2022 Garden Thread

[EatenByLimestone]

I did not know there were determinate and indeterminate potatoes, lol. Looks like I’ve only grown the determinate varieties!

That looks like a great deal! Especially the 12 pod one for $10 more! I think it’s 100% worth trying out. I think they are a game changer for me and my gardening ways. They may not offer as much of an advantage since you have a green house. I think the audio/Aerogarden is like Chevy/Ford. Lots of opinions but both seem to be good products.

I didn’t see other trays offered. Mine came with a 6 pod tray and a 23 pod tray. I used the 6 pod to see what growing dwarf kale would be like and plan to try some tiny tim tomatoes later. I’ve mostly used the seed starting trays.

I figure next year I should be a little more organized with the aerogarden and be able to move plantlets through faster.

This was the first year I grew my own broccoli plantlets. I can easily have broccoli and kale ready to go as the frost leaves the ground.

 

[bigealta]

All of our break-ins have been from the deer either enlarging a hole by biting the deer fencing and then pushing through or more often, by crawling under the fence, commando style. Until you see a deer doing this it is hard to imagine, but they do.

This is portable fencing due to annual crop rotation.

The long-term solution is to switch to metal fencing, but with over 1000' of fenceline, that will be very co$tly.

I saw one army crawl under a split rail fence once. Front legs were stretched out flat on the ground with the chest touching the ground. Yeah hard to believe they can do that without seeing it.

I read somewhere that the newer thoughts are that crop rotation is not only unnecessary but not helpful. Not sure where i read it but they pointed out many stands of vegetation in nature thrive year after year with no man made inputs or manipulation. Wish i could find it.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

In a healthy forest, at least in the east, there aren’t many long standing monocultures. You have a definite succession from grasses to bushes to different stages of trees. This avoids monocultures in the long term, and these are perennial plants.

If you plant monocultures, I think you’re more apt to have problems.

 

[bigealta]

In a healthy forest, at least in the east, there aren’t many long standing monocultures. You have a definite succession from grasses to bushes to different stages of trees. This avoids monocultures in the long term, and these are perennial plants.

If you plant monocultures, I think you’re more apt to have problems.

I think it was more referring to small vegetable gardens. EXample keep tomatoes in the same spot, etc.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Could be. Perennial plants tend to have fungal relationships that annuals do not. Dan’s food forest takes advantage of this by growing the annuals alongside the perennial plants. Best of both worlds. In nature, if a pathogen makes it to a stand, the stand gets wiped out and the world moves on. The farmer has a tougher time with that.

 

[begreen]

Crop rotation not only helps stop pathogens from taking hold, but it's also a way to enrich the soil between plantings of heavy feeders. We use beans, peas, carrots, beets, turnips, etc. for this. If you don't rotate the brassica family you risk getting club root. Once that fungus is in the soil it's very hard to get rid of.
This is not the only way to plant. Native Americans often would plant their corn over fish guts, heads and tails, then they would interplant squash and beans, the three sisters.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Speaking of potatoes, I learned something today. Did you know that there are determinate and indeterminate potatoes, just like tomatoes? It’s important to know which variety, especially if growing in mounds or layering in boxes or bags to increase yield. I have been growing potatoes for years without knowing this.

https://www.gardeningdream.com/the-ultimate-list-of-determinate-and-indeterminate-potatoes/

Wow! I never knew that. I saved the article to share with some gardening friends.

 

[begreen]

That looks like a great deal! Especially the 12 pod one for $10 more! I think it’s 100% worth trying out. I think they are a game changer for me and my gardening ways. They may not offer as much of an advantage since you have a green house. I think the audio/Aerogarden is like Chevy/Ford. Lots of opinions but both seem to be good products.

I am thinking cooler weather growing, though in the house spinach crop during the summer sounds interesting. It would be nice to try this for winter herb and lettuce growing and getting peppers and eggplants started in the house.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I think you’re only limited by your imagination with these things. I successfully grew the dwarf kale quickly. We trimmed and ate a meal, then it seemed to not be bouncing back very fast. I moved it outside and it’s doing fine. I never thought of summer crops in them, but inside temps are lower than bolting temps for many herbs. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. I’ve seen some videos stating that specific fertilizer mixes were better than others for some crops. I haven’t tried other mixes yet.

 

[begreen]

I need to read up on this method of growing and the consumables. It looks like you need to buy sponges and nutrient mixes for them. Do you have any favorite sources for info or for supplies?

Is algae growth in the water an issue?

 

[Dan Freeman]

Today, we dug a 36" "test hole" down in the FF where we want to put in a pond. We wanted to make sure we could get down at least 36" without hitting the shale shelf. I used the new electric jack hammer I bought. It did a good job of going through the thick, shale infested clay, and even broke up a couple of large rocks, but I am going to be sore tonight!





Knowing we could get down at least 3 feet, we then took an orange extension cord and laid out a rough outline of the future pond. It will be approximately 15 feet long and 12 feet wide. Here are some pics. Might be hard to see the orange electric extension cord outline. Tomorrow, I am going to buy some bright spray paint to mark out the edges.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Please tell me you aren’t going to try to dig it with the jackhammer.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I need to read up on this method of growing and the consumables. It looks like you need to buy sponges and nutrient mixes for them. Do you have any favorite sources for info or for supplies?

Is algae growth in the water an issue?

I haven’t had algae in the water. It’ll get brown colored, but that’s from the peat sponges. Algae forms on top of the sponges. Some buy little discs, or use tin foil, duct tape, etc. I ignore it. Maybe it’s more of an issue if you’re growing long term.

I looked into several brands of sponges and they were within 2c each in price. For that I’ll stick to the aerogarden ones. I buy them in 50 packs.

I have only dosed with the nutrients provided by aerogarden. I know others exist, but I’ve only opened 1 of the 3 bottles that they gave me. 2 capfuls every 14 days makes it last a long time.

 

[begreen]

Ah, so you can buy aerogarden sponges without seed then. That was a sticking point for me.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Please tell me you aren’t going to try to dig it with the jackhammer.

Yup. Jackhammer and pickaxes. Shovel out the 540 cubic feet of clay and rocks (20 cubic yards) and relocate it all to another area of the property. We're used to doing everything "by hand". We don't own any heavy equipment.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Ugh, that’s a lot of work!

I think I’d rent an excavator for that job.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Ah, so you can buy aerogarden sponges without seed then. That was a sticking point for me.

It would have been for me too! Last ones I got were ordered from Home Depot. I think I’ve used about 200 so far this year.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Ugh, that’s a lot of work!

I think I’d rent an excavator for that job.

Nah. Part of the fun of a project like this is doing it all by hand.

 

[begreen]

First harvest of garlic. It was planted in late October 2021. The other half of the planted garlic is the white porcelain variety. It looks like it has another month or so to go.

 

[Dan Freeman]

First harvest of garlic. It was planted in late October 2021. The other half of the planted garlic is the white porcelain variety. It looks like it has another month or so to go.

View attachment 296190

Curious, why you pulled your garlic this early? We plant ours in October, but don't harvest until August, once the tops die. We find we get much larger bulbs at that point..

 

[Dan Freeman]

Food Forest Pond Update:

Yesterday I posted about our proposed FF pond plans. However, after doing a bit of research last night and crunching some numbers, it was back to the drawing board.

Originally, we planned the pond to be 15 x 12 x 3. But when I calculated the total gallons, it came out to over 4000 gallons. I am concerned about our ability to keep it filled from rainwater. In addition, the cost of an EDPM liner, which would need to be 25 x 25 was close to $1000. Since I want to use a solar pump, and not pay $1000's, the one we can afford costs about $500 and only circulates about 900 gph. Not good, since the circulation for a pond should be the entire volume circulated once per hour.

Today, I re-calculated, and decided on a 16 x 8 x 2.5 pond. That will cut the total water volume down to about 2400 gallons, a reduction of 2/5's of the original size. I can get away with a 25 x 20 pond liner which saves me about $250, and I am willing to go with a total water circulation of 1/3 per hour since the pond will be heavily planted.

In addition, I calculated the total rainwater runoff we can collect in 1 year from our 4 roofs, most of which are already hooked up to a central discharge pipe in the field. The house is 33 x 30, the biz warehouse is 14 x 24, the old chicken coop is 10 x 8, and the new chicken coop is 10 x 11. When all that area is added up and multiplied by the average annual rainfall in our area (50" per year), we can harvest an average of 75,000 gallons per year. I think that will be enough to keep the pond filled and still be able to water the food forest during the growing season.

Here is the new "rough" outline of the 16 x 8 FF pond. The corners will be rounded off.

 

[clancey]

That's going to be a nice pond and good for your water saving as well with the run off. I agree with Eaton--I would get one of those "cats" and do that job...--lol. Sometimes work like that is best to do with first quality and efficient equipment and less Wear and Tear on the body as well. That garlic looks real good but I wonder how large the bulbs will be? I am glad freeman that you like the natural and hard way of doing things----not me....get some equipment like tractors and stuff--lol Everything looks real nice everyone and my three plants are doing well..clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I am thinking cooler weather growing, though in the house spinach crop during the summer sounds interesting. It would be nice to try this for winter herb and lettuce growing and getting peppers and eggplants started in the house.

I’ve loved having my Aerogardens for starting tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant inside in January and February. I am growing kale inside right now. I’ve harvested twice, but it’s not really enough for our family of six. It’s more just a supplement to salad. I’ll probably pull it soon and switch to my small lettuce.

I’ve done parsley and dill inside in summers past because they don’t do well in the heat down here. I’ve done basil in the winters.

I don’t buy Aerogarden pods. I reuse the plastic that came with what we were originally given. I shop around for sponges in bulk, and I’ve tried using cotton balls with some degree of success. I’m interested in trying luffa sponge pieces in the future if I can get a crop this summer.

I’ve never bought a new Aerogarden for myself though a few years ago I bought some as gifts for others. Their prices have increased in recent years where I wouldn’t buy one unless it was on an amazing discount. I have no knowledge of the Idoo system you posted, but almost the most valuable part of the Aerogarden system for me is the seed starting tray, so I wouldn’t want to be without something equivalent if I were making an investment like that. In the winter and spring I use up all sixty-one slots I have (two machines), and I go through more than one rotation.

I wonder if you could find used Aerogardens on Craigslist or in a local thrift store. We were given our first as a present for my daughter, and when I decided that I wanted one for myself, I found mine used on Ebay, I believe.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

First harvest of garlic. It was planted in late October 2021. The other half of the planted garlic is the white porcelain variety. It looks like it has another month or so to go.

View attachment 296190

That looks beautiful, Begreen. Good work.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Yup. Jackhammer and pickaxes. Shovel out the 540 cubic feet of clay and rocks (20 cubic yards) and relocate it all to another area of the property. We're used to doing everything "by hand". We don't own any heavy equipment.

Be careful with your shoulders doing that work. I’ve injured myself before just with the vibration from a small pole saw, much less with jackhammering into rock. Don’t push yourself too hard.