I have a organic vegetable garden I grow every summer. With almost everyone stuck at home because of the virus stuff I thought I'd see who else has taken up this hobby. My main garden is 15 feet x 30 feet & a raised bed around 10 feet x 13 feet, 1/2 covered w/ black plastic because of nematodes. I have planted South African (white) Cucumbers - 2 hills 4-5 per hill. Tomatoes several types. Elephant Garlic. Bush Beans Areas ready to plant Ambrosia cantaloupe (very sweet & tasty), grown vertically on 6x6 WWM wire. Tokyo cross turnips Sweet corn Parsley herbs - Stevia & basil. I bought a Honda rototiller around 35 years ago & it still is going strong, sure makes garden prep easier. Using organic compost & fertilizer to keep the plants happy. Attached is a photo of the Cantaloupe setup I use w/ underground soaker hose to prevent mildew on leaves. The Dam& nematodes are spreading so recently I ordered 15MM of Beneficial Nematodes, hopefully they will do the job & don't get me talking about the grass hoppers
This AM I trapped another Squirrel that has been terrorizing the Navel Orange tree fruit, I used a HavaHart cage & dropped him off 'down by the river' where many other squirrels hang out. Here are a couple of photos of the cantaloupe (2018) incl. what I use to hang them on the WWM wire, if not supported when the fruit gets ripe it will "slip" off. What I like about the Ambrosia type is that I can walk down the row & smell the ripe ones from 2-3 feet away. *So is anyone else growing anything in their back/front yards, I know its Spring time now but it is a fun hobby & why not get started.
I have a garden and a green house and have been growing stuff for about 15 years now, I grow razzberries blueberries I let the neighbors pick them after I get what I need ! I also grow rubarb apples, figs , pears , peas, tomatoes large and cherry, asparagus ,acorn squash zucchini squash, cucumbers, peppers, potatoes, strawberries . I start the seeds growing in February in the greenhouse from the plants I grew last year and some that I buy at the garden store, it pretty well keeps me busy most of the year . I see people have a little problem getting seeds this year because of the virus and having to stay home so they decide to try growing there own food. I use old road culverts for a raised garden that my son brought home he works for a construction company about 3 feet high and three across and some boxes I made with wire bottoms to keep the moles out, most plants don't need more then 4-6 inches of good soil. squirrels or "tree rats" as I like to call them are another problem I used to have a lot digging thru the garden and killing the plants so I got some traps and when I catch them I give them a ride about 10 miles away into the forest ! for bugs I use "neem oil" for mold or mildew I use copper spray, and about the culverts I build a platform about 4-5 inches from the top and fill that with a good topsoil and chicken poop that way there light to move around !
This AM I had a 'customer' in the squirrel cage/trap. This time it was a large nasty looking Possum w/ nasty teeth (looks like he's been eating rocks). He was so big he couldn't even turn around, I released him on the fence where he was trapped as I don't think they bite unless cornered? He sure liked to bluff making hissing sounds & showing teeth.
You went to grow vegetables and the meat comes by itself? Great! Wait a bit more, the wild boars will be coming soon.
I used to have Possum family living in my back yard they ate cat food that the cat didn't they also eat mice and rats and they got along with the cat! so I didn't mind them, the racoons were a different story the cat didn't like them because they were more aggressive, all the wild animals seemed to move on when they started building homes closer I don't have deer around any more just those dam Squirrel's that dig up all the bulbs take a bite out of them and leave them on top of the soil and dig up the plants !!
Wednesday I unnetted the (14') row of Tokyo Cross Turnips & by dusk there were around 30 small birds making dinner of the leaves I went outside & when they saw me around 1/2 of them flew off, when I clapped my hands the rest panicked & flew off. Yesterday AM I put out the (17" tall) fake owl on a crate, so far the small birds (sparrows?) have stayed away. Too bad it doesn't work on the fig tree figs.
I usually dehydrate my figs for use the rest of the year, I like to eat them fresh off the tree and in my breakfast. I have given a few friends new starts from my tree and they have figs on theirs in just 2-3 years, but they are a pain to trim every year I try to keep it under 35-40 feet tall, I have apple and pear trees I started from seed that need a little more attention from bugs and mold but being retired gives me time LOL
Last year I dehydrated some figs also. This year maybe or maybe not. Yesterday I picked 10-11 ripe ones, the ripe ones are so fragile & don't last very long after picking them unless put in the refrigerator. The tree in the back yard has 2 crops a year: 1 in June of large ones & 1 in August w/ 3x as many but smaller (2/3 size). The tree is around 12-15 feet tall, I like to give it a flat-top @ 8 feet in the winter but it always grows back by now, its a healthy tree. The Guavas (pineapple) & Persimmons (crunchy sweet Fuyu) ripen in November-December & the Oranges in January-May/June.
That looks like the LSU Hybrid figs I have in my yard ? What A PITA As soon as they start to turn yellow de birds are pecking them, so it's either pick them before they're sweet or wrap each and every one with a sheet of paper I also hang aluminum pie pans and pieces of styrofoam from the branches. Man they are delicious if you can get them to ripen on the tree
Birds are a problem especially the small ones that peck a bit then peck in another, then the fruit flys (ff) come & go in the small hole & cause the fig to rot from the inside. In the August crop I have the birds, some ants, ff, squirrels & those (flying) June Beetles or Figeater Beetles, I made myself a "bug bopper" to entertain myself knocking them over the fence when the buzz me. To deal w/ the birds I use the onion/netting? Its red & slows the down a little. *Edit: I like to peal the fig by breaking the stem end & peeling down, way less messier than breaking in half from the other end. Sometimes I wash them & eat the skin & all.
in my climate I only get one crop the second starts but there green and small and don't have a chance to get ripe, but the first crop I eat right off the tree and they are very sweet, apples I had so many I froze a bunch for pies and made applesauce and mixed some apples and rhubarb for rhubarb apple pie, it tast's great out of the oven with ice cream on it ! the only thing not doing so well this year is peppers but I still have several jars of pepper jelly from last year they are great on crackers with cream cheese, also looks like I will have a lot of raspberries and strawberries again this year,
Mine too, she jumps in to rototill, pick fruit & take anything off my hands, she loves the Turnip greens & garlic. Here are a few photos from this month incl. most of the garden layout w/ labels. The large white things are South African Cucumbers
Thank you everyone for the nice comments. But.. doesn't anyone else here in MDL have any photos or info. on their summer garden or fruit trees? So far I have picked 16 Cantaloupe (14 from early row & 2 from the late row) Here are a few photos of the Cantaloupe (note thin rind), the photo w/ the spoon in it is a bit over ripe as I try to pick them ripe & they don't last long outside the refrigerator. Spoiler
yay friend, and good luck with your new garden andto MDL EDIT: @Mods please delete this my stupid post OH! my God where I was with the head!!
Biggest Cantaloupe was weighed 5+ lbs. & was sweet as were the rest. This season I picked 23 early & 30 late cantaloupe, a few not counted (were eaten by varmints while still on the vines & 2 never got ripe). The Nematodes were on some of the early Cantaloupe rows roots. The SA Cucumbers also were infected w/ Root Knot Nematodes too. The Corn did well & no problems besides -2 (*@#n) large grasshoppers. This year I blanched, cooled & froze the whole cobs. The 7-foot Parsley row is still going strong, its very reliable. Lots of Tomatoes too. -- Lots of early & late Figs The Pineapple Guavas did very well w/ a lot of XL fruit. Now the Fuyu Persimmons are getting ripe, picking 2-3 a day now, haven’t seen any squirrels in the tree, only birds. How did everyone else’s gardening adventure turn out this year? Spoiler
The week before last I saw 10-12 birds in the Fuyu Persimmon tree, that's fine, they can have the high-up ones. The ones I want are within reach off the ground or ladder. The birds want every one they see so Monday & Wednesday (last week) I picked 30 each day & Friday I picked 40 more. All previous picked, friends have taken off my hands, yesterdays 40 I put in the refrigerator & have been cutting up & freezing wedges. All that is left on the tree is around 12 good ones that aren't ripe yet & around 20 the birds have started on or are to high up. I eat them like a apple, they are sweet & have a unique flavor. Fridays pick in bag attached. *My Mother gave me the tree 2/1988 & helped me plant it. **Does anyone here have any photos of their fruit trees or harvests, please post them.
my trees are done for the year, the leave's are gone so im triming them, 2 years ago i had a ton of figs this year i had mabe 12-14 the leave's were so thick i couldnt get to them so this year i took about 15-20 feet off the top , trimed the pear tree a little this was the first year it produced fruit , took about 10 feet off the apple tree so now all i have to do is apply them with a dorment insect spray a couple times thru the winter. the razzberry's will do fine on their own as well as the asparagus and grape's i also have a small greenhouse to start things off early, as you can tell im retired also the cat is using the seed warmer to keep warm this winter my garden keeps me busy all year lol. i also have some 36 inch dia road culverts the black plastic ones cut to 4 ft pluged off one end about 6 inches deep in which i planted strawberry's 4 of them . my wife makes a jam out of the strawberrys and razzberrys and calls it strazzberry !