Pictures of Garden, Picture Heavy

15 years ago

I always say I will post pictures. I wanted to clean up and weed before I took them. Everyones gardens are always so weed free and good looking. I just decided that will probably not happen, so the kids were napping and I ran out and snapped a few.

Here is my hoop building for tomatoes. When I started.

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To Date I have picked 420 pounds of these 35 plants. They are doing awesome. The plastic finally ripped to much to fix and I just let the wind tear it off one day. I still need to take it apart. I just haven't had the time.

Here are some pictures of the 160 pounds of tomatoes I have picked in the last two days. They aren't as big as they use to be, but they have really good flavor. I don't know what will happen when my outside tomatoes start producing this much!

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Here are my outside tomatoes. Most are Heirlooms and some Hybrids. It is a jungle in there! The rows were 4 feet apart and the plant spacing is 2-4 feet apart. I had extra plants and I stuck them between my cages and used a Florida Weave on them. The row on the left is a florida weave. I am very happy how they are standing up to the winds we get here. I will probably try it again next year with more tomatoes.

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Here are my Cherry Tomatoes. I have 27 plants with 8 different varieties. On Sunday I picked 24 pints. I have not been able to go back since. I am sure there are that many again.

Here are my peppers. Most of these are bells or sweet peppers. They have not been cranking them out as I have hoped. They are producing very tasty peppers though. I have another 50 in a different location. They are my hot peppers. I forgot to take the picture of them.

Here are the cucumber trellises. This is a picture of the lemon cucumbers. I am getting a few off the vines. I wish I could have more. I see tons of male blooms but not many female blooms. I know one of these days I will regret saying I want more!

This is my Picklebush pickling cucumber section. These 6 hills are cranking out the cucs. I usually pick 8-15 pounds a day. I need to save some back and make some pickles!

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Here is my small cucumber hoop building. I have Diva Cucumbers growing in it. This is my first year with hoop buildings and for growing Diva Cucumbers. They have both become my favorites. I have picked over 200 cucumbers out of this building to date. I know it could be more, but I didn't get a chance to prune them when they were smaller. I am also loosing some to the heat.

It is a real jungle in this place. I find a huge cuc every once in a while.

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I have some Okra too. I am waiting to pick some. I have picked a few pods, but not much. I think next week I will be hauling them away in buckets!

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Finally on my tour is our watermelon and canteloupe patch. The vines have absolutely gone crazy. This is a new garden patch this year. I guess it is a good one! There are seedless watermelons, sugar baby, Black Diamond, Moon and Stars, Blacktail Mountain, Golden Midget, Kansas and Sierra Gold melons. I planted them on the recommended spacing. I guess I am just doing good. I have alot of melons out there. It will just be hard to find them all when it comes time to pick them.

I didn't take pictures of my squash. They are my dissappointment for the year. I have lost some to SVB and Squash bugs. I just hate to spray with seven when I see so few pollinators in the area. I have some fall squash growing in a different area. I will keep them healthier, if I can.

I also have a potato patch. I have dug a little under half of it. To date I have dug close to 600 pounds. I still probably have 600-700 pounds to dig. I am sorry I didn't take a picture of it now. Here is what it looked like a few months ago.

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We eat everything from the garden. In addition, I hit 3 markets a week. They have been going great. It makes up for the high gas prices!

Thanks for checking out my garden in Clay Center, Kansas.

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Comments (16)

User
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Fantastic pictures and beautiful garden!!! I'll bet your stuff sells out real fast at the farmers market. It's easy to see how hard you work at this.

I know what you mean about the wind. I'm in Emporia.
msyoohoo
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What weeds? All I see a beautiful veggies! Nice job!

Maureen
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schoolhouse_gw
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow. Do you ever get a break? Hard work sure pays off, the proof is in your pics.

My six foot tomato plants blew down Saturday, well, the top 2' sticking up out of the cages that is. I just left them be. Ugh.
farmerboybill
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hey JR,

That's a pretty "slick" garden. Do you dig the potatoes by hand with a manure fork? If you've got a BCS tiller, buy a root lifter from Joel at Earth Tools and let me know how it works. I wanna buy one myself but would like some feedback on how it works. Thanks for being my guinea pig ;-P

Bill in WI
jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
Original Author
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Bill-

I dig all my potatoes by hand. I would really love to figure out a way to dig with a tractor or something else. However, I don't have tractor and mulch really heavy so I don't think my tiller would work. Yes it is alot of work, but I can dig a 100 pounds in about 1-1.5 hours.

Jay
mark_roeder 4B NE Iowa
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
One word: Amazing.
pnbrown
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow, lotta work you've done!

We can all envy you that bottomless Kansas topsoil. I was out harvesting wheat one year in Kansas, and I remember watching as a combine got bogged down and was trying to dig itself out. Those giant wheels just went deeper and deeper into the black dirt. Being used to new england soil, I was waiting to see the sub-soil come up with the churning wheels - that different lighter color. Never happened! Just that same rich, black loam - eight feet down......
alisande
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I'm glad to hear you're selling produce. I pictured you chained to the canning kettle 24/7, without a break for sleep.

Beautiful plants, layout, everything!
joshua9
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I love your "green house". Would have any instruction for creating one for the upcoming Minnesota frost so I can get all my fruit ripened
jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
Original Author
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The Green House is very simple to build, if you have some simple construction knowledge and tools. I will give you some basic ideas on how I did it. First of all, I build two. One with PVC pipe and the other one with Wire Cattle Panels.

The PVC Pipe one goes like this. It is 12 by 18. It can be larger, next year plans are in the work for a 12 by 40+.
I experience alot of wind, so I made it stronger than needed. First I made a 12 x 18 box out of 1 x 6. Then I dug 4 holes in the corners for a 2.5 foot 4 x 4 post. Then screwed the box to the posts. Then cut 1.5 inch PVC pipe cut 6 inches long every 4 feet on each side. Next take a 1 inch pvc pipe that is 20 feet long and bend it into a hoop. I stress buying 20 foot lengths. I tried to glue 2 tens together and it was just a pain. Two people are nice, but one person can do it. Drill two holes through the pipe and 1.5 inch pipe and attach the hoops to the box with long screws. Optional part, I ran a 3/4 inch pipe down the middle and bolted it to the hoops. It made it very rigid. On the ends is the tricky part. They can be done many ways. I framed up a couple rectangles and mounted some old storm windows that I picked up for free. Then made the door out of a scrap piece of chipboard. Prior to attaching the doors and window, the plastic needs to go one. I used a 6 mil piece that was 20 by 25. It was not fancy greenhouse plastic, just the stuff in a hardware store. 6 mil is the best, I wouldn't go for 4 mil, waste of time. I attached one side of the plastic to the outside of the box with staples. Then sandwiched it on to the side of the box with a 1 by 4. The boards ran the whole length of the building. Pull the plastic over the hoops and pull it tight too, then sandwiched it. Then pull the ends around and wrap them through the window rectangles and sandwiched the windows on and put 1x4 sandwiched on the bottom. I attached two short ropes over the outside of the plastic and attached to the sides of the box, this stopped the "Balloon Affect". Watch the temps, it can get very hot in the sun. One day it was 45 outside and windy. It was 90 plus at 10:00 in the morning. If the plastic rips, fix it with clear duct tape or clear packing tape. Attach it to both sides, if you can. I had a rip in a 45 mile wind storm. I was able to tape it back togther and it held great!

The smaller one is the same process. Made a box, set posts, bend cattle panels over, attach to the box (on the inside), put black pipe insulation over the ends of the panels to avoid ripping the plastic, cover with plastic, sandwich the sides, finish the ends and enjoy.

A high tunnel can be made very easily. Google "High Tunnel" and you will find out some really good info.

These two little building have survived alot. Two tornadoes, 4 hailstorms, 2 weeks fo 30+ mph wind, 5 inches of rain (in 1.5 hours), 50-65 mph winds. I think they are the greatest things ever!
wildlifeman
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
jrslick,

HOLY COW

i'm just not gonna feel the same sitting in my little garden now !

thanks for sharing your pics,
wildlifeman
aka_peggy
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
WOW!! That's all I can say.
utdeedee
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow again! :) Great garden. Weeds are a never ending battle as we all know and yours are practically weed free. You should be very proud. You must never have a day off.
teauteau
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hey Slick,
I couldn't see your pix but I'll take everyone's word for it that your crops look great. Good for you! I'm in Kansas City (western part by the Kansas International Speedway). I have 20 acres but only 2 in production (the rest is mostly woods). I really enjoy hearing about other Kansas vegetable farmers/gardeners. There is a lot of potential here in Kansas with good soil and water resources. I am involved with some people who are promoting locally grown especially here in the Kansas City area where we have a potential market of 2-2.5 million people within 30 miles of the metropolitan area core. You're out by Manhattan. Congratulations. I hope to have a good year next year.
User
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I was absolutely blown away and in envy until i realized...someone has to maintain and harvest that lot.

Wow. Great job!
booberry85
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
One word: Fugetaboutit! What a great garden & set up! Almost makes me want to move to Kansas.

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