The Garden Thread

bang guy

Moderator
Snake got me thinking of starting this. Let's see your garden. I know some people have great flower gardens, rock gardens, vegetable gardens, etc. Time to show 'em.
Where I am it's not usually safe to plant until after Memorial Day. Our growing season is only about four months so we have to take advantage of every day possible.
Here's my corn so far. The rule of thumb here is "knee-high by the Fourth of July" so I've mostly got that covered. There has been some deer and raccoon damage but nothing out of the ordinary.
 

bang guy

Moderator
Yep, organic. I use heirloom seeds, no pesticides, and the major soil conditioner is compost, horse hockey, and aragonite sand.
Here's the potato field:
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Potatoes with flowers? Did not know that. You keep all your yield or give some away?
 

deejeff442

Active Member
i built a 16 by 16 and another 6 by 6.my wife planted everything. i spent a ton on "good" soils .like $150 for 2 pickup trucks worth. our garden is sad. grasshoppers beat it up.everything is growing but slow.
 

deejeff442

Active Member
we have been using 7 dust. it works great.also i lived in NY most of my life and believe me there are alot more bugs and critters here in Texas. we dont have a winter to kill them off.
 

bang guy

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beth http:///t/395854/the-garden-thread#post_3525332
Potatoes with flowers? Did not know that. You keep all your yield or give some away?
All of the heirloom (non-GMO, non-hybrid) potatoes produce flowers. I usually keep all of the potatoes. The best I keep for next year's seed. I do give away a bunch of other stuff to coworkers and friends though. Mostly tomatoes and zucchini.
Tomato:
 

bang guy

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beth http:///t/395854/the-garden-thread#post_3525334
Right. WO pesticides, how do keep crops from being eaten up?
A lot of it does get eaten so I plant extra "for the locals". If you look at the field past the corn, it's full of Preying Mantis. In the spring, before they hatch, I gather up Mantis eggs and set them on the near side of the garden. They demolish the bugs on their journey back to the field. I mean they eat everything with 6 legs.
Sometimes in mid summer if the aphids are out of control I'll buy a pack of Ladybugs but usually that's not needed.
I also encourage Garden Spiders. VERY helpful. Let me go find one for you, be right back...
 

bang guy

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by deejeff442 http:///t/395854/the-garden-thread#post_3525333
i built a 16 by 16 and another 6 by 6.my wife planted everything. i spent a ton on "good" soils .like $150 for 2 pickup trucks worth. our garden is sad. grasshoppers beat it up.everything is growing but slow.
$150 will buy a lot of horse hockey... It will turn any soil into good soil but you have to turn it into the ground the year before.
Nothing wrong with starting out with the good stuff though! That would have saved me a lot of effort. We have mostly clay here where I live and it take a long time to get it right.
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Great thread guy!
Im on my phone, so ill post pics when i get home. I have a small garden at my home and i have a large garden that my dad and i take care of.
old pic last month.
The large garden

 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Cucumber!!

A couple batches of tomatoes from six tomatoe plants.


I cant find a pic of all the buckets of squash but if i do,...
 

deejeff442

Active Member
you people make me sick lol. i will stick to my fish and chickens i guess.i will tell you this i am a pro at growing weeds all over my land.if i didnt have weeds i wouldnt have any green on my land
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Quote:
Originally Posted by deejeff442 http:///t/395854/the-garden-thread#post_3525352
you people make me sick lol. i will stick to my fish and chickens i guess.i will tell you this i am a pro at growing weeds all over my land.if i didnt have weeds i wouldnt have any green on my land
Plant wide canopy trees, maybe some that bear fruit. That will cut back on the weeds.
 

deejeff442

Active Member
i am on 6 acres . that would be alot of trees. we actually have alot of trees already. only a few are fruit.
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
First thing i will do when i get my land is clear it of all unnecessary trees and mill them to build my house. Ill plant live oaks doen the drive way and plant an or hard of trees. Ill have 3 acres for planting but only use one acre a year for growing. The other two will be for a horse and some hogs. I plan on buying five or six acres in a few years.
 

deejeff442

Active Member
good plan. i bought this land around 18 months ago.got a ton done here but still a ways to go. but i have a roof over my head so cant complain
 

bang guy

Moderator
I don't have any ripe tomatoes yet, I can't wait. I'm a fiend for fresh garden tomatoes. I mostly grow a strain I got from my Grandma, they rule!
I have a few that are getting close to being ready for fried green tomatoes:
 

bang guy

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by deejeff442 http:///t/395854/the-garden-thread#post_3525352
you people make me sick lol. i will stick to my fish and chickens i guess.i will tell you this i am a pro at growing weeds all over my land.if i didnt have weeds i wouldnt have any green on my land
Here's where I have weeds, my onion/shallot/garlic patch. It has rained for a week straight and I've been lax on the weeding.
 
Top