2020 gardening thread

Picked up 4 50 gallon barrels yesterday. Black with screw on tops. I am building some of those galvanized metal side raised beds for a client this weekend, so I hope to put together a base/stand for the barrels. Paid 15 dollars apiece. Really nice guy.
 
Talked to agg extension agent. He said to spray the plants down just before daylight. Gonna be a long Sunday morning.
 
I was able to scrounge enough wire trellis and tomato cage to hold up the drops, sheets and blankets
 
Tomorrow doesn’t look so bad ~ 40 deg .
Sunday will be the killer if there’s frost. Down to 34*
 
Ok, got askerd for the morning. Figured if I got to get them dirty, might as well get them wet too.

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Ice on the windshield this morning, and my outdoor thermometer is at 42 *

I'll go out in a couple hours and uncover and hang the sheets on the fence to dry for tonight.

Edit:
An hour later.
Very glad I spent 1/2 hour covering up yesterday

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HOORAY! Let me go on record first of all and acknowledge that I have the best wife in the universe! How she has put up with my crap for 4 decades is a mystery to me.

Anyway, she just "gave in" and allowed me to utilize some more space in the run beside the house for some more tables. A little background: She is an artist at heart, and always has had a great appreciation for beauty. If it don't look nice, she doesn't like it, no matter how "functional" it is. I, otoh, will just slap anything together anywhere, with no regard for appearances. Conflict, ok? She and I will ride by houses that look like a perpetual salvage yard/garage sale, and she comments "that is our house if I let you have your way"... and she is right.

So, she said "I think the buckets are ok on the side yard, but that is about all we should have there." I have learned that puffing out my chest and showing my y chromosome may get me what I "want" but makes for misery. Better to give in. So, you can imagine my delight when showing her the "back" of our on the ground pallets, and seeing the very sickly okra back there, she said "why are they dying/dead?" I said "well, it has been a very wet and cold spring, with a lot of clouds. Okra loves sun." She said "well, maybe you should put some more pallet tables up in the side yard. It has PLENTY of sun." Inside was a pumpfist "YES! YES! YES!" but I said, "well, I don't know. Maybe they will recover back here." She said "why risk it, and besides, you have the water barrels (see image) for rainwater collection now... makes more sense to move this whole section up there where the sun is strong." I said "let me think about it." 20200509_083518.jpg :p
 
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tanstaafl72555 said:
HOORAY! Let me go on record first of all and acknowledge that I have the best wife in the universe! How she has put up with my crap for 4 decades is a mystery to me.

Anyway, she just "gave in" and allowed me to utilize some more space in the run beside the house for some more tables. A little background: She is an artist at heart, and always has had a great appreciation for beauty. If it don't look nice, she doesn't like it, no matter how "functional" it is. I, otoh, will just slap anything together anywhere, with no regard for appearances. Conflict, ok? She and I will ride by houses that look like a perpetual salvage yard/garage sale, and she comments "that is our house if I let you have your way"... and she is right.

So, she said "I think the buckets are ok on the side yard, but that is about all we should have there." I have learned that puffing out my chest and showing my y chromosome may get me what I "want" but makes for misery. Better to give in. So, you can imagine my delight when showing her the "back" of our on the ground pallets, and seeing the very sickly okra back there, she said "why are they dying/dead?" I said "well, it has been a very wet and cold spring, with a lot of clouds. Okra loves sun." She said "well, maybe you should put some more pallet tables up in the side yard. It has PLENTY of sun." Inside was a pumpfist "YES! YES! YES!" but I said, "well, I don't know. Maybe they will recover back here." She said "why risk it, and besides, you have the water barrels (see image) for rainwater collection now... makes more sense to move this whole section up there where the sun is strong." I said "let me think about it." View attachment 211768 :p
Click to expand...


Couple points to ponder. It looks like that area is sloped so this might not be as big a deal. Decide how you are getting the water out, before the water is in. If you are using buckets, you need to raise them high enough to use the spigot you have to put in the bottom of the barrel. If you are using a hose, not so much. I have my over flow from higher up in the first barrel than the output to the next barrel to save some hassle running more line. The last barrel in the system will need a vent for them all to fill properly. Cracking the lid to let air escape might be enough. Looks good though.

Oh, and be very careful with the lawnmower. A push mower and a 12 yo were the end of my barrels.
 
tanstaafl72555 said:
HOORAY! Let me go on record first of all and acknowledge that I have the best wife in the universe! How she has put up with my crap for 4 decades is a mystery to me.

Anyway, she just "gave in" and allowed me to utilize some more space in the run beside the house for some more tables. A little background: She is an artist at heart, and always has had a great appreciation for beauty. If it don't look nice, she doesn't like it, no matter how "functional" it is. I, otoh, will just slap anything together anywhere, with no regard for appearances. Conflict, ok? She and I will ride by houses that look like a perpetual salvage yard/garage sale, and she comments "that is our house if I let you have your way"... and she is right.

So, she said "I think the buckets are ok on the side yard, but that is about all we should have there." I have learned that puffing out my chest and showing my y chromosome may get me what I "want" but makes for misery. Better to give in. So, you can imagine my delight when showing her the "back" of our on the ground pallets, and seeing the very sickly okra back there, she said "why are they dying/dead?" I said "well, it has been a very wet and cold spring, with a lot of clouds. Okra loves sun." She said "well, maybe you should put some more pallet tables up in the side yard. It has PLENTY of sun." Inside was a pumpfist "YES! YES! YES!" but I said, "well, I don't know. Maybe they will recover back here." She said "why risk it, and besides, you have the water barrels (see image) for rainwater collection now... makes more sense to move this whole section up there where the sun is strong." I said "let me think about it." View attachment 211768 :p
Click to expand...

You dirty scoundrel....
 
I'm trying to decide if I need to cover tonight in Charlotte. Have pepper plants covered already as it has been to cool for them anyway. Almost all tomato plants in the foreground. Row of cucumbers and watermelon past mostly peppers. I have some beans covered in a other area along with a herb garden covered.
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Carolinatlc said:
I'm trying to decide if I need to cover tonight in Charlotte. Have pepper plants covered already as it has been to cool for them anyway. Almost all tomato plants in the foreground. Row of cucumbers and watermelon past mostly peppers. I have some beans covered in a other area along with a herb garden covered.
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I'll be out tonight 7:30-8 to cover.
You should too. May not kill complete, but would stunt.
 
Mirac said:
I'll be out tonight 7:30-8 to cover.
You should too. May not kill complete, but would stunt.
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Thanks, that is where I was leaning but will plan to go ahead and do it. I haven't done a garden in a few years and this has been fun and would hate to loose everything.
 
I covered everything except my pole beans, spinach, and broccoli. Probably not needed, as the projected lows have been about 3 degrees lower than actual temps, and 36 (the magic number) is supposed to be the low tonight, but... it would break my heart! lol Tarped and plastic drop cloth over it all. Hopefully this will be the last snap.
 
The snow falling today is reminding/reinforcing my thoughts on planting before late may/june up here.

Glad i didn't plant my elderberry yet.
 
I pulled the covers at 9am then off to the daughter and son-in-laws to dig them a spot and share seeds and plants.
Haven’t seen the granddaughters in a couple months.

Won’t know of damage until later tonight.

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No damage here but I’ll have to replant some seeds. They didn’t sprout. Figure they might have rotted.


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I lost a couple pole beans. Didn't even try to cover them.
Was too soon for them any way.
Now it looks like tomorrow morning is going to be below 40degs... When will it end !?! .. lol.
 
Made some more 5ft tall remesh cages for the tomatoes.

I covered up my cukes and squash with landscaper cloth Sat night, but the beans and 6 inch high corn were on their own. I didn't see any frost Sunday morning at dawn so I figure we escaped it. But instead of covering my tomatoes that are over a foot tall and caged, I put up an industrial fan with my Honda gennie and let that blow thru the tomatoes overnight. I figure moving air would prevent actual frost from forming at mid-30s in May. Maybe it wasn't super effective but only cost me a gallon of old gas. Plus I got to see how the generator ran for 8+ hrs over night with a load, and of course it was perfect. Even had a little bit of gas left!

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The makings of a wire covered garden...
The dilly danged squirrels!!
I don’t want to dispatch the thousands that are around here, unless Im hungry.

So, they’re getting locked out!

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Thanks @Mirac

We’ve got a couple 55 gallon drums cut in half to catch water off the house to water some stuff but mostly just a water hose. When stuff gets bigger and it’s hot outside we attach a sprinkler.

It’s funny you ask, we were just talking about needing to be able to get a few sprinklers hooked up to run at the same time this year. It’s ruff on the wife having to go out and move one sprinkler around every so often, especially with kids.

That’s why I like this thread, I can get new ideas from you folks that have been gardening a while.
 
Man just found out it was 30 degrees this morning. Glad we covered up last night.

Here are some pictures of underneath the shanty town. Still have a lot of work to do on the fence.

strawberries
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beets and onions
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Dad just put in a raised bed garden with his wife. Thought you guys might like to see.

He said it almost caused a divorce and he would never do something like this again but she was happy in the end.
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Tilled thru my corn and bean plots and hit the squash and cukes with some fish fertilizer...and we got a shower this morning so perfect timing. Managed to kill 2 cukes with the mini tiller so I replanted my last 2 seedlings. I filled in hollow spots in my contender beans with yellow cherokee wax
Should be a colorful snap bean harvest in a month or so. I need to replant one full row of corn that either didn't come up or birds got it before I put up my pie pans.

Oh and made a few more remesh cages for the SIL
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The wife gardens year round now. I don't know 90% of what she is doing. I just build stuff or fence in wherever she tells me to. @mj1angier did help me out with a "field expedient" garden tool shed this year.

The only thing I planted myself this year was some corn. Had a hankering for some Silver Queen.

Was hanging out near "main garden" today and grabbed some pics. ("toolshed" pics about a month old)



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thrillhill said:
The wife gardens year round now. I don't know 90% of what she is doing. I just build stuff or fence in wherever she tells me to. @mj1angier did help me out with a "field expedient" garden tool shed this year.

The only thing I planted myself this year was some corn. Had a hankering for some Silver Queen.

Was hanging out near "main garden" today and grabbed some pics. ("toolshed" pics about a month old)



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Hey. Carole and I have a SERIOUS case of "broccoli envy" since ours are just stalks. What did you do to get them this far along this fast? When did you plant? Please ask Becky.
 
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@tanstaafl72555 , Becky said that she put the plants (around 6 inches tall) in the ground at the end of January.

Other than that, it's pretty much just "time in grade" for the dirt.

She's been amending that soil for around 6 or 7 years.

Her composting has been going for almost 15 years on a fairly large scale. Making the compost "bin"/area large enough that the chickens can "turn" it seems to yield semi-miraculous results.

She doesn't buy or use any commercial fertilizer. We "cheat" in a couple of ways.

1: Sometimes we line the rows with fish we caught. Or often what is left of the fish carcasses after we take the meat we want. This has to be in a fenced in area or the animals will dig them up. Fish carcasses decomposing in the dirt are better than any fertilizer you can buy on a small scale. Especially for the sustained viability of the soil.

2: 10 or 12 years ago I bought her an entire dump-truck load (15 cubic yards I believe) of "commercial compost" from Brooks Contractor in the Bear Creek area. ( https://www.brookscontractor.com/). Around $300-400 per load depending on delivery distance. I bought her another load back in March. That stuff is awesome for getting a jump start on soil amendment. Too hot to plant directly into. But mixing it in pays dividends for the first few years in a new area that you are gardening. It gives her time to "catch up" with her composting. Their compost is awesome. Hell of a cheat.


I think the biggest key to her success is the way she handles the soil of the gardens. I am a pretty traditional guy that often follows the wisdom and ways of the neighborhood folks when it comes to homesteading stuff. She is not. She DOES NOT till or use any other machinery on the soil after the first year. She'll have me break ground initially. And then she'll have me fence it in or not. Borrowing a few pages from the "hippies" playbook, she then does everything by hand in the "rows" or "beds" that she chooses to maintain. Says it's more sustainable in the long run. After a couple of years she is pretty much planting in compost every time. And she is a big believer in not tilling after the first time because she doesn't want to kill that first two layers of earthworms that reside in her nice composted soil because she wholeheartedly believes in the benefits of their aeration and castings. She's also learned a lot over the years about which plants to put in to attract the insects that she wants that have a reputation for killing the insects that hurt her plants or vegetables. Same thing with the flowers to attract bees for pollination (it certainly helps us to have bee hives on site most years). She prefers to not use any pesticides or insecticides but we do end up using a little Sevin dust most years, especially on the grapevines whose location on the property does not lend itself to "natural" insect control unfortunately.


You know Becky. It's not so much that she is super hippy about the process. But I gave her the stated goal 16 or 17 years ago that I want gardens that we could maintain and that would be productive over the course of a years long "grid down" scenario where you do not have access to fuel or electricity and you can't go to town to buy anything including seed, fertilizer, plants, or anything else.

She's done really good in that regard. I'm right proud of her.
 
My wife (who never reads this forum) scanned this post and said "Bill writes VERY well. He should be proud of himself"
Just thought I would give you that feedback!
 
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