Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

No problems with weed or grass seed in the clippings. Initially I was worried about it, too, but there's been nothing to worry about. Go for it!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

We have a few flats of tomatoes and peppers started in the greenhouse I put up in the basement. They're doing great, should be big and strong when it comes time to put them out to harden.

Grass clippings are great if they're used in a balance. Jamie has a big garden, small amount of clippings, and he uses leaves and other organic matter to mulch.
Folks with raised beds tend to put a whole garbage bag of clippings around one plant. It's great for the first year because the grass doesn't break down so much. The following year there's so much free nitrogen that plants grow huge and fruit very little.
Go easy on the grass clippings, B. A little is great, too much is not great. :tu

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Thanks Jamie
Thanks Scott

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ygHQCuFWx...414_174145.jpg
It's not very pretty but the wife and I put our 1st garden together this year. We planted zucchini, broccoli, spinach, cabbage, cucumbers, and tomatoes. We are also growing strawberries in a container on the porch. I think some moving around may be done before all is finalized but it is a good start I think.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Very nice Brendon. Good luck!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

My tomato plants are starting to get too big, I'm afraid they'll be root bound before the nights are warm here, but don't have room to pot up. They're in 3" pots now, 6-8" tall and growing fast.

Anyone use "wall o' water" or similar season extenders? Our temps are likely to be in the 60s during the day and 40s at night for the next few weeks. Historical average evening temp of 55 isn't until mid-May. Thoughts?

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Quite a few Mennonite families around here use the 'wall-o-water' with great results. Usually have the first tomatoes in our area. I see a lot of gallon milk containers with the bottoms cut out also. Much cheaper route if you have lots of plants.

I planted some habarneros, and two tomatoes plants the other day, but in an area that is well protected, and has it's own micro-climate. Still, with temps predicted in the mid to upper 30s tomorrow night I'll have to cover them.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Mark, I just use an inverted 5 gallon bucket when I need a night's protection.

I wouldn't worry too much about the size of the tomatoes. Tall, lanky ones will be fine. Dig a trench and plant as much of the stem as you can leaving a few set of leaves above ground. The stem will grow roots along itself when buried - a good thing.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Here's the start for 2013. I still have to place my soaker hoses and mulch. And I'm waiting for some sweet taters to put out some "slips" to plant those. Otherwise, it's all in the ground. Zucchini, pink-eyed purple-hull peas, three types of watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, yellow squash, onions, peppers, three types of tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, red potatoes, green beans and corn. Maybe that will keep me busy.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...ps376a8fa6.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Love your plot man. Everything by seed?

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

No, the far end has starter plants of Tomato, Peppers, cabbage, broccoli. Potatoes are from leftover runt potatoes of last years crop (how I usually do it). The sweet taters slips are being sprouted from runts left over from last year's crop also. The onions are actually still growing from where I planted them last fall/early winter. The melons, squash and corn are from seeds purchased at a local co-op. One pound bag of seed will usually last me 3 seasons on corn, as will 1 ounce envelope of melon seeds. The peas, butterpeas and green bean seed are taken from dried pods of last years crops, and seem to work as well as buying new ones. All seeds are stored in a chest type freezer all year except for a day or two when they are taken out to warm up and plant,

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Nice

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Here are some pics of what is outside already. I still have alot of stuff under the lights, in the house. I started everything by seed this year.



Here is my early season raised-bed.

Onions, Beets, Red Chard, Spinach, Boc Choy, Broccoli, Butter Lettuce.



http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/


http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/


http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

This is more of the stuff I have moved out doors to Harden-Off.



http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/


http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/


http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I used to have a pile of them. They work great.
If the plants grow out the top and get nipped by frost, you just lop them off. It's got to be a very hard frost for them to get nipped, even outside the wall0water.
I started cukes in them, too. We had a very short season in PA and they were a big help to get some early stuff.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I'm on the southern border of PA, so that helps. Glad to hear they work, they'll be delivered on Friday :)

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Great start, B!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I am having problems with Leaf Miners (first time ever) in my Chard, Spinach and Beet leaves.
What Non-Toixic methods do you guys use for these?

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Here's whats under the Plastic Lean-to, hardening off.



http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/





I am building another raised bed. This one is 14' x 4' x 18" high.
This is 1 of 2 halves. They will be joined together and a 1/2" threaded rod will go in the mid-cross section to keep it from bowing apart. Its upside down right now. The long legs will go in the ground. I will update the status as I go.


http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/


http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

This damned gardening is hard work!!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Here's a couple of garden update videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJF82s_pncU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvJmX5w7Fj0

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Top notch, Brent!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

1/3rd strength Sevin applied as often as it takes to kill them.
I suppose you'll immediately think "that's isn't non-toxic?" Thing is, the active ingredient, carbaryl, evaporates off very rapidly leaving only inert ingredients like chalk and standard nothings. If people happen to eat some, the body quickly breaks it down and removes it. It's poisonous to invertebrates, not so much to vertebrates.
What ultimately made me trust it is that it's milk-safe. You may not be aware of the stringent tests and standards milk farmers are held to, but let's just say that they're insane. Cows can eat this stuff on their feed all day and it'll never transfer laterally to the milk. Heck, a woman can't even eat broccoli without giving the baby gas, right?
Sometimes we out-think ourselves with "safe alternatives". I'd far rather eat Sevin than Safer Soap, or any of the other "non-toxic" concoctions I've come across over the years.

Badass videos, too, my man!!! Lookin good!!! :tu

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Weeze and I transplanted everything on Saturday. The plants have gotten a couple days hardening in the wind, I just dragged them out into the sun for their first hour.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps227c6758.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Lookin good Scott. last week I transplanted about 18 peppers, 6 watermelons, 12 pumpkins, 12 Zucchini, and about 10 of my largest tomatoes.
I still have another 24 peppers, 20 tomatoes, 7 cantaloupe and 12 Red Basil to transplant.
I am giving alot of stuff away this year.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Garden update video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_XMwdgXlIY

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Thanks for the video, Brent!!! :tu

I picked up some onion sets last night, I need to go out and get them planted. I also need to plant carrots, snow peas and blue lake beans.
The rest of the garden will go in a couple weeks from now.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I finished up installing the Raised bed last night. I will line the bottom with cardboard and attach a weed barrier matting. We dont get gophers or moles here. I guess that's a nice trade for having horrible, solid Adobe Clay soil. Hope to fill it w/ soil and compost this Sat (crossing fingers).
That 4 foot section in the old raised bed where I have been hardening off my plants (where the Red Solo Cups are), still needs to have the Collards put in and be seeded for Radish and Carrots. So much to do and time is slipping away here.
Hope to do my final batch or transplants in the next few days.


http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/


http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3...D720/ry%3D480/

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

The whole garden is in (or should I say all the gardens are in?), I even planted the corn.
I have NEVER planted this early. It's a full 24 days early of the norm for this region, and it gains a day or so every year.
It used to be that I had to wait for June 10th to plant if there was a full moon near prior. I can remember many, many a frost after June 1st. It was an old joke, folks planting on the holiday so they could get in a practice run. You could count on that late freeze if the moon was right, and everyone who was getting an early jump had to scramble to buy new plants.
Heck, now I'm hardening plants outside on the 1st of May. That's INSANE-O.
I like it, and I'll be dead before there's any such thing as global warming, so party on!!! :tu

I hope all you guys will get some pics and reports on here soon.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Jamie, we planted a whole bunch of the heirloom lettuce and spinach you sent us a few years back. They're coming along nicely so far. We'll see how it goes!!! :tu

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Replanted my garden today. Jumped the gun last week and put all my plants in, only to have it drop to 32F on Tuesday. Lost half my plants. So today while at the farmers market, picked up replacements. I've got three types of heirloom tomatoes in now, along with corn, squash, eggplant, broccoli, red bell peppers and bush cucumbers.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Sorry to hear that Bob. Hopefully round 2 will go better.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Let's hope the seed is still viable. Fingers crossed!

I cleaned out the lettuce and garden pea debris yesterday. Going to get more peppers to put in their place. The lettuce garden was spectacular this year. Never eaten so much lettuce in my life.

My squash are full of 1"-3" fruit and growing daily. Cukes are coming along well, too. Starting to get back around normal temps with the very cool spring finally leaving us alone.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

She's viable, at least to some length, Jamie. I've got all sorts of stuff growing where I planted the seed, and there's little tiny green and purple lettuces in there, I just checked. :tu

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I finished up the garden this weekend.
I put in:
15 tomatoes (3 Woodle Orange, 2 Golden Sunray, 3 Red Calabash, 4 Brandywine, 3 Sweetie.
42 Peppers: Green Bell, Poblano, Jalapeno, Cayanne, Jalapeno M, Habanero
3 Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins
3 Zucchini, Dark Star
3 Watermelon, Red Crimson
3 Cantaloupe
3 Pickling Cucumbers
Red Basil, Sweet Basil, Lemon-Lime Basil, Italian Parsley

My Back Hurts! I will try to get a video done soon.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Ants!!!! How do I get rid of red ants??

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

I love the Combat brand ant houses. These are they type where they bring the poison back to the queen and colony and Kill em All Jack.
They work great.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Planted "skips" and washed out areas (from the massive rains Friday and Saturday). I think I planted more peas and melons than were left standing. Garden NOT on a slope or prone to flooding. But eight inches of rain in 24 hours...... Nothing stands up to that. I have to make a walk thru my woods in next day or so, to see if any trees down from the saturated ground. With that much rain, the weeds are going crazy, and ground still to wet to hoe or roto-till up weeds. Going to be a busy week to get back ahead of garden.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Obviously safe in the garden?

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

A couple years ago, I purchased ant bait from my local Ace Hardware that was garden-friendly. The bait containers are long gone so I don't know brand, but I bet they still carry it.

I purchased them specifically because they were garden friendly. And they did an excellent job. They were "bait type", where the workers carried the killer back to the queen.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Thank u

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I'm sorry, I never saw your reply question. I dont really know if it is safe for the garden or not. I kinda doubt it is organic but also, the tiny piece of bait in the trap is probably smaller that a 1/4 of a grain of rice. I have never had ants actually in my garden. Just in and around the house.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Here is a garden video I did on Memorial Day. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPkQ7fSB5Yk

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

A lot of work you put in there Mr.B, well done.

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First veggies from the garden tonight. Had some steamed cabbage, broccoli, squash and zucchini. Plus some fresh cornbread. Some pics of how the garden is coming:

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...ps51c5d944.jpg

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3382d6b8.jpg

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...ps20bcca3a.jpg

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2140be8e.jpg

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8944e6f9.jpg

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Weeding sucks, don't it, Cliff??

Looks good!

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Lookin real good Cliff.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

New garden video, raised beds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3joEyUOPGVs

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Yep, sure does!!! Partially completed. Lots more to go.

Re: Gardeners in the Asylum
 

Wow, what a difference location makes. My corn is maybe 1/3 the height of yours. I'll be out putting up fencing later this week. Damn rabbits keep eating my plants. Had some lettuce starting to come in. Not so much anymore.