Gardeners in the Asylum

[jjirons69]

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.

[SvilleKid]

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.

[Mr B]

Love your plot man. Everything by seed?

[SvilleKid]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Love your plot man. Everything by seed?

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,

[Mr B]

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.

[Mr B]

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

[Mr B]

Nice

[jjirons69]

Great start, B!

[Mr B]

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?

[Mr B]

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









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.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Mr B

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?

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!!!

[jjirons69]

This damned gardening is hard work!!

[Mr B]

Here's a couple of garden update videos

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

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

[jjirons69]

Top notch, Brent!

[shilala]

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.

[Mr B]

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.

[Mr B]

Garden update video.

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

[shilala]

Thanks for the video, Brent!!!

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.

[Mr B]

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.

[shilala]

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!!!

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