2023 Gardening Thread

[SaltwaterSlick]

Just went out and snapped a few pics of the garden.
This is the 78 pepper plants that we saved from the Spring planting. Now that Fall has set in, they are gong great gangbusters...


This is what's left of the squash and cucumbers... They all produced really well except I battled Squash Vine Borers this Fall... We didn't have any issue with them this Spring... I'd have thought the opposite would have occurred. I was able to salvage all the infected plants by killing the larvae in the infected plants by digging them out, then covering the plants higher up their stems with soil and watering them in real heavily... They recovered and began producing again... Now though, even though we covered them when we got that one frost earlier in the month, it has taken its toll on them. They're about done, but man did we get a lot of squash... We planted all Summer squash varieties like crook-neck, Patty Pan, and 3 varieties of round squash and grenade squash... Even the yellow zucchini did well. I'll be pulling them out here in the next week and recycling the soil in the bags.


The maters are about a pretty as we've ever grown! They are lush, dark green and loaded down with maters. We covered them successfully during the one frost, and have the covers ready JIC we get another one before the maters are big enough to pick. Our plan is to move a few plants into the greenhouse and try to keep them going a while into the Winter...


This is the broccoli, cauliflower and Pak choy. These are all doing very well. The broccoli plants all have nice heads on them, and the cauliflowers have started some pretty serious curling in their centers so I'm hoping small heads are forming there as well.


The in-ground portion of the garden was hit and miss. Below are a few pics of squash and maters that came from the same seedling trays as the bag plants we planted and they were all planted the same day or within a day or two of the bag plantings. The rows were given the same soil amendments we gave the bags and they have drip tape watering systems under them for plenty of water... The bags did remarkably better than the in-ground plants, which actually surprised me, but confirmed our approach of bag gardening for most succulent plants.


This is our peas/beans. They all did the best we've ever grown. For the first time ever we actually were able to grow green beans in a quantity sufficient we were able to can quite a few quart jars and we still have probably one picking left to get. There are also 2 double rows of top pick pink-eye purple hull peas, and a double row each of two other varieties of field peas that I don't recall specifically what they are (that's my wife's department). They are all loaded down with little peas and blooms.


If I can get the corn through about 2 more weeks before we get a freeze, we should have some nice sweet corn. We planted a variety that has a short mature date. It's not very tall and we've tried to keep up with spraying Spinosad for the ear worms, but not sure whether or not we have been successful. That series of pipes/tubes is so we can throw a cover over the whole plot in the event we have a predicted frost... It's left over from the one frost we had and we were successful in saving it really well. It was not damaged at all.


As I posted above, we have carrots and onions in the ground that we expect to over-Winter... never tried that before, so we'll see how it goes and I'll report in the Spring. There are a couple rows of cabbage and beets in the ground too and they are doing well if we can get them up and mature before they get zapped by a frost...


All in all, the Fall garden was a LOT less effort than the Spring garden and I'm pretty sure we will be doing this again next Fall. Here is a panoramic shot of the main garden. Not sure how it will be able to be seen on here, but we'll give it a shot... What is not shown is our main blackberry patch which is around the corner of the fence and I could not see it from the vantage point where I did the pano...




Once we move the plants into the greenhouses we want to keep from freezing to try to prolong their life this Winter, I'll try to do another update on how that goes.

Hope y'all enjoyed following along on this fun project as much as we did doing it!!

[SaltwaterSlick]

Got my Texas legends and Red Creole in the ground this weekend. 2 bunches of each from Dixondale, with about 1/4 bunch total left over. All leftovers were the tiny ones. Gonna give those to the neighbor.

We've never done onions before. We planted 3 varieties, Texas Sweets (1015's) Red Creole, and some kind of "bunching" onions... Have 2 double rows that are 40 feet long... I love those purple onions in salads and certain dishes when cooked... I think that's what my wife uses in her Carne Guisada... Anyway, our plan is to make more salsa this Spring... We made some for the first time this year, and it turned out really good, so she upped the tomato and pepper plant planning... My jalapeno plants are going nuts right now. Will take 5 or 6 of them and put them in the greenhouse to try to over-Winter them... Bell peppers the same way... 2 varieties of Poblanos... greenhouse will be full of peppers and maters... Planted those Fall maters and they're 4 feet tall now and loaded down with maters, much more so than the same varieties in the Spring... Our intent is to try to have maters this winter just enough for eating/cooking... we'll see.
Have 2 greenhouses, one is our old little one we got from Harbor Freight (6' x 8')... it will be all Wintering plants. The other is our main greenhouse (10 x 16). It will be mostly over-Wintering plants, and lettuce and other greens. Both are heated... we have high hopes... but will have to wait and see how "mother nature" treats us... so far, so good... (insert crossed fingers and praying hands emoji's here!)

[locolobo]

Got my Texas legends and Red Creole in the ground this weekend. 2 bunches of each from Dixondale, with about 1/4 bunch total left over. All leftovers were the tiny ones. Gonna give those to the neighbor.

[Pedernal]

I was able to keep some of my Spring pepper plants alive through the heat of Summer. Quit picking so they’d quit trying to bloom/produce. They had lots of peppers but all very small. About 10 days ago, we picked them clean and they’re loaded down with peppers! Have 78 total plants. Going to try to over-Winter a few of the best ones and see how they do.
mice never tried that but from what I read and see videos on line they are supposed to do better the second year than the first.
Eradicator, you ever try that?

Years ago, talking late 80’s my mother kept a jalape?o plant alive over the winter. The results were an amazing plant. It grew to be close to 4 feet tall and looked more like a bush than a pepper plant. In the spring it produced peppers like there was no tomorrow. Back then, most of the jalape?o plants actually produced hot peppers. We had to constantly give peppers away as our salsas were a combination of mostly anaheim peppers with a few jalape?os along with the tomatoes .

i am considering trying to save some of my pepper plants this year. I am going to try and protect a few in place and move some to pots to keep in the garage. Not sure if it will work but going to try it. The plant we save back in the day was right by a cinder block fence which helped keep it alive due to its thermal mass IMHO.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Since we have a greenhouse now, we will start the early stuff in late January/early February. The way to determine when to start specific seeds is to look at the specifics of the seeds you want to grow. Look at the days to maturity (when they begin to bear fruits), then determine when you need to plant so that your plants are bearing fruit before the hot Summer temps set in if the variety you are planting is not heat tolerant... Early greens is a good example... We will start our spinich, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and such as early as late January. The broccoli and cauliflower especially are good with a light frost as long as the plants have not begun to fruit yet. The frost won't hurt the plant itself. It's the actual broccoli or cauliflower heads that the frost will damage...
You will love growing your own seeds. It gives you so much more control over when and what to plant rather than depending on a nursery or big box store and what they have to select from... Generally allow yourself about 6 weeks for normal plants like the night shades (tomatoes, peppers, egg plants) and curcubits between planting seeds and having a viable transplant to put in the ground. For things like Summer squash, 3-4 weeks is plenty time to grow out transplants.

We just put about 320 onion plants in the ground this week. They will over-Winter, then we will harvest mid Spring (early to mid-April), same with carrots, but we direct seeded them in the ground rather than transplanting them...

Good luck!

Our Fall garden is going great gangbusters! First time we ever tried a Fall garden, but it won't be the last. It's sure a lot easier than doing a Spring garden...

[hopedale]

When will you start putting your seeds in start trays for your spring garden?

I know the coldest weather is still in front of us, but looking to get a jump start this year. I'd like to start my plants from seed vs going to the nursery.

[SaltwaterSlick]

What's three days of 40-50 weather gonna do to my tomatoes,cucumbers and okra?They r just hitting their stride after suffering through the summer,covered in small fruit and blossoms.Should I tarp them for the front.Gonna put up wind blocks,The forcast says 37 one morning.

Those temps should not hurt anything. However at 37 degrees or colder if it is clear and very still overnight, they could get bit.

Not supposed to get in the 30’s here, but if it looks like it might Monday or Tuesday after the front passes and there is no wind or clouds, I’ll be in a panic trying to cover what I can. I’ll spray everything good with water first.

[SaltwaterSlick]

I was able to keep some of my Spring pepper plants alive through the heat of Summer. Quit picking so they’d quit trying to bloom/produce. They had lots of peppers but all very small. About 10 days ago, we picked them clean and they’re loaded down with peppers! Have 78 total plants. Going to try to over-Winter a few of the best ones and see how they do.
mice never tried that but from what I read and see videos on line they are supposed to do better the second year than the first.
Eradicator, you ever try that?

[eradicator]

Did you plant new pepper plants or are they plants from this Spring? Sounds like you are ahead of us with your Fall new plantings. My bride just planted carrots last week and lettuce is going in today or tomorrow.
I sure hope we can avoid a frost this early!! I don’t have any row covers and if I dis, I don’t think I could get it all covered in one afternoon! Heck, we’ve got 12 rows of corn!
have 12 rows of peas n beans that are just now starting to bloom.

My pepper plants are holdovers from the Spring. They always do better in the fall for whatever reason. I'll get enough to eat/use during the season and they blow up in the fall.

[tminc]

What's three days of 40-50 weather gonna do to my tomatoes,cucumbers and okra?They r just hitting their stride after suffering through the summer,covered in small fruit and blossoms.Should I tarp them for the front.Gonna put up wind blocks,The forcast says 37 one morning.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Shi****os and bells are doing great. Bout to pick the first round of green beans(may be the only one if it gets as cold as they say). Arugula, spinach, and bok choy are doing great as well as a couple of varieties of leaf lettuce. Carrots came up about 10 days ago. Planted an asparagus bed this spring and it's totally out of control! Looking forward to that next year. First generation blackberries are doing well, looking forward to a few of those next season. Cukes have put on a new round of blooms but don't know if they will make given the temps this coming week. Didn't plant any brocolli this year, I'm sure my doctor is mad at me

Did you plant new pepper plants or are they plants from this Spring? Sounds like you are ahead of us with your Fall new plantings. My bride just planted carrots last week and lettuce is going in today or tomorrow.
I sure hope we can avoid a frost this early!! I don’t have any row covers and if I dis, I don’t think I could get it all covered in one afternoon! Heck, we’ve got 12 rows of corn!
have 12 rows of peas n beans that are just now starting to bloom.

[eradicator]

Shi****os and bells are doing great. Bout to pick the first round of green beans(may be the only one if it gets as cold as they say). Arugula, spinach, and bok choy are doing great as well as a couple of varieties of leaf lettuce. Carrots came up about 10 days ago. Planted an asparagus bed this spring and it's totally out of control! Looking forward to that next year. First generation blackberries are doing well, looking forward to a few of those next season. Cukes have put on a new round of blooms but don't know if they will make given the temps this coming week. Didn't plant any brocolli this year, I'm sure my doctor is mad at me

[ctom87]

Wow! That would be awesome. I will certainly take them sir, appreciate your generosity. I will shoot you a PM to arrange an exchange.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Terry, we reused the mix from the bags we had in the Spring. We amended it by adding alfalfa pellets and a chicken manure based organic fertilizer. The plants this Fall seem to be responding very well to it! The in-ground garden was given the same amendments too... I made furrows with my wheel hoe, laid down drip tape, then my bride put the alfalfa pellets and fertilizer in the furrow on top of the drip tape before I covered it up with my wheel hoe set to hilling instead of furrowing. We planted some items in double rows on each side of the drip tape, and some things (tomatoes and cabbages and cauliflower on top of the drip tape/fertilizer... Still the bags are out-performing the in-ground plants... Have two trays of onions started. Will plant those first or second week in November, three varieties including a purple onion, some bunching onions and a whole tray (162 plants) of 1015 super-sweets... All the onions will go in the ground and will over-winter and harvest in Spring. Doing the same with 3 varieties of carrots... Never grown onions or carrots before...
I'll try to get some pics tomorrow and update if possible.

Clay, you should jump on the offer from Geezy Rider !! Those mineral tubs are great for raised bed or perennial wicking tubs. We put blueberry bushes in wicking tubs made with 2 liter soda bottles and those mineral tubs and so far they seem to be working great... Have a lemon tree in one too that has been doing great for almost 2 years now... Got our first lemons off it just a few weeks ago... Have 14 tubs of blackberries that have been going for 3 years... They have berries on the plants right now... not many but a few... Even through the terrible drought this year, we were able to keep them going by steady watering through the wicking tub system.

[Geezy Rider]

ctom86, I’ve got a bunch of mineral tubs a water troughs I’d be willing to let you have if your interested.