Thanks for the info I'll try that this fall.
By the way we ordered the book you've recommended before, Joy of Gardening.
It should be here this week.

His book focuses on using a tiller and most of your stuff is in raised beds.  You'll still find a lot if good info in there, but I've seen your past harvests.  You won't get as much out of it as a beginner like myself.

TRG

I plan to build a ground level garden in-between the two and have it all fenced in as one. Hopefully by this fall.
I'm no seasoned gardener myself.

Decided to pick peppers to help piss off the plants and force them to start over again.  There are three varieties of bells out there.  Red, Yellow, Green. There are also Jalapenos.

These peppers are all immature and hopefully removing them forces the plants to get even stronger.  In theory at least...  

45 Bell peppers.  Most plum  to baseball sized.  A couple larger.



Best of the Bells:  FWIW, this is the largest Bell pepper I've ever grown.  For the Bells to be this size, and so prolific this early in the summer is a great improvement.  There are some bugs (worms) that ruined my crops for the last couple years.  Stunted fruit, and by feeding the plants wrong I had more leaves than fruit.  So, maybe ...like onions, these will continue to do well.



Both varieties of eggplant.  Japanese and Black Beauty.  Largest of the bells for scale:



Group shot.  Bells, 25 jalapenos, green tomatoes

Learned a new skill today.  Onions hangers.  Temps in the 90s here, so they should dry in a few days, then I can store them inside.





TRG

Good lookin onions,  how do you decide when to harvest?  Mine are starting to lean over,  onion patch looks like a bunch of drunks

Apparently, when their necks 'break' they are done.  Not going to get any better, bigger, etc.

TRG

Women's stockings work well too, just not as pretty. Drop one in, tie it off, repeat. Cut the knot when you need one and so on.

I saw the video.  This looked a little nicer and a little more compact.

I used baler string so the wife unit was not able to object too.  

On an aside, it's been a long time since I've seen you.  How have you been?

TRG

Doing as well as can be expected. Youngest daughter just graduated from A&M and is now working in Tyler.  Between that and a family wedding I'm ready for the world to slow down.

We are planning to meet up at the trades days in Canton pretty soon, I'll drop you a line when we do. Lunch is on me.

If you have another get together will you invite TexRedneck or Nutgummer for entertainment?

I dunno if you've heard but AR15.com is opening a new storefront at First Monday.  July 4th is their opening weekend.

If you decide to come up, let me know.  We have a small house, but 20 acres.  Easy to park a camper.  

By July, we should own another 30 acres which would be an awesome dry camping spot.  No power or water (pond, no well) on the property.

Just let me know and we can put you up to stay.

AS for inviting those two, there is no handicapped parking here.  

TRG

Thanks for the invite and we might take you up on it one day.


I could actually convince my wife that the folks I talk to/about on here are real.

Talked to the bank, everything is good to go, just waiting for the appraisal and we should close by the end of the month.  I found a good deal on a replacement for my homemade wood wagon on CL and it includes a homemade barbwire holder.

Since it looks like fence building is in my immediate future I bought the trailer.

Owner was also the maker of the trailer.  Truck axle under it, no suspension.  Truck frame and a 2" bulldog style hitch.  New jack on the side that can be removed.  Chains on the inside to help keep the loads from pressing the outside boards away.  It is built like a tank.  You can see the barb wire holder in the back.  5 rods on discs with am 8" c-channel.  The barb wire dispenser is held on with a come-a-long.  

He was asking 350 for the trailer, 300 without the barb wire holder (as always, Eugene is photo-bombing):



Some leftovers from his last fence job in it.  Nothing really worth using except the 'Slow Vehicle" chevron.  I have it nailed to the end gate now:



When I called him, he priced it at 450.00 with the dispenser and 400 without.  I explained his Ad's prices were 350 and 300 and he honored the 350 price.  I could not build it for 350.00 so I hauled it home.

The one issue I had was the condition of the tires.  They had obvious dry rot and were older tires, but, since it was only about 20 miles home. I figured I could take it slow and they would make it.

They did.

Almost.

About 4 miles from the house, I got over confident and the right rear tire threw tread.  





Still made it home, but, the tread flew forward and took out the right rear tail light on my truck.

These are 7.00-20 truck tires.  Old, and if I had kept my speed down, they probably would have lasted a long time.  This may take away from the 'deal' a little now.

Locksmith76 a local buddy and Arfcommer has some 10.00-20 truck tires that may fit if I can reverse the rims and have his tires (8 lug) moved to my rims (5 lug).

That's tomorrow's entertainment.

TRG

Ahhh...Adventures in Tractorland...

Called the local Farm Bureau about the tires.  They said they could handle the job.  Took the tires from Locksmith76 and hauled the trailer (slowly this time) up to the Farm Bureau.  When they saw that the tires were split-rimmed, they decided they did not work on these tires any more, but gave me the name of the man in town who would.  He was only about 10 miles outside of town...

So, I limped over there with the trailer and kept my fingers crossed that I did not lose the remaining tire entirely..

When he saw the tires, he explained that he misunderstood and he also no longer worked on split rimmed tires.  He was a bit of an 'eclectic/eccentric' guy with a 'tire shop' on the interstate.  Lots of old vehicles, lots of partially broken down project cars and ... junk tires.  Shirts optional, apparently, when you own this kind of road side bidness.

We spent about 15 minutes going over all my possible options, none of which could he reasonably complete himself.  My 5 lug 'Ford' rims were not a match for anything he had around.  Anything else would require several day's work, re-welding new rims, maybe drilling an existing rim for my pattern, etc.

I kept seeing dollar signs and dead-ends.

He explained that his adjacent pack-rat/business friend had this same issue with his Ford and had purchased some rims that also had 5 lugs, but did not fit his Ford.  They would not center properly and lead to vibration at speed.  Since I do not plan to do anything other than haul this trailer behind a tractor with firewood or fencing materials we decided to call the 'almost but not quite right Ford' rim owner and see what he wanted for his tires, maybe they could be drilled or shimmed to fit?

The Ford rims were wearing brand new tires.  Apparently they were purchased before the man realized they would not fit.  He had purchased them, refurbished, sand blasted, painted and purchased new rubber, and balanced them before trying them on his Ford.  Ouch.

50 ea if I took all 7, or 125.00 if I just wanted 2.

We took one to my trailer to see if it would fit, or at least get close enough to make it work.

These hubs of mine were NOT Ford hubs.  These were Dodge hubs on my trailer from a Dodge front end with Ford ball bearing covers. t\The reason these 'almost but not quite Ford' rims would not fit his for was because they were made for a Dodge.   Seren-fucking-dipity.!

In a matter of minutes I had 2 brand new tires, (no longer split rim so I can get them replaced in the future if needed), and with only a 25.00 labor charge I was out the door for 150.00 cash.

It still took away from the overall 'good' deal on my trailer, but, for 150.00 to have tires that I can now haul anywhere, as needed, at highway speeds .. probably not a bad deal.

The 'new' tires are also 7-17.5  

They are smaller diameter and it lowers the trailer a little so I can more easily reach inside.  

TRG

You chould'a got some low rider rims and tires and hung some dingle balls from under the barbed wire dispenser, Homes!  

These are only slightly more difficult for you to molest than bowling balls.

TRG

If only you knew someone who could take pics and post them.

TRG

He has a wooden camera.

Rhubarb!

Chard, I believe.

Quief, where are your sweet potatoes?

TRG

Well, shit.  You just might be right for once!

Watermelon plants love climbing chain link fences too.  I had a 28 pounder hanging off the fence last year. Never thought the vine could support that kind of weight.

Re-read that red part.  It is about your sweet potato plants.

Sweet potatoes are tropical plants.  They like loose soil, hot and steamy weather.  They produce leaves to absorb that sunlight (note the broad leafs and darker greens and purples).  They really enjoy summer time.

If they are left alone they will just be happy soaking up sun and growing more leaf instead of roots.  

Sweet potato leaves are edible.  Go out and grab a handful and add them in as color to your salads.  The more you tend to upset them, the more they will divert some of their happiness to roots and away from leaves.

They will also self-root so you can bury part of them and force them to make more tubers as well.

Don't just leave them alone and think that they are bushy and healthy.  You'll end up with just a pile of salad and no tubers if you do that.

TRG

I knew I should have used sock puppets to explain it to you.

TRG

Well the garden is doing well.  Rain keeps being feast/famine.  We've had enough rain though that I am not complaining about a few stunted tomatoes.  Most of the plants are doing ok.

We're almost finished with June and I have still not seen a stinkbug in the garden.  That huge pile of them that I killed on the cactus may have been 'the colony' that needed to be killed.  I know I am jinxing myself by saying this, but ... no stinkbugs whatsoever so far this year.  

In 2012 they had already decimated my watermelon crops by now.

Sweet potatoes are really soaking up the 90 degree temps, moist soil, fertilizer.  I had to mound them today to stop them from running too much.  Pics tomorrow, or later this evening.

I'll update some actual garden pics tomorrow.  For now, here are some pics of the flower beds around the house and some individual plants.  

Just prior to a storm today, looking West over the house:



One of the 140 new gladiola bulbs planted by the garage.  



Front flowerbed, next to teh wooden walkway.  It looks like an overstuffed mattress.  You have to remind yourself that you can't just sleep on it.



The bed is about 5' wide and runs the lngth of the front of hte house.  They have never done this well before.  Tools, soil, fertilizer, pulling weeds...



This made a nice background on a cellphone.  Just one of the hundreds of flowers out there.



A Zinnia volunteer.  I tried to avoid killing this small stand of zinnias that have crawled out the bed and in to the yard.  They are either 3-4 years old now, re-growing each season from seed.



I think these a cannas.  I did not plant them.  The original homeowner planted them circa 1984.  I fed the with 10-20-10 this year and they have exploded.



Another of the new gladiolas next to the garage.  This is one of the 'new' beds that I made last year.  Other flowers did not do well there, these gladiolas appear to like it just fine.





TRG

Cactus flower on the thornless cactus.





TRG

I refuse to look at the pictures of your flower beds... not had time yet to start in on ours and I'll not have you shame me into another project.  

Those are, indeed, Cannas.

They're really, really tough and will weave their roots together to create an impenetrable mat. They're very easy to move if you want them somewhere else-- just dig them in big clumps, plop them down where you want them, and give them a little mulch.

I just moved all of ours out of a front flower bed they were overgrowing. Now they are growing along a fence we wanted to grow some sort of screen in front of.

Beautiful pics all around. (Well, except the nude ones.)

TRG

Did not know I could move them so easily.  Thanks for the tip.  These are really starting to get a little too big.  Might move a few of them next spring.

TRG

Garden pics..  Starting from the left of the garden and moving to the right,

Watermelon vines on the left, then tomatoes, then sweet potatoes:



Sweet potatoes.  These are really doing well.  I planted them closer to the house so that I could water them.  Last year I used my own homegrown sets, but I planted them too early and the cold nights killed them.  This year I purchased the sets and juuuust as I got them planted we had another cold front.  It slowed down these plants quite a bit, but, with temps going north of 90 and moist soil...they are doing well.

I worked these rows yesterday after these pics and we had another light shower afterwards.



At the tail end of the sweet potatoes I planted some Yukon gold (I think).  They appear to be growing well, but, 'normal' potatoes and I have never gotten along.  Am I supposed to cover them in dirt or just let them grow?  They are about 18" tall.



Peppers, marigolds, tomatoes, turnips.  This area looks like a mess, but it's doing what it is supposed to do.  That dense weave of tomatoes, marigolds and peppers is stopping almost all the weeds and grass.  I still pull a few strands of grass, but, not as much as other areas of the garden.  Looks bad, but, works well.  


The turnips in this area are still growing.  We really don't like turnips.  I've been trying to like them.  I will till them under in a few weeks.  Hate to waste the 'food' but no matter how we cook them ... ugh.



Lettuce crop.  This also looks horrible.  I had no idea lettuce would grow 5 feet tall.  I wanted to harvest seed from them to try and replant a continuous crop.  



Three zukes on the left, Alaska Peas in the middle, cantaloupes on the right.  The zukes are monster-sized.  With no stinkbugs attacking them, heavy fertilizer ... they are giants.  The peas were not supposed to be here.  They are a cool weather crop, but, when I tilled under the spring crop (to plant corn here) they sprouted.   Decided to see what happens to them in the summer.  They seem to be growing slower in the heat.





Cantaloupes doing well.   Again, no stinkbugs, so they are thriving.




The 'corn' that was killed by the floods in May and butternut squash.   I waited too long to decide if I wanted to replant and the bermuda grass is loving the nutrients here.  Other than looks, it doesn't bother me.  I will probably look at some way to remove/till/mow the grass without harming the butternut squash.  Corn is a grass and does not compete with butternut.  Same with the bermuda.  Since the butternut doesn't care I may just leave it alone.



The upper garden is doing well.  Lots of unexpected rain up there.  I'll post pics later.

TRG

Regarding the potatoes, we always hilled dirt up beside them with the tiller. No idea if that's really necessary, but I think it's supposed to encourage more tuber growth.

We never tried Yukon Golds, but had decent luck with thin-skinned red potatoes from the grocery store. They yielded small potatoes, but lots of them. The smallest 'gem' potatoes are fantastic.

In theory, if you hill those yukons so that only the top few leaves are showing (repeat as the grow) they will develop more tubers in the hill than what they would have put in the ground if left alone.

I say in theory since I've not done potatoes before this year myself.

Since you don't have many, I'd experiment, like hilling 1/3rd with soil, 1/3rd with straw or mulch and leave 1/3rd alone.  Will help you decide what to do next year.

I meant to do a similar experiment with my potato bags, one type of fill per bag, but ran short on time and the intended fill varieties.

These are the pics from the upper garden.  This area has only had rainfall this year.  I busted my ass trying to irrigate last summer and the year before.  This time I did not want to invest that kind of time and effort.  

Row of pinto beans.  These were just from a bag of old beans, some weevil damaged ones as well.  I don't think I spent more than a couple bucks to plant this bed.  Cold weather stunted the initial planting, so this is actually the second planting.  It's a little behind schedule, but it is beginning to put on beans.



Beans on the far right.  Empty Row.  Turnip Greens.  Gourds.





Closeup of the greens.  These did not fill out the row as well as I had hoped.  They are a very tiny seed and since I am using the PTO tiller as my 'planter' I probably buried some of them too deep.   More than an enough out there to make salads from an entire family though.  





TRG

The grass in the beans looks bad, but, in theory the grass and the beans do not use the same source of nitrogen.  That's the theory at least.

I did not intend to grow so much grass out there, but it does not seem to be affecting the beans at all so far.

Same with the butternut squash.  I removed some grass today.  All the butternut vines are thick, healthy, deep green.  

TRG

Thanks for the information on the potatoes.


Some updates.  I know it has only been 5 days, but the garden is going nuts.  Just nuts.  Temps in the 88-94 range.  Sunny, partly cloudy, with rain every 4-5 days.  Fertilizer must have hit the roots, because the V-Tec has kicked in 'yo.

First, two overview pics for scale:





Cantaloupes FIVE days ago:



Cantaloupes today.




Sweet potatoes FIVE days ago:



Potatoes today:




Like I said, V-Tec, yo.

I mowed down the oats.  They are now 5-6" tall:



Green beans doing well.  I do believe the grass is stunting them.  If nothing else it is going to make it harder to harvest.

Beans on right, then greens, then gourds on left.



Greens have bugs.  They are doing damage.  I will get some Sevin out there.



Watermelons.  Tomatoes.  Sweet potatoes.  This is the 'dry' side of the garden.  All the subsoil water must get past the other crops up the hill and to the right.  I fully expected to be needing to irrigate the watermelons.  So far ... no issues.  Too much water actually.  But, they are now doing well and I tilled around them to reduce the grass competition.



Speaking of tilling.  As I told DPeacher there is no worse feeling than going BACK down a tilled row and finding the snake that you ran over in the last pass.  Never saw it when I tilled it.  Stepped right on/over/near it while ti was wounded.  I hate snakes.



When I first bought this house in 1994 it had some Four O'clock plants.  I fought them for years.  They are invasive and take over beds.  I wanted strawberries, herbs, mints and other edibles around the side of the house.  Two years ago I decided to stop fighting them and began to feed them.  This year they did this:



Front flowerbeds.  I guess it is a combination of cooler summer, rain, fertilizing .. but they have just gone nuts as well.



This bed I put in two years ago is covered up with commercial flowers, but all those tall ones are Zinnias that volunteered from last year's seed.




Hard to tell from this pic, but that bed of impatients is 18"-24" tall.   They are struggling between the heat and the brickwork, hot in that area, but they are still thriving:



Looking across the front yard.  I had just finished pulling grass from the flowerbeds and mowing when the rains came:



Front walkway.  I should have listened to the poster that warned me about asparagus getting bushy.    Bu, the flowers here are so massive and spreading that they are beginning to give the sidewalk a run for its money.



Just past that bed, looking down the front.



It's been a very good summer here so far.

TRG

Copperhead?
The garden looks like it's about to produce like crazy.

Looking great.

What's your plan for dealing with the bermuda after harvest? Chem warfare?  Hard to deal with it mechanically on a large scale.

No plan.  Clueless on how to control bermuda on that scale.  I pick it out, by hand, in the lower garden.  I pulled 50, or more, each day until I finally got ahead of them.  You can see that same grass overran the corn and butternut areas.  If SHTF ... someone is going to spend their day pulling it.

Tilling between the rows helps, but, in the crops themselves... it takes manual extraction.  Saw that copperhead?  It's a major deterent to just gripping and ripping the grass at the roots.  

I don't know of a grass killer that will target only the bermuda while not killing the surrounding plants.

I pulled at least 50 out of the flower beds today before the pics.  I tossed them in the yard and mulched them back in to the yard.

It's not a bad grass.  It likes nitrogen, and it makes great tillage, but, I don't have an easy button for getting rid of it.

Hoes.  Hands.  Other than that, I don;t have a chem that will do the job.

TRG

Mittfoo gave me the idea of using a mop and applying it around some plants last year.  Might try it this year.

TRG

If you harvest while the bermuda is still green you can put some chickens in a small,narrow "tractor" and let them scratch out the grass - moving it down the row as they make progress.

Mine don't mess with it much (other than to scratch it aside) when it's brown - but gobble it up when green.

May take more time that you have depending on your scale - but it does put the girls to work and free fertilizer for the garden.

The bean row is 3 feet tall, 4 feet wide, 150 feet long.

TRG

We're gonna need mo chickens!

I do need some way to put in portable cages though.

TRG