2024 garden season

[muddstopper]

So, basically you're growing a garden to fatten up deer and trading off veggies for meat.

Didnt plan it that way, but its starting to look like it.. I have fought deer for years. Spent a fortune on fences, deterent sprays, and what nots. When all the other methods fail, its time to go to the tried and true, guaranteed to eliminate the problem, methods. Game cameras showing midnite and 7am to be best harvesting times. 46F outside right now. I am pretty sure those harvest times will improve now that the deer know the food is there. I know the Bambi watchers are not going to approve of my methods, but at this point, I dont really care. Its almost 7am right now, got to go.

 

[sonny580]

deer around here laying thick on the roads! --- They STILL overpopulated!!
canners and butternut squash still in the patch to pick up if I get a chance.
Looks like killing frost next week here.
Sis been picking peppers and tomatoes and hauling them to the food bank.
I been busy at the farm trying to fix tile lines. Waterways full of blowholes from plugged and broken tile.
Workin on this 2,000' strip right now. Gotta dig up and replace several hundred feet of that one and put in about 1,000' in a branch waterway. Big mess in there!!

 

[TNTreeHugger]

My volunteer maters are looking great... others coming up, too.

 

[muddstopper]

32f at 4am this morning, wont have maters much longer. Did have some good fried green maters for supper tonite.

 

[Stonesforbrains]

Six and half pounds of peppers harvested, tons more still to ripen. Plants are loving the cool mornings and warm afternoons!

 

[sonny580]

Sis has hauled over 10,000 pounds pf peppers and tomatoes in to the food bank so far. ---- roma and large fruited tomatoes are laying thick enough on the ground to shovel them up by the handsfull. 3 gallon bucket off a plant or 2.

 

[Mad Professor]

Question on ever bearing strawberry plants.

I've got a bunch in ~1.5 gal pots. What is best way to overwinter these? Would burying the pots at ground level in the garden be ok? And taking them out come spring? Worried about voles eating the roots.

I'm in hardiness zone 4-5

 

[Mad Professor]

We dodged a frost Thurs night. NWS had a warning but only made it to~36 oF. Calling for lows 30s a couple nights next week.

I still have some tomatoes and peppers producing. And some zucchini. Might try covering them as a warmup next weekend, then no frosts in 2 week extended. I'll put a few peppers in pots and overwinter them inside at a sunny window, cayenne and bells.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

We dodged a frost Thurs night. NWS had a warning but only made it to~36 oF. Calling for lows 30s a couple nights next week.

I still have some tomatoes and peppers producing. And some zucchini. Might try covering them as a warmup next weekend, then no frosts in 2 week extended. I'll put a few peppers in pots and overwinter them inside at a sunny window, cayenne and bells.

What do you use to cover them?

 

[Mad Professor]

What do you use to cover them?

I got really big plastic lumber covers I get for free from local lumber yard. Some are ~20 X 10'. Also use empty garbage cans and for small stuff like peppers 5-gal buckets

I use the lumber tarps on top of my cordwood piles too. Fold them over 3X lengthwise and have triple coverage on a 2 row pile of split wood.

 

[muddstopper]

Question on ever bearing strawberry plants.

I've got a bunch in ~1.5 gal pots. What is best way to overwinter these? Would burying the pots at ground level in the garden be ok? And taking them out come spring? Worried about voles eating the roots.

I'm in hardiness zone 4-5

I'll be honest with you. my strawberry plants have to do the best they can. we just leave them in the ground, no cover or mulch. they come back each year. Probably not the best method, but, we just try to grow enough for a pie or two

 

[sonny580]

We got a patch here 12'x60' and never touch them! lol! ---- and we got voles here bad too. You could put the pots in the ground for the winter OR keep them in the basement for the winter, --- depending on how many you have.
I had some in an earthbox one year on the porch and I put them in the basement for the winter and they never did stop growing. Drug the box out in the spring and they went right on doing their thing.

found a row of bell peppers over by the celery row.

and a couple waterway pix.
found a few more flowers in the field that came in the pollenator mix. the white ball is buttonbush and the other is grey willow.
I keep finding different stuff out there.

 

[sonny580]

garden harvest bout done,---- frost took care of the rest of the stuff out there!

 

[TNTreeHugger]

garden harvest bout done,---- frost took care of the rest of the stuff out there!

Awesome! What kind of squash/pumpkin are those?

 

[sonny580]

The pumpkins were originally the Libbies canners. I been keeping them going for 42 years so they my own now!

 

[TNTreeHugger]

The pumpkins were originally the Libbies canners. I been keeping them going for 42 years so they my own now!

Can I buy a handful of seeds from you?
I seem to have good luck with pumpkin and I love cooking with it.

 

[kyle1!]

The garden is done with the freeze Tuesday night. I will miss the veggies but not the work.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

The garden is done with the freeze Tuesday night. I will miss the veggies but not the work.

I covered my potato and tomato plants the past two nights.
Gradual warming back up into the 80s by the weekend.

 

[kyle1!]

I covered my potato and tomato plants the past two nights.
Gradual warming back up into the 80s by the weekend.

We did cover but when temps are in the mid 20's it doesn't help.

 

[farmer steve]

Helped unload 2 of these bad boys at our farmers fair last evening.
https://www.dillsburgfarmersfair.org/