Re: Grinder's no-till vegetable garden
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Grinder
Did those plants seem fully grown and healthy otherwise? Do you plan to try again this year?
Yep, the vines were pretty long and healthy looking. I think for whatever reason the female flowers were simply not getting pollinated before dropping off. I had planned to try and manually pollinate them, but the male flowers outnumbered the female at least 5-1 and the females seemed to just wilt really quickly. Planning to try again though, my youngest loved planting pumpkin seeds and eventually getting to carve his 1 pumpkin that grew.
At the moment the area is just grass/weeds, I need to either rent or buy a tiller to dig it all up to make a go of it. At least I have a nice little shed up there already (re-purpose the chicken coop) that I can store equipment in.
Re: Grinder's no-till vegetable garden
This year I'll keep an eye out for male and female pumpkin flowers (googled how to tell the difference). It never crossed my mind until now.
I've heard that by simply adding mulch you can turn grass/weeds into garden soil with no tilling at all ;) ...and that it's far better for overall soil health. :nod:
Re: Grinder's no-till vegetable garden
Wow, that I is one awesome garden. I usually do one small garden with strawberry plants, 3 tomato plants, three cucumber plants, and One zucchini plant. This produces more than my family of 4 can consume if I can keep the pests at bay. Cucumber beetle and bacterial wilt disease usually cut my crop production down to probably half though, which is a problem I didn’t have in gardens I had at other properties in the past. I tried growing corn one year but the squirrels decimated that crop and they did the same with my sunflower plants. I had one squirrel one year eat my tomatoes.
I noticed that when my neighbor down the street started keeping bees that my production of crop seemed to go up. It’s amazing how much those good insects help with pollination.
Re: Grinder's no-till vegetable garden
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Grinder
This year I'll keep an eye out for male and female pumpkin flowers (googled how to tell the difference). It never crossed my mind until now.
Once you get the hang of it, identifying female/male is pretty straight forward, then it's just a case of hoping for timing and some good luck to get the female pollinated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Grinder
I've heard that by simply adding mulch you can turn grass/weeds into garden soil with no tilling at all ;) ...and that it's far better for overall soil health. :nod:
I'll look into that, getting enough mulch to cover the area I have is likely no more than renting a tiller for a day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JCsAudio
I noticed that when my neighbor down the street started keeping bees that my production of crop seemed to go up. It’s amazing how much those good insects help with pollination.
I looked briefly into keeping bees, it's still something I think would be cool to do. I should put a bee hive right next to where the garden would go.
Re: Grinder's no-till vegetable garden
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JCsAudio
Wow, that I is one awesome garden. I usually do one small garden with strawberry plants, 3 tomato plants, three cucumber plants, and One zucchini plant. This produces more than my family of 4 can consume if I can keep the pests at bay. Cucumber beetle and bacterial wilt disease usually cut my crop production down to probably half though, which is a problem I didn’t have in gardens I had at other properties in the past. I tried growing corn one year but the squirrels decimated that crop and they did the same with my sunflower plants. I had one squirrel one year eat my tomatoes.
I noticed that when my neighbor down the street started keeping bees that my production of crop seemed to go up. It’s amazing how much those good insects help with pollination.
Thank you! Yeah, pests and disease... after so much planning and effort, the damage can be heartbreaking. While there were a few issues in that regard, I feel very, very fortunate. Late May last year, a day or two after having transplanted most of the pepper starts, a critter got in and dug up and destroyed a number of those pepper plants. Pretty sure a skunk had passed through a narrow gap beneath the gate and the ground. Took care of that with a piece of rolled up fence material. Root grubs were the major issue, weakening, stunting, and/or ultimately killing a number of pumpkin, squash, cucumber and melon plants.
Yeah, I bet you're right about the bee-keeping effect. I bet the same would happen here as well. Unfortunately, there's not much gardening going on around here. It's very much a monoculture of lawn, with a few ornamental flowers here and there. For five months a year, it seems there's hardly a daylit moment without hearing a lawnmower, leaf blower or trimmer running somewhere. Been working on turning the majority of our sizable lawn into wildflower/bee garden. As with the vegetable garden, it all begins by moving wood chips... lots and lots of wood chips... Good thing we've got plenty! LOL
10 Attachment(s)
Re: Grinder's no-till vegetable garden
2020 Garden Update
Changes for 2020:
Deer-resistant herbs such as basil, catnip, chamomile, fennel, mint, rosemary, sage, thyme, etc. will be relocated from and no longer grown within the fenced garden area, providing maximum space for vegetable crops.
Getting a much earlier start on peppers and cherry tomatoes than last year (03/03/2020 vs 04/04/2019). While last year’s pepper harvest was far better than expected, those plants could not reach their full size and production potential due to their late start. While last year’s cherry tomato plants seemed to do very well, they seemed to get off to a bit of a slow start. Might regret starting this year’s cherry tomatoes a full month earlier though.
Apart from Spaghetti Squash (not a huge fan, in terms of convenience, texture and flavor), all of the crops grown in 2019 will be grown again in 2020:
-Lime Aromatic Basil (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019)
-Catnip (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019)
-German Chamomile (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019)
-Wild Italian Fennel (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019)
-Italian Oregano (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019)
-Rosemary (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019)
-Broad Leaf Sage (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019)
-California Wonder Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019, and new for 2020)
-Cubanelle Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019, and new for 2020)
-Golden Calwonder Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019, and new for 2020)
-Marconi Red Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019, and new for 2020)
-Purple Beauty Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019, and new for 2020)
-Sweet Hungarian Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019, and new for 2020)
-Common Thyme (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019)
However, some of the crops grown in 2020 will be of additional and/or different varieties and/or sources than those grown in 2019:
-Genovese Basil (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Tommy Apple Melon Cantaloupe (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-California Wonder Pepper (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Connecticut Field Pumpkin (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Buttercup Squash (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Butternut-Waltham Squash (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Zucchini-Fordhook Squash (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Titan Sunflower (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Strawberry Watermelon (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Rainbow Blend Pepper (Pinetree Garden Seeds/Superseeds.com)
-Greek Oregano (Fedco Seeds)
-Marketmore 76 Cucumber (Valley Greene/The Page Seed Co.)
Having been less than satisfied with last year’s tomato varieties - particularly the unknown (heirloom-mix) variety grown from saved seeds of a neighbor’s tomatoes, which turned out to be rather malformed, disease prone, and not so tasty for sauce – these three highly regarded tomato varieties will be grown instead:
-Jet Star Slicing Tomato (Fedco Seeds)
-Opalka Tomato (sauce/paste tomato) (Totally Tomatoes)
-Chadwick Cherry Tomato (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
Adding new crops for 2020:
-Contender Green Bush Bean (Everwilde Farms)
-New England Sugar Pie Pumpkin (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Mammoth Long Island Dill (Valley Greene/The Page Seed Co.) (for herb and flower gardens)
-Diakon Minowase Radish (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – not grown in 2019) (as a fall “tillage crop”)
Planning to try a number of additional crops on a limited basis, and see how they go; though I’m not sure there will be sufficient opportunity and/or garden area for all of these items:
-Early Purple Vienna Kohlrabi (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Rocky Top Lettuce Mix (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Buttercrunch Lettuce (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
-Detroit Dark Red Beet (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – not grown in 2019)
-Copenhagen Market Cabbage (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – not grown in 2019)
-Scarlet Nantes Carrot (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – not grown in 2019)
-Siberian Organic Kale (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – not grown in 2019)
-Red Russian Kale (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – not grown in 2019)
-Black Kale (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – not grown in 2019)
-Black-Seeded Simpson Lettuce (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – not grown in 2019)
-Sweet Yellow Spanish Onion (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – not grown in 2019) (for green onions)
-Gigante D’Inverno Organic Spinach (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – not grown in 2019)
-Rainbow Mix Swiss Chard (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – not grown in 2019)
-Purple Top White Globe Turnip (Valley Greene/The Page Seed Co. - not grown in 2019)
-Early Scarlet Globe Radish (Valley Greene/The Page Seed Co. - not grown in 2019)
-Nantes Coreless Carrot (Valley Greene/The Page Seed Co. - not grown in 2019)
-Bok Choi Chinese Cabbage Chou Chinois (OSC Seeds - not grown in 2019)
Starting some bee-friendly ornamental seeds this year, to enhance and expand existing flower gardens:
-Campanula, Canterbury Bells (Campanula medium)
-Columbine, McKana Giants Mix (Aquilegia coerulea) (Johnny’s Selected Seeds)
-Early Sunrise Coreopsis (Coreopsis grandiflora) (Fedco Seeds)
-Phlox Beauty (Phlox drummondi pomegranate) (Park Seed Co.)
-Peony Poppy (Papaver paeoniflorum) (generic/unknown vendor)
-Red Poppy (Papaver rhoeas) (generic/unknown vendor)
-Gaillardia Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristata) (Pinetree Garden Seeds/superseeds.com)
-Monarda Spotted Bee Balm (Monarda punctata) (Pinetree Garden Seeds/superseeds.com)
-Blue Queen Salvia (Salvia x superba) (Park Seed Co.)
Getting Started
March 01, 2020:
Set up warm, bright seed-starting/germination location in office. First time using heat mat. Hoping for faster germination and higher % rate, compared to April-May 2019 results in somewhat cooler patio without heat mat.
Attachment 9620
Attachment 9621
03/02:
Reorganized patio. Ready for seedlings.
Attachment 9622
Attachment 9623
Attachment 9624
03/03:
First round of seed-starting:
(12 seeds) Chadwick Cherry Tomato (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
(12 seeds) California Wonder Pepper (Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co./Rareseeds.com)
(3 seeds) California Wonder Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds - leftover from 2019)
(6 seeds) California Wonder Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – fresh for 2020)
(3 seeds) Cubanelle Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2019)
(6 seeds) Cubanelle Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2020)
(3 seeds) Golden Calwonder Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2019)
(6 seeds) Golden Calwonder Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2020)
(3 seeds) Red Marconi Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2019)
(6 seeds) Red Marconi Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2020)
(3 seeds) Sweet Pepper, Purple Beauty Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2019)
(6 seeds) Sweet Pepper, Purple Beauty Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2020)
(12 seeds) Sweet Pepper, Rainbow Blend Pepper (Pinetree Garden Seeds/Superseeds.com)
(3 seeds) Sweet Pepper, Sweet Hungarian Banana Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2019)
(6 seeds) Sweet Pepper, Sweet Hungarian Banana Pepper (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2020)
(6 cells) Greek Oregano (Fedco Seeds)
(6 cells) Italian Oregano (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2019)
(6 cells) Rosemary (Ohio Heirloom Seeds – 2019)
(6 cells) Campanula, Canterbury Bells (Campanula medium) (Pinetree Garden Seeds/Superseeds.com)
(6 cells) Columbine, McKana Giants Mix (Aquilegia coerulea) (Johnny’s Selected Seeds)
(6 cells) Early Sunrise Coreopsis (Coreopsis grandiflora) (Fedco Seeds)
(6 cells) Phlox Beauty (Phlox Drummondi Pomegranate) (Park Seed Co.)
Attachment 9625
03/07 – 03/08:
Heat mat and warmer seed starting location greatly improved germination rate and time frame.
Majority of cherry tomato seeds have sprouted.
Some peppers are sprouting
Greek Oregano seeds are sprouting.
Coreopsis seeds are sprouting.
Phlox seeds are sprouting.
Attachment 9626
Attachment 9627
Attachment 9628
Attachment 9629
Re: Grinder's no-till vegetable garden
Wow Grinder, that is some serious stuff you’ve got going there. Looks awesome!
Re: Grinder's no-till vegetable garden
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JCsAudio
Wow Grinder, that is some serious stuff you’ve got going there. Looks awesome!
Thanks! It's pretty exciting.
2 Attachment(s)
Re: Grinder's no-till vegetable garden
03/10
Heat mat issues
For better or worse, the heat mat does not have a thermostat, but is simply meant to provide a 10 – 20-degree (F) rise.
In hindsight I appear to have made a big mistake when setting up the heat mat, having thought to maximize efficiency by placing it on a piece of 1” R-Max (foil-faced isocyanurate foam insulation that I happened to have on hand). And while it did seem like things might be a bit on the warm side, yesterday I finally realized that there was a problem, as nearly all the sprouting has occurred at or near the outer edges of the mat, with no sprouts at or near the center. I then lifted one of the trays to place my hand directly on the heat mat. Clearly too hot… SMH
I removed the R-Max. An hour or two later, though not as hot as before, it still seemed a bit too hot. I placed a double-folded thick terrycloth towel on the heat mat. This seems to be just right.
Attachment 9652
As it seems likely that many/most of the unsprouted pepper seeds have been overheated, I plan to re-seed all those unsprouted cells today. I could kick myself…
Happy seedlings:
Attachment 9653
Re: Grinder's no-till vegetable garden
Grinder, you’re suppose to cook your vegetables after they have grown some, not before. :doh::daniel::)