The Garden Thread

awheelterd said:
I'm afraid it might be.
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All my apple trees got something called "rust". My research says I'm doomed. Don't want to spray that much for the bees I keep......and we have a forest of cedar along with all the neighbors.
 
Corn, corn, corn. Neighbor does big farm stuff. He hides sweet corn in his fields. We trade some vegetables with him and he just likes giving it away.
This is our second round after we did 28 pints from our own garden.
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We have been blessed this year. Dirt, Rain, and Sunshine is our farm slogan. God made them all and we have enjoyed tending our little plot.

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Yesterday and this morning.
 
Corn is in, still need to dig potatoes. Beans still putting out slowly. Peppers and tomatoes are rockin’. Squash bugs finally won and I pulled up squash, zuc and cukes 😡

New coop is getting closer to ready…

Thinking about a flock of guineas too, they are supposed to be bug destroyers without harming plants.

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ponykilr said:
Corn is in, still need to dig potatoes. Beans still putting out slowly. Peppers and tomatoes are rockin’. Squash bugs finally won and I pulled up squash, zuc and cukes 😡

New coop is getting closer to ready…

Thinking about a flock of guineas too, they are supposed to be bug destroyers without harming plants.

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They are so dang loud though. And dumb, nearly suicidal they're so dumb. Running in front of cars is hard wired into their pea sized little brains.
 
skyhighZJ said:
Oh and they are annoyingly loud like 24/7 for no reason loud.
And also, they are loud!
The only good part of owning them is butchering them to eat.
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My neighbor (with the suicidal ones) keeps trying to give me a few. He swears they will eat carpenter ants (which I have millions of) like candy. I can't get past how stinking loud they are though
 
awheelterd said:
My neighbor (with the suicidal ones) keeps trying to give me a few. He swears they will eat carpenter ants (which I have millions of) like candy. I can't get past how stinking loud they are though
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We had a few when we lived in Louisiana cause people said they would help deter snakes from getting to our hen house. They were worthless and actually were very mean to our chickens and ducks. They would make lots of noise so we would sort of know there was a snake but they just sat there squawking like hell watching the snake get in and eat eggs or baby chicks while not actually accomplishing anything. They went in the freezer.
 
Little late, but we are getting some stuff in the ground. The 4016 and tiller sure beats them old 5 hp front tine tillers. Didn't turn it under or plow any, just used the tiller. Definitely cleaned up the areas right next to the house.

Before

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After

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Got most of the root balls out, but left the grass blades and such for compost. Will probably have to do some extra weeding since it was so bad.

Got corn, beans, and watermelon to seed and planted maters today. Will get squash and cucumbers I'm a couple weeks.
 
Got 5 x 30' rows of corn and beans.

Bitter sweet. First time planting without either of the men who taught me about raising a garden. We also did it the "old school" way by hand, so the boys could help. Rows might not be dead straight, but it'll grow just the same lol.
 
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My family and I recently moved to Joco where we actually have room for a garden now. I built this raised bed garden, and we have started planting. We were a little late on getting the tomatoes in the ground, but I think they will be fine. So far we have tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini with room for plenty more. I still have a few yards of dirt to go to finish it. I'm excited to see my kids take part in working the garden, plus all the knowledge and help from my dad.

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Alright, think I have everything in. Got some watermelon seed, but not sure I'll actually plant it this year. Little rough around the edges and I need to clean up some more, but the boys have had a blast and so have we.

Totals are:
5x 30' rows of corn and beans together
8x various tomato plants
12x squash plants
6x cucumber plants

Oh, and the wife wanted some flowers, so we have about a 5'x5' patch of marigolds where I wasn't able to fit the tiller for fear of catching the sidewalk.

I wanted more cucumbers, but that was all the ffa had left so it'll do.

Already have some corn coming up.

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For anyone wanting indestructible raised beds for free, find someone with some old skid steer rubber tracks. Lay them on their side and fill with dirt. I backed my skid steer into one of the nice wooden raised beds my dad had built, destroyed it... The rubber tracks are easy to move if you ever want (well, assuming you have a way to lift or drag them, they are really heavy). Do not heed my advice if your wife cares what your garden area looks like. :cool:
 
Redid my garden area this year. Started all my plants out as seeds that I got from Seed Savers. All heirloom, non GMO. I have potatoes, German tomatoes, onions, squash, zuchinni, cucumber, climbing beans, jalapenos, banana peppers. This was right before I planted everything. Everything is growing nicely this year so far. If this does well this year in this location I'm planning on adding more raised beds. I'm also looking at planting blueberry, raspberry and blackberry bushes on the property line in the near future.

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I planted some spearmint in them a couple years ago because it supposedly keeps bugs away. That's debatable, but that stuff takes over! I am not complaining, I pulled it all out of the top and planted it in various weedy places around my property, I would much prefer it to take over those areas as opposed to 'weeds'. At least it smells good! I let it grow out the sides of the tracks, just pull it out of the top when it starts getting thick.

I have two more tracks in another spot with more tomato's and peppers, with a few more up in the woods I will probably use next year. I do the super cheap option and just take the skid steer into the woods and get some topsoil. Has a ton of roots in it to pull out, but it's free. The one box my dad built is still the top performer, but that's because it's got the best dirt in it I am sure. We get more tomato's than we can eat so it doesn't matter much. The chickens get plenty!
 

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YJJPWrangler said:
Redid my garden area this year. Started all my plants out as seeds that I got from Seed Savers. All heirloom, non GMO. I have potatoes, German tomatoes, onions, squash, zuchinni, cucumber, climbing beans, jalapenos, banana peppers. This was right before I planted everything. Everything is growing nicely this year so far. If this does well this year in this location I'm planning on adding more raised beds. I'm also looking at planting blueberry, raspberry and blackberry bushes on the property line in the near future.

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You should plant bamboo on the other side of the yard. :laughing:
 
jeepin' jen said:
I can't bring myself to collect chicken shit so any recommendations on tomato fertilizer?
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Do you run a coop with shavings or anything like a pen? Our has roosting poles and shavings. It still becomes a necessity. Can't say it's really gross or enjoyable but it and the shavings go into the compost.
Be sure it matures a good bit. It will be too strong for most plants.
 
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