How's your garden doing?

[ResearchMonkey]

I don't recall the name of the grapes. I got them from a friend (farmer) who grows table grapes, he assured me they were top-notch. Grapes are easy, a nice ball of soil for the bare-roots and a trellis is the only thing I do special. I haven;t girdled them so they are smaller but still tasty. Then again I live in Cali's central valley, we do grapes here.

We only have one producing black berry right now, The boysenberrys died for some odd reason (I suspect accidental poisoning by the kids). My fig tree is interfering with a water line and I need to cut it down before it breaks the line.

The soil here rocks, we can grow all kinds of veggies. I wish I had more room here at the house, as it is my buddy supplements me with stuff from his big-assed.

 

[catocom]

Snow still? How "deep" are you in the South? I'm in the Hill Country in Texas.

just north of Atl Ga. in the foothills.

Have you ever used cold frames or cloches to start outside early? I have not but I'm very interested in doing so. I'm going to cut the bottoms off of glass jars (so there is a vent at the top for excess heat on sunny days) to use in early Spring to protect little seedlings from breaking in the wind. I've been looking online for instructions for cold frames but I don't need them right now. This may be a summer project. I'm interested in doing a break down cold frame so I can store it easily when not in use.

I've done all kinds of growing, but not anymore.
Just standard gardening now.
Seeds on some things, and I buy plants for other things like tomatoes...
I've gotta good relationship with the local hardware store, that gets the plants and seed.

I've never planted with the moon but I read an article recently about it. No scientific reasoning for doing it so I never put much stock in it. I suppose I could do an experiment and see if it makes a difference (next year!).

Actually there is a scientific reasoning.
It's based along the lines of the same thing that causes higher, and lower sea tides.
Gravitational pull.

I'm not going to do corn this year. The second (big) garden has been designated a dog pen all winter and now we plan to move the chickens into it. This would be a good year for corn, though. If you like huitlacoche (black corn fungus) this won't be a good year for it. Too wet.

aw man, that's a shame.
It does take a larger lot for corn though.

 

[valkyrie]

I don't recall the name of the grapes. I got them from a friend (farmer) who grows table grapes, he assured me they were top-notch. Grapes are easy, a nice ball of soil for the bare-roots and a trellis is the only thing I do special. I haven;t girdled them so they are smaller but still tasty. Then again I live in Cali's central valley, we do grapes here.

We only have one producing black berry right now, The boysenberrys died for some odd reason (I suspect accidental poisoning by the kids). My fig tree is interfering with a water line and I need to cut it down before it breaks the line.

The soil here rocks, we can grow all kinds of veggies. I wish I had more room here at the house, as it is my buddy supplements me with stuff from his big-assed.

Ah! I'm jealous! The Texas Hill Country has some rocky areas and we're no exception. My garden is in raised beds for most of it. The large garden (where the chickens will be this summer) is not raised but I've painstakingly removed most of the rocks. The chicken poop will add to the fertility of the soil and will be great for next year if I choose to use it. There's another plot on our land that I've got my eye on for extending my garden.

Not sure what girdling is.

I'm looking for a fig to plant this year. I had 2 a few years ago that died (drought).

 

[MrBishop]

SUCKER! That's what you get for living where it's too cold! HA!

Just have to work harder at it...my grapes are pretty good, as are my tomatoes, peppers etc... just pluck'em later in the year, is all.

 

[valkyrie]

just north of Atl Ga. in the foothills.


I've done all kinds of growing, but not anymore.
Just standard gardening now.
Seeds on some things, and I buy plants for other things like tomatoes...
I've gotta good relationship with the local hardware store, that gets the plants and seed.


Actually there is a scientific reasoning.
It's based along the lines of the same thing that causes higher, and lower sea tides.
Gravitational pull.



aw man, that's a shame.
It does take a larger lot for corn though.

Was it worth building the cold frames? How early could you start your seedlings in the ground? What temperature low do I need to wait for to get put plants out in the cold frame?

No one has explained the reason behind planting with the moon so thanks for giving the explanation.

I need to start my tomato and pepper plants earlier than I did. They're still so small. Luckily I picked up one good sized Juliet tomato and put that in my garden already.

If I take over a new area I'll have room for corn. But I was also considering growing food for the chickens (sorghum).

 

[ResearchMonkey]

Girdling is when you cut a ring of bark around the trunk of the grape vine. It prevents the fluid from returning to the roots and plumps-up the grape. Commercial grape farmers do this for the store grapes so they're nice and big, the sugar content is the ~same.

 

[catocom]

Was it worth building the cold frames? How early could you start your seedlings in the ground? What temperature low do I need to wait for to get put plants out in the cold frame?

well there's variations of the frames.
you can work in a little colder weather if you use 'black' plastic between
the plants to absorb more sun heat, and then it depends on the way you
fix the dome part. I used the thinest possible plastic there.

I personally haven't had any luck with planting if the temp was below 29f.
There again though there are other factors such as how much humus is there.
More humus will hold a lower amount of moisture longer, and insulate better,
so it might go ok at a little lower temp.

Is it worth building? maybe.
It depends on what you want to grow, and how much space you have in the right daylight.
In your case, looking at what you've posted, you'd probably benefit from it more than I did.

 

[valkyrie]

Girdling is when you cut a ring of bark around the trunk of the grape vine. It prevents the fluid from returning to the roots and plumps-up the grape. Commercial grape farmers do this for the store grapes so they're nice and big, the sugar content is the ~same.

Yarg... too much work. I think I'm with you on this one. No girdling for any plants I have.

We have a peach orchard also, but the last 2 years have been really bad due to the drought. I think this year will be excellent for those trees that survived.

 

[valkyrie]

well there's variations of the frames.
you can work in a little colder weather if you use 'black' plastic between
the plants to absorb more sun heat, and then it depends on the way you
fix the dome part. I used the thinest possible plastic there.

I personally haven't had any luck with planting if the temp was below 29f.
There again though there are other factors such as how much humus is there.
More humus will hold a lower amount of moisture longer, and insulate better,
so it might go ok at a little lower temp.

Is it worth building? maybe.
It depends on what you want to grow, and how much space you have in the right daylight.
In your case, looking at what you've posted, you'd probably benefit from it more than I did.

Then I think I'll make this a project to have it done before winter comes at the end of this year. I have some of the materials already I just need a few others that I'll probably need to purchase (clear plastic for the top is one thing). I will try to re-purpose materials I already have is what I'm saying.

I do a lot of composting (donkey poop, chicken poop, kitchen scraps, yard wastes such as small sticks and people give me bags of leaves) and in winter I incorporate it into the soil after it has cured for a year or two. This and adding the charcoal from our fire pit and burn piles helps retain moisture in the soil. I don't know if you've ever used "bio-char" like that but I tested this last year in pots and found the plants in those pots were healthier and required less water than those that did not have the "bio-char".

I read an article recently about the use of water filled plastic bottles painted black used as a "night heater" (sort of) in cold frames. Here's how it works. Paint plastic water bottles black with paint. Fill the water bottles up with water and put them in a sunny spot in the cold frame (between plants). At night the heat from the hot water bottles will dissipate and keep the plants warm. I think this works kind of like your black plastic but also helps to extend the warmth into the night when temperatures will drop and chill the plants. If you still have cold frames around you should try this just to test. I don't think I'd need it (given that my night temps aren't dropping below the 40's anymore).

I may try it this winter if I want to keep a winter garden with the new cold frame. I'll let you know how it works for me.

 

[catocom]

yeah, I used plastic, and 3/4" pvc pipe to make my top, but some people
use glass.
I guess it depends on how fancy you want it.
I have even heard of people putting low voltage heaters in um.

I've tried um in actual raised boxes, and just a dome over a row.
If you need to grow something that needs a lot of attention to the soil content though,
you might want to start small, so you can use a high grade potting soil,
so it won't drain your wallet too bad.

 

[valkyrie]

yeah, I used plastic, and 3/4" pvc pipe to make my top, but some people
use glass.
I guess it depends on how fancy you want it.
I have even heard of people putting low voltage heaters in um.

I've tried um in actual raised boxes, and just a dome over a row.
If you need to grow something that needs a lot of attention to the soil content though,
you might want to start small, so you can use a high grade potting soil,
so it won't drain your wallet too bad.

This is very good advice. I'm going to keep what you said in mind. My goal for my garden (and my chickens) is to either re-purpose materials I have and don't use anymore or to make something out of the wood/limbs/natural materials I have here on my land. In a nutshell: to make it at as close to zero cost as possible.

Hard to believe people use heaters in their cold frames! That's some serious shit right there! I don't think I'd ever go that far. If it gets so cold here that I can't grow anything then I'll just not grow anything. Adding heaters (even low voltage) would go against my goal to keep it near zero cost.

 

[valkyrie]

My bush beans have sprouted but it took them longer than I had expected to germinate. Probably because it was still kinda chilly (in the 50's) when I planted them (even though I soaked them overnight).

 

[Professur]

I'm starting several buckets of potatoes tonight. Should be interesting to see if the skunks and raccoons leave them alone.

 

[valkyrie]

I'm starting several buckets of potatoes tonight. Should be interesting to see if the skunks and raccoons leave them alone.

My neighbor does potatoes. I'm not a big fan of potatoes so I won't waste the space in my garden.

My asparagus never came up. I wonder how long a 2 year crown takes to send up shoots. Any know?

 

[Gonz]

Potatoes may be our only crop this year.

We're going from 50x25 to 50x65. Needs lots of sand, peat & composted additives. One year of rest for the other area will give me time to work the new patch & build a few raised beds.

Val...my asparagus was up within 6 weeks. Dig a deep trench. Plant. Fill the trench in as the stalks grow.

 

[catocom]

My peach trees are blooming like crazy.
My plum trees have some too.

 

[valkyrie]

Potatoes may be our only crop this year.

We're going from 50x25 to 50x65. Needs lots of sand, peat & composted additives. One year of rest for the other area will give me time to work the new patch & build a few raised beds.

Val...my asparagus was up within 6 weeks. Dig a deep trench. Plant. Fill the trench in as the stalks grow.

I did that. Planted the crowns 2 inches down, which is what I read on the package and on the internet.

Was it too cold for them when I planted them? I didn't think it would be since they are European plants.

Potatoes: I read in Mother Earth News that you can plant them in immature compost. If you have cow poop you can toss that into your ground with them (or so I read).

 

[valkyrie]

My peach trees are blooming like crazy.
My plum trees have some too.

Our peach orchard is in bloom also. We can see now what damage was done from last year's drought. So sad. We'll have to cut down many of the dead trees and make plans for planting new ones to replace them in the winter.

 

[Gonz]

I plant my potatoes in a raised bed so I can find them easier

 

[catocom]

Our peach orchard is in bloom also. We can see now what damage was done from last year's drought. So sad. We'll have to cut down many of the dead trees and make plans for planting new ones to replace them in the winter.

at least they grow fairly quick.