# 2013 Garden



## Mike Cantolina

I planted beets, carrots, lettuce, spinach, swiss chard & snap peas in the in-ground garden today. It's a little early for some but won't be much trouble to replant if they don't make it.


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## farmer steve

did some chisel plowin yesterday. gettin ready but still a little early for most stuff .callin for cooler weather by the end of the week.i've learned not to rush it,but when it starts we'll be gangbustin.


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## mainewoods

Went out and threw some pea seeds on the snow this mornin'. Love snow peas.


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## Mike Cantolina

This is the garlic, potato onions & leeks I planted in January:







It's pretty hard to see but there's spinach and swiss chard coming up in this bed:






And I bought one of the small harbor freight greenhouses so I'm experimenting some with that:


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## farmer steve

Mike Cantolina said:


> This is the garlic, potato onions & leeks I planted in January:
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> It's pretty hard to see but there's spinach and swiss chard coming up in this bed:
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> And I bought one of the small harbor freight greenhouses so I'm experimenting some with that:



all i see are red x' blocks?


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## Stihlofadeal64

Most people plant in this area on "Good Friday". Since Easter came early this year we still had some cooler temps and some may wind up replanting. We are planning on getting some stuff in the ground on Monday. Last year we did not plant till the first week in May. The tomatoes did fairly well, the jalapenos were smoking hot, the green peppers were so wimpy they did not do well at all (which is not normal for us). The squash turned into some awesome stir fried meals, and those tomatoes wound up in quite a few pots of home made vegetable soup!


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## Mike Cantolina

farmer steve said:


> all i see are red x' blocks?



I think I fixed it?


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## dave_376

we generally seed May 15-30, I already planted some peas I started in the house and some bare root strawberries I picked up a BJs wholesale club. Last year I put in 4 4x8 raised beds and they fed the local wildlife nicely, we only harvested some lettuce. Once I purchased the materials for the beds and the topsoil to fill them I just didn't have any money left to spend on a fence. This year I have a fence in the works. I scrounged some nearly new coated wire welded fence out of the dumpster at the transfer station, I salvaged some fence U posts from an old orchard, and I purchased 1 roll of 5'x100' wire welded fence ($100). I'm happy I got most of it for free otherwise it would have cost me around $350. I wanted to make the fenced in area large enough to add more beds down the road. 

I plan on planting 
squash Zucchini, yellow, butternut, and spaghetti
lettuce red leaf and butter crisp
peppers bell, Itailian fryer, cherry hot, and Long hot
peas
bush beans
beets
carrots
tomatoes plum and cherry
corn
herbs parsley, basil, oregano, mint, and maybe some others
watermelon
strawberries 
maybe a few blueberry bushes
thornless black berries


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## tbow388

dave_376 said:


> we generally seed May 15-30, I already planted some peas I started in the house and some bare root strawberries I picked up a BJs wholesale club. Last year I put in 4 4x8 raised beds and they fed the local wildlife nicely, we only harvested some lettuce. Once I purchased the materials for the beds and the topsoil to fill them I just didn't have any money left to spend on a fence. This year I have a fence in the works. I scrounged some nearly new coated wire welded fence out of the dumpster at the transfer station, I salvaged some fence U posts from an old orchard, and I purchased 1 roll of 5'x100' wire welded fence ($100). I'm happy I got most of it for free otherwise it would have cost me around $350. I wanted to make the fenced in area large enough to add more beds down the road.
> 
> I plan on planting
> squash Zucchini, yellow, butternut, and spaghetti
> lettuce red leaf and butter crisp
> peppers bell, Itailian fryer, cherry hot, and Long hot
> peas
> bush beans
> beets
> carrots
> tomatoes plum and cherry
> corn
> herbs parsley, basil, oregano, mint, and maybe some others
> watermelon
> strawberries
> maybe a few blueberry bushes
> thornless black berries



Dave, unlike other parts on this furum "pics or its not real", on this forum its "not real until we taste it"

I will PM you my address.:jester::jester:


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## slinger

planted tomatoes and a few peppers this morning 



Raspberries are leafing out 



Ready for warm weather...


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## Sawyer Rob

I never get into a hurry for early gardening... There's plenty of time to garden, and i like to only have to do it once! When i planted early, the plants just sat there waiting for warmer soil anyway, and then i had to worry about frost! These days, i work smarter instead of harder!

I'm just hilling up my back garden now, you can see the sawdust/planer chips from my woodshop i dumped on top,






Then i till it all in, to get the "width" i want,






I like to leave it "raised", as it works great for giving warmer soil for the plants to thrive in...

SR


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## slinger

Planted these berries from dormant stock on April 8th. 




more on the way!


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## Mike Cantolina

I pulled my garlic last week and my potato onions today. I was worried about the potato onions rotting since it's been so wet here.


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## Sawyer Rob

I thought i'd post some updated picts to my "back" garden picts. above...

I have 4 kinds of peppers,






Watermellons are doing great,






I planted a few hills of Yukon Gold potatoes this year,






Also my two kinds of tomatoes that are my fav's.,






I also have a "front" garden spot,

The sweet corn is about 5' high right now,






I also have brocholi, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, beans, pea's ect...






SR


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## Mike Cantolina

Sawyer Rob said:


> I thought i'd post some updated picts to my "back" garden picts. above...
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> I have 4 kinds of peppers,
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> Watermellons are doing great,
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> I planted a few hills of Yukon Gold potatoes this year,
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> Also my two kinds of tomatoes that are my fav's.,
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> I also have a "front" garden spot,
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> The sweet corn is about 5' high right now,
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> I also have brocholi, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, beans, pea's ect...
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> SR



Nice, what zone are you in and did you plant from seed?


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## Sawyer Rob

I'm in zone 5, but that's not going to be accurate because i'm in a little "micro" climate right here on my place.

I finally took a pict of my "sawdust" garden, here it is, (squash/pickles)






I planted about half of my garden from seeds, but i have a friend who grows GREAT plants, so i try to get them from her, if i can...

SR


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## Sawyer Rob

I guess i'll bump this up with another garden update, everything is growing like crazy......here's the front garden,






Many of the tomato plants are 6' tall and all are loading up with tomatoes,






I've been eating brocholi, i have some real nice heads already,






Here's the grn beans,






The first planting of sweetcorn is 7' tall and is loaded with ears,






and i'm are getting nice peppers, here's the anaheims,






Watermellon plants are loaded too!






Well, that's it for today!

SR


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## Dalmatian90

Nice!

My broccoli bolted...but I have some cauliflower I'm eagerly awaiting.


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## farmer steve

Sawyer Rob said:


> I guess i'll bump this up with another garden update, everything is growing like crazy......here's the front garden,
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> Many of the tomato plants are 6' tall and all are loading up with tomatoes,
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> I've been eating brocholi, i have some real nice heads already,
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> Here's the grn beans,
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> The first planting of sweetcorn is 7' tall and is loaded with ears,
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> and i'm are getting nice peppers, here's the anaheims,
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> Watermellon plants are loaded too!
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> Well, that's it for today!
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> SR



great looking garden SR. them melons are lookin good.FS


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## Mike Cantolina

Getting some green beans and cucumbers.


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## Sawyer Rob

More garden picts...

Today i dug the remainder of my garlic...here's the before,







And here's the after!






Most of the "heads" are huge, as are the heads of brocholi i've been cutting,






I also wanted a few potatoes to eat, so i pulled one of my Yukon Gold plants,






Many years ago i trans planted some brown cedar tree's along the road in front of my house. I see i have some "guards" out there too!






I don't think you'd want to mess around with these guys!!






That's it for this time...

SR


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## Mike Cantolina

Still getting loads of cucumbers & green beans. I got the corn and potatoes in late but they're coming along.


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## farmer steve

*fall cole crops*

heres the patch of cole crops for this fall. cabbage,broccoli, cauliflower white and orange,brussel sprouts and cauliflower romanesco.


View attachment 308572


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## tbow388

*Row*



farmer steve said:


> heres the patch of cole crops for this fall. cabbage,broccoli, cauliflower white and orange,brussel sprouts and cauliflower romanesco.
> 
> 
> View attachment 308572



Hey, On the second row to the left, 3/4 of the way down I see a plant out of line.
You need to start over.


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## farmer steve

tbow388 said:


> Hey, On the second row to the left, 3/4 of the way down I see a plant out of line.
> You need to start over.



just an optical illusion. plus the field isn't square.:hmm3grin2orange:


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## Mike Cantolina

Everyone I talk to around here is having trouble with tomatoes not ripening or at least taking much longer than usual.

Any thoughts on why this would be? It has been a wet year and other than one really hot week, colder than usual.


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## Dalmatian90

> Any thoughts on why this would be?



Sure...


> It has been a wet year and other than one really hot week, colder than usual.



There's your answer.

Wet isn't necessarily the problem other than potentially leaching nutrients and encouraging bad fungi. But if its raining, the sun ain't shining, which usually means its a cool day.

Most Toms need about 1300 growing degree-days to ripen from the time the fruit forms. Early varieties will get down in the 1000-1100 range.

GDD: (Daily High Fº + Daily Low Fº)/2 - 50

With an additional caveat for tomatoes -- highest high you use is 85 since above 85 they just hang out in the hammock sipping pina coladas instead of working to ripen. 

My record worst, at least recorded in my notes, is getting my first ripe tomato on September 9th 

I'd say this year is about average, to maybe a week behind schedule for me.

Edited:
1) It's the time from fruiting you need 1300 GDDs (said the wrong thing originally)
2) Looks like Harrisburg, PA currently you have to go back to June 20th to add up to 1300GDDs. So that's like 7 weeks on the vine the tomatoes are taking to ripen.


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## Mike Cantolina

Good post, thanks.

It's taking longer than seven weeks here but we are higher in elevation than Harrisburg.


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## Mike Cantolina

Finally got my first ripe tomatoes. They tasted better than ever.


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## Sawyer Rob

That's a good looking tomato...

I've been running mine through my Victoria strainer,






and canning them,






I've also been canning grn beans and dry beans,






And today i canned more sweetcorn,






We've been eating it for a while now,






I also dug a few more Yukon Golds too,






SR


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## Dalmatian90

Sawyer Rob said:


> That's a good looking tomato...
> 
> I've been running mine through my Victoria strainer,



Cheater 

I have to core 'em and run them through the blender...I peeled the last batch, but I'm thinking with the garden tomatoes (well washed) as long as I cut off bad looking spots it should be fine.

Have figured out leaving the puree in mason jars for a bit separates out most of the water -- I then took a tygon tube and siphoned that out. Since I don't have toms coming in fast enough this week to make another batch of sauce, I'm freezing the puree till I have enough to cook up and can.

My "peak" for the big tomatoes was about a week and a half ago, but I should be getting a steady supply for at least another 3-4 weeks, probably till frost even.


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## Sawyer Rob

I thought i'd add another pict. here, as i can't edit my last post to add it in there.

I have some really nice tomatoes again this year, I picked two pails of them yesterday and canned some last night,






Actually, i mix two varieties when i can them, Big Boys and Roma's... The "meaty" Roma's have less juice, but still have a lot of flavour.

SR


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## farmer steve

*fall stuff*

heres what we're working on now.some indian corn and broom corn.
View attachment 313343
View attachment 313345
View attachment 313346


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## luckydozenfarm

farmer steve said:


> heres what we're working on now.some indian corn and broom corn.
> View attachment 313343
> View attachment 313345
> View attachment 313346



That's some good lookin indian corn!


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## farmer steve

luckydozenfarm said:


> That's some good lookin indian corn!



thanks LDF. Took those bunches to produce auction thurs. $3.00 bunch. a little more work than sweet corn but $12.00 doz. i won't b*&^h. birds hammered a lot of it but still plenty to pick.


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