Whatcha Up To???

[w_r_ranch]

Woke up & decided the ground was firm enough, so I got started... The bull panel trellises are now welded in place & I can check that off my 'punch list'.

Tomorrow I will dig the trenches to install the last of the risers of the irrigation system. Then I'll take a day off to cut the grass, before forming the rows... at which point I'll be ready to plant once I have some confidence in spring being here.

 

[majorcatfish]

dw just walked in and saw your garden she like it, she noticed your trellis system and remarked that you were going to be doing serious pickles this season, she did reminded me that there is no need for any pickling cucumbers this year,i asked why ? she showed me cases of sweet pickles
bread and butter pickles
dill pickles
relish
freezer pickles

ok honey thats why we are only doing fresh eating cucumbers this year......good
guess the 2 packs of pickling cucumbers that i purchased can wait till next year...

 

[whistech]

Mr. Ranch, your garden is the envy of us all.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Sam, Probably not a good idea to do any welding standing in the standing water either, unless you want to learn some new dance steps.
About all us folk in CA have to brag about is the early weather. I have baby grapes, small Babcock peaches, figs and Blackberrry blossoms already. Sweet Winter Onions are starting to bulb out, so will pick some soon. Hope to plant some tomatoes Sunday,

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

I hear that Ernie!!!

I started the trenching, however I have not finished yet. I did apply a coat of paint to the frame (t-posts/re-bar) to inhibit any rust, particularly at the weld points. Guess I just wasn't in the mood to trench... I'll probably finish it up tomorrow & cut the grass on Saturday before the rains come in again.

 

[majorcatfish]

should have done some work in the garden after work but after the rebuilding the gearbox to one of the buffers there was no way.....
those italians are proud when it comes to replacement parts<international next day air does not help either> . and tomorrow is shot down as well replacing the blower motor to the boiler. looks like saturday i will be busy as a beaver before the rain sets in sunday..

glad to see others are able to get things in the ground....

 

[ErnieCopp]

bought some more tomato plants today and will try to dig out onions and plant them this weekend. A friend broughtt over a genuine Earth Box for me to compare to the City Picker boxes i bought at Home Depot. Very similar, same material, same screen, same design, City box is wider, Earth box is longer, City box may be a little bit bigger total,. but the biggest difference was in the price. City box costs half as much as Earth Box.

and so it goes,
Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Finished trenching & then installed the risers after swapping out the nozzles (to balance the amount of water each puts out ).

Need to till one more time, since I've been traipsing through the dirt & then I'll form the rows.

 

[majorcatfish]

had a little breakfast dogs took me for a morning walk,after that got busy in garden.
took the overwintering straw off the asparagus bed and spread and raked in about 15 lbs of fertilizer and 5 lbs of greensand.
and put my feral cat cover back on.

in the main garden spread 50 lbs of lime, 20 lbs of triple phosphate, 36 lbs of greensand and tilled it in.
amazing how new dentures on the tiller just chew up the soil. since my rosemary plant did not like this bone chilling winter got a extra 3' to plant in.

decided to take a chance and plant the yukon potatoes early, april 9th is historically the last frost date for our zone.

few of the onions that i planted the other week are sprouting.

speaking of onions these little die hards survived the winter and showing new growth to boot.

and then the oregano and thyme are showing new growth. once the garlic is done in one of the smaller beds, planning on carefully digging them up and transplanting them and let the oregano just take over in that bed.


was going to work on the new potato beds but the soil was still to wet to even think about doing anything in there, still have 3 weeks to get them right.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Cut the grass, watered the hanging baskets & pots on the porches, then all the trees.

Also ops checked & adjusted all the irrigation heads in the main garden, we're good to go!!!

 

[majorcatfish]

knowing rain was coming put the plow on the g/t and made a drainage ditch in hopes of diverting some of the water away from the potato beds.

while out there noticed some life in the blackberries...

 

[45 ACP]

Some of you have very nice setups. Wish I had that kind of room...

Me and the kids picked some carrots last weekend. They probably could have gone a bit longer but I needed the room for the spring garden. They sure taste nice and sweet though.

 

[45 ACP]

I also got the spring garden planted just before we got a nice little rain. Now they are calling for a windy week... hope the little plants dont take too much of a beating. I changed my plan slightly and ended up with:

3 Mucho Nacho jalapeno
3 bell peppers
2 Black beauty egg plant
2 burpless cukes
1 straight neck squash
1 Zucchini
2 celebrity tomato
2 grape tomato

I will mulch in the next day or two, when I get some more time.

 

[majorcatfish]

will agree with you 45 it seems that fall/winter carrots taste sweeter with a greater crunch that spring carrots don't.
if the 10 day forecast stays true will be planting some carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, bok choy this weekend.

 

[Mike]

Some of you have very nice setups. Wish I had that kind of room...

Me and the kids picked some carrots last weekend. They probably could have gone a bit longer but I needed the room for the spring garden. They sure taste nice and sweet though.

Any tips on growing carrots? Planning to put some carrot seed in the new garden.

 

[ErnieCopp]

We had an old fashioned root cellar in Idaho. I only held Apples wrapped in newspapers and carrots packed in sawdust over winter, and the carrots just kept getting sweeter and sweeter all winter until they were gone. The apples kept real well, too, developing more flavor and lasted almost to March. Also a wonderful place to keep canned fruit and vegetables.

We had freezers in the house basement, for Apple Juice and frozen stuff, so did not use the big potato? bins in the cellar, but i really liked having that.
Ernie

 

[ErnieCopp]

I planted carrots and beets in the new City Pickers container. I have them sitting on a table, and oh, so much eaiser to plant those tiny seeds there instead of in the ground. Just learning how to use the containers but started out spacing 2"x2" and will thin baby carrots and baby beets to 4x4. If any of you use Earth Boxes or small growing containers what spacing do you suggest? It seems to me they can get more nutrients from the potting soil than from the garden dirt.

Ernie

 

[majorcatfish]

Any tips on growing carrots? Planning to put some carrot seed in the new garden.

carrots like loamy soil, even watering, as for fertilizer a good 10-10-10 as worked for me. carrots will get hairy if you use something that is high in nitrogen.

as for planting i prefer doing straight rows and sowing more in every week so there is always a carrot to grab.

my vision is not what it use to be, have been the last couple years ordering more seeds that are pelleted there's less waste, no thinning to be done and the best part you can see wheres the seed is at and can move it if you do not like wheres it at....
during germination do not let the soil dry out.
this year planting the usual carrot but adding purple, white, yellow thats going to make some interesting cooking this summer...

 

[45 ACP]

Any tips on growing carrots? Planning to put some carrot seed in the new garden.

This was my first time growing them. As mentioned above, you need deep loamy soil and consistent watering (your new raised bed should be perfect). I didn't have the patience to plant each individual seed because the seeds are SO TINY. My local nursery told me i could just sprinkle the seeds as evenly as I could, then sweep a small amount of dirt over the seeds and water in. When the baby carrots start sprouting, you have to spend some time thinning them. I tried to leave about 1.5 inches in between each sprout. I had to thin them maybe once a week for 3 weeks and then didn't really have to thin anymore. Then just keep them evenly watered.

Even though this was my first time I have to say that I will do it the same way again this fall. By sprinkling the seeds and then thinning, I was able to keep a bunch of carrots in a pretty small area at the very end of my garden. You can see where they were in the pic above, at the far end where the dirt is darker from just pulling them up. They didn't take up much room at all. I got almost a gallon freezer bag full from that small area.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Picked up a pallet of mushroom compost (52 - 2cu. ft. bags) that will be added to the soil since I'm getting ready to till for the last time (forming the rows as I go). Figures that the next few days are calling for a high percentage chance of rain... 60% tomorrow, 80% on Thursday & 50% on Friday. Tough to 'win' this spring... I was hoping to plant this weekend.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Major, I had never heard of pelleted carrot seed before, but i will surely get that kind next time. I wound up pouring some seed in the palm of my hand and using the tip of my pocket knife blade to lift a couple of seeds at a time and put in each seed depression. The reason i am planting them in boxes is because my soil IS NOT loamy. I wish it was.

Ernie

 

[majorcatfish]

pellet seeds have been around for many years mainly for commercial mechanised planting and recently it has been growing in popularity
in home gardening, there are a few seed catalogs that offering them.
mainly johnnys and stokes.
this year my pellet seed consists of
lettuce
beets
carrots
spinach
radishes

they are coated in clay which helps retain moisture during germination, looking forward to seeing more of the smaller seeds done this way.

planted this type of seed for a late season harvest, we picked the last of them jan 4th along with the last 3 parsnips.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Major,
I do recall seeing pelleted seed for using in planters and i think some of the pellets also treat the seed, but i have not seen it for small quantities. I like Johnny's seeds so will get some of them next year.

Do they separate the seed clusters for beets, or do they pellet the entire fruit?

Ernie

 

[majorcatfish]

Major,
I do recall seeing pelleted seed for using in planters and i think some of the pellets also treat the seed, but i have not seen it for small quantities. I like Johnny's seeds so will get some of them next year.

Do they separate the seed clusters for beets, or do they pellet the entire fruit?

Ernie

they are palleted just like the carrots.
having the seeds pelleted families with children and grand children gets them more involved in the fun of gardening.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Major, I did not make my question clear. The rough little bumps in the beet seed packets are actually little fruits, each one containing about five beet seeds. That usually requires more thinning.
My question was whether each pellet contained one Seed, or one cluster of seeds.

Ernie