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Post by nxp on Nov 13, 2013 16:52:03 GMT
With the 2013 season behind us, the nxp-family is looking ahead to 2014 for the garden and figuring out what we're doing!
We've alread "planted" pumpkins for next season (we tossed the old/rotten Halloween and sugar pumpkin onto the compost pile and mashed them up - protip, kids love smashing pumpkins for a good cause!), and have the dead leaves and cut grass set over the existing beds, while marking out NEW beds for the upcoming season.
The idea being: 1) I'm lazy, 2) let Mom Nature do it's thing and get me some organic fertilizer. We did this last winter in prep for the spring planting season and it worked gangbusters - much to the dismay of the neighbors who enjoy a good competition.
Any one else getting ready now for next season? All the seeds that did well are marked and set aside, the ones we didn't care for have been removed from the lot, and we're going to diversify the yeild a bit this time around.
Maybe I'll even get an arial from Google and start looking at new places to make a muddy mess!
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Post by omegaman on Feb 8, 2015 1:06:48 GMT
OK, so finally, after a year of being at the new homestead, I finally got around to prepping some old fenced-in gardens for planting! My predesessor for my job (and thus the house I live in now) had built some nice enclosed gardens many years ago, but hadn't used them for years prior to his departure. They were in bad shape. Last year Nameless came down and helped me herbicide everything. Thankfully, the treatment worked and the really nasty stuff died off and stayed that way! Meaning, when the time came, I could initiate my master garden-prepping plan...Burn the shit out of it. So, again with the much appreciated help from NamelessStain, we burned the shit out of those gardens today and got them tilled over! Fire!  tilling  After!  If you want a "before" idea, look at the field surrounding the gardens. Yeah, it was that bad. So, to break it all down, here is what I did. I had been mowing around the gardens to keep the rest of the field from encroaching. I used the tiller to cut fire breaks around the gardens. I put a water tank/sprayer on a Polaris so I could ride around and keep the fence posts and fire breaks wet, thus containing the blaze and still keeping the nice fence. Nameless also ran an absurd amount of garden hose from the house and helped with control/containment. Next, I used a drip torch and started a fire line where the wind would carry the flame across the garden. After only a few minutes, all that scrubby brush was burned up. Most importantly, Nameless and I still have all our facial hair and I didn't burn my house down  Lastly, we ran the tiller thru and churned everything up and over. Voila! Now I have a plantable garden...which is nice, 'cuz Nameless hooked me up with a shit-ton of hierloom seeds  (and an ungodly amount of mead  ). I was going to add compost and lime, but the soil is nice and dark and organic-y already. I will still send samples off to the Clemson Agricultural Extension office for a soil analysis, but I think overall I am good to go. So, here's to the 2015 growing season! Wish us luck! And again, huge thanks to NamelessStain for helping a homie out (I swear, every time he comes down here I put him to work...maybe next time we should just go fishing!) |
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Post by dannusmaximus on Feb 8, 2015 3:43:55 GMT
Where are you getting the seeds from, guys? And what all are you planting?
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Post by nxp on Feb 8, 2015 4:41:26 GMT
Sweet work Omega! Fire fixes all, especially when you've got that much to clear out. Even better that the pens were already up and in. Don't monkey with the soil until you know what's in it. If the dirt's black, plant and let it roll baby!
Oh - where's your snow?
Backyard's got about a foot of snow in the raised beds right now, so I've been dumping spent grain from the beer making into them on occasion (feeding the wildlife and prepping for spring till). I'll be happy if I get everything flipped and fenced by late April. End of the month here I'll start on making seed starters in the basement under growlights.
For 2015 the NXP's are going with: 2 varieties of tomatoes, 3 varieties of peppers, cauliflower, cabbage, brusselsprouts, cukes, butternut squash, acorn squash, and PUMPKINS!! In the secondary it'll be herbs, beets, swiss chard, and probably some hops.
Also have been doing some looking into Aquaponics for the basement. I don't know why. It entertains me. That's all I've got.
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Post by NamelessStain on Feb 8, 2015 14:38:19 GMT
I forgot which seeds I gave to OM. I just brought down my newest purchases for my seed bank and let him pick what he wanted. OM can give you the list. I just took a bunch of old pill bottles, let them pick what they wanted, and gave them enough for this season. The only one I "forced" on him was the Russian Mammoth Sunflowers so OW and OB had something nice to look at through the window  I buy my seeds from www.neseed.com/Default.aspI generally buy a bunch to keep the seed bank in a rolling stock mode since seeds do go bad and every variety seems to have a different shelf life. Also I only purchase heirloom and open pollinated. I don't bother with the organics for a seed bank. I also try not bother with seeds that have a shelf life of less than 2 years, but there are exceptions: corn and peppers. Edit: I also can't wait for next year's chicken project!! Also the mead was started on the same day as the birth of OB. 1 750 ml bottle for each birthday up until 20, then a magnum for her 21st bday, and an extra magnum for a special occasion such as graduate from college or whenever she gets married. I guess I'll buy a fishing rod. I'm tried of screwing up yours Edit: I forgot to give him the seeds I harvested last year from my winter squash, so I need to mail them. Go google Lunga di Napoli. The one I harvested last year was 22" and 25#, it took 14 quart jars to can it all. |
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Post by nxp on Feb 8, 2015 17:07:47 GMT
I forgot which seeds I gave to OM. I just brought down my newest purchases for my seed bank and let him pick what he wanted. OM can give you the list. I just took Edit: I forgot to give him the seeds I harvested last year from my winter squash, so I need to mail them. Go google Lunga di Napoli. The one I harvested last year was 22" and 25#, it took 14 quart jars to can it all. WOO That's a big squash! How's it taste? I love me some acorn squash but I could be easily swayed with the output of that monster... |
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Post by NamelessStain on Feb 8, 2015 18:07:03 GMT
I forgot which seeds I gave to OM. I just brought down my newest purchases for my seed bank and let him pick what he wanted. OM can give you the list. I just took Edit: I forgot to give him the seeds I harvested last year from my winter squash, so I need to mail them. Go google Lunga di Napoli. The one I harvested last year was 22" and 25#, it took 14 quart jars to can it all. WOO That's a big squash! How's it taste? I love me some acorn squash but I could be easily swayed with the output of that monster... It tasted pretty good. Almost like a butternut. |
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Post by nxp on Feb 8, 2015 19:58:22 GMT
Is it a bush or vine? Bush can be worked with, vine may have a battle with the pumpkins. I have been swayed - butternut may be out.  |
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Post by dannusmaximus on Feb 8, 2015 20:17:00 GMT
A prepper buddy of mine swears by Burpee heirloom seeds. That brand is readily available in pretty much any home store in my area. Have you guys used them at all?
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Post by dannusmaximus on Feb 8, 2015 20:19:44 GMT
ALSO, thoughts on a decent garden size and mix of plants if I just want to have access to summer veggies for me and the bride? Tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, etc? We will eat pretty much any vegetable we've ever tried, anything I should plant because it's just the perfect combination of tasty, easy, and doesn't take up a huge amount of space?
ALSO, canning. Anybody here do it? My mom is an old-skool canning nut, and I can learn pretty much everything from her and borrow her stuff to boot. Thoughts on canning? Do the hunters on this site can any meat or otherwise preserve it?
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Post by red on Feb 8, 2015 21:04:45 GMT
The deer i harvest gets frozen. 2 deer a season and im good for the year . I am single so only one person eating.
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Post by LowKey on Feb 8, 2015 21:10:58 GMT
ALSO, thoughts on a decent garden size and mix of plants if I just want to have access to summer veggies for me and the bride? Tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, etc? We will eat pretty much any vegetable we've ever tried, anything I should plant because it's just the perfect combination of tasty, easy, and doesn't take up a huge amount of space? ALSO, canning. Anybody here do it? My mom is an old-skool canning nut, and I can learn pretty much everything from her and borrow her stuff to boot. Thoughts on canning? Do the hunters on this site can any meat or otherwise preserve it? As a sidebar: I haven't set up for canning yet. No point to it here in the ME, and we don't have the house up yet in AK. When we do have the place built canning is going to be muy important. Salmon runs each summer need to be canned. Where I'm having an internal debate is jars. Ball/Kerr vs Weck. Ball and kerr are the "classic" canning jars with which we're all familiar. Glass jar, metal lid with separate metal screw down ring. Readily available, inexpensive. BUT the lids are not reusable. (There are two sources for plastic lids which are reusable, but there seems to be a higher seal failure rate associated with them). Then there are Weck jars, apparently the standard in Europe. Glass jars, GLASS lids , and a heavy rubber gasket which can be reused multiple times*. Cost is in N.A. much higher due to rarity and import costs. Which do you see as better from a long term, "Can't get no more" point of view? * I imagine new gaskets could be easily cut from sheet rubber. I also ponder how silicone gaskets would fair. |
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Post by nxp on Feb 8, 2015 23:06:49 GMT
ALSO, thoughts on a decent garden size and mix of plants if I just want to have access to summer veggies for me and the bride? Tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, etc? We will eat pretty much any vegetable we've ever tried, anything I should plant because it's just the perfect combination of tasty, easy, and doesn't take up a huge amount of space? ALSO, canning. Anybody here do it? My mom is an old-skool canning nut, and I can learn pretty much everything from her and borrow her stuff to boot. Thoughts on canning? Do the hunters on this site can any meat or otherwise preserve it? Everyone's got a different setup, I wish I had as much space as Omega, as I'd do some real damage on the garden front. My total garden space is about half of one of Omega's plots, and I have no problems at all pulling a great harvest. The trick is planting what you want, allowing enough space for the plants, and making sure it's got plenty of sun. You can see what the NXP's are planting for 2015, but let me give you some insight from my side as a "small" gardener, working with a plot that goes around our deck (total would be 20x4'), an 8x3.5' bed, and a 16x4' bed that runs along the south (shaded) side of the house. Tomatoes: 1) Cherry tomatoes are awesome, everyone loves them, and you can actually make a decent salsa with them - just know that one small plant will become an 8' monster that can take over a 4x4 space even trimmed back. You will have more cherry tomatoes than you can eat. I hope you like cherry tomatoes. I'm not a fan, the kids and wife love them - so do the neighbors, and half the block, and the folks at work. I still had extra and countless fatalites under the plant. 2) "Meat" tomatoes (ala Bigboy) are awesome in stews and canning. They are crap for almost everything else. If you grow a plant for canning, you will get a lot of canned tomatoes. I hope you like canned tomatoes. 3) Pick a variety that offers fruit in the medium size range, that works well for cooking as well as salads etc. Think Roma - we planted Mountain Jet last year and had a good harvest of nice fruit that worked well with all of Mrs NXP's cooking. It canned up well also, we will likely grow them again. Cucumbers: There's a lot of variation for cukes, decide right away if you want pickling cukes or salad cukes. Some varieties have really large seeds that suck. My advice is to care less about how it looks (some of the small seed varieties are just fugly looking), and more about how much "meat" vs seed it's got. A 4' planted section with room to climb (we use a section of hog fence, works great) will give you plenty of cukes. Peppers: The weird and stupid hot varieties are fun, but a PITA to grow well. We always plant at least two jalepeno'ish variety, and one sweet/salad pepper. We are not bell pepper fans, but they grow well. Rotating peppers is mandatory for good harvests year in/out. Bush type veggies: Yellow squash/Zucchini are always favorites and can be cooked into anything. One plant will leave you with a TON of veggies for two people. The bushes grow large, but can easily fit in a 4x4 area. If you put a Zucc on one side and a yellow on the other of an 8x4, you be fine. For bonus points, you can put them on the edge of the house or between beds as a filler. Plants don't care, they just want lots of sun and water. Vine veggies: Vine veggies need more room than you'd think to run. We "plant" pumpkins and other vines on the side yard and let the vines go where ever they want, last year we had some hit the fence and climbed over. Kinda does a number on the grass, but it's less that I have to mow, and the kids/neighbors get a laugh out of "the Big Green Monster" as it spreads out from the house. From the bed to the fence is 25', some years the vines get there easily, some years not. They can be trained, just take care when pulling the vines around. Overall I prefer bush variety whenever possible. Anything that climbs or wanders means I have to keep an eye out on it and train it accordingly. Dirty confession time - If you've got a small garden and don't want to dick around with starters, don't bother. Wait until the ground is good to flip, add a couple bags of time release potting soil and a bag of mushroom compost, til, and then put in PRE-GROWN stock from the home/garden store of your choice. It's a couple extra bucks over a bag of seeds, but the plant is established and ready to go sooner with less effort. If you only need one/few plants of tomatoes/cabbage/peppers, go this route. For stuff like zuch/squash/cukes/etc a packet of seeds will last you years. You can spend way more than 20 bucks in started plants trying to grow a bunch of starters for a small garden, but some folks are into S&M, and I'm cool with that. Canning - We can, using Ball stuff as the farm stores here sell all the jars/lids/etc in bulk for cheap. We've done it a few ways; on a turkey fryer (okay) on the stove (slow) and with my beer induction setup (okay). Canning works best IMO for things like pickles, gardineria, beets, tomatoes, salsa, etc. For things we like fresh (b.sprouts, cauli, brocoli,zuch,squash,etc) we either blanch/freeze or straight up freeze them in freezer bags. This is more expensive, but offers an awesome opportunity to put the meal sized bag into the microwave on high for 5min and get bag steamed veggies for a quick meal add on. Convenience and taste is worth the cost, IMO. All meat is put in freezer paper and frozen. It usually doesn't make it past 6mo tops before being eaten. |
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Post by NamelessStain on Feb 9, 2015 11:47:43 GMT
A prepper buddy of mine swears by Burpee heirloom seeds. That brand is readily available in pretty much any home store in my area. Have you guys used them at all? I've never seen Burpee in anything but commercial retail packets. I have used them in the past though, and they worked fine. Neseed you can buy them by the pound (and some even more) if you are planting larger areas or as I do for a seed bank. I just stay away from hybrid seeds. Nxp: The Lunga di Napoli is definitely a vine. My vines were about 30 feet long and had leaves about 1.5 feet across. I had to hand pollinate them too. |
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Post by NamelessStain on Feb 9, 2015 12:07:05 GMT
Well I'm an even smaller gardener, I container garden. I purchased 10 (gave 1 to the neighbor) sub-irrigation planters from : www.agardenpatch.com/I have planted in the past: Poblano, Jalapeno, Cowhorn, Habeniero, Cukes, Green Beans, Pumpkin, Radish, Tomatos, Watermelon, and Winter Sqaush. (Actually planted sunflowers but the damn squirrels kept eating them.) So after all that experimenting I have come down to a standard set of planting for 6 of the containers: 4 containers for pickling cukes, 2 planters for green beans (which I pickle also). The last 3 containers, I'm still looking at choices. Maybe some squash or pumpkins again. Like I said, I pickle most of my stuff. I even have a pickling recipe from an old Asian cookbook that doesn't require pressure canning. As you take stuff out, you can just add more back in. I'll have to type it up and post it some time |
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(and an ungodly amount of mead 
).
