Author Topic: basicly what i been up to last few years  (Read 8976 times)

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Offline kurt

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #15 on: April 15, 2016, 08:54:24 pm »
it is that time of year again

tomatoes and peppers growing under grow light in my basement. peppers are just now starting to pop there heads up there allot slower to germinate than tomatoes but that is OK because there really not supposed go outside till a couple weeks after the tomatoes. 




EDIT: lol this photo came out terrible after the board mangled it you cannot see anything  here is a link to that image blown up full size.
http://gallery.anotherpower.com/main.php/v/pics/house/0415162038.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1

expanding the garden to 4x the size it was last year




load of aged shredded tree trimmings i am going to put over what is already down in the first photo


short youtube video i made the other day before laying down second load of compost from city composter.

Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get  Mark Twain

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Offline kurt

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #16 on: April 16, 2016, 02:43:11 pm »
kenebec seed potatoes laid out on the table to dry after cutting we chose kenebec because they store well, taste good and they don't have a patent on them which is important because if all goes to plan they will come up year after year without having to replant every spring you just put one of the potatoes you harvest in the fall back in the hole you pulled the plant out of and let that and any you missed winter over to grow next year. so did not want anything with a patent on it don't want hassles with Monsanto.  :)




seed potatoes laid out on compost ready for mulch



first load of mulch down gotta wait a couple days for the second my mulch connection does not work weekends hopefully i can get a second load Monday evening


Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get  Mark Twain

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Offline bj

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #17 on: April 17, 2016, 06:49:37 am »
  Looking good Kurt.  You have put a lot of work in.
  As we are much further north, not quite work the garden time yet,
but soon.
"Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn once in a while"
bj

Offline kurt

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #18 on: May 08, 2016, 04:55:46 pm »


well i got the mulch all on then a few weeks ago i planted 3 half rows of white onion sets and 2 half rows of carrot seed

today i planted the tomato plants i been growing in my basement bell peppers need a couple weeks yet they really like it to be a bit warmer and warmer soil temps before going in the garden anyway. although most people plant them the same time as tomatoes here and they do just fine. my pepper seeds just took forever to germinate this year so they are a bit behind.

i also bought a super early variety  of tomato plant that i want to try to see if i want to buy the seeds next year so 7 tomato plants this year.

i also planted some pole beans today around the same type of cage i use for tomatoes should work fine

the last cage i am going to attempt to grow straight eight cucumbers up if i can get the seed locally if not whatever slicing cucumber i can find

the fencing around the garden is for rabbits they were a major problem last year i need to get some weather resistant bungee cords and make a step over gate in the wire i want the bottom part to not have any breaks in it because if if there is a opening along the bottom rabbits will exploit it so only the top will open and i will have to step though which is fine because with this system i do not have to get any equipment into the garden like tillers etc.

 when it comes time to add more mulch i will just take one side of the fence down which is not that hard.

the bottom of the fence is folded outward 6" to prevent digging i used some old bricks and rocks to hold it down until it takes a set. 
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Offline bj

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #19 on: May 09, 2016, 06:49:29 am »
Looking good Kurt.
Every garden has it's enemy--yours rabbits, mine deer.
We only have potatoes, and lettuce in. Rest this week.
"Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn once in a while"
bj

Offline kurt

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #20 on: October 12, 2016, 11:00:33 pm »
well there is a good chance of frost tomorrow night and the only thing left in the garden is a few green tomatoes on the one plant out of 7 that did well this year so i will be picking those tomorrow then working on putting the garden to bed for the winter. so it is time for an end of season update.

of 7 tomato plants only 1 did well this year and that plant was the only one that was in a tomato cage that i built this year all the others were cages i reused from last year. they were stored outside all winter i had thought that the -10 F + cold we get here would kill any diseases from the year before but i was wrong i am pretty sure that is the cause because as that 7th pant got really big and a couple branches reached out and touched the resounding tomato cages those branches got sickly and i had to trim them off to keep the entire plant from getting sick.



i started my bell pepper plants and all my tomatoes except 1 from seed one of the tomatoes that died was a 4" pot from local nursery  this years tomatoes did OK starting out but i started the seeds in my basement and it was to cold for the peppers and i kept them to moist and they got root rot. only 1 of the plants ended up surviving being transplanted and it was severely set back so bad in fact i only got 3 green peppers off of it just a week or so ago and it took all season for it to grow big enough to make those. but you learn by doing be better next year.



potatoes did very well this year i got two full cat litter buckets of potatoes plus enough to replant for next year. with this system you replant your potatoes for next year as your digging this years crop up and they overwinter in the ground. at least that is the plan i do not know of anyone who has tried that in my growing zone so we shall see in the spring.



cucumbers were late but did well planted good old fashioned straight 8 cucumbers



beans did not do that well got a couple of small servings that was about it i planted pole beans this year because i did not have room for bush beans and the bugs ate them and what the bugs did not eat did not grow well. also they got a late start because we had a cool spring after a quick warm snap so the seed sat in the ground for over two weeks  after i planted it it was almost first of June before it finally came up and that sets a plant back hard when that happens

my onions got crowded out by my potatoes this year i went with sets this year next year i think i will go with onion plants perhaps they will do better.

this is just a learning experience and you have to remember that the spring before last for 1/4 of it and this spring for the rest this spot was lawn. it takes a few years to build good soil even with this method.

it is not like the gardens in the park were master gardeners from the county extension had been overseeing the amending of the soil for the last 20 years were everything grew gangbusters especially the weeds lol.

Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get  Mark Twain

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Offline bj

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #21 on: October 13, 2016, 07:33:05 am »
  Tomatoes here are always a bit of a challenge.  Hadn't considered the contaminated cage thing before, but
I will now. 
  Peppers I have given up on, as growing season too short.  (that's my excuse anyway  ;) )
  As we got good rains this year, potatoes, swiss chard, and beets were really good.
  Yellow beans and carrots fair only. 
  You are right about soil-----still experimenting here.  Work in all the leaves I can each fall, but thinking
about working in sand next spring.  Had some success with it in a flower bed, so worth a shot.
"Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn once in a while"
bj

Offline lighthunter

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #22 on: October 14, 2016, 12:16:14 am »
All may not b lost with contaminated tomato cages, Ive heard spraying
bleach on them, soak for a bit and rinse will eliminate problem.
Thanks for sharing, i will b more careful.

LH
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Offline Wolvenar

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #23 on: October 16, 2016, 02:07:34 am »
Bleach, yup works well.

Rinse well or corrosion will be your next trouble.
I suppose Starsan could be used. Brewers use it to disinfect, it may work well on this too.

Trying to make power from alternative energy any which way I can.
Just to abuse what I make. (and run this site)

Offline kurt

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #24 on: October 18, 2016, 08:17:47 pm »
ya that is what i am planning to do was planning on spraying them down tomorrow my wife was at walmart today so i had her pick up a $.99 spray bottle to use but i forgot to check the purchase date on our jug of bleach

we always write the date on the bleach jug when we buy one so we know when it has gone past its prime. bleach is only good for about a year for household use after that it is pretty much just salt water.

the date on this one is 9 of 2014  so project is on hold until next time we get to a store.
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Offline kurt

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #25 on: May 14, 2017, 11:30:00 pm »
well time for a spring garden update first off it appears  that the back to Eden method of growing potatoes does not work in my area i replanted last fall at harvest time and so far nothing has come up and they are past due they should be up by now if they were going to.
I started tomatoes and peppers from seed again this year applying the lessons i learned from last year i also purchased a cherry tomato plant and replaced the one mortgage lifer radiator Charlie plant that i had die on me wile under the grow light (my fault let it get to dry you learn by experience)

I also purchased a ancient sweet red pepper on the growers recommendation (I think they wanted to get rid of them as they were the biggest pepper plants there and any longer in the greenhouse and they would have started getting leggy but i googled the variety when i got home and it sounds like a good one) and then i got a California wonder bell pepper in case the 6 I started from seed do not do well

all the purchased plants and the 5 surviving tomato plants have been planted the peppers i started from seed need another week or so

i made a couple videos

the first one shows my seed starting set up it was shot about 6 weeks ago.


the second one was shot today

it shows the tomatoes before and after they were planted and the current status of the peppers it also gives you a look at the store bought tomatoes and peppers in the ground.

Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get  Mark Twain

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Offline bj

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #26 on: May 21, 2017, 07:57:09 am »
Looking good Kurt
We are still too wet to do anything.  Hoping to be able to plant in a few days.
"Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn once in a while"
bj

Offline lighthunter

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #27 on: July 15, 2017, 10:31:26 pm »
Sweet corn is starting to tassel here! great season so far. Broccoli is doing well too! How are the crops in Canada?
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LH

Offline bj

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Re: basicly what i been up to last few years
« Reply #28 on: July 16, 2017, 06:33:32 am »
  Due to the wet spring, about 1/4 of crops didn't get planted.  For those who did manage to plant, things are looking
pretty good.  Moisture/heat good.
  Garden wise,  about the same.  Potato plants are massive,  but, of course the proof will be in the digging.
"Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn once in a while"
bj