Posted: 7/25/2009 10:02:14 PM EDT
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Things finally started cooking around here.
I got a late start and it's been kind of cool and rainy. Things have warmed up a bit in July and finally the vegetable garden is coming on. I have two gardens, one is a reduced size container garden that this year is mostly herbs. The other is a remote site where I have a 4x8 SFG happening. 
Part of the herb lineup. That's Borage by the wall and some Summer Savory hiding around the corner. My Chiltepin, which I overwintered inside growing between the baccy'. Mystery peppers in the trough. Cinnamon Basil and Genovese. Two different Rosemaries and two different Oreganos. I'll dry what doesn't get eaten green. 
More herbs up the steps. Siam Queen, Lime Basil, Sweet Woodruff, Lemon Verbena, Orange Mint, Cilantro, Tarragon, Lemon Balm, Sage, Lemon Thyme, English Thyme, Chocolate Mint and Spearmint. Also some strawberries and carnivorous plants up out of view. 
Here you can see some of the drip tubing. 
Sorry, this should be a vertical. The faucet is Y'd. First in line is the timer, then a backflow preventer and a pressure regulator. The Raindrip system is perfect for a smaller scale set up like mine. I couldn't get a piece of hose to survive for long in the sun under the faucet pressure. So I went full retard and spent the long green for solid brass fittings and bought two feet of premium hot water washer hose. You can see it bulging in the pic but that piece has held up for two years vs. the week I was getting out of a commercial hose section. 
CU of the timer. This is a fancier programmable timer. A Melnor, I believe. This one has been in use for about 4 seasons. 
My tobacco coming along. I grew this, N. sherazi, from seed. 
You might remember this photo. Yeah it gets thinned a little. 
Impatiens from seed. 
Finally got some flowers just this past week. 
Marigolds and Lavender, both from seed. The Lavender is perennial and stays outside. The Marigolds are neverending. I have been collecting seed from the same Burpee strains for more than 10 years. Buy once, keep forever works for me! Now, on to the vegetable garden. I am growing in the yard of a nice orthodox Jewish lady across town. Her land and water in exchange for some tomatoes and cukes. I just can't work there on Saturday. This garden is essentially autonomous. Once it was up and running, I go over to it only once or twice a week. 
Different timer. This one is made by Raindrip, not as slick as the other one but cheaper. Same valving set up. Set it and forget it. 
Here's a shot of the head pipe coming across the lawn. It's 1/2" black flexible plastic. The Mexicans who do her yardwork pretty much scalp her lawn. Somebody needs to tell them that 1" is a little close in the summer. 
Butternut Squash going in the corner. I got a crop of radishes in the same area before it spread out too much. It's growing fine but yellow. I hit it with some extra manure. 
Snow Peas going nuts in the front row. I mean nuts, like a jungle. 
Cukes behind them, going nuts as well. Here's a baby. I had limited success growing them in buckets before. They are loving it this year in the dirt. 
Two Cherry Tomatoes. Old seed, coming on fine. Just starting to fruit when I took this shot. 
A Cherokee Purple in fruit. This one was store bought.
Three more Beefsteaks in line. One is storebought, the other two from seed. That's my first ripening one. Absolutely no problems with BER, bone meal is your friend. 
Two squares of carrots coming in too. I took this shot to show the dripper head. Here's another one hiding amidst the peas. 
You can't really see them but there is a row of peppers in the third rank. I had no idea that the cukes and peas were going to grow so densely. The peppers are really getting shaded out but they are starting to flower anyway. One Habenero, one Jalapeno, two Kaleidescope Bells and one regular old Green Pepper. Of course it's California Wonder. I put in some Marigolds for pest management and regularly sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth for slugs and bugs. It's like Christmas in July. 
Mel's mix with a twist. I was a little leery of the bagged compost I bought so I addeed a bag of topsoil and a bag of composted manure into each batch of soil. Otherwise it's 1/3 peat, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 compost. I had to truck up to the chi-chi garden center to get big bags of vermiculite and pay yuppie retail but IMO it's worth it. Weeds are almost non-existent, there's nowhere for them to grow. I also used SRM-Red plastic sheeting under the tomatoes and peppers. It looks like it's kicking some waves to the cukes as well. I recommend the stuff. For fert. I use manure and generic Miracle Grow from WalMart. Piss keeps the bunnies away. Are we eating yet? 
You betcha'. I also brought in the radishes and three Jalapenos already. The cukes and peas are flushing and I expect to be harvesting some tomatoes on Sunday. I made Goi Cuon last week with my own Siam Queen Basil, mint and Cilantro. You don't need a farm, just some dirt and sweat. Get out there and feed yourselves. |
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Cukes done great here this season , tomatoes just beautiful till chest high and full of blooms then blight hit them I tried Epsom salt and plain ole soap and water but still they just sit there and look like death now I've looked for cures on the net but ever one says nothing to do I just don't see it maybe they will come out of it some they look a bit better this morning after a night of rain , it seems to do them better than water out of the softener so I continue to feed them miracle grow and water daily .Any ideals ? Thanks
John |
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The SRM-Red is sound science.
They sell it all over the place including HD and Loews. I also found a buch of places online that have the commercial strength film on large rolls. I'm on the lookout for blight. Apparently the Mid-Atlantic is having an outbreak this year. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/nyregion/18tomatoes.html Some large commercial grower got Late Blight and then shipped his plants to every home & garden store on the East Coast. The cool and wet weather helps it grow and spread too. There's only 4 commercially grown plants in that entire garden (2 Tom. and 2 Of the peppers), everything else is from seed. Plus I'm in the city so there's a lot less spores blowing around. My understanding is that you have to start with the treatment before symptoms appear by applying a fungicide. One of the other advantages of drip watering is no leaf splash, which is one of the ways the spores spread. Treat it with a fungicide containing chlorothalonil, like Daconil. |
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I'll cop to unspectacular germination this time around.
Maybe 60% but I didn't lose any of the ones that did come up. They were Burpee, right off the rack at WalMart. You would have loved it. The first time I grew them I bought a super fancy double rosette strain direct from Burpee. They were expensive, maybe $9 for the packet. I was dismayed at how little seed was in the packets, especially since there was a low germination warning in the instructions. Well, when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. I had the space under the lights so I meticulously parsed out the seeds with a fine watercolor brush. Licking the tip of the brush, one solitary tiny seed per cell, I filled an entire flat. There was exactly 50 seeds in the packet and I had two left over. But the payoff was 100% germination. I got the whole flat, surely would have cost me more than $9 at a garden store. We did a bunch of containers and I had dozens left so I naturalized under a big Maple tree on the shady side of our house. They filled out and looked great. I forget what they were called, some florid Burpee name, Jungle Spectacular Fireworks Whizzer or some shit like that. They had intense electric colors that just popped out of that dark green foliage. Impatiens are so pretty. I just wish they were perennials. |
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Licking the tip of the brush, one solitary tiny seed per cell, I filled an entire flat. Holy F*%&$!!! I've never done that. And don't know that I'd have the patience to do so! That's amazing. But impatiens.....they are the ambience....the very hue and texture of their name. Patience with those little seeds....color in the depth of the shade. No better way to get it. Very nice. I WOULD have loved it.  Wish you had pics of that naturalized garden.Alas, they won't grow under walnuts. That's where I have my woodland garden.  Only a few rare species can handle that chemical poison the walnuts put out.Okay I'll quit now...I've probably killed your thread as it is.  kitties Okay, after almost an entire bottle of Dry Creek Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, I had to google "ambience" to figure out whether it was ambience or ambiance. Time for bed. Oh, and Burpee has nothing on Ball Seed Co. for its names...especially for impatiens. "Impatiens, 'Bubble Gum Santa'" just as you say..."Or some shit".... no lie. |