Fruit and vegetable gardens 2024

[H.A.F.]

Oh, between all the tomatoes under the center of the racks is bush beans. They all got a good start before the tomatoes start to shade them. Last year I only got one good flush then they petered out quick. Mostly black beans, but the upper two have some bush lima and dragons tongue.

Beans and field peas are gonne be the main food focus of the new garden. I am growing pumpkins and melons mainly for comppost and tor the grands to make jackolanterns. Then compost for them too I'm planting all the random shit over there and may till a few little areas for some corn and okra. But mainly it will be heafily worked spots with the extra enriched soil making it mound higher, Then in fall I'll level it and get a good cover crop started and do it again next spring. Wash, rinse, repeat untill I have two awesome gardens that can grow whatever I want.

 

[Fiddler's Green]

Poked some melon, cabbage, beets, radish, kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts, seeds in the beds.





Going to try something new for the carrots using egg cartons


The peppers, onions and tomatoes are out in the garden ready to be plugged in. I have corn, herbs, flowers and beans left to sow.

And waiting for pumpkin sprouts.

 

[H.A.F.]

Poked some melon, cabbage, beets, radish, kale, broccoli, brussel sprouts, seeds in the beds.

sure ya did... I hate planting seeds over planting starts I already got going. Wait a week then see if anything didn't do right and try again. I have been getting almost daily rain showers so I haven't had to water a thing yet. But it makes planting stuff a mess. I have to wait until about noon if it's damp for stuff to dry out. would be perfect for seeds but I still need to broadfork those areas

 

[pinner420]

TikTok - Make Your Day

 

[Fiddler's Green]

Saw these while looking for a place to plant corn.

Will be a nice e addition to dinner

 

[H.A.F.]

Saw these while looking for a place to plant corn.
View attachment 137336
Will be a nice e addition to dinner

Mine still look like dill. I planted one 6-cell out of 4 (when I realized they basically had no roots) and one or two survived. I'll have a stand there eventually and I'll forget I stuck them there.

 

[Fiddler's Green]

I just ate them. I'm collecting every berry and pulling all the rootstock and consolidating them. Didn't realize how big the difference was in flavor.

 

[treefarmercharlie]

My asparagus aren't coming up as good this year as they did last year. I think I cut them back too hard last time.

 

[NoWaistedSpace]

I dropped a little cash on a 4cuft bale of pitt moss to get a jump start on the mounds in my big garden. I already have a tarp full of heavily amended soil from outdoor pots, some forest gathered stuff, a tub of wom castings and an assortment of Down to Earth minerals. When the pitt moss shows up I do the big garden. For anyone getting into new territory trying to make soil - THIS!
View attachment 137328
It has a notched bottom so it carches and cuts roots instead of sliding off. Workably sharp but broad blade so it's not getting dull from use. I got a handheld version for potting the plants in worked soil.

Also pictured is a worm bin experiment sucess that will also get added to the mounds (for pumpkins corn and beans). I sifted five 5g buckets of rich wormy compost to get the sticks and major food bits out. I lazagna'd it in 6" layers with shredded cardboard. All on a plastic drip tray so no roots grow up in it. I added minerals and top dressing type stuff like malted barley, and have just kept it moist letting the worms do their thing. It is now half the volume with castings just dripping out the bottom. I'll get pics as I get all that garden together.

For now I have 30 tomatoes, 6, 6, 6, 6, 8 and 4. I left the back side of that upper rack empty for now. It might get more tomatoes or peppers. I have most of my bell peppers out, there's a rainbow of them from canary yellow to lilac purple around the boulder, a few at the ends of the upper racks, a regular Cal Wonder bell to the left of my dumb-asses shadow and a few more right above it where there was bare ground. T

That barren strip to the left was gonna be more garden but I put a fire pit there because there were already remnants - and I started getting into tons of melted broken glass. I took down a peach tree that didn't make peaches to the right of that raised bed thing so I'll expand the garden that way instead. As the peas play out fences will move and beans get planted. I've startes dumping yard clippings and mowed leaf litter around the outside where I'll be expanding.

I have 27 peppers left to put in the ground. I want this to be pasta sauce/salsa jungle. I am looking at each remaining pepper and seeing which stay small, and I'm planting a hedge of them up front. The chipmunks tear that area behind the pots up, but those mesh sacks are 100% so far. All the tomatoes have been in the ground since Sunday.
View attachment 137327

You're taking care of business.
Hell of a nice start to the season.
Are you standing on you roof? lol

 

[H.A.F.]

You're taking care of business.
Hell of a nice start to the season.
Are you standing on you roof? lol

I have an extension ladder from back when I owned a 2 story house. Now it's a convenient roof-access for a one story. Not like anyone is gonna use it to break in to some second story window someone left open.

I actually use the pics for planning too. Like in the tents, sometimes you see stuff you missed in person.

 

[NoWaistedSpace]

I have an extension ladder from back when I owned a 2 story house. Now it's a convenient roof-access for a one story. Not like anyone is gonna use it to break in to some second story window someone left open.

I actually use the pics for planning too. Like in the tents, sometimes you see stuff you missed in person.

I'm not placing "judgement" on your "garden monitoring" technique. Hell of a nice pic. if you ask me.
Ha! I'm planning on sticking my plants on the roof, in hopes of maybe keeping the "Wild Methalopes" from wiping my plants out overnight in times of drought. lol
They might take my aluminum roof at the same time. And the fucking ladder.

After taking a group of pics is "when" I notice stuff I wouldn't normally catch.
Has saved my ass more than once.
My onions are coming up and I transplanted a row of cucumbers, peppers, and 1/2 dozen tomato plants a few days ago.
I have 2 of each (Yellow and Red) Amish tomatoes still in 3gal squats.
I have a couple tomatoes on them, but they're a little older the others.
No sense taking pics of mud splashed vegetable plants,
so, I'm heading over and posting these little Skunk pics before I chop their heads off.

 

[1oldfart]

Mine still look like dill. I planted one 6-cell out of 4 (when I realized they basically had no roots) and one or two survived. I'll have a stand there eventually and I'll forget I stuck them there.

old election sighs ,make great corrals for those times

 

[Fiddler's Green]

Peppers are staged for transplant in between the brussel sprouts and broccoli. Lined with leeks and green onions.


Strawberries have been a bust so far. I put too much stock in Walmarts garden center.


Transplanted the tomatoes deeeeep. The bulb onions will fill the gaps.


Added a hasty trellis for peas, beans and cukes.


I have carrots soaking and dropping the sprouts in egg cartons to try something new. Next on the list is transplanting and training my grapes in 5 gal buckets to allow me to work with them until I'm ready for them. Sowing peas, beans, cukes, flowers and corn this week. Time to start watering.

It's driving me crazy but I think I'll wait another week before mowing.

 

[H.A.F.]

Here's the reason my back is hurting a bit. I made a chart to list everything and have 30 peppers and 36 tomatoes, not counting the volunteer tomato I have strapped to a fence like a cucumber. That tray in the middle has a ddozen or so small-plant hot peppers that are going in radomly as ornamentals. I am still seeing mantis aroundd so laying out the cardboard for walkways is key. They hang out in the green parts I stay mostly on the brown parts.

This is the gist of how my stuff is set up. Bush beans there in the middle should be setting flowers soon. One run and I can pull them and move on unless they keep packing on flowers. I need to put strings on the racks and wrap the tomatoes next before the next storm. I used the tomato cages for peppers or tomatoes that are on a corner or likely to get stepped on by a stoner thinking about something else. Also two marigolds the grandkids planted inside this winter.

After I got done inside gardening I took the leftover water and fed all the starts. Those pots up front have worked well. I am not counting on much from the potatos but I have put lots of random stuff in there that's thriving. Dwarf sweet alyssum in those first pots.

This one has a storebought poblano and some parsley that needs harvested. But my dehydrator is full of the spearmint I have from another pot. I think about three Bonnie plants is the justification for snagging a 10-pack holder "so they don't tip in the car" . I think I have all the holders I need for now.

I had some peas that diddn't do well here, so they get one more shot in the fall then they are out of the garden. That's what I am doing with the peppers and tomatoes. I don't need that much variety but I do want variety, and I want stuff that grows here. I used a little compost fence to hold up the good ones and I'll keep seed at the end. Pretty sure I have a birdhouse gourd at the compost pile on the right.

Whatever it is I can run it through the woods and hang it on trees and shrubby stuff. It'll all be bio mass in fall. Those are the peas that did for shit on top. Tomorrow I mow and add a layer there, then more leaves. There's a potato coming up in the back too.

Last is my little half-ass hugel experiment. I planted a dwarf tamarilo (berry tree, center) an the only breed of determinate tomato I have. I starrted a 6-pack to use as fillers in the regular garden because they can go in pots just as easy. I used two to replace plants that didn't transition well.
Clockwise ffrom the top there's bee balm, lemon balm, lovage, sorghum, more bee balm and bloody-dock sorrel. All came back from last year. The bee balms could be one of several varieties I stuck in here. The Lemon balm is popping up everywhere and I am good with that. I can't grow citrus and the flavor you get from some of the lemon herbs can be very nice. The Sorrel is a stiff lettuce like romaine, and bleeds red. really cool but no flavor.

Speaking of the lemon stuff I planted several 6-packs of stuff to scatter around and let go feral. I kept one of each to keep inside and they'll likely end up on shelves in the flower tents like the chocolate seven pot pepper that's loving the tent life. There's a toohache plant and chamomile, marjoram that is already going to flower, some regular basil, then lemon balm, lemon basil and lemon thyme the thyme is storebought.

 

[H.A.F.]

For clarification my fenced in space there is only 20' x 24', and there's a giant boulder with an area around it hard to use for roots and stuff. I have bell peppers planted around the rock but that's about it for that corner.

You don't need lots of room. But you have to want that space to be just for plants and plan on lots of pruning and securing of stuff.

 

[Fiddler's Green]

For clarification my fenced in space there is only 20' x 24', and there's a giant boulder with an area around it hard to use for roots and stuff. I have bell peppers planted around the rock but that's about it for that corner.

You don't need lots of room. But you have to want that space to be just for plants and plan on lots of pruning and securing of stuff.

Add some fruit trees, berry shrubs, perennials and you got the makings of a food forest.

 

[H.A.F.]

Add some fruit trees, berry shrubs, perennials and you got the makings of a food forest.

I have that planned for other parts of the property. This is just going to be a seasonal garden for foodstuff I don't want to chance with the wildlife.

After I string the tomatoes I start the 3-sisters mounds in the new garden. One will be with a giant pumpkin. No big plans for anything special other than limiting it to one per vine.

Those will all have pole beans and corn (food) but also melons and pumpkins and stuff that I don't eat. Maybe pumpkin seeds. I think the cowpeas and beans do the most for getting the soil good, and they provide some bio-mass too.

I have raspberry and blueberry I still need to stick in the ground somewhere, and I got two fig trees that are gonna make fruit eventually. One is still in the pot and doing better than the planted one. My elevation and climate is more for nut trees than fruit though.

The mulberry that was shading the garden got demolished (lemme snag a pic) because it was shading my only garden spot, but I also found two more close that are younger but will make berries eventually. Thes got cut to step-ladder height mid winter. A few of the limbs have berries on them already. It's like a damn crape myrtle. So I am cutting lower this winter since I know it works, and doing some bonsai on a grand scale to get it all growing where I want.

 

[treefarmercharlie]

Here's the reason my back is hurting a bit. I made a chart to list everything and have 30 peppers and 36 tomatoes, not counting the volunteer tomato I have strapped to a fence like a cucumber. That tray in the middle has a ddozen or so small-plant hot peppers that are going in radomly as ornamentals. I am still seeing mantis aroundd so laying out the cardboard for walkways is key. They hang out in the green parts I stay mostly on the brown parts.
View attachment 137412
This is the gist of how my stuff is set up. Bush beans there in the middle should be setting flowers soon. One run and I can pull them and move on unless they keep packing on flowers. I need to put strings on the racks and wrap the tomatoes next before the next storm. I used the tomato cages for peppers or tomatoes that are on a corner or likely to get stepped on by a stoner thinking about something else. Also two marigolds the grandkids planted inside this winter.
View attachment 137414
After I got done inside gardening I took the leftover water and fed all the starts. Those pots up front have worked well. I am not counting on much from the potatos but I have put lots of random stuff in there that's thriving. Dwarf sweet alyssum in those first pots.
View attachment 137416
This one has a storebought poblano and some parsley that needs harvested. But my dehydrator is full of the spearmint I have from another pot. I think about three Bonnie plants is the justification for snagging a 10-pack holder "so they don't tip in the car" . I think I have all the holders I need for now.
View attachment 137417
I had some peas that diddn't do well here, so they get one more shot in the fall then they are out of the garden. That's what I am doing with the peppers and tomatoes. I don't need that much variety but I do want variety, and I want stuff that grows here. I used a little compost fence to hold up the good ones and I'll keep seed at the end. Pretty sure I have a birdhouse gourd at the compost pile on the right.
View attachment 137419
Whatever it is I can run it through the woods and hang it on trees and shrubby stuff. It'll all be bio mass in fall. Those are the peas that did for shit on top. Tomorrow I mow and add a layer there, then more leaves. There's a potato coming up in the back too.
View attachment 137418
Last is my little half-ass hugel experiment. I planted a dwarf tamarilo (berry tree, center) an the only breed of determinate tomato I have. I starrted a 6-pack to use as fillers in the regular garden because they can go in pots just as easy. I used two to replace plants that didn't transition well.
Clockwise ffrom the top there's bee balm, lemon balm, lovage, sorghum, more bee balm and bloody-dock sorrel. All came back from last year. The bee balms could be one of several varieties I stuck in here. The Lemon balm is popping up everywhere and I am good with that. I can't grow citrus and the flavor you get from some of the lemon herbs can be very nice. The Sorrel is a stiff lettuce like romaine, and bleeds red. really cool but no flavor.
View attachment 137415
Speaking of the lemon stuff I planted several 6-packs of stuff to scatter around and let go feral. I kept one of each to keep inside and they'll likely end up on shelves in the flower tents like the chocolate seven pot pepper that's loving the tent life. There's a toohache plant and chamomile, marjoram that is already going to flower, some regular basil, then lemon balm, lemon basil and lemon thyme the thyme is storebought.
View attachment 137420

Your back is going to hurt more come harvest season

 

[H.A.F.]

Your back is going to hurt more come harvest season

I'm still working off the winter layer, by harest time it'll be fine LOL

 

[Turpman]

A one use urea in the guarden? Think I may be getting a potassium buildup. Would like to water with just N to see if it helps. Mostly peppers and weed in pots. I notice the peppers getting a bit of crystal commimg out of leaves it looks like. Sounds like it mixes with water well.