Garden 2019.

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Tank-Girl

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Welcome to a New Year!

Thank goodness 2018 is OVER and good riddance.

This morning I spent time going over on-line seed sites and
then I ran a tape measure over a wide strip of lawn I'm going to
turn into a new tomato garden.

I'll be looking at 2 9mtr rows of reo mesh and fencing off
street access.
I've been pricing rolls of weed mat to help keep down the weeds
between the rows and figuring out irrigation systems.

I'm starting to get really enthusiastic about the upcoming growing season
and the challenges of breaking new ground and making it productive.
 
We are going to start some tomatoes and peppers this weekend. by the time they get ready to plant outside it will have warmed up about right. We will of course be ready to cover them if need be. That is one of the benefits of being retired on the homestead.:woo hoo:
 
We have been studying on what kind of soil we want to use and if we want to start back up hydros.
Want to try potatoes in buckets or tubs. Not sowing seeds till mid Jan. Not planning on using greenhouse this year but that may change. So far just wishing we had a wood chipper for tree limbs to use in soil mixture. Busy with compost now too.


Wood chip garden.

 
for a little motivation...
upload_2019-1-2_21-16-42.png
 
I've gotten as far as downloading this years gardening calendar from my Extension Service :D
Feb I usually start cool weather crop seeds and in March I do my tomato and pepper seeds so they can be set out in May.
If its a good year I can sometimes do sweetpeas outside in the garden in March
Spinach does great here. Then it bolts and I have seeds for the next year ;)
I always grow heirloom. Occasionally I do a hybrid plant just to try it
 
Heirloom seeds are my preference too, @WVDragonlady . Silly of me to be mad about this but my growing zone is on some maps the same as it was when I lived on the east coast. I could grow stuff throughout the summer there. Here? Fat chance. Gets too hot too fast, too windy and too dry. We have to pay for our water.
 
Heirloom seeds are my preference too, @WVDragonlady . Silly of me to be mad about this but my growing zone is on some maps the same as it was when I lived on the east coast. I could grow stuff throughout the summer there. Here? Fat chance. Gets too hot too fast, too windy and too dry. We have to pay for our water.

would a shade system help?
 
Going to try and grow 3 sister patch this year in recycled raised bed that I put together this year.
I will have to water pretty often as very little rain hits right up next to house.
Will have lettuce bowls again this year as this where Estelle likes to weed.
What she weeds I'll just make salad out of win-win situation.
Might try Spinach in bowl flower pot too.
Will be printing out calendar for Missouri extentation office for growing references.
Love my new waist high raised beds, can work them on both sides where I couldn't before.
Would like to get one or two more, will have to see.
 
would a shade system help?
Our yard, though small, is mostly shaded. I really need to be adopted by good gardeners. I will beg and plead with a few that always have plenty to can, freeze and share. I'm going to have to be on top of it.
I also have used our extension service's calendar but they still seem to reign supreme. #failforme
 
Heirloom seeds are my preference too, @WVDragonlady . Silly of me to be mad about this but my growing zone is on some maps the same as it was when I lived on the east coast. I could grow stuff throughout the summer there. Here? Fat chance. Gets too hot too fast, too windy and too dry. We have to pay for our water.
We have that problem here. A good wind block and shade cloth along with a good mulch really helps.
 
I second @Terri9630 's advice @Patchouli on the garden setup. Ask around the gardeners you know what percentage shadecloth they use for their gardens to keep the sun and heat at bay and mulch heavily with anything you can get your hands on which minimises water evaporation from the soil around the house. In the new home we are in we asked the neighbour and they told us 50% shadecloth works for here so that is that we will do in April and May when we set up our garden beds in the cooler months.

You can use grass clippings dried out to mulch your vege patch with which is really low cost. I would also recommend a drip irrigation system as it gets the water to the roots a lot better than watering by hand and uses far less water. You can buy 2 lt per hour drip irrigation hose from the local garden centres and while there ask advice on how to set it up. We did this by drawing a mud map of what we wanted to do and they helped us and told us what we needed to accomplish our complete watering system.
 
I'll be setting up drip irrigation this year in my new tomato garden.
I'll also be using weed matting.

Here in the North it get's very hot and I use 60% shade cloth to get veggies to grow well.
I choose varieties won't shut down when it gets too hot ( over 32 degrees C) and can cope with heat and humidity.

If you look at Middle Eastern and Thai/ Asian varieties of vegetables you can find things to
replace European vegetables that can't cope with conditions.

Winter growing is best here for European vegetables because it's cooler even though it's dryer.
 
You all are killing me.
You're giving me the garden fever and it's only January.
Still too early around here to even start seeds.
We are going to start flower seeds in the greenhouse but that will have to wait at least 2 more months, maybe less because we have had a very mild winter.
The weather guessers are saying it will be an above normal temperature for the rest of January.
 
OK, I took care of my garden fever.
I pulled all my weed encrusted drip tape and the main line out of the garden.
I had tried a few months ago and it would not pull loose.
Today wasn't too bad. Only had to use my machete a few times.
It was enough for me to get over the urge and wait for closer to Spring.:)
I bought all my drip irrigation supplies last year from https://hosstools.com/
I also bought several tools including a Wheel hoe, several attachments for it, even the drip tape laying system, and 2 fertilizer injectors.
Reasonably priced and their kits had everything I needed plus enough for this years garden.
Dripdepot is also a good source. I bought my hanging flower basket irrigation system from them.
The automatic watering system was the best thing I bought. My wife didn't have to drag a hose to water all of her hanging baskets or flower beds and when we took a 9 day vacation everything got watered. That alone made it worth it.
 
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I bought the plow blades, sweeps, oscillating hoe, the drip tape attachment the cultivators came with it.
I spent more than I should have but I wanted it.
I have a problem with quack grass and that made it hard to use.
I am hoping this year I can get control of the quack grass, but it will be a real challenge.
It works very well in lose soil but hard packed soil not so much.
 
I figured out the tomato varieties I'll be growing this season.

I'll be going back to the tried and proven KY1 bush dwarf. Awesome red, juicy flavorful fruit bigger than my clenched fist and a lot of them.
New varieties I'll try:
Palmwoods - ram's horn roma style sauce tomato. Said to leave roma in the dust in regards to flavor and has very few seeds.
Kentucky Breakfast Yellow - very large beefsteak yellow slicer. Said to have a lot of flavor for a yellow tomato.
Soldaki - Pink beefsteak. Very large and flavorful.
Blue Ridge Mountain - Pink Beefsteak. Disease resistant and crack proof.
 
Last year i threw out my old seeds, I mean they were really old.
This year I'm not going to be so "frugal" and I'll cast more if not all.
Thinning seedings is not a favorite task. I prefer seed starting over buying baby plants, that way I can choose what I want to grow. Like Black Krim tomatoes for one, my favorite so far.
My yard is shaded. Mulching will be a higher priority.
Biggest hope, getting started earlier.
 
I second @Terri9630 's advice @Patchouli on the garden setup. Ask around the gardeners you know what percentage shadecloth they use for their gardens to keep the sun and heat at bay and mulch heavily with anything you can get your hands on which minimises water evaporation from the soil around the house. In the new home we are in we asked the neighbour and they told us 50% shadecloth works for here so that is that we will do in April and May when we set up our garden beds in the cooler months.

You can use grass clippings dried out to mulch your vege patch with which is really low cost. I would also recommend a drip irrigation system as it gets the water to the roots a lot better than watering by hand and uses far less water. You can buy 2 lt per hour drip irrigation hose from the local garden centres and while there ask advice on how to set it up. We did this by drawing a mud map of what we wanted to do and they helped us and told us what we needed to accomplish our complete watering system.


Sewing a good mulch like hay is worth the initial cost ,imo. Helps with heat and saves moisture.
 
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