My veggie garden

[Crabbergirl]

Thanks again John.
Good luck with the project John. Sound like you have it planned out so that always makes it easier I think most gardeners got their start because they didn't like idle hands, LOL! so I don't think you have anything to worry about. A true gardener never has idle hands, there is always something to do

 

[Crabbergirl]

If it's in a sunny spot I'd go with drought tolerant plants! Woolie thyme is one of them!
I wouldn't treat the blocks! Do you really want to add residual chemical to the soil? You could try using plastic up against the blocks.
I assume the spot is mostly sand?
If so, add lots of organic matter to the sand to help absorb and retain soil moisture!

You are right I really didn't want to add any chemicals to the area. It is just so very barren and hot that I was worried if even the woolie could stand the lack of water. I do have compost I will add there so maybe that will help out. But it is on a berm also which makes it even harder to keep wet. This sand is just like a sieve and water just runs through it then the sand bakes to a nice powder. The compost shoul help some. I have considered getting that gel stuff that expands and holds water, but I am not sure if it is organically safe or not. Do you know anything about that?

 

[Jade]

Nice Horseradish Josh!
Your veggie garden looks great!

I started to transplant my tomato seedings into large pots, so they will be a good size to plant in the garden! Should take a good week for the pots to be filled with a good root system
I'm only planting heirloom tomatoes this year!
Got the Brandywine done, started the Cherokee Purple and will leave the Pineapple Tomatos until this winds stops! Cucs are up in their jiffi pots as are the squash and zucs! Waiting for the weather settle before planting them out in the garden!
I'll be growing my eggplants in large 5gl pots! They did great last year! In pots it is easier to water and keep them well fed!

I planted one pineapple tomato too, they are my favorite heirloom. To bad the production is so low on them. I planted 8 better boys, 4 lemon boys and one pineapple.

 

[RonsGarden]

Hey Nancie!
It is an acrylic compound and it is not recommended to use around veggies!

Jade,
Can't wait for the pineapple, cherokee and brandywine to produce!
I'm dieing for a fresh tom!
There is nothing like picking one, bring it inside and slicing it up for a meal!
I planted 5 of each!

 

[Randy]

I had never heard of a pineapple tomato before, but a friend of my daughter's gave her a plant and I have planted it on the end of one of the bean rows. I'm glad to hear the comments about it.

 

[Crabbergirl]

Hey Nancie!
It is an acrylic compound and it is not recommended to use around veggies!

Ahhh thanks Ron. Maybe just the block then. I have some nice pavers also. They might be more pleasing to the eye

 

[Trax]

I wouldn't worry about the blocks. Just tell people it's artistic expression!
I do that when people tell me I needa clean my room!

Hey Wombat,
It's one more month till August. How's the garden moving project doing?

Since we just had 18 days of 100*F and higher and almost zero rain, I decided to update my garden photos. I took these shots today. Mom lost her Blue Hydrangea bush and I lost my Jalapeno Early peppers, elephant ears, and a banana plant. But everything else has survived! We don't have any flowers blooming this year and we usually have tons of flowers in June and July but at least the plants are still alive. And keeping things alive is all we can do till the extreme heat goes back down.

The Beefsteak tomatoes are doing awesome! But I might needa cover them soon to slow down leaf burn.

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

The Green Bell and Tangerine Pimento peppers are doing awesome too! But they have leaf burn so I'll prolly cover those too.

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

Here's some of the new hot pepper garden that survived.
Sweet Banana peppers. (I needa move them when the heat goes down).

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

Some of the Cubanelle peppers.

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

A Ring of Fire Cayenne pepper. The only one that survived.

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

Some of the New Mexico peppers.

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

One of the Horseradish plants. It's making new leaves now!

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

The Purple potatoes. I'll be checking those tonight to see if they're ready to dig up. It might be too early.

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

My Purple Heart plant.

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

The Peruvian Daffodils survived!!

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

The only flowers we have right now.

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

Never never step on these without shoes.

Heat Wave 2011 by Trax, on Flickr

Anyway, that's how everything looks today. I won't be doing any more planting though till the temps drop back down into the 90's. They might after the 4th of July... I hope!

 

[RonsGarden]

Looks like one of the weeds we have up here!
It is a cucumber relative with nasty exploding seed cases!

 

[Wombat]

Geez who ever said moving garden beds was an easy job ( it looks pretty simple on paper) had their hat on too tight lol. I've moved 3 of them so far and they're now getting a little more sunshine, but there's more to do and some of them can't be moved until the veggies are all harvested. One good thing is that they're a lot closer to my shed so it's easier to get tools out etc.
Trax your garden looks great everything is looking pretty good considering the temps you're having. If you need to work at night in the garden do what a friend of mine did and buy a miners lamp . She said it wasn't expensive and leaves her hands free to do everything. Her neighbours thought she was a bit weird but she didn't care, it worked really well .
Nancy there's no chance of idle hands around here I can tell you and you're right there's always something to do. I took a pic of one of the beds that I'm waiting for it contains a couple of mizuna greens that have been producing leaves since October...they refuse to go to seed which is what I'm waiting for it also has a pawpaw tree that's loaded with fruit so I can't disturb that either..oh well

 

[Trax]

Awesome plants, Wombat! Awesome job too!
I don't have any probs working in the daytime but I know if I plant any seeds, they won't stay wet enough to germinate and small plants would die before they finished transplant shock. The 100's heat dries things up in an hour, even if they're totally soaked. But the 100's prolly won't last much longer. We're almost at a record number of days already.

Well, I just checked and we haven't set any records yet. But we will be in the 100's for the next 10 days.

Hey Ron,
I just broke open one of those stickers! It's about 1 inch wide with 1 inch thorns and has tons of little black seeds in it.

Sticker by Trax, on Flickr

 

[RonsGarden]

Looks nasty Josh!
Glad we don't have those around here!
The one we have is Echinocystis lobata is nasty in another way!
The seeds can be projected a good 20ft! The seed cases build up internal tension as it ripens and once ripe, the the built up tension lets go all at once and the case explodes shooting the seeds out leaving just an empty case!

 

[Crabbergirl]

Ewww Trax! That looks like a nasty bugger. Do they have any use at all. Do any animals eat them?


Wombat

I have one cilantro like that . I will not seed. It just keeps flowering but not producing seeds. I am ready to put it out of it's misery. I need the space

 

[Trax]

Hey Crabbergirl,
I don't think an animal could eat it but Cardinals, Bluejays, Finches, and other small birds love the seeds! I found these plants growing around mom's bird feeder and they're called Thistles. The seeds cost $10 for a small bag.

Hey Ron,
This is def a different kind of sticker then cause these don't explode. The end of the pod just opens up when it dries up. I used leather gloves to open that one up cause those thorns are as bad as big splinters and really sharp!

 

[RonsGarden]

I'll have to do a search for yours Josh!
It is definitely in the melon family!

 

[RonsGarden]

I took these shots of my veggie garden this afternoon:
Still need to plant the eggplants! I'm waiting for them to develop a good root system before I can pop them out of their pots and into the garden!
Tomatoes are looking good and love the high temps we've been getting!

 

[Crabbergirl]

Our Thistles look different. I am sure there are many types. But that's cool that the birds like them. Grow your own bird food.

 

[Crabbergirl]

Great garden Ron. Don't know how I missed these pics the other day.

 

[Crabbergirl]

These are a few of my veggies. I haven't taken an overall garden photo in a while. We had rain yesterday and are expecting 2-5 inches between now and Monday. Rain forcast for the nex 7 days! I'll try to sneak in a picture if it's not to rainy. It may just kill off all the tomatoes

 

[Wombat]

Great pics Ron and Nancy everything looks really healthy........nearly finished moving my garden beds....this bed with the marigolds etc. will be the next one to get moved plus the other pic is of the last of the perennial capsicums (peppers) before I cut the bush back in readiness for the warmer weather. Trax hope it cools down for you soon!

 

[Trax]

Great jobs Ron, Nancy, and Wombat!! It could still be a long time before my gardens start doing anything cause of the heat. It's 105*F now and the weather guessers say we'll be in the 100s for at least another 10 days. But at least everything is still alive!
When things start growing again, I'll post some pics.