so begreen doesn't have to find the link :
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/2017-gardening-thread.161647/page-3#post-2174962
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/2017-gardening-thread.161647/page-3#post-2174962
Gardens 2017
- Thread starter begreen
- Start date
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Thanks! Tim, I also have a test garden that was heavy clay fill dirt. Not pretty stuff. After tilling and working in many cubic yards of compost the soil is a completely different animal. It is growing crops prolifically. Clay soil is typically mineral rich, so if you can turn it around and open it up, then it can become very good garden soil. I had the soil lab tested first. It was quite acidic and needed phosphorus so I added lime and bonemeal with the large amount of compost. The results were better than expected. Another plus, this test garden needs much less watering as compared to my home garden in spite of getting much more sun.
Begreen - we're in the process of trying to heavily amend our "in-ground" garden this season with copious amounts of composted manure and also mineral amendments in the form of "complete organic fertilizer" based on Steve Solon's recipe from his books. Primary problem is drainage. You just about need a zodiac to go out there after a heavy rains. I've tried using my BCS walk behind tractor with a hiller attachment to create raised rows - 30" wide rows, 20' in length. This worked well for summer squash and tomatoes, especially when coupled with the industrial woven weed fabric. I laid down a 30" x 20' strip and then used a biscuit cutter heated with a torch to cut/seal holes for each plant. Other plants like potatoes still suffered from water damage. I've thought of buying a broad fork to try and break up soil substructure as well. All that said, I'm encouraged that you had success and will continue trying
In the meantime, raised beds to the rescue. I really like the look of yours - very nice and permanent. Very nice is a poor choice of words, more like elegant.
In the meantime, raised beds to the rescue. I really like the look of yours - very nice and permanent. Very nice is a poor choice of words, more like elegant.
Yes, that can be tough. If the clay is solid and deep then there is no place for the water to go. I can see why you are investigating the raised bed option. Our test garden's clay soil is about 18" thick. Below that is more friable soil that drains better. Our Santina potato crop last year did pretty well once the soil was amended. Potatoes normally don't like clay soils. Word is that some red potatoes do better in clay soils so this year we are trying Red Norlands there.
Those look great!
Well my second year was definitely better than my first, although the mouse outbreak was a challenge! My neighbor has been counting and has gotten 300 mice this year! I even had to pick the carrots early because the mice were starting to gnaw on them in the ground.
Picked the tomatoes last week as the plants looked diseased. The plan is to ripen them indoors.
Bush beans were prolific! The snap peas are still producing after 8 weeks. The shelling peas all got eaten by mice before I could pick them.
My fall pak choi all bolted after an amazingly hot Labor Day weekend, but the rest of the fall veggies look good.
We had a faller take down a number of red cedar trees next to the garden and so I've had full sun (rather than 5 hrs sun) in the garden since early august. Looking forward to next year already! Garlic will be going in this weekend.
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Picked the tomatoes last week as the plants looked diseased. The plan is to ripen them indoors.
Bush beans were prolific! The snap peas are still producing after 8 weeks. The shelling peas all got eaten by mice before I could pick them.
My fall pak choi all bolted after an amazingly hot Labor Day weekend, but the rest of the fall veggies look good.
We had a faller take down a number of red cedar trees next to the garden and so I've had full sun (rather than 5 hrs sun) in the garden since early august. Looking forward to next year already! Garlic will be going in this weekend.
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This year has been an odd one. The entire area had terrible pollination in spring due to rains. Only the apple trees got well pollinated and they have been attacked by a record codling moth level. The garden has faired better. Tomatoes just keep on coming. We've done 5 batches of sauce so far. There will be another couple yet. Cucumbers continue to come out of our ears along with zucchini. But the green beans went in late and have not been great. We just squeaked by there. Squash harvest was weak too. We just harvested about 80-90# of potatoes and grew a nice crop of celery for the first time.
I have celery in the greenhouse interplanted with the tomatoes. They got a little swamped though, so are pretty small, likely from lack of light.
What variety of tomato do you grow for sauce and how many do you have BG? I tried romas this year and canned them as crushed tomatoes. 5 plants only got me 4x650 ml jars so far. But I prob have another 2-3 jars still to ripen. Still, I'm not sure if I can increase that greatly or not.
I think I am not a great tomato grower though - some had blossom end rot (they were irrigated on an automatic timer so I guess I just wasn't watering enough!) and I've had either a disease or nutrient deficiency too. Last year was some sort of blight (I could see spores forming a grey fuzz on some plants, but they didn't collapse quickly like late blight does). This year looked like a cross between the early stages of that, and maybe(?) a magnesium deficiency. Ah well, can't win them all!
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What variety of tomato do you grow for sauce and how many do you have BG? I tried romas this year and canned them as crushed tomatoes. 5 plants only got me 4x650 ml jars so far. But I prob have another 2-3 jars still to ripen. Still, I'm not sure if I can increase that greatly or not.
I think I am not a great tomato grower though - some had blossom end rot (they were irrigated on an automatic timer so I guess I just wasn't watering enough!) and I've had either a disease or nutrient deficiency too. Last year was some sort of blight (I could see spores forming a grey fuzz on some plants, but they didn't collapse quickly like late blight does). This year looked like a cross between the early stages of that, and maybe(?) a magnesium deficiency. Ah well, can't win them all!
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i have now pulled 76 patty pan off of 1 plant....
we are still going strong, but coming to an end for the tomatoes and the yellow squash. Cucumbers are going strong, so is eggplant. Kale & spinach are making a comeback. Lettuce is gone to seed. I really should put in another batch of beets....
the peppers are insane right now... i have over 300 (guessing) on my thai hot plant!
we are still going strong, but coming to an end for the tomatoes and the yellow squash. Cucumbers are going strong, so is eggplant. Kale & spinach are making a comeback. Lettuce is gone to seed. I really should put in another batch of beets....
the peppers are insane right now... i have over 300 (guessing) on my thai hot plant!
We had some blossom end rot on early tomatoes too. I suspect this has to do more with the plant not liking cold wet feet. After nightime temps went up the soil could warm up and the problem went away. You might try laying black plastic around the plants to help heat up the soil faster in spring.
We grow several varieties and try new ones. For the roma style the standby is San Marzano. They have the best flavor. This year we also grew Jersey Devils which are what are grown for commercial canning. They are huge, but somewhat bland. We also tried Milano which did better with our cool start to summer and were decent flavored and quite prolific. For regular tomatoes we always grow Early Girl as a mainstay, but also grew Siletz (mealy, won't repeat), Legend, sungold and sweet million cherry tomatoes and this year tried sweet seedless. The Sweet Seedless turned out to be a winner. It too was susceptible to blossom end rot early on, but as the soil warmed up it really produced some wonderful tomatoes that make the best fresh salsa. In the past we have also grown brandy boy which is a brandywine style tomato, but more prolific.
My wife uses all the above tomatoes to make her sauce with the proportion about 50% romas and 50% not. She bakes down the cut up tomatoes with garlic and a little onion and salt, then does a quick zip in the food processor and cans. This creates a great sauce.
Cool climate gardening idea. I've observed this with my beds and believe it's why the greenhouse gets a head start. Thinking of making a bed heater for outside now.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/solar-root-heater-whitehorse-1.4301082
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/solar-root-heater-whitehorse-1.4301082
Early snow for us yesterday, and then hard frost this morning. Everything still in the garden seems to have survived the frost ok, even some lettuces (they are under a pipe cloche).
I covered my broad beans just before the snow hit. They are just starting to pop up. Last year they got snowed on when they were ~6” tall and most didn’t make it. So much for a winter hardy crop! I figure with a cover on they should be ok? Fingers crossed .
I picked the sugar pumpkins (they were started late) last week and hopefully they will ripen indoors. They are mostly orange, just a few green speckles still.
How is everyone else doing? I hear back east it’s still pretty mild?
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I covered my broad beans just before the snow hit. They are just starting to pop up. Last year they got snowed on when they were ~6” tall and most didn’t make it. So much for a winter hardy crop! I figure with a cover on they should be ok? Fingers crossed .
I picked the sugar pumpkins (they were started late) last week and hopefully they will ripen indoors. They are mostly orange, just a few green speckles still.
How is everyone else doing? I hear back east it’s still pretty mild?
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We picked the rest of our celery last week. This is a first for us and it came out great. Outdoor beds are pretty much done for except the hardy stuff like chard, kale, rutabagas, and brussel sprouts. Some lettuce remains, but it will be slim picking from here on out. In the greenhouse we still have some peppers and tomatoes plus a little lettuce. With colder feet and much shorter daylight hours everything is slowing down.
