NFR 2024 Garden and Growing Things thread

Non-fishing related
Capt Insano Emeritis said:
I dealt with too speedy draining at watering my first year using them . 4th year now and it did take some time to loam up for good soil properties. I knew what the problem was that first seasons because i have dealt with building garden soils for 40 years learning more as time passed . I did drill our a dozen 1/2” drainage holes evenly spacedand treated the holes with galvanized paint to fight eventual rust. I also set the 6 troughs on 1”x6’x 8’ recycled tire barn mats and cut pt 2x6’s as llifts so as not to trap water under the troughs which I thought would accelerate the rust potential of the trough bottoms. So far so good.
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Thank you. Its no late for me to prop the beds up on anything they are loaded with soil and rocks. Whoever its sitting on a bed of sewer rock so its not exactly totaly flat on the ground, I did go out and fluff up the soil last night and it is moist, Not soaked or dry so i think the drainage is good. I will look into maybe some fert or mulch
 
With this extended heat wave what are you doing to shade your garden? And/or what are you doing about a watering routine?
 
Water as much as is needed, best done in the morning.
I do not shade anything, if the greenhouse was in use, I'd use 60% shade cloth.
 
Having tough time with carrots for second year in a row. Use to be a staple. Plenty of carrots. Not so great of harvest last year This hot on spot weather then a change and back to hot spot is playing with the our crops. Last year was a bit off. This year looks the same. I know we water it well enough but the intense heat for a day or three is screwing some things. Some people in area are actually screening/shading their garden. I’m not there yet. Not sure I will ever be at it. It’s tough….. I’m a carrot, lettuce, tomato, zucchini, sweat pea , onion, type of Gardner. It’s okay but not so great if you don’t stay on top of it with these weathers. 😉
 
You can seed carrots right now. Actually probably the best time to do so.
They will be good in the fall, and can sit in the ground for longer than folks think.
 
I'm responding to the heat by watering the bejeezus out of the raised beds and other things. My garden isn't a complete bust, but I gots some issues. My onions are only about 6 or 7" tall, growing incredibly slowly. And a few of them are getting chomped on by something, don't know what. Green beans got off to a slow start and two plantings, but are coming along well enough that I can harvest a few anytime now. Lettuce also got a very slow start, but I can start harvesting some as soon as I finish the store-bought that's in the fridge. Tomatoes! Go figure! The plants out in the raised bed are growing faster since the weather warmed, and are much taller than the ones I plant in my tomato hot house, cold frame, whatever you call that contraption. The sungolds in the tomato house have stunted at about two feet tall, although I picked a few ripe ones yesterday. But if the plants don't grow taller I won't get much of a crop from them. The Early Girl are about 3' tall and are developing fruit, but it will be a while before any are ripe. The plants in my raised bed are about 4' tall but are lagging behind on developing fruit. But with all the hot weather, I think I will get a lot more tomatoes this year from the outside, raised bed plants than the inside, hothouse ones. I guess it depends on the kind of summer we get. My Italian prune and honeycrisp apple trees are gonna' produce a pitiful crop this year, but the multi-variety apple tree in my raised bed exclosure is loaded with apples. I need to thin them, or I'll get a ton of miniature apples.

I'm gonna' look into getting a spy drone and surveil some of the green thumb gardeners in this forum and learn how to do it right.
 
I've felt that nearly all things in my garden are moving slowly this year and thankfully they've all survived the heat except for arugula which bolted like lightning. Snow peas are 7 feet tall and at their peak and I'm filling a quart container daily, which feels really late in the season for me.

I will say, our 3 blueberry bushes are having by far their best showing; loaded with large, plump berries. We're picking a pint a day and we're only halfway to peak.
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Way more than we eat daily so I made some freezer jam today.
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Flymph said:
With this extended heat wave what are you doing to shade your garden? And/or what are you doing about a watering routine?
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I am not shading it at all. I went out last night and dug around in the soil and it is moist. Ill take a pic tonight of every bed i have and post it Monday... I pulled the onions they are hammered dead. tomatoes are producing green tomatoes so that is good my zuccinni has 1 small on on it and the plant should be 3 ft wide by now and ill be lucky if its 8 inches wide. My cucumbers look like Mike Tyson got ahold of it.
 
Salmon123 said:
I am not shading it at all. I went out last night and dug around in the soil and it is moist. Ill take a pic tonight of every bed i have and post it Monday... I pulled the onions they are hammered dead. tomatoes are producing green tomatoes so that is good my zuccinni has 1 small on on it and the plant should be 3 ft wide by now and ill be lucky if its 8 inches wide. My cucumbers look like Mike Tyson got ahold of it.
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Soil ph should be about 6.5-7 neutrality for most vegetable beds. Get a ph test kit and check .
Onions grow best in well-drained, fertile, loose, and slightly acidic soil with lots of organic matter, and a pH between 6.0 and 6.8. They prefer sandy-loam to silt-loam soils and full sun. Heavy clay soils should be avoided because they retain water for too long, but can be improved by adding organic matter like compost. You can also use a soil designed for raised beds, or mix compost into the top 6 inches of soil for mounded rows.
 
Got up at daybreak to avoid the heat and water the garden which I am doing every other day now. And my beautiful lettuce patch was toasted!:( Very upset to say the least as wife and I enjoy salads with each dinner meal. Going have to invest in 8 ft stakes and some sort of webbing to block the afternoon heat if we intend to keep enjoying the fresh benefits of our own garden.
 
Flymph said:
Got up at daybreak to avoid the heat and water the garden which I am doing every other day now. And my beautiful lettuce patch was toasted!:( Very upset to say the least as wife and I enjoy salads with each dinner meal. Going have to invest in 8 ft stakes and some sort of webbing to block the afternoon heat if we intend to keep enjoying the fresh benefits of our own garden.

Over time I discovered part shade for lettuce and tender non woody stemmed herbs like basil. Elevated in deck rail pots. Do not have to worry about slugs and snails
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I’m poor for space so I had to go to pots I put them on wheels so I could move them around for light. Right after planting the tomatoes we started having problems with our water output from our well. I’m having to get a gallon of water as I can to keep my tomatoes going. Having it on my deck helps keep my friend from eating my basil. Life doesn’t always work out the way you hope, but I’m trying to push it in my favor
 

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I post a while back about my veggies not growing worth a darn in my water troughs well I added blood meal and miracle grow to the soil and they took right off. Looks like ill get zucchini and peppers in a week.
 
Capt Insano Emeritis said:
Trombocini rampicante and the bees love the anise hyssop and our Russian sageView attachment 122715View attachment 122716
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I really admire you're gardening skills and your garden, Skip! But Russian Sage? We planted a dozen starts 20 or so years ago; I've become allergic to it and have removed it from most places in our yard and garden but there's one place along the alley retaining wall that my wife wants to keep it (nice privacy screen between yards).... man, that stuff loves to migrate! I really (REALLY) want to remove it this winter.
 
Buzzy said:
I really admire you're gardening skills and your garden, Skip! But Russian Sage? We planted a dozen starts 20 or so years ago; I've become allergic to it and have removed it from most places in our yard and garden but there's one place along the alley retaining wall that my wife wants to keep it (nice privacy screen between yards).... man, that stuff loves to migrate! I really (REALLY) want to remove it this winter.
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I am allergic(skin reactions that are severe) English ivy, rue o’ grace, cedar pollen, oxy clean and harsh ingedients in over the counter purported remedies for skin reactions… sub dermal bleeds from abrasions and as a result of applying strong perscription steroid skin cremes. I have seriously thinned skin, this started 5 years ago at 66. So I still garden but try to be carefull
 
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