Gardening - Growing Your Own.

[treebilly]

Stig I'm chuckling since you mentioned the poly tunnel. You're completely right. My nieghbor built himself a small one. Completely unattached from any heat source. He was telling me how he was going to eat fresh veggies year round. Rather than tell him of his error I just said he could bring his over abundance down to me. I don't see a thing from August till June. He quickly gave up on his idea and now it just helps him start his plants in the spring.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Rich, what sized poly tunnel are you talking about? The polly tunnels I know are large enough to drive a tractor inside, generally closed on the ends as well. Those things absolutely cook inside, so hot and humid. I generally see at least a month to six weeks speed up until harvest when people use those. The downside is you've got to water yourself or have an irrigation system. People say the produce doesn't taste as good grown in tunnels. I dunno....

 

[treebilly]

His is quite small. He waters a lot. You can get things going earlier but with out an added heat source they aren't much but dry storage in the winter. Temps still drop to below freezing at night inside them in winter time.
I can also believe that produce doesn't taste the same. Irrigation is not the same as rain for some reason. Also the light is not direct sun light. I'm by no means an expert but I can say that my garden does much better with rain than watering.

 

[stig]

I can't tell the difference from tunnel grown or otherwise.
I use the same horse manure in the tunnel as in the garden and the soil is the same.

 

[Al Smith]

It's coming on strong .So many cucumbers ,green beans, squash I'm giving it away .The other night I picked a tomato that was larger than a softball .Georgia and myself couldn't eat it all .

Those tomatoes are a hybrid type of beefsteak and they can get so huge they tear the vines .

 

[stig]

I'll be starting the plants for the polytunnel under artificial light indoors in 2-3 weeks time.
So I got down to ordering seeds today: 2 kinds of melons, 12 kinds of tomatoes, 2 kinds of eggplants, 7 kinds of chilies, a tomatillo and an ounce of basil seeds ( That is about enough for a gazillion plants, I only plan on something like 300, but they'll keep for years without losing germination).

Found an interesting company in the US that has all kinds of old heirloom types: http://www.rareseeds.com/store/

Got most of what I needed from them and the rest from Holland. As with lots of other stuff, it is cheaper to order it from another country than to buy locally.

There is a woman who raises and sells seedlings in an old industrial size greenhouse about 25 miles from me.
I usually go there and buy some stuff to try out.
Learned long ago not to bring my wallet, but simply the amount of cash that I want to spend. Otherwise it gets out of hand. She really has some interesting stuff and buying just one plant is a great way to try new varieties out.

 

[FireFighterZero]

I am thinking about a poly tunnel.

How big is your tunnel Stig?

 

[stig]

60 m2.
6x10 meters and about 3 meters high in the middle.

 

[sotc]

Father in law has peppers, tomatoes and some flowers started .
I've got some pasture started, main orchard is in and pruned. Just gotta spray it and prune some other fruit trees scattered around the property.

 

[TreeMuggs]

Corn is not a vegetable............

 

[FireFighterZero]

A grain?

 

[MasterBlaster]

A fruit, I think.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Damn delicious what ever it is.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I need to eat more of it.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I thought I'd try growing a tea that people used to drink for health purposes in these parts, called Habucha. Mostly found in Asia or India I believe, but I saw someone in Bulgaria selling seeds on line, so I bought some. I think originally from India where he got them. I thought Japan customs might hold them up if they looked suspicious, but they came to my mailbox quick.

I've been drinking dokudami tea (get the poison out) for years, no need to plant, it grows in abundance wild around. I just cut it and hang up to dry. Love the taste, and quite soothing. Makes you want to take a leak, probably a good thing.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I miss my grow room.

 

[sotc]

Corn is not a vegetable............

It's certainly not meant to be mixed with gas

 

[sotc]

A grain?

A fruit, I think.

It's a grass so shouldn't be "fruit"

 

[gf beranek]

Corn is grass. Monocot. Like wheat and barely, but on steroids.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Tell that to some old Catholic woman when she tells you to eat your vegetables.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Getting going.... rototilled some lime and composted chicken manure into my spot. Have to let it sit for awhile now to cool down, and it's still too early to plant much. Anybody working on theirs yet?

 

[Cobleskill]

Got my cauliflower seeds in mail today. 250 purple 250 orange 1000 mid season 1000 main season (white). Don't think I will plant the whole 2500 this year. Bit too much.

Doesn't need to go in for a month. Plant it in flats 120 cell. Put in field about 4th of July. Harvest usually starts in late September and into early November.

 

[FireFighterZero]

I just about tilled mine up today, but got side tracked.

Its a little early yet, but I figure to work it twice before I plant.

Hope to have a hoop house up for next year.

 

[Mick!]

We're eating asparagus, wife's sown the onions, some lettuce, carrots.

 

[squisher]

I've got seeds in trays right now but nothing is even poking their heads up yet.