Fruit and vegetable gardens 2024

[Fiddler's Green]

Starting early this year with peppers, leeks, onions, tomatoes, tobacco and ginger.



Amended the tree and berry plots with some wood ash and chicken manure. I set aside some herbs and flower to sow this weekend and will be bringing my strawberries in to wake up.

What do you guys have planned this season?

 

[Slowdrawl]

Nice spread for an early start, me I'm sleeping in!
Never thought about starting veggies indoors, guess I've never had the room.
Got a little GH but still don't start until March April, my micro climate is cool and damp.
Looks like the Lady bug is waiting for its tanning session!!

 

[H.A.F.]

The left rack has a dome of spearmint, marjoram, and 6 ornamental creeping thyme that are each supposed to have a different color flowers.
Dome 2 is several different ground cherries from packs, and from F2's from those packs. Dome 3 parsley and cilantro. The lower one is an assortment of nasturtium to plant near but separate from the garden. I hear they can go wild and I'll allow it if it's nowhere I need for something else.

The right rack has an assortment of parsley and coriander/cilantro. I had luck finding spots for herbs and letting them go wild so best to try a plug here and there and whatever lives stays. Theres a dozen cells of sweet alyssum as another pollinator attractor.


After shucking and packaging the parsley seed from last hear there was a bunch of pulp and seed that ended up being viable. Making an attempt at growing asparagus too.

I have at least two dozen strawberry up - FROM SEED - on 1 february 2024. Mark your calendar LOL.

 

[H.A.F.]

I plan to wait a bit to start tomatoes and peppers, and based on last year I will stagger them as well.
The tomatoes can go out just after the last frost.
The peppers can too, but they don't do shit until it warms up anyway.
I also know that some of the tomatoes were pretty played out by mid summer, so after the first set of tomatoes goes in the ground I'll start a second round of everything. But I'll know better what to plant more of.

I didn't take good enough notes last year since I had frost kill a bunch and was playing catch-up.
This year I have a few packs of hybrids to get some canning-quantities from each plant.
Heirlooms are best for eating now, but most don't have the hybrid vigor to make bulk as well.

I'll be starting peppers later as well. I'll have a few of the "tree" variety like bell and poblano to go in early but I don't expect much.
Bush beans and peas did well early too, the climbing beans didn't so shit until summer. The climbing peas never did shit either way. Probably the soil.

Instead of fucking up and starting too many plants inside too early, I'll spend more time working the soil to where I need it so it can rest and get a good cover crop started.

I have a terraced garden on a hill and last year the retaining wall was temporary. I need a rabbit-fence for keeping small vegetable predators out.
I am trying old living soil pots to build up the slope and have outside the fence. I can use them for "sifted soil" root vegetable pots, or herbs, or whatever I don't care of the critters get. I don't need a lot of height, just something I don't need to move that will hold up for a few years.

The gardening techniques I picked up growing weed with living soil is gonna make killer tomatoes

 

[Fiddler's Green]

Are you doing the mint and thyme in pots or letting it go feral?

I'll be starting more peppers and pretty much everything else in early April for a staggered harvest also. I figured topping and shaping the peppers and tomatoes will slow them down enough to keep manageable but allow some badass starts to plug into the beds. Time will tell, I'm still learning.

Shits crazy, this time last year I was walking over my 6' garden fence because of the snow and this year I just raked in some red Oriental poppy seeds around my mailbox.

 

[H.A.F.]

Are you doing the mint and thyme in pots or letting it go feral?

yes

 

[Zaphod420]

Does anybody know of any plants chickens will not eat/mess with? Last year I did a small test patch and the only plants they let live were jalapenos, Thai Basil, Rosemary & Citronella. Cheers, Z.

 

[treefarmercharlie]

Does anybody know of any plants chickens will not eat/mess with? Last year I did a small test patch and the only plants they let live were jalapenos, Thai Basil, Rosemary & Citronella. Cheers, Z.

Dude, chickens eat just about anything. Hell, chickens will eat chicken You’re probably going to need to fence off the garden

 

[Kushash]

Anyone grow Brussel sprouts? I am germinating some seeds to try them indoors and outdoors.

I call this my hidden MJ garden. I've had indoor tomatoes going for a year and a half and don't plan on stopping. I have 2 600w hps going and the tomatoes are getting by with the side lighting for now. I started the MJ about two weeks before you guys started the comp. No frost pics, these don't have much frost.

 

[Fiddler's Green]

''Daddy, why do your tomatoes smell different outside than the tomatoes inside?''

 

[Fiddler's Green]

Dude, chickens eat just about anything. Hell, chickens will eat chicken You’re probably going to need to fence off the garden

He ain't lying, AND they'll fuck up little patches in and around the garden.

 

[pinner420]

Feed stores here getting close to bringing in this years chicks!!

 

[Fiddler's Green]

Feed stores here getting close to bringing in this years chicks!!

Getting ready to place an order for some fresh egg layers and meat birds for the first time.

 

[Big Terps]

I loved it when i had the property to raise chickens..
The bad part was that a family of tagged n chipped bobcats showed why they are elite predators....

Didnt want to deal with the DNR / game wardens, cause usually i had the woods laced with my illegal plants....

What breeds are u looking to purchase @Fiddler's Green & @pinner420 ?

Thx

 

[Fiddler's Green]

I loved it when i had the property to raise chickens..
The bad part was that a family of tagged n chipped bobcats showed why they are elite predators....

Didnt want to deal with the DNR / game wardens, cause usually i had the woods laced with my illegal plants....

What breeds are u looking to purchase @Fiddler's Green & @pinner420 ?

Thx

Dealt with a bobcat last year and to minimize my interaction with them I bagged that baby up, put her on ice and brought the kitty to them.

For meat birds I'm thinking either Red Broilers or Cornish Cross. For egg layers we've had good luck with Bardrock, Rhode Island Reds, Speckled Sussex, Ameraucanas, Buff Orpington and Silver Laced Wyandotte. I'll let the kids decide.

 

[treefarmercharlie]

Dealt with a bobcat last year and to minimize my interaction with them I bagged that baby up, put her on ice and brought the kitty to them.

For meat birds I'm thinking either Red Broilers or Cornish Cross. For egg layers we've had good luck with Bardrock, Rhode Island Reds, Speckled Sussex, Ameraucanas, Buff Orpington and Silver Laced Wyandotte. I'll let the kids decide.

Easter Eggers are great egg layers, too. We have Salmon Favorolles now, and they are great chickens, but their eggs are smaller and more runny than the eggs we used to get from our RI Reds and Easter Eggers.

 

[H.A.F.]

I'm getting edibled up to go out and prep the garden today. I raped and pillaged the mulberry tree right by the garden so it will only have whatever new-growth limbs it puts out for berries. I have a peach that was two trees in the same sack when I planted it. The largest one was leaning over the garden - now it isn't.

I need to put limbs through the electric wood chipper, but I want to keep the fruit wood separate. Some of that may come inside to age and go to the weed soil. I am thinking about a small hugel with just the mulberry since there's a lot. Maybe for the strawberies or something else stand-alone and perennial.

Main thing is to get the retaining wall done and the main garden level soon as I can so it can rest and I can get a cover crop going.

 

[H.A.F.]

That was fun. I got about half a 60g pot of chipped up mulberry and maybe 5g of peach. It's still green so the electric chipper just cut the wood but left a lot of the bark in strings. That should work well when it dries out. I can probably fint a different use for the birdsnests of bark fibers. It took limbs up to about 2" but really whined about it. I was left with just a few logs that wouldn't fit I can cure up for the smoker.

Not worrying about filling bags with the wood chipper makes it easy. Just kicking over the piles of chipped stuff or moving the unit. Bagging with a shovel after was way less tedious for keeping the exhaust chute clear.

 

[NoWaistedSpace]

The left rack has a dome of spearmint, marjoram, and 6 ornamental creeping thyme that are each supposed to have a different color flowers.
Dome 2 is several different ground cherries from packs, and from F2's from those packs. Dome 3 parsley and cilantro. The lower one is an assortment of nasturtium to plant near but separate from the garden. I hear they can go wild and I'll allow it if it's nowhere I need for something else.
View attachment 135022 View attachment 135024
The right rack has an assortment of parsley and coriander/cilantro. I had luck finding spots for herbs and letting them go wild so best to try a plug here and there and whatever lives stays. Theres a dozen cells of sweet alyssum as another pollinator attractor.


After shucking and packaging the parsley seed from last hear there was a bunch of pulp and seed that ended up being viable. Making an attempt at growing asparagus too.
View attachment 135025
I have at least two dozen strawberry up - FROM SEED - on 1 february 2024. Mark your calendar LOL.
View attachment 135026

I need to start the Tasmanian Blue poppies I've had in the frig for a couple years now.
I'm gonna do it now so I don't forget.
Thanks for reminding me.
Hell of a little experimental garden set up.

 

[H.A.F.]

I need to start the Tasmanian Blue poppies I've had in the frig for a couple years now.
I'm gonna do it now so I don't forget.
Thanks for reminding me.
Hell of a little experimental garden set up.

After spending a few years buying cannabis seeds, hoarding vegetable seeds at $1-$5 per pack seems silly. I'm growing almost everything I have and if there's any left it'll mainly be tomatoes and peppers just because those are started inside and I'm not planting to cull. 2-3 seeds per cel and keep one of them after they're done sprouting.

I'm getting off my ass and doing the garden now even though I know I have a few more freezes left. I can start some early root veggies, and I am thinking about a little tunnel (I stopped so I didn't forget. I bought 3 tunnels, 2 were $9.99 LOL) to get an earlier start on some of the frost tolerant stuff.

I'll take notes, and I'll buy fewer, selected seeds next year. Positioned right, I know I can make my entire garden behind the house tomatoes and peppers, then still get enough of everything else to be fine. Everything else including some of the peppers does well around the edge in the shady parts, climbing fences, or growing between the tomatoes and peppers on their racks, like the bush beans. That soil is well worm-worked too so I may stick carrots and other stuff I have laying around in all the empty spots.