The family, the house and the garden made it through okay, in that order.  It got pretty wet for a while but we have a berm across the up-slope side of the yard with a drain at the base that ties into the storm water system, so it was all good.  I appreciate folks checking on us though.

The various peas seem to be doing fine.  I don't know if they will have time to produce anything before it gets too cold though.


Cabbage coming along nicely.


Broccoli:


More broccoli and beets:


Beans and artichoke.  The artichoke started taking off once the heat came below 80.  Before that it was barely staying alive.


Lettuce, spinach, collards:


More lettuce, kholrabi and parsnips.


The sweet potatoes are still flowering like their lives depended on it.


The carrots are coming along.  I pulled one to check for size and it was a little puny.  It will probably be next month before they are ready for harvest.


Brussels sprouts and cabbage.  


The most recent harvest.  Although the mellow yellow bush beans were great producers in the spring, it looks like the blue lakes are doing the best in the fall.

These were planted this spring.  They did not bloom then, but they are making up for it now.


The sweet potato harvest.  This colander is about the size of a half bushel basket and it is pretty full.  I planted Vardemans (orange), Japanese (pink with white flesh), and Stokes Purple (dark solid purple throughout).  The vardemans produced almost nothing.  The Japanese sweets took over most of the bed.  The Stokes purple was about a third of the harvest and is buried lower in the colander.  Given that the whole lot was only a 4ft x 4ft block I am pretty satified at the output.  I may not bother planting the Vardemans next year as they don't do as well and I can pick them up locally pretty easy.


The rest of the harvest - the last of the beans, more kholrabi, and the first of the fall broccoli.


The beds look a lot better this year than they did this time last year, so I think I am getting better on timing things.  They still have a long way to go, but it is nice to see improvement.

Thanks Kitties!  Yeah, most of it went around us thankfully.

Well, I just added some additional bulbs to thr front bed.   It will be interesting to see how they do come spring.


The harvest is down to about 1/week now:


The garden is moving along slower now that fall is here and the days are shorter, but so far everything looks better than last fall.

The peas are starting to produce, so hopefully attempting a fall planting wasn't too crazy after all.


The late-planted cabbages from Lowe's are starting to head up.


The late planted broccoli is doing well.


The few surviving beets from the August planting make for a somewhat pitiful display, but hey, they should eat just fine.


Here is the artichoke I nursed through our summer, that last of the summer mellow yellow beans starting to die off, some greens, and the later planting of beets.


Parsnips, carrots, lettuce, kholrabi and greens.


More carrots:


Brussels sprouts and cabbage that I grew from seeds in trays, then transplanted:


Produce coming along....


2 different kinds of cabbage:




2 different kinds of broccoli:




Brussels sprouts starting to form sprouts:






The last of the summer beans and the first of the peas and carrots.  Perfect timing!

Harvest:




Garden progress:














I missed harvesting some of the broccoli in time - it is starting to flower:

Looking great man, super jealous.

Thanks!  This thread goes for quite a while sometimes with no responses at all.  Then I get to wondering if my friends are the only ones upping the hit count, and nobody has had the heart to tell me.  LOL.  

Hey, I've been watching this thread with envy since you started it! Thanks for sharing your successes and disappointments. I'm learning vicariously through you and others willing to share their experiences.

Thanks man!  I learn a lot from the other guys (and gals) in this forum.  I really love looking at the ones where they have land - Hopefully someday I will have at least 10 acres, but for now I am learning what I can with what I have.

Shoot, if I could get to the point of having just one decent raised bed, I'd be happy! I'm getting there. For now, I've been dealing with containers. In Texas, that's usually a frustrating endeavor.

Yeah, I spent many years in an apartment with a little square of concrete instead of a yard.  It's not as dry here but I have found the bottom-reservoir pots help (although you have probably already tried that).

Oh yeah, gotta have the little reservoirs under the pots. And, I have to move them under the covered patio in the heat of the day and water them 2-3 times a day during the summer. It's almost more trouble than it's worth. On paper it's clearly nuts to even try, but I balance it with the satisfaction of an occasional success. For now, I do what I can and enjoy the garden threads on here.

I had a pretty good mid-week harvest.  It's hard to tell in this picture but the cabbages and some of the broccoli heads (not counting the harvested side-shoots) came out really large.  Much better than my last attempt, although I think the mild weather more than any increased gardening skill is the factor there.  I will take some credit for allowing the kale to act as an inadvertant trap crop for almost all of the cabbage worm damage though.



Peas!  English peas, snow peas, sugar snaps all jumbled together.  They really seen to like this unusually mild fall we have been getting here.


The last of the cabbages in this bed.  As I harvest a section and let it go fallow I stop taking pictures of said section.  These 3 will come out in a few days and get sent to friends.


The remainder of the fall broccoli.


These next 2 are attempt number whatever-the-hell at growing garlic.  Maybe this year is the charm.  I am trying planter boxes as the green onions really seemed to thrive in them and they don't get disturbed in the spring when I plant out everything else.  Here's hoping this time works.



Mixed fall veg:




Brussels sprouts.


Artichoke.  This limped all the way through summer barely alive.  Now that the cool weather is here it is going nuts.


This is the same broccoli I showed last time that I missed the harvest window for.  Here it is in full flower:

Well, between a new job with longer hours and the days getting dark so early it has been weeks since I have been out in my garden.  Thankfully with the raised beds I don't have to weed them, but I did lose most of the remaining broccoli.  Here is the harvest since last post:

November:




Yeah, I know the carrots are stunty.  I though the peat pots would desintegrate before they needed to grow down - I was wrong.  Next year I will still start them early but I will use toilet paper roll middles instead, so there is no bottom to stop their growth. Hrm....maybe I should cut down on the coffee grounds too.  lol.

This is what I pulled in last night - I had the same problem with most of the parsnips as with the carrots, and I will use the same fix.  This cabbage was particularly small and flat compared to the others.  I have a bunch of cabbages still in the garden, but they are all barely softball-sized.  This time of year things will live (unless we get a really cold snap) but they don't get any larger.  I'm guessing there is just not enough daylight hours or intensity of light.



I took these about 2 weeks ago showing what was still alive in the garden - now it's pretty much just down to brussels sprouts, collards, and spinach.

Thanks Kitties!  I am on the NC-SC border in zone 7b - we get 1 or two cold snaps each winter down to about 10 degrees or so, we average about 30-ish degrees most of the winter.  The gardening is great as long as you don't want to grow citrus, the cost of living is relatively low and the people are very friendly.  

Well, it is that time of year again, and I am looking at what I will put in my garden this spring.  I have been working a lot more hours and no longer work from home, so along with other things I am looking to minimize the hours I need to spend picking produce.  I am also still working to perfect my tomato growing technique.  The last 3 years have produced a lot of tomatoes, but I had a lot of loss as well.

Experiment #1 - store bought cadges.  Result:  Cadges and plants pulled up and over during strong winds  and then sprawled everywhere, hiding the fruit until it rotted.  
Experiment #2 - fence posts and twine.  Result:  Did not fall over in strong winds, however grew so wildly it sprawled everywhere, hiding most of the fruit until it rotted.  The string also really cuts into the stems.
Experiment #3 - fence posts and twine, AND pinching back all the side starts.  Result:  This worked until it grew over the top of the post and sprawled,  however the single leader really reduced the total fruit output so I stopped pinching the sides, and which point it sprawled wildly, hiding about half the fruit until it rotted.  The string also really cuts into the stems. Yes, there is a theme here.  Not this year however!  

This year I begin.....
Experiment #4 - Cattle panel trellising with tomato clips to reduce stem damage from the twine.  It is my hope that the cattle panels will allow enough stems for decent fruit production.  Also hopefully when I reach the top I can start running them laterally.  I will see how it goes.

Here is my current planting list (subject to change).  Anything without a variety I am still debating which variety to plant.

Beds
tomatillo
eggplant - ichiban
eggplant - rosita
peppers - Park's Orangesickle
peppers - sweet pickle
sweet potato - stokes purple
sweet potato - japanese
onion - mega bite
bush beans - mellow yellow
broccoli
spinach
celery
cabbage and kale (as a trap crop)
beets
bok choy
carrots
lettuce
english peas
collards
celeriac

Trellis
gourd - ridged luffa (zucchini substitute)
squash - trombocino (young as zucchini sub, old as butternut-type)
cucumber - suyo asian long
beans - red noodle
peas - english
Tomato

Pots
horseradish
ginger
potatoes
green onions
garlic
cilantro
parsley
dill
artichoke (continuation of last year's plant)


Has anyone else started making their list yet?  If so, are you trying anything new this year?

Not a bad idea, thanks!  If this attempt doesn't work out that may end up being experiment #5.

We used a combination of horizontal and vertical string last year with the clips to hold the stems.  I liked the clips.  I was a little disappointed that they didn't have better UV resistance but they're cheap enough that it's not too big of a financial hit to purchase them every year.  Good luck with your experiment this year.

I noticed that you don't have lima bean on your list this year.  Too much work for little reward???  

We haven't worked on our plant list for this coming season.  We're actually considering moving the garden to a different location to try to avoid some of the chronic disease issues that we have at the current location.  I just can't think of a good spot that doesn't put us at a greater risk for four legged pests.  After we decide, we'll have a better idea what to plant in the available space.  We do intend to expand our early season leafy green list this season.  Love a good fresh salad

Yes, it was a risk/reward decision.  I ended up getting very few beans from them last time I planted them, and it was a lot of hassle.  Also unlike most things eaten fresh, I always cook these so even though the fresh are better than the frozen, once I add up the hassle, the output and the shelling I decided to just buy them when I want them.  

Thanks for the sending some luck my way, I can always use it!  I hope you find the perfect spot for this year's garden.  Choosing a location can be a bit of an art sometimes.

Well, yesterday I took advantage of our 68 degree weather and cleaned up the garden.  Probably this weekend or next I will pick up about 4 bags of black kow per bed, and maybe some more peat moss and amend and till.  After that I will let it rest until about mid-March, then the early spring stuff goes in.  Is anyone else getting their garden ready yet?

Ready?  Leeks and onions are planted!

It is actually going to be below freezing this weekend, but should be back to 50 in a week.  I have seedlings sunning themselves in front of my sliding glass door and cats snoozing by the fire.  Life is good.

I am trying to toilet paper roll trick for carrots.  I stacked them all in a plastic tub to hold them together.  The round thing in the middle is the cut off 2 litre top I use to fill them.

..And all filled.


Here is the experiment a bit farther along.  The left 2 rows are daikon and beets to see how they go.  Usually at this point I worry about the mold but it never seems to bother the plants.


The other seedlings are coming along.  




The green onions from last year made it through fine and are getting ready to flower.


The garlic experiment is coming along.  These went in around December I think - I have not had very good luck with garlic so I figured an experimental window box was about the right size to try again with.



The first flower of spring!
Crocus

Soon to be daffodils.

I did the spring soil refresh this past weekend.  Each bed got half a bale of peat and 6 bags of black kow.

fully amended:


pre-till


tilled:


...and raked and ready to go:


It looked so good I picked up some Georgia sweet onions since I didn't have time to start my onions from seed this year.

Yeah, I know.    I have been putting off buying lights because I am cheap.  Last year it was fine because we have enough warm days for them to go out and I worked from home so I could put them out and in as needed.  This year I am working in the office.  I finally gave in last week and ordered some red and blue led's to see if they will do the trick.  I will see how it goes.

Really nice system!  I had already planned to try clips and horizontal cattle panels this year, but that might need to be next year's experiment!  I would have to do some engineering since nailing the uprights to concrete would be a pill, but I can definitely see how functional it could be, without impeding fruiting or harvest.  Thanks for sharing!  

Thanks Kitties!  I started with pre-fertilized mix but I will try adding some and see what happens!  My seedling starting is a weak point in the system definitely.  Can you recommend what you would consider the best seed starting mix for the money?  I have been working with the pre-mixed bagged stuff from Lowe's - will compressed peat work and just add nutrients once I massage in some water? What fertilizer would you suggest?

Thanks for all the great advice! As I said, my seedling starting is a weak point in my system so I really appreciate the advice of folks that are stronger in that area.

2 weeks ago I picked up some seedlings from Lowe's on a gamble since they were on sale.  So far so good, although it it supposed to hit 31 degrees on Monday.  If they live I got a head start on the season.  If they die I am only out 10 bucks.  I also direct seeded 1 row each of gai lun (Chinese broccoli) and 1 bok-choy.  The gui lun has a broccoli taste but you eat the stems and leaves, and is supposed to be a cut-and-come-again that will survive our summer.  I have had really good luck with Asian vegetation surviving our summers here so it is worth a shot.






Last weekend I decided to re-do my watering system.  The reasons for this are:
1.  The barrels don't keep up with summer demand, so I end up sitting out there with a hose.
2.  Setting them off manually means they are usually watered at less optimal times and I either lose a lot to evaporation or I risk fungus on my plants.
3.  The soaker hose I was using kept wearing out/tearing and needing to be replaced.  
The new system is a work in progress:  I tried the sprinkler disks in the picture, however they don't come with timers and as you can see with 4 of them running the pressure even off the hose isn't enough to to get much spread.  I debated getting a single timer for 5 am and changing which 2 disks it was set to every night, but I finally decided on a 4-outlet programmable one for each of the 2 beds on each side of the house.  This way I can run the patterns sequentially in each side and have the pressure I want, at the time of day I want, without having to stand there to do it, and I don't worry about forgetting.  If this all works well at some point in the future I may add a component to sense the soil moisture/rain and adjust accordingly.  Forward progress from here is waiting on some parts and budget for the next week or two.
Here is the initial proof-of-concept with 1 outlet connections and 4 heads, off a simple manifold.  As you can see the heads don't have a lot of pressure here.  



Since I lost a number of my seedlings when I got sick and didn't pay them proper attention, I started more seedlings last weekend:
sweet pickle pepper
orangesickle pepper
chinese red noodle long bean
trombocino squash
pak choy - vivid variety
ichiban eggplant
rosante eggplant
tomatilla - purple
amaranth (hopefully for summer greens)
yukina savoy (this and the komatsuna are asian greens similar to the bok choi, but with thinner stems)
komatsuna
mellow yellow beans

I also bought some baby broccoli/broccolini- artwork hybrid and plunked it into the garden.  

There's not a lot going on in the garden this weekend - the plants in the beds are settling in, and the seeds from last weekend haven't done much yet.

Georgia sweets and some transplanted daikon seedlings.  I had carrot seedling but most of them died.  So far the toilet paper middles are really only good for things that grow quickly, like corn seedlings and daikons.  If something need a long time they disintegrate too soon or encourage too much mold.  They are excellent for pre-starting corn though.


Transplanted napa cabbage and radicchio.


Transplanted bonnie spinach the the direct-seeded bok-choi and gai lun.


Baby broccoli/broccolini:


The joys of micro-climates.  I have had a hard time keeping cilantro alive in the beds mid-summer and mid-winter.  This self-seeded in the grass and has come all the way through a couple of mowings, being stepped on, and through the winter.  I am curious now to see if it makes it through the summer okay.  This is in front of the south side of the concrete bed.

What kind did you get?  



I've looked into this for a while but have been lucky enough to have the CC in the other room when looking



 

LED red and blue strip lights from Amazon.

Kitties,
The pics were taken at the end of the day, and the light was a little weak.  I top-dressed all the beds with almost pure black kow a few weeks ago and tilled it in.

CC,
Yes, the Black Kow is composted cow manure (see below).  I have used it the last few years with excellent results, even without residual fertilizer.  I may be seeing some residual negatives from trying the wood chip mulch last year, although I removed most of it at the end of the season.
http://blackkow.com/_html/howitsmade.htm