Those plants are a little bigger now, but no heads forming yet.
Anyone doing a garden?
- Thread starter spartanmanor
- Start date
My broccoli is heading up nicely, I have 5 plants. I need them to finish heading up so I can get the garlic in the ground! And NO BUGS!
Also, in 2021 I planted a cucumber called Swing, one of the self-pollinating types because it seems like the bees were all across the street! Well, I had so many cucs, it was like the Zucchini monster picked the wrong plants because I still have issues getting a decent amount of zuccs.
So, out of 10 seeds I had a few left for 2022, but a watering issue caused some serious damping off, and I lost them. Because I couldn't get more Swing seeds, I used a couple different selections, but cucs were not nearly as prolific as 2021.
Everyone has been out of Swing, and I didn't want to order seeds from the UK.
I finally located Swing seeds in South Carolina from TWilley Seed Company a couple weeks ago. Placed my order for a bunch of different seeds, received them last week, and I'm half way ready for seed starting in late Feb. Very responsive seed outfit, especially if you're looking for a few unique types. And free shipping!
Hard to beat that!
Also, in 2021 I planted a cucumber called Swing, one of the self-pollinating types because it seems like the bees were all across the street! Well, I had so many cucs, it was like the Zucchini monster picked the wrong plants because I still have issues getting a decent amount of zuccs.
So, out of 10 seeds I had a few left for 2022, but a watering issue caused some serious damping off, and I lost them. Because I couldn't get more Swing seeds, I used a couple different selections, but cucs were not nearly as prolific as 2021.
Everyone has been out of Swing, and I didn't want to order seeds from the UK.
I finally located Swing seeds in South Carolina from TWilley Seed Company a couple weeks ago. Placed my order for a bunch of different seeds, received them last week, and I'm half way ready for seed starting in late Feb. Very responsive seed outfit, especially if you're looking for a few unique types. And free shipping!
Hard to beat that!
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Well here's the last tomatoes of the season. The temps are going to be dropping tomorrow so I went out in the rain this morning to pluck the rest. Some are even blushing. I didn't want to chance the rain causing them to split. That's about one third of a grocery bag full.
Yesterday I composted the last of the tomatoes that were sitting out to ripen. Most turned red, some just went to mush.
Now we wait for next year to eat a real tomato again.
Now we wait for next year to eat a real tomato again.
Nearly all the green ones I harvested have turned red. Just sitting there looking ripe and delicious. I have to check daily to see which are getting mushy before they split and bleed juice all over the counter. I'm putting tomatoes with everything I can think of. Did you know putting fresh diced tomatoes and peppers on frozen pizza is really a treat. I think I'll go make a tomato/mozzarella/basil on toast sandwich.
I pulled my broccoli, there is enough for the two of us. Time to plant the garlic!
I use part of a raised bed, 4' x 6', and I use a template and dibble and manage to put in 126 cloves, meaning next summer 126 heads of garlic. I carefully plan which type goes where, but one thing is the larger the planted clove, the bigger the harvested head. Just before planting I soak the cloves in a fish emulsion bath, which gives them a jumpstart to root! Check out two of the types I planted this year; nice size compared to that grocery store crap! The single clove in the pic next to the quarter is one I planted last year and pulled up in late May this year. Impressive size happens with some types, but no woos garlic here! So, today I put in 81, tomorrow I'll finish the bed.
Anyone who has ever had homegrown garlic doesn't go back! It is easy to grow once the bed is prepped!
Happy Gardening! 7 tears ago in CT, I had just over 300 in the ground, when I noticed some greenery failing. Well, I had picked up a garlic mite from a local show, and I lost 270+. Had to abandon that bed, but there are ways to avoid that issue now, and I carefully practice how to do it!
I use part of a raised bed, 4' x 6', and I use a template and dibble and manage to put in 126 cloves, meaning next summer 126 heads of garlic. I carefully plan which type goes where, but one thing is the larger the planted clove, the bigger the harvested head. Just before planting I soak the cloves in a fish emulsion bath, which gives them a jumpstart to root! Check out two of the types I planted this year; nice size compared to that grocery store crap! The single clove in the pic next to the quarter is one I planted last year and pulled up in late May this year. Impressive size happens with some types, but no woos garlic here! So, today I put in 81, tomorrow I'll finish the bed.
Anyone who has ever had homegrown garlic doesn't go back! It is easy to grow once the bed is prepped!
Happy Gardening! 7 tears ago in CT, I had just over 300 in the ground, when I noticed some greenery failing. Well, I had picked up a garlic mite from a local show, and I lost 270+. Had to abandon that bed, but there are ways to avoid that issue now, and I carefully practice how to do it!
The garlic I planted Nov 24 is already 3” above the pine straw mulch! Pic later.
The final tomatoes of the season. Picking everything green before the cold affected them, and waiting for them to turn in the house! Actually did this three times, and the tomatoes taste so good!
The final tomatoes of the season. Picking everything green before the cold affected them, and waiting for them to turn in the house! Actually did this three times, and the tomatoes taste so good!
A friend of my wife was moving out of town and she was getting rid of a couple small raised beds so we loaded them on the truck and I cut them down and now my wife has a new compost bin next to her potting shed, Now just need to get it filled up and ready for spring.
I may have PeterPiper Syndrome...I need help!! 
Here's hoping for a great growing season. Lesson learned from last year though...I'm going to take a couple seeds of each and germinate them now so I can record how long each one takes. That way I wont run into the issue of having plants that need to go outside before the weather is right. Hopefully the plants that grow will actually be what I ordered this time.
I'm also extending my starter house and getting some good LED grow lights. I'll need to buy at least 5 more pots too. TBC.....
I'm also currently working on a 30lb propane tank stick burner addition to my smoker for better flavor and heat/smoke control at low temps.
Good luck this year guys!
Here's hoping for a great growing season. Lesson learned from last year though...I'm going to take a couple seeds of each and germinate them now so I can record how long each one takes. That way I wont run into the issue of having plants that need to go outside before the weather is right. Hopefully the plants that grow will actually be what I ordered this time.
I'm also extending my starter house and getting some good LED grow lights. I'll need to buy at least 5 more pots too. TBC.....
I'm also currently working on a 30lb propane tank stick burner addition to my smoker for better flavor and heat/smoke control at low temps.
Good luck this year guys!
I have an indoor grow tent and I'm going to start some tomatoes next week in there as well as some peppers. I've also got a bell pepper plant overwintering indoors now. Along with the wildflowers from last year I'm getting an earlier start on flowers for the butterflies this year.
I got around to extending my seed starter house today.
Took a break from getting my smoker firebox parts made and ready to take to a welder. Thirty plus years welding and I have to take it to a friends friend sucks but I got no welder.
This is what I have so far. Did a lot of the little stuff like damper and door handle parts yesterday not shown.
Took a break from getting my smoker firebox parts made and ready to take to a welder. Thirty plus years welding and I have to take it to a friends friend sucks but I got no welder.
This is what I have so far. Did a lot of the little stuff like damper and door handle parts yesterday not shown.
@Smitty43
Garlic is normally a fall crop that overwinters until harvest, which for me in NC will be around june 1. I plan early, order early, and also plant some of my saved harvest such that I plant a boatload of garlic. This crop is 7 different types totaling 125 in the ground. The pics below were taken 5 minutes before posting, and everything is looking good! So Nov 15 planting ties up a 4' x 6' portion of one of my raised beds until june, then I plant zucchini and yellow scallop squash, until planting again mid November. The issue of planting in the same bed multiple years is open to debate. I have never had a problem.
Here's the deal with spring planting garlic. You don't know what you're getting in those impulse packages? Generally probably a softneck type, rarely a hardneck unless specifically noted on the package. Softneck stuff is what the grocery stores get from California and China and convince us it's garlic! Anyway, spring planting is ok, get it in the ground as soon as you can turn the bed over. If you get the local purchased garlic early enough, place it in the freezer for a few weeks, then plant, however, because of the shorter timeframe you will be working with it may not help. But, typically what you harvest will be smaller heads, but should still be better than the store stuff. Don't buy garlic in the grocery store to plant, because you don't know what you are buying, period! Now, I have seen purple stripe garlic in stores before, which when I see it I buy it, but that is to use now, not plant.
There's a lot to learn about garlic, for example there are about 400+ different garlic strains out there! WOW! I currently plant 7 types, but will probably go back to 5. Some are hotter flavored and lingering, some are mild, some have under-tones of different back tastes....there are no bad garlics from your own garden. The difference is the outstanding flavor that increases your cooking skill, and sure helps with the comments from friends. I do give some of my harvest to friends, maybe 30 or so, but I do keep it close to the vest. Right now some of my stored garlic is getting a touch dry, bot some are just fine. That is where the storage periods come into play.
I know I posted before, and I doubt there is any stock left but you can learn a lot...a lot...from www.keeneorganics.com which is now the only source I use for garlic stock. They have some choices recommended for our more moderate climate. Years ago I would order from 2-3 different places, but that got carried away...
Check it out and plan ahead. And when I say order early, that means selct and order by May 1, don't dawdle or you may not get what you want.
Grow garlic, I have a blast every year, and my planting board which I made I can plant 100 cloves under an hour!
Garlic is normally a fall crop that overwinters until harvest, which for me in NC will be around june 1. I plan early, order early, and also plant some of my saved harvest such that I plant a boatload of garlic. This crop is 7 different types totaling 125 in the ground. The pics below were taken 5 minutes before posting, and everything is looking good! So Nov 15 planting ties up a 4' x 6' portion of one of my raised beds until june, then I plant zucchini and yellow scallop squash, until planting again mid November. The issue of planting in the same bed multiple years is open to debate. I have never had a problem.
Here's the deal with spring planting garlic. You don't know what you're getting in those impulse packages? Generally probably a softneck type, rarely a hardneck unless specifically noted on the package. Softneck stuff is what the grocery stores get from California and China and convince us it's garlic! Anyway, spring planting is ok, get it in the ground as soon as you can turn the bed over. If you get the local purchased garlic early enough, place it in the freezer for a few weeks, then plant, however, because of the shorter timeframe you will be working with it may not help. But, typically what you harvest will be smaller heads, but should still be better than the store stuff. Don't buy garlic in the grocery store to plant, because you don't know what you are buying, period! Now, I have seen purple stripe garlic in stores before, which when I see it I buy it, but that is to use now, not plant.
There's a lot to learn about garlic, for example there are about 400+ different garlic strains out there! WOW! I currently plant 7 types, but will probably go back to 5. Some are hotter flavored and lingering, some are mild, some have under-tones of different back tastes....there are no bad garlics from your own garden. The difference is the outstanding flavor that increases your cooking skill, and sure helps with the comments from friends. I do give some of my harvest to friends, maybe 30 or so, but I do keep it close to the vest. Right now some of my stored garlic is getting a touch dry, bot some are just fine. That is where the storage periods come into play.
I know I posted before, and I doubt there is any stock left but you can learn a lot...a lot...from www.keeneorganics.com which is now the only source I use for garlic stock. They have some choices recommended for our more moderate climate. Years ago I would order from 2-3 different places, but that got carried away...
Check it out and plan ahead. And when I say order early, that means selct and order by May 1, don't dawdle or you may not get what you want.
Grow garlic, I have a blast every year, and my planting board which I made I can plant 100 cloves under an hour!
I'm going to try grow three types of tomatoes this year. Sunny Boy Hybrid, Early Girl Hybrid and Beefsteak's. I'm also going to single stem the tomato plants this year to try and keep the plants from turning into tomato "bushes" 
biggrin this year. I'll be starting the seeds in the next day or two. In this area Ma' nature is giving us wild temperature swings which to me signals the seasons are changing so maybe we get an early spring? I also have a Bell pepper plant I've been overwintering indoors so an early warming up would be welcome. I'm also trying a few different varieties of peppers this year too. Meanwhile, there's the usual Mid-Atlantic region wait for Spring...
biggrin this year. I'll be starting the seeds in the next day or two. In this area Ma' nature is giving us wild temperature swings which to me signals the seasons are changing so maybe we get an early spring? I also have a Bell pepper plant I've been overwintering indoors so an early warming up would be welcome. I'm also trying a few different varieties of peppers this year too. Meanwhile, there's the usual Mid-Atlantic region wait for Spring...
Oh yeah, I have some broccoli plants I grew last summer. I know, bad time of year for that. I threw some seeds into pots just because 
After not doing much all summer I put the healthiest few into the raised bed last Fall after everything else was pulled. I covered the bed with some plastic, watered them occasionally and one formed a head. I harvested that and this is what they look like today.
After not doing much all summer I put the healthiest few into the raised bed last Fall after everything else was pulled. I covered the bed with some plastic, watered them occasionally and one formed a head. I harvested that and this is what they look like today.