The Garden Thread

[CurSedVoyce]

Maybe next year. We started working this garden, prepping it last year. About 18" of compost and mulch. Worms have been having a field day in it. We moved the compost from 40 yards of material we brought in for the worms a few years ago. Lama and horse manure, wood chips added to that....
See how we do this year and expand on it. We are already prepping an area to the south of it to enlarge it for next year. The goal is a year round garden. Trying some different crops also that are alternatives to say spinach that won't bolt at 80 plus degrees... Rutabaga, hubbard squash, parsnips. Several varieties of tomatoes. Green beans. Rob and the kids are putting a lot of time into it. Kids have their own squares. Katy has all her herbs going in for my benefit also .... .

 

[Paul B]

Awesome.
So far my spuds are doing well, onions, lettuce and strawberries are rocking, now if we can get more than 2 days of nice weather...

 

[CurSedVoyce]

That is exactly it. Nice weather. We just had ice and hail few days ago and 80 degree weather a few days prior to that. I was up at 4800 feet doing an estimate and talk with the HOs BIL about a tree that dropped a limb on the house the last heavy snow saying.. "I think we might be out of the woods on the heavy snow doing more damage, so I will be back as best I can to take it down.". As I am getting in the truck.. it starts snowing.
Supposed to rain Sunday. See what happens. We have a lot of stuff started in the green house that needs to get in the ground soon. Usually by May 15th we are good to go. HA!
See if we can get the tomatoes and peppers in the ground next week

 

[Cobleskill]

We could plant rice around here, but that's about it.

 

[stig]

Lead poisoning is more fun..

Oh, we leadpoison the heck out of the roe deer here.
I don't care for hunting myself, seems silly to kill stuff that you hate the taste of.

But I let the hunters who rent the fields on both sides of my property hunt on my land for free. That thins the roe deer some.

I have never asked for payment in the 18 years, I've owned the place. ( normal rent of a hunting area is about $120/ acre/year here, we have a LOT of hunters and no space!) I just ask them to leave the quails alone on their areas as well as on my property.
I've told them that if I ever see them with a dead quail, they have fired their last shot on my land.

Quails are rapidly going extinct here, we are probably the only nation in the world that allows hunting of a red listed species.

The last couple of years I've asked the hunters to drop a buck off at my place, since Richard REALLY likes venison.
He gets it for the freezer and the dogs have a great time "helping" him skin and butcher it.

 

[Paul B]

Maybe it needs to be labelled as 'for scientific research' like the Japanese whalers, then it doesn't count as hunting an endangered or protected species.
Wouldn't the deer meat be good for use as a real meat for the dog's food? Not sure what type of menu you have for them.

 

[stig]

I feed them BARF.
Bones and raw feed.
The doggies are NOT vegetarian
Richard would have some unkind words with you if he heard you suggesting that I feed his deer to the dogs.
Venison is a rare treat for most people here.

 

[Paul B]

Sorry Richard, no offense old chap.
I would eat the venison also. Around here I know of a few folks that feed their dogs a fad diet (my opinion) called 'raw food diet'. Not sure of all the ingredients but I think the name gives it a reasonable definition. oh, did I mention its about 5 times the cost of dry dog chow?

 

[stig]

Not here. It only cost a fraction more.
The reason we started was that Sam is allergic to dust mites and those mites that live in flour, grain and dry dogfood ( and we all try to ignore, because othervise a lot of what we eat would be yucky.)
He used to get big running furless patches every summer, so my friend the vet suggested that by avoiding dried dogfood we could reduce the amount of allergens.
We started BARF this spring, and one thing it has done is turning every meal into a feast. there is no doubt that RAW meat is what dogs are meant to eat
Sam used to be a real finicky eater, now he is first in line at the food bowl.
I'm just waiting for his first wolf howl.

Also, he had a sore( in vet terms: Hot spot) last week.
3 days of penicillin and cortisone stopped it.

Last year it would have taken all summer to get it under control.

So IMO it is not a fad diet.

 

[Paul B]

No offense meant in regards to the fad diet Stig. I meant it was more of a fashionable diet to couples without a child and with a dog, usually something less than knee high and wearing a trendy sweatervest. Sometimes carried within a purse or satchel. I think many of those folks are feeding the raw type diet to keep up with the joneses rather than having a logical reason for it. I think it sounds like a good idea, I mean how much charcoal would a cat eat if it wasnt fed dry cat food, my guess is about none or less.

 

[Paul B]

I went out back and took a few pics, looks to be about 2 to 3 weeks behind where the garden was last year.

 

[Al Smith]

Quail or at least the bob white variety really don't bother anything .Just a meaty little game bird .Kind of cute the little hatchlings are so tiny . They hide in the grass but are curious and look up at you .

Talk about hard to hit with a shotgun ,they can fly about 100 miles per hour or so it seems .

That said though most game birds cause so little crop damage it isn't worth worrying about .

 

[woodworkingboy]

My first time ever vegetable garden is doing pretty well, a few things to eat coming to maturity. Lost the battle with the cabbage though, the insects won. Probably try a fine mesh next year.

I made an energizing soup for the plants. I took some compost and put it in a tub, then added water. Still our rainy season here, so watering isn't so much necessary, but if anything is looking a little sluggish or dry, I give them a shot of the soup after stirring, instead of just water. It really seems to invigorate and refresh them. Not the nicest looking soup, but it doesn't smell much. I haven't noticed any problems from the bit of sludge that touches the base of the plants, 'cept maybe on some of the more delicate lettuce. It does seem to refresh the growing things within an hour or two, I suppose the hit of nitrogen.

 

[Paul B]

Cool.

 

[Al Smith]

It seems that most members of the cabbage family do much better in somewhat colder climates . I personally would not walk across the street for a ton of cabbage but dearly love Brussels sprouts .

Sevin dust will kill just about any type of parasite but that's not growing organically if that accounts for anything .

 

[woodworkingboy]

There are some pretty awesome vegetable gardens around town, the same ones always look good every year, unless somebody dies or something. Everything is perfectly straight organized and supported, almost not a leaf out of place. Healthy looking plants too. It must require a lot of time for the larger ones. Just south is where they are famous for watermelons, having large fields. Thirty-fifty bucks for a good one.

 

[Cobleskill]

They must have to guard their fields. I wish I could get that kind of money, I would still grow them.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Some thievery, but I don't think it's too big a problem. Watermelons have always been a high priced item here for some reason, the best grades are really up there. I tell people that you can buy them in the states for a buck or two, and their eyes get big. Our melons are round, by the way.

 

[Al Smith]

My uncle who has been a truck driver almost forever made more money hauling melons out of Florida Georgia and Texas than he did the rest of the year .Pulled right into the fields and they loaded them in . In 40 foot trailer melons weigh a thousand pounds per inch .40 inches of melons 40,000 pounds .

The melon season started about the first of June and lasted until about mid July early August .By that time the local stuff was ripe for harvest .Over the 4th of July the super markets he hauled for would get what they called picnic melons,35-40 pound giants .

Once he pulled in for a load at producers produce market in Columbes Georgia and got a deal on several thousand huge cantalopes for a dime each .He loaded them on top of a load of watermelons .He had everyone of them sold for a buck a pop before he got back to Mt Vernon Ohio .

 

[Paul B]

Watermelons are in season here, we have already gone through 2 good sized ones, selling for 39 cents a pound at the grocery store.

 

[Koala]

Paul B
I went out back and took a few pics, looks to be about 2 to 3 weeks behind where the garden was last year.

Very nice hostas. I like them a lot.....only problem here is that slugs like them too much.

 

[hmm]

I have my veggie garden - three containers, tomatoes and peppers. the deer would have to step on the front deck area to get them. The cantaloupe were eaten by the deer. Sorry to say that I did not get the protective fencing up in time.

Maybe next year.

 

[Al Smith]

The actual watermelon and cantalope season in Ohio goes from mid August for watermelon to late September for the cantalope .

An area about 30 miles north and towards Indiana around Pandora to Van Wert Ohio is some of the highest priced and most productive farm land in the USA .They still raise veggies etc but not the extent they used to .During harvest time the migrant workers at one time I think out numbered the locals .You'd almost swear you were in Texas .

That said though the melons of either type are some of he finest tasting in the world but they don't get 39 cents a pound for them in season .Fact is towards the end you can buy cantalope for 5 bucks a bushel .

Cantalope is not that hard to raise ,you have to be carefull of the vines though .Watermelon on the other hand is a challange unless you have the right soil conditions which I never had .They take up a lot of room so it's doubtfull I even try anymore especially in a raised bed .

 

[NeTree]

Watermelons are in season here, we have already gone through 2 good sized ones, selling for 39 cents a pound at the grocery store.

That's my favorite part of summer... the watermelon!

 

[Paul B]

I like melons.