2023 garden season

[Backyard Lumberjack]

the bok choy was root bound too in lil planter tray i scrounged off the curb last summer. but they are off and running now... they will get a kiss of the 30-0-0 app too

i have arugula, basil and oregano growing also. arugula is an amazing plant... one tiny seed like a cabbage seed will produce a nice plant. and it will continue to grow. i like the flavor. then it will bolt if left growing. i have found the flavor remains good! and that lil tiny seed will produce thousands of seeds! all in a zillion seed pods, sort of like tiny beans... one plant could put a man in arugula seed business! lol

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

and we have many blue bonnets up at the ranch, up along the county line... and i did a BB garden for the QB here in town, too. it is doing well. some seeds still in first dicotyledons... and others about to stem up and begin to flower in a few weeks.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

and weeds! always weeds! too many weeds! never ending! constant... real pita! well, imo...

this is a clover like weed. rampant beasts!

i don't care if it is pretty! PITA weed! lol

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

and with some luck, we hope to see some daffodils pop up soon...

 

[sonny580]

Shovels and hand tools of all kinds welcome! I have a few "made" tools that I use as well, so post yours up!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Shovels and hand tools of all kinds welcome! I have a few "made" tools that I use as well, so post yours up!

ok, boss! see what i can do. one of my favs is our Cape Cod weeders. once i couldn't find it up at ranch. had a nice fire in burn circle. see avatar. couldn't find it. then thru the process of elimination... a clue came to me. yep! and so it got a new handle... see what i can do. my soil is so friable, my tiller of choice is a garden fork...

BL's tiller of choice ~

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

our 3 beds are just 3 rr ties stacked up and filled with dirt mixed with compost. They work good cept for having to water them every 2 hours in hot summer. We grew a lot of veggies in them.

Sweetcorn we get is from Wyffles and they have the best flavored corn on the planet! lol!

They say start seeds 6 to 8 weeks before last frost date and that seams to be about right for us here in central Illinois

No worries about creosote or CCA or whatever chemical in treated lumber is, getting into your veggies?

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

No worries about creosote or CCA or whatever chemical in treated lumber is, getting into your veggies?

few years back, i bought an entire woods from a RR bridge and about an 1/8th mile RR ties, too. i ringed the ranch homeplace and todate... those ties have had no effect on any plants! i still have to edge trim them and the pesky weeds always need pulling...

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Backyard, I was curious moreso in being clueless, how does one know that creosote or other chemicals don't leach into the soil and then get absorbed into plants we eat?

Not being a smartass, just wondering due to my own thoughts of what to use vs say a cedar type wood which can get expensive.

My first choice if I were to build beds around our yard would be concrete block or other masonry.

 

[sonny580]

The coating is mostly weathered off and it dont go into the plants. A lot of people use old ties, --- I wouldnt use new ties!
Sis has 1 raised bed made with concrete blocks and likes it but its only 2 blocks high but works great and dont need water as often since the plants roots go into base ground under bed.
Our ground here is to hard and too big of an area to do hand forking in! -- 4.5 acres of it! lol! BUT I made several "special" hoes to cultivate around plants with and they are a life saver. Onions require narrow blades to work the ground around them without hitting the bulbs so I made a few different sizes/styles to use.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

dinner was garden-fresh tasty tonite! same as yesterday, but i snipped first picking of my cilantro. can't buy it like this, have to grow it. the tex-mex tacos were and were preceded by a pleasant HH! ~

 

[jollygreengiant]

Well I better ask the collective. USDA zone 5b. Last frost date is typically the middle of May. We have had frost after that, but it's not common. When should I start seeds indoors? Tomato, etc. I do have a rack like Del posted pictures of that I made, but I don't have the mylar to put around it. I suppose that with all the indoor growing now that is going on I can source some pretty easily.

I've found that this is highly subjective to the environment your starting seeds in. If you are starting in an indoor nursery in a heated building it will speed up plant growth. Same with your light source.

I'm in zone 6a, normal last frost date is May 10 here. For me I try and start peppers around the end of March or early April. Tomatoes I have really shortened them up, I'll plant them mid to late April for a end of may outdoor planting. The first year I started tomatoes indoors 8 weeks before transplanting and I kid you not I was transplanting 2' tall tomato plants lol.

Brassicas I'll start in mid March hoping for a mid to late April transplanting. Brassicas are a lot harder to get the timing right since they can handle colder weather. I've had years where I started plants in the 3rd week of march but then I was able to plant directly outdoors 2 weeks later, and I've also started plants in the first of April and haven't gotten them transplanted until May.

I don't start any other seeds indoors. Had too much trouble trying to transplant melons. Although I may revisit that, the last couple years we've lost some squash to frost.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Shovels and hand tools of all kinds welcome! I have a few "made" tools that I use as well, so post yours up!

I picked up one of these last year and it saved my butt with breaking up some crusts over fresh plantings. It also really knocks the clods down to make a nicer seedbed for small seeded plants.

And yes, in case you couldn't tell my garden soil isn't exactly ideal lol.

 

[sonny580]

I have 2 of them! They came in a pile of shovels/picks/rakes/etc. on a auction. They work good on small areas but a tad bit slow on 4.5 acres! lol! They do a number on the crust for sure! I just go lightly over the rows and it does help the seedlings emerge.

 

[Del_]

Vegetable seedlings as of today.

Spring 2023 seedlings planted



Jan 26th, 2023

Better Boy 3 four packs two have 8 seeds each, one has four seeds. 2021 seed Ferry Morse

Brandywine 1 four pack three seeds each hole, 2 holes per cell. 2013 seed.

Amish Paste 10/2014, four 4 cell packs with 2+seeds in each hole. 2 holes per cell

Opalka 2014 seed. 4 four packs, 2 holes per cell. Two seeds per cell.

Jimmy Nardelo, hybrid 4 four packs two holes in each cell. From saved seed 2020

Marconi Rosso, 11/2014, 4 four cell packs two holes in each cell.

Jimmy Nardelo, 4 four cell pack, 2 holes each cell. Seed saved from 2019

Broccoli Umpqua 12 four cell packs, 2 holes in each cell.

, 27th

Vates collards 9/14 Neseed 12 four packs two holes per cell

Brussel Sprouts Long Island Improved Catskill 1/2012 12 four cell packs 2 holes per cell. SESE

28th

New Jersey Wakefield 9/2011 SESE 6 four cell packs, two holes per cell, two seeds per hole.

Snowbally improved 2011 six 4 cell packs, two holes per cell, two seeds per hole Imperial Seed





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Update: Seeds started on 1-26-2023, only 20 days ago. Photos taken just now 2-16-2023. Each tray holds 40 seedlings when full.

 

[Arbor1]

@Del_ That's a great bunch of seedlings getting started. About how large of a garden do you have?

 

[Del_]

@Del_ That's a great bunch of seedlings getting started. About how large of a garden do you have?

Thanks for asking!

BTW, I suggested the Gardening forum and the Heating with wood forum to the owners way back when. Two hobbies of mine. Retired. Certified Arborist from 1991 to 2008.

We have 29 beds 3ft. wide and 50ft long. They are dug to 14 inches deep with a Meadow Creature 'broad fork'. All are drip irrigated from rain water we store. We are also into seed saving. The walkways are 2ft wide and we have a metal stake in the center of each bed with beds on 5ft. centers. Here's a few of our best photos from the past couple of years. We try to not walk in the garden bed and we call them our 'invisible beds' because the only thing marking them are the metal stakes in the middle of each end of the beds. We use the stakes to run strings to keep rows straight. I do the digging, weeding, tilling and planting. She does the harvesting and I help some. She's the cook. We can and freeze together.

I've been practicing for 40 years and still trying to get it right.

 

[esshup]

Del, if you are in an area that freezes during the winter, what PM do you do to keep the drip system going from year to year?

 

[Ol' Brian]

Hey Del, I love your seed starting nursery!!! I've got a set of plastic shelves doing nothing... they will be PERFECT for setting up a system like yours. That is just Genious!! Are you using LED grow lights, or the fluorescent? I haven't started seeds for a few years now, I always had trouble with them getting so leggy... How many hours of light should they get per day? And, what is the reflective material you have draped over your setup? I never though of doing anything like your setup... like I said, that's genious!!

Sorry, I'm sure I could ask 200 more questions probably!!

Vegetable seedlings as of today.

Spring 2023 seedlings planted





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[GL0B0TREE]

seems the earlier we prepare and think through, the better the harvest ! this year may be a record for us already looking for new ideas, sometimes good old fashioned workin the soil cannot be beat. So as far as soil prep is concerned, thinking to enrich with a variety of fertilizers ahead of time, so as to plan ahead, fencing is at the top of the list to keep the critters away~and it wouldnt hurt to get some waddlers around for random egg production, what duck is best to have around for general insect control? TIA