Gardening: (2016– )

[chromedome]

32 minutes ago, kayb said:

I put eight tomato plants in a four by eight foot bed. It was at least two too many.

 

Sounds about right. I have 6 in the same-sized bed, and that was pretty full. They'd have had more room to expand if I'd gone with 4 or 5 in larger cages. As it was, the two at the rear didn't get as much sun and stayed relatively smaller (next time I'll know to stagger them left-right just a few inches, so they'll have more equal exposure).

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

I second the recommendation to plant a dwarf lemon in a large pot. We have a mandarina that has produced dozens of fruits on a plant less than 5 feet tall. Another advantage is that you can put the pot anywhere you want, in full sun, once you get it where you want (they're too heavy to move around). Be careful not to overwater--we killed a lemon that way.

[Franci]

Thank you, guys! Definitely will follow your recommendations. We are going to start building the brick raised beds next week, I guess...in the meantime we are likely going to be out of the house as they are doing some major drilling for replacing some pipes. While this is done,  we have time to plan for what we want to plant. 

 

My husband doesn’t seem very concerned but I worry about the iguanas as well. I don’t know if we should cover all the fences with a tight metal net. 

Edited October 12, 2020 by Franci (log)

[heidih]

I am sure you have googled. Ths one seems rational. As someone who loses lots of fruit to other garden animals - it seem harder you try the more clever they become. I spent years putting netting over stone fruit trees which is a pain. The birds figure out how to cling and get an even better grip and the opossums and raccoons manipulate their way in. The horrid squirrels pick the oranges and pull the seeds out. What a waste. Rats on the under ripe avocados etc.... I would not go crazy. Let them have something if they really want it. Again I would talk to locals - neighbors and co-op to see what they experience in your area. Iguana mole or tamal?

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/animals/iguana-control.htm#:~:text=Iguana Damage,and walkways in the garden.

 

https://la.eater.com/2019/10/22/20925641/sabores-oaxaquenos-la-restaurant-koreatown-menu-iguana-mole-oaxacan

Edited October 12, 2020 by heidih (log)

[rotuts]

@Franci 

 

we all start off w Very Big Eyes

 

and empty stomachs 

 

no matter 

 

a very important item to start is :

 

A compost 'heap'.     from your inside veg discards

 

it does not need to be in the sun , etc

 

just start it.    more is better , and over the years it will pay off !

 

Im guessing the soil down there is not the best  ;  heat , sun , sand.

 

compost heap,   very nice.

[rotuts]

another tip ;   what do your neighbors grow ?

 

or more importantly , have tried to grow?  

 

in my garden in N.E. :

 

I was very successful in improving the soil.

 

we have a lots of leaves , and I had a large dog , x 2 . over two dog

 

life times.    then I had no more dogs

 

and then plenty of WoodChucks.

 

what do iguanas like for snacks ?

 

im not making this up.

 

might be wise to grow something else.

 

there are varieties of plastic netting , that's not 

 

obtrusive.   find some of that that the iguanas dont like.

 

good luck !  what a fine project !

Edited October 12, 2020 by rotuts (log)

[dcarch]

Get a trail cam, as cheap as $40.

 

You can find out what kind of critters have been messing up your garden day and night, and then work out a way to deal with them.

 

I found out it was my neighbor's dog which dug up my yard at night. 

 

My neighbor fixed their fence. 

 

dcarch

 

 

 

 

[heidih]

59 minutes ago, dcarch said:

Get a trail cam, as cheap as $40.

 

You can find out what kind of critters have been messing up your garden day and night, and then work out a way to deal with them.

 

I found out it was my neighbor's dog which dug up my yard at night. 

 

My neighbor fixed their fence. 

 

dcarch

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure who you are addressing. @Franci with the iguanas = daytime reptiles. My issue - I can't have fences other then split rail - not exactly a barrier and too much acreage. The cams though are super fun. I posted the whole interview in the OT bird topic but here is a snippet

Margaret: I have told you in email, but I’ll say it out loud here: I also, this year, besides getting a new pair of binoculars during the beginning of the pandemic, I also got some trail cameras and got some help from a local expert in setting them up, learning and understanding how to set them up and what I was looking for and so forth.

And that’s been another way of engaging, and especially with the nightlife. Who’s out at night—hysterical pictures of not one set, but four sets of eyeballs in the dark, in infrared light glowing in the dark, and it’s like… [Many raccoon eyes at Margaret’s, below; date and time are of course wrong.]

Julie: And it literally laugh-out-loud moments where I have lots of fun with the trail cams, like coyotes approaching skunks and skunks then raising the tail and backing up at the coyote. You’re just like, “Oh, I know what’s going on in this picture.” Just laugh-out-loud moments. Or when the deer comes up to lick the camera. It’s just so fabulous.

v

[chromedome]

We had two nights in a row of seriously hard frost, and as expected my squashes have reached the end of the road. My improvised cover for the tomatoes seems to have done the job, though, and they still look to be doing fine. Several are on the verge of ripeness, and should be ready to go when I get home from NS on Friday.

The peas are also hanging in just fine, and of course all of my sturdy greens (chard, beet tops, broccoli raab, kale) remain green and sturdy.

[Shelby]

Welp, just came in from the garden and doing a last pick of everything.  87F here today, then a huge cold front coming in tonight.  Low of 28 tomorrow ....SNOW and (hopefully not) freezing rain Monday and Tuesday.    Monday high of 27F low of 19F.

 

Snagged all the tomatoes ....picked the basil, a few squash and some greens.

 

[KennethT]

18 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Welp, just came in from the garden and doing a last pick of everything.  87F here today, then a huge cold front coming in tonight.  Low of 28 tomorrow ....SNOW and (hopefully not) freezing rain Monday and Tuesday.    Monday high of 27F low of 19F.

 

Snagged all the tomatoes ....picked the basil, a few squash and some greens.

 

 

That is some crazy weather!  Is that common in your part of the country to have such wild swings??

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, KennethT said:

That is some crazy weather!  Is that common in your part of the country to have such wild swings??

Yeah....well, maybe not that common to have such extreme changes....but there is a saying "If you don't like the weather in Kansas, give it an hour and it'll change".

[chromedome]

I just did the final pick of my tomatoes, as well. My improvised shelter got me to the third week of October, which is really good for my neck of the woods and may be the latest I've kept mine going (don't really remember for sure).

 

The end result was this:

 

 

Black Krim on the left, San Marzano on the right.

 

The ripe-ish Krims are in my fruit bowl now with a few apples, and should be quite nice by tomorrow or the next day. The green ones went for a big "feed" of fried green tomatoes. The San Marzanos I cooked down to make a faux salsa verde, which I will can tonight after running to the store for the cilantro I was really, really sure I had.

Over the past week I've also harvested the one purple cabbage that survived the erratic spring weather, and a half-pound of Brussels sprouts from one of the stalks. Over this next week I'll take the rest of the sprouts, harvest my beets and the remaining few carrots, and take a final cutting of all of my greens. Peas are already done, I took the last handful of those a few days ago.

 

The community garden closes at month-end, so that leaves me a few days to prep for spring and put things to bed.

[Franci]

Ok, guys, I am back for more advice. We’ll be out of the house for the next 2 weeks starting Monday for some renovations. We are taking advantage and having someone build raised beds while out. My husband was thinking something simple, like a one line brick raised bed (with a lighter color brick, similar to our backyard floor), something like this. We got instead a proposal for a cement little wall, covered with the same tiles of the backyard. Cost is very high. We went back asking what is wrong with the little brick wall... and the guy insists that we will not save that much and it will not look as good but gave us an alternative of using water flow wood (I guess is a wood resistant to humidity), filled with durock and covered with the same tiles, for half of the price. 

 

I am not sure how this wood is treated and the durock and since I am going to plant vegetables, I want to make sure to use no toxic material. Any thoughts? 

[rotuts]

raised beds are far more useful where it gets cold

 

they6 warm up earlier for growth.

 

one line brick does not raise the bed very much 

 

interns of height.  

 

id not worry about rais3d beds now 

 

get ypurplantig going and see what grows best.

 

veg. gardening is an 0on-goin process 

 

year to year  and don't try to get your final ' dream ' garden done 

 

now.   over time you will get useful tips and ideas as you see how it goes.

 

what y0u want in the first year is reasonable soil ,

 

and something that does well for your area.

 

there are many books on raised beds, check them out

 

and read them before you invest in  something permanent.

 

you might change your mind about those bed  in a few years ,

 

and would have wai9sted time and effort and funds.

[KennethT]

Raised beds are good to improve drainage - especially if you live in an area with a low water table

[heidih]

I would not go permanent with concrete. Aren't you in Florida? Seems like it would overheat and drainage?  On the wood - see if manufacturer has a Safety Data Sheet or if available online.

Edited October 23, 2020 by heidih (log)

[kayb]

I used untreated 2 x 12s for the frame of my bed. Killed grass in the bottom by covering with newspaper and then wetting that down, then covering it with plastic. Left that for a week, pulled up plastic, and put a mix of half topsoil and half compost right on top of the starting-to-rot newspaper. It was cheap enough, and relatively easy. I may have to replace 2 x 12s in 10 years or so. No biggie, so long as I'm still gardening then.

 

[heidih]

@shain made a good point about pruning apple trees in another topic. Thought I would link here  https://forums.egullet.org/topic/149304-eg-cook-off-67-apples/?do=findComment&comment=2269913

 

Local tree expert used to give a class every year (free) - he'd take us out to the orchard and do hands on demo. I learn better that way rather than book diagrams though some internet videos are helpful. The grapes were my personal nightmare though I processed tons of leaves for future stuffing. Nightmare because it seemed so brutal. Always afraid I had messed them up. They always proved me wrong and burst back happily. Same with roses. 

[chromedome]

Made my final harvest this afternoon, now I have 4 or 5 days to prep for spring before the community garden is locked up for the winter.

 

My final tally on blanched, frozen greens is 12.7 kg (28 lbs), and I also got 5 kg (11-ish lbs) of beetroots. As I'd mentioned earlier I grow my beets primarily for the greens and think of the roots as an end-of-season bonus, but that's a nice little bonus. Also got a few cups of Brussels sprouts.

 

Probably will set about pickling some beets soon...

 

[dcarch]

No squashes this year.  All squash plants were killed by borers. I found out that  squash borer moths fly at night. So I got a UV zapper to kill them.

 

Now it's fall, no more moths, so I had the zappers in the kitchen. Amazingly, the zapper is much more effective in killing off those annoying house flies. In less than an hour, all flies got vaporized. I hereby declare :

 

My house is a no fly zone! 

 

Anyway, before that, I found out that flies did not taste like chicken, certainly they tasted even less like raisins.

Please, please don't ask how I found out.   Thank you.

 

dcarch

 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by dcarch (log)

[TicTac]

3 hours ago, dcarch said:

No squashes this year.  All squash plants were killed by borers. I found out that  squash borer moths fly at night. So I got a UV zapper to kill them.

 

Now it's fall, no more moths, so I had the zappers in the kitchen. Amazingly, the zapper is much more effective in killing off those annoying house flies. In less than an hour, all flies got vaporized. I hereby declare :

 

My house is a no fly zone! 

 

Anyway, before that, I found out that flies did not taste like chicken, certainly they tasted even less like raisins.

Please, please don't ask how I found out.   Thank you.

 

dcarch

 

 

 

 

Hopefully it at least got zapped and slightly crunchy before you got to taste it...otherwise, I can only imagine the consistency/texture....!

 

 

[KennethT]

IMO, insects are only good to eat after being deep fried and salted

[KennethT]

My kaffir lime tree has started to flower. I'm debating pinching them off until the tree gets a bit older. I don't have much use for the fruit - not like I'm making Thai curry pastes from scratch!

 

 

[heidih]

Pinch- lovely delicate tea. I do it with citrus blossoms when I have an overload. Congrats