Looking good Isgen! Your peppers and tomatoes should be nice size by the time you can plant out up there in a another month or so. Congrats on the 100% garlic sprouting!

Thanks for reminding me that I need to pick up a HHW and Banana pepper. I didn't realize I was almost out of canned pickled peppers from 2016 and I need to make some more this year. I have seeds for both but neglected to start any back in March. I'll use a combination of HHW, Banana, Jalapenos, and ripe Carmen, and Escamillo for a nice colorful mix.

LoneJack, I'm sure you could still start your own HHW seeds, they seem to grow really fast. They've outpaced the Jwala that sprouted over a week before them. Then again, you will have earlier pods with a purchased plant since you can probably plant out now or very soon.

Speaking of pepper preserves, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my last jar or fermented hot sauce from last year was in fact the smoky one I though I had finished earlier in the winter. I probably don't have enough to last until I can make a new batch though, as I've been using it liberally since finding out. :)

Isgen - too late! I just got back from paying a visit to Planters Seed and picked up a HHW, Sweet Banana, and a Mucho Nacho Jalapeno. I wanted to try the Mucho Nacho to compare to the El Jefe I have been growing for the last few years. It's supposed to have larger pods and more heat.

I almost pulled the trigger on a Scotch Bonnet as well but decided against it. They really have a nice variety of super hot peppers this year. I saw Caroline Reaper, Ghost peppers, Trinidad Scorpion, Bhut Jolokia, Thai Hot, several different Habaneros, For sweets I saw Shishito, Carmen, Escamillo, and dozens of different bell varieties.

I also picked up a Spice Island Rosemary. I was looking for an Arp but they didn't have that variety this year. I don't think my Arp in a 1/2 barrel survived over this past winter or at least it hasn't shown any sign of new growth so far. I'd never heard of Spice Island before but I just looked it up and it is supposed to be one of the more flavorful cultivars.

Isgen, Jack - I can't for the life of me figure out what HHW is. A pepper, I gather, but that's as far as I can get in figuring it out. I need to pick up a jalapeno plant. I think I'll hope to find a Mucho Nacho. Whatever plants I've had the last few years have produced pods that aren't much bigger than an inch and a half.

Thanks for the reminder that I need to find a Rosemary plant. Wish those were cold-hardy here. I just keep buying them year after year.

I can hardly believe it, but I dumped another .5" of rain out of my gauges yesterday. Officially, the city received only .4. Guess I was lucky to get that additional .1". :-) Monday evening, after receiving well over an inch on Saturday, I worked in the garden. I installed the pea fences for the plants to climb on; I cultivated probably 75% of the garden; I side-dressed the peas and potatoes with 10-10-10 and straight nitrogen (urea, I guess) to the onions. So the rain that came Tuesday should have watered in the fertilizer nicely. Looking ahead to this weekend, it appears it will be the first in four weeks which will be good gardening weather. I expect to get my garden irrigation system hooked up and run some soaker hoses.

Jack - Thanks for asking (awhile back) about my new grandson. He's doing well. I got to spend some time with him yesterday while his momma took a nap. It had been 2 weeks since I'd seen him. Too long of a break for a 16-day-old, I'd say. I was in Nana heaven.

Itsmce - HHW = Hungarian Hot Wax. Looks like a banana pepper but has the heat of a Jalapeno.

Good to hear that your grandson is doing well! Sometimes first time parents can be freaked out about every little thing so it is good that you are fairly close by to give them pointers.

HHW = Hot Hungarian Wax :)

Speaking of Rosemary, it's my second year failing to sprout any seeds. I'm proceeding the same as for any other seeds I start myself, perhaps they have different requirements and I don't know it.

Isgen - I haven't tried to sprout Rosemary for several years but they are pretty darned stubborn. IIRC I was lucky to get a couple seeds out of 10 to sprout. I gave up and just started buying plants. The seedlings grow very slowly for a couple months and then take off. The Arp in the half barrel would be on it's 5th year if it is still alive. I've overwintered it in my garage which very rarely falls below freezing. I just throw some water at it a few times over the winter. It goes dormant and the leaves dry out but normally it starts showing new growth by now.

Isgen - I, too, tried to sprout Rosemary. I had a little 4-pack and I don't remember if I did any more than one seed per cell, but I only had one seed sprout. It tried for 2 or 3 weeks to live, but ultimately didn't make it. You may be on to something that it could be especially particular in it's sprouting/growing requirements. I think that must be the case, too, with begonias. I buy dozens of them to plant around the front of my house. Last year I bought seed and attempted to grow them myself. Miniscule seeds, but I thought I knew how to deal with them. I managed to get a few to sprout, but by planting out time, I had a total of 2 plants! Needless to say, I bought the plants again this year...in a 50-pack no less. Could have used more, but that'll do.

I should have known Hungarian Hot Wax. I've grown them before.

No luck with rosemary here either!!

A look at some of my lettuce and overwintered spinach. 3 spinach are bolting. I think it's because I left the fabric on when we hit 80 degrees a couple weeks ago. They got HOT in there. Rest are fine. I pick about 2 very large bowls worth per week.

Jacob - Nice pile of greens!

Slow day on this thread...maybe everyone is out enjoying nice weather and playing in the dirt. I'm still stuck at work but not for much longer.

I'll be planting out some of my tomatoes this weekend. The rest need a little more hardening off and will go in sometime mid next week. I'll also start hardening off my peppers and eggplants this weekend. I will also farm out 10 tomatoes to my neighbor and a few to my FIL so I won't have as many to deal with.

I need to prep my friends garden for planting corn next weekend and get my green bean bed de-mulched and lightly tilled. I've noticed several of my beds have mole tunnels running thru them and need to till so there are no gaping air pockets that the roots will grow into.

We are back nd everything is doing well. Our potatoes have taken off

My in-pot carrots are really doing well also

Leek problems -- help needed!

Direct seeded Feb 22 -- not knowing how many (or if any...it was an experiment) would sprout in such cold weather, I OVER seeded! Seems all sprouted and now I'm having a terrible time thinning them. They are in clumps of several dozen per square inch, when I pull a few individually, they break off at the ground (so the roots are still in). Finally gave up and gave them a haircut -- hoping stems will get thicker, so I can pull them out easier in a couple of weeks?

The container has 480 square inches surface area -- I want a 24 leeks harvest (20 square inches per plant) -- looks like there are well over 500 leeks now!

All your good folks advise on what to do is much appreciated!

Thanks,

Tony

p.s. the rest of the garden is doing fantastic!

Tomatoes- I think your best bet would be to dig them all out then separate and plant them at the spacing you desire- say 4 inches apart. Water well after transplanting.

Tom, thanks!

That finally makes total sense to my problem!

At what stage should I dig the leeks out? Now most are needle-thin with few being spaghetti-thin. How many more days should I give them to get better established, or, at what thickness of stems? I don't mind losing 90%, since the other 10% will give me 50+ good ones to choose from.

Thanks, again!

Tony

I bought a new fig tree on vacation. It is a LSU Gold Fig and is suitable for zones 7-10. It has yellowish medium sized fruit in July. I hope that I get a few this year!

We also got the supplies for our winter squash trellis today. We bought some 4x8 “handy panels” and some 8’ T-posts I’ll post some photos once we get them set up.

I hung twine form the tomato supports and put the first clip onto the plants. For my indeterminant plants, I’m going to keep the suckers pruned and train them as a vine up the twine. I am hoping that works or for me. If so, I’ll be able to keep planting them on 12” centers. I have a few determinant plants also and I put some cages around them.

My peas are doing well. No blooms yet, but I hope to get some soon.

I saw my first goldfinch today. I’ll have to pick up some seed for them. They are the main reason I plant lots of zinnias in my garden. The finches love to eat the seeds out of the flowers.

And Chester the French Bulldog has been helping a little today

edited to add the winter squash trellis

Tom - if there are 3+ leaves on them, feel free to rip those suckers out and pry them apart. Don't worry about men handling them.

Cute pup Jamie!

I am really happy with my transplants this year. Put them out for the first time today.

Tony- I would dig them now while they are small. Take a broom handle and poke it into the ground where you wish to plant them. Place your seedlings in the holes and gently water them. You should not cover them with soil. As they grow and it rains or you water them the holes will gradually fill with dirt around each leek. This will give you a longer white section at maturity which is what you want. I would plant the thickest ones, but I believe they would all grow well for you. -Tom

Jamie - garden is looking great!

peter - your broccoli looks good, much better than mine.

monica - welcome to the thread! Love the sq ft garden beds.

tony - I’m not a leek grower but Toms advise sounds good.

jack - are you still planning to plant some maters this weekend? Is that cold snap hitting you too? There is freeze warnings through a lot of the Midwest. Forecasts here are lows of 34 and 33 tonight and tomorrow. Overcast and rain should keep the frost chance down but I am glad I didn’t jump the gun and plant tomatoes and peppers yet.

i did get a trellis in for my peas(and later cukes), and also used the kids old broken trampoline supports to build a hoop house for the broccoli bed. I have it covered with frost Blanket now and it will be insect netting in a week or two.

This cold spring so far has really got my succession planting plans on a big delay. I’m going to have some tough decisions to make regarding keeping plants or pulling to plant out longer season stuff in a few weeks I think!

Oh here’s one of my “topped too early” Habenero bushes:

Thanks!

Norm, the race is on!

Your Southern CA tomatoes vs my Northern MD ones-- who'll get the 1st ripe one!

I call your 1 tomato, and raise you 60! ... :)

Tony

Nearly on the dot forecast for once. No frost as expected, dew point at 28.

can you two keep the tomato talk down, you’re making all the rest of us jealous!!!! Looking great Norm and Tony!

Hurry up, Spring!!

we had salad last night with the first greens from the garden. I’m going to cut spinach, chard, mustard and collards today for a “hortopita”. I might throw in some radish greens as well. Some of my spinach has already started to bolt.

Today I will plant squash seeds and get them under row covers.

This is my third attempt at growing carrots in pots. I’ve had mixed success so far, but I think this time everything will work out well.

Good morning-

Jacob, Tom, and Jack, thanks for the comments on my 'gus. I picked another small batch yesterday. It's just so slow to sprout this year, like everything else.

Jack, yes I love my purple 'gus and the nice big spears. But I'm starting to think that I may have lost a few plants during this winter. Should know by mid week when it's going to hit the 80s here. Our first heat wave of the season.

Asian Pear tree

Montmorency Cherry tree

With all these blossoms, I may have to thin the fruit!

Looks like spring may finally make an appearance after only 23 degrees F this a.m.

Hoping for rain Wednesday so we can start getting things germinated.

Norm -- immediately spray insecticide soap directly! Will kill them in a few minutes.

Then, next day, Neem Oil -- will coat plants so new arrivals (whatever small buggies they may be, NOT large like Jap Beetles) will spend most of their time just preening to get rid of the oil they landed on, and thus starve to death by not eating! Also, direct Neem Oil spray will smother any survivors!

Tony

Jamie -- fantastic!

My spinach planted 4-06 (seed started 2-24) is still small (ate one leaf just to taste it yesterday, and it was nice).

Tomorrow will cut about 60 tops of the green onions (one container) to within an inch off of the soil. They are already 16" tall and will give us about 10 more such harvests till they overwinter for the 3rd year come December.

My wife will make our favorite chilled beans & green onions salad.

Nothing easier than this:

Drain 2 cans of red kidney beans and rinse

Place in a bowl and add lots and lots of chopped green onions

Add lots of chopped fresh mint (ours has already popped up)

Sprinkle with sea salt

Pour some apple cider vinegar to taste (if you like a touch of sweetness) or red wine vinegar if you prefer it tart

Drizzle plenty of canola oil (canola oil being neutral in taste does not change the flavor of the ingredients)

Stir gently and put in fridge -- serve chilled after a couple of hours

Stays good for a week with a lid on in the fridge, and even tastes better with time!

Tony

Kevin - I planted out 7 of my 12 planned tomatoes on Saturday. We got down to the mid 40s Sunday morning but that should be the last time we get that low. My 15 day forecast is currently showing a range of 50 to 80. The jet stream has moved a little further east now which is keeping my area on the warmer side. I'll plant the rest of the tomatoes some time this week and the peppers this weekend.

Cindy - I'm still waiting for a few of my gus crowns to wake up too but I expect them to any day now. I noticed over the weekend that the Asparagus Beetles have woken up already. I squished a dozen or so already. They seem to prefer the purple varieties over the green as well. I've picked a little over 4 lbs. so far. Your fruit trees are gorgeous!

Jamie - how was the vacation on the beach? Hope you didn't bring home any sunburn! Nice looking early harvest.

Tony - those are great looking bunching onions!

Monica - welcome to the veggie tales thread! I love your tiered garden layout! What a great use of limited space.

I checked the temp on the 3 compost piles I turned last weekend and all of them were over 150 degrees and had already dropped 8-10". At this rate I figure there won't be anything left by June!

This next week is going to be very busy. I'll be planting beans, zuke, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, Eggplant and peppers. I stopped by my friends garden Sunday on the way home from mushroom hunting and as expected it had a nice crop of weeds growing. I'll have to take the mantis over and till before planting the corn next weekend. I think I have enough cardboard to put down in the paths to keep the weeds in check after planting.

Here are my main crop of peppers and eggplant that are now on day 3 of hardening off.

Garden pictures · More Info

haha, thanks LoneJack ... it was very nice. We had a nice, relaxing week on 30A. I sprayed myself from head to toe with SPF 50 so no sunburn for me! hahaha!

Well the weather man may have been right Saturday night but last night he was off by a few degrees.

I had my broccoli covered with 1.5oz frost cover but everything else was left to fend for itself... we shall see. This morning there was frozen water on all the plants from watering last night. Some leaves a little crunchier than I’d like especially the lettuces. What is this January 120th?

The good news is I should be safe to put the peppers and tomatoes back outside starting today... they’ve been huddled up inside basically the whole weekend.

Good Luck, Kevin!

Jack - Thanks.

I read years ago that parsley can help repel asparagus beetles though when I search for that info now I'm not getting much. Anyway, it might be worth a shot. And I tend to use a lot of parsley.

"Interpanting parsley and basil . . . in close proximity to asparagus is also said to repel asparagus beetle.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/asparagus/asparagus-companion-plants.htm

First time in the thread! It only took me a few hours to read all the posts. :) Hopefully I'll get in on May thread from the beginning.

I'm in zone 6b, in the Ozark hills. I wish I had pictures to share, maybe tomorrow. We built and set 10 raised beds (8'x4'x10") and I just finished getting all my plants in the ground yesterday. About a month ago I put out my cold lovers: broccoli, cabbage, spinach, onions, garlic, kale, several lettuces, shallots, brussel sprouts, and too many herbs & flowers to name. I was worried about the weather, as we had several hard freezes after planting, but all seemed to come through fine! Finished up yesterday with 24 tomatoes (all different varieties) 6 cucumbers (bush, pickling) 6 zucchini, 4 squash (spaghetti, butternut and yellow straightneck) 6 peppers (jalapeno, bells), okra, cantelope and watermelon. It was a good day! I've got 3 chickens, RIR's and they were very curious about what was going on in the garden yesterday. They "helped" by eating some grubs I found when turning soil.

Now I need to beg my friends to save me their milk jugs for tomato watering.

htwo82 - Welcome to the thread! That seems like a lot of plants in your 10 raised beds! I will look forward to some pictures!

Kevin - I hope you didn't lose much in the cold last night/this morning. I think we're finally out of this crazy sprinter.

Jack - I'm envious of the temps you're seeing in you compost piles. Saturday I added (and worked in) one mower's bag of grass clippings in the top foot or so of the bin I'm working with. Yesterday I checked the temperature. It was about 112. Wish it had been higher.

Tony - Your harvests are impressive. I REALLY need to get some bunching onions going. I enjoy using green onions and just manage with doing succession planting of onion sets. I have a few that are ready to start using now. I poke a few more in the ground every week or two.

htwo82 - welcome to the VT thread! I love the Ozark area. I have a friend with a place at Pomme de Terre and try to get down there several times a year.

I imagine the raised beds are pretty much a requirement in the rocky Ozark soil but Jacob manages to garden some in his native soil in NW Arkansas.

It sounds like you have everything planted already! I should be done planting all of my frost tender stuff next weekend. I did lose some things up here to the April freezes. My first planting of broccoli and cauliflower lost all of their existing leaves but have now rebounded from the roots and are growing pretty well. I doubt they will do anything before I need the bed space for Sweet Potatoes in early June. I also lost some of my lettuce to either the freezing temps or a varmint but I still have more than enough left.

You're going to be swimming in Zucchini in a couple months! I only have one chicken left out of the 11 we started with 6+ years ago. We had 4 RIR in the flock but they seemed to be the first to go. One got knocked off by a bobcat or fox while free ranging.

Cindy - thanks for the info on deterring Aspargus beetles. I don't have any parsley in my plans but my 2 tomato beds are pretty close to my 3 Aspargus beds and I always sow some basil at the end of the tomato beds. Though tt won't help much for the next 6 weeks or so until it gets going well.

Kevin - 27 F is crazy in late April. I hope that everything made it OK and that is the last frost you have to deal with.

Itsmce - I think I may have ODed on the Urea I added to my piles but I think it was only about 5 lbs. total for the 3 beds plus about 3 gallons of aged chicken manure and a gallon of kitchen scraps. I'll be merging the 3 beds into 2 in a couple weeks after they cool down and see if I can get them heated up one more time.

Welcome to the thread htwo82! I'm in northwestern AR, just in the foothills here. Beautiful area. What parts are you at? Your garden sounds great. It seems the freezes could possibly be past; I hope. I am patiently awaiting the darned blackberries to bloom though, so I can be sure. You ought to come check out the Ozarks subforums. ilene and I are trying to get more people posting over there without much luck as of yet.

Jack, I think I finally got most of my beds dug, rocks removed. Due to tree roots invading, I am going to place the 3rd bed I had planned to dig elsewhere. I'm thinking I will place it by our grape vines, a bed on either side. I can put my beans in there come a couple weeks and then put in broccoli/cauliflower afterward. Hopefully. What is funny, is that the roots invading where I had originally planned to install it are from a fir tree 20-30 ft. away. The white oak close to where I am placing the bed as of now does not seem to have many roots at all in the perimeter. The tree has a 3-4 ft. diameter, and I have yet to find roots from it. Our neighbors have a heck of a time getting grass to grow in their front yard, and I'm wondering if this tree is sending all of its roots to their yard, stealing the nutrients from the grass lol.

Sorry about those temps Kevin. That is crazy.

Welcome htwo82! Lets see some photos of your garden - it sounds wonderful!

I got a great surprise from the wife yesterday. She gave me the green light to start our garden expansion that we've been mulling over for a while! She had me slated to build a wrap around deck but we decided that the garden will be a better 'bang for buck' project as we can get it knocked out in a weekend or two and for around $800 in lumber and materials we can gain approximately 500 square feet of planting space (which should easily pay for itself in one season).

Heres a mock up of what we are planning. Red is what is currently there, the total size will be about tripled to approximately 1,500 square feet total (!). Was thinking the main bed area will have 8.5' by 30 inch 'raised' (mounded soil, really, not going to be built) beds - a total of 20 of them.

There will be a nice seating area and additional raised beds up at the top of the garden.

There are three semi dwarf apple trees currently planted (3 yrs old) that we're hoping/thinking can be used to our advantage. They will be on the northern side of the garden so they shouldn't shade out the entire garden and maybe give some shaded areas during the summer for lettuce, greens etc. That's the thought anyhow.

Id appreciate any feedback on the plan. As some of you know the garden sits in the front yard and this will be extending further towards the street so aesthetics is a pretty important item. We will have a strategically placed gate adjacent to our veggie-loving next door neighbor - part of the thought is to invite her over anytime to pick fresh produce.

Thanks for the welcome!

@itsmce - 14 of my tomatoes are in the ground, I ran out of space in my beds. It's a work in progress. We built our house on 24 acres, 2 years ago, on the 2nd highest hill in Missouri (I'm kidding, mostly) so I'm still getting things cleared and setting up. My goal is to fill the remaining space with more beds, after getting my greenhouse up this fall. We bought a 60x18 hoop house 3 years ago and it's been sitting, patiently waiting every since. I'll definitely get some pics up tonight to share, I'm kinda proud!

@LoneJack, I love the Ozarks too. It has been and always will be, home. We float and fish the rivers frequently, have a lake home on Tablerock and love the seasons - unless we don't get a spring, which seems to happen frequently.

Raised beds are sure a whole lot easier here... last year I went at it with the ground.. the garden did OK, but it sure was hard on my knees when it was time to pick pests or weeds. That coupled with the fact that it was on a hill, made watering tricky. The winters here literally grow rocks, so even if you manage to get a nice plot turned up and cleaned, by the next year it's full of rocks again. Still, despite the rocks, our soil is GREAT. Lots of worms, not too much clay, so I level and set my beds and don't use anything but gravel around the outside to keep the dirt in. Most are much deeper than 10".

Zucchini never goes to waste in my house! Pasta, bread, fried, frozen, pickled, relishes, chickens, it all gets used one way or another. We love it!

I was really shocked that my plants did so well through 4 hard freezes. I did nothing to protect and they're all healthy and thriving.

I'll have to hit you up for advice on sweet potatoes, we love them too, but I haven't grown them yet. As for the chickens, if I let mine free range, I'd have the same problem as you! We've got foxes, bobcats, and my german shepherd... she'd eat them, given the chance. We built a chicken fort-knox with a large extended run. My plan is to eventually build tunnel runs around the garden's perimeter... One day!

@jacoblockcuff - I'm in Nixa, about 10 miles south of Springfield. I think we've definitely seen the last frost, now the only question is will we actually get a nice spring, before the temps start hitting 90's and 100's? Speaking of blackberries, we've got about 10 acres of nothing but wild blackberries, AND my favorite.. black raspberries. I make a ton of pies and cobblers every year. I want to try some jams this year, if I get the time. I'll stop by the Ozarks sub forum!

I do have a few pictures I'd like to share. I'll take more tonight. Hope no one minds! First up.. I found this guy yesterday. Even the chickens didn't know what to think! I'm thinking some kind of boring beetle?

My garlic chives.. makes my mouth water!

Last, to give you an idea of the slope I deal with.. this is a pic I snapped while in progress on Saturday. That's the chicken run in the left upper corner.

VWow. We are really close to each other. We're right up by the border of MO and AR just northeast of the whole Rogers, Bentonville metro, etc.

I too am hoping for a nice long spring. I don't seem to normally hit 90's consistently until at least the end of June at our house, but there have been years in the past where we instantly jump to heat. It sucks. Most of the weather forecasts are showing a nice cool spring and start to summer, and then turning much hotter than normal come late July/August. I wonder how accurate that will be.

Is anyone else thinking this beautiful weather is a calm before the storm? Looks like they'll have some pretty bad weather west of us come mid week. Let's hope it won't be too bad.

You're in a beautiful area!!! It was so gorgeous this weekend. I love it when it's mid-upper 70's and no humidity! We ate on the deck last night and just soaked it up...

htwo82 - That is a huge grub. I haven't seen one like that before. Does anyone know what it is from?

@rgress It's the largest one I've ever found. From my research, I think it's a roundheaded borer grub. Makes sense as I found it in my composting mulch from last spring.

link to May VT?

thanks,

Tony

Here you go, Tony!

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5281019/m=23/veggie-tales-may-2018