2024 gardens

Valencia peanuts are the quickest to mature in 90 to 110 days. Spanish peanuts take 90 to 120 days to mature. We definitely have enough time to grow them up here.

Yeah, I just thought it was wild. I thought they grew on trees! I might have to try them next year.

Pulled the onions today!! I’m happy with the results.

My onions have all laid down now so I’ll be pulling them in the next couple days. A couple weeks of getting the tops half dried, then I tie them in bundles of 6-8 and hang them to dry until the tops are brittle, then they get bagged. Some of my onions are the size of softballs this year.

The slicing tomatoes are starting up real well now and I just ventured out in the heat tonight and picked a 7 quart bucket of green beans.

With the heat on now the green peppers and hot ones have sparked up some. Rabbits in my carrots are an issue. Leg-hold traps are going out tonight, damn the carrots that’ll get wrecked.

Mixed me a batch of summer cukes today

Jimmy Jones wrote:

Rabbits in my carrots are an issue. Leg-hold traps are going out tonight, damn the carrots that’ll get wrecked.

What is the best way to catch them? They are working my beans over pretty good. I have had a box trap set for a while now baited with various produce and no luck.

When rabbits find a garden with a multitude of goodies growing they won’t fall for the box trap so easy. A snare along a row-crops can get them. I use #1 double spring traps and nail the chain to the wood framing, placing the trap along the row carrot plants. When caught the rabbit will fight the trap and fall off the edge of the raised bed and not cause too much damage to the row itself. A smack with a fish-billy dispatches the critter. Or a pellet to the bean.

Zucchini was just starting to flourish and the deer nipped off most of the leaves.
Do any deer repellents work?

I have no experience with deer repellents. I think they’ll have to be reapplied every time it rains and would imagine they stink like hell. A high fence is really the only thing that will keep a hungry deer out. If I had an open garden, I think rabbits would take out most of mine with deer taking a close 2nd. I only have 3′ chicken wire around it, but with stakes, cages, trellises, planters and raised beds, a deer would have to be pretty brave and accurate with their jump to not land on something and hurt itself. I don’t know why, but they don’t seem to stick their heads over the top even though I’ve had potatoes, peppers, squash, and zucchini containers right against the fence.

I have chicken wire for the rabbits. With all the trees/brush I cleared out the deer have direct sight and access to the garden. I needed to take down my 40″ cyclone fence (wire mesh for you youngsters ) to drop most of the trees. It should go back up this fall.
The deer would usually only go in the garden late fall.

Netguy wrote:

Zucchini was just starting to flourish and the deer nipped off most of the leaves.
Do any deer repellents work?

Just lay a piece of chicken wire with a bot in it over the vines. They’ll come back.

On another note, you seriously need to spend some time weeding.

My onions got washed off nice last night. A day of drying in the dirt then they’ll get pulled to dry down on the trailer before I bunch them and hang them.

Jimmy Jones wrote:

n another note, you seriously need to spend some time weeding.

I know, I know, Jimmy. I was in Canada last week and will till when it dries out a bit.

Good luck thats all purslane. That crap can regrow if you drop a piece of stem or leaf. Better burn it if you pull it cause wherever you put it, it will grow back. About triple strength round up mixed with 2-4-d will slow it down but probably not kill it. Best way to stop it in the garden is get your plants in early and Preen the crap out of the garden before it has come up.

JEREMY wrote:

Good luck thats all purslane. That crap can regrow if you drop a piece of stem or leaf. Better burn it if you pull it cause wherever you put it, it will grow back. About triple strength round up mixed with 2-4-d will slow it down but probably not kill it. Best way to stop it in the garden is get your plants in early and Preen the crap out of the garden before it has come up.

i’d be very…very careful spraying any kind of weed killer in a garden. the slightest overspray will also kill want you dont and dead. i personally dont like preen! think it carries over. just my opinion.

my garden is big enough, but i pull my weeds by hand making sure i get the roots out. most of the time i just throw them in the lawn and whackem with the lawnmower, but i also throw them in the yard waste barrel!!!!

glenn57 wrote:

Mixed me a batch of summer cukes today

I assume those are a simple refrigerator pickle recipe. Would you mind sharing yours? I’m always trying different ones. This time of the year since I don’t have a garden I’m often stopping at farmers markets and picking up cucumber’s to try out different recipe’s

I wouldnt spray the garden this time of year. More in the fall and spring to try to get it before it starts. Never used Preen until last year and I now I weed about 20 minutes a week instead of at least an hour a night average. I planted spaghetti squash seed 3 weeks after I put the Preen down and they come up just fine. Must only be real active for a short time. You must have a thick lawn where you whackem up cause if there was a bare spot at all that crap would grow.

Looks like onion, vinegar, sugar, salt and the man loves him some celery seed.

Here ya go fishthumper. always happy to share a recipe.

I don’t use the pickling salt, just plain table salt. Don’t measure it either. Just put it on till I feel it’s enough. Pickling salt takes to much to rinse out

The only sure thing for deer is a fence. Everything I have is in buckets or raised beds that are close to the cabin. For four years the deer never touched them. This year they nipped most of the tomatoes, peppers, and some of the corn. That was early in the season and stuff is just starting to come back and produce. They haven’t returned yet. I have heard wolf urine works well. Yes you can buy it on Amazon. I’ve also heard it puts out a hell of a stink. I asked if it would attract other wolves but no one seemed to have an answer to that.

We do get wolves nearby the cabin and the deer still seem to be around quite unconcerned about them so I doubt the urine is the answer.

Tilled yesterday. Purslane, shmurslane. I’ve never used any weedkiller on my garden and have only used fertilizer once in 30+ years.

glenn57 wrote:

Here ya go fishthumper. always happy to share a recipe.

That looks like mom’s recipe.

Nope, I’m wrong. Missing garlic, turmeric, and green pepper at least.
Wow, how different and yet similar a recipe can look!

that’s my moms, mom’s recipe. i shared it with a friend……he added Jalapenos to his batch!!

if i did that my wife wont eat it.

My tomatoes are less than impressive this year. Quantity and quality. Maybe too much rain or a bad strain?

My tomatoes are having a rough year, too. I have several plants with zero tomatoes on them, but planted so many I should still do OK. The Amish paste are starting to turn as of a couple days ago. Should have the 1st BLT’s later this week. I dug up the Red Pontiac and Kennebec potatoes on Sat. I only used about #2-3 of seed potatoes and estimate a #35-40 yield overall. Not bad for my fist time growing them. I replanted those beds with bush beans, dill and beets.

First BLT of the year tonight If I can get in the garden to pick one! Muddy mess.

My tomatoes are bad as well. Picked all the ripe stuff and there isnt really enough new stuff to even leave the plants in.

Three strains of tomatoes. Only the cherry tomatoes are looking great, others not so good. Also, my jalapeno peppers have no heat!

First BLT will go down tonight !

-J.

My Big Beefs are making some huge tomatoes. Been chowing on them for a couple weeks now and no sign of letting up. The Rutgers have been giving us some really nice slicers that are sweet. I see some ripe Romas now and those will go into salsa or Bruschetta, like today’s dinner. I have three strains I cannot remember the names of and they too are producing. We’ve done BLTs about every other night. I’ll be freezing a few bags for chili this winter. I sure can’t complain about my tomato production this year.

The onions are out of the ground now. They’ll get bundles in a couple days and hung until the tops are dry. My green peppers have been a disappointment this season as have the cukes. I’ve replanted cukes hoping the cooler fall will be kinder to them.

I’m going to run the tiller thru the plot where the onions were planted and plant some spinach and beets. Rabbit food, thus targets on the hoof.