Guest guest Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 Just wanted to update with our "farming" activities. For all that don't know, I found a couple who own a farm on Craig's List who were willing to rent us out garden space. We started planting strawberries and veggies back in February. This is what we've accomplished so far: Harvested: Lots of greens-mustard, kale, lettuce. Also, beets, carrots, snow peas, strawberries. These were all wonderful! I loved baked beets in browned butter. I planted a small carrot variety because I didn't know how they would grow out there-I've only grown them in raised beds before. They came out fabulous, so I got some more seeds for larger carrots to plant in the fall for a winter harvest. I also got more beet seeds for a fall/winter harvest. YUM! What is coming along: Approx. 140 tomato plants. Most of these I grew from seed. Almost all of them are heirloom types. The exceptions I made were Sungold cherry tomatoes (yum) and beefsteak (my husband insisted on these, because he doesn't think his co-workers will "get" heirloom tomatoes. I found myself turning into The Tomato Nazi-I told him if they didn't want "real" tomatoes, then I didn't want to sell them to his co-workers! *snort* I think when they taste REAL tomatoes, they'll be easily won over. The tomato plants look AWESOME! I've used fish emulsion to get good growth, and then switched to an organic complete fertilizer to encourage good bloom. I'm slightly scared of what will happen when they all start ripening. ;-) Pepper plants-approx. 50. Again, I grew almost all of these from seed. A mix of hot and sweet bell peppers. These were a lot harder to grow then the tomatoes were. So they were not as big when I planted them, but they have suddenly taken off after sitting around for a good month. Lots of baby peppers forming. Eggplant-I think I have around 20. I Some of these were grown from seed, but I lost a bunch so I ended up buying some plants. I selected types that were heirloom, or small fruited for grilling. Tomatillos-6 plants. I grew these from seed too. One step away from a weed, I had no problems starting these from seed. Zucchini, yellow squash-approx 10 green and 5 yellow. The green are an heirloom called Cocozelle. Beans-I have both pole and bush green beans going. I attempted to start the pole beans in the ground three times. Was harder than the bush beans. The pole beans suffered from getting eaten by some kind of bug, and also some just did not come up, probably the soil was too wet. I started some in pots and transplanted them, which worked out a lot better. The larger transplant size was nice because the bugs didn't immediately defoliate them, so they were able to rapidly outgrow the bugs attempts to consume them. I started-Kentucky Wonder, Blue Lake, Yard Long, Red Noodle, and French Filet. The bush beans are again Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake, bush forms. I've started a new batch in pots for a succession crops. Cucumbers-I planted a mix of regular and pickling cucumbers. I personally prefer the little pickling cucumbers, but i planted both types in case some people want "regular" looking cukes. I started these in pots too and transplanted them out. Melons-I planted Moon and Stars watermelon, a Honeydew, and two different heirloom cantaloupe. Melons LOVE fish emulsion, and have taken off well. i just planted the seeds in the ground. They are heavy feeders, so i continued the applications of fish emulsion. They have a ton of blooms on them, no baby melons spotted yet. Potatoes- I planted out both potatoes and sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes were just ones from the supermarket that had sprouted on the counter. I stuck them in water until they formed roots and then planted them out. I've never grown them before so I treated them like I did the regular potatoes-in trenches covered with straw. The regular potatoes I planted were blue potatoes and a pink fingerling. The potatoes just started flowering (which I pinched off) so in two weeks they should be ready to start digging some small new potatoes. Misc-I have a few spaghetti squash started, not many because i just didn't get too many started with everything else I had going. Wish I had more, but oh, well. Herbs-I set aside an area for herbs-tons of basil, dill, thyme rosemary, stevia, sweet marjoram, lemon balm, catnip, lemon grass, some sunflowers, nasturtiums, garlic chives, and probably a few more things I can't remember right now. What didn't work-corn. I planted out a packet of silver queen sweet corn, but it was way too early and they froze. I didn't bother to replace them when they died because they take up so much space and it takes a lot to get a decent succession crop. Onions-Bob, the owner of the farm, had started a bunch of cippoline onions from seed. They have almost all been eaten by pocket gophers. We can't seem to find a product to repel the gophers. They don't seem to bother anything else, but apparently they LOVE those onions. The damage is hard to detect until the plant keel over from the onions being eaten underground. Whew! I am tired just thinking about everything we've done, lol. We have a list of people my husband works with who are interested in buying our produce, and I also want to try out selling at some of the local farmers markets when we get really overwhelmed with produce. Anyone else have any gardening updates? We'd love to hear! :-)Cyndi Download the AOL Classifieds Toolbar for local deals at your fingertips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 14, 2009 Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 Wow - that's amazing - you did a great job! I started around April 2 with turnips, cherry tomatoes, cantalope, & red peppers from seed. All the seedlings came up great. In the first week of May, I took them outside to transplant them. Then I got called into work tons of hours until late May. Virtually all but maybe 5 plants died. So I started over again with seeds directly in the garden (not raised beds). My collard greens and my wheatgrass are coming in great. The five plants that survived are doing well but I'm not sure what they are yet! I just planted the second set of seeds about 7 days ago (really, really late I know!) so nothing has happened - they are mostly kale, chard, & tomatoes. Oh, and we picked up two more blackberry bushes. I still have a lettuce packet of seeds to plant and some pumpkin seeds which I hope to get in tomorrow night. Barb -- In , cyndikrall wrote: > > Just wanted to update with our " farming " activities. For all that don't > know, I found a couple who own a farm on Craig's List who were willing to rent > us out garden space. We started planting strawberries and veggies back in > February. This is what we've accomplished so far: > > Harvested: > > Lots of greens-mustard, kale, lettuce. Also, beets, carrots, snow peas, > strawberries. These were all wonderful! I loved baked beets in browned butter. > I planted a small carrot variety because I didn't know how they would grow > out there-I've only grown them in raised beds before. They came out > fabulous, so I got some more seeds for larger carrots to plant in the fall for a > winter harvest. I also got more beet seeds for a fall/winter harvest. YUM! > > What is coming along: > > Approx. 140 tomato plants. Most of these I grew from seed. Almost all of > them are heirloom types. The exceptions I made were Sungold cherry tomatoes > (yum) and beefsteak (my husband insisted on these, because he doesn't think > his co-workers will " get " heirloom tomatoes. I found myself turning into > The Tomato Nazi-I told him if they didn't want " real " tomatoes, then I didn't > want to sell them to his co-workers! *snort* I think when they taste REAL > tomatoes, they'll be easily won over. The tomato plants look AWESOME! I've > used fish emulsion to get good growth, and then switched to an organic > complete fertilizer to encourage good bloom. I'm slightly scared of what will > happen when they all start ripening. ;-) > > Pepper plants-approx. 50. Again, I grew almost all of these from seed. A > mix of hot and sweet bell peppers. These were a lot harder to grow then the > tomatoes were. So they were not as big when I planted them, but they have > suddenly taken off after sitting around for a good month. Lots of baby > peppers forming. > > Eggplant-I think I have around 20. I Some of these were grown from seed, > but I lost a bunch so I ended up buying some plants. I selected types that > were heirloom, or small fruited for grilling. > > Tomatillos-6 plants. I grew these from seed too. One step away from a weed, > I had no problems starting these from seed. > > Zucchini, yellow squash-approx 10 green and 5 yellow. The green are an > heirloom called Cocozelle. > > Beans-I have both pole and bush green beans going. I attempted to start the > pole beans in the ground three times. Was harder than the bush beans. The > pole beans suffered from getting eaten by some kind of bug, and also some > just did not come up, probably the soil was too wet. I started some in pots > and transplanted them, which worked out a lot better. The larger transplant > size was nice because the bugs didn't immediately defoliate them, so they > were able to rapidly outgrow the bugs attempts to consume them. I > started-Kentucky Wonder, Blue Lake, Yard Long, Red Noodle, and French Filet. The > bush beans are again Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake, bush forms. I've started a > new batch in pots for a succession crops. > > Cucumbers-I planted a mix of regular and pickling cucumbers. I personally > prefer the little pickling cucumbers, but i planted both types in case some > people want " regular " looking cukes. I started these in pots too and > transplanted them out. > > Melons-I planted Moon and Stars watermelon, a Honeydew, and two different > heirloom cantaloupe. Melons LOVE fish emulsion, and have taken off well. i > just planted the seeds in the ground. They are heavy feeders, so i continued > the applications of fish emulsion. They have a ton of blooms on them, no > baby melons spotted yet. > > Potatoes- I planted out both potatoes and sweet potatoes. The sweet > potatoes were just ones from the supermarket that had sprouted on the counter. I > stuck them in water until they formed roots and then planted them out. > I've never grown them before so I treated them like I did the regular > potatoes-in trenches covered with straw. The regular potatoes I planted were blue > potatoes and a pink fingerling. The potatoes just started flowering (which I > pinched off) so in two weeks they should be ready to start digging some > small new potatoes. > > Misc-I have a few spaghetti squash started, not many because i just didn't > get too many started with everything else I had going. Wish I had more, but > oh, well. Herbs-I set aside an area for herbs-tons of basil, dill, thyme > rosemary, stevia, sweet marjoram, lemon balm, catnip, lemon grass, some > sunflowers, nasturtiums, garlic chives, and probably a few more things I can't > remember right now. > > What didn't work-corn. I planted out a packet of silver queen sweet corn, > but it was way too early and they froze. I didn't bother to replace them > when they died because they take up so much space and it takes a lot to get a > decent succession crop. Onions-Bob, the owner of the farm, had started a > bunch of cippoline onions from seed. They have almost all been eaten by > pocket gophers. We can't seem to find a product to repel the gophers. They don't > seem to bother anything else, but apparently they LOVE those onions. The > damage is hard to detect until the plant keel over from the onions being > eaten underground. > > Whew! I am tired just thinking about everything we've done, lol. We have a > list of people my husband works with who are interested in buying our > produce, and I also want to try out selling at some of the local farmers markets > when we get really overwhelmed with produce. > > Anyone else have any gardening updates? We'd love to hear! :-) > Cyndi > > > **************Download the AOL Classifieds Toolbar for local deals at your > fingertips. > (http://toolbar.aol.com/aolclassifieds/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000004) > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 I could not hold down a full time job and keep the garden going like this either. It's a lot of work. Good luck getting your veggies going! Cyndi In a message dated 6/14/2009 12:57:06 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, FirstYrs08 writes: Wow - that's amazing - you did a great job!I started around April 2 with turnips, cherry tomatoes, cantalope, & red peppers from seed. All the seedlings came up great. In the first week of May, I took them outside to transplant them. Then I got called into work tons of hours until late May. Virtually all but maybe 5 plants died. So I started over again with seeds directly in the garden (not raised beds). My collard greens and my wheatgrass are coming in great. The five plants that survived are doing well but I'm not sure what they are yet! I just planted the second set of seeds about 7 days ago (really, really late I know!) so nothing has happened - they are mostly kale, chard, & tomatoes. Oh, and we picked up two more blackberry bushes. I still have a lettuce packet of seeds to plant and some pumpkin seeds which I hope to get in tomorrow night. Barb-- In , cyndikrall wrote:>> Just wanted to update with our "farming" activities. For all that don't > know, I found a couple who own a farm on Craig's List who were willing to rent > us out garden space. We started planting strawberries and veggies back in > February. This is what we've accomplished so far:> > Harvested:> > Lots of greens-mustard, kale, lettuce. Also, beets, carrots, snow peas, > strawberries. These were all wonderful! I loved baked beets in browned butter. > I planted a small carrot variety because I didn't know how they would grow > out there-I've only grown them in raised beds before. They came out > fabulous, so I got some more seeds for larger carrots to plant in the fall for a > winter harvest. I also got more beet seeds for a fall/winter harvest. YUM!> > What is coming along:> > Approx. 140 tomato plants. Most of these I grew from seed. Almost all of > them are heirloom types. The exceptions I made were Sungold cherry tomatoes > (yum) and beefsteak (my husband insisted on these, because he doesn't think > his co-workers will "get" heirloom tomatoes. I found myself turning into > The Tomato Nazi-I told him if they didn't want "real" tomatoes, then I didn't > want to sell them to his co-workers! *snort* I think when they taste REAL > tomatoes, they'll be easily won over. The tomato plants look AWESOME! I've > used fish emulsion to get good growth, and then switched to an organic > complete fertilizer to encourage good bloom. I'm slightly scared of what will > happen when they all start ripening. ;-)> > Pepper plants-approx. 50. Again, I grew almost all of these from seed. A > mix of hot and sweet bell peppers. These were a lot harder to grow then the > tomatoes were. So they were not as big when I planted them, but they have > suddenly taken off after sitting around for a good month. Lots of baby > peppers forming.> > Eggplant-I think I have around 20. I Some of these were grown from seed, > but I lost a bunch so I ended up buying some plants. I selected types that > were heirloom, or small fruited for grilling. > > Tomatillos-6 plants. I grew these from seed too. One step away from a weed, > I had no problems starting these from seed. > > Zucchini, yellow squash-approx 10 green and 5 yellow. The green are an > heirloom called Cocozelle.> > Beans-I have both pole and bush green beans going. I attempted to start the > pole beans in the ground three times. Was harder than the bush beans. The > pole beans suffered from getting eaten by some kind of bug, and also some > just did not come up, probably the soil was too wet. I started some in pots > and transplanted them, which worked out a lot better. The larger transplant > size was nice because the bugs didn't immediately defoliate them, so they > were able to rapidly outgrow the bugs attempts to consume them. I > started-Kentucky Wonder, Blue Lake, Yard Long, Red Noodle, and French Filet. The > bush beans are again Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake, bush forms. I've started a > new batch in pots for a succession crops. > > Cucumbers-I planted a mix of regular and pickling cucumbers. I personally > prefer the little pickling cucumbers, but i planted both types in case some > people want "regular" looking cukes. I started these in pots too and > transplanted them out.> > Melons-I planted Moon and Stars watermelon, a Honeydew, and two different > heirloom cantaloupe. Melons LOVE fish emulsion, and have taken off well. i > just planted the seeds in the ground. They are heavy feeders, so i continued > the applications of fish emulsion. They have a ton of blooms on them, no > baby melons spotted yet. > > Potatoes- I planted out both potatoes and sweet potatoes. The sweet > potatoes were just ones from the supermarket that had sprouted on the counter. I > stuck them in water until they formed roots and then planted them out. > I've never grown them before so I treated them like I did the regular > potatoes-in trenches covered with straw. The regular potatoes I planted were blue > potatoes and a pink fingerling. The potatoes just started flowering (which I > pinched off) so in two weeks they should be ready to start digging some > small new potatoes. > > Misc-I have a few spaghetti squash started, not many because i just didn't > get too many started with everything else I had going. Wish I had more, but > oh, well. Herbs-I set aside an area for herbs-tons of basil, dill, thyme > rosemary, stevia, sweet marjoram, lemon balm, catnip, lemon grass, some > sunflowers, nasturtiums, garlic chives, and probably a few more things I can't > remember right now. > > What didn't work-corn. I planted out a packet of silver queen sweet corn, > but it was way too early and they froze. I didn't bother to replace them > when they died because they take up so much space and it takes a lot to get a > decent succession crop. Onions-Bob, the owner of the farm, had started a > bunch of cippoline onions from seed. They have almost all been eaten by > pocket gophers. We can't seem to find a product to repel the gophers. They don't > seem to bother anything else, but apparently they LOVE those onions. The > damage is hard to detect until the plant keel over from the onions being > eaten underground. > > Whew! I am tired just thinking about everything we've done, lol. We have a > list of people my husband works with who are interested in buying our > produce, and I also want to try out selling at some of the local farmers markets > when we get really overwhelmed with produce.> > Anyone else have any gardening updates? We'd love to hear! :-)> Cyndi> > > **************Download the AOL Classifieds Toolbar for local deals at your > fingertips. > (http://toolbar.aol.com/aolclassifieds/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000004)> Download the AOL Classifieds Toolbar for local deals at your fingertips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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