2023 gardens

Chicken wire fence or lead poisoning are the only things that work for rabbits in my yard. I’m on two acres and counted eight rabbits around my garden and down my driveway the other day. So far, I’ve just had the tops eaten off of two of my pea plants. Somehow, I forgot about my rule of not planting something a deer would eat right inside the 3′ chicken wire fence. Since the peas are pushing 5′ tall now it’s an easy snack. I’m sure it will come back for the rest before I get to eat them.

friggin can’t quote anything.

EPG, like pickle Rick said chicken wire fence. I don’t have deer in town, but the plants are big enough now and not near as tasty so I’ll be taking my fence down here soon.

Jeremy…. You can get those at FF or Menards. I’d bet any farm supply place would have them to.

What goes in it

they have bait packets…..usually comes with at least one in the jug. i always buy a bunch more. i typically buy at least 3-4 extra packs….they come 3 in a pack at FF!!! i was at the waite park one yesterday and noticed they didnt have many left. i get them in the spring before they run out……i dont think they restock them.

Jeremy…. This is the fly bait I get at FF!

Deer got all 11 sets of my pumpkin patch…ate down to the nub..tried the old fishing line as a deterrent…well that didn’t work..

stout93 wrote:

Deer got all 11 sets of my pumpkin patch…ate down to the nub..tried the old fishing line as a deterrent…well that didn’t work..

looks like you need to eat more venison!!

Sweet corn has started to take off

Will be picking cucumbers by tomorrow

Watermelon

Had one broccoli plant produce a full head already for some reason. The rest haven’t even started yet

Gotten a few jalapeños with bells on the way

Won’t be eating tomatoes for a while still

green beans got planted late since we are still eating last year’s and our lettuce is done from the heat

Strawberries are pretty much done for the year also

Onthewater wrote:

green beans got planted late since we are still eating last year’s and our lettuce is done from the heat

Looks nice, is that just typical weed barrier and you just punch holes in it?

All the weed barriers I use, the weeds start coming up through it in a matter of a few years.

stout93 wrote:

All the weed barriers I use, the weeds start coming up through it in a matter of a few years.

I use grass clippings and it works pretty well.

My tomatoes are going bonkers, cukes doing well and jalapeno’s look good but have a ways to go.

Looks like woven ground cover. Grower’s Solution has different sizes and it looks pretty affordable. The cheap crap from Menard’s and FF don’t last unless you never walk on it. I made the mistake of putting wood chips over it in my walking paths and I’d have been better off using cardboard.

Bigwerm, were to you get your grass clippings from??? i used to do that but got my clipping from the city. after a while my tomatoes would get wilted and sick looking. i am thinking that grass had chemicals in it and affected the plants. i saved my maple leaves last fall and everything looks way better this year.

got a call today i could of picked up a 1/2 bushel of small pickles but not ready. pickle canning party is set for july 5th!!!!

i need to pick some jalepenos already, and i did eat a kalarabi earlier this week!!!!

Same thing happened when I used grass clippings. My neighbor and I have the same guy cut our lawns and I’m sure his bins have traces of weed and feed in them. I switched to chopped up maple leaves and pine needles. If I had as much space as Onthewater I’d go with that set up for sure. That’s dang near a farm rather than a garden.

personally i’d stay away from pine needles. dont they have alot of acid in the needles???? nothing seems to grow very good under any pine tree from what i see.

If you really want your tomatos to grow good use leaves from a black walnut. Just kidding dont they will die.

Pine needles pile up thick preventing seeds from making contact with the dirt and germinating. That’s why not much grows under them. They don’t really acidify the soil. I thought that was the case too. Fresh ones might but not dead ones.

https://www.thespruce.com/do-pine-needles-acidify-soil-1403128

glenn57 wrote:

Bigwerm, were to you get your grass clippings from?

From my own yard, and I don’t fertilize or use any chemicals. I also put my fall and spring yard clean up of primarily leaves in the garden, along with some occasional coffee grounds or other kitchen waste compost in there. Keeps the dirt fertile in my experience, but I have done 0 research or reading about it.

We do pretty much the same thing bigwerm!

Here’s an old reliable source on using pine needles as mulch.

https://www.almanac.com/are-pine-needles-good-mulch

When I first started hot composting, I didn’t put pine needles into it. Since it was mostly grass clippings, weeds, kitchen scraps and chopped leaves, it would compact very tightly and I would notice when I turned it that 8-10″ into the 3 cubic foot pile it was completely dry despite frequent watering. Adding the pine needles gave it some structure so air and moisture could get around in there and get that pile really cooking.

I’m still working my way through two 4 cubic foot piles of leaves and pine needles from last year. I made the mistake of filling my two compost bins made from pallets, but I plan to get back to composting once most of it has been spread around. I fill one bin up 3 cubic feet, then about once a month shovel it from the top down into the bin next to it. After a few months it’s nice black compost and loaded with worms.

JEREMY wrote:

If you really want your tomatos to grow good use leaves from a black walnut. Just kidding dont they will die.

I have a big old black walnut next to my garden. I never put the leaves in the garden. I’m actually pretty anal about getting rid of anything black walnut removed out of the garden.

Yes something’s grow better than others on the black walnut end.

Darn squirrels do a heck of a job planting the nutz too. Bet I get 10 new trees every year.

Picked jalapeno peppers this morning!! Kalahrabi are next on the list!

stout93 wrote:

Looks nice, is that just typical weed barrier and you just punch holes in it?

All the weed barriers I use, the weeds start coming up through it in a matter of a few years.

This is what’s called woven ground cover. It let’s water through but it’s made to withstand the sun that will brake down regular weed barriers. Once the plants get so big they shade out the weeds so you don’t even have to deal with wedding the holes. We have had this laid down in the garden for 4 years now and it has years left in it. I’m sure if you took it off and stored it during winter it would last over a decade. We just leave ours down year round. I rotate the tomatoes, peppers, and broccoli to different holes every year to try to avoid diseases. Tilled it, added compost before laying it down. Haven’t tilled since and just put some fertilizer in the hole before planting plus some water soluble fertilizer every 3 weeks or so. If you find weeding therapeutic this isn’t for you. If you would rather be fishing I would highly recommend it.

Anybody else dealing with boxelder bugs?? Them little no good for nuttin things are terrible already. Fornicating in my landscape rocks and on the siding of the house. Been a daily job spraying them.