Garden 2021

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This year my garden is starting out at a full run, I have 3 raised boxes with tops that are full of cold weather plants that range from seedlings to near ready for harvest. I started my indoor garden in November and have 26 different kinds(not varieties) of plants growing at this time.

I said I would do a post on self-watering containers, but the more I learn the less comfortable I am with it.
I built my first design and discovered several flaws:
The first design using 5 gallon buckets had an inner bucket supported about 12 inches above the bottom of the outer bucket and used a wick:
The flaw is that a wick can only raise water about 2 inches max, so that design wasted 10 inches of space and used water inefficiently.
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The second design using 5 gallon buckets used electrical wire to wedge the inner bucket so there is about 3 inches of room at the bottom of the outer bucket for water:
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The flaw is that this is an inefficient use of expensive buckets, but it does work, you can drown you plants using this system unless you drill overflow holes in the outer bucket about 3 inches above where the bottom of the inner bucket is. This will limit the maximum soak depth at the bottom of the growing bucket.
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An easier solution would be to place your growing bucket(s) in a 6" deep container (reservoir) supported by 1X2 boards so the drain holes can reach the reservoir. If you have a container with a lid, you could cut a hole for the bucket(s) and that would help reduce insect problems. This approach could be a way to convert those large plastic pots that shrubs come in into bottom watering containers.
 
lilmissy said:
I got a small hydroponic system for Christmas. Hoping it will serve well during the winter but to start my plants in this system and then transplant to garden. I have not ever even looked in to hydroponics. does anyone use this system?
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There are several different types of Hydroponic systems available; if you let us know which system you have there may be someone here with experience using it or something close to it. The folks here are usually very willing to help if you give them enough information to provide a reasonable response.
 
UrbanHunter said:
Place to discuss and share your 2021 gardening adventures. Talk about your plans, your progress, and your harvests. I would also encourage people to share their lessons learned (both positive and the negative).
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The Princess and decided I have to minimize the garden this year since I other priorities. It will still being used as a nursery for fruit trees and fruit bering bushes. I will be trying to clone more seedless grapes vines this winter.

Tomorrow I am headed out to the orchard on The Ridge to do some pruning.

Ben
 
Reading gardening books today. One is about speedy results and focuses strictly on using seeds for soaks, sprouts, microgreens, and cut and come again. This kind of thing could come in handy if you are in a situation where you can't grow indoor crops as long as you would like but you do need the nutrition.
Almonds can be soaked and eaten after 12 hours. Pumpkin seeds can be eaten after soaking 1-4 hours.
The book also mentions edible flowers, didn't know daylilies were edible.
They did not mention wheat. Sprouting wheat grass is a powerhouse of nutrition too.
Microgreens include coriander, fennel, radish, red amaranth, and basil, as well as red cabbage, mustard, and arugula.
Word of caution: Parsnips are not to be used for sprouts or microgreens, POISON.
 
I'm still working out where everything will go. I have aged manure for days. Greenhouse is growing winter stuff right now. I have worked out where the main garden will go, and just have to call the Amish guy who does the tilling for $25. Need to work out where the herb garden is going, and I suspect there will be north side, south side sections of it. Our son will be testing our soil when he comes out in a few weeks. Grapes are planted here, and a pear and an apple tree. Would like to do lots of flowers, too, around the porches so we blend in here a bit better.
 
My over all plans are to build more raised beds and try to migrate much of our veggies to them. Also have fig cuttings working to plant this spring. Need to finish up my grape arbor and plant a few more vines. In the spring I plan to do some cuttings from my blueberries to increase my patch.
Longer term, I'd like to start a small hydroponic/aquaponic system in our basement to grow some things thru the winter. A high tunnel would be great as well for taking small transplants to being ready for planting. And grow some late fall crops into the winter.
 
Tonight I transplanted 5 bell peppers, 10 celery and 25 spinach plants. The two small ucon-type potatoes I planted last week came up today. I converted 2 cucumber plants to hanging plants, each now has it own south facing window. The wife wants me to add Bay Leaves (Laurel ) to the container garden, they are a spring ship plant so I can wait till April to make that order.
 
I have grown bush type green beans in large flower pots.
Have had good luck doing that too.
Have grown okra in whiskey barrel.
Herb garden in single stand wash tub,
Blueberries in whiskey barrel.
Tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets.
In my two raised beds have raised spinach, mixed greens(lettuce.kale, swiss chard), green onions, cherry tomatoes.
This year I will be purchasing a fairly large stock tank because several of my whiskey barrels are trying to fall apart.
Would like to add several more raised beds too.
Because where I live now everything you grow has to be in containers, nothing goes in the ground.
Have grown hens and chickens in strawberry jar.
Going to try strawberries in strawberry jar this year.
Coal bucket has Petunias and Rose Moss in it.
 
Today I will transplant #4 (Broccoli), yesterday I transplanted #7 and # 27 (Cauliflower and Kohlrabi), I have to look on my planting list to know what I'm moving, I just have numbers with the plants and when I'm watering them I say, well #5 looks crowded today I need to thin them throught transplanting....

I want to thank @Support Gunner for his pictures of the container potatoes that he posted a while back, my plants are now 2' high and his pictures give me an idea of what to expect, this is my first time at potatoes. I have read that they bloom then start making tubers, I just don't know what their blooms look like, yet.

Last night I made a support for my sugar snap peas, I just hung deer netting above the plants (I did place their container at the end of the growing stations so I can easily harvest them when the time comes (they won't be moved again).

Hey @MoBookworm1957 you said you have grown hens and chickens in strawberry jar...... I'm confused
 
UrbanHunter said:
Today I will transplant #4 (Broccoli), yesterday I transplanted #7 and # 27 (Cauliflower and Kohlrabi), I have to look on my planting list to know what I'm moving, I just have numbers with the plants and when I'm watering them I say, well #5 looks crowded today I need to thin them throught transplanting....

I want to thank @Support Gunner for his pictures of the container potatoes that he posted a while back, my plants are now 2' high and his pictures give me an idea of what to expect, this is my first time at potatoes. I have read that they bloom then start making tubers, I just don't know what their blooms look like, yet.

Last night I made a support for my sugar snap peas, I just hung deer netting above the plants (I did place their container at the end of the growing stations so I can easily harvest them when the time comes (they won't be moved again).

Hey @MoBookworm1957 you said you have grown hens and chickens in strawberry jar...... I'm confused
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Hens and chickens I'm talking about it a flower. This particular will kinda take over if not confined I have found.
 
While I am stymied this year I can still share some ideas that may be food for thought.

I subscribe to Texas Prepper 2 on you tube. In the video below he explains the wicking tubs he use for fruit trees and blackberries etc.




While the kung flu in the UK has slowed him down this year " Alotment Diary" is a nice source for how (what I will call a master gardener... he has blue ribbons from the big gardening show in England) one guy approaches his garden and what to expect from your potatoes. In this video he estimated 5 pounds but in others he weighs the yield.



Check some his videos on growing giant carrots and onions. I actually stumbled across him when researching how to brew beer the hard way starting wuth just seed.

My potatoes put on a yellow flower around the time they start developing the spuds. Some of mine have produced fruit and I did collect seeds but never got around to trying to sprout and grow them.

I have heard wives tales about the off spring being potentially poisonous. I have also read the same about the spuds that grow at the surface and have a green side. But as understand it the green spuds are bitter which is a taste often associated with poisonous. As to the seeds and the resulting spud I have to question "how does one cross potatoes if not by the flower and fruit?"

Side bar...

I am cognizant of the potato blight in Ireland and the dependency on potatoes as a staple. Motivated by that threat I have been growing 5 different varieties of potatoes for about 5 years now. The varieties I grow are;

German Butterball - Favorite of The Princess
Pontiac - Red another preferred by The Princess
La Rata - fingerling. Wash them and through them in a stew and they are ready to go. Yield is high to spite their small size.
Purple Viking - My favorite. It didn't seem to be available last year.
Kenebec - (or whatever) A nice russet good for baking.

Other thoughts...

Provided your dirt is workable you can reach in and feel for yourself how the spuds are doing. Any time after the flower sets you feel around to see how things are going. It is many a time that The Princess has sent the granddaughters and myself out to find spuds for dinner.

Just sharing ideas. Step in and correct me. I am here to help and learn.

Ben
 
Not planting a garden this year, as we are building a house and my husband's starting a business - we have enough on our plate. But I've been ordering some of the more unusual seeds I like to grow, just to have them on hand in case they're not available next year (viability should still be good). We had a stretch of several years where we didn't grow anything, so our seed stash was a bit old. Then last year, and covid, and we went all out. Unfortunately, we had a rough year weather-wise, and we had some cross pollination issues with the corn, so we didn't save a lot of seed. Need to build up the stash again.
 
I have used and have a few bins of the drip depot stuff, I might need to replace some of my 1/2 line this year, I still have 2 rolls of the 1/4" stuff. I ordered a few bags of emitters (drippers and misters) in November so I should be good there. I drain my lines in the fall and hopefully I will not have any split fittings this spring. Yesterday it was warm (45) and raining so I opened the top on my raised beds to give the outdoor plants a drink, the plants are all doing good save the carrots, I will need to harvest them one evening this week.

I have 2 18"X24" starter containers in one of the raised beds outside and they are crowded full of spinach and leaf lettuce (about 2 plants per sq inch) waiting for a place to grow on the indoor shelves. I find that they sprout better outside and with the cold they grow very slowly, so I can go out and cut a "big 4"X4" brownie square", lift it out with a big spatula (I get between 25 and 30 plants per square) and replant them in growing containers in the house, they grow quickly and then we can eat them, or blanch and freeze the spinach in 1 pound squares.

My current goal is to be totally supplying all my vegetables by April.
At this point lettuce, spinach, radishes, and green onions are covered right now. The cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and stuff are a little further out time wise.
 
I know it sounds a little crazy to have so many seedlings going at one time, so I figured I'd share a picture of my out-door spinach seedlings: These little guys have been growing for over 8 weeks (Planted on Oct 31, temperatures have been bouncing from mid 40s in the day to mid 20s at night), there are obvious bare spots, those places are where I have removed some for transplanting in-doors, back-filled with a couple cups of potting mix and then watered to level it out. They will keep growing slowly until spring when one warm day they will just start growing and overflow the container. I'm too lazy to be planting and waiting and planting again, this way I plant once, transplant when I need to, just enough to keep some growing in the house for eating when ever I need them.
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The idea of growing all the time to just harvest as I need stuff is new to me, I have found that I need a big variety and I now have between 2 and 6 containers of each plant type growing at any given time (staggered plantings), just not a lot of plants in each container. I am currently working on plantings from 11/15/2020, 12/3/2020, 12/13/2020 and 12/23/2020; The next planting should take place around the end of January. I am intensionally holding back the next planting because I don't have any space left, I need to eat a few more salads every week going forward.
 
just saying....this thing aint over by a long shot....


https://www.rareseeds.com/

Thank you for your patience!


Due to a large volume of orders and a significant amount of our staff on quarantine due to COVID-19 we have temporarily taken down our site to process orders and package more seed. We apologize for inconvenience.
We will be live again Thursday 5pm CST !
 
lilmissy said:
I got a small hydroponic system for Christmas. Hoping it will serve well during the winter but to start my plants in this system and then transplant to garden. I have not ever even looked in to hydroponics. does anyone use this system?
Click to expand...

I haave a thread all about it and some here posted in it and so there is a variety of ideas on Hydroponcs.
 
This morning I watered my indoor plants before work (they now drink 5 gallons a day), that can be an issue if you are hand watering. I noticed some aphids on some radishes, so they got sprayed and moved out doors, all their neighbors also got sprayed. The nice thing about hand watering every day is you can see changes very early.

My bush beans are now getting where they will need to be moved to taller quarters, they are just over a foot high now. I am beginning to realize that I may need more taller growing stations in the future as the plants start to push up against the lights.
 
Hard to get back into full gear with this ,hubby has never liked growing so it slows me down aloy, plus he can't work when pain aand weather involved. And now I'm not into as much either.
Easy does it I guess.So much to do too is overwhelming at times. Really need to get trees and vines off fence.Maybe tackle little each day when weather permits.
 
UrbanHunter said:
This morning I watered my indoor plants before work (they now drink 5 gallons a day), that can be an issue if you are hand watering. I noticed some aphids on some radishes, so they got sprayed and moved out doors, all their neighbors also got sprayed. The nice thing about hand watering every day is you can see changes very early.

My bush beans are now getting where they will need to be moved to taller quarters, they are just over a foot high now. I am beginning to realize that I may need more taller growing stations in the future as the plants start to push up against the lights.
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Besides freezing what are you using for the aphids.

Neam oil
Diatomatius earth?

Ben
 
I knew some people that had trouble with aphids that resulted complete shutdown and sterilizing everything. Plants from outside were always involved.

I have observed aphids on my corn but being outside lady bugs praying mantis and good healthy plants they didn't cause a problem.

Ben
 
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