Anybody have their garden planned yet out for 2019?

[pepperhead212]

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

Larry, I always start them indoors in Jiffy pellets, about 4 weeks before putting them in the ground; they are supposedly not good for transplanting, but there isn't much disturbing of the roots with this method, and I don't grow them very large, like with the tomatoes and peppers. This time I had 3 varieties, one of which (cowhorn, which I got in a trade, and they were supposedly saved, new seeds) did not sprout one seed! So I tried a bunch of those, plus some more of the other two, soaking in GA-3 (this definitely helps with okra, though I only use it at times like this), then putting them in a seed sprouter - the kind used for spouting mung beans and the like, where they are rinsed several times a day - and, again, not one cowhorn sprouted, though all of the other two sprouted, so those went into the empty jiffy pellets, and soon became plants. Here's a photo, 28 days after the original planting, showing the smaller ones, as well as the larger ones. Normally, I would have planted them about this stage, if it hadn't been for the cold forecast. I took a chance starting them early, since April was so warm.
Okra, ready to plant. Smaller plants were re-planted, where seeds didn't germinate. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
And here's a photo from tonight, 3 days later, showing the roots coming out of the jiffy pellets. The smaller plants are catching up, as well:
Okra, started in jiffy pellets, about 4 weeks ago. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Okra supposedly won't germinate at temps below 70º, so it's got to be done quite late up here, or started early indoors. I do that on a heat mat, like the peppers. A trick some people use (though I have never done it) is to freeze the seeds in an ice cube tray - this supposedly helps crack that hard shell on the seeds - then they plant the cube. Still, the soil has to be warm, so I'll stick with soaking, then sprouting, if I want to speed things up.

When I was experimenting with GA-3, to see what seeds it would speed up, or not, okra was one type that it definitely speeded up, along with cucurbits, parsley, and basil. Tomatoes and peppers were slowed up, if anything, and most others I tried it didn't affect one way or the other. So if I have something that would not germinate, I soak in that, then put in the sprouter - if none sprout then, they go in the trash!

 

[larry_stewart]

Thanks for the info. I usually grow the Baby Bubba variety. The plant only gets about 2 feet high, so Im able to conserve garden space ( and shading) by growing a few plants in large pots. No matter what I do to get a head start, Okra clearly likes the warm weather, and will thrive when it wants to thrive. I also did a the cow horn variety a few years back, after seening them in an Alabama botanical gardens. I was thrilled by the size of them. My plants did germinate, but the okra size didn't compare to that I saw in Alabama. Must have been the warmer weather and extended season. I ve also tried a red variety, that didn't do too well. Sometimes I just get what the local nursery has in stock, but the plants get too big and shade the surrounding plants, so I prefer the smaller variety. I also have an issue where although I get a constant supply, I never get the mother-load at once. Ill get a single okra like evert other day, but never a huge amount at once. I was away for a few weeks, and knew I was going to miss my window of opportunity, so I started them and they were doing well, but they pretty much all croaked by the time I got back. Oh well.

 

[Souschef]

Living in Southern California, we get an early start. Many things still grow over the winter.
In April, our Kangaroo Paws plant decided it wanted to bloom.
As of today,
Hydrangeas leafed out
Chives,gardenias, thyme, salvia growing
Have about 30 green tomatoes of varying size
And wonder of wonder, my 10 year old miniature orange tree bloomed this year for the first time.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

We've got ours almost all planted, just waiting for my hops ryzomes to come in on Wednesday.
I started most of the seeds back in February in the basement under some grow lights, then moved them outside into a temporary greenhouse in April. I had a little space heater and grow lights in the greenhouse, controlled by a Samsung smartthings system so the heater came on as needed (below 15 it came on, turned off at 20 C).

The general layout is attached, sorry it's a bit messy, we made some changes to the original plan.

LOTS of various hot peppers this year. Almost all those containers outside the garden are also hot peppers (I'll give most of the potted ones away to friends).

Hops are new for me this year, I brew beer so having some home grown hops will be nice. Put some rope up onto the laundry pole for them to climb. We also added some black raspberry plants (in another part of yard where we have raspberries, blackberries, currants, blueberries). Finally also got around to planting asparagus, always wanted to but forgot.

Grapes are all about 1-2 weeks behind last year, just starting to have buds open up now.

 

[Cheryl J]

Beautiful, Green Envy. Thanks to all for sharing!

I have 2 container cherry tomato plants on the patio and like SousChef mentioned, there are dozens of them in varying stages of growth. I've already picked a few ripe ones and are they ever a burst of sweet flavor.

I've got basil and Italian parsley in patio containers as well, the rest of the pretty plants are flowers. I'm really hoping that critters won't get to my tomatoes, since I don't have a cat anymore to chase them off.

 

[pepperhead212]

Great setup Green Envy! I also finally got around to planting some asparagus crowns. Don't know why I've put it off for so long! Have to wait a couple of years for some harvest, but worth the wait, according to those that have them.

Larry, I have tried countless okra varieties, and almost all of them have gotten fibrous when much longer than 4". Some grow so fast that I'd have to pick twice a day, otherwise, they are too large. Emerald is the only one I have grown that is still tender up to 6". Plus, it branches out, not just one central stalk. I also have a new one this season, that I got in a trade - Little Lucy - that has won over everyone who tried it on the garden forum where I got it, so I tried it this season. Supposedly branches out well, and stays easy to pick. And the lady I got my seeds from is in a slightly cooler zone than me, so it's not just for the deep south. I'll keep you posted.

 

[larry_stewart]

Ive also planted asparagus several times, but its hard for me to commit to a space for so long, cause im limited in space and Im always changing things around. I actually did plant a bunch of crowns this year cause an area in my yard opened up as ' free space', so I figured why not. Because of my previous several attempts, Im always getting a few stray asparagus popping up in various locations from crowns that still exist . Wish I had more land. And definitely keep me posted on the Okra varieties.

 

[GotGarlic]

My garden is pretty much planted now. We're in Michigan for the week visiting my FIL, so I only have a photo of part of my herb garden. Woody herbs are perennials in my climate. In the photo is thyme, rosemary, sage, Italian parsley about to bolt, and my bay tree in the back. I also have two raised beds (our city lot is pretty small) - you can sort of see the one against the fence, with the three-foot-tall rainbow chard on the right. To the right of that is one of our beehives. We planted yellow squash and cucumbers in that bed and there's garlic in there from last fall.

In the extended square garden in the back of our property, we have bell, poblano and jalapeño peppers; chocolate cherry, yellow pear and Mortgage Lifter tomatoes (and one more I can't remember), cucumbers, okra, tomatillos, cilantro (about to bolt - hope it's still good when we get back) and French Rose fingerling potatoes we're growing in a box. I also have chives and basil out there. There's supposed to be a lot of rain and relatively cool temperatures until the weekend, so they should be fine while we're gone.

 

[larry_stewart]

Looking good GG!

Does any one keep garden notes, journal, spreadsheet ... from year to year to keep track of what you did right, wrong, what can be improved upon the following growing season, varieties planted ....

If so, how much detail do you keep track of from year to year ?

I keep track of varieties planted , when I fertilize and what I used , when planted, when germinated and when harvested ( Usually a harvest range from when I see the first one until I pick the last one), when certain plants are available in the nurseries ( and which specific nursery I bought them from) so I dont go crazy thinking they are out of it, or I missed my window of opportunity. Where I planted each crop, Overall successes and failures. In some cases, I keep track of food storage like How many jars of pickles or how many quarts of tomatoes ...

Ive always had a scientific background, so I get a kick out of all the statistics I keep. Its like an ongoing science experiment. Just wondering what everyone else does, and what other statistics you guys keep. Im always looking to improve and sometimes simplify things. When visiting Monticello last year, I bought a copy of Thomas Jefferson's garden journal.

 

[pepperhead212]

I used to keep a paper record of all of my plants every year - a friend made a bunch of booklets for me in his office, which had enough pages in each for about 4 years. Each page was the same, and had:

Plant Variety:
Seed Planting Dates:
Germination Dates:
Comments:

Transplant Dates:
Comments:

Growth Rate:
Pests, Diseases, etc.:
Comments:

Harvest Dates - First: Last:
Comments:

Harvest Quantity:
Harvest Quality - flavor, heat, etc.:
Overall comments:

I did this with every variety, every year, for a while, but eventually, I only kept the records for the new varieties. Someday, when I have more time, I'll transfer these things to the computer, and consolidate them with the info I have there, which is only a long note about some of the varieties, adding to it as the season progresses.

 

[CraigC]

Our growing season is pretty much done, hitting 90's already.

 

[taxlady]

The only thing I have had any success with is herbs. Lettuce bolts. The squirrels eat anything else. Oh, I have gotten 2-4 potatoes a few times. My whole backyard is only 16' x 14'.

 

[GotGarlic]

Our growing season is pretty much done, hitting 90's already.

Do you and medtran plant anything during the season?

 

[GreenEnvy22]

Garden is coming along pretty well this year, but need less rain and more sun and heat.
Already eating radishes and rhubarb.
Tomatoes, tomatillos, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, strawberries, and a couple pepper plants all have some fruit starting on them, but well behind last year.

Hops have all emerged and are starting to climb.

Grapes look to have a good amount of clusters on them too.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

What a great looking garden layout, GreenEnvy!

 

[Cheryl J]

Wow, that is beautiful, GreenEnvy. And what an appropriate name you've got! I sure do wish I had that kind of room. Please share more pics as your garden grows and you start your harvest.

 

[pepperhead212]

Looking great, Green Envy! I hope the rain slows down for you. I know some areas are getting far too much this year. Mine's about average, so far - I hope it's not like last season, which was second wettest on record.

I've gotten huge numbers of greens already - tatsoi, bok choy, komatsuna, senposai, yu choy, and today, some choy sum. This is why I become a near vegetarian at this time of year!
Choy sum, harvested 6-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A bunch of kohlrabi out there, too, but those rabbits love kohlrabi leaves, so as soon as I uncovered the row, they were on them! I have some full sized green peppers, which is incredibly early, as well as the first okra, which is the earliest I've ever gotten any. Still no ripe tomatoes, but two varieties I'm waiting to ripen. As with the okra and peppers, they are running well ahead of time for this area.

 

[Cheryl J]

Beautiful pic, Pepperhead!

 

[Kayelle]

This thread is fascinating and I really admire what hard work it takes to have gardens like these. I wonder if I would have the energy it takes to grow such beautiful food even if I had the space. It must be that the rewards outweigh the labor involved and so it doesn't seem like work?
We only have space for a couple of in ground tomato plants and they are doing beautifully this year. So far we've had three big beautiful ripe ones already, with the promise of a bumper crop with just these two plants. We have some nice parsley and chives and our beloved Meyer Lemon tree that's really loaded with lemons now and the next crop will be in the winter.

 

[Addie]

Well the maintenance manager has finally started to work on my request for being able to grow stuff. I was going for a couple of tomato and cuke plants. But I called the building manager and told her to ask him to just set up a couple of construction buckets with stones in the bottom and dirt on the top. I am going to start out with just planting herbs. And maybe one tomato plant and cuke each. The bucket comes up to my knees and I can tend to it very easily. I don't even have to stand up or kneel down. Bucket gardens are plentiful around here in the summer. It is only because maintenance tills the ground every year for the planters. Less work for the planters. The buckets only cost five dollars. And you can buy a large bag or two of rocks for a miniscule amount.

Home Depot, here I come. I need a distraction right about now.