Gardens vegetable, flower or other?

[Baron Kurtz]

They are pretty serious, indeed! And this variety is teeny tiny salad potatoes, which means there'll be hundreds of the buggers in there. Rubs hands …

bk

 

[jamespowers]

Here're a couple pictures of the patio planters I am now using for potatoes. The first pic is of the red potatoes I planted approx 1 week ago. They had sprouted in the dark indoors. The second photo is of a different type of potato about 8-10 weeks after planting. The soil is up to the brim of the bag, which should be full of potatoes! You add soil to the bag as the stems grow higher, similar to the bulking up of the haulm that you would do to normal potatoes in the ground.

I have seen some of my friends forego the bag and just plant their potatoes in bags of planting mix that they get at the garden center. Laying the bag flat on its side, they make a few X cuts on the bottom for drainage and a few X cuts in the top side of the bag and plant their potatoes right in the bag the dirt came in. Water it once in a while and it is suprising what they produce! Then they reuse the dirt in other areas of their garden after harvest.

 

[jamespowers]

They are pretty serious, indeed! And this variety is teeny tiny salad potatoes, which means there'll be hundreds of the buggers in there. Rubs hands …

bk

The Baron is now a Farmer Baron.

 

[LocktownDog]

20 degrees below normal again this year. Supposed to be cold (55F highs) and rainy for the next week. All of my veggies are really struggling, even under cloches and/or walls-of-water. I can't even bother with melons, corn, tobacco, etc until the soil temps come up quite a bit more. The peach trees are in awful shape right now, although the apricots and plums are fine. The grapes are loving this cool start, and I have many bunches setting now.

 

[jamespowers]

20 degrees below normal again this year. Supposed to be cold (55F highs) and rainy for the next week. All of my veggies are really struggling, even under cloches and/or walls-of-water. I can't even bother with melons, corn, tobacco, etc until the soil temps come up quite a bit more. The peach trees are in awful shape right now, although the apricots and plums are fine. The grapes are loving this cool start, and I have many bunches setting now.

I am int he same boat as you concerning the peaches and nectarines. The cold and wet weather set peach leaf curl on it like crazy. It easily halved my crop---and it is still raining. :eusa_doh:
The grape vines I planted a few years ago are actually doing fine in my weather as well. Bunches are setting on the Thompson Seedless very well. The Flame and Ruby not so much. [huh]

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Yeah, you can use anything. My grandad used old canvas Royal Mail bags. I inherited one of the bags, but don't use it.

I have seen some of my friends forego the bag and just plant their potatoes in bags of planting mix that they get at the garden center. Laying the bag flat on its side, they make a few X cuts on the bottom for drainage and a few X cuts in the top side of the bag and plant their potatoes right in the bag the dirt came in. Water it once in a while and it is suprising what they produce! Then they reuse the dirt in other areas of their garden after harvest.

 

[jamespowers]

Yeah, you can use anything. My grandad used old canvas Royal Mail bags. I inherited one of the bags, but don't use it.

I think I would save that mail bag if it were me too.
I am going to try it myself one of these years.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Now if I can just get my bank account to Robber Baron status, I'll be happy.

The Baron is now a Farmer Baron.

 

[Big Man]

We've had a great growing season so far. It has been very warm with a good amount of rain, and our garden is producing very well. It's been a real pleasure sitting down at the table with my family knowing most of the food we're eating has come from our own garden.

I spent most of yesterday canning green beans, and plan on canning more today. Do any fellow Loungers can food from their gardens?

 

[Land-O-LakesGal]

We've had a great growing season so far. It has been very warm with a good amount of rain, and our garden is producing very well. It's been a real pleasure sitting down at the table with my family knowing most of the food we're eating has come from our own garden.

I spent most of yesterday canning green beans, and plan on canning more today. Do any fellow Loungers can food from their gardens?

Big Man I understand that feeling although I do not produce enough for a feeding my family whole meals I felt pretty good feeding them salad last night from my garden.
I am planning to try canning this year I bought a small getting started kit from ball and think I will try a few jars of salsa first and see how that goes I defenetly want to try some pickles this summer. I have never been taught to can, My mother didn't can and to my memory neither did my Grandmothers at least not while I was alive. So if you have any tips or suggestions I would be happy to take them.

 

[Big Man]

... think I will try a few jars of salsa first and see how that goes I defenetly want to try some pickles this summer. I have never been taught to can, My mother didn't can and to my memory neither did my Grandmothers at least not while I was alive. So if you have any tips or suggestions I would be happy to take them.

Salsa and pickles are great things to begin with. I would recommend that you try several recipes. Make notes (how long you processed the jars, etc.) and mark your jars so you know which recipe is which. I tried my hand at pickling Okra two seasons ago. It tasted like crap. Last year I changed the recipe and processing time, and it tasted great. Experimentation with canning is a great thing.

I was never "taught" to can, but watched my Grandmother do it so much that I guess I just picked it up naturally. When I retired two years ago, I began looking for things to do to make my time more useful. Gardening and canning (and drying food) were two things that I enjoyed since it saved some money and helped to preserve (pun intended) a long family tradition.

 

[Land-O-LakesGal]

I have seen some of my friends forego the bag and just plant their potatoes in bags of planting mix that they get at the garden center. Laying the bag flat on its side, they make a few X cuts on the bottom for drainage and a few X cuts in the top side of the bag and plant their potatoes right in the bag the dirt came in. Water it once in a while and it is suprising what they produce! Then they reuse the dirt in other areas of their garden after harvest.

That potato bag thing is great I would really like to try that next year. Thanks for posting.

I have found that I have on more luck with my strawberries in planters than I do on the ground so nice to know that other editable plants can do well in planters too.

 

[jamespowers]

That potato bag thing is great I would really like to try that next year. Thanks for posting.

I have found that I have on more luck with my strawberries in planters than I do on the ground so nice to know that other editable plants can do well in planters too.

That is interesting. My strawberries grow better in the ground here than they do in pots for me. [huh] Potatoes grow anywhere. I have a volunteer plant over my mother's place. I have no ide how it got there but it is growing like mad. You never get all of the potatoes out so it comes back year after year too.
My surprise this year was a sunflower plant. It just took off growing next to a rose bush of mine. It is about six feet tall now. Good thing I stopped to check it out before I pulled it out while weeding. The flower is beginning to set so with luck we will have sunflower seeds for roasting by September. That thing grows like crazy. From one day tot he next you can actually see it grow! That's a good thing to teach my son about gardening.
Aside from that, the warm weather is finally here. Everything is finally growing as it should. :eusa_clap The garlic should be pulled soon and the chives are always ready.

 

[Tatum]

While watering this morning, I saw lots of my bees working the basil, and snapped a few pics. I thought everyone here might get a chuckle. I had no idea honeybees liked basil flowers!

 

[lolly_loisides]

^^^^^^
That's a lovely photo Tatum. It's mid winter here & I miss fresh basil, I can't wait 'till it's spring.

 

[jamespowers]

While watering this morning, I saw lots of my bees working the basil, and snapped a few pics. I thought everyone here might get a chuckle. I had no idea honeybees liked basil flowers!

Nice. Bees certainly help pollinate those fruits and vegetables.

 

[Tatum]

Thanks, Lolly!

James, yes they do... I have been blaming the bees for the fact that the basil is trying to take over!

 

[Puzzicato]

We've had a great growing season so far. It has been very warm with a good amount of rain, and our garden is producing very well. It's been a real pleasure sitting down at the table with my family knowing most of the food we're eating has come from our own garden.

I spent most of yesterday canning green beans, and plan on canning more today. Do any fellow Loungers can food from their gardens?

We're having an awful growing season! My peppers, the outdoor chilli, one pumpkin and the spaghetti squash have all been eaten by slugs to the last leaf. I use snail baits but I just can't keep up during the week. I'm still optimistic about the spuds and corn though, and the indoor chillis are amazing.

Last year I bottled some tomatoes very successfully. I don't have a canner or anything, I just packed them in sterilised jars (with a bit of salt and a touch of vinegar, to make a nice inimical atmosphere) and then cooked them in a water bath for half an hour.

My surprise this year was a sunflower plant. It just took off growing next to a rose bush of mine. It is about six feet tall now. Good thing I stopped to check it out before I pulled it out while weeding. The flower is beginning to set so with luck we will have sunflower seeds for roasting by September. That thing grows like crazy. From one day tot he next you can actually see it grow! That's a good thing to teach my son about gardening.

A couple of years ago we noticed something odd coming up in our hanging basket...

 

[LocktownDog]

That's a fantastic pic!

 

[Puzzicato]

Thanks! That sunflower was not going to give up!