next year. The 5 named varieties are all hardneck types that produce 5-8 large cloves per head. Can't wait to see how they do.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Kinda a "gardening" thing. My fall haul from two afternoons of "harvesting". I wish I could say these were from my two trees. But alas, the crows shredded my crop while it was still green. My trees were heavily loaded, but after the crows, I was left with a grand total of 8 pecans on the ground. These are mostly from a friend's house a couple of miles away. The table cloth the pecans are on is a 6 ft square. The dvr remote is to give an idea of the thickness of the pile. Going to let these dry for a couple of weeks before I start cracking and picking them.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...1F9A114737.jpg

My "harvester" is basically this"


http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...ecanpicker.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

That's a beautiful pile of pecans you have there Cliff. I can already visualize a few pies coming forth:dr

Aunt and Uncle in Oklahoma had a pecan tree in the back yard about 8' from the picture window. Gathered many a pecan off the ground from that tree. Use to be fun watching the Cardinals and Jays trying to position themselves to snatch a pecan from the Squirrels:D

A 12ga works wonders on Crows you know;)

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I know, and a 20 gauge does too. Plus I have several .22 rifles and thousands of rounds of .22. The only problem.... The trees are in the front yard, and almost any angle, I'd be shooting with the street and one or the other of my neighbor's house as a backstop! It's a real tricky placement for gun work. I'm already past any pecans this year. If I can drop one or two crows, even in the yard, I can place the dead crows in the trees, and that will deter the rest. But they are crafty little devils! I have a master bedroom window that faces the pecan trees, and slept with it open in the early fall/late summer. The crows would wake me up around 5:30 - 6 am, but would be gone by the time I got up, got dressed and got a look off the porch. I was up already one morning when they started cawing. When I peeked out the kitchen window, the damn crows had a lookout quietly sitting on the ground under the window, where it could see me coming around the bed in that window. That's how they were staying ahead of me. dammit! I was up early another morning, grabbed a seat in a small pine grove near the road that gave me a shot away from any houses or the road..... The stupid crows never got close to the pecan trees after having been there all week. Frustrating.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Try an air cannon...I'm sure your neighbors wouldn't mind...:D

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I found some lettuce seeds today. Going to break out the tiller once we get back from Disney and prep the beds to get something started again.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

got some Collard seedlings coming up, hopefullyI can get them in the ground soon.

On another note, my tobacco grew, but not enough. I had a bad storm come through early in the season and whiped out half of them. The ones that did make it had damaged (bent) stalks. I do have a few that are making flowers, so, I'll have more seeds for next year. going to let them do their thing and try again next year. Then I'll be a little more prepaired and have a bit more time to tend to them.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Spinach, onions and turnip greens. All doing well. I got about 25% germination on the snow peas I planted (to the left of the turnips, not really visible). Not sure if they are going to make anything.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...BF16A3EB13.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Nothing like greens in the winter. Good job, Cliff!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I still have to pull my tomato stakes out and cut down some more corn stalks to have the garden ready for the snow. It's time to cover up the deck furniture, too. The yard and garden is a wrap for this year.
We still have wildflowers beside the house, it's pretty amazing. Real nice to see this time of year, too. :)

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

No hard frost yet here on the coast. We picked a dozen big bell peppers this past weekend. The pepper bushes are still loaded. My collards are growing quite nicely, too.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Well, we had ground frost the past two mornings, lows around 34. Peppers got smacked. Good while they lasted. The collards, on the other hand, loved the dusting of ice.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

All growing well in leaf mulch

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...4D7F310407.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Very Nice.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

First hard freeze coming this week. Harvested all the spinach yesterday. Put up 10 quart bags in freezer. Onions not ready, so I mulched them with about 2 feet of wheat straw. Will see if they survive the freeze. If not, then a whopping $2 in costs is down the drain! Surprisingly, they are growing much better in the fall than they ever grew in the spring/summer!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I got some Rosemary growing as hedges. That's.. Pretty much it. Not much grows in the desert, unless you time it just right and spend all day tending whatever it may be. Haha

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

It's time to order seeds again. I'm gonna try to NOT put it off till March and then get half my stuff and complain about the service.
I swore last year I'd never order from Park Seed again. Now I have their catalog ready and waiting. I've been ordering seed from these guys for 25 years, what the heck ya gonna do, right?
I really, really, like Willhite Seed. Crazy good prices on huge amounts of seed. Stuff always comes in a couple days and my whole order is there. I'm sure I won't order from them.
This is only one of the many things wrong with my head.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Man, been eating white egg turnips, curly mustard, and collards the past several weeks.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Got my seeds from Park awhile ago. Some of them. They shorted me six packs of corn seed but billed me for them separately a couple weeks ago. I highly doubt they'll ever show up, they do this to me every single year. Granted, sometimes the seed shows up about a month and a half after planting time, but that's as good as "didn't show up".
I'm not in a big hurry, so I'll wait a bit before I start calling them. Wish me luck!!!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Gathered the last of the collards in post #283. Got a large pot full on the stove. Awesome!

Yesterday I planted Iceberb, Red Sails, Buttercrunch, and Romaine lettuces. Also planted two types of radishes and 3 types of garden peas (Chinese snow pea, a dwarf pea, and an early sweet). I planted two types of summer squash, bush cucumbers, Seniorita jalapeno, Giant Bell, cilantro, dill, and basil in cups for the window sill. They should hit the ground in a few weeks.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I have 2 avocado pits growing in the window sill and 1 celery growing on the kitchen counter.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Grabbed five pounds of waxy red potatoes today. Probably won't cut up and plant them for at least two weeks. Hope to turn ground in next day or so, and work some horse manure into the area that I will add for an asparagus bed. I also plan to get some starter plants going for lettuce and broccoli. Hopefully some photos to follow. I'm not sure about planting dates this year. I had seeds in the ground three weeks before Good Friday last season, and two weeks before GF year before that. But we are running 15-20 degrees colder this year than last, and this might be the year I have to wait for GF, or even later. Mid-term weather predictions don't look good for early planting.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Seeds sprouting inside
Red Chard, Beets, Romaine, Butter Leaf, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Radish.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

How many of you used lawn clippings for mulch under your veggies? How's that workin for ya? I am thinking of trying that this year.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Anybody have any garden pics yet?
I just got a yard of Mushroom Compost yesterday to add to my exinsint raised beds.
Plants from seeds are doing well under the lights.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Garden's doing good now that last snap of cold weather went away. This was from two weeks ago. Everything has jumped now. Garden plants: Iceberb, Red Sails, Buttercrunch, and Romaine lettuces, two types of radishes and three types of garden peas (Chinese snow pea, a dwarf pea, and an early sweet). I planted two types of summer squash, bush cucumbers, Seniorita jalapeno, Giant Bell, cilantro, dill, and basil.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps7ea9ad3f.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps1bd83c94.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...psb0b3f193.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps8db5ade2.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

My garden is full of mulched leaves and grass clippings. I've been doing it for years. No weed problems what-so-ever! I can peel back the layer of clippings/leaves and the earthworms are everywhere and the soil is so moist and dark. I also don't till any more. I just work up the ground where I want to plant. That also keeps down the weeds. It's a win-win!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

My landlady used to complain about her backyard being a desert. It was nothing but tan clay when I moved in.
She bought a truckload of chipped wood mulch, but her idiot yard man scraped it all away over several weekends
and it all went out to the street. But that still didn't teach her. Instead of bagging leaves every fall, I would rake
them into a pile and run the mower over them until they were shredded. That worked better cause the dumba55
couldn't get a good grip on em with the rake. But eventually he would undo everything I did. Then she got tired
of him breaking or stealing all her tools and told him to stop coming around. NOW you can see the results. I never
know why people don't mulch down their leaves every year. It makes outstanding dirt and the worms love it.
You can't throw leaves on a compost and expect them to rot. They have to be shredded first. I always get angry
when I see some idiot with 35 bags of leaves on the curb awaiting pickup.
But now that my own processes are allowed to go on without interference, she has a good 7 inches of rich topsoil.
Everytime she comments on it, I tell her that she'd probably have 15 inches of topsoil if she would have cut the
a-hole loose sooner. She still can't grow grass, too much tree canopy cover. But at least the yard doesn't make
dust anymore. ANd those trees REALLY work well in the 98 degree summer here. Step into that fenced backyard
from the street at 4:30 in the afternoon and the temp drops 15 degrees.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Great pics Jamie. Thanks for the grass clipping comment. So you dont have to worry about any grass seed actually growing out of your clippings?

Brad, last year I started composting everything! I am going completely organic this year and moving forward. I just built a worm composter over the weekend also.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

This is the first year I did everything by seed. I got sick and tired of the crap I was getting from Home Depot and Lowes. Plus I want to do everything Organically moving forward.
Here are a few videos of the things I did this year, starting with seed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSmThYl-0uw


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnF8QzEZh4s


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHZJC7lU1Qk