Veggie Garden 2011

[Turtle]

last year was lame for veggy gardening here in the pacific northwest united states and this year is only a little less lame as la niña lingers. it's mid-august, 68ºF @noon & to date i have harvested 1 cucumber, 1 beet, 12 pea-pods (infested with aphids), and 1/2 dozen radishes.

 

still hoping for tomatoes, zuccini, yellow-neck squash, pumpkins, sunflowers, acorn squash, cillantro, carrots, and green beans.

 

so, how's it for the rest of you? :ip:

[Knothead]

I have never been very successful here in west central FL. If the heat doesn't kill em the bugs or the chickens do. I've enjoyed a pretty good harvest of Muscadine grapes the last couple of years though. Fruit has always done pretty well too.

[JMJones0424]

This summer in central Texas, while not exceptionally warmer than average, we are in the middle of an historic drought. I am at about 50% of average rainfall for the past 12 months (largest deficit since the beginning of record keeping in 1895), and haven't seen measurable rain since early May.

 

Water demands have proven to be too much for my well. My market garden has withered. I still have a corner of the garden under shade cloth producing tomatoes, peppers, cukes, okra, green beans, turnips and radishes for personal consumption. I am also doing my best to keep the herb and asparagus beds from desiccating. I have sold off 3/4 of my livestock, and all but 4 laying hens. The nursery I work at part-time has lost almost all of its 750 acre-feet irrigation reservoir, so we are having an interesting time trying to get customers to accept order shipments a couple months early, as it is financially impossible to outsource for irrigation water for 200 acres of potted plants and trees. I have lost all of the pecan trees on my property, all of the pines lining the drive to the house, and even the live oaks are beginning to shed their leaves.

 

I think I see the Chihuahuan Desert approaching from the west.

 

Anyone have 25-50 acres for sale in New Hampshire?

[Turtle]

I have never been very successful here in west central FL. If the heat doesn't kill em the bugs or the chickens do. I've enjoyed a pretty good harvest of Muscadine grapes the last couple of years though. Fruit has always done pretty well too.

 

fruit would be cool, but there's none on the property & i'm a renter.

 

what would you grow if you could? maybe we could green your brown thumb a bit. :lol:

 

 

Water demands have proven to be too much for my well. My market garden has withered. I still have a corner of the garden under shade cloth producing tomatoes, peppers, cukes, okra, green beans, turnips and radishes for personal consumption. I am also doing my best to keep the herb and asparagus beds from desiccating.

 

well, that's something of a small victory...garden. :doh: i may have had okra, but i didn't grow up with it so it's never been something to jump to mind. on the other hand, maybe i'll try some turnips next year. i'd like to think i'm getting smarter at growing only what i'll actually eat. :lol:

 

 

I have sold off 3/4 of my livestock, and all but 4 laying hens. The nursery I work at part-time has lost almost all of its 750 acre-feet irrigation reservoir, so we are having an interesting time trying to get customers to accept order shipments a couple months early, as it is financially impossible to outsource for irrigation water for 200 acres of potted plants and trees. I have lost all of the pecan trees on my property, all of the pines lining the drive to the house, and even the live oaks are beginning to shed their leaves.

 

I think I see the Chihuahuan Desert approaching from the west.

 

Anyone have 25-50 acres for sale in New Hampshire?

 

i don't know what else to say than that is a crying shame. :(

 

may i humbly suggest that new hampshire sucks hind-tit well behind washington state and unabashedly invite you to give us a look?

 

>>farm land in washington, the evergreen state

 

who of the rest of you is hiding or coveting a veggy garden? :ip:

[Deepwater6]

Here in Pennslyvania I have done OK with the garden but it took massive amounts of water. We didn't have any rain to speak of for most of July. I have a well at my house for our water source. I was concerned we would run it dry. We did end up with cukes,squash,banana peppers, bell peppers, and tomatoes. I had (20)- 6'high white pines installed on my property. Of course as soon as they went in nary a drop fell. So my well was working overtime keeping them alive as well.

[JMJones0424]

i may have had okra, but i didn't grow up with it so it's never been something to jump to mind. on the other hand, maybe i'll try some turnips next year.

 

Okra is great (at least in my climate). It thrives in high temps. It is generally more attractive to aphids than anything else in the garden, but grows quickly enough that they do no real harm, and since I try to avoid pesticides (organic and synthetic), the aphid population harbored by the okra supports a population of beneficials that keep the aphids off of everything else. The strong, woody stalk grows rapidly, about 2-3 inches per day, and once the plant is too tall for easy harvesting, it can be "coppiced", providing feedstock for charring. New stalks rapidly regrow from the remaining roots and 6 inches or so of stalk that remains. At the peak of production, expect each stalk to produce one okra every two days. If kept dry, they store about a week in the refrigerator. If you like pickles, nothing beats pickled okra. Okra is a great thickening agent in meaty stews and gumbos. Fried okra (breaded in cornmeal and salt) is very popular in the south. Less popular is steamed okra, due to the "slimy" factor, but I love a diced tomato, one chopped jalapeno, 1/4 onion, and 5 or so sliced okra cooked in the microwave as a quick and easy snack.

 

Turnips are another southern staple. Unfortunately, most people over cook turnip greens into a green blob. My favorite preparation is to chiffonade the greens and dice the roots, and stir fry with a splash of sesame oil. Root maggots and leaf eating pests can be a problem for turnips if you don't have an IPM strategy.

[Turtle]

... We did end up with cukes,squash,banana peppers, bell peppers, and tomatoes. ...

 

:thumbs_up how big is your patch? what kind of squash, if i may ask. :D

 

Okra is great (at least in my climate). It thrives in high temps. ...

 

Turnips are another southern staple. Unfortunately, most people over cook turnip greens into a green blob. My favorite preparation is to chiffonade the greens and dice the roots, and stir fry with a splash of sesame oil. Root maggots and leaf eating pests can be a problem for turnips if you don't have an IPM strategy.

 

fascinating on the okra. your piece prompted me to look into it more. alas i don't seem to have the climate for it and certainly not this year the weather. :(

 

i eat my beet greens though i haven't tried them cooked. i think i will now and take care not to blobbify them.

 

here's a shot looking NW into my main bed of about 100ft². i put my vining curcurbits on vertical strings & stakes, as well as my tomatoes. the white tarp is to reflect light back into the garden. :ip: :smilingsun:

 

edit: PS i decided i should mention my water resource. my garden water is from the house hose bib & comes from a municipal supply. because the sewer rate is tied to water consumption, they adjust the sewer rate down comensurate with increased water use during outside watering months. i don't water the grass or the trees or shrubs. adapt or die.

 

here's a blurb on my water:

The City of Vancouver is the fourth largest provider of drinking water in the state of Washington, serving up 8.5 billion gallons to more than 200,000 people within the city and a portion of the unincorporated area in 2010. Our Water Maintenance Team is responsible for operating and maintaining the extensive water distribution system, which includes 11 water stations, 40 wells, about 1,000 miles of pipes, 53 booster pumps, and nearly 69,000 service connections (water meters) in our water service area, which includes all of the City of Vancouver and some surrounding urban areas of the community. Quality and service are top priorities for all water-related engineering, operations and maintenance teams.

 

The City of Vancouver's drinking water not only meets all state and federal requirements, it frequently exceeds them. In fact, Vancouver puts its water through far more stringent tests than U.S. and Washington laws require. See the Updates for a link to the 2010 Water Quality Report. Or view through the links on the left, which provide access to past reports, too. ...

source

Edited August 14, 2011 by Turtle

[Turtle]

calling mr. jonés... curcurbit question. (love that word. ;)) my acorn squash & pumpkin this year is going nowhere fast & the only thing i have come up with is that the seed is ~ 4 years old. is this a big deal with curcrbits? do you harvest your own seed or buy commercial ones? how critical is seed age to other crops? my old radish seeds seem ok. :shrug:

 

guess that's it. oh; had some garden fresh steamed green beans tonight with a bit of butter & salt.

[JMJones0424]

Checked with our horticulturist at work, we both agree that seed age most likely is not the culprit. Seed age will affect germination rates either directly through embryo viability or indirectly through increased water impermeability of the seed coat. But, once the seed has germinated, seed age shouldn't be an issue.

 

I don't regularly grow pumpkins, but I do grow lots of other vining squash. I save seed, but usually just from those varieties that don't require my bagging flowers to prevent cross-pollination. I grow a lot of hybrids anyway. I always save seed from okra, cilantro, spinach, and tomatillo. I occasionally save seed from heirloom tomatoes, beans, and peas. I never save seed from peppers, instead I take cuttings during the fall and grow mother plants in the greenhouse over winter that I take cuttings from around the first of the year. I've had too many issues with pepper germination over the years, and find it easier to just rely on vegetative propagation for them in the numbers that I need. I keep seeds in a sealed tupperware container in the fridge half-full with un-cooked rice as a desiccant.

 

Are you also having problems with fruit set on tomatoes? - Insufficient light or low temps

Are you also having problems with fruit set on cucumbers or bush squash? - Insufficient pollinators

pH/ nutrient imbalances?

Drainage issues?

 

I can't think of anything that would specifically cause vining squash to be stunted but leave all other veggies in the garden normal. But, from your opening post, it sounds like everything may be suffering. I suggest you contact your local extension agent and see if they'd be able to help you out. There's just too much that I don't know about your climate for me to make more than just guesses as to what your problem is.

[Deepwater6]

:thumbs_up how big is your patch? what kind of squash, if i may ask. :D

 

 

I have four (4'x 8') patches. Im too lazy to rototill (bad back) so I bought a bunch of lumber, nailed them together to make 4 raised garden sections. Then I had one of the farmers around here drop a pile of soil near by, and the family and I filled in. I saw this in Organic mag. You line the bottom of the plots with newspaper and then fill them in with dirt. It made the garden alot easier to tend and care for. It also makes it look neater and like I know what I'm doing... which I don't. We tried crookneck squash this year and it worked out very well, but I should have put it somewhere it had more room to grow than the 4' x 8' space I put it in. Oh well live and learn.

[Turtle]

Checked with our horticulturist at work, we both agree that seed age most likely is not the culprit. Seed age will affect germination rates either directly through embryo viability or indirectly through increased water impermeability of the seed coat. But, once the seed has germinated, seed age shouldn't be an issue.

 

acknowledged.

 

don't regularly grow pumpkins, but I do grow lots of other vining squash. I save seed, but usually just from those varieties that don't require my bagging flowers to prevent cross-pollination. I grow a lot of hybrids anyway. I always save seed from okra, cilantro, spinach, and tomatillo. I occasionally save seed from heirloom tomatoes, beans, and peas. I never save seed from peppers, instead I take cuttings during the fall and grow mother plants in the greenhouse over winter that I take cuttings from around the first of the year. I've had too many issues with pepper germination over the years, and find it easier to just rely on vegetative propagation for them in the numbers that I need. I keep seeds in a sealed tupperware container in the fridge half-full with un-cooked rice as a desiccant.

 

good stuff! :thumbs_up

 

 

Are you also having problems with fruit set on tomatoes? - Insufficient light or low temps

Are you also having problems with fruit set on cucumbers or bush squash? - Insufficient pollinators

 

tomatos, cukes, and summer squash setting fruit. :D

 

pH/ nutrient imbalances?

Drainage issues?

 

I can't think of anything that would specifically cause vining squash to be stunted but leave all other veggies in the garden normal. But, from your opening post, it sounds like everything may be suffering. I suggest you contact your local extension agent and see if they'd be able to help you out. There's just too much that I don't know about your climate for me to make more than just guesses as to what your problem is.

 

from what you have said i think it's part the cool-wet spring/summer and me planting several different times. gardening is as gardening does & i will take what i get. tonight it was steamed beet-greens & boiled beets. see attachment.

 

I have four (4'x 8') patches. Im too lazy to rototill (bad back) so I bought a bunch of lumber, nailed them together to make 4 raised garden sections. Then I had one of the farmers around here drop a pile of soil near by, and the family and I filled in. I saw this in Organic mag. You line the bottom of the plots with newspaper and then fill them in with dirt. It made the garden alot easier to tend and care for. It also makes it look neater and like I know what I'm doing... which I don't. We tried crookneck squash this year and it worked out very well, but I should have put it somewhere it had more room to grow than the 4' x 8' space I put it in. Oh well live and learn.

 

i would like raised beds but it's too much trouble & expense as a renter.

 

for the squash you could let it go outside the bed on the ground, or put them up some poles/wires/strings and let them grow up as i do.

 

that's all from my little dirt hole. (oh, it rained 2/10 yesterday. :))

[Turtle]

fall is here & the rains with it. :weather_rain: we had a summer of exactly 8.67 days. i have never had much luck with carrots but got my best crop ever this year. i have no idea why. when i told a roomy i had about 5 pounds he asked how much that would cost @ the store. when i told him about $3.59 he couldn't stifle his chuckle. :doh: :lol: are the rest of you about done too?