Garden 2020.

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
In our winter I grow (Irish) potatoes and I have to fertilize heavily because they're heavy feeders. Once they crop out I use the ground for my summer sweet potatoes and I don't fertilize at all. The sweet potatoes are a completely different species than Irish potatoes and they'll mop up any nutrients that the Irish potatoes leave behind. Sweet potatoes don't need a lot of nutrients and too much nitrogen will result in a lot of vine and precious few sweet potatoes.
 
On to another question, lol
my nephew raises piglets for 4H kids to show. He doesnt use anything organic and if they have any kind of problems he does give shots. How long does this crap stay in the manure? He has a few piles that have been sitting for over a year. But my gardens are all organic and dont want to jeopardize all my efforts over the years.
 
@Weedygarden you probably have to say “Do you have any seed onions?” When they reply Huh? “They are just very small onions about the size of a large marble that usually come in a bag of 100”. It’s like talking to a kindergartener. I once asked in nursery dept if they had hydrangeas. They had no clue what they were. Sorta recently, a gal working in Joanns told someone on the phone she had no clue what “that” was and that the woman should look it up on the internet and bring the picture in for them to see and then they could see if they had it. (Not sure why she couldn’t look on her phone in order to answer question.) I asked what they were looking for - pillow ticking. I explained what it was “Ooooh.” 🙄. It’s everywhere not just gardens. Good luck!
 
So far my celery is doing okay in the big window boxes I put them in
house remodel 008.JPG
My chives that wintered over are going to bloom so I'll have lots of seeds
house remodel 007.JPG

My parsley that wintered over needs to be separated out. I think I can get at 4 or 5 plants off of it.
Cabbages are doing good so far. Fingers crossed that the cabbage moths don't find them before I get a row cover over them ( nasty little creatures)
 
Patchouli said:
@WVDragonlady I knew someone in one of your neighboring states who grew celery in the late winter. I hope it grows well for you! One doesn't hear that much about growing celery.
Click to expand...
When you grow it yourself it has a much stronger flavor I've found. I dry the leaves for use in soups and when I make chicken,potato and macaroni salads.
 
So far my tomato plants, chives, English Thyme,(which looks like WVDragonlady's) have survived the unpredictable Missouri weather.
It's cold, chilly, rainy here right now.
Green beans have been planted, but so far hasn't come up.
Lettuce has been planted in the window box.
No carrots that I can see are up yet.
Strawberry plants here are pretty scarce, leggy.
 
It's been chillier here than I had hoped for this time of year and compared to last year's temps at this date.
My greens haven't popped up yet. Morning glories may have cleared the soil line, I know they're a pain but I really like them. Still waiting for other things to pop up.
@WVDragonlady I applaud your celery growing. I thought it seemed like a difficult crop.
@MoBookworm1957 where are you growing the carrots? Right in the ground or in pots?
@LadyLocust it is frustrating! It seems to not matter what business or service provider you call or ask questions of, nobody seems to know much or is able to answer questions pertaining to the business where they are employed. "Can you remind me what I pay you people for?" I just experienced that myself.
 
My maters and peppers I transplanted into gallon pots are growing like crazy. The roots should be throughout the pot by the end of April. Cabbage in the garden looks good. None of the seed I've planted has come up yet. My fruit trees are mostly all doing ok, Small fruits on just about everything including grapes and blueberries.
 
Well since our lovely governor decided that gardening supplies are not essentials and the only way you can get gardening stuff now is by online and go pick it up, I ordered the rest of the cattle fencing and two kits of Dig Drip watering kits.

So hopefully here in a couple of weeks we can get the garden up an running.

Just a couple of counties north of me are suppose to get 5 to 8 inches of snow. Glad it missed us.
 
Patchouli said:
It's been chillier here than I had hoped for this time of year and compared to last year's temps at this date.
My greens haven't popped up yet. Morning glories may have cleared the soil line, I know they're a pain but I really like them. Still waiting for other things to pop up.
@WVDragonlady I applaud your celery growing. I thought it seemed like a difficult crop.
@MoBookworm1957 where are you growing the carrots? Right in the ground or in pots?
@LadyLocust it is frustrating! It seems to not matter what business or service provider you call or ask questions of, nobody seems to know much or is able to answer questions pertaining to the business where they are employed. "Can you remind me what I pay you people for?" I just experienced that myself.
Click to expand...
My carrots are in a whiskey barrel on the East side of the house.
 
One more, sorry but really is pathetic - just returned from sporting good store to pick up synopsis. I didn't see them so asked the fella behind the counter if they had any. His reply "I don't know what that is. What is it used for?" This is the guy selling the licenses. OY!
On the garden front, hoping to get the two side beds that hubby tilled up last week all leveled out and the remaining stepping stones placed before proceeding with more planting. Also, need to start a few things inside this weekend. I don't generally do well with starting things inside, but it's been freezing at night and need to get things growing if they are to grow. Has anyone ever grown cup & saucer flower/vine successfully?
 
LadyLocust said:
One more, sorry but really is pathetic - just returned from sporting good store to pick up synopsis. I didn't see them so asked the fella behind the counter if they had any. His reply "I don't know what that is. What is it used for?" This is the guy selling the licenses. OY!
Has anyone ever grown cup & saucer flower/vine successfully?
Click to expand...
I haven't grown cup & saucer vine.
That is pathetic, because I dont know what you mean by synopsis in a sporting goods store. A recap of what's available is all I can conjure up, unless autocorrect grabbed your post and switched things up for you. So I'll be the one who gets shamed here. :D
 
Patchouli said:
I haven't grown cup & saucer vine.
That is pathetic, because I dont know what you mean by synopsis in a sporting goods store. A recap of what's available is all I can conjure up, unless autocorrect grabbed your post and switched things up for you. So I'll be the one who gets shamed here. :D
Click to expand...
It's the magazine looking thing that lists out all the hunting seasons and how many tags are issued for that hunt, etc. And no shame - you aren't working behind the counter selling them. (Well, they are technically free, but the hunts aren't.)
 
I have to say I have never heard the hunting and fishing regs referred to as a synopsis but that's probably what it's called officially. In Washington, the hunting regs are printed in a huge pamphlet. You need a lawyer to understand what it says and you will still be wrong a lot. Even the game wardens have trouble understanding what, when, and where you can hunt or fish. Typical of what happens when the government gets control of anything.
 
IMG_20200418_145702.jpg
This is a row of green bean plants in my garden. I've been trying to upload additional pictures but seem to be having problems. So far the garden has been growing well and after a couple weeks of a dry spell it is now raining.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20200418_145702.jpg
    IMG_20200418_145702.jpg
    851.9 KB · Views: 12
Dani said:
View attachment 40064
This is a row of green bean plants in my garden. I've been trying to upload additional pictures but seem to be having problems. So far the garden has been growing well and after a couple weeks of a dry spell it is now raining.
Click to expand...
I've been told to not plant green beans too early or they will not make it. I wonder if this is true in everyone's experience. I know peas like it cool, but what about green beans? I have never had much luck with them.
 
IMG_20200418_144529.jpg
Sorry I am only able to do one picture at a time. . . My hunny brought me home 16 very sad looking strawberry plants that he bought at Lowe's a couple days ago. Because I didn't want to plant them in the main garden area I started looking around our place to see what I could come up with. I found some cinder blocks, broken bricks and pavers out by the barn and decided to do this off the covered back porch. Think I would really like to extend it with rectangular cinder blocks going down either side and just use it for a convenient kitchen garden off the back door instead of having to go out to the main garden when I am cooking. The small pots I found got planted with herbs and I have peppers in the larger pots. The cinder blocks i had turned on their side and planted the strawberries. Looks like they are trying to come back to life now. At least they are putting on new leaves. . . All except one, but I am trying to baby it and just wait and see.
 
Weedygarden said:
I've been told to not plant green beans too early or they will not make it. I wonder if this is true in everyone's experience. I know peas like it cool, but what about green beans? I have never had much luck with them.
Click to expand...
I tend to have better luck with green beans in the spring and fall for my area. Temps are running 70s and 80s here already in the southern part of TX. Once summer gets here it gets too humid and temps are easily in the 100s. Only thing that does really well for me at that point are dry beans.
 
I have my cattle panel trellis's up, the weed blocking fabric down, and I'm just waiting for Mother's Day. If I plant before that I can be assured of a killing frost. We planted peas today, they can take the cold. We have radishes growing and my wife planted some green onions in a raised bed I made. I need some plastic pipe for my drip irrigation and I will be good to go.
 
Weedygarden said:
I've been told to not plant green beans too early or they will not make it. I wonder if this is true in everyone's experience. I know peas like it cool, but what about green beans? I have never had much luck with them.
Click to expand...
I think it depends on where you're located as to when to plant green beans and also if they're hybrids or not.
I could get some in the ground here but hubby never did roto-till my large raised bed. He was too busy building lol
Maybe this coming weekend

I plan on planting my kale tomorrow now they're bigger. Supposed to get showers on tuesday so they should get watered in well.
The bare root strawberries I bought at walmart are trying to grow. They have some new leaves now
Have to pot up cucumber seedlings ( still haven't done it yet)
The hard freeze we had nipped the top on my arctic kiwi vine. All black and dead so I have to trim those off now.
Saved my first batch of dandelion seeds. Hope to get more here soon
 
lilmissy said:
On to another question, lol
my nephew raises piglets for 4H kids to show. He doesnt use anything organic and if they have any kind of problems he does give shots. How long does this crap stay in the manure? He has a few piles that have been sitting for over a year. But my gardens are all organic and dont want to jeopardize all my efforts over the years.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry that I don't have an "informed" answer to that - just a gut check that says I'd stay away. It doesn't take much to introduce something undesirable into an organic environment. And once it's there, how do you get it out? (They say glyphosate breaks down and "goes away" after a period of time, and we know that's not the case. I suspect animal meds are the same way.)

We have a horse stable just down the road, and they've been wanting me to help myself to their great manure pile for our huge garden. But I don't have confidence that their horse manure is all that great (free of meds). And if I put it down and till it in, and then get confirmation of what my gut is telling me, there's no way I can remove it. We've worked too hard on that soil to take chances.
 
Last edited:
Made up a schedule for us based on planting by the signs - it's REALLY come in handy! I've been under the weather for a couple weeks now, but that schedule keeps me on track. I think it's because everything is in manageable chunks, I feel like I can tackle things.

Started some seed a while back - tomatoes, melons, peppers, herbs. The grow lights and heat pads are a new experience for me (and I really like them so far). I'd found some 8+ year old seed, and managed to germinate a few plants, so that's a bonus.

Also have planted potatoes, garlic, and strawberries. Our main garden is too wet to work, so I'm scrambling to find places for everything. Fortunately the back yard has more sunlight now that three tall trees have come down. (One took out the overhang/porch cover for the basement door - but a couple more feet and it would have taken out DH and me while we slept, so we're feeling pretty thankful.)
 
There are all sorts of additives in livestock feed these days. There are several that are added to feed that kills fly larva in manure.. The cow or horse eats the feed... this additive travels through the animal and is thoroughly mixed in the manure. When certain types of flies lay eggs in the manure it kills the baby flies. There are different additives for different flies... it gets complicated.

So yes, be very careful where you get manure. The farmer or rancher should be aware of this but do they really? The farmer may not even realized it or if they do may not know exactly what is in the feed.
 
Most of my underground things are planted. I too have to wait a bit longer to plant above ground crops. My turnips are just beginning to sprout, radishes are sprouted and onions are looking good. Also, we brought our compost from the mountain and I have half dozen walnut trees sprouting 😁 thanks to some forgetful chipmunks 🐿
 
LadyLocust said:
Most of my underground things are planted. I too have to wait a bit longer to plant above ground crops. My turnips are just beginning to sprout, radishes are sprouted and onions are looking good. Also, we brought our compost from the mountain and I have half dozen walnut trees sprouting 😁 thanks to some forgetful chipmunks 🐿
Click to expand...
Would these be black walnut trees? There are certain parts of the tree that can be used for herbal apothecary.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top