Garden Thread 2023!

[DuaeGuttae]

@begreen , your new beds are looking lovely, as are your potatoes. I know that potato flowers aren’t particularly showy, but I happen to find them beautiful. Do you eat your garlic scapes?

@EbS-P , your hydroponic system sounds quite ambitious. I admit that your explanations pretty much went over my head. When you say space for fifteen to twenty-five vines, are you talking about individual plants trained to a single stem each, or some other plan?

@Dan Freeman , I’m glad that you got some rain. I bet having that moisture yesterday to benefit your trees and other plants helped make it a more pleasant day today.

Here’s a shot of the this morning’s harvest: cucumbers, zucchini, Porter and Madera tomatoes, Txorixero peppers, green beans, and red noodle beans. I was taking my daughter to a cello lesson, and her teacher is a big fan of fried squash blossoms, so I took a number of male flowers off my pumpkin vine for her. She got some of the vegetables, and the others I delivered to a friend who is recovering from taking a pretty bad tumble yesterday when walking her dog.

 

[begreen]

Nice harvest DG. That looks delicious.

 

[Dan Freeman]

We got a lot done today, but I didn't take any pics...

Today, I installed the new greenhouse exhaust fan. What a mighty fan. It can change the entire volume of air in the greenhouse in less than a minute (Over 2800 cubic feet). This will come in very handy on very hot days.

I also transplanted some cat tails, fake bamboo, and a piece of my dwarf lily into the new greenhouse pond.

Split some more firewood for next winter. Just about 1/2 way there.

Got two of the 30" high raised beds topped off with the final layer of planting soil. We're probably going to try to add to our brassicas (broccoli, cabbages, etc.), and we'll use shade cloth to help with the summer temps/sun.

Life goes on here, and we're loving it right now. Hope you are, too.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

@Dan Freeman , good job on getting so much accomplished. I’m astounded that your greenhouse exhaust fan is so powerful. Does it run only at that high volume, or can you ramp it down for something less intense?

I’m curious about the “fake bamboo” that you put in your greenhouse pond. Is it fake in the sense of just being an artificial plant, or fake in the sense that it looks like bamboo, but isn’t truly.

Many years ago my father planted some real bamboo down by the family pond. It has grown and spread into a whole forest down there. It’s beautiful but quite aggressive, and every spring my mother spends a lot of time chopping down new bamboo shoots to keep it from spreading more.

It’s hot down here right now. I just checked the temperature and humidity on our weather station, and with those I calculated that we have a heat index of one hundred and one. Thankfully my husband and I were able to get out to work in the garden this morning when the sun was still mostly covered by clouds, and the heat wasn’t so intense. I filled all the ollas, some of which were quite low despite having been filled on Wednesday morning. In my pumpkin bed, for instance, I have ten ollas which hold two quarts each, and only two pumpkin plants and a little ginger. Each olla was nearly empty. I bet the plants have been draining them to survive the high temperatures we’ve been having.

My husband cut down our lettuce that had gone to seed and spread it around the in the bed. He then emptied one of our compost tumblers into that bed since it was the only one that hadn’t been topped up some time this spring or summer. I trained the pumpkin vines down the far side of the trellis and buried parts of them in compost. I’m hoping that they’ll put out some adventitious roots in that new bed now and be able to spread even further.

I also picked a few blueberries when I watered those bushes. Just about half a kid’s bowl full. If it weren’t so hot, I’d make some muffins, but it’s too hot to think about the oven.

The intense heat is supposed to continue and even worsen for the next few days. I’ll be spending time inside.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Right now I have the fan and power intake shutter on a thermostat, so they both operate at the same time. I could put the fan on a variable speed control. I will see if it is necessary as time goes on.

By "fake" bamboo (sorry, should have explained better), I meant a plant that is not bamboo, but looks similar to it. It has much thinner stalks. Dulichium arundinaceum a.k.a. Three-way Sedge or Dwarf Bamboo



It does spread very quickly, but in a pot, the growth is contained.

Unlike you, we have had not had any significant heat. High 70's/low 80's have been the order of the day as we head to July.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Today, I took some time to do the first pruning and support the 15 tomato plants down in the FF. I am using tomato clips that I attach to strings that are suspended from frames above the tomato plants. I have used them the past 3 years. Not ideal, but the best solution I have found so far!

In addition, I added a teaspoon of Hi-Yield Calcium Nitrate to each tomato plant to help with blossom end rot, Although I've only ever had blossom end rot on some of the San Marzano tomatoes last year and my California Wonder Bell Peppers, I figure I can't go wrong with some preventative maintenance on all my tomatoes and peppers.

I did spot a few young Supersweet 100 tomatoes today.

I don't think I will have a ripe tomato before July 1st, my personal best, but this has been a strange year starting seeds inside and trying to make the transition from one greenhouse to another. I am all thrown off my game. However, maybe that's not a bad thing if it gets me to thinking about "better ways", huh?

 

[begreen]

This is an off-year for us too. It stayed colder than normal in Feb-Apr. which meant late starts and waiting for the soil to warm up. And I was tied up with getting the new beds area done in April. That's ok. For me, farming is working with nature, not against it.
PS: I have found that Tomato-Tone fertilizer virtually eliminates blossom end rot. I also grow Pomidore Squisto tomatoes which are San Marzano style, but less prone to end rot. They are also more productive than SMs for me.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Thanks for the tips on Tomato Tone and the Pomidore Squisto. I will look them up and order a packet for next year.

 

[EbS-P]

I’m getting a pint to a quart a day now. Just realized that hat I need an APU backup on the pump. It’s a monster!

I’m deciding between Kratky and Dutch buckets for my next system. Might just do 10 each. And see what I like. Dutch buckets require a drain line and a nutrient emitter pumped from a single reservoir. The Kratky just needs an air pump and you fill each bucket individually or it can be plumbed to fill from a common reservoir. I could possibly get away with an off grid Kratky with a small solar panel running the air pump during the day.

 

[Dan Freeman]

I did the Kratky method one year for lettuce. I used quart size jars with no air pump. Worked well for the lettuce that way. (The black socks were to block the light and keep the water from turning green)

 

[Dan Freeman]

Moved some cat tails, dwarf bamboo, and a piece of my miniature lily to the greenhouse pond a couple of days ago. Today, the lily bloomed. Can't wait to add fish, but I have to wait out the nitrogen cycle.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Cut and split a bunch more firewood today. I figure I have to process 1 more cord to be ready for Winter 2023-24. I figure 3.5 cords a winter for an above average cold winter. Last winter we used a bit less. I would really like to be able to start to get ahead. On Hearth.com there are folks who are processing their firewood for the 2027-28 season. I'd be happy with 1 year ahead of schedule in case of something unforeseen, like a severe price increase or a health issue that slows us down for a year.

Only God knows what the future will bring.

Been tending and weeding the FF gardens. Overall, I am pleased with how this season is going. I really need to take and post a few pics. Tomorrow......

Oh, I bought 5 comet goldfish for $15 at a nursery that has a lot of pond supplies, plants and fish. They are about 2 inches long, but they will grow. They are now living in the greenhouse pond.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

@Dan Freeman , how warm will that pond get being in a greenhouse? I know you have that big fan to help cool things off, but I’m still imagining a pretty warm pond.

It’s way too hot down here right now. I just checked our air temperature, and we’ve now hit one hundred three degrees. With the humidity that’s present, our heat index is one hundred fourteeen. Yuck. [It just went up to one hundred four.]

My garden vegetables are still producing, but I can tell that new bean pods and cucumbers aren’t wanting to set at this point. Tomatoes are already loaded with green fruit. When any start to blush, I bring them inside to ripen in the air conditioning as eighty degrees is much more conducive to lycopene formation than higher temperatures are.

The rain we saw this spring got the garden off to a wonderful start, and those strong plants are bearing with the heat wave. We never got out of extreme drought, however, and if this keeps up, we’ll be back in the exceptional category in no time. There is a chance for storms later on, and I sure hope we can get some moisture without violent weather.

 

[Dan Freeman]

@Dan Freeman , how warm will that pond get being in a greenhouse? I know you have that big fan to help cool things off, but I’m still imagining a pretty warm pond.

It’s way too hot down here right now. I just checked our air temperature, and we’ve now hit one hundred three degrees. With the humidity that’s present, our heat index is one hundred fourteeen. Yuck. [It just went up to one hundred four.]

My garden vegetables are still producing, but I can tell that new bean pods and cucumbers aren’t wanting to set at this point. Tomatoes are already loaded with green fruit. When any start to blush, I bring them inside to ripen in the air conditioning as eighty degrees is much more conducive to lycopene formation than higher temperatures are.

The rain we saw this spring got the garden off to a wonderful start, and those strong plants are bearing with the heat wave. We never got out of extreme drought, however, and if this keeps up, we’ll be back in the exceptional category in no time. There is a chance for storms later on, and I sure hope we can get some moisture without violent weather.

Good point, DG, As of now, the water temp in that pond is 75ish. I will watch it, though. If it get too high, I can move the new fish to one of my other two ponds that are outside.

Sounds like you are in the classic Texas summer. Not fun, I imagine. My prayers and hopes for plenty of rain .

 

[DuaeGuttae]

It

Good point, DG, As of now, the water temp in that pond is 75ish. I will watch it, though. If it get too high, I can move the new fish to one of my other two ponds that are outside.

Sounds like you are in the classic Texas summer. Not fun, I imagine. My prayers and hopes for plenty of rain .

Thank you.

It’s actually a heat wave, even this far south. New records have been set for highest air temperatures in a few cities as well as the highest heat index ever recorded at San Antonio Airport [about half an hour from our house]. At this point I’d prefer a classic Texas summer.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Other than some neighbors and friends at the local stores, we are thinking of putting a "Free Produce" sign at the top of the driveway with a sign that says "Take what you need, but no more. More may be needed by the next person who comes along. Let's support one another during these trying times."

I think there are a lot of people who are hurting and can benefit from a helping hand. Let's do what we can to help!

 

[Dan Freeman]

I built the "screen" that will hide the FF pond filter. I was going to build a small-scale outhouse building with carved moon to hide it, but the final pricing out was about $200. I decided to make a "fence" screen to hide the filter at about $49.

Don't have that picture here, but here are some other pics from today:

I got another cord of wood dropped off. ($290/cord)


I got another 6-7 cubic yards of sawdust dropped off at no charge


Brooklyn Bred Pizza Crust with out fixin's of tomato sauce, spinach, sausage, and cheese. Brooklyn Bred makes a great crust (for a nice change). We have it from time to time when we are not making our own pizza crust or buying it from the store.



More FF pics to come...maybe tonight or tomorrow morning.

 

[begreen]

Back from our trip east and the garden has really put on some growth. The peas are in full swing now and the zucchinis are coming on strong. We got some broccoli including a small head of romanesco. There are green tomatoes, many baby cukes, and there are baby cantaloupes forming!

 

[EbS-P]

This is 2 days worth of tomatoes. Ok probably 3.
And the pirate got hungry So we decided pull all the carrots.
Leaving for vacation for two weeks. Put an APU on the tower garden pump and left my dad in charge of refilling the nutrients and water.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Now that the greenhouse is finished, we like to have a morning coffee in it.

 

[begreen]

Looks great. I'd be in there for morning coffee too.

 

[Dan Freeman]

I worked mostly in the greenhouse today, up potting some plants and thinning some plants into more pots.

Shishito Peppers


California Wonder Bells


Up Potted my 9 Tiny Tim Tomato plants.


Some portulacas we bought that were on "life support", but they were buy one, get one. They'll come back, I'm sure. They will go on either side of the greenhouse entrance.


I took one of the pots of basil and split it into 4 pots. The parsley and chives are very slow..


Borage I started from seed. I will move this down to the raised beds that have broccoli and cabbage. Many brassica pests hate borage.

 

[clancey]

Been reading all your postings and you people have worked hard on your gardens and it sure shows it.. Your greenhouse and pond has turned out very very beautiful and what a way to have morning coffee and what a beautiful offer of giving to the neighborhood for they can take what they want in the way of food---Bless you....Just been keeping busy with "life" and I have only one tomato plant but its fulfilling for me..and its growing--lol....clancey

 

[Dan Freeman]

Been reading all your postings and you people have worked hard on your gardens and it sure shows it.. Your greenhouse and pond has turned out very very beautiful and what a way to have morning coffee and what a beautiful offer of giving to the neighborhood for they can take what they want in the way of food---Bless you....Just been keeping busy with "life" and I have only one tomato plant but its fulfilling for me..and its growing--lol....clancey

Hi clancey!

I was getting concerned about you since we haven't heard from you lately. I feel relieved to see you posting. May your tomato plant bring you an abundance of fruit. ALWAYS nice to hear from you!

 

[clancey]

Yea Thanks...I was feeling kind of down and out because nobody acted like they even knew that I wasn't posting...Having computer and speaker problem and my computer person was just going to be away for 40 days but I guess he decided to stay with his family but my girlfriend gave me a pair of speakers "that work"--not so well but they will do. I miss listening to the music forum too but that's life for now.. Glad someone missed me...What you do my forum friend is get everything so beautiful and then you are off on another idea and with more ideas you seem to make even more work...lol I have been tracking the weather and have a lot to say about it but not just at the moment for its better this way.. But been reading the posts when I had time...In fact I have a lot to say about everything but I have learned to be quiet--been keeping up with everything....Every bodies gardens are doing so well and the produce from them is just wonderful...Begreen surprised me did not quite know he was such a garden fellow--lol...Thanks...clancey