Anybody have their garden planned yet out for 2019?

[Cooking Goddess]

I never have luck with corn. Its a combination of my bad luck growing it, and when I do have good luck, the squirrels get even luckier.

The neighbor behind out first house had a nice sized garden, and our neighborhood lots were only 1/4 acre! He would plant his corn in a circle. He found out that he got better pollination that way since there weren't any lonely stalks out on the corners of a square or rectangle. Don't know if this would help you - just tossing it out there.

 

[buckytom]

Did your ex-neighbor ever have aliens make crop squares in his corn field?

 

[larry_stewart]

What kinds of EPs do you grow, Larry?

Usually I grow 1 or 2 Ichiban and another 2 -4 Black beauty.
They are the ones that are usually available at the4 nurseries.
I always buy the seedlings.
They are usually grown right next to the peppers, which thrive.
I have multiple compost piles, so all plants are getting their nutrients and I mulch as well. They are in the sunniest part of the garden. I do rotate the crops ( for the most part), but haven't really figured out what makes a good year good and a bad year bad. I have no consistency with them at all. And im like a science./ garden geek, so I literally document everything, and spend the winter reading, researching and trying to figure out what I can do different to get better results. The beets and eggplants have stumped me.

I like using the ichiban for eggplant with garlic sauce, the others Ill mostly use for eggplant Parm, baba ganoush, caponata and sometimes a marinated eggplant.

Im also a sucker for new plants and varieties, so If I pass something in the nursery that looks cool, different, unique or just haven't tried before, 9 out of 10 times ill grab it, then go home and try and figure out how I can make room for it in the already planned out garden where every square inch has been accounted for. Thats when I move towards the pots which have taken over my patio.

My garden is primarily raised, with a few ' expanded areas' which have slowly been annexed to the existing space.

 

[buckytom]

The neighbor behind out first house had a nice sized garden, and our neighborhood lots were only 1/4 acre! He would plant his corn in a circle. He found out that he got better pollination that way since there weren't any lonely stalks out on the corners of a square or rectangle. Don't know if this would help you - just tossing it out there.

Did your ex-neighbor ever have aliens make crop squares in his corn field?

<<sigh>>

 

[pepperhead212]

Usually I grow 1 or 2 Ichiban and another 2 -4 Black beauty.

I thought of you earlier, when I was discussing an EP variety on another forum, with a guy in Mississippi. I warned him that the variety, along with most others, stopped producing for me as soon as it got in the mid 90s - much like most tomatoes do. Low 90s is usually OK, but when it gets in the mid to high 90s, the blossoms drop, and none appear, until it cools off. A lady in FL, who always has problems with heat and EP, said that she finds that many don't "rebound" from the heat, but Ichiban is one that does, which I have also found - just a week or so after the heat wave is gone, it starts flowering, and produces quickly. Aswad is another she has good luck with coming back.

I know you are north of me, but do you get these heat waves, which could be stopping your EP production? Some summers they don't get quite as hot, or just don't last as long, and I get non-stop production, but usually the Ichiban, and any new variety get stopped by heat, in my garden.

 

[caseydog]

Did your ex-neighbor ever have aliens make crop squares in his corn field?

Crop circles/squares/whatever are not made by aliens. They are made by humans like you and I, with a generous supply of liquor, and too much time on our hands. That, and some plywood.

CD

 

[caseydog]

I went out and ripped all the dead stuff out of the garden. I'm about 40 days away from being able to plant. Then, we will have a late freeze, and I can plant again. You really can't appreciate the fruits or you labors, unless you do it twice.

CD

 

[Rascal]

The corn has to be close to,each other as they cross pollinate each other, my wife says courgettes also. We do get a lot of bees in our garden though. My corn is about a week away. Courgettes for Africa as well. Do you guys grow from propagating yourself? We grow everything from seed.

Russ

 

[caseydog]

The corn has to be close to,each other as they cross pollinate each other, my wife says courgettes also. We do get a lot of bees in our garden though. My corn is about a week away. Courgettes for Africa as well. Do you guys grow from propagating yourself? We grow everything from seed.

Russ

I don't grow anything from seed. Not that I am opposed to it, I just travel too much. I have a sprinkler system to keep my garden alive when I am gone (I turn it off and water manually when I am home).

I grow things that are heat and drought tolerant. I have to. My peppers don't set fruit in the hottest months, But the growing season here is about 8 months long. So, it all works out in the end. I get my best peppers around mid October. Really hot, but more than that, really full of flavor. I'm not into heat for the sake of heat. I want my peppers to taste good... while they are hurting me.

CD

 

[buckytom]

Crop circles/squares/whatever are not made by aliens. They are made by humans like you and I, with a generous supply of liquor, and too much time on our hands. That, and some plywood.

CD

You obviously need to be abducted again for another anal probe.

 

[pepperhead212]

I grow almost everything from seed, mainly because most of the things that I grow would not be found as plants anywhere around here (or most places, for that matter). Last season, I got some plants from Richter's Herbs, in Canada, but those are things that are not propagated from seed, and nobody around here would carry those varieties.

It was back in the 80s sometime when I started my seed program, and it was because a local nursery went out of business, and that was where I got my Ichiban eggplants, and a number of other unusual (back then) varieties, that the greenhouse lady would try out, and that's how I discovered them. I don't remember anything else that I started out with - just that Ichiban, that I had to have - or anything about the set-up, but it quickly snowballed. I used to start a lot more, but many of those were for friends, who are no longer in the area.

 

[larry_stewart]

I know you are north of me, but do you get these heat waves, which could be stopping your EP production? Some summers they don't get quite as hot, or just don't last as long, and I get non-stop production, but usually the Ichiban, and any new variety get stopped by heat, in my garden.

We Usually get hit with one heat wave that may reach mid 90's during the summer. Not every summer though. Its those days that I dream about 1 foot of snow!!!

 

[Rascal]

I grow almost everything from seed, mainly because most of the things that I grow would not be found as plants anywhere around here (or most places, for that matter). Last season, I got some plants from Richter's Herbs, in Canada, but those are things that are not propagated from seed, and nobody around here would carry those varieties.

It was back in the 80s sometime when I started my seed program, and it was because a local nursery went out of business, and that was where I got my Ichiban eggplants, and a number of other unusual (back then) varieties, that the greenhouse lady would try out, and that's how I discovered them. I don't remember anything else that I started out with - just that Ichiban, that I had to have - or anything about the set-up, but it quickly snowballed. I used to start a lot more, but many of those were for friends, who are no longer in the area.

We too grow from seed. Just got to start early. You don't have squirrels etc to ear your plants?? I grow at the back door until ready for the wife to plant out. I'm looking forward to my water melon.

Russ

 

[pepperhead212]

We too grow from seed. Just got to start early. You don't have squirrels etc to ear your plants?? I grow at the back door until ready for the wife to plant out. I'm looking forward to my water melon.

Russ

I trap squirrels 365 days a year. Keeps the population down in my yard! I wish I could do this with rabbits, but they are all over, and I could trap 20 a day, and they'll still be out there!

For my greens, I cover them with a light Agribon, to keep the rabbits (and cabbage butterfiles) off, and put a line of T-tape down the middle of a double row; not much watering is needed early on, but eventually I'll put it on a timer. And I start them indoors, in small (72/flat) pots, just 3 weeks early, only so that I can plant them in exact spots, and cover immediately. The greens push up the Agribon after about 30 days, and I can take it off, as the greens are so dense that I wouldn't really notice, esp. the senposai. The only problem under the Agribon is slugs, but I sprinkle some Sluggo in the rows, before planting.

One thing I keep covered until harvest is kohlrabi. I don't know what it is, but rabbits LOVE kohlrabi! I could have 15 types of greens out there, and they would zero in on the kohlrabi, and chew every leaf off!

 

[Rascal]

Lol, we don't even get rabbits. We do get slugs though. I thought of you today when I picked some jalapeño scorchers. Chillies are thriving ATM. I make a hot chilly sauce with these and the reapers.

Russ

 

[Just Cooking]

Sorry, not food related but..

Spider plant I rescued last year and what it has produced for me to replant this year.. 11 plants from 1 pot..
Ross

 

[Addie]

Due to the constant threat of an unexpected threat of frost, here in New England you don't even think of planting until after Memorial Day.

I am waiting for Management to make it possible for me to plant a couple of veggies in very large pots sitting on a table. I will be very happy with one for tomatoes and one pot for cukes.

 

[pepperhead212]

Not as cold here as up there, Addie, but I have delayed my planting of the peppers and okra, due to some predicted cool lows (45° the lowest) which those plants don't like. It wouldn't kill them, but it would stunt them. But 5-15 to 5-20 is the usual transplant date for peppers, so this just pushes it back to normal. Almost everything else is in, and this was the earliest I have ever planted tomatoes (4-24), due to the heat in April. One variety already has open flowers, and all of the cherries have tons of flower buds ready to open. The greens under the cover are almost ready to harvest, as some are pushing up on cover, more than the rest. Once I start harvesting these things, I become a near vegetarian!

 

[larry_stewart]

I was away for two weeks, thinking I was going to be 2 weeks behoind in the garden. But when I came back, and spoke with the woman at the nursery, it turns out the weather was cold and rainy, so I stressed for nothing. aToday was my first real day in the garden but holding off on peppers, okra, cukes and eggplants for a week or two until things warm up and stable out a bit.

The garlic, onions and potatoes appear to be doing well. The string beans are exactly the same size as when I planted them 2 weeks ago, but still appear to look healthy. The chard, also appears to be the same as I left it 2 weeks ago.

Peas slighly bigger, but not thriving. I've always heard they do well early on in the cooler temps, but I have never witnessed that. They usually pick up when the temps pick up a bit.

 

[larry_stewart]

Not as cold here as up there, Addie, but I have delayed my planting of the peppers and okra, due to some predicted cool lows (45° the lowest) which those plants don't like. It wouldn't kill them, but it would stunt them.

Hey Pepper, do you start your Okra indoors ? or plant the seeds directly in mid May outside ?