2024 Garden Thread
- Thread starter Patrick
- Start date
SAM
Well-Known Member
Garden stuff.
Shikou eggplant
Early Long Purple eggplant
Crispy Red bell peppers, not red yet.
Spaghetti squash getting heavy. Supported with bungees or the vines will break.
These have their stems over the cattle panel, so no support needed.
A couple of good sized acorn squash coming on.
Shikou eggplant
Early Long Purple eggplant
Crispy Red bell peppers, not red yet.
Spaghetti squash getting heavy. Supported with bungees or the vines will break.
These have their stems over the cattle panel, so no support needed.
A couple of good sized acorn squash coming on.
iman29
Well-Known Member
great for blueberry banana smoothies especially in the summer.
i may have to follow this crowd and try to plant some stuff next season instead of spectating.
qclabrat
Well-Known Member
I'm a bit slower this year, my dad passed in May so finally got time to plant lots of beans. About 6 varieties.
SAM
Well-Known Member
My zuchs seem to be coming a bit slower this year too. I have four "Fordhook" zuch plants and four "Butterstick" summer squash plants. Getting tons of summer squash but the zuchs are just starting.
Wednesday
Today
SAM
Well-Known Member
I've been growing "Picolino" greenhouse variety cukes last few years. Put them in pots covered with netting. They're parthenocarpic, so they don't need pollination to set fruit and it keeps the cucumber beetles out. Works okay and I'd get lots of cukes, but the vines get crowded in the limited space.
I decided to try a different variety "Unagi" this year. Same deal as Picolino, just longer fruits at 8 - 9 inches. I've gotten several from the pots so far. Here is one with the pots in the background.
Also, had a couple extra plants, so I decided to try growing them in pots on the covered deck. Maybe only a few hours of sun, so I hadn't tried this before. Seems to be working. I picked the first "deck" cuke today 🙂
They have a great mild cuke taste.
I decided to try a different variety "Unagi" this year. Same deal as Picolino, just longer fruits at 8 - 9 inches. I've gotten several from the pots so far. Here is one with the pots in the background.
Also, had a couple extra plants, so I decided to try growing them in pots on the covered deck. Maybe only a few hours of sun, so I hadn't tried this before. Seems to be working. I picked the first "deck" cuke today 🙂
They have a great mild cuke taste.
SAM
Well-Known Member
I got the seeds from Johnny's Seeds. Expensive, but I only use 2 - 4 seeds, so pkt should last a few seasons.
Netting is Agfabric. I bought the large roll on Amazon:
SAM
Well-Known Member
Your vines look really good climbing that support.
I transplanted mine a little later (mid-June), but they've taken off and are starting to climb over the snap peas and up the fence. There are a bunch of small (~4") cukes.
I planted 6 - 8 vines because I always lose some to bacterial wilt spread by cucumber beetles. Losing the first vine today:
Has a cuke on it that won't be getting any bigger 🙁
SAM
Well-Known Member
Finally ripped the snap pea vines off the fence. Pulled the cucumber vines off first and then tied them back up and picked a few cukes. We'll see how the cuke vines do.
My wife was making the roasted veggie medley, so picked some more Red Zeppelins, beets, and carrots. Medley included sumer squash and zuchs too.
Been getting some cherry and chocolate cherry tomatoes. Picked the cherries a little on the early side before the birds get them. Birds are a problem agian this year.
Tons of tomato bunches still green on the four plants I have. Looks like it's gonna be a good year for tomatoes, once they ripen, if the birds don't get 'em. If it gets bad, I may have to wrap them in bird netting.
My wife was making the roasted veggie medley, so picked some more Red Zeppelins, beets, and carrots. Medley included sumer squash and zuchs too.
Been getting some cherry and chocolate cherry tomatoes. Picked the cherries a little on the early side before the birds get them. Birds are a problem agian this year.
Tons of tomato bunches still green on the four plants I have. Looks like it's gonna be a good year for tomatoes, once they ripen, if the birds don't get 'em. If it gets bad, I may have to wrap them in bird netting.
ekuhn
Well-Known Member
Had a few cherries start poppin. Had a few Hungarian hot peppers
My home depot weed barrier is not proving as successful as I hoped. The weeds just grew under it. Its light gray in color, not black, and never mulched over it. I got in there and weed wacked down what I could. More to come on that front.
Got in late, so going to be a late roll out. Pics coming soon.
Need to get a tour of @SAM 's setup. Highly considering going to raised beds next season, with a real layout plan of how many plants and where. Just gotta financially bite the bullet on lumber/mushroom soil etc.. Has to be easy/minimal maintenance as I'm always behind on time.
My home depot weed barrier is not proving as successful as I hoped. The weeds just grew under it. Its light gray in color, not black, and never mulched over it. I got in there and weed wacked down what I could. More to come on that front.
Got in late, so going to be a late roll out. Pics coming soon.
Need to get a tour of @SAM 's setup. Highly considering going to raised beds next season, with a real layout plan of how many plants and where. Just gotta financially bite the bullet on lumber/mushroom soil etc.. Has to be easy/minimal maintenance as I'm always behind on time.
SAM
Well-Known Member
I'd be happy to give you a tour anytime. Let me know.
I have four 4x8' cedar boxes and a little 3' octagon box I bought as kits in 2017. I added a 2X16' cedar box I built myself in 2018 (the one with the snap peas, among other stuff). So, this is the 8th season of soil contact on the cedar and all the boxes are in pretty bad shape now. I'm holding them together with stakes on the sides and hardware cloth in some of the worst places. Some cedar planks have completely rotted and soil is leaking out at the corners in most of the boxes.
So, if I had it to do over, I'd go with a corrugated metal design. Something like @olegbabich posted looks good: corrugated metal boxes. Boxes can be built with longer lasting pressure treated 2x3 or 2x4 frames so that only the corrugated metal touches soil (and the soil doesn't touch the wood). This is an ideal design for long lasting boxes.
If I try to squeeze another season out of the cedar boxes, my raised beds will be piles of dirt and rotted wood. So, I'm looking at designs on YouTube (there are lots) and plan to build the replacement boxes this fall.
