A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Things are happening..there's life !

After a wet wknd I was able to have a look see . Thought I would find some water damage from the moderate rains we've had. But when I peaked around the corner I was greeted with life taking a stand . Everything looks good and healthy Other than a issue with some cuc's.....leave eating something.

So happy day today, tended to the spuds ...just a top off now and there good to go.
I left some short and some a bit taller for early harvest and mature ones later.





Beans jumped up...looking good so far, I've had bug issues before ..slugs.


Cuc's...
Other then replanting some seeds today to attempt to get a good 3 in the hill.. I need a trellis.
Few ?'s How high would make a good trellis for cucs? I have 2 hills 3ft apart in a 6- 8ft row with limited space(3ft off house on one side). I know it needs to be somewhat sturdy due to the wt of the plant and fruit. Would high as I could go be the best or stay around 4ft high or so?
Our main plan is to keep it off the house and not have vine everywhere, our thought is to weave as they grow and flipping vines over from one side to the other.

The 2 hills by the timber on the right...this is my space.


leaf eater


Have my Bayer bug spray ready...but really trying to hold off on the chemicals just yet. But if I see some serious munching going on !! there's going to be war!

peppers are flowering and looking good, onions just popping through...too small for pic yet...dill too
Im going let everything grow a few days more and by then everything should be ready for a shot of growing juice.

snow

Looks great, for your trellis idea..first what kind of cukes did you plant?

Pepino's
Says vigorous vine harvest in 56 days, perfect for slicing and pickling.
Being a vigorous viner im wondering about ht to keep it off the ground as much as possible. Other then that Im thinking of 2 post and wire like a grape vine trellis.

snow

Pepino? Must be an heirloom type.

I've grown cucumbers on a trellis about 4 ft high. I built a wood frame like an empty window and put chicken wire inside..then I set it up so it's leaning(30* angle I used), holds the fruit better. I used poles for legs to hold it up..but you can make two frames and butt them together at the top like a 'teepee' style.

I don't get alot of heat here so they never vined very high, i'm not sure on the exact variety you are growing...but it gives you an idea anyway. Cucumbers lifted off the ground yield better and do not rot or get as many diseases.

Looks good snow!!! When is dinner?? I cant my beans to grow. Peas are good on the second attempt. I may give the beans a few more days. What are the dowels for?? Support??

Your soil looks like mine. I just spread the excess black stuff around from the puds. In the fall all of my spud mounds will spread around the garden. I may do container spuds next year.

Let me know when you harvest your baby spuds

Thanks Tamara, I was looking today and my post are almost 8ft(2x4's), so im going to design it to be able to add higher wires if it get's wild on me.

Going over dads in the am ...he has some goodies out by the barn maybe I can take off his hands I know he has some chicken wire cause he has to wrap his trees to keep the deer off them.

Here's a pic of my seed packs for what it's worth.

snow

LOL..We have a while before dinner WB

Clay is hard on plants , as soon as it's packed and dry..it's like concrete. If you get a rain and then dries a crust will form making it harder for them to push through. I'll take and pick off the clump when I see it pushing up to help it out.

I doubled dug(2ft down) and then mixed from one end to the other, then built the boxed areas to raise it some for drainage.
My spud soil is going in too come fall.

The dowels where to mark the rows before they sprouted so I knew right where they where.

Don't worry you will know when I harvest the vertical spuds :wink:

snow

Wow, onions from seed, here we have to buy the bulbs..too short a season.

Oh and 'pepino' means cucumber in Mexico I just learned that on a Google search.

I always remembered growing bulbs too, but the wife pick up the seed when she was out, said she didn't see any bulb starters.
I think those are going to be my weakest player this year....will see

Funny now you say that..no wounder I couldn't pronounce most of the others I had also lol. Should of figured it out when the directions on the back had english and mexican lingo

so.. it looks like I have SMR 58's ...what ever that is

snow

SMR 58's are a pickling cucumber..it can be eaten fresh but it says excellent for pickling.

I will have to see how they do. Im not a big fresh cuc eater but love pickles. I plan on experimenting ...trying some easy pickling .
The marinade salads are pretty good too ...just need to find the right cuc recipe and i'll like them more .

The mrs and kids like fresh so this is one of the crops were all excited about ...spuds are the other one.

snow

I admire your creativity in mounding the spuds!!! Very ingenious

I planted my cooking onions and scallions(spuds, scallions and garlic mmmmmmm breakfast!!!) from bulbs. How do you tell when onions are ready for harvest?? I planted some green onions from seed.

When do the seed shops start selling garlic bulbs?? I am planning on harvesting in the fall for a spring harvest.

I pluck some onions early for soups....

Here they sell garlic bulbs with the onion bulbs..they are in the stores already.