What are your 2020 garden plans?

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I still don't know if I'll pull out the worst looking tomatoes, and plant the extras I have, as they seem to be recovering. 2 of the 5 extras are of the varieties worst hit by that cold; the other extras don't look as good as the recovered plants, which were barely bothered by it.

I just took my eggplants out to start hardening off this morning, and they have gotten quite large, quickly! Normally, they would have been planted by now, but the weather has not been normal this month! lol I put 7 outside, and I still have two smaller ones in the seedling room, but they will be outside soon.
Eggplants hardening off 5-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I have some Ichiban, my earliest every year, a Hari, a Neon from old seeds, and one from saved seeds (Not sure how these will be, since these are supposedly hybrids), and Rosita and Rosa Bianca - the two new ones this season, for me. I got rosita because it looks similar to the bright purple Neon, which it seems has disappeared from the seed catalogs. This is also why I tried saving the seeds, even though they are listed as hybrids. They have been my most productive variety since back in the late 80s/early 90s, though there was one other time it went unavailable for a few years. Here's a photo showing some of last year's neons:
Neon and Ichiban, 7-14. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I have more eggplants than I normally plant, but I might plant the extras in that raised bed, just to have extras, given the food situation. Last season I had extras with just 4 plants in SIPs...imagine how many 9 plants would produce!

And those greens and scallions are going crazy, as usual! Those purple napa are doing better in the raised bed - they bolted in the Jr Earthbox, probably because of the sudden drops in temps, which seems to trigger this in napa, more than high temperature.
Covered raised bed, 5-13-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
 
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Everything's looking good! And not that Im happy you're having issues with the tomatoes, but Im glad its not just me. These sudden burst of cold weather has kinda taken me back a bit. My cucumbers and kirbies are quite pissed off too. Good thing I bought/ started by seed , more than I need, cause im sure ill have to dip into my back up plants.
 
My cucurbits are all still indoors - most going out this weekend. They were started a week and a half ago, along with the okra, in Jiffy pellets, and the squash, cukes, and some of the edible gourds have roots showing through already, which is what I look for. One squash, and the two bitter gourds are the only ones that did not germinate, so I started some more of each in a seed sprouter about 3 days ago, and the squash sprouted; the bitter gourds are always the slowest.

Today, I got some of the garden ready for beans - the ground is warm enough, despite the recent cold. I have 7 or 8 varieties of pole beans this year.
 
I had to replant about half the garden, my covering up worked until the last night, but the last one was -3 and all the tomatoes, zucchini, and squash died, plus most of the peppers.
I had spares for a bunch, but had to go buy some more plants too.
I'm most annoyed about the super-hot peppers, I've restarted seeds but they will we very late.
 
I got a bunch done today, despite the heat...it must not have been very humid, since the first hot day like this (got to 87°, plus intense sun) usually stops me in my tracks, until I get used to the heat! Before I knew it, it was late afternoon, and getting cooler (though it's still 83° out there!).

I got 7 of my eggplants planted - 5 in SIPs, and 2 in that new raised bed. I still have 2 to plant - seedlings that were the slowest, but are growing quickly, now! I had a lot of extra eggplants in 2018 from 6 plants, so last season I reduced to 4 plants, and still had a bunch of extras, to freeze and dehydrate. Imagine what 9 plants will produce!
Ichiban eggplant 5-15. The one on the left grew considerably in the few days that I hardened them off. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Neon eggplant, from saved seeds 5-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Rosita and Rosa Bianca in SIP 5-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Rosita and Rosa Bianca, in the new raised bed. 5-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here are the two eggplants that will be planted in a couple of days - the Hari green one, and the Neon, from old seeds.
Hari and Neon eggplant seedlings 5-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I got most of my cucurbits planted today, though the two bitter gourds have still not germinated, despite having them in a seed sprouter! They are always the slowest, I guess because of the very thick seed shell. 3 of the 4 butternuts got planted, 4 of the 4 cucumbers, 1 each of the two bottle gourds (I'm planning on planting more a month from now), and both of the 2 Tinda gourds (a new one for me). All of these are in SIPs, except the butternuts, which are in a row with a new variety of moschata squash that I got from Baker Creek - Yuxi.....Gua (I forget the other two parts of the name!), which supposedly can be harvested immature, and used as summer squash, which is why I had to try it! It didn't germinate well, the first time, but it said the packed was overpacked, because of low germination! Second try, I put some in my sprouter, with the bitter gourds, and got 2 sprouts in less than 2 days, and they are on the way!
Cucurbits - butternuts at top, then cucumbers, bottle gourds in the middle, and Tinda gourds the smallest on the bottom. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Garlic is doing well, and I hope that we don't get the rain we did last year, in the month before harvest.
Garlic, and on the right 3 just planted butternut seedlings. 5-15-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And asparagus are coming up, though I haven't harvested, since I knew I wouldn't have much the first year, and I've read that it's best to leave them be, the first year or so.
Largest asparagus, so far. 5-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
 
Yesterday was the first hot humid day of the season here, and its amazing how much growth and change there was in the one day. I dont have any pics, but before work I strolled the garden, and when I got home about 9 hours later, there was evidence of new growth on just about everything. Im not a big fan of hot and humid, but my plants sure do love it.
 
Well...its been a frustrating spring in North Georgia. I, as always, plant my garden soon after Good Friday and then put my tomatoes out after April 20th, which is the considered Frost free date. Well that all changed this year. April 15th it was 30 F at my house, then we go 9 inches of rain in the next 3 weeks. Then to make matters worse on May 10th it was 31 F. I covered my tomatoes but still suffered damage on my Brandywines. In short all my seeds rotted. the only thing that came up was my corn. So I replanted everything. i did have enough spare tomato plants to replace the ones that did not make it through the cold and wet. I am now patiently :( waiting for it to come up.
 
I got a lot done, in the last few days! Well, actually Thursday and Sunday - Friday and Saturday were rainouts, though we did need some rain, and it was only 1.27", unlike some areas I saw in the news! I hope none of you are in those areas.:(

I uncovered my raised bed, and harvested some for that Thai curry I made. I re-covered it, to prevent the pests; there were a few plants that had bolted, but not many. I harvested just one huge scallion, that had started flowering, and it was equivalent to about 6-8 regular scallions, when I chopped it up.
Red Bor Kale, 5-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Rex Dragon Napa, and some large scallions, 5-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A good sized komatsuna, some kohlrabi, and some small leeks, 5-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

One of my most productive, and heat resistant brassica greens is Senposai, a cross of komatsuna and cabbage, which has gone into August, in my garden, before bolting. I just keep cutting, and cutting, and it grows back!
One of the huge Senposai leaves. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I got all of my okra planted - 6 emerald and 12 Little Lucy. Here are the Emeralds, planted Thursday. 3 days later, after all that rain, but also a lot of sun in between the rains, they have at least doubled in size.
Emerald okra, planted 5-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I planted my last two eggplants Thursday, too - the Hari and the Neon, from the old seeds. Smaller than the others, but they are usually the largest, eventually.
Hari and Neon (from old seeds) eggplants, last ones to go in, 5-21. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I got all but my largest inside plant outside (I'll need help with that thing, just to get it down to the floor!) - the smallest kaffir lime tree already has at least 8 areas of new growth on it!
The smaller kaffir lime tree, with several areas of new growth, after being transferred to outside. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
 
I also planted the rest of my peppers yesterday, but didn't take the photos of those yet. I think I only planted 23 this year! That has to be a record for me. :LOL: I used to plant over 80, but there aren't as many people helping me eat them anymore.

I got my basil clones in my jr Earthbox, on my deck. I had to wait longer than I usually do, because of the cold, and the roots grew a little large.
My first basil clones, 5-21-20. Had to wait a little long to plant them, due to the cold. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Another herb I put in some of the jr EBs on the deck was parsley. Though I prefer flat leaf, I have to grow the curly in smaller boxes, as well as the hydroponics, as the flat leaf varieties all get overgrown in both. No matter which variety I tried, they would end up almost like Hamburg root parsley! The curly parsley grows well in both, and I can actually transfer it from the hydroponics, to the outside EB.
Twin parsley plant, from the hydroponics. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Separated twin parsley plants. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Larger of the two hydroponic parsley plants, in a Jr EB. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Smallest hydroponics parsley plant, in another Jr EB. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Trimmed parsley, from hydroponics plants, before transplanting to Jr EBs. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I'm going to have to make something with a lot of parsley in it!
 
Garden is now coming along pretty well. only issue is the various potatoes we ordered online in late April haven't arrived yet, so still have an empty bed (top right) waiting for those.might just give up and plant whatever generic stuff we can pickup at home depot, and use those special ones as a 2nd crop.

Pepper plants coming along, but dozens of dill plants coming up in that bed (top left), had dill there last year and it seeded itself very well. I'll leave them a bit longer so we an harvest for canning season.

Tons of sunflowers coming up everywhere. Having to just rip them out by the dozens as I have no where to transplant them too anymore.

Some of my hops is already over 10 ft high.
 

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Hops are still going crazy, cabbage is going well too now.
Going to harvest all the hundreds of dill plants soon and freeze them, they are in half the beds, just came up from blown seeds from last year (only had them in 1 bed last year).
the potatoes we gave up on and cancelled the order, got the last 2 bags of seed potatoes at our local home depot. Not the varieties we wanted, but at least we'll have them.

We're starting to harvest lettuce now too. Radishes won't be far behind.

Not in the photo, but our raspberry, back raspberry, and blackberries all have lots of flowers on them, so should be good harvest.
My Muscat vines are also coming along well.
 

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Fourth year of HOA Violation

My home-owners association is a bit...militant. I live in a historic neighborhood. Everything from the type of roof you can have down to the color you can paint your shutters is mandated. Also, you cannot have vegetables growing in the front yard. Any in the backyard may not be seen from the street. My backyard is shade more than 95% of the time - and I like fresh tomatoes! They told me that the reason for the mandate is to "preserve the historic value of the neighborhood." Four years ago, I planted veggies among my flowers and made a sign that said, "Victory Garden - It's patriotic! It's thrifty!" So far....my veggies have done well. So I am going for year four of my Victory garden.


I don't have much space, so I have three kinds of tomatoes (Celebrity, Brandywine, and cherry.) I have two types of cucumbers (Pickler and "Lunchbox." Three kinds of peppers (Bell, sweet, and jumbo jalapenos.) An eggplant and 12 okra plants. I also started an asparagus bed. I still need to plant beans, and I'd love to grow potatoes, but it would have to be in a bag or container. I'm excited to see how it does for those who use them.


~Kathleen
 

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My home-owners association is a bit...militant. I live in a historic neighborhood. Everything from the type of roof you can have down to the color you can paint your shutters is mandated. Also, you cannot have vegetables growing in the front yard. Any in the backyard may not be seen from the street. My backyard is shade more than 95% of the time - and I like fresh tomatoes! They told me that the reason for the mandate is to "preserve the historic value of the neighborhood." Four years ago, I planted veggies among my flowers and made a sign that said, "Victory Garden - It's patriotic! It's thrifty!" So far....my veggies have done well. So I am going for year four of my Victory garden.


I don't have much space, so I have three kinds of tomatoes (Celebrity, Brandywine, and cherry.) I have two types of cucumbers (Pickler and "Lunchbox." Three kinds of peppers (Bell, sweet, and jumbo jalapenos.) An eggplant and 12 okra plants. I also started an asparagus bed. I still need to plant beans, and I'd love to grow potatoes, but it would have to be in a bag or container. I'm excited to see how it does for those who use them.


~Kathleen

Looking good.
I'd go nuts if we had a HOA here. Glad you have been able to avoid their wrath.
 
Also, you cannot have vegetables growing in the front yard. Any in the backyard may not be seen from the street. My backyard is shade more than 95% of the time - and I like fresh tomatoes!

I prefer the back yard but my front yard is where the sun is so I have 16 4x10 beds. Things are growing well. I'm doing mostly perennials at home because I have 2 community garden plots.
My beds are as follow:
  • 2 garlic
  • 4 strawberries
  • 2 golden raspberries
  • 1 asparagus
  • 2 herbs
  • carrots/spinach/lettuce
  • tomatoes/peppers
  • onions
  • brassicas (voles ate most of them under the row covers)
  • eggplants

Over at the community garden, I have 8 rows of onions, 1 variety of leeks, 5 different potatoes, asparagus, garlic, raspberries, tomatoes, peppers, & eggplants. Still need to plant beans, okra, cucumbers and later, cauliflower.
 
My garden is primarily in my backyard, but I have a small lot on the other side of the driveway that has no use, so its kinda my potato/ f;pw over garden. I have 2 potato beds' 2 year old asparagus bed, and all the extra plants that I cant give away or have room for in the back yard. Its a little messier and not as well kept as the backyard, but still productive. I have one red potato bed , another Yukon gold bed, the asparagus ( as mentioned), a few zucchinis, about 20 + tomatoes ( most in large pots), in addition I got some current bushes, a few blueberry bushes, a few kiwi vines and a persimmon tree that I wish would fruit already. I live on the end of a dead end street, so this plot is at the very end of the street, the only one who sees it is me,( not that I care, I pay my taxes I can use it as I like :) ).
 
I finally got the last of my plants in.

Hopefully they will survive the transplanting.

We used soil blocks, but I only picked up the 2 inch blocker and had planned on buying the larger 4 inch blocker later. Oops. Sold out pretty much on the entire planet. So we ended up only having the 2 inch ones.

So I have large starts with itty bitty roots.

40 plus tomatoes, 10 Tomatilloes and an array of squash, melons and the usual suspects, all hierlooms though.

First bed is a disaster. Planted early, but the soil we brought in is horrible. Everything stunted, even cool weather crops. Then we fought a huge ant colony. It must have been in there with the dirt.

I'm letting the bed go, just to see how it does, or doesn't.

Other beds with better dirt were planted 6 weeks later and are already producing greens.

Next we will be doing a hillbilly kiddie pool greens garden. My kid decided that mustard greens are awesome, so we will do a nice big planting of those.
 
Then we fought a huge ant colony. It must have been in there with the dirt.
One of my strawberry beds was not doing well in the middle. I lifted the straw mulch and yes, a huge ant colony. The soil appears to be well aerated and I think it’s what killed my plants.
 
I got a lot more done today, since I wanted to finish a bunch, before the heat that's coming, in the next several days. I mowed the lawn, and I uncovered my raised bed for the last time, and harvested some kohlrabi, that had gotten very large. Still 3 of the smallest ones left (though still large, for kohlrabi).
Kolibri kohlrabi, 29.1, 28.3, 28.1, and 27.7 oz. 6-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

My first Ichiban eggplant is forming, after I buzzed that blossom a while ago:
The first Ichiban forming! 6-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I pulled out a number of things that have bolted, but I got a generous number of harvests from (cut and come again!), like leaf lettuce, bok choy, and mizuna. A few days ago, I pulled those purple napas, that had just barely started to flower, and I had to make something with all of that at once, and still have some of that salad in the fridge. The senposai and komatsuna are just starting to bolt, so I have to use all that soon!
Senposai, just starting to bolt, 6-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Komatsuna, just starting to bolt. Leeks on the bottom, and scallions in the middle. 6-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The kale shows no hint of bolting, and this is one I've gotten a number of harvests from, with a good kale flavor. I'll definitely grow this again.
Red Bor Kale, with mo hint of bolting yet. 6-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The leeks are still small, but some of the scallions I'm growing are forming onions. I've tried to harvest them as soon as I'd see a seed head statting on them, or the largest ones, every time I'd pull the cover up, to harvest.
Some onions, originally planted as scallions, but larger now. 6-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I took a couple photos of my herbs on deck, which I took out a couple of weeks ago. They definitely like the sun!
The curry tree, showing the areas of new growth, 6-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

All those areas of new growth on the bay laurel, 6-8 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I would have saved those kohlrabi leaves, as I've used them before and liked them, but I just have too many greens to use up!
 
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