Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: HH~ on April 05, 2021, 10:12:21 am
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Let see those early gardens. Got my cabbages and broccoli in and doing well. Lettuce, beets and arugula ad radishes in and up. Tomato seeds all started and squash are in pots. Had hard frost last weekend but we may slide by and not get another. Been covering and uncovering for a few weeks now.
Good luck to you Patriot Gardeners. Not paying three bucks for a red pepper outta season.
Hey, My hybrid Yellow Cayenne's I strung and dried up last year are smokers with good flavor. I broke one up extracted a few seeds and chewed em up. Very good. They I forgot and took a leak with washing my hands with soap first. Well, I had a 2 alarm fire below my belt for about 30 min! Good Cayennes!
Shawn~
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Tomatoes, peppers, cukes and herbs started in pots. Horseradish and rhubarb starting to stick it's nose out. 2 or 3 more snows before I'm ready to go out side. But I'm 100 miles north of Montana. Be nice to see all progress
Thanks Leroy
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Little early to start that here, but I dreamed about home-grown hot peppers last night. Another month and we'll see.
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Still about 3 weeks to putting out started plants. Learning container gardening since the town fathers Sort of frown on "popping" the bunnies and squirrels!
Hawkdancer
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I spread red clover seed on my winter wheat. Did it about three weeks ago. When the wheat is harvested late summer the clover will grow up. We will cut it once to control weeds and promote new vegetative growth. We won’t harvest anything. It’s just a cover crop. Very good for the ground. Not to mention the wildlife love it.
The rest of my fields have a rye cover crop growing on them now. The rye came through the winter very well and is off to a very nice start. I might have to keep a close eye on it. It can grow very fast and sometimes get to tall before I get to killing it and planting my edible beans.
Bjrogg
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Row croppers went heavy on wheat here. I did see the place I will have to keep up after my Ranger buddy died, his row cropper drilled corn today. Guess he saw weather and is gonna roll the dice. Last year we had a big freeze on April 16th, it knock off most the Oaks catkins and burned the 6" tall corn which never recovered totally.
Deer on wheat now by me. You can see their scat is looking like summer stuff. They wont browse if they can tear into wheat every nite. Make some good antler. Need to drop salt soon for the momma deer. They eat it up when they gettin ready to drop younguns and lactating.
Be picking lettuce for 1st garden greens this week. Bibb lettuce.
HH~
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Be picking lettuce for 1st garden greens this week. Bibb lettuce.
(A) (A) (A)
We just got snow this morning and aren't expecting leaves for a month!
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I planted some lettuce and spinach seed today before going down to work. Need some rain tho.. :-\
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There are some guys that planted sugar beets a few weeks ago before the rain and snow. We were tempted to but decided not to. Sugar beets can handle some pretty cold weather. We had some up last year that survived 21 degrees. Ended up being fantastic crop. I think the ones that got planted early this year should be in good shape so far.
Bjrogg
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I have orders to stay off my tractor after recent prostate surgery, I am a month out so far.
I need to whack my greens patch, I hadn't had any bleeding in a few days so I jumped on the tractor and made a few passes through my garden with my belly mower to get things ready to till.
I went back into the house after I finished to take a leak and found out I should have listened to the doctor, more bleeding.
I had a huge turnip crop but they are hard to give away so most of them went to waste.
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You get healed up Eric or we "whomp you with a knotted plowline".
Some early color.
Shawn~
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I started planting sugar beets today.
Bjrogg
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planted a lot of starters. mostly pumpkin but also peas, peppers, and flowers that i grow myself... I asked my parents to pick up sugar pumpkin seeds for my pumpkin pies i like to make and they came back with porcelain pumpkins and weird stuff like that (lol) im kinda excited to see what their like! gonna pick up some sugar pumpkins
Im hoping this year to try and cross breed some flower colors if anyone knows how to do that. Learned a lot about it in biology and stuff but there is a lot of stuff i probably dont know!
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I have orders to stay off my tractor after recent prostate surgery, I am a month out so far.
I need to whack my greens patch, I hadn't had any bleeding in a few days so I jumped on the tractor and made a few passes through my garden with my belly mower to get things ready to till.
I went back into the house after I finished to take a leak and found out I should have listened to the doctor, more bleeding.
I had a huge turnip crop but they are hard to give away so most of them went to waste.
Love Turnips. Had a small yield of them last year, wasn't enough. Gonna plant a lot more of them this year
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@Deerhunter - Russell - you will need a small paint brush (model paint size, soft) to do pollen transfers from one flower to the other. essentially, you will become the bee.
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Got the rain we needed. Now there's a frost warning for tonight/tomorrow... :fp
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@Deerhunter - Russell - you will need a small paint brush (model paint size, soft) to do pollen transfers from one flower to the other. essentially, you will become the bee.
And remember to change your name to "Buzz"... ;)
;D
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Saw that cold pushing in to lower 48 later in week then staying cool for a week more. I think we will come close to last years April 16th hard freeze here in middle Tenn. Gonna be real close call. HAve my warm weather stuff still in trays and cups. I will have to bring in skinning shed Wed night. Garden plants be ok cept maybe my lettuces.
Hedge~
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I sent in a sample of my garden soil to Auburn University for testing, mu soil was in pretty good shape except it could use some potash and a little borax for root crops. The testers gave me a sheet to show how much to use in a 100 square ft area.
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Yep, why i dug out pappy fire pit twice this fall and layit out and turned in my beds. If you buy common fertilzer now it comes with potash in it. You plant in same place for years without potash you will get roots disease without it.
My wife picked volley ball sized Bibb lettuce. Cool weather lettuce is fine eating. Herbs are all doung well. My big Rosemary lived outside by foundation ok. Had to cover up in snow and ice with a bunch of blankets and tarps. Made fresh lamb chops on Easter griiled with olive oil and fresh Rosemary. Pink and juicy. Fine fine fine.
HH~
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Not much going on, I am still in recovery mode with weight restrictions from having the TURP procedure done 5 weeks ago.
I started my plastic garden, ran out of plastic and ordered more on line, that shipment has been delayed. So far the garden looks rather barren but it will fill in as the plants grow, I have squash, tomatoes and cucumbers out while I wait on the shipment of rolls of plastic. I started all my plants from seed back in March. I have used so much weed seed laden manure in my garden over the years that the plastic is a must to keep ahead of the weeds.
I grew a few bunches of garlic last year, like the wild garlic that grows in your yard the main bulb produces quite a few baby cloves. I stuck some of the babies in my planter box last fall to see if they would sprout, nothing came up. I was surprised this spring to see several new garlic plants that had sprouted from the "babies " that I had I poked into the ground last year.
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My garden will look like this is short order.
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That is year of the Wuhan Garden. We are on Year of the Patriot now. So, it got to be better this year!
Yer squash look about two weeks ahead of mine. I'm moving starters into shed tonite cold coming in now. Dogwood winter tonite is what we got coming here. Then, next week we have a few nights of Blackberry winter coming.
Hedge~
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just had a freeze last night. glad we didnt plant in our garden just yet. also our starters are sprouting a little.
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Got 62.61% of my sugar beets planted last week before it rained. Just a few showers, but hasn’t dried out enough to finish planting them yet.
Today I put nitrogen and Thiosulfate on my wheat. Had a good day. Just have one more batch to apply.
It is going to be colder now for the foreseeable future. Probably get a little snow.
Bjrogg
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Last year today it was real cool here in Tenn. This years Blackberry winter frost will not push this far down or as cold I dont think. The blizzard started in the Black Hills last evening. My buddy was out shed hunting and looking for Turkeys for the opener.
Picked a big back of butter lettuce for my friend and his wife. She really loves that fresh stuff. Wish I had a bag of Radishes but its just to early. Lucky with this cool weather to have the lettuce really.
My beets are about 3" tall now with a radish row between them. everything on track I rekon.
HH~
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Well that's it for the fruit trees this year. :(
They were full blossomed and looking great and now they are covered with snow. :o
We have three inches of snow and temps down to the 20's. A hard freeze like this happened about 16 years back and it really killed off the local fruit harvest. Oh well, maybe next year... ???
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Buck up Patriots. Mother Nature is a cruel mistress. :NN
Ya mean were not gonna burn up in carbon saturation? That’s three consecutive years with freezes later and later.
Be covering up tonite in Tenn. wont freeze but widespread frost expected next two nites.
Hedge~
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Same here in N Bama.
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Just got home from Huntsville. Looks like they are a week to ten days ahead of us in C-Vegas. Was warmer for sure down there today as well.
Tomato's and squash going back in skinning shed. My cool weather stuff is loving this. All my Broccoli has started to head. Cabbage not so much. Eating radish, arugula, and bibb lettuce now. Put later crop rows in yesterday as well as some cilantro and dill.
Shawn~
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Got down to 36 here last night, I covered my plants but it looks like the wind blew all night and it didn't frost, gonna' be colder tonight.
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Might be able to plant a few things in about 10 days or so. Got some arrow type shrubs and ground cover plants ordered. Should get some early peas in the ground next week. Going for mostly big container planting this year, going to spread and till in some ashes from the fireplace and the shop heater.
Hawkdancer
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Had sleet come down around midnight but yes wind blew kept frost away. Tonight will be the test. If clouds hand in we may not se frost but if it clears it will freeze solid for sure here in Tenn. Got stuff wrapped and covered. Never took tomatoes and squashes out of skinning shed. Feels like middle October outside right now. It went from 68 to 50 last evening in 30min or so, in an hour it was in low 40's.
Shawn~
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31 here in N/W Bama this morning, heavy frost.
My neighbor has a vacation house on Dolphin Island, he called me from there late yesterday to see if were going to have frost and if I could go over to his house and cover up his 11 tomato plants. He said he had a lot of 5 gal buckets in his shop but he didn't, I made newspaper pirate hats to cover the his plants when I ran out of buckets.
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24 to 25 here this morning.
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Got lucky ;D
No frost in my little slice of heaven. Saw some in lower ground this morning but none on my stuff. I immediately went and planted my squashes in the hills. Be 82 by Monday. My broccoli loves this weather, already has quarter sized heads on them. They be harvested by Memorial day I'm confident and in freezer.
It's funny how if you just miss yer window by a day or two and weather does not cooperate your left holding the bag, Especially if your rotating plants in same spaces in a smaller garden. Have to stay on it, dog gone it.
Shawn~
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Little Sunday Morning color to kick the Tenn Classic off with some greens and a radish for lunch.
Shawn~
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Looks like the lettuce and spinach isn't coming up so will have to re-do that.
On the upside, Nature's garden gave us 18 BIG morels this afternoon. :)
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I planted dill plants for pickles through the plastic in my garden yesterday, one little pot with 6 plants in it was almost $4. I grew some in my flower bed last year, I planted a few dried seeds from last years crop in the same place this year but doubted it they would come up in the pine bark.
I also kicked out some dirt and planted a handful of seeds near the woods at the edge of my yard. Deer will eat these if the seeds sprout, deer love dill, planting them was just an experiment to see if the seeds were viable.
After yesterdays planting I walked over to the flower bed to see if any dill was coming up, there was, I am going to have plenty of dill this year. In the past deer wouldn't eat my monkey grass or dill from this side of the house because the camper in my driveway made a pinch point between it and the house that they didn't feel comfortable in. I sold the camper a couple of days ago so deer will probably eat the flower bed dill as well.
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Dug the garden, turned in compost. 2 more weeks and the tators go in.
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Yep, spring is under way. Good gardening folks.
Shawn~
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Yep, spring is under way. Good gardening folks.
We're having "Spring the Sequel" here after that cold spell and snow. I think the blossoms on the trees are OK tho as the bees were working them Saturday afternoon. Blueberries were looking good and the wild blackberry patch is still greening up. Looks like a "do over" for the lettuce and spinach is needed tho.. ???
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High near 80s today! Still frosting most nights, and probably will be for another month, but might try getting some of the frost-hardy stuff in the next week or so.
Made some corn muffins last night from last year's blue corn. Yummmmmm
Mother Nature is a cruel mistress.
You ain't kidding, brother. But we love her for it all the same.
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Cool night grow nice tight broccoli heads.
Hedge~
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Cool night grow nice tight broccoli heads.
Hedge~
I'd be a lot more enthusiastic about broccoli if it tasted like that yellow one, there.
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That would go good with lots of stuff, but it can be hard to grow to maturity! (lol). Got some hardened off blueberries planted, lots of buds and flowers, one early girl bush tomato, and a lavender in.
Hawkdancer
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If the blueberry plants are first year pull all the blooms off them so they make roots and new growth this year, at least that is what I have read and done to all of mine through the years.
I have half a garden free after planting what little I need this year, I put out 4 hills of heirloom cantaloupes this afternoon.
Anybody have a good recommendation for a small seedless icebox watermelon, I have one bare spot left.
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I grew a lot of Amish Paste maters this year. Got the juicer for the LEM 12 big bite and going to can a bunch with my daughter.
I saved a bunch of Green pepper seeds and not a dern one came up, so I got to buy some. Do you need to do anything special with them like tomato seeds?
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If they were hybrids they prolly will never germinate.
Shawn~
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Most peppers are heirloom, I have saved seed from bells and jalapenos that came up OK.
I went looking for seedless watermelon seed, got a bit of sticker shock, 10 seeds $9. I found out seedless have to have a regular watermelon planted near them to be a pollinator because they are sterile.
I love kale and while I was on the seed site I ordered a bunch of multicolored exotic kale varieties, again big bucks but I like the stuff.
Red Russian was the only colorful variety I planted last year but I liked the way it looked and tasted.
The picture is the greens patch after the ice storm, almost a foot of snow and temps in the low teens for a week. It weathered the storm quite well and sprang back in a week or two to be beautiful again.
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Love Kale
Gonna pick some broccoli heads tomorrow.
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we've got some asparagus almost ready to pick! Woo!
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Steamed, packed and froze broccoli. Have some more to do. Weather is going to be in fourtys for 10 more days at night. Coolest spring I have ever seen down here in Mid Tenn.
Shawn~
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Forecasting snow for Monday, Tuesday, and maybe Wednesday! I was hoping to plant tomatoes this weekend and some zucchini and squash. I think I will wait 'til Thursday. Apple Tree just started blooming, too!
Hawkdancer
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Yep
So glad i stay on it, dog gone it. I checked a bunch of gardens here in mid Tenn and they just got seedlings. Wont be a fresh tomato outdoor grown buy July 30th here.
Some much for climate change hippies selling that load of trash. This may go down as a very cool summer. We shall see. OK now, ...... Dont send me pm’s im a climate racist please! I just low impact realist. I smoke em like i roll em.
Hedge
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Cool cool cool
Wont be a tomato grow outsoors thats ripe before Aug 1st in my area. 40 nites in middle of May??coldest spring ive ever seen here.
Hedge~
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Most peppers are heirloom, I have saved seed from bells and jalapenos that came up OK.
I went looking for seedless watermelon seed, got a bit of sticker shock, 10 seeds $9. I found out seedless have to have a regular watermelon planted near them to be a pollinator because they are sterile.
I love kale and while I was on the seed site I ordered a bunch of multicolored exotic kale varieties, again big bucks but I like the stuff.
Red Russian was the only colorful variety I planted last year but I liked the way it looked and tasted.
The picture is the greens patch after the ice storm, almost a foot of snow and temps in the low teens for a week. It weathered the storm quite well and sprang back in a week or two to be beautiful again.
I preserve unused seeds in my freezer. I have 10 year old seeds that are still viable. When my supply goes down I get more
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Cool cool cool
Wont be a tomato grow outsoors thats ripe before Aug 1st in my area. 40 nites in middle of May??coldest spring ive ever seen here.
Hedge~
Supposed to be 37 tonight here in Kansass. :o
Seen it happen before but can't recall it being this late in May. ???
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I have a tomato called the JCM. was one branch off a cherry tomato that was yellowoff one plant in the 1970's off my fathers plant. Seeds been with me and my family 35yrs and these are loved by so many folks here now in Tennessee. You tell them coming up as seedilings as they have leaves shaped like a Potatoe. They grow to ping pong ball sized.
Just planted a few down my buddies farm right down road. They love em. Veracious growers, vine type.
Shawn~
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I discovered one called "Mountain Magic" last year, sounds a lot like your heirloom, amazing taste and produced golf ball sized tomatoes by the bushel off one plant.
They are in the foreground of this picture.
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Hybrid. Known to have a thick skin and does not split easy.
You know a woman shopping for a few tomatos wont take a split.
Think i have six kinds in.
Ready to put peppers in this week.
40 again last nite. My tomatoes look pitiful!
HH~
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Taters popped out. Seeds ready to go in a week.
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In the picture I posted the larger tomatoes are a Defiant hybrid, these are the best I have grown so far, it is very rare to have any splits in the tops of these. In my garden every better boy I planted was sure to split.
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My "go to" tomato around here has been a variety called Jet Star. It's a good eating,canning and freezing tomato and handles the heat well. I planted six today, a couple romas and some pepper plants before work today.
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Done Jets before too. Mountain Fresh was the first in the Mountain Hybrids with thick skins aimed at the female tomatoe squeezers in the local markets. I always put a few good plums out for making sauces and such.
42 this morning, this winter weather spring feels like it wont quit. Wont be a seed grown outdoor tomatoe sold before 7 Aug here, no way.
HH~
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Replanting okra today, I only got about 30% germination on the last go round, to cold for good okra germination so far.
A little row will do me, the stuff is very prolific and hard to give away. I probably still have 5 or 6 gallons of it in the freezer from last year. I love it fried with squash and green tomatoes but only allow myself this high calorie treat every now and then. I can some stewed with tomatoes but still never use what I grow.
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Loved stewed tomatoes and okra.
HH~
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Anybody else have trouble getting seeds up this year? Okra and cantaloupe were pitiful, thank goodness I started squash, tomatoes and cucumbers in pots so I had something growing.
My next door neighbor had the same problem, he gave up, plowed everything in and started over.
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Yep. Planted lettuce twice and it never came up. I planted spinach at the same times and only the later row is showing any plants.
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I like blueberries, I have been helping some friends start a patch of their own and buying year old plants. I have 7 plants in my patch from 1 year old to 20 years old.. Yesterday I decided to try to root cuttings to produce bushes that I can give a way to more friends. I watched all the youtube videos and found out my previous rooting from cuttings attempts had been done all wrong.
Round two, 4 different varieties;
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Eric, does YouTube suggest using a closure to maintain high humidity around the cuttings? A plastic bag works good for this. It will keep the leaves from loosing too much moisture as the rooting takes place. If you use this method you'll need an air change every couple of days to keep it all healthy.
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Got to get hose and stuff to rig up my watering system, everything is in tubs that are about 19" wide and high. The blueberries will have a sprinkler with a cutoff valve, everything else gets a section of soaker hose. Put in JetStar, a Parks Whopper, TripleCrop, and a bush Early girl that has blossoms, still have to put in the Roma's and pear and cherrys. Planted basil with each tomato.
Hawkdancer
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Nice I took some blackberry roots cuttings and they are doing fine. easier than B Berry.
Gone from 40's to 90's in course of seven days! Long cold spring, boom, now its summer. Glad al my stuff is in and set. If we get a supper hot summer its gonna be a bear to get a really bumper crop however.
Hedge
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I have a top for the cuttings tub I have it in place and will take it off every few days to let the air change out.
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Strawed in my tomatoes. Gettin ready for 90 degree heat this week. Need to straw my peppers soon.
Got a gella that sell straw down road at farm. They toss all busted bales out trailers. I go rake it up and truck it to house.
Hedge~
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Woke up to the start of 4'' of snow. Covered my spuds. Hope the seeds I put in last week will germinate. Tomatoes and peppers should go in next weekend.
Thanks Leroy
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Be 90's for a week or more here. Picked my last broccoli just in time. Cabbage will be headed up and full grown here in a couple weeks. Then time to et crock out and make the kraut. Nights staying in mid 60's and thats what I need for good tomatoes and most warm weather garden plants.
HH~
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Warm is here was 90 yesterday. I planted some squash and thought it looked funny as it came up so I took more seeds and planted a few more in cup. Marked Zuccini but they are for sure Butternuts. OK, butternits are my Fav but good thing I dropped some more in some cups.
The corn is going to be in fields late here. Lots of corn only 12" of less still. I am sure unless we have drought this corn will not be out til second, third week October. Wheat be coming out soon and it looks good really good this year. Should have it out right after Memorial Day or sooner. Some guys got beans in but planted early but they just did get up. Got corn on a place I hunt, been 7-8 years since they had corn on it. Be fun to se how deer react with standing corn during deer archery in Oct.
HH~
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Got a inch of rain yesterday more coming. Radishes, beets and pak choy popping. taters doing good.
Thanks Leroy
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Garden update; everything but my cantaloupe and watermelon are doing fine, I had poor germination on the cantaloupe and no germination on the seedless watermelon so far.
I am experimenting with growing squash up a trellis, it will have to be tied up as the vines grow outward. Again, I saw this procedure on youtube and decided to give it a try.
Ordinarily I don't use fertilizer, just a little miracle grow when the plants first pop out of the ground. My garden is on a slope and it appears the good soil has migrated to the lower side, the upper side needs a couple of tons of barnyard fertilizer before winter greens season. The picture makes this very evident. It could also be tree roots from the wood line close by as well, it might be time for a ditch witch and a root barrier. The squash plants on the left have not been fertilized, I have been building up my soil for 20 years.
I have been using worn out hiking boots as my slip on garden shoes for years, this year the soles fell off of them. My stepdaughter gave me a nice LL Bean gift card for Christmas, pricey stuff but the best. A quick look in their catalog and I found the perfect garden shoe, slip on and off for that quick trip from the garage to the garden (the first order of every day) through wet just mowed grass and no tracking stuff back in the house. I love them, very comfortable.
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Looks good Eric. Your squash is doing well. About two weeks ahead of me. My broccoli is all in freezer. Looks like Cabbage is going to be ready for the Kraut Croc end of the week. This little cool front coming in will be perfect.
Peppers are flowering and have small friuit already. Tomatoes..... month behind!
Thanks Eric
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I started all my plants in pots way to early (except for the trellis squash), they sat in pots for 2 extra weeks because of the late frost, that is why they are ahead of the game.
A friend's son saw this same post on Facebook and said he would hook me up with as much local free cotton gin waste as I wanted, tons of it. He says it is much better than manure for gardens.
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Tomatoes and peppers went in last night. Sweet corn starting to pop
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Cabbages are in. Time for Kraut topf to come out. My crock hold 5qts of kraut takes 5-7 weeks before canning. Got plenty pint jars ready for the water bath.
Only have 3 pints of 2020 Wuhan Garden kraut left. Cant wait for some fresh slaw too. Oil vineager and salt n pepper. Great early summer eats.
HH~~
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We haven't had a frost for a couple weeks, so I think I'm going to take a chance and start putting the tomatoes out!
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I picked some really plump straight neck squash today, I didn't think of taking a picture and gave it to my sister-in-law who will treasure it.
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Finally getting some showers her in Tenn in my area. Been little dry for May. Corn really needed it and these late beans as well. My tomatoes and cucumber have takin off with 65 degree nights and some rain. These cabbage are nice, just shy of volley ball size. I could see they were swelled to limit and would crack so out they a comin.
HH~
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As summer squash goes the white scalloped is now my favorite, very prolific and has a wonderful taste, I like to grill it, fry it or boil it. I picked this today;
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Still have to get the cucumbers and Anasazi Beans in, and churn up some of the rhubarb and set up the watering system. Got a couple little tomatoes on the early girl and some blueberries
Hawkdancer
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Happy Memorial Day. Remember those gave it all on the battlefields of the world for the citizens of the USA.
Today was Kraut day for the Magyar Garden. Nice tight very large heads. Picked them and 5 min later got to shreading for kraut. 6-8 weeks and I will can it. Should yeild 20 pints. Have more in Garden but they will be for cabbage rolls and slaw.
Drive on Patriots and garden folk.
Shawn~
RLTW
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My girlfriend had really poor germination in her garden, I had 3 hills of watermelon without the first seed coming up, I started round two for both of us today, a sure fire way to get healthy plants. I tried some rooting compound on some of my best varieties of tomatoes' suckers to see how fast they root.
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Update;
I am trying squash on a trellis, you have to prune and tie up the plants according to youtube, this is just an experiment.
My cucumbers are producing, almost pickle time, that is dill in the foreground.
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Gettin' hot here in the middle of the Mid-West so need to go out this morning and pick what spinach that I have . Beans are starting to blossom so should have some to pick by the 4th. :OK
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Anybody have any experience with cotton gin waste as a soil builder? There is a gin about 15 miles from the house that gives it away for free, a friend says it is better than manure.
My only concern would be the defoliant they often spray on the cotton prior to combining it to get rid of the leaves on the cotton plant to have less crud in the picked cotton.
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Thought they combine blows it back on foeld and they burn it. What they do in MO.
HH~
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They do with the stubble, the gin waste is what is left after they run the cotton through the gin, short fibers, seed hulls and any trash that comes through from the combine.
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If it rots you may compost it and get a ph on it. Prolly take a ton of water to compost it. Whomever disposes of it should know what its good for i would think Eric.
HH~
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Eric around here dairy farmers use to feed the cotton seeds to their cows. They stopped because of the weed seeds. The had some nasty weeds. I’m afraid that’s all the information I have about cotton waist.
It’s been a while but I got my crops planted.
Spring started early here and lots of sugar beets got planted in March. Most of those are looking really good now. I waited till 4-7-21 and planted my first two fields in what seemed to be perfect conditions. They were just pushing out of the ground when it got down to 19 degrees here and stay cold for three nights. That was very bad timing for my early beets. They can handle the cold , but they our very delicate as they are emerging from ground and still don’t have their leaves opened up. I had to many at that stage and had to replant my first two fields. I planted my second batch starting 4-17-21 and those all came up great.
It’s been dry. And either to hot or to cold this spring. Late April and early may turned cold again and I waited to plant corn. Started Planting corn 5-13-21 in very good conditions and hot. The corn emerged in a week with perfect stand and very even emergence. Then my soybeans. Then we got another light frost that dinged the corn. Fortunately it didn’t hurt the soybeans. The corn grew out of it the soybeans wouldn’t have if they had been injured.
Memorial Day I started planting Navy beans.
Still dry, but enough moisture for germination. Hot which navy seed likes. I planted them very deep as no rain in forecast to amount to anything. That was a good call and my Navy seed came up perfect. Even as deep as I planted them they were up in 6 days.
We are still dry dry. Our wheat is really hurting. The rest of our crops are small enough so far that they are hanging in there pretty good so far.
Got sweet corn planted and up in garden. Watermelon I started in containers. That stuff took forever to sprout.
A few strawberries ripe.( that’s pretty early for here) asparagus was good but could have used more rain. Rhubarb to.
Don’t have many pictures but I’ll try to post a couple.
Bjrogg
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First picture is sugar beet plant ready to emerge. When they freeze hard at this stage just starting to emerge it’s a crap shoot. Some make it and some don’t. Unfortunately I had to many that didn’t.
Bjrogg
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Here’s field of sugar beets I planted 4-17.
They take awhile to get this size. Once they get here they grow pretty fast. They will soon be needing some rain.
Bjrogg
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This is first field of Navy Beans. This field can be very challenging to get beans up in. Heavy ground . I don’t think I ever got them to come up this even in this field before. They are off to a good start.
Bjrogg
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Wet here and cool. Wet and cool is no good for some garden stuff. Our wheat wiill some out soon as we get some dry weather. Our corn is behind a a bit but with all this rain we are catching up.
Was at Pappys on Friday and it rained like monsoon season in Laos. Next thing ya know a wall of water came down the hillside. Thought we was gonna lose the pik-a-nic tables under the over head. Was nuts. Had dive in a save some hide tanning stuff going down the gully. Almost slipped into the gully. Water was doing 40 mile per hour prolly. It tore chit up purty gud.
We've had feet of rain this year. Was dry early but lately rivers are way up. Hope we dont get two months of no rain. That would be bad.
Them some flat fields, cept for color of dirt looks like the west bank of the mighty Mo in Iowa BJ.
HH~
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Yup definitely flat landers here. Although we do have a lot of fall towards the big lake. The water really moves fast towards the lake here to and can really wash stuff out.
The field with the Navy Beans is really flat. One of the things that makes it so challenging to farm. It was my grandpa’s farm. It’s really good dirt but you just don’t get away with farming it even slightly on the wet side. If you do get everything perfect and then get a big rain it likes to have water laying over entire field and most crops (especially Navy Beans) don’t like that. So far so good.
We have been using a lot of cover crops for several years now and it is changing our soil structure. They do cause several problems and add a lot of extra challenges of their own. We are pretty dedicated to using them now though and they are really gaining popularity in this area.
Bjrogg
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This is my Rye cover crop seeded after harvesting sugar beets late last October. The picture was taken late February as soon as snow was gone.
I let it get about a foot and a half tall then kill it before I plant my Navy Beans. I plant my sugar beets right into it while it is still growing. It is a good way to keep wind erosion from blowing off my small sugar beets. I also plant my corn and soybeans into it. Sometimes killing it prior to planting and sometimes after.
The wildlife love it. I saw deer, Fox, coyote, turkey, pheasant, rabbit and of course groundhogs enjoying it.The soil loves it. It captures nutrients and holds soil in place. The residue incorporated into the soil helps the ground perk.
It does take a lot of management though. Getting it planted. Deciding when to terminate it. I’m glad I killed it when I did this year. If it’s dry it uses up your moisture if you leave it to long. If you terminate it and it gets wet it makes a mat that stops your ground from drying enough to plant.
It’s just another challenge in a already challenging job.
Good Luck with all your gardens. I always enjoy seeing your work.
Bjrogg
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Forgot the picture
Bjrogg
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Looks like you been busy BJ, no wonder you can never make the Classic. ;) :)
Pappy
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Beets be ready for canning soon.
Hedge~
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Almost time to start plucking some beets to can. Have some that grew faster than other so looks like I will be canning Pickled beets any day now. My wife got a few steaks (beef) I eat almost no beef but she got them for fathers day. I saw the price on the plastic and nearly fell over! $31 for two scrawny rib eyes. Told Momma "dont buy me any more beef". Im thinkin that will make Jerky worth what $100/lb maybe?
HH~
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We've started picking blueberries this week and have about a gallon on the counter now. The earlier row of green beans are coming on too and we had our first green bean salad for supper this week. :)
(It has bacon in it... ;))
And the weeds are doing well too so I'd best get to hoeing. :(
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I heard the west been getting cooked with heat?
Been coolest spring and start of summer here in 30yrs here. Lots of wheat should have come out here but these cool temps have not got moisture low enough yet.
I be pulling beets this wkend and canning it seems.
Keep the pics of yer Patriot Gardens coming. With these krazy inflation prices on food i think more folks will be putting Patriot Gardens in.
HH~
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Shawn, next time tell the wife to get you some "Poor Man's" Rib eyes, Thick cut, Chuck eye steaks at a about $10 for two and the same size. They are better testing in my book.
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A friend knew I had a lean year last deer season because of a botched hip replacement, he probably had 200# of deer meat he wanted to give away, he kills deer all over the country. I took home about 30# of burger and some tenderloin, I didn't want to get piggish, he said come back when I run out.
I got home and flew into making a huge pot of deer spaghetti sauce to freeze in single serve packs. I start with the commercial sauce and add onion, garlic, wild mushrooms green peppers and flavor it all to my liking. I tried three kinds of sauce as a starter, Paul Newman's roasted garlic is the best.
(https://i.imgur.com/Pm7Ee8p.jpg)
My friends processor doesn't vacuum seal the meat so I vacuum sealed all of it so it would have a longer shelf life. I use a Cabela's vacuum sealer that they had on sale for about $75, it actually works better than a Food Saver. I hadn't started on the meat yet when I took the picture.
(https://i.imgur.com/A0CK9Ke.jpg)
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Now that looks good Eric. Nice to get some gifted meat! You looked at meat prices in store? Prices stay like this and it will be like 1970's Carter inflation again. Rustlers will be taking cattle back to house in pickups like in Jimmy years! Gettin tough out there.
why we got to keep a garden going. Does a man good to work the earth.
HH~
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Here's Robin s' and mine garden.A modest one [25' by 25'] but supplies us with enough vegetables to subsidize costs considerably.
Front row left to right is swiss chard,cabbage, and horse radish.Second row beets covered with chicken wire to deter the browsing deer.They love the beet greens.Third row is green beans.Fourth row is different peppers.Fifth row is tamatoes.Last but not least 2 rows of popcorn and it's beginning to tassle too.Oh yea 1 lonely volunteer sun flower.
Two row of radishes are all ate up already but we ate many a sandwich of them and lots of patatoe salad.
(https://i.imgur.com/4XQhxE9.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vfNcKD1.jpg)
We're going to be lucky enough to get at least 6 dozen peaches this year from our 2 trees along with lots of apples from a tree for apple sauce.We'll can pears,peaches,and make salsa later this fall.20 pounds of wild black raspberries
[black caps] in the freezer along with the hazel nut bushes bearing nuts this year.We freeze our green beans,squash,and beets too.
My pond yields us plenty of fish and this fall I'll replenish the deer meat.
To add we are waiting patiently for our pecan trees to start bearing nuts too.Look forward to that.Our chickens give us eggs for baking,boiling and frying.We are'nt totally self sufficient yet but getting closer to that goal.
Life is good as they say.
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Looks fantastic. Gardens take a lot of constant care to produce.
Shawn~
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Our garden is coming along nicely. I a m a bit worried about the extreme temperatures in the forecast! We had something eating the leaves off of our melons and destroyed to beautiful tomatillo plants. I set a few rat traps and trapped a pack rat the other day! so, we shall see if that was enough to stop the plant destruction.
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As always, your garden is immacutate.
Sounds like yall have quite the homestead.
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Robin has used seven dust before to stop bugs from eating holes in leaves.The deer are our main culprit into our garden.One of these days I'll put a high fence around the garden.The cottontail rabbits I control with the bow and arrow and the .22 and having around 15 to 20 good farm cats around constantly help a lot.
We've been lucky enough to get timely rains.Otherwise it has been on the dry side here so far.Rain is expected this weekend though.We don't water our garden.
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I wouldn't get a thing from my garden if I didn't have an electric fence. I only need 3 strands and have the deer trained, they walk into it at night when they can't see it and get zapped, after that they give the garden a wide berth and even teach their offspring to avoid the area.
They never jump the fence in the summer and only jump it occasionally in the winter when the whole place is covered up with greens but they don't make a habit of it.
My neighbor had a deer fence and thought it keep the deer at bay until his pea patch was about ready to pick last year, the deer turned into high jumpers and decimated his peas. He put out a 3 strand electric fence like mine but it didn't stop the deer, he added a 4th strand higher up and the deer never came into his garden again.
I used a solar charger for years but the battery would not last all that long and was expensive to replace. I use 120V now and run an extension cord from my shop to the charger, I have at least 5 times the zap from the corded charger than from my old solar charger, my wire will kill any vegetation that touches it.
My charger with a nice cantaloupe patch in the background, I put the bucket over the charger to keep it out of the weather, I run my ground through the PVC pipe to keep my weed eater off it.
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We got lucky enough or should I say Robin did through trading with her potted plant friends around the country to get a pile of canning lids.They have seemed to be on a shortage yet.
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Yep i found some good American lids early this year and took em. My wife ordered some. Opened package that came other day when doing sweet pickles. I told her these look strange”. Then I looked , sure enough, China made junk. So, used them. Well, they looked weird even after the vacuum pulled em down. Anyhow, put em in cool cellar and a couple days later i hear ting, ting. I say “oh heck, thats those China lids pooping”! Sure enough. Threw that crap in garbage and grabbed the Balls.
Got another load of beets and pickling cukes to get done before We’re eyeball deep in tomatoes. When you run a good size garden it takes on life of its own. When items come in ripe they will not wait to get processed up “ when you got time”.
Im building a Apple grinder for cider. Got a 1/2 horse garbage disposal i will mount and plumb. Drop apples in and it spits into a 5 gallon bucket ready for the press! Easy. Need to get it wired up. Seen some summer apples that are getting ripe.
Shawn~
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Well the lids she got are Balls and Masons so I hope they'll be ok.Both made in the good old U.S.A.
(https://i.imgur.com/z3EaJqQ.jpg)
and Eric you do what you have to do to deter deer there and we'll do what works for us over here as I've shown.
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The deer don't give me too much trouble.
I gave up on sweet corn tho because of the coons. >:(
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Coon solution that works every time, I have posted this before;
Before a low strand electric fence;
They got every ear, I trapped and killed 9 of them after the fact.
(https://i.imgur.com/waxk2xJ.jpg)
Coon fence, they don't know how to jump a low fence. I never had a coon in my corn again.
(https://i.imgur.com/lFmE5eC.jpg)
I had a coon get a few of my best cantaloupes last year, I have a great patch this year and am about to coon fence it as well. Hard to see but he is on the left side of the tomato cage I put over some of the other cantaloupes.
(https://i.imgur.com/Lo78GPu.jpg)
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Making fermented garlic dill pickles today, it appears this is the easiest way to make pickles. This is my first foray into fermentation.
The brine is 12 tablespoons of salt in a gallon of water, I added fresh dill, garlic, mustard seed, red pepper flakes and grape leaves for crispness.
These should be pickles in a week or so, I will put them in a jar and store them in the frig.
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I considered an electric coon fence Eric but then, there's a local family up the road that grows a LOT of sweet corn and sells it just outside Osky so that's worked for me. ;)
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Cukes look gud. Just did 20 pints if Sweets with a kich tonite. Going to shoot selfbow tomorrow. Had to get them done. Have a big load of beets to knock out before the IBO starts.
Shawn
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I considered an electric coon fence Eric but then, there's a local family up the road that grows a LOT of sweet corn and sells it just outside Osky so that's worked for me. ;)
We buy sweet corn cheap here too..25 an ear and cheaper.Blanch and freeze some up for the year.
We got close to 4" of rain the last 2 days.Very timely for us in the middle of july.Things are looking pretty good.
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Coon solution that works every time, I have posted this before;
Before a low strand electric fence;
They got every ear, I trapped and killed 9 of them after the fact.
(https://i.imgur.com/waxk2xJ.jpg)
Coon fence, they don't know how to jump a low fence. I never had a coon in my corn again.
(https://i.imgur.com/lFmE5eC.jpg)
I had a coon get a few of my best cantaloupes last year, I have a great patch this year and am about to coon fence it as well. Hard to see but he is on the left side of the tomato cage I put over some of the other cantaloupes.
(https://i.imgur.com/Lo78GPu.jpg)
You seem to have a lot of trouble getting along with mother nature.
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I quit growing corn as well after my last patch, lots of work, I found that the local Amish sell it for $3 a dozen, no point in growing it anymore.
I blanch, vacuum seal and freeze my corn, I put up so much 3 years ago that I am still eating on it. Vacuum sealed it tastes as fresh today as when I initially put it in the freezer.
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My freind in KY runs 3700acres in row crops. He takes care of my corn, always has. I can a bunch every two years. Corn lookin great here . We go last rain we needed for corn to make. Lot of guys will do 200/ac , all will do 150 or better.
More beets tomorrow before IBO starts!
Shawn
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Been busy farming and crops are really starting to look good. We have been working at wheat harvest along with all taking care of all the other crops.
Bjrogg
First picture harvested wheat stubble with red clover cover crop reaching for the sun. This clover was seeded into the winter wheat early this spring. It’s really good for the ground and after more than a decade of using it I can really see the difference in my soil structure.
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Our sugar beets are really looking good. We were dry earlier but have been getting plenty of rain in July. Hasn’t made wheat harvest easy but the rest of the crops are sure growing. So are the weed and diseases.
Here’s a couple pictures of our sugar beets.
Bjrogg
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My Navy Beans are getting all the rain they need and maybe a little more than they’d like. The years of cover crops are helping the soil structure to perk and keep the water from laying in a pool. Beans hate standing water. So far so good.
Bjrogg
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My friend is keeping a Eagle Eye on me. Seems to be happy with everything so far. This fella has been watching me for several years. He or she has become very comfortable with my tractor. Really likes this big old dead cottonwood
Bjrogg
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I often deliver produce to my friends, like me they are elderly. Today I am trying to give away tomatoes, I have overloaded my normal recipients and am looking for new ones. So far today I gave away squash and green tomatoes at the gym and tomatoes to my lady barber.
I still have a lot to get rid of, I eat the ones that have a bug bite or spot on them and only give away the perfect ones. This is two days worth picking off 4 plants.
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Boy, I wish I was your neighbor!
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Indeed Mr Krewson!
Our tomatoes are green and growing. But Tomato Gravy!
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We finished wheat harvest yesterday. The last 140 acres didn’t make milling quality wheat. It was still good the day we started it, but we no more than got started and we got rained out. That was a very warm humid day and the wheat quality plummeted after it.
Bjrogg
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I’m not sure if I should be posting on this thread or not. Last year it seemed like I was welcome to show some of the farm along with the garden’s. I welcome sharing what for many has become a much removed and often misunderstood profession. If it isn’t appropriate I will halt.
Their was the pair watching me last evening. I think they have a nest nearby. This seems to be their favorite tree stand.
Bjrogg
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Our next crop to harvest will be Rye.
Really the only market around here for it is cover crop seed. We generally only plant enough to provide seed for our cover crops and a couple of neighbors.
Maybe I should explain what a cover crop is.
Cover crops try to keep everything green as long as possible. They are a crop we plant that grows up after harvest or before planting of our real crop. We don’t normally harvest the cover crops. They help to scavenge nutrients and stop soil erosion. They build organic mater and help the soil structure to help the ground perk. They are a crop we till into the soil.
This is Rye we saved for seed. It grows pretty tall. And then it quite often goes flat making it difficult to harvest.
Bjrogg
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BJ, as far as I'm concerned your "garden" is as interesting and important as the others. Our "real" farmers, the ones that feed the world are as much heroes as our other essential workers. :OK
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Thanks Pat. Believe me, not everyone seems to see it that way. Pretty sure there’s a bunch of people out there that hate what I do that have never met me, or know anything about my farming practices.
Bjrogg
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Thanks Pat. Believe me, not everyone seems to see it that way. Pretty sure there’s a bunch of people out there that hate what I do that have never met me, or know anything about my farming practices.
Bjrogg
Can't see why. From what I have read over the years your farming practices seem to be pretty darn good
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BJ, put them in your shoes for a 24 hour day or a week during planting or harvest and see what they say. I've never been a farmer but can appreciate what a difficult, unappreciated job it is or can be. My hat's off to you and farmers around the world. :OK
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Our next crop to harvest will be Rye.
Really the only market around here for it is cover crop seed.
The farm next to us in here in southern England grows rye to feed to their own hogs.
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Thanks Marc. I try to make modern technology and methods complement old practices. They really do work very well together.
Pat they’d probably have to be in them for a few decades minimum. I’ve been doing this full time for 38 years. Really though I have been doing it for more like 53. I grew up with it and I have seen so many advancements. I was doing this long before GPS or GMO’s . I hoed a lot of weeds.
Strelets I’m sure rye would make good feed. I’m sure it has lots of uses. Including making whiskey. I have been told my last name actually means rye farmer. Around here though non of the local grain elevators handle it.
Bjrogg
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I don’t think I have seen this pair before. They were by my dads farm yesterday cautiously sharing a meal. Not sure what it was, but the guy with the white head got his fill before the younger one could eat. There was also a hawk and several crows waiting in the trees for their turns.
Bjrogg
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Picture
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Sorry for the double post.
This is another modern practice that I have adopted. It’s a modern product made from a material as old as man himself. This is a Class A Biosolid. It is refined and processed waste from Detroit City.
In order to be a Class A Biosolid it must have all pathogens cooked out to a undetectable level. It also has a non vectoring product added to it to keep insects from being attracted to it. It can be used on any crops including your garden.
We were asked to try this product several years ago. I did some research and decided to try it on one of our fields. I could see the product works well as a fertilizer, but it isn’t nearly as convenient as commercial fertilizer. I see it as a renewable resource though and the next year I bought some to use.
Here it is regulated by our state. Across our northern boarder Canada classifies it simply as a fertilizer.
Here we have storage rules saying it has to be spread within 21 days of receiving product. All fields must have recent soil samples to monitor phosphate and nutrient levels. There’s a bunch of paperwork to do and documentation of applications. Because of Canada’s proximity to Detroit and it being classified as a fertilizer. Much of this product I’m told went north. Actually south.
Last year with the border closed (still is) that product needed a new home. I was told that half of Detroit’s waste is incinerated and half made into this product. They are hoping to get to 100% this product. They make 200 tons a day I’m told.
I think this is a good use of what most people see as waste. Like I said though. It isn’t nearly as convenient as commercial fertilizer. What would take a couple hours with conventional takes a few long days with the Biosolids application. It’s also dusty and has a odor. It is very bulky so it’s a huge pile of stuff to store and apply. After using it now for several years I’m learning how to use it more efficiently. I bought a litter spreader designed for spreading chicken litter. It’s much better suited for the job than a commercial fertilizer spreader.
It works very well with my cover crops. The red clover will scavenge the nutrients and trap them for my real crop.
If you have used a rest room in the Motor City in the past several years. Who knows. There could be a small part of you on my farm now.
Bjrogg
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I use my GPS to make a coverage map showing where I already applied product. As you can imagine it would be difficult to see where I applied without one. This makes application much more accurate.
Bjrogg
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Thanks Pat. Believe me, not everyone seems to see it that way. Pretty sure there’s a bunch of people out there that hate what I do that have never met me, or know anything about my farming practices.
ignorance is hard to defeat.
I really admire your work. The sheer amount of commitment, the knowledge needed and the strength of mind to face the weather and the whims of nature is not for everyone.
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This is the first year we have grown a garden. We planted pumpkins, gourds, and sunflowers. It's been a lot of fun to watch them grow. We walk the perimeter at least once a day.
(https://i.imgur.com/M1YWv6b.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/FSiRK6u.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/HMyKh13.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/RM1pFUf.jpg)
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Ain’t it cool Clint? My favorite part is watching everything grow.
That’s a lot of pumpkins. You’ll be able to see them grow by the day.
Bjrogg
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Here’s a picture of our red clover again. It’s growing nice and soon will be above the wheat stubble.
Bjrogg
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Our Navy Beans are looking really good to. Really they are looking to good. White mold is a nasty fungus we battle with in our climate. It thrives in cool damp conditions with lots of vegetative growth. These beans have great potential if they don’t develop white mold. The mold will rot the straw and stems. Sometimes the beans are even fine but the pods fall off the rotten straw. Rotten straw is all you are left with to harvest.
The same weather that is perfect for setting pods is perfect for white mold. To hard to guess what this crop will amount to, but it sure looks pretty now.
Bjrogg
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Speaking of weather. This field of Navy Beans got torn up pretty good by hail. It really shredded them. It should look like the other picture. Hard to say yet how this field will fair. It’s not looking as pretty right now though.
Bjrogg
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I have to say that is a lot of Pumpkin. I only planted 2 vines which have set 3 fruit so far one of which is already starting to turn orange...the flowers are edible
Planted some Chard this year but I find I prefer Lambs Quarter, also planted a few Leeks
(https://i.imgur.com/2wu4JBd.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ieyKRWH.jpg)
And of course some Turnips
(https://i.imgur.com/8PR3dUY.jpg)
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Tomatoes are fruiting well. potatoes are flowering, sweet corn is 5' high, everything else is doing pretty good in this extreme heat wave. Pour the water to it
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I had some garden left over after I planted my normal stuff so I planted a 20x20 cantaloupe patch, I only had 5 seeds come up but they branched and spread out to completely cover the area.
I counted the cantaloupes yesterday and found I had 38 in this small patch, a couple were turning tan.
(https://i.imgur.com/IHb5WwW.jpg)
A critter had taken a bite out of one of the ones that was almost ready so I picked it even though it needed a few more days in the field.
(https://i.imgur.com/46zoSqb.jpg)
I cut it up and found it was pretty good, last year I forgot to save seed, I am not making that mistake this year. This is an heirloom cantaloupe with a French name, I can't remember what it is and can't find the same in any of the heirloom seed catalogs.
(https://i.imgur.com/rJwarGq.jpg)
I put up an extra low strand of electric fence to keep the crawling critters like coons and ground hogs out of my patch after I saw that one cantaloupe had been munched on.
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drying time, first apples then green tomatoes.
I like to fry green tomatoes, squash and okra together in a skillet, I have found dried green tomatoes rehydrated and breaded makes the perfect addition to a skillet of squash and okra. The key is to add them and some sliced onion when the other ingredients are 75% done. If you add them earlier they will burn.
Apples;
(https://i.imgur.com/FrouKL2.jpg)
About 50 small apples dried, there were a lot of worms and bad spots.
(https://i.imgur.com/kLnQTfL.jpg)
Loading green tomatoes in the dehydrator.
(https://i.imgur.com/aYJ1knk.jpg)
Loaded and drying.
(https://i.imgur.com/z3wO9WJ.jpg)
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Sound yummy Eric.
My Navy Beans are almost done blossoming. The pods are “setting” and growing nicely. First picture you can see earlier blossoms have pollinated and pods are getting bigger lower in canopy. Higher later blossoms are just starting “pin” beans. Each blossom has the potential for 6 to 8 beans normal average. Second picture shows more of a close up of pin beans just emerging from pollinated blossoms
Bjrogg
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I see I have a couple watermelons starting to form. I enjoy watching how fast they can grow
Bjrogg
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If it is so much more hassle to spread, hopefully it is cheaper to get? Hopefully the techxperts cooked that stuff well enough :D, but it's probably better than the chemical stuff they mixed up before.
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The biggest problem isn’t the work involved spreading it although it is a consideration. The biggest problem is the storage limitations and requirements that it be spread within 21 days. It’s being made every day but we don’t have land available to spread year round. I probably wouldn’t work at using it as much as I do if I didn’t think it was a good idea and a renewable resource that has previously been treated as a waste product. I think this particular product has potential. It still has its problems, but I think they are headed in the right direction.
Bjrogg
PS I’ve been told by more than one person. If it isn’t cooked enough you will have tomatoes growing everywhere. So far no tomatoes
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Love watching the watermelons grow. This one went from tiny pollinated blossom to about a foot long melon in 8 days. It’s still growing
Bjrogg
First picture 8 days ago
Second last night
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Lots of white mold showing up in bean fields around here now. I’m hoping that our wider row spacing and fungicide applications will help control it. It won’t eliminate it. It’s been like a jungle here since beginning of July. Lots of fungus growing here with heavy dews and more than adequate rainfall.
The spores get in the plants through the blossoms. Then they spread over entire plant if conditions permit. Here you can see where blossom was infected. The stem of pod is dead and rotting. The white mold is growing on surface of stem. In the conditions we have now this mold can spread rapidly. I’m hoping for a few hot dry days but not really in the forecast.
Our beautiful bean field could end up being a total train wreck. Nothing I can do about it now. Up to the good lord.
Bjrogg
Here is the first symptoms of white mold. The spores were present weeks ago. The plants have been exposed. The environment is ideal for it to spread and grow. Hopefully we have adequate control.
I’m really nervous though. I know what this disease can do.
Bjrogg
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BJ, I'm dealing with that on my pumpkins. They are slowly dying off. I've applied neem oil and whole milk mixed 50/50 with water. Those are two recommendations from other pumpkin farmers.
You are right about the tomato seeds. The human body does not break them down. Anytime you have a sewer or sludge spill tomatoes will sprout up.
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Yeah Clint. There are several fungal diseases that thrive in this area. Most have really long scientific names. It helps to know exactly which ones you are dealing with. They have different “life cycles “ and environmental conditions they actively grow in. The white mold I described thrives in cooler temperatures. From about 50 for lows with heavy dews to about 75 for highs with adequate rainfall. It actually doesn’t like temperatures above 85. Not say it can’t survive above 85 but it doesn’t spread and thrive like it does with those conditions.
Around here the powdery mildew usually gets the pumpkins way before the frost does. I have heard of the soap trick before. One of the products used here for white mold is actually peroxide. It is not extremely effective. It is more of a try to control it after it is actively growing. It needs to come in contact with the mold and when the canopy is dense, it’s hard to penetrate it and get product where it’s needed.
Most of the products I use are considered preventatives. They help protect and slow the spread. They are very short lived products that offer limited protection but hopefully control disease long enough to get to maturity. The timing of application is very important.
The soap might be both preventative and curative. I’m not sure. Do they recommend a certain time to apply? Or a “strategy “.
Bjrogg
PS we have still been getting rain every day, but the temperatures have gotten into the 80’s. Hopefully Mother Nature slows this disease down for us.
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Lots of white mold showing up in bean fields around here now. I’m hoping that our wider row spacing and fungicide applications will help control it. It won’t eliminate it. It’s been like a jungle here since beginning of July. Lots of fungus growing here with heavy dews and more than adequate rainfall.
The spores get in the plants through the blossoms. Then they spread over entire plant if conditions permit. Here you can see where blossom was infected. The stem of pod is dead and rotting. The white mold is growing on surface of stem. In the conditions we have now this mold can spread rapidly. I’m hoping for a few hot dry days but not really in the forecast.
Our beautiful bean field could end up being a total train wreck. Nothing I can do about it now. Up to the good lord.
Bjrogg
Here is the first symptoms of white mold. The spores were present weeks ago. The plants have been exposed. The environment is ideal for it to spread and grow. Hopefully we have adequate control.
I’m really nervous though. I know what this disease can do.
Bjrogg
Yes I've seen that before, not good. I'm surprised I haven't seen any in my garden since we've had well over a month of wet and cool weather. Good for cool weather crops though. My Turnips were excellent and my Rutabaga are huge.
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Yeah Marc. It’s been some really good growing weather here. The same good growing conditions seem to bring on the disease problems.
Our seed corn companies say that the seed in our bags has the potential to produce a 500 bu. Crop. The minute we put it in the ground it's potential goes down. Always something out there that wants to eat, kill or infect it. Weather that doesn't cooperate. Nutritional problems and the list goes on. We try to control what we can and hope for 200 bu.
Here's a picture of cucumbers that were lush, green and full of blossoms just a couple weeks ago. They died off almost over night about a week ago. Just the ends of the vines are green now. I’m not sure what got them. My guess would be powdery mildew but I honestly didn't see it in them. It might be some type of seed born blight. It was very very fast. One day they were lush and green. Next yellow and then dead.
Bjrogg
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Same thing happened to my cantaloupe patch, dead overnight just as the bulk of the cantaloupes were getting ripe. I had one good one to eat and threw away 40 or so.
(https://i.imgur.com/jTmZBlp.jpg)
My two little rows of okra produce a washtub full every couple of days, I started pickling the excess. I have to experiment, this time I made garlic, jalapino pickled okra with Walmart pickling spices and apple cider vinegar.
(https://i.imgur.com/Dmi7nWS.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/MGwo5Ml.jpg)
I put two small hills of icebox watermelons out, they surprised me and produced 15 melons.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZAtaCeq.jpg)
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I love pickled okra. We haven't grown any in the last few years. The pickled okra chopped up fine with a little of the juice and mayo and garlic makes a very good tarter sauce for fried fish or shrimp.
The recipe we have doesn't require a hot water bath. You bring the pickling mixture to a boil and pour it over the okra, garlic and dill seed in the jar. Let it sit 2 weeks and they are ready to eat.
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Your tarter sauce sound easy and good. I water bath my okra just to be on the safe side, if I make a lot it may take me years to eat it all.
Years ago I experimented with different stuff to come up with a good tarter sauce recipe.
This one has been a hit at every fish fry I took it to.
1 Cup mayo
1 Tbsp mustard
2 Tsp lemon juice
½ Cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp chopped dill pickle
½ tsp garlic salt (¼ tsp if you don’t like garlic)
1/8 tsp black pepper
Mix ingredients and chill, makes about a pint. Will keep for months in the frig.
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Have you guys checked for vine borers?
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Or cutworms
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I guess I can’t say for sure Clint. Or Marc. I didn’t do a real lot of investigating. At first glance I thought it looked more like a disease or blight than insects. Could be wrong though. I’ve had problems with cut worms in my crops but not my raised beds. Rye cover crop is a good environment for cut worms so I am familiar with them.
Like the seed companies say. Always something.
Bjrogg
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Been picking apples on the red delicious tree and sent a few buckets to the farmers market. Also picking the tomatoes,roma and jet star as well as the peppers,jalapeno,poblano and anaheim. Put in a row of green beans for a Fall crop and they have sprouted nicely. Went up to Oskaloosa to the sweet corn farm and got a couple dozen ears for supper tonight.
The field corn and soybeans on the farms around here are looking pretty good these days so far.
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Yeah Marc. It’s been some really good growing weather here. The same good growing conditions seem to bring on the disease problems.
Our seed corn companies say that the seed in our bags has the potential to produce a 500 bu. Crop. The minute we put it in the ground it's potential goes down. Always something out there that wants to eat, kill or infect it. Weather that doesn't cooperate. Nutritional problems and the list goes on. We try to control what we can and hope for 200 bu.
Here's a picture of cucumbers that were lush, green and full of blossoms just a couple weeks ago. They died off almost over night about a week ago. Just the ends of the vines are green now. I’m not sure what got them. My guess would be powdery mildew but I honestly didn't see it in them. It might be some type of seed born blight. It was very very fast. One day they were lush and green. Next yellow and then dead.
Bjrogg
that just happened to me with my cantaloupe and spaghetti squash.... found balls of bugs in there.... like, masses of bugs. it was strange because they wernt traveling around the plant to eat it... they were just in one spot....
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It's been a good year here from the garden.
Cupboards and freezer full of goodies to last through the next year.Canned peaches/pears/salsa/version of V8 juice/grape and plum jam.Froze squash/green beans/many different types of peppers/sweet corn/and pickled beets.Still making apple sauce and pie filling from the apple tree.Popcorn and hazel nuts are drying down too.Had plenty of black raspberries from previous year.
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I am taking my garden down to get it ready to plant my winter greens, everything but the okra has dried up anyway.
(https://i.imgur.com/b0dZreR.jpg)
I have a friend who said he could get me a load of cotton gin waste, I haven't heard from him in a while but hopefully I can get a load to work into my soil before planting time.
I posted this picture on Facebook, few of my gardening friends knew they existed. I use a lot of T posts in my garden for trellises, from spring to fall they seem to concrete themselves into the ground. In the past I would manhandle them out often throwing my back out in the process.
I finally wised up and bought a T post puller from Tractor Supply. It cost $40 but is built like a tank and will snatch any T post out of the ground easily no matter how deep or long it has been in the ground. I puled some posts that had been in the ground for at least 30 years with it, they came right out.
(https://i.imgur.com/oEUC4SZ.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/k0A3wnd.jpg)
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Eric - thanks for the tip, I've been using my old handy-man jack aka fence post jack for, wow, 50 years and it still works but the one from Tractor Supply looks a lot better.
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Harvested the last of my pointed cabbage today along with one of the larger of the rutabaga, the cabbage is about 8" in D.
(https://i.imgur.com/3M9r4J2.jpg)
I maybe planted a bit too many rutabaga this year. They are good keepers lasting several months in cold storage and I love them but I'll probably get well over a dozen of them and all of them more than 4' across
(https://i.imgur.com/fSRvHV9.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/CGg9HLF.jpg)
And I picked some beets and carrots for lunch, they were excellent
(https://i.imgur.com/E2AXt2v.jpg)
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Winter garden planted, I put out a patch of exotic multicolored kale, purple top turnips with some daikon radishes mixed in, collards, several patches of Siberian kale and one patch of strictly Daikon radishes. Here they are called deer radishes because the deer love them, I plant them for myself to eat.
(https://i.imgur.com/swEO7RV.jpg)
I always hand sow seeds too thick so I made a seed shaker this year, it appears to work well.
(https://i.imgur.com/Qde5SPO.jpg)
While I was in a planting mood I planted my yearly deer food plot down in the woods below my house as well. I put up an electric fence to keep the deer out until the plants have time to get up and going. Without the fence the der will nip off the plants as soon as they come out of the ground and turn the plot into bare ground.
(https://i.imgur.com/yOiqQCR.jpg)
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I am jealous of those of you that can put a garden in the ground!
We have gophers so bad at my place that everything has wire under it, around the side and over the top.
What the gophers don't get the deer, turkeys and packrats do.
I have built around 20 3'X6'X18" boxes for my wife's garden.
Then I have all of the mouse and rat traps....
Our most productive plant this summer was spaghetti squash.
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It’s raining today so I will try to give a little update from the farm.
We have been very busy and we got a enormous amount of work done in the past week. Harvest season has started for several of the fall harvest crops.
Our Navy Beans one of the fussier ones. We need good weather to harvest them. Both the beans and the straw has to be dry enough. Before harvest we had a rainy spell. When it got right everyone was going. My son has a combine and we have one to. We worked together and made the best use of our machines and trucks. We finished up ours Sunday. His Monday and two of the neighbors yesterday. Just in time. This rain is going to shut bean harvest down for the minimum of 7 days after it quits raining. It’s supposed to rain until Sunday.
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A couple decades ago the sugar industry was having trouble. The farmers formed a Cooperative and we purchased Pioneer Sugar. A few years later we added Big Chief sugar and now we are Pioneer Big Chief Michigan Sugar. We are still struggling at times but we have managed to make things work.
We own 4 operating sugar factories that are all approximately 120 years old. We have made many improvements, but they also use a lot of very old and proven technologies. Many of the processes take very experienced operators to get the right results.
This year we got a early planting and our crop really took off. We usually try to grow enough acres to keep our factories processing sugar from start up till end of March. Once we start factories we want to run them 24-7 till all the beets are processed. Shutting them down and starting them back up again is complicated and expensive.
We take samples of fields starting in July to try to determine what yield to expect for permanent piles. How many tons total to expect and how many days it will take to process them. We can’t start “permanent piles till weather is cool enough for the roots to keep. We have to pile them before weather gets to cold and can’t harvest frozen beets. This is all a very scientific wild a$$ guess, but we try very hard to get as close as we can.
This year we are expecting a very big crop. We know we can’t wait till October 20 to start or we will never get the beets all processed before April and they will spoil on the piles. Then we have to pay to dispose of them and nobody likes that.
When we experience this problem we start a early dig process. Instead of piling beets in permanent piles, we pile them at the ends of our fields. We dig on a schedule. It’s kinda complicated but we have what we call a lottery. We sign up acres, they draw the order their dug. When it’s your turn you have to dig no matter what the weather is. This has its problems, but it lets the factories start early and we keep them processing fresh beets.
This year we dug 58 acres of round one lottery. They have three rounds scheduled so we might have to dig more in future. I’m just glad these are off. Really would hate to be digging today or anytime in the next week.
Here is a picture looking down the defoliated beets. The topper removes the leave with rubber paddles. Then I dig them with the lifter and load the carts. Normally the carts would put them on our trucks, but for early dig they dump them at field edge.
If you look hard enough you can see the beets piled at field edge
Bjrogg
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We also spread rye cover crop after harvesting beets and tillage.
We also got corn chopped and piled for my son. Lots of stuff to keep going.
This morning it’s raining and my wife said it’s time to pick my biggest watermelon. We don’t have a lot of experience with growing them so I’m not positive it time, but being a good husband I picked it. Sure looks ready. Thing is huge.
Just shy of 42 lbs
Bjrogg
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42lbs! sheesh! thats a big watermelon!
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I used a salt shaker like jar to try to have a more even broadcast of my winter green seed, seems like it worked just fine
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My little deer plot down in the woods is looking better than it ever did, we had about 10 inches of rain in the week after my planting it. I cut one sweetgum that had grown enough in the past few years to shade the up hill part of the plot.
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We dug these early beets last Sunday and Monday. We piled them on the edges of our field.
They will go directly to the factories to be processed and made into sugar.
The machine that loads them is called a Maus. It is supposed to clean more dirt out of the beets and load them on the trucks on the road. These beets were really clean when we harvested them. We’ve done lots of modifications to our lifter and it really cleans the beets good and still has pretty darn good capacity. In the muddy conditions the Maus is loading these in I’m guessing they are getting a little dirtier. Sure glad I didn’t have to dig them in these conditions.
Bjrogg
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Well we still didn’t cut open the biggest watermelon. We have a 4-H group that hold there meetings in my man cave Sunday. I think we are going to have a little fun with those kids and the big melon.
Decided to pick one of the smaller ones about the same age and cut it open. Rhine was a little thick yet, but the flavor a texture was really good. We pretty much devoured the small melon on the spot.
Bjrogg
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Have had five really good watermelons so far. Most were devoured on the spot. Last night was actually the first one that we had cooled down in the fridge. Man those are so good. The weather has been staying on the warm side here, but raining to. Still been busy, but harder to get things done.
We did get our winter wheat planted and it’s up nice. We are pretty fortunate as many still don’t have their edible beans off and very few soybeans harvested yet. We don’t have many acres of them, but we don’t have any soybeans harvested either. Definitely getting to be time to be done planting wheat and lots haven’t even started. Glad our wheat is planted and up.
Bjrogg
Here’s a selfie from the tractor. Planting wheat
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The English walnuts are about finished dropping. I managed to get a few picked up before the critters got them.
Here’s a few. Man I really like English Walnuts. They are worth the work. Wish the critters weren’t so good at getting them.
Bjrogg
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Corn crop looks pretty good, but moisture is still a bit to high. I think when it quits raining maybe it will dry down quickly. I hope it doesn’t have to stay out long. It’s still plenty early but the corn around here all died prematurely from a host of diseases making its stalks weak. A big wind would not be welcome now. It would certainly knock a lot of corn over.
Corn was mature enough to fill out good. At least ours was. Not sure about the longer day varieties. Cobs are filled out to the tips.
Bjrogg
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Wheat is up nice. Had a nice sunset even though it was raining.
Bjrogg
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Most of my greens patch is doing well. My collard patch is a failure, collard seed is slow to germinate, we had so much rain that the crab grass got the jump on the patch and overtook the collard plants. The first frost will kill the crabgrass but it will be too late for the collards.
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Eric, is that today's frost on the crabgrass in the last pic? We had 33 degrees this morning, no wind or breeze and no frost here on out property.
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No, just a heavy dew, early morning and about 45 degrees.
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We had a good week. We switched our combine over for corn and my son’s combine to soybeans.
I harvested our soybeans, a neighbors and my son’s.
My nephew ran our combine and finished our dry corn to haul to elevator.
Then we all worked at my son’s high moisture corn for feeding his cattle. Here’s the last load for his bunker. Nice and full. Need to clean corners of cart out because it will be carting sugar beets tomorrow.
Bjrogg
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We run this corn through a roller mill to crack it. It helps the cattle digest it more efficiently and also helps it pack on pile so we can drive on it with push tractor. Ideally we like the moisture of the corn to be from 27 to 24 percent moisture. Much drier than 24 and it gets like driving on sugar. You can’t pack it good enough to drive on it with tractor. If you get stuck on this pile your going to need a sky hook to get out. This was getting just under 24 and you had to be really careful.
Bjrogg
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Here’s push tractor. As name suggests it push the cracked corn up on the pile and packs it.
Bjrogg
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The corn will ensile ( not sure how to spell that, but kinda like ferment ) and it will keep without spoiling that way. You want to limit it exposure to oxygen though so we cover the top with plastic to keep oxygen out. Then we put a thin layer of lime over top to hold the plastic down and keep wind from blowing it away.
Bjrogg
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Still have some corn for my son to dry yet but it needs a few more days.
We will work at switching everything over to harvest permanent pile sugar beets today and hopefully be digging beets tomorrow
Bjrogg
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We got a lot done again today. Didn’t get a beet dug, but we got a lot of stuff ready to dig them.
My nephew fixed exhaust manifold on the 1985 Kenworth. Five snapped off studs. Managed to get them all out and hooked back up to trailer ready for early morning.
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I fixed broken digger wheel, straightened four grab rolls and got beet digger in good shape.
Bjrogg
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My brother replace spindle on cart. Took funnels out to switch it from grain to sugar beets.
Bjrogg
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Filled the spreader up with rye seed for planting cover crop after harvesting beets.
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Plus removed tarps from trucks, greased topper, carts and beet digger. Moved digger, two carts, topper, tool truck, rye spreader, loader and tillage tractor to the field.
Tomorrow we dig beets with a full crew. Hopefully we have another good day.
Bjrogg
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Looks like a family operation going on there. Fall is a busy time for farmers
Good days are in short supply up here. Pretty well nothing but rain and cool weather for the last couple months. Good for some thing like Rutabaga, Beets and Parsnips which have done well this year. Didn't get any freezing weather till a couple nights ago though which is unusual as we generally get some frost by early October.
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Got a few herbs to dry and some celery left other than that frost got everything
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Same here Marc. Except we haven’t had a frost yet. I think tonight we will get a good frost. Still a lot of green leaves on the trees yet.
The crops did really well here this year. Our sugar beets are absolutely amazing. To amazing. At this point we don’t think there’s any way we can process our entire crop before it spoils on piles next April.
We are at this point instructed to not harvest 5% of our crop.
The beets we dug today are running over 47 tons per acre. Normally 37 would be pretty good bragging yields. The really crazy thing is these are not our best beets. I had to replant this field and it has a reduced stand.
The sugar content is pretty low yet. Hopefully it comes up some after frost and some sunshine.
Right now we would trade tons for sugar content.
Bjrogg
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A couple pictures of the sunrise this morning.
Bjrogg
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Just came in from pulling the pepper and tomato plants.
Still need to haul off the piles of dead plants, clean up the scattered funky tomatoes that are on the ground and put away the cages.
2021 garden is officially over and we did pretty well this year with the veggies and fruit. Time to let the ground rest till next Spring.
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I threw out some ammonium nitrate on my greens and they took off.
My daikon radishes are ready to pick as well. These things are good if you haven't tried them.
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Those radishes look very healthy Eric. I don’t know that variety. Looks like a lot of eating there though.
Around here we plant them as a cover crop. We only use specific ones though. We use what we call a trap verities. We use them to lower population of sugar beet cyst nematodes. The female cyst are tricked into thinking that the radish is a good host for them. They populate the radish but then the radish doesn’t support them and “traps” them. When used properly they can greatly reduce the population. There are only a few trap varieties. Many other non beet growing areas use tillage varieties. These can grow faster and deeper but actually are a host for the cyst. Actually increasing the population.
We finished harvesting our beets two days ago. Amazing yield. Unfortunately the sugar content is low. It’s going to be one of those sweet but sad stories.
We are leaving 5% of our crop unharvested. We are also try to “buy” another 7,500 acres to remain unharvested. We are estimating a 5.9 million ton crop. The most we have ever been able to process has been 5 million tons. That leaves .9 million tons that will probably have to be destroyed.
We personally dug 2,476 more tons this year than last from 19.2 less acres.
However last year we produced approximately 300,000 more lbs of sugar from those beets because they had a high sugar content. Even though their where 2.476 less tons of beets.
By the time we get nothing but expense from 19 acres and have to pay others not to harvest another 7,500 acres. Produce less sugar and probably have to haul even more rotten beets back to the field next spring. Well I’m think our bumper crop isn’t going to make us rich. Hopefully it pays the bills. One of which is a huge trucking cost.
Sometimes it seems like you just can’t win.
Oh well we are still enjoying watermelon. Picked the last of them a couple weeks ago. Man they sure are sweet and juicy. Gonna plant some again next year
Bjrogg
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My kale up close and personal today, I can't get anyone to come pick for free, I give it away.
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It looks like I’m not the only one with a bumper crop going to waste. Hope you find a home for some of it Eric.
Bjrogg