2024 garden season

[jolj]

I planted corn in a bed six inches on center got one to two ear off each stalk, after being told it was not possible.
I even planted winter squash around the edges & beans in the middle at each stalk of corn, just to see what would happen.
I made corn, beans & squash.

 

[muddstopper]

finally able to upload a picture of my one row garden. Left to right, There is a tomatoe hidden by the Asparagus, then corn and beans, beans are growing to the top of the corn, futher right you can see the crookneck squash.

 

[muddstopper]

Other things that cant be seen in the pic is on the left out of sight are some large pots along the walkway that contain peppers, dill, and marigolds. Also the one row continues to the right with more corn, beans and squash, the jacob beads, a watermellon and then several pots of tomatoes, carrots, and a few more peppers. also if you look thru the gate to the left, you can see another empty raised bed. It held cabbage, but we harvested it all last week and my wife is filling it with flowers.

 

[jolj]

Still getting Blueberries, early berries are gone, mid berries started in june & are still on the bushes.
This is the best harvest in twenty years, but I have many plants that just started to bear, o f the one hundred in the field.
Figs should start bearing next year.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

My gourds are taking off like a rocket!
And those strange mutant marigolds are finally blooming - stalks are about 3' + tall!

 

[sonny580]

They tell me it draws deer in!!! ---- sure dont need that!

 

[TNTreeHugger]

They tell me it draws deer in!!! ---- sure dont need that!

What does, corn?
I was wondering about that.

 

[sonny580]

urine !--- well so does corn, and melons and anything else that grows in the garden!! lol!

 

[jolj]

urine !--- well so does corn, and melons and anything else that grows in the garden!! lol!

Okra & beans/peas are best!

 

[farmer steve]

Okra & beans/peas are best!

Deer haven't touched my okra. Maybe I should plant that around my corn.

 

[Lionsfan]

That may well be but you didn't address my claim -
One stalk, one ear of corn, one serving.
Not only that, but it gets so tall it will block the sun from other plants.
How is that efficient gardening?

Of course, I'm talking about an average size residential garden, not acres, or a dedicated patch.
For a garden my size, it would be a huge waste of space.

If that's the case, growing flowers and herbs are an even bigger waste of space.

 

[jolj]

Deer haven't touched my okra. Maybe I should plant that around my corn.

Deer leave FIL'S dry pond bed cross my land on the way to the swamp, I did not know this.
I planted 350' row of okra, that should have got 5-6 feet tall, every morning the deer would walk down the row nipping the tender tops.
That year I got one mess off the bottom foot of okra, it never got higher than 12 inches.
I have harvest more deer than okra in the last ten years, had hunters harvest 17 deer in one season.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Deer haven't touched my okra. Maybe I should plant that around my corn.

I wouldn't touch that okra either.

 

[farmer steve]

I wouldn't touch that okra either.

Only time I touch it is to pick it for Mrs FS so she can freeze it.

 

[sonny580]

I cant stand the stuff!!!

 

[Del_]

We love okra.

We pan fry it in avocado oil.

I eat it raw when working the garden.

Deer can be a problem when the plants are small.

 

[djg james]

Only time I touch it is to pick it for Mrs FS so she can freeze it.

Don't know what you are missing. Cut into slices, rolled in flour and fried in a little oil like Del said. Along with fried fish and I'm in heaven (probably as close as I'll ever get lol).

 

[Del_]

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Don't know what you are missing. Cut into slices, rolled in flour and fried in a little oil like Del said. Along with fried fish and I'm in heaven (probably as close as I'll ever get lol).

It is very good cooked that way - I just can't stand the slime.

 

[muddstopper]

I laugh every time someone mentions urine scareing deer off. I used to pee in deer scrapes just to get the bucks to come back to the scrape and freshen it uo. I have pee'd down the side of a tree stand and then have bucks and does come up to the tree to sniff it. Pee will not stop a deer from doing anything and using it in the garden as a repellent is a waste of time.

Okra is one of my favorite fresh garden foods. I like it fried and pickled and in salads. Not much in soups and stews but will eat it that way. Best method I have found to keeping deer out of the garden patch is lead, Throw enough lead in the garden and the deer will leave, gauranteed. They will either leave or fill the freezer, a win win. In the past, I had my garden completely surrounded with a wove wire fence. Of course the deer just jumped the fence, ate their fill and then hopped back out. What worked well as a deterent then was I strung a string all the way from side to side of the garden, crisscrossing between the fence stakes. I then tied surveying ribbon to the strings, letting the tape hand down so that they waved in just a slight breeze. This not only scared the deer out, it also kept the crows and other birds away. Only problem was it made it a pain to weed the garden. I remember growing up the old timers would hang those aluminum pie pans from post in the garden. Some folks still do. It works and is easy to do and doesnt involve any chemicals. I have often wondered how wind chimes would work to scare deer off. I think hang a pie pan off the bottom and it would wave in the wind and make the chimes ring. Might work, probably will work, worth a try for you folks raising large patches in deer country, might even work for coons and bears and other garden raiders.