Better Be Planting This Year. 2022+ And Up MEGATHREAD

SpaceCritter said:
All funning aside, it's damned nice to be sitting here pre-Memorial Day eating products from that garden. [grin]
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Damn skippy...

Pickled beats, tomato sauces, salsa, potatoes, picked jalapeños, hot sauces, pickled watermelon rind...all from last year's harvest and prep...

Still can't figure out the overwintering thing but we've learned how to prep and dry sliced potatoes that'll last essentially forever...pots au gratin...

Also enjoying the current young fresh herbs...

Garlic kicking off from last years fall planting...

Life is good... [cheers]
 
enbloc said:
Have you considered planting plants that do well in partial shade in that area?

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Yes. That is in the cards and was expected. We have a smaller garden that was our "OG Garden" that is behind a wall of fruit trees along the same property line. We knew it would be shady. Just didn't anticipate the tree growing as quickly as it did.
 
Woodstone said:
Damn skippy...

Pickled beats, tomato sauces, salsa, potatoes, picked jalapeños, hot sauces, pickled watermelon rind...all from last year's harvest and prep...

Still can't figure out the overwintering thing but we've learned how to prep and dry sliced potatoes that'll last essentially forever...pots au gratin...

Also enjoying the current young fresh herbs...

Garlic kicking off from last years fall planting...

Life is good... [cheers]
Click to expand...
...FRESH. NOT overwintered. Different department. [laugh]
 
'Golf pencil' for reference.

Brought the plants outside again. They're just about begging to get put in the ground.
 

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Forgot who asked for a followup picture. Maybe @enbloc ?

Still have a lot to do.

East side ( <-- ) is where the corn will go. Roughly 5' x 6' section, hoping for ~50 plants using the 'square foot gardening' method. Will be putting bush beans in there as well to help with nitrogen. Had good luck with corn last year and it was on the West side ( --> ) without the additional work we've put in this year.

Rest of the garden will be maters, peppers, and vining greens. Plus whatever my wife has planned without telling me. She's got a list.
 

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I finally planted today. I am direct-sowing everything. This was really the only time I have to do it or may have put it off a bit longer...looks like one cold-ish night next week, and heavy rain tomorrow.

I ended up planting:
Beets
Onions
Carrots
(2) types of peppers
cucumbers
melons

I am going to buy some tomato plants this week as well.
 
Slim pickings at many places now.. I only do a container garden on my deck, went out today for some seedlings and found only a few of what I didn’t sow from seed. Plenty of tomatoes, herbs, and peppers. Cukes, zucchini, and yellow squash we’re not found at the 3 garden centers I went to. People are smartening up I guess.
 
Sauer Grapes said:
Slim pickings at many places now.. I only do a container garden on my deck, went out today for some seedlings and found only a few of what I didn’t sow from seed. Plenty of tomatoes, herbs, and peppers. Cukes, zucchini, and yellow squash we’re not found at the 3 garden centers I went to. People are smartening up I guess.
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You could always start from seed now. The delay would not be horrible. Double-up seeds in each hole and pinch off the weaker twin.
~Matt
 
Sauer Grapes said:
Slim pickings at many places now.. I only do a container garden on my deck, went out today for some seedlings and found only a few of what I didn’t sow from seed. Plenty of tomatoes, herbs, and peppers. Cukes, zucchini, and yellow squash we’re not found at the 3 garden centers I went to. People are smartening up I guess.
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If you're in a pinch and need stuff started quick, a heat mat can get most of it sprouted in about a week. Just need to water a bit more frequently so the media you used doesn't completely dry out.
 
Well, I started working my way through the drip gear in the shed. The head ends (and I forgot I had two - we did a drip setup for the flower bed by the driveway once upon a time) and bags of fittings are now on the kitchen table, and I managed to find the plan for the veg garden circa 2012:

VegGardenDripPlanCirca2012.jpg

The original-original garden plan called for sixteen boxes (0-F). What's shown is the old reality: 0-7. Presently what we have are 8-F, with the old 0-7 area tomatoland. Oh, and the new long boxes down the end for the cukes and squashes etc.

Now I need to get the actual tubing out of the shed and figure out what's still serviceable, what's new that I have, and what I need to get.

And yes, before anyone asks: the boxes are divided into sixteen one-foot squares, also 0-F, so that part of the garden at least is byte-addressable, most significant nybble being box number and least significant nybble the square in the box. [grin]
 
SpaceCritter said:
Well, I started working my way through the drip gear in the shed. The head ends (and I forgot I had two - we did a drip setup for the flower bed by the driveway once upon a time) and bags of fittings are now on the kitchen table, and I managed to find the plan for the veg garden circa 2012:

View attachment 616318

The original-original garden plan called for sixteen boxes (0-F). What's shown is the old reality: 0-7. Presently what we have are 8-F, with the old 0-7 area tomatoland. Oh, and the new long boxes down the end for the cukes and squashes etc.

Now I need to get the actual tubing out of the shed and figure out what's still serviceable, what's new that I have, and what I need to get.

And yes, before anyone asks: the boxes are divided into sixteen one-foot squares, also 0-F, so that part of the garden at least is byte-addressable, most significant nybble being box number and least significant nybble the square in the box. [grin]
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Lot of work.

I didn't even have to water my garden last year except for the first three or four days when my transplants were young. Natural rainfall and the woodchip compost I planted in kept enough water in the ground for the garden to thrive.

I was picking a bushel of cukes every morning and when the tomatoes came on, I could hardly pick and can them fast enough. The green beans were picked and processed about 6 cubic feet at a time in a bin/tote. I cut off the plant at the ground, turn it upside down to expose all the beans and pick them off. We'd do a 50 foot row each morning for a week, then move on to the next group that was planted two weeks later.
 
Uzi2 said:
Lot of work.

I didn't even have to water my garden last year except for the first three or four days when my transplants were young. Natural rainfall and the woodchip compost I planted in kept enough water in the ground for the garden to thrive.

I was picking a bushel of cukes every morning and when the tomatoes came on, I could hardly pick and can them fast enough. The green beans were picked and processed about 6 cubic feet at a time in a bin/tote. I cut off the plant at the ground, turn it upside down to expose all the beans and pick them off. We'd do a 50 foot row each morning for a week, then move on to the next group that was planted two weeks later.
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Last year here it was feast-or-famine water-wise. Either it POURED for days... or NOTHING for days (week+) and I was stuck doing the watering chore, which is VERY time-intensive.

With any luck, the act of putting the drip gear in will mean I won't need it, like washing the car to make it rain. :p
 
kiver said:
I just picked this up. How long do you set the soak time
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It will vary by soil, lot size and season. Start with 1 hour and check your soil. if still dry add 1/4 hour increments. If too wet, subtract by 1/4 hour increments.
I also will cut down/increase on the flow at the tap depending on need. It really is a case-by-case basis. Better to start out on the drier side and add slowly.

You can also install in-ground moisture meters if you are having difficulties determining soil moisture content.

1652733831248.png

Note: Most plants don't like wet feet. Soil that is on the drier side will promote strong root growth as the plant seeks out water. This helps the plant become sturdy and
healthier because of minerals and nutrients it finds along the way...
 
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Up and out early at sunrise, just retilled a couple of spots in one garden and planted 2 more 50 foot rows of Roma beans.

I like working when it's cool outside.

My woodchip compost piles are steaming nicely this morning. Will turn them again this weekend.
 
Uzi2 said:
Up and out early at sunrise, just retilled a couple of spots in one garden and planted 2 more 50 foot rows of Roma beans.

I like working when it's cool outside.

My woodchip compost piles are steaming nicely this morning. Will turn them again this weekend.
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Way to make me feel like a slacker; I only put 14 tomato plants in the ground today. In my defense, I get the stink-eye from my teenage helper if I do too much in the garden when she's not around to help.

Hope to drop in the Marzano and Amish Paste tomorrow, as well as maybe the watermelon plants.

Wind is stupid today. ~5mph average with gusts of ~16. Had one flat slide and flip off the table outside earlier, no real damage to the plants though.
 
I tried soaker hoses 2 years in a row. First the ones where the water should ooze through the hose and the next year I found the traditional ones with pin holes in them.

I'm guessing it's 100ft from the spigot to the garden also on an uphill grade. It just didn't put out enough water. I went back to a traditional oscillating sprinkler and I also have rain barrels which are up hill from the garden.
 
Cowgirlup said:
I tried soaker hoses 2 years in a row. First the ones where the water should ooze through the hose and the next year I found the traditional ones with pin holes in them.

I'm guessing it's 100ft from the spigot to the garden also on an uphill grade. It just didn't put out enough water. I went back to a traditional oscillating sprinkler and I also have rain barrels which are up hill from the garden.
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Gravity and water pressure are critical for the soakers, but I've found if you increase the duration adequately, it will work well in most cases. Lowell has pretty good water pressure.
 
I’m just starting to get my seedlings into big pots for my deck garden. I don’t grow very much, maybe 15 or so pots.
Thats about all I need, and still give away veggies…🙂

edit: If my lumbar spine wasn’t mostly Titanium and the effing blood clots would stop I would enjoy a nice big garden in my yard.
 
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Cowgirlup said:
I tried soaker hoses 2 years in a row. First the ones where the water should ooze through the hose and the next year I found the traditional ones with pin holes in them.

I'm guessing it's 100ft from the spigot to the garden also on an uphill grade. It just didn't put out enough water. I went back to a traditional oscillating sprinkler and I also have rain barrels which are up hill from the garden.
Click to expand...

I was going to ask about rain barrels, who has them and how they work out for gardening. Figured I didn't share any pictures today and didn't want to push my luck ;-)

What do you use for capturing the water that fills the barrels?

Do you have piping from the barrels to the garden?

How many barrels do you have?
 
Sauer Grapes said:
Yes it is! Before I started container gardening I really loved getting baskets from friends who had gardens. Thats what got me growing, 15-18 pots yields quite a bit of veggies.
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Indeed it does.

I don't have an official count but wife and I did around ~25 buckets (5gal) last year between maters and peppers. We used the last of OUR canned sauce 'bout two months ago. Still have some of the peppers in the freezer, suspect we'll be getting ready to harvest this year's crop by the time those run out.

Having some more of the yard tilled up and three yards of compost mix delivered was less money than filling all the buckets (plus, as we have more plants this year) with potting mix, made sense for us this year. We'll see how that decision pans out in the long run.
 
flippinfleck said:
Indeed it does.

I don't have an official count but wife and I did around ~25 buckets (5gal) last year between maters and peppers. We used the last of OUR canned sauce 'bout two months ago. Still have some of the peppers in the freezer, suspect we'll be getting ready to harvest this year's crop by the time those run out.

Having some more of the yard tilled up and three yards of compost mix delivered was less money than filling all the buckets (plus, as we have more plants this year) with potting mix, made sense for us this year. We'll see how that decision pans out in the long run.
Click to expand...
I switched my toms and cherry toms from 5 to 10 gal pots last year. The sweet 100’s vine went up 10’ that I could measure, then grew horizontal across lattice. Crazy amount of cherry tomatoes! I hope you do well with your new garden!
 
flippinfleck said:
I was going to ask about rain barrels, who has them and how they work out for gardening. Figured I didn't share any pictures today and didn't want to push my luck ;-)

What do you use for capturing the water that fills the barrels?

Do you have piping from the barrels to the garden?

How many barrels do you have?
Click to expand...
I was thinking of doing a rain barrel this year. Will be interested in what others have setup. I don't have a big garden, but this year a built a raised bed instead of doing pots on the patio. So I have a bit more than I used to. And I'd like to see if I can same some water too.
 

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