My 5th summer garden: Expansion and more beans

[Dustin Pate]

Garden has gotten some timely rain and everything is doing great, except our yellow squash. Not a single seed has popped, so I think we had a bad batch. Zuch's and spaghetti's are all up out of the ground.

Had to do a hard thinning on the okra. We went way heavy with it due to being an older bag of seed. I think every single one came up. I'll thin one more time in the next week.

We will probably lay the corn by this weekend or early week. Looks like some good chances at rain and it will go to town then.

Had a ground hog issue with the cabbage in our raised bed. It got 6 plants over the last couple days. We finally crossed paths yesterday and he will no longer be eating our cabbage.

 

[elfiii]

Dang! I could use some rocks like that around my culverts. Before I started throwing rocks on em I bought 200 bags of concrete n stacked em like bricks. Now I am putting rocks around the edges.

I have a land office supply. Come get them.

 

[JB0704]

Garden has gotten some timely rain and everything is doing great, except our yellow squash. Not a single seed has popped, so I think we had a bad batch. Zuch's and spaghetti's are all up out of the ground.

Had to do a hard thinning on the okra. We went way heavy with it due to being an older bag of seed. I think every single one came up. I'll thin one more time in the next week.

We will probably lay the corn by this weekend or early week. Looks like some good chances at rain and it will go to town then.

Had a ground hog issue with the cabbage in our raised bed. It got 6 plants over the last couple days. We finally crossed paths yesterday and he will no longer be eating our cabbage.

View attachment 1304539View attachment 1304540View attachment 1304541View attachment 1304543

Man all of that looks great. I have more skips than thinning, ill be planting my skips this weekend. And, I am lucky about the groundhogs, they don't mess with my garden at all. And I'm glad too cause I like the little critters n would hate to have to git rid of em.

 

[livinoutdoors]

Things is tossed around this am. 2.5 inches and heavy wind. Boo.

 

[livinoutdoors]

Finally got my biochar in. I'm doing an experiment. If the squirrels and chipmunks leave these alone I'll add a couple more in this bed. Sign courtesy of my daughter in law.

View attachment 1304517

Do that biochar you bought come precharged? I saw bags in the other pics. You gotta get it loaded with nutrients or it'll pull em out of the soil at first.

 

[elfiii]

This is the concrete solution on the culverts, we are pouring the rocks we pick on the edges. View attachment 1304521View attachment 1304523

Did you price rip rap?

 

[JB0704]

Did you price rip rap?

I think it ended up being a little more expensive than what I did with the concrete. About 1/3 of those bags I got for about $1 each because they weren't hard yet, but they were getting there. And I thought I would be getting plenty of rocks outta the garden to fill the gaps.

Rip Rap would have looked a lot better, but I had already spent a dang fortune putting in 3K+ feet of fence and was looking to save some $$.

 

[JB0704]

Eventually all that paper will rot off the concrete and it will look like grey bricks. If it don't, I will burn it off.

 

[elfiii]

Do that biochar you bought come precharged? I saw bags in the other pics. You gotta get it loaded with nutrients or it'll pull em out of the soil at first.

No, that's why I added the bags of Black Kow and I went extra heavy with ag lime. Next up will be a healthy dose of triple 13. Instructions on the bag said keep your soil wet for 4 or 5 days. I'm guessing that's so the char will charge.

My peppers have been in the ground for a little more than a week and they have perked right on up. I've got one more bed to plant that's going to be a variety of lettuce. That bed will have had a couple of weeks to charge so I'm hoping for instant results before it gets too hot for greens.

 

[elfiii]

Eventually all that paper will rot off the concrete and it will look like grey bricks. If it don't, I will burn it off.

Give it time. It will rot off on it's own.

 

[livinoutdoors]

No, that's why I added the bags of Black Kow and I went extra heavy with ag lime. Next up will be a healthy dose of triple 13. Instructions on the bag said keep your soil wet for 4 or 5 days. I'm guessing that's so the char will charge.

My peppers have been in the ground for a little more than a week and they have perked right on up. I've got one more bed to plant that's going to be a variety of lettuce. That bed will have had a couple of weeks to charge so I'm hoping for instant results before it gets too hot for greens.

Well biochar is a long term game. Its supposed to act like a battery and hold microbes and nutrients and water longer than the soil would. It will pull from the soil til its "full" so you may have to water and fertilize extra at first. Good luck!

 

[JB0704]

No, that's why I added the bags of Black Kow and I went extra heavy with ag lime. Next up will be a healthy dose of triple 13. Instructions on the bag said keep your soil wet for 4 or 5 days. I'm guessing that's so the char will charge.

My peppers have been in the ground for a little more than a week and they have perked right on up. I've got one more bed to plant that's going to be a variety of lettuce. That bed will have had a couple of weeks to charge so I'm hoping for instant results before it gets too hot for greens.

You taking that soil prep to the next level! Can't wait to see the results. All I do is dump triple 10 in the ground while I'm planting and then occasionally put a little more on the corn and maters. My long term plan is to get to where I am composting manure from the cows to work into the dirt. I am definitely planning to let them and the goats graze on what I plant for cover this winter, and hoping that helps too.

 

[elfiii]

You taking that soil prep to the next level! Can't wait to see the results. All I do is dump triple 10 in the ground while I'm planting and then occasionally put a little more on the corn and maters. My long term plan is to get to where I am composting manure from the cows to work into the dirt. I am definitely planning to let them and the goats graze on what I plant for cover this winter, and hoping that helps too.

I started off with the store bought "soil in a bag" which is basically burnt leaves and sticks with some sand thrown in to pretend it's "loamy". It's taken about 4 years of steady progress but I'd put my raised bed soil up against the blackest dirt they can find in Illinois. Now if it will just produce.

 

[Nicodemus]

You taking that soil prep to the next level! Can't wait to see the results. All I do is dump triple 10 in the ground while I'm planting and then occasionally put a little more on the corn and maters. My long term plan is to get to where I am composting manure from the cows to work into the dirt. I am definitely planning to let them and the goats graze on what I plant for cover this winter, and hoping that helps too.

Your corn will do better with nitrogen applied and the corn laid by.

 

[JB0704]

Your corn will do better with nitrogen applied and the corn laid by.

I remember you telling me that last year. "Soda?" Thanks for reminding me.

 

[JB0704]

Your corn will do better with nitrogen applied and the corn laid by.

Planting your heirloom corn on Sunday, as that will be two weeks since all the other corn got planted. Do you have a recommendation on the timing for planting the pumpkins?

 

[Nicodemus]

I remember you telling me that last year. "Soda?" Thanks for reminding me.

Yea, down here you`ll hear old timers refer to it as "sody".

 

[NE GA Pappy]

Yea, down here you`ll hear old timers refer to it as "sody".

up here too. My Grandpa always called it sody or sowdee, however you would spell it. My dad does on occasion now. My neighbor that passed away a few years back called it sody and dew-anner. Dew-anner was 10-10-10. He also would add Uree-er to his cattle feed.

 

[elfiii]

Those are breeders? They raise baby ones I hear.

Every year. That's why I planted clover. I'd rather fight weeds, grass, drought and the critters gnawing it down to the ground than have to suffer the abuse of plowing it every year.

As it is I'm on about a 3 year cycle of letting the babies float up to the top and then I'll do a rock patrol and get everything smaller than a basketball out.

 

[fishfryer]

Every year. That's why I planted clover. I'd rather fight weeds, grass, drought and the critters gnawing it down to the ground than have to suffer the abuse of plowing it every year.

As it is I'm on about a 3 year cycle of letting the babies float up to the top and then I'll do a rock patrol and get everything smaller than a basketball out.

I’m very thankful that I don’t have to deal with that